Chapter Text
Technicolor: The Rainbooms
Director: Twilight Sparkle
Off-screen, Twilight asks, "Where do you think we should begin?"
Her camera is centered on Rainbow Dash's face, the lead singer of the Rainbooms. Twilight is already dreaming up title cards to go alongside introductions after Rainbow introduced herself.
Rainbow Dash laughs, "Canterlot High. Ten years ago, give or take."
Twilight nods behind her set up, glancing into the viewer to make sure that Rainbow is looking at the right place. She can fade in Rainbow's age now, 24, just to emphasize how long the girls have been making music.
Rainbow starts to explain the story, not needing many prompts from Twilight. The story feels better that way, not needing the director's prodding at every angle. Twilight jots down the main aspects of her story. Not because she doesn't know them, but so she can make sure the other girls follow the same story line so it's easier to have a cohesive edit.
Twilight is two years out of film school, with her own very special degree and expensive camera set up. And she's also the director, videographer, and producer of the Rainbooms' documentary. Really, she's the only person involved in the project, aside from Spike.
Twilight doesn't have a crew, and she doesn't think the expectation is all that high for the documentary. Maybe it'll just be randomly posted onto the band's site for hardcore fans interested in the band's history. Either way, Twilight will do everything she can for the Rainbooms and the film.
The band's new album, Technicolor, is already a success. And for some reason, somehow, Rainbow Dash stumbled across Twilight's senior film project online and decided that Twilight would be the one to film her band's documentary. The Rainbooms' first documentary. The six person band who Twilight has been obsessed with for a decade. The band that has become an international success and Twilight is the one to film their documentary. Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight's never produced an actual film before. This is her first real project outside of school, because she isn't counting senior and proposal pictures in her accolades. Twilight's not exactly sure what percent of the film is going to be documentary and what part will be concert film, but she's just hoping something interesting will play out over the course of the tour she can film and get a good story.
She'll start with some carefully planned backstage shots before their first—or best—concert of the tour. Alternate between the rising crowd, maybe get a few fans to wave their posters and flags at the camera. Have the member's voices overlay as they get ready to go on stage before switching to the song they start every concert with—Welcome to the Show—as the members sing "I've got the music in me" with their stadium full of adoring fans.
"You are going to show these clips, right?" Rarity asks before she sits on the stool in front of the blank backdrop.
She flips her purple hair over her shoulders and tilts her head as she checks her reflection in the mirror Twilight's holding for her. When Rarity nods, Twilight pulls away and checks that the camera is focused before she replies.
"Not sure just yet, Rarity. There will be a lot of unused footage, but it'll take some time to know what we'll include."
The we is more an I than Twilight wants to admit.
Rarity nods. "Should I start with my piano concerts as a child or just jump right into the Rainbooms?"
"Whatever feels natural," Twilight replies.
Rarity has a clip-on mic, but Twilight doesn't have any equipment on her. She projects her voice in the right way for the viewers in case any of her snippets make it into the final edit, though. She has always liked that kind of film-making: a voice just off-side the camera making it feel natural and keeping the story progressing.
Rarity ends up starting with her love for the grand piano. Her interest when she was young and how that transferred into the keytar with the Rainbooms. Twilight smiles at her as she talks, adjusting her glasses with one hand as she scribbles notes with the other.
Her descriptions are beautiful. Twilight will have to get a shot of Rarity playing the piano. Maybe she can get the band to have a real piano onstage for a song or for a concert. It's not like venues are lacking in that regard.
Rarity cuts herself off to frantically ask if Twilight is filming in black and white. Twilight explains that she might use the filter, but that it all comes down to the composition as a whole and how the shows look compared to the interviews.
Rarity nods, and then they both get distracted talking about film and set design.
Applejack is humming when she walks in. No song that Twilight recognizes, but they could just be bass lines she's dreaming up or something Twilight hasn't recognized in the band's songs.
Applejack is in the middle of a story about how her Granny had sold her bass and she had to go fight to get it back. She's wearing her signature hat as she laughs and leans into the story. Applejack is good on film, despite any reservations she had when she talked to Twilight beforehand.
"—and that's how I knew. They stood behind me at that counter until we got it back!"
