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| 3 | %% Please avoid using fan nicknames like "Humane Seven/Six/Five" for the group. |
| 4 | %% Mane Six/Seven are acceptable since these have been used by official news media and by Hasbro |
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| 9 | %% Pure character tropes have been moved to the Characters page. |
| 10 | %% Please check out if it's not already there before adding a new example. |
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| 15 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mlp_eg_poster_rev_print_5547.jpg]] |
| 16 | [[caption-width-right:300:Why should only [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Autobots]] get to [[AutobotsRockOut rock out?]]]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ->''And the music, yeah, the music \ |
| 19 | Gets us to the top \ |
| 20 | As we learn how the rainbow... \ |
| 21 | [[TitleDrop Rainbow Rocks!]]'' |
| 22 | -->-- '''The OpeningCredits song''' |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks'' is a movie sequel to ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'', itself a spin-off of the animated television show ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. It was released theatrically on September 27, 2014, with the television broadcast set for October 17 and the Region 1 DVD/Blu-ray release exactly one month later on October 28, 2014. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Set between seasons four and five of the show, the film picks up after the original one -- Twilight Sparkle has gone home to Equestria and is now the Princess of Friendship, while her friends in the human world have reunited and Sunset Shimmer is attempting to make amends for her evil ways despite the school hating her. However, a new threat enters the scene: three new students, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk (collectively known as "The Dazzlings"). Using some sort of dark magic channeled by their singing, the trio spreads a HatePlague across Canterlot High, turning a friendly talent show into a BattleOfTheBands. With the entire school under their control and the students turned against each other worse than ever, Sunset contacts Twilight in Equestria to ask for her help in defeating the trio and freeing CHS before whatever scheme they're plotting comes to fruition. Twilight discovers the Dazzlings are dangerous creatures called the [[OurSirensAreDifferent Sirens]], who use their singing to mind control others into turning against each other and feed on their negative energy to gain power. She returns to Canterlot High and joins her human friends' band, the Rainbooms, and being the only ones who were not affected by the Dazzlings' spell, they must work together to make a musical counterspell and set aside their differences so they can save the day. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | A series of self-contained shorts preceding the movie serves as preludes to the story, and the film is followed by several other {{Animated Music Video}}s. All of these have their own page: ''WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocksShorts''. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | There is also a book, ''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks'', written by Perdita Finn, that novelizes these shorts and with additional details for leading into the film. A third book, ''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks: The Mane Event'', released in October 2014, is the novelization of the actual film. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | This movie is followed by ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames'', the third film in the franchise. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | ---- |
| 35 | !!''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks'' provides example of: |
| 36 | |
| 37 | * EleventhHourRanger: |
| 38 | ** [[spoiler:Vinyl Scratch[=/=]DJ Pon-3]] gives some much-needed last-minute help to the Rainbooms. |
| 39 | ** And after that, [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer leaves the sidelines to join the rest of the Rainbooms in singing against the Dazzlings]]. |
| 40 | * TwentyPercentMoreAwesome: |
| 41 | ** The Rainbooms are trying to buy time for Twilight to write the counterspell: |
| 42 | --->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Remember, we have to be good enough to make it through but not so good we let the sirens see the magic within us. They could realize we plan to use it against them.\ |
| 43 | '''Rainbow Dash:''' Got it! Be cool enough to win, but not so cool that we end up showing off the whole ears and tails and rainbows thing. Sooo... about ''twenty percent less cool''. |
| 44 | ** The soundtrack version of Rainbow's song "Awesome as I Wanna Be" has the lyrics, ''"When it comes to makin' music, I'm the ruler / You wish you could be twenty percent cooler."'' |
| 45 | * AdaptationPersonalityChange: Before the Dazzlings offer the CHS students their AppleOfDiscord, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and the Great and Powerful Trixie are all seen getting along with everyone else, quite unlike their Equestrian counterparts. [[HeelFaceTurn Before Season 5 that is...]] |
| 46 | * AdultsAreUseless: Human Luna and Celestia are the Dazzlings' first brainwashing target, ensuring that the Rainbooms have to solve the problem on their own. Aside from a very brief appearance by Granny Smith and Mrs. Cake, they are the only adult characters in the entire film. |
| 47 | * AdvertisedExtra: Merchandising and trailers prominently focused on DJ Pon-3/Vinyl Scratch, even having her get her own short. [[spoiler: While she does play an important part in the climax]], up until that point she only appears in the background of some scenes and is nowhere near as prominent as the advertising would have you believe. |
| 48 | * {{Ahem}}: |
| 49 | ** Rarity uses the euphemistic version when talking to Sunset Shimmer.[[labelnote:fun fact]]That last part of the line was ad-libbed by Tabitha St. Germain.[[/labelnote]] |
