Also this guy:

The sun beat down on Sweet Apple Acres, the heat torturous reminder of how even Princess Celestia herself could be a bitch at times. Or at least, that was the gist of the thoughts harbored by a certain orange farmpony toiling away on an unusually blistering autumn morning.

“Fer Celestia’s sake, Ah’m burnin’ up faster n’ a pig over a bonfire.” Applejack muttered. Before she had time to consider everything wrong with such a statement, she was unceremoniously bowled over by some unknown force. Though, if she had to guess, she was entirely sure who-

“AJ!” Came the scratchy voice of the pegasus responsible. “Hey, AJ, you’re cool right?”

As Applejack shifted to a sitting position, she recalled the last conversation she’d had with Rainbow Dash that had started along these lines. With a frown, she sighed and grumbled, “What’d ya break this time, Dash?”

“What? No, I didn’t do anything, I swear! This is something completely different!” Rainbow said in a rush.

Applejack was not convinced, and hardened her glare. “Dash…”

“Anyway, you’re cool, right? Of course I’m right, I’m always right. So, I just had the coolest idea and you’re the only pony I trust not to screw it up!”

Applejack tilted her head. “If this is another one a’ yer distractions-“

“Come on, AJ, would you just drop it already? I Pinkie promise I didn’t break anything. Unless we’re talking about records, cuz I break those all the time. So, how would you like to start a band with me?”

The question was met with a long silence as Applejack considered this latest potentially disastrous idea the pegasus had come up with. But those previous ones had usually been some kind of stunt that left Rainbow in the hospital with a broken bone of some sort. This… this was new. She knew Rainbow was rather fond of music in her own right, but this had come entirely out of left field. It still held its risks, but Applejack couldn’t think of any that might lead to physical injury this time, though you could never put anything past the brash Dash.

“AJ?”

Applejack sighed in defeat. No matter how stupid the idea, she could never say no to Rainbow. “Alright, Ah’ll do it. But ya gotta promise me ya won’t run the whole thing.”

“What, me? No, I already got all this figured out. I figured you wouldn’t want to do something awesome, so I’ll let you do what you want with the vocals and I’ll do my thing with the guitars and stuff.

“And just where are ya gonna get a guitar?”

“Way ahead of you!” Rainbow opened a case strapped to her side that had been hidden behind her wings and pulled out a state-of-the-art electric guitar.

Applejack looked the guitar up and down, prodding it a few times to make sure it wasn’t made of paper or some such. But despite her scrutiny, it appeared to be just that, a state-of-the-art electric guitar. “Where exactly did you get-“

“Pinkie.”

“…Okay, where exactly did Pinkie-“

“AJ, she gathered enough instruments for a one-mare band during a parasprite invasion. What makes this so different?”

“Ah suppose so…” Applejack trailed off. “But even Pinkie can’t make things outta nothin, so she musta gotten it somewheres…”



Meanwhile, in Ponyville.

Vinyl Scratch yawned and stretched her limbs, still sore after a night of shenanigans. She regarded the mare sleeping beside her who assisted in said shenanigans with a smile on her face. Not one to wait, Vinyl nuzzled her bedmate incessantly until she began to stir.

“Bwuh… Vinyl-“

“Morning, Tavi!” Vinyl cut her marefriend off.

Octavia had come to expect such antics from the DJ she had become so attached to, rubbing her eyes and accepting her fate of an early rise. She was still exhausted from the previous night and could have admittedly used a couple more hours. “Good morning, Vinyl.”

“Have fun last night?” Vinyl asked, entirely too energetic for having just woken up.

“Yes, I-“ Octavia cut herself off as she noticed something amiss.

“Tavi? Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

“Yes,” Octavia answered simply.

Vinyl furrowed her brow, certain Octavia was teasing her. Or at least she was before the movement made her aware of something papery stuck to her forehead. She ripped off the offending object and was about to discard it when she saw that it was in fact a sticky note.

“Hey, Scratchie! I hope you don’t mind, but I borrowed your guitar for a bit. I promise I’ll get it back to you soon! Hugs!
-Pinkie”

Vinyl tossed the note away unceremoniously and rushed over to where she kept her prized Coltson guitar, only to find it conspicuously missing.

“Vinyl?” Octavia’s voice followed the perturbed mare.

“Dammit, Pinkie!”



Rainbow shrugged. “Who knows? Anyway, the thing is I have it and now we can get started!”

Applejack frowned. “In case ya hadn’t noticed, Ah’m still workin, Dash. We can do this later.”

Rainbow sagged, crossing her forelegs and adopting a pout. “You’re no fun,” she groused, flying away slowly.

Applejack sighed, catching the pegasus’ tail before she flew out of reach. Rainbow responded with an exclamation of pain at the tug, followed by a hopeful glance behind her.

“So?”

Applejack sighed again. “Ah guess Ah can come back ta this tomorrow.”

“Yes! This is gonna be so awesome! Come on, let’s get to the barn, it’s way too hot out here.”

For the first time this morning, Applejack had to agree with Rainbow. She shook her head, wondering not for the first time why she put up with the pegasus.

To the barn!

“Alright, let’s do this!” Rainbow shouted once she had gotten set up, having somehow deposited amps in the barn without Applejack noticing. Before she could question this development, her ears were assaulted by an awkward, screeching riff.

Once her ears had stopped ringing, Applejack accosted her would-be bandmate. “What in tarnation was that?”

Rainbow responded with a nervous smile. “I have no idea how to play the guitar.”

Applejack brought her hoof to her face, unable to dignify any other response. This was going to be a long day. But even with that thought, she couldn’t help the smile that came to her muzzle.