AUTHOR'S NOTES: So I'm kind of planning on tweaking the end of 'Rainbow Rocks' slightly. I love the ending and I'm not planning on changing the big save, don't worry.

This chapter is short, I know, but next one is going to be leading up to the big finish, so I'm doing some of the more lighthearted stuff before the Rainbooms take on Discord.

Chapter 8

Around 4 that afternoon, the band—the Rainbooms—had several songs that seemed to work and Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie had even figured out instruments. "We'll still need to figure out what Rarity and Fluttershy are going to play," Sunset pointed out, not wanting to rain on anybody's parade.

"Well, in the meantime," Applejack said as her stomach gave a low rumble, "I'm famished. Anyone else in the mood for a burger binge?"

Twilight looked slightly hesitant but after a moment, she asked, "Know anyone who makes a good veggie burger?" She'd been expecting a few jokes, but instead, she received an excited reply from Pinkie.

"Ooh! Ooh! What about Up In a Flash Burgerz?" Pinkie replied, cheerfully. "They have the best vegetarian food in town!"

"You just like them because of the 5 different kinds of French Fries and deep-fried Oreos," Applejack said, grinning at her friend. Turning to Twilight, she added, "Their food is awesome, though. Sound like a plan?"

Twilight nodded in agreement and Rainbow Dash pulled out her cell phone and texted Rarity and Fluttershy about the plans. After a few minutes, Rainbow looked at the others. "Rarity and Fluttershy will meet us there." Giving a knowing grin to her friends, she added, "Fluttershy said she was definitely feeling hungry."

Seeing that Twilight Sparkle didn't understand the in-joke, Sunset Shimmer smiled and explained. "Usually after recovering from a seizure, Fluttershy usually has a really big appetite. One time, she ate a whole large pizza all by herself."

After everyone headed out of the garage and Rainbow Dash locked the door, she waited until she noticed that Twilight and Aria were deep into a discussion about Equestrian magic before silently signing to Applejack. 'So are you going to tell Twilight about a certain someone who works at Up In a Flash?'

Shaking her head slightly, Applejack mouthed the word 'surprise' before nodding at Twilight.

With a wink, Rainbow let her friend know she understood.

xx

The restaurant was a 'build your own' burger place with almost 100 different variations and lists of the numerous types of burger patties, cheeses, toppings, extras, and bun styles.

Then, there was the choice of fries and dipping sauces.

Twilight was in awe of the choices and asked each of her friends what they liked. When it was her turn to order, she went with a mushroom burger on a pretzel roll with fontina cheese, spinach, arugula, ranch dressing, and green onions.

As she went to the drink machine and got a large soda, Twilight nearly dropped her cup when a familiar voice spoke up.

"Twilight! What are you doing here?" Flash Sentry said, brightly as he saw the purple haired Equestrian princess.

Twilight blushed as she set her tray down and turned to face Flash. "I-It's great to see you, too, Flash. What have you been up to?"

Flash shrugged, trying to hide how nervous he was. "Just working. My parents own this place, you know."

"Actually, I didn't," Twilight replied, looking over at her friends who were looking away from her, though all of them had smirks on their faces. "Though, apparently I'm the only one."

The two teenagers just stood staring at one another for a moment before Flash Sentry said, "I really missed you, Twilight. And I'm really glad you're here."

Twlight's smile was warm as she nodded. "Me, too," she replied, sincerely. "I'm staying…in town for a while. Maybe we could get together while I'm here?"

"Yeah, of course. Sounds great. I'll… pick you up tomorrow at 6?" Flash said, hopefully.

"Sounds perfect," Twilight agreed, still grinning as she left Flash and joined her friends.

Rarity cupped a hand to her ear as Twilight sat down and said, "Are those wedding bells I hear in the future?"

"It's just a date," Twilight replied, not meeting anyone's eye.

"Uh-huh," Applejack said, a knowing look on her face. Changing the subject, she outlined the plan to defeat Discord to Fluttershy and Rarity, both of whom seemed eager at the idea of being in a band. Rarity was excited at Pinkie Pie's suggestion to play a synthesizer keyboard and Fluttershy was keen to play tambourine.

But one question remained—how were they supposed to confront Discord without giving away their plan?

Rarity thought hard about things and finally replied, "We have to do it at Sweet Apple Acres. Discord is after the farm for some reason. If he comes out there, we can be in the barn ready to play."