| 50 | --->'''Rarity:''' Oh darling, you have us! And we've forgiven you for your past -- ''ahem'' -- "boo-boos". |
| 51 | ** Also, Twilight Sparkle trying to cover up her crush on Flash: |
| 52 | --->'''Twilight:''' Flash Sentry was asking about me?!? ''Ahem'' -- isn't that nice. |
| 53 | * AlliterativeTitle: Well, subtitle, "Rainbow Rocks". |
| 54 | * AllThereInTheScript: |
| 55 | ** From the toyline, Photo Finish's band is called the Snapshots, and her bandmates are Pixel Pizzaz and Violet Blurr. |
| 56 | ** Aria Blaze's name is not mentioned in the film, only in the credits. |
| 57 | * AllThereInTheStinger: It ends with [[spoiler:the human Twilight claiming that there is something strange about Canterlot High]]. Cue ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames Friendship Games]]''... |
| 58 | * AllYourColorsCombined: In the final battle, [[spoiler:when Sunset joins the band, adding a seventh color (red) to the friendship rainbow, the Rainbooms reach full power and break the Dazzlings' spell over the crowd, allowing them to use the additional musical power to conjure up a rainbow-beam-firing alicorn avatar and defeat the Dazzlings once and for all]]. |
| 59 | * AmplifierArtifact: |
| 60 | ** The ruby pendants worn by the Dazzlings amplify their magic in the human world, allowing them to inflict a HatePlague on the people with their MindControlMusic, and gain power through [[EmotionEater absorbing said negative emotions]]. [[spoiler:Once the pendants are destroyed in the final battle, they lose their magic abilities and can no longer sing in tune.]] |
| 61 | ** In the climax, [[spoiler:Vinyl Scratch's DJ booth and bass speakers act as this for the Rainbooms, quite literally, weaponizing their MagicMusic to blast at the Dazzlings' Siren avatars]]. |
| 62 | * AnimationBump: Even with the great effects the show has gotten over four seasons, the film still pulls it off. There's a lot of usage of shading from light sources, DepthOfField including RackFocus, camera {{pan}}s and {{doll|y}}ies, and compared to the first film the human characters are more dynamic and expressive. |
| 63 | * AngryCollarGrab: When Aria suggests that maybe the Dazzlings should follow her lead instead of Adagio's, the latter grabs her by the front of her vest and promptly reasserts her authority over the trio. |
| 64 | * AppleOfDiscord: The BattleOfTheBands becomes this for the students of CHS, fueling their HatePlague. Vice-Principal Luna practically [[LampshadeHanging shines a spotlight]] on the apple before the opening round. |
| 65 | -->'''Vice-Principal Luna:''' As this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner. ''Who is it going to be?'' |
| 66 | * ArgumentOfContradictions: One of Sonata and Aria's common arguments. |
| 67 | -->'''Sonata Dusk:''' What do ''you'' know about good fruit punch?\ |
| 68 | '''Aria Blaze:''' More than you.\ |
| 69 | '''Sonata Dusk:''' Do ''not.''\ |
| 70 | '''Aria Blaze:''' Do ''too.'' |
| 71 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: Adagio Dazzle manages to shut down Sunset Shimmer with just four words. |
| 72 | -->'''Sunset Shimmer:''' You're never going to get away with this.\ |
| 73 | '''Adagio Dazzle:''' Why? Because ''[[NotSoDifferentRemark you]]'' didn't? |
| 74 | * ArtisticLicenseMusic: The guitar Rainbow plays is electric; however, in some parts of "Better Than Ever" And "Shine Like Rainbows", the guitar sound heard is an acoustic. |
| 75 | * ArtShift: |
| 76 | ** The opening credits use black silhouettes of the characters (with only the facial cutie marks and red gems as spots of color). They are also often more stylized, notably with legs ending in pointy tips instead of feet. |
| 77 | ** The ending credits use monochrome still frames of the characters in a more detailed style. |
| 78 | * AscendedExtra: |
| 79 | ** Human Trixie only appears for a quick cameo in the first film. By contrast, she plays a bigger role here as a member of one of the rival bands the Rainbooms face against, called "Trixie and the Illusions". |
| 80 | ** Unlike the first film, Human Photo Finish speaks in this one. And like Trixie, she leads a rival band. |
| 81 | ** This story marks the first time that [[spoiler:Octavia Melody is ''heard'' speaking as either a human or a pony. Both versions had previously spoken in the comics]]. |
| 82 | ** At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:DJ Pon-3 has joined the Rainbooms]]. |
| 83 | * AscendedMeme: |
| 84 | ** After the Dazzlings escalate the final battle with the Rainbooms, [[spoiler:Vinyl's CoolCar[=/=]DJ system demonstrates DiscoTech properties similar to the BASS CANNON concept introduced in the fan video ''[[WebAnimation/EpicPonyTime Epic Wub Time: Musicians of Ponyville]]'']]. |
| 85 | ** "20% cooler" ''finally'' gets another mention here, once as a joke ("20% less cool"), and once in the extended soundtrack version of "Awesome as I Wanna Be". |
| 86 | ** To some extent, Egophiliac's "Inconvenient Trixie" is extremely apt at a few points here. |
| 87 | * AsskickingPose: Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie take one just as the group defies the Dazzlings at the party. Pinkie having a cookie in her mouth ruins a bit the effect, though. |
| 88 | * AstralProjection: Seems to be how the Dazzlings' power manifests in the human realm. Once at full power, they are able to summon their Siren forms as ethereal avatars. |
| 89 | * AsYouKnow: |
| 90 | ** Although there is some debate as to how long exactly the Dazzlings have been exiled to the human world, in the prologue Adagio's discussion about how it is lacking Equestrian magic and Aria's comment about their banishment are something they should know already. |
| 91 | ** Likewise, Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms discussing the events of the first movie is for the audience's benefit; you'd think Sunset especially wouldn't want to dwell so much on it. Pinkie Pie's intervention is then just rubbing it in, but that's in character for Pinkie. |