Applejack smiles and rambles on about her friendship with the band as Twilight defines we as the Rainbooms minus Sunset Shimmer, knowing that she would not be considered a friend for years. She also makes a note to get pictures or old videos of the girls in high school. Maybe layer them over each other like a collage or get the girls to recreate an old song. Twilight has too many ideas to have a definitive film ending time, so she starts thinking about credit scenes.
Fluttershy is careful when she steps in and frowns when Twilight adjusts her settings to raise her mic volume Twilight she tests it.
"It's really a great instrument," Fluttershy says, referencing her tambourine. "You can carry it in your bag and you don't need to plug it in or anything."
"Could you try to keep it in first person, please? I and me when possible."
Fluttershy nods kindly, repeating her sentence accordingly. She starts getting passionate about halfway through, explaining some scenes the band went to before graduating high school. Her experiences being overshadowed and ignored. Her songs never getting the right kind of attention.
Twilight nods all the while, asking the sorts of questions that make Fluttershy think.
Twilight writes a little note as a reminder. You do not have to fix all of their problems.
It would make a great documentary though.
"So, I hear you're the mastermind behind this whole band," Twilight says once Pinkie Pie has bounded over and sat herself where Twilight gestured.
Pinkie's eyes widen as she smiles. The she winks and laughs it off, talking about how Rainbow was the one who decided Pinkie would play the drums for the band and how it was all assembled.
The other members all mentioned Pinkie in some way, talking about how she helped them get their instruments or discover passions. Pinkie doesn't seem to want any credit though, but her reaction gets a stifled laugh out of Twilight that she'll have to edit out later.
Pinkie taps her mic and Twilight grimaces at the sound levels.
"Let's not do that?" she suggests carefully.
Pinkie nods and keeps explaining the history of the Rainbooms. She gets distracted easily, needing more prompting than the other members to stay on track. But the pure contrast between her and the other members will look great when Twilight splices them all together. All the members have such different personalities, something that Twilight hadn't realized the extent of until she met them all.
Twilight doesn't even notice that Sunset Shimmer is in the room until there's a voice over her shoulder saying, "Hello?"
Twilight luckily doesn't jump, although her hands do waver from where she was sorting the mic clips into their respective bags. She quickly recovers, greeting Sunset warmly and setting her up with a mic and a run-down of how their talk is going to go.
Twilight's not quite at the stage of talking about the Rainbooms' album yet. She has had small chats with each of the members before, getting to know their personalities, roles in the band, and interests. Sunset had been the most reserved, waving with her guitar in hand as the others questioned Twilight back. The way the semi-interviews have been going, Twilight gets them to talk about their history with the other members and the band.
Sunset pushes a small strand of her hair away when she sits down. She crosses her legs then awkwardly looks between Twilight and the camera.
"So, what am I supposed to do?" Sunset asks.
Twilight laughs, "Just pretend like I'm not here. Talk about the band."
"Easier said than done."
Twilight giggles embarrassingly. If she's going to be directing a documentary, she needs to practice keeping herself out of the narrative. It's fine for the interviews, but it's not like she's supposed to be seen on-screen or taking attention away from the band.
"But really…"
"Right," Twilight says. "We're just doing some general chats right now, so you can just talk about anything you'd like. Joining the band, your shows in the past, whatever you want."
Sunset nods, her orange and yellow hair falling in front of her ear as she does so. She pauses another second before gesturing forwards.
"What's this footage for?"
"Foundation. Rainbow said she wants a somewhat even mix between the band's history and this tour, but it might be more focused on Technicolor."
Sunset smiles. "Maybe. So I just look right here?"
"Perfect. Whenever you're ready."
Sunset's smile is soft and Twilight can feel her job becoming more difficult by the second. She starts talking and Twilight feels her head lifting at the slight tilt in Sunset's words.
Twilight wishes Sunset wasn't the most hated member of the band.
Twilight doesn't particularly like thinking that, but it's the unfortunate truth. All bands have the fan-favorite, the neglected, and whatever else. And Sunset happens to fall into the category where the comments on the band's posts either never mention her or are rude. The crowd cheers less and Sunset stands neglected during interviews.
Twilight tries to push that out of her mind when they're filming, but she can't ignore the history that Sunset has.
The other members of the band talk about how they have forgiven her, but the crowds aren't exactly eager to forget decade old clips of Sunset being rude back in Canterlot High.
