Rainbow Rocks - The Untold Story (Chapter 10)

Night had fallen over the town of Canterlot. Level Up was at the Dazzlings’ house, and the slumber party was in full swing. Level was sitting on Sonata’s bed as Sonata did her hair. Adagio and Aria were playing a board game on the floor.

Level Up was concerned. She was concerned about the state of the student body and what this competition might to do everyone if they weren’t careful. Moreover, she was concerned about this Twilight Sparkle girl. She was pretty sure that whoever Twilight was, she hadn’t been at school yesterday. Level would have wondered about it some more, but Aria slammed her fist down on the board game, breaking the board and sending the game pieces flying.

“I was about to beat you,” Adagio snarled.

“Not anymore,” Aria smirked.

Level, sensing that a fight was on the way, quickly pulled out her phone and checked the CHS website to see if any word on the bands who had passed the auditions had gotten out. To her relief, it had. She quickly said, “Everyone, I have information about which bands have cleared the auditions.”

“Okay,” Adagio replied as she and Aria stopped snarling at each other and turned to face her, “give us the goods.”

Level Up stared at the list for a second scanning all of the band names and remembering which ones had done well and which ones had done poorly. “Okay,” she told them, “in decreasing order of favorability, we have the Dazzlings, the Rainbooms, The Flash Drives, The Illusions, The Crusaders, The Candy Harp Duo, The Snapshots, Bulk Biceps, The Buttermuffins, The Earth’s Salvations, Octavia Melody, The Homo Novi, The Diamond Dog Boys, The Shakespeare Shakers, The Rocker Rejects, and Snips and Snails.”

“Whoa!” Sonata yelped. “That’s a lot of bands!”

“Did anyone get axed?” Aria asked.

“Yes,” Level Up answered. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, the Crashin’ Fashions, and the Quarterbacks.” She put her phone down and added, “Well, girls, it looks like you have your work cut out for you. Do you have a song planned for Round One?”

“We sure do,” Sonata replied cheerily as she finished braiding Level Up’s hair.

“Do we ever,” Adagio chimed in smugly.

“Okay then,” Level said, “let’s hear it.” Adagio and Aria stood up, and Sonata climbed off the bed to join them. They then began to sing.

Oh-whoa-oh
Oh-whoa-oh
You didn’t know-

“Hold it, hold it,” Level interrupted them. “Isn’t that the exact same song you sang at the audition?”

One look at Adagio’s face, and Level Up felt that she had made a mistake. It was obvious that the Sirens weren’t used to having their songs interrupted. “So what if it is?” Adagio growled, as if to enforce this point.

Level knew that she had to think fast. If the Sirens got angry with her, particularly if the Alpha Siren got angry at her, she had a feeling that it would not end well. With this in mind, she decided that it was time to give them their first piece of faulty advice.

“Well,” Level Up explained, trying to keep her voice steady, “you don’t want your audience to get bored with you, right? You’ve got to have variety in your songs, or people will turn their backs on you. I would suggest something similar to Under Our Spell, but with a faster beat and different lyrics.” In truth, she wanted the Dazzlings to sing different songs for fear that if they sang the same one over and over, it would weaken the students’ minds even further and at an even faster rate.

All was silent for thirty long, painful seconds. Level could only wonder about the impact she’d had. Then, after what felt like forever, Adagio said, “You know, I suppose she does have a point. After all, the whole reason we entered this competition in the first place was to get people interested in our work.”

“Really?” Sonata asked. “I thought it was so we could have stronger-”

“Network!” Adagio hastily cut Sonata off. “A stronger network of…supporters. That’s what she meant to say.” She then glared bitterly at Sonata, and Level Up couldn’t help but wonder if this might be a clue as to their grand scheme. Before she could think about it anymore, however, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, pizza!” Sonata squealed with delight. She bolted out of the room, leaving behind a Sonata-shaped cloud of dust that promptly dissipated into the air. Adagio and Aria followed her out in a slower, calmer manner.

“We’re still saving the good stuff for the Finals, right?” Aria asked.

“Of course we are,” Adagio answered. That was the last thing Level Up heard right then, for she did not follow the Dazzlings. Instead, she remained in her spot on the bed and got her phone back out. Pulling up the Stored Videos app, she remembered one particular video she had filmed earlier that day. In the halls of Canterlot High, she had seen a certain boy who was under the Dazzlings’ control lash out at the one called Twilight Sparkle. Knowing that Azalea would want to know about that, she had decided to catch it on film. As she pulled up the video, she once again remembered that the boy’s name was Flash Sentry.

“I want this, Twilight,” Flash Sentry said on the video, “and you’re trying to take it from me. Some friend.”

“That’s not why-” Twilight Sparkle started to say.

“C’mon, Twilight,” said a Pale girl with a southern accent. “We’ve got things to do.” She then proceeded to lead Twilight away, with the rest of the Rainbooms in tow.

“You really think you’re gonna help them?” Flash Sentry snapped. “Ha! I bet you have no idea what you’re even doing!” That alone would have been atrocious enough to set Level Up’s nerves ablaze, but then Twilight had made the mistake of looking back. As she turned to face forward and wipe away tears that were starting to form in her eyes, Level Up recalled a sound that she hadn’t been able to catch on the video: an ominous-sounding Crack with no obvious source. It was almost as if there was something going on beneath the surface of all this, something that needed to be uncovered in order for all to be well. Hmm…

“Don’t you want any pizza?” Sonata asked, startling Level Up out of her thoughts. Level promptly shut off her phone and looked at Sonata, who was standing in the bedroom doorway with an impossibly large stack of pizza boxes in her hands.

“Did you remember to order gluten free like I asked?” Level Up asked.

“Um…” Sonata muttered, clearly unsure of the answer. After about five seconds, she turned her head and shouted down the hallway, “Adagio! Is this pizza gluten free?”

“Yes!” Adagio called back.

“Yes,” Sonata repeated.

“Well then I’ll be right there,” Level answered, forcing a smile. Sonata beamed and began to make her way back down the hall. Level Up sighed and put her phone back in the drawer that contained her clothes. She obviously wasn’t going to solve this mystery tonight, not with the Dazzlings surrounding her on all sides and doing things to distract her. She would just have to fill Azalea in tomorrow. Right now, she had pizza to devour.