| 92 | * AutobotsRockOut: The music builds and becomes noticeably heavier during the climactic fight where [[spoiler:the Dazzlings summon their siren forms]], in contrast to the pop rock that has been played for most of the movie. |
| 93 | * AutoTune: The Dazzlings' necklaces; see AmplifierArtifact above. [[spoiler:Among the necklaces' other powers, they help the Sirens sing in tune with each other.]] [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Sunset Shimmer after the final showdown. |
| 94 | * AwardBaitSong: The end credits song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykOzD10kjos "Shine Like Rainbows"]]. |
| 95 | * BaitAndSwitch: There's a scene where it seems like Flash is going to punch Snips. Turns out all he is doing is grabbing his cup to get more punch. |
| 96 | * {{Balloonacy}}: In the throne room, pony Pinkie Pie is shortly seen riding atop the yellow balloon that she has just inflated. |
| 97 | * BattleOfTheBands: |
| 98 | ** The entire plot involves the Dazzlings turning a friendly musical showcase into this. The song they use to incite the students to this is even titled "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)". |
| 99 | ** The pre-finals are illustrated as bands literally blowing their respective opponents away with their music. |
| 100 | ** A ''literal'' one happens [[spoiler:in the FinalBattle when the Rainbooms arrive to defeat them, both sides using MagicMusic to fight. The Dazzlings are defeated when Sunset steps in. Adagio lampshades the literalness of the trope when the Rainbooms arrive]]. |
| 101 | --->'''Adagio Dazzle:''' [[spoiler:So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real Battle of the Bands? Then let's ''battle''!]] |
| 102 | * BearHug: Pinkie Pie gives one to Twilight (and Spike, squeezed between them), lifting her from the ground, while insisting she spends the night at her house. |
| 103 | * BeQuietNudge: |
| 104 | ** Adagio emphatically urges Sonata to shut up as she almost blows their whole plan to Sunset Shimmer when they're being shown around the school. |
| 105 | ** Rainbow Dash has to elbow Pinkie Pie when the latter is questioning [[spoiler:Principal Celestia's decision of letting the Rainbooms participate in the finals instead of Trixie and the Illusions]]. |
| 106 | * BigShutUp: Sunset Shimmer yelling [[spoiler:"STOP! YOU HAVE TO STOP!" at the bickering Rainbooms while their magic is getting drained by the Dazzlings]]. [[ContinuityNod Somewhat mirrors]] Twilight's use of the same trope in the first movie. |
| 107 | * BizarreInstrument: The biggest scene for Derpy's human version shows her playing the musical saw at the talent contest. Her two bandmates play the triangle and the cowbell, respectively. |
| 108 | * TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: Not a weapon in this case, but the neck of Applejack's bass guitar lands straight into one of Pinkie's drums during the DisasterDominoes sequence. It can be seen still there even as the principals announce the winner of the semi-finals. |
| 109 | * BondVillainStupidity: After knocking [[spoiler:the Rainbooms down during the finale, the Dazzlings' {{Astral Projection}}s just stand there floating above them instead of trying to finish them off, which gives the heroines the opportunity to counterattack and defeat them]]. |
| 110 | * {{Bookends}}: When Twilight first enters the human world, Sunset offers her a hand up and she noticeably hesitates to take it, showing that while she may have given her a second chance [[ForgivenButNotForgotten she is still wary of her]]. [[spoiler:During the film's climax, after Sunset has proven herself to be a true friend to the rest of the Rainbooms, she once again offers her hand to Twilight, who doesn't hesitate to take it this time.]] |
| 111 | * BrickJoke: |
| 112 | ** Before the girls meet the Dazzlings, Sunset Shimmer mentions something "off" about them, and Pinkie Pie starts questioning what she means. Then, after the trio bursts into the cafeteria and hypnotizes the rest of the student body in a sultry manner, Pinkie is the first to speak: |
| 113 | --->'''Pinkie Pie:''' Oooh, they're ''that'' kind of "off"! |
| 114 | ** During their talk about reaching Princess Twilight, Rainbow Dash assesses they wouldn't most likely have cellphones where she's from. A little later in Equestria, the book where their message appears in is seen glowing and vibrating just like one. |
| 115 | ** Twilight meeting Pinkie in the first film sets up TheStinger; see CallBack below. |
| 116 | * BrokenAce: Twilight Sparkle is an actual magical pony and a Princess of Friendship with a castle and a long list of defeated enemies. Of course she's going to save the day! [[spoiler:In fact she's totally out of her depth, and is too afraid of letting everyone down to admit it.]] |
| 117 | * BroughtDownToNormal: |
| 118 | ** Twilight Sparkle again. In Equestria, she's a powerful alicorn princess who easily creates an interdimensional portal in Act 1 with just a little MagiBabble. When she crosses over, she has next to no power or magic. |
| 119 | ** [[spoiler:This is implied to have happened to the Dazzlings after their siren forms were destroyed and their pendants shattered. They are now unable to sing properly and are booed off the stage by the student body, complete with ProducePelting.]] |
| 120 | * BrutalHonesty: Pinkie is good for it regarding Sunset's time as a villain. Particularly when she says the old her really was terrible; everyone else hems and haws about how to respond while Pinkie gives a cheerful "Yup!" |
| 121 | * ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: During "Under Our Spell", the Crusaders are shortly back-lighted as dark silhouettes, but their eyes stay visible. |
| 122 | * ByThePowerOfGrayskull: Twilight tries to invoke the pony-up TransformationSequence that will enable her and the others to use magic by joining hands with the Rainbooms and shouting "Friendship is magic!" Unfortunately, it's not that easy, because she drew that magic from the crown, while the Sirens' magic comes from their music and they can only channel their magic by playing music to combat their power. |