"Did Rainbow know you played guitar before she asked you to join the band?" Twilight asks to get back on track.
Sunset shakes her head. "She asked if I wanted to be a backup singer. Didn't know anything about my awesome skills."
Sunset pauses to laugh.
"There's been ups and there's been downs. But it's our band. And now, here we are."
Maybe Spike can get a drone shot of the stadium as they perform. Spike's a great assistant, although Rarity and Fluttershy keep getting distracted when Twilight tries to talk to them if Spike's near. To be fair, it's not like dragons are common company.
Sunset's portion is done after a few minutes, but she isn't in any hurry to leave the room like the other members of the band were. Twilight knows it isn't because of any sort of isolation. The week she's already spent with the band has taught her as much. The six members are as close as she thought they would be. They sing songs about friendship together, tag each other in posts online, and spend their rehearsals laughing as they play their music.
"So," Sunset starts once Twilight's turned off her camera. "What even is this documentary? I don't think the Rainbooms have reached that level of fame yet."
The Rainbooms are on their first tour, two dozen shows across the country. Sunset's right, the documentary might look more like a series of web diaries, but Twilight's going to do all she can to get it to the level of the greats.
"Well, I don't think your fame matters," Twilight protests. "You guys have so many fans! Your shows are sold out and everyone loves your albums and I'm just here to document that."
Twilight looks down at her notes and smiles. She has barely started the project, but she knows where it's going to go. As long as the tour goes as planned.
Sunset nods carefully at Twilight's explanation, eyes tracking across Twilight's equipment. Only the one camera is pointed at her, but there are plenty of boxes in the studio for Twilight's use. The tour's first date is in a few days, and soon enough Twilight will need to pack everything up and start hauling it around the country with the band.
"Why film?" Sunset asks.
"Why music?" Twilight parrots.
They both shrug at each other before laughing. Twilight doesn't really have an answer. She was the nerdy girl in high school, in the trivia team for science and math, the most requested tutor, and everything else. But she isn't standing before the Rainbooms in a lab coat or with a long math proof. She's dressed up in her fancy work clothes, her hair pinned up and tucked behind her glasses. She's standing behind her camera and analyzing the angles, cinematography to its peak.
She can tell a story with experiments. Frame it the right way and share when it is created. Maybe Rainbow saw Twilight's fan edits of the Rainbooms' old songs instead of her senior film, thinking about it now.
Twilight has seen all of the Rainbooms' interviews, each explanation and conversation interrupting shows. She would have been in the same grade as them if she went to Canterlot instead of Crystal Prep. But that's not what happened. And Twilight is sitting in front of a member right now.
There are a million questions Twilight wants to ask. Those deep-cutting journalistic techniques she studied when writing for Crystal Prep's newspaper. Do the crowds' chants affect your ability to play? or something equally invasive that would wreck the integrity of the documentary if she were to include them.
So, Twilight asks, "How do you feel about this tour? The setlist and everything."
Sunset sobers and shifts in her seat. Maybe Twilight should have turned off the lights centered on her.
"You sure you don't need to film this?"
Twilight shakes her head, so Sunset shrugs and continues.
"It's good. I think we have a pretty even mix of our classic hits and the new stuff."
Twilight nods, but she can tell there's something that Sunset isn't telling her.
"You don't have to…" Twilight trails off awkwardly. "You can be honest. None of this will end up in the final edit, unless you want it to. And then you get to view that anyway."
Sunset looks like she's going to roll her eyes, but seems to stifle the urge and just nods carefully, mimicking Twilight's gestures. In other interviews, Sunset doesn't usually have to conceal things in interviews, at least not in the ones that Twilight has seen. Although, it's not like interviewers ask her many questions.
Twilight's going to make the documentary fair. She's going to make sure that each role in the band is represented with the time they deserve. But Sunset is usually pretty open, at least on her socials. Even if she has the least amount of followers and whatever other slights the Rainbooms' fan base deem necessary.
"I kinda wish we could play some other songs. I mean, I love "Shake Your Tail" and everything, but a lot of the songs we play are from before I was in the band," Sunset says. "And they're great, but no one really seems to want to hear the songs I write or the solos I have."