Twilight turned to Aria Blaze who seemed unsure about her part in all this. "Aria, you don't have to help us by being in the band. You've already done enough by telling us about those gems and how Discord is planning to use them."

Aria, however, wasn't so sure her role was complete and she said as much to the group. "And don't forget that Adagio and Sonata are still trying to get their hands on the gems again. They can use the magic to get back to full power and even Discord won't be able to stop them."

It was clear that the takedown would be a group effort, but the next question started a new disagreement. "Which song are we going to use to take Discord down?" Fluttershy asked, curiously.

"I wrote this really cool song called 'Awesome As I Want to Be'," Rainbow Dash cut in immediately. "It's got this totally sweet percussion beat to it that Pinkie would be awesome at."

Rarity frowned at the idea and after taking a sip of her soda, she rolled her eyes. "Something like this take finesse, Rainbow Dash. I'm certain I can come up with something. Ooh! And some new outfits!"

Applejack was not amused by the suggestions of the fashionista and said so. "Rarity, my family's farm and livelihood are at stake here! No one cares about style or finesse! We need to shut Discord down and we need a song that's got heart and soul to it!"

"What about my song?" Pinkie Pie piped up. "I mean, a band is supposed to be fun and make people smile, right? Or did all of you miss that part?"

The arguments kept going as Aria Blaze, Twilight Sparkle, and Sunset shimmer watched, unable to get a word in edgewise.

But after nearly 10 minutes, Aria felt some familiar presence nearby and snapped, "All of you, stop it!" When the others looked about to start turning on her, she shushed them. "I think Adagio and Sonata are close and if it's not them, then it's Discord. And if he's here, that means he could be feeding off your anger and the magic you guys have."

Rainbow Dash was about to start arguing again, but this time it was Sunset Shimmer who cut in. "Aria is right. We have to work together on this. If Discord feeds off of our magic, then he may become too strong for us to defeat him."

Ever the levelheaded one, Twilight nodded in agreement. "Let's finish eating and take a little time to cool down," she suggested. "Then we'll go to Sweet Apple Acres and start practicing a couple of the songs. Okay?"

X

Outside the restaurant, Discord grinned evilly as he walked away and towards his home. He'd let those stupid teenage girls and the former Siren think that they actually stood a chance of defeating him tonight.

Tomorrow evening, he'd put the girls in their places and use their magic to take over the town. Not the world…yet. He had to have something to do next week, after all…

Back in Equestria….

Applejack's hopes of keeping her new wings hidden were dashed the second Big Macintosh had knocked over a crate of empty zapp apple jam jars, scaring her and making her shoot up in the air, flapping her wings and hovering for a minute or two.

"What in Equestria happened to you?" Granny Smith had exclaimed, studying her granddaughter's wings. Squinting at Applejack, she asked, "Twilight Sparkle wasn't experimenting with some new spell on you, was she?"

"Princess Twilight is… out of town, Granny," Applejack replied, not meeting her family's looks. Displaying her wings for a moment, she shrugged. "As for these, it's…complicated."

"Does this have anything to do with why you were actin' so weird last night?" Apple Bloom asked, eying her big sister suspiciously. "'Cause you were lookin' like there was something you wanted to tell us."

And so, Applejack told her family about talking with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and the first stage of her transformation into an alicorn. When she was done, she looked apologeticly at her little sister. "I know I should have told y'all last night, but you were so excited about getting' your cutie mark, sugar cube, I could steal the spotlight from you." Looking from Apple Bloom's cutie mark to her new wings, Applejack smiled warmly. "Guess both of us are growing up a bit more, huh?"

Granny Smith's eyes glistened with tears as she looked at Applejack, pride and love on every inch of her wizened face. "Well, I want to be the first to say that I'm mighty proud of you, Applejack. And if yer mama and daddy were still here I know they'd feel the same way."

At the mention of her parents, Applejack's ears drooped a bit, especially when she glanced at Apple Bloom. The young filly had never known her parents since Honeycrisp had died in childbirth and Cider had disappeared very shortly afterwards and hadn't been heard from since.

As if sensing her big sister's feelings, Apple Bloom seemed to perk up slightly as she asked, "So…can we see you fly around the orchard?"

"Yeah, Applejack," Big Macintosh said, brightly, wanting to raise his younger sister's mood. "Let's see if you can still outbuck me with those wings."

Applejack's competitive side rose to the surface and she grinned as she cocked her hat smartly. "Oh, you're on, big brother. Just try to keep up!"