| 123 | * CallBack: |
| 124 | ** Sunset Shimmer and the others recall the time Sunset [[OneWingedAngel transformed into a raging she-demon]] and turned all the students into her personal army of zombies. [[RunningGag Several times]], in fact, much to Sunset's annoyance. |
| 125 | ** From the pony side, the story starts with Twilight receiving a shipment of books to help fill her new castle after the events of "Twilight's Kingdom". |
| 126 | ** Star Swirl the Bearded is named as the one that banished the Dazzlings from Equestria. |
| 127 | ** Spike and Twilight tell the girls about the events in "Twilight's Kingdom" where she got a castle and a formal title as the Princess of Friendship. |
| 128 | ** Spike and Twilight also tell them about the events of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E13MagicalMysteryCure Magical Mystery Cure]]" where Twilight finished a spell. |
| 129 | * TheCameo: |
| 130 | ** Beyond Vinyl Scratch, Photo Finish, and Derpy, already present from the first film, and the three Diamond Dog Boys introduced in the "Player Piano" short, we get Octavia Melody, Bulk Biceps, Lyra Heartstrings, Sweetie Drops and Maud Pie (with her pet rock Boulder) as humanized characters, with several participating in the Battle of the Bands. |
| 131 | ** Human Pinkie has a plush Gummy doll. |
| 132 | ** More importantly, there's also [[spoiler:Twilight's human counterpart and her Spike, who show up after the credits]]. |
| 133 | * CannotSpitItOut: It's never made clear what Twilight was about to say to Sunset before changing her mind at the end of the kitchen scene. She may have been trying to confess that she doesn't know how to write the counterspell and wanted to ask for Sunset's help. |
| 134 | * CastCalculus: Villainesses and heroines alike. |
| 135 | ** For the Rainbooms, |
| 136 | *** Twilight Sparkle is TheHero[=/=]TheLeader, the one who would lead and cast the spell to save the day. |
| 137 | *** Rainbow Dash is TheLancer, who sees herself as the leader at first and contrasts Twilight. |
| 138 | *** Applejack is TheBigGuy, obviously. |
| 139 | *** Pinkie is TheFunnyGuy, obviously. |
| 140 | *** Fluttershy is [[NaiveNewcomer The Young Guy]], as she is the most frightened by everything. |
| 141 | *** Rarity is TheSmartGuy, as she was the one who was the most savvy when it came to how to put on a band performance. |
| 142 | *** Sunset Shimmer is the [[SixthRanger Seventh Ranger]] and The Old Guy, not because she's older than they are (even if she is), but because of her experiences (although [[VagueAge it's ambiguous how old Sunset actually is]], she manifests in the human world as a teenage girl like the other members of the Equestria Girls). |
| 143 | ** For the Dazzlings, we have the FreudianTrio and ComicTrio all rolled up in one. |
| 144 | *** Adagio is very easily TheSpock (slightly subverting the usual setup) and the Leader, respectively. |
| 145 | *** Aria is TheKirk (being a balance of the logical Adagio and the emotive Sonata) and the Complainer, respectively. |
| 146 | *** Sonata is TheMcCoy and the Dingbat, respectively. |
| 147 | * CelestialBody: At the climax, [[spoiler:the giant alicorn coming out of the clouds has a body seemingly made of starry sky]]. |
| 148 | * ChekhovsGag: Vinyl Scratch is [[FunnyBackgroundEvent seen bobbing her head to music on her headphones twice, first from the back as the Dazzlings walk through the tables, then it's more obviously her when seen in the background, during "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)"]]. [[spoiler:This is why she isn't affected by the Dazzlings' spell and is able to help the Rainbooms later on, since she never heard the original song. The "Music to My Ears" short is further allusion to this, as the only time music is not heard loud and clear is when she takes off her headphones.]] |
| 149 | * ChekhovsGun: Fluttershy tries to point out to the rest of the Rainbooms that she has written some songs and asks if the band could rehearse and play them, and it becomes a RunningGag that the band doesn't get to play her song. [[spoiler:The Rainbooms, near the end of the film, perform one of Fluttershy's songs to counter the songs of the Dazzlings and break the rest of the student body out of their HatePlague.]] |
| 150 | * ChekhovsGunman: Vinyl Scratch/DJ Pon-3, [[spoiler:whose headphones protected her from the Dazzlings' hypnotizing siren song, having never heard any of their singing throughout the entire film, is the one who frees the Rainbooms after they are locked in the basement by Trixie, and she converts her car into a mobile sound system for the final battle]]. |
| 151 | * ChirpingCrickets: Twilight and friends lock hands together before the whole student body, and she dramatically exclaims "Friendship is magic!"... and nothing happens. Follows an embarrassing moment of silence (even the background music has stopped) as everybody looks at them in confusion, with only a discreet cough being heard. |
| 152 | * CirclingMonologue: Adagio and Aria circle Sunset Shimmer while telling her they've learned of her reputation and putting her friendship with the Rainbooms to doubt. Note that there is obviously little space between Sunset and the wall corner, yet they still walk around her for the sake of the trope. Sonata joins in too, although she doesn't exactly master the concept of "circling". |
| 153 | * TheCoatsAreOff: Sunset Shimmer deliberately casts aside her leather jacket after picking up the mic in the final showdown. She even has a [[SleevesAreForWimps shoulder-baring halter top]] for bonus points. |
| 154 | * ColonCancer: |
| 155 | ** ''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks'' |
| 156 | ** It gets even worse with the novel to the film: ''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks: The Mane Event''. |
| 157 | * TheComicallySerious: After Snips and Snails' MicDrop: |