"What solos do you have?" Twilight asks, thinking back on all of the Rainbooms' recent albums and trying to distinguish Rarity's keytar, Rainbow's lead guitar, and Sunset's rhythm guitar. "I'm sure it's not out of hate for you. It's hard to get all your songs played. You guys only have two hours on stage to work with."
Sunset shakes her head. "I get that, but it's just everything. When we play at small venues and birthdays I can't even play solos because no one will clap. And I'm good, is the thing. They can't possibly know me. And yet, they've all collectively decided I shouldn't be in the Rainbooms."
"All of the other girls love you," Twilight counters. "They really value your friendship, anyone can see that."
Sunset laughs. "It doesn't matter if they know I've changed. There's always another crowd during shows that finds some old video to hate me over. Aren't they kind of right?"
"No!" Twilight exclaims. "They're not! You're a great person, Sunset"
Sunset shies away, "You don't even know me, Twilight. We've just met."
"But I don't feel the need to abstain from clapping when you're onstage. I don't need to boo you or throw things or be rude."
"It doesn't mean I wasn't rude— I mean, Fluttershy—" Sunset cuts herself off, looking away from Twilight. "I'm oversharing, sorry. But really, don't worry. It's fine."
Twilight bites her lip and nudges her glasses up the bridge of her nose. They barely know each other, but Twilight feels some sort of connection with Sunset. Maybe the fact that they're both neglected or sorted into different categories. But Twilight doesn't have the friends that Sunset does. She doesn't have a band or a loving fan base or really anything. There's Spike, but he's off listening to the Rainbooms' rehearsal as Twilight does interviews, plans, and films.
Twilight lets Sunset get away with losing that thread of the conversation, but she ends up repeating one of her earlier questions that remained unanswered.
"What songs do you have solos in? Any I would know?"
Twilight knows all of the Rainbooms' songs. And all of the individual songs the members have released online. All of the clips and snippets that have ever surfaced. Twilight needs to tone down her obsessive fan behavior, though, so she says the wiser thing to tone it down.
Sunset shrugs, adjusting to the change of topic well. "'Sing It'. I have a verse in there. I don't know, Twilight. There are some other—"
"'Sing It?'" Twilight repeats. "That's my favorite song!"
It's a new song from their album, but it instantly became one of Twilight's favorites. She loves the Rainbooms. She loves "Shake Your Tail" and "Dance Magic" and "Shine Like Rainbooms" and every other song they make. But "Sing It" has a different kind of charm. And now that Twilight thinks about it, the song really is mainly Sunset.
Everyone sings, obviously. Rainbow has her own verse, but Sunset starts off the song and ends it.
'Had the same change before / Made me doubt all my chords' is taking on a different meaning with Sunset Shimmer sitting in front of her.
"Really?" Sunset asks, voice hesitant.
Twilight nods enthusiastically. She doesn't start singing, but she wants to talk about how the music video was so artfully done and was the change in weather on purpose or were there filming conflicts?
"No one likes that song," Sunset continues. "It has the lowest sells, plays, views, everything."
"Well, it's still new. Maybe they just need to hear it live."
Sunset shrugs. "Good luck convincing Rainbow. She wants the encore to be 'Awesome As I Wanna Be' fifty times in a row."
Twilight laughs, recalling shakily recorded concert videos of crowds screaming as Rainbow Dash and the band came back onstage for the last song of the set as if they weren't going to play it the whole time. She forces herself back from the dream of professionally recording the concerts on tour to continue the conversation.
"Maybe one of those can be 'Sing It'," Twilight replies.
Sunset shrugs again, which is an answer within itself. Twilight knows the band listens to Sunset. Twilight's had the pleasure of sitting through one of their rehearsals to see how they work before she started filming, and she knows that any new riff that Sunset comes up with or suggestion for the band is taken with grace and considered the same as any other.
They talk some more, all gentle conversation and lulls back into normality. Sunset starts asking about angles and Twilight pulls up her footage, careful to hide the notepad dissecting each pause in dialogue and glance away from the camera.
Sunset smiles softly at her before she gets up and leaves Twilight to herself, thanking Twilight for the first interview of many. She's guessing that Sunset isn't often met with interviewers who want to hear her side of the story.
The tour will officially start in a few days with the first show. Twilight has her work cut out for her.