| 158 | -->'''Principal Celestia:''' Please do not drop the microphones. |
| 159 | * CompetitionFreak: The Dazzlings' HatePlague turns nearly every student into this, but the ones who get the worst of it are Trixie and Flash who both antagonize the Rainbooms throughout the movie and even get into each other's face at times. [[SoreLoser They both also don't take losing very well.]] |
| 160 | * ConfettiDrop: During "Shake Your Tail", Pinkie activates a cannon from her floor tom which shoots confetti that rains down the Rainbooms, worrying them. Twilight even chokes on some, which gets the attention of a dissatisfied Flash. |
| 161 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 162 | ** While all the students and faculty at CHS that are based on the Mane Six and commonly-seen background ponies are given some character traits that differ from their Equestrian counterparts, they tend to have [[BroadStrokes some things in common]]. |
| 163 | ** The "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)" sequence starts with a wide shot of the cafeteria similar to the one starting the "Equestria Girls (Cafeteria Song)" sequence in the first movie. Fitting, as the two songs are thematic opposites. |
| 164 | ** When Vice-Principal Luna accuses Sunset Shimmer of casting doubt on the new students so the rest of CHS will forget her own actions at the Fall Formal, the first person to speak in Sunset's defense is [[UndyingLoyalty Rainbow Dash]]. |
| 165 | ** Fluttershy plays with a ladybug next to the rearing horse statue. In the first movie, one of the first things Twilight saw after coming out of the portal in the statue was a ladybug. |
| 166 | ** Sunset Shimmer begins writing her message to Equestria with an all-too familiar phrase. |
| 167 | --->'''Sunset Shimmer:''' ''[lamenting]'' Been a long time since I've written these words... ''[[OncePerEpisode Dear Princess Celestia...]]'' |
| 168 | ** Spike is seen reading a ''JustForFun/DaringDo'' book at the beginning of the pony sequence. |
| 169 | ** Twilight learns about the Sirens from the same storybook seen in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon Friendship Is Magic – Part 1]]" and "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 Twilight's Kingdom – Part 1]]". |
| 170 | ** Twilight says to Pinkie "Pinkie, you're a genius!", to which Pinkie responds "Yeah, I get that a lot." Twilight has previously said this to her in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed Luna Eclipsed]]" and "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E20ItsAboutTime It's About Time]]". |
| 171 | ** A nod to "Music to My Ears" with Vinyl Scratch seen walking in the background of the café just like she did in the short. (It can't be the same moment, though, since Twilight and Sunset are here unlike in the short.) |
| 172 | ** Twilight is still having trouble adjusting to hands; she decides to be the singer of the group since learning an instrument with them would take time they don't have, and we catch her writing with her pen in her mouth in a later scene. |
| 173 | ** Pinkie's expression while playing the {{theremin}} is similar to the "creamy frosting" line. |
| 174 | ** AJ and Rainbow Dash are playing a video game based on the humanized version of the Mane-iac seen in the 2014 Annual. |
| 175 | ** As Sunset and Twilight find out, Pinkie has a fridge full of whipped cream. That is to say, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E1PrincessTwilightSparklePart1 creamy frosting]]. |
| 176 | ** The lyrics of Twilight's "Bad Counter Spell" are a KirkSummation about defeating villains with ThePowerOfFriendship, similar to the ones she's delivered when the Mane Six used the Elements of Harmony in Equestria. |
| 177 | ** Snips and Snails' rap starts with a similar beat to Pinkie's rap in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E22TestingTesting123 Testing Testing 1, 2, 3]]". Snips' outfit is also similar to the one Pinkie wore in that episode. |
| 178 | ** Applejack and Rarity constantly argue with each other, like their pony counterparts in "Look Before You Sleep". |
| 179 | ** In the previous film, human Pinkie wished she had some kind of party cannon. Here she rigs her drums to shoot confetti, with the same sound effect as pony Pinkie's cannon. |
| 180 | ** The Crusaders are in human-equivalent versions of the CMC's rock-band outfits from "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E18TheShowStoppers The Show Stoppers]]" for their segment. |
| 181 | ** Rainbow Dash makes reference to the "20% cooler" line before performing "Shake Your Tail!" by saying they should be "about 20% less cool". The line is also referenced in the full version of "Awesome as I Wanna Be". |
| 182 | ** Fluttershy has stage fright. In fact, her running away from the spotlight as Snips and Snails re-position it mirrors her pony counterpart running from the same in the ImagineSpot from "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E14FilliVanilli Filli Vanilli]]". |
| 183 | ** Sunset Shimmer once again talks to someone in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls a dimly lit hallway]]. |
| 184 | ** Fluttershy's lyrics, which we get to hear when the Rainbooms face off in the final battle, are thematically similar to the lyrics in the episode "Filli Vanilli" (both Fluttershy's own song there and the Ponytones' song), in how music can help one express themselves. |
| 185 | ** The Rainbooms get {{Super Mode}}s with glowing rainbow-striped hair similar to the Rainbow Power in "Twilight's Kingdom". |
| 186 | ** [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer's own transformation to anthropony form]] is in the same style as the {{Transformation Sequence}}s of the heroines from the climax of ''Equestria Girls''. |
| 187 | ** The final scene where Trixie interrupts Twilight and Flash's moment together has her quoting pony Trixie's final line from "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E6BoastBusters Boast Busters]]" practically word-for-word (just replace "an Ursa Minor" with "the Dazzlings"). She even ends it with a failed SmokeOut, just like in her counterpart's debut. |
| 188 | --->'''Trixie Lulamoon:''' You may have vanquished the Dazzlings, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie! |
| 189 | ** "Shine Like Rainbows" has lyrics similar to "Let the Rainbow Remind You". |
| 190 | ** The movie even calls back to the comic book arc "Reflections" by showing a book that has a counterpart in Equestria that is affected by changes made to the version in the human world, something that became a plot point during the course of that arc. |
| 191 | ** Near the end of the first movie, Twilight reaches out to Sunset to help her up. Near the beginning of ''this'' movie, ''Sunset'' reaches out to ''Twilight''. |
| 192 | * CompressedHair: In the [[TheTeaser cold open]], the Dazzlings manage to fit their rather impressive heads of hair under their [[InTheHood hoodies]]. So blatant it's obviously PlayedForLaughs. They're even referred to as "Bags of Holding" in the commentary. |
| 193 | * ContrivedCoincidence: Sunset Shimmer writes in her book at the very moment a delivery pony was bringing its double to Twilight. This avoids delaying the narrative by involving Princess Celestia acting as an intermediary. |
| 194 | * CoolCar: Vinyl Scratch's car is able to [[spoiler:transform into a fully-functional audio management/equalizer and light show system]]. |
| 195 | * {{Counterspell}}: Twilight Sparkle's strategy to confront the Dazzlings is to write a counterspell song against their siren voices; this is what motivate the Rainbooms to participate in the BattleOfTheBands. [[spoiler:However, this proves a daunting task even for a magic prodigy like Twilight (for a variety of reasons, including the need to be a song, that she's not in her usual form, in a magic-deprived world and without access to her spellbooks). In the end, they use a song written by Fluttershy and resort to raw Magic of Friendship to counter the Sirens.]] |
| 196 | * CoverBlowingSuperpower: Sunset Shimmer is forced to tackle Rainbow Dash when she gets carried away and starts transforming in front of a crowd. |
| 197 | * CoversAlwaysLie: |
| 198 | ** Some of the [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140506162642/mlp/images/1/1c/Trixie_EG2_promotional_art.png promotional art]] for the movie shows Trixie or DJ Pon-3 with pony ears and "Rainbow Power" hair. No such thing happens in the film. |
| 199 | ** Various promotional material show Applejack's bass absolutely plain (as seen above), when in the film, it is decked with apples. |
| 200 | ** The box art shows Twilight performing front and center with the Rainbooms, while one poster (also used for the soundtrack) features Twilight Sparkle front and center, engaged in a sing-off with Adagio Dazzle, the leader of the villain trio. While these do indeed happen, Twilight herself does not even appear until over a third of the way into the movie, and her ultimate contribution to the band's success is minimal at best. Sunset Shimmer, the villain from the first movie, is the actual main character in this movie, yet she is completely absent from all promotional art. |
| 201 | ** Even though on said poster Twilight faces Adagio Dazzle, they never speak to each other in the film; the only heroine to converse with them is Sunset. |
| 202 | ** In an inversion of a common mistake made later in the series' run, one official Website/YouTube upload of the film uses art featuring [[spoiler:the human Twilight Sparkle, in her powered-up form from ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree Legend of Everfree]]'',]] opposing Adagio. This character only appears in [[spoiler:TheStinger, after Adagio is defeated]]. |
| 203 | * CrashIntoHello: Continuing the RunningGag from the first film, every encounter of Twilight and Flash effectively is this. |
| 204 | * CringeComedy: |
| 205 | ** The Rainbooms and Twilight attempting to defeat the Dazzlings with a ByThePowerOfGrayskull move is one of the most embarrassing moments for the main characters in either universe. |
| 206 | --->'''Rainbow Dash:''' Uh, weren't there rainbows and lasers and stuff last time?\ |
| 207 | '''Twilight Sparkle:''' I don't understand. We're all together again. Why isn't this working?\ |
| 208 | '''Spike:''' You uh, really need to go ahead and do that whole "Magic of Friendship" thing now. |
| 209 | ** Also, the "Bad Counter Spell" Twilight wrote is considered cringe-inducing, both in-universe and out. |
| 210 | * DarkestHour: With the Dazzlings having secured their victory since the first 10 minutes of the movie and remaining on top ever since, and the Rainbooms [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg plus Sunset Shimmer]] just barely keeping up, it was already looking pretty grim. Then the Dazzlings have our heroines trapped during the finals of the battle of the bands, causing strife and tensions to tear them apart, giving the villains a chance to absorb their corrupted magic to regain their own. [[spoiler:If not for Sunset snapping them out of their funk, and Spike fetching DJ PON-3 to help them, the ending would have been '''vastly''' darker.]] |
| 211 | * DarkReprise: |
| 212 | ** The B-section of "Battle" is an EvilCounterpart to the "Cafeteria Song" from the first film, which gets an even darker arrangement in the Dazzlings' part of "Welcome to the Show". |
| 213 | ** After the Dazzlings have been defeated and their gem pendants have been destroyed, thus rendering them powerless, they attempt to sing the "We will be adored..." part of "Welcome to the Show" again, but they sing horribly and are booed off the stage. |
| 214 | * DeathGlare: |
| 215 | ** Applejack gives one to Rarity throughout "Shake Your Tail" for having to put up with her being swung around by Photo Finish's magnets. |
| 216 | ** Rarity and Applejack give one to Rainbow when she [[VisualPun literally steals all the spotlights]] during "Awesome as I Wanna Be". Fluttershy can also be seen giving this during the RackFocus shot, albeit more of a DisapprovingLook. |
| 217 | * DecoyProtagonist: Twilight herself edges on this trope. While she definitely plays an important role in the plot, she's mostly brought on-board to help the Equestria Girls defeat the Dazzlings. In terms of actual story and character development, the film has a stronger focus on Sunset Shimmer than Twilight. [[spoiler:During the climax, Twilight proves ineffective for diffusing the group's tensions and defeating the Dazzlings; it's Sunset who actually saves the day on both counts.]] |
| 218 | * DePower: |
| 219 | ** This is why Star Swirl banished the Sirens that would become the Dazzlings to the human world, believing the transition would render them powerless. Shame he forgot to account for the necklaces. |
| 220 | ** [[spoiler:In the climax, the Dazzlings's necklaces are smashed, rendering them unable to even carry a tune.]] |
| 221 | * DestroyTheVillainsWeapon: The Rainbooms and Sunset Shimmer manage to make a rainbow beam big enough to defeat the sirens and destroy their pendants that enable their powers. Not only have they lost their magic, but also their ability to sing afterward. |
| 222 | * DeusExitMachina: Justified. The original Mane Six save Twilight sit out on another otherworldly adventure knowing they have alternate dimension doppelgangers awaiting on the other side. |
| 223 | -->'''Applejack:''' Don't suppose we could join you this time around?\ |
| 224 | '''Twilight Sparkle:''' Better not. It could make things pretty confusing if Canterlot all of a sudden had two of all of you. |
| 225 | * DepthOfField: Part of the AnimationBump is that the {{scenes}} are generated with a depth-of-field effect to help differentiate the [[TheTeam Mane Six]] or the [[TerribleTrio Dazzlings]] from the crowd. |
| 226 | * DiegeticMusical: Despite this being a musical film and featuring the most songs in an MLP-related production, all of the songs are performed as acts, rehearsals, performances, the Dazzlings' planned MindControlMusic, and the musical battle in the climax. |
| 227 | %% DisabilitySuperpower: Vinyl Scratch's HeadphonesEqualIsolation are [[Administrivia/NotAnExample not a disability]], but a lifestyle choice. |
| 228 | * DisasterDominoes: Sunset Shimmer tackling Rainbow Dash to stop her from showing pony ears results in them bumping into Twilight, who loses her balance and grab Rarity's keytar by reflex, dragging the latter down in turn and making her involuntarily kick Applejack's bass guitar, which flies over and lands neck-first into one of Pinkie's drums. Then the lights come back, startling Fluttershy into fleeing. |
| 229 | * DivideAndConquer: The Dazzlings turn the whole school, including the staff, against each other with their HatePlague-inducing MindControlMusic, with the exception of Sunset Shimmer, the Rainbooms, [[spoiler:and Vinyl Scratch]]. They also manage to [[AppleOfDiscord sabotage the mane characters' plans so that they argue]] and generate further negative emotions for the Dazzlings to feed on. In their backstory as told by Twilight Sparkle, she describes this as their modus operandi, even dropping the trope name. |
| 230 | -->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' If the Sirens had their way, they would have divided and conquered all of Equestria. |
| 231 | * DoorDumb: The girls get locked in a room and ineffectually push and tackle the door; [[spoiler:then Spike and DJ Pon-3 arrive]] and reveal it opens inward. The novelization [[JustifiedTrope provides a better reason]] why they couldn't escape: the door was bolted shut [[spoiler:and DJ Pon-3 had to pry it open with a crowbar]]. |
| 232 | * DoWellButNotPerfect: |
| 233 | ** The Rainbooms' strategy for the battle of the bands, to unleash their full power in a surprise attack on the Dazzlings. [[spoiler:Subverted, see DramaticIrony below.]] |
| 234 | ** The Dazzlings use the same approach, as they don't want to reveal their true forms to the students until their power has been fully restored. |
| 235 | * DramaticIrony: |
| 236 | ** During the tour Sunset gives to the Dazzlings, a number of the comments they make hint at their evil intentions to the audience, who knows that they're up to no good, but Sunset doesn't know the Dazzlings are evil yet, and is more confused than clued in. |
| 237 | ** [[spoiler:Later, the audience knows that the Dazzlings are manipulating things to get the heroes to fight and feed on their magic in order to gain power, but the heroes think the Dazzlings are unaware of their magic.]] |
| 238 | * DramaticSpotlight: During the song "Awesome as I Wanna Be", a spotlight shines on each of the Rainbooms one by one, which is normal since they're performing on scene. It becomes significant when, in the middle of the song, all the rays of light focus on Rainbow Dash, who is literally and figuratively stealing the spotlights with her performance. |
| 239 | * DramaticWind: |
| 240 | ** In the prologue, the Dazzlings' discovery of Equestrian magic in the human world, marking the start of their EvilPlan, is during an appropriately windy night (the same as the climax of the first movie, in fact). |
| 241 | ** [[spoiler:The Rainbooms stepping into the fight for the final battle]] is also accompanied by some dramatic wind blowing their hair and clothes. |
| 242 | * DutchAngle: Used frequently on the Dazzlings to show just how "off" they are. |
| 243 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: This can be said of Sunset Shimmer; after helping to defeat the Dazzlings, it is shown during the end credits that the other Canterlot High students are finally starting to forgive her and see her as a friend. |
| 244 | * EasilyForgiven: Averted with Sunset Shimmer, who is scorned by ''everyone'' except the Rainbooms. It is played straight with Snips and Snails because apparently no one remembers them being her minions. |
| 245 | * EditorialSynaesthesia: The [[HatePlague hate energy]] incited by the Dazzlings' songs is depicted as a [[SicklyGreenGlow radioactive-green miasma]]. |
| 246 | * EdgyBackwardsChairSitting: Applejack sits like that in the café while the Equestria Girls discuss the new threat with Twilight Sparkle. |
| 247 | * ElegantClassicalMusician: Octavia Melody. For her pony version it is mostly fandom interpretation, but here it becomes more obvious as she gets the fitting clothes, voice and good looks. |
| 248 | * EpicFail: |
| 249 | ** The Rainbooms' initial attempt at using their magic to defeat the Dazzlings fails completely. Even moreso, this proves to Adagio that they are resistant to the Dazzlings' spell, targeting them as the source of the Equestrian magic they seek. |
| 250 | ** Twilight's attempts at writing a musical {{counterspell}} are ''so'' bad that Granny Smith shoves ''apple cores'' in her ears to block it out. |
| 251 | * EpilogueLetter: Sunset Shimmer writes one on her magic book at the end [[spoiler:for Twilight Sparkle, showing that they'll be exchanging messages from now on, Twilight being the friendship mentor and Sunset the student]]. |
| 252 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: More like a ''re''-establishing moment with Sunset Shimmer. Her first scene in this movie is offering to help the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and, when rejected, walking awkwardly and timidly towards the Rainbooms under the stares of other students. Then she has to help Fluttershy clean paint off her face. It is 180 degree turn from the previous movie and sets a crystal clear start for this one's secondary arc (Sunset Shimmer's on-going redemption). |
| 253 | * EverybodyDoTheEndlessLoop: The animation is overall excellent; if it does use a few loops, it's mostly for background characters, and too short to be noticeable. The exception is the distant shot of Trixie and the Illusions at the final concert, whose moves are a bit repetitive. |
| 254 | * EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: No surprise here, honestly. As usual for the franchise, the Magic of Friendship is materialized by rainbows. In the climax of the final battle, [[spoiler:when the Rainbooms at last get the upper hand over the Dazzlings, it first takes the shape of a rainbow-colored PlanarShockwave that pushes away the Siren avatars just as they are charging, stun the Dazzlings and wake up their thralls. Then a PillarOfLight rises, combining the colors of the seven friends, including Sunset Shimmer who adds the red hue to it. It coalesces into a multicolored SphereOfPower from which emerges a giant WingedUnicorn with a flowing rainbow as mane, who finally fires a rainbow beam from its horn, blasting away the Sirens and destroying their magic gems]]. This trope is heavily {{Lampshaded}} by both the opening title and closing credits songs "Rainbow Rocks" and "Shine Like Rainbows". |
| 255 | %% EvilerThanThou is when two villains are clashing. It cannot really apply here since Sunset Shimmer is reformed. |
| 256 | * {{Facepalm}}: |
| 257 | ** Sonata Dusk's stupidity inspires facepalms to both her co-villains at different points, Adagio primarily. |
| 258 | ** Applejack reacts with a hand on her face and a groan to Rarity showing up for the pre-selections in a costume worthy of TheSixties, full of dangling metal shingles. |
| 259 | * FailedAttemptAtDrama: |
| 260 | ** Adagio regularly indulges in some dramatic evil gloating... only to have Sonata ruin it about every time by spouting something stupid. |
| 261 | --->'''Adagio Dazzle:''' This is it, girls, the moment we've been waiting for...\ |
| 262 | '''Sonata Dusk:''' ''[excited]'' Lunch?!\ |
| 263 | '''Adagio Dazzle:''' ''[{{facepalm}}]'' The chance to get our true Equestrian magic back.\ |
| 264 | '''Sonata Dusk:''' Oh, right.\ |
| 265 | '''Adagio Dazzle:''' ''[mock surprise]'' Oh, no! No-one's mingling! It's like... there's some kind of underlying tension that could bubble to the surface at any minute.\ |
| 266 | '''Sonata Dusk:''' It's the fruit punch, isn't it? I ''knew'' I used too much grape juice!\ |
| 267 | '''Adagio Dazzle:''' It isn't the fruit punch, it's ''us!'' |
| 268 | ** Twilight and friends' first attempt at invoking the Magic of Friendship is a drawn-out example. Even the music is on it, rising dramatically as they lock hands together and Twilight exclaims "Friendship is magic!"... [[LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand and then puttering out]] as nothing happen, and everybody look at them like they're crazy. |
| 269 | ** And of course, there are Trixie's attempts at dramatic exits with a SmokeOut, followed by Pinkie locating her. The second time, she even slips and falls behind the bleachers. |
| 270 | * FacialDialogue: After Rainbow Dash gets Twilight's attention with a chocolate chip, she gives her and puzzled look and Rainbow responds by pointing at the Dazzlings with eyes and facial expression only, so as to not alert Flash Sentry, whom Twilight was talking to. |
| 271 | * FakeBand: Central to the premise. The climax is a magical battle between the Rainbooms and the Dazzlings, and about a dozen other fake bands make appearances of varying lengths. |
| 272 | * {{Fanservice}}: |
| 273 | ** The Dazzlings have their FormFittingWardrobe, HartmanHips and SupermodelStrut. |
| 274 | ** As she tries to get a MidnightSnack, Sunset Shimmer squirts whipped cream on her thumb, wearing pajamas that show off her ImpossibleHourglassFigure while slipping off one shoulder. |
| 275 | * FeedbackRule: |
| 276 | ** The first attempt at a counterspell song has lots of feedback during the Rainbooms' rehearsal, adding to the overall awfulness of it. |
| 277 | ** When Snips [[MicDrop drops the microphone]] at the end of his and Snails' rap, a loud feedback sound is heard, forcing all the Rainbooms to cover their ears. This doesn't gain the boys any point with the Principals. |
| 278 | ** When Rainbow Dash is testing the microphone on the stage for the upcoming concert, on her second try Sunset Shimmer has unthinkingly raised the volume to the max, causing yet another ear-splitting feedback. |
| 279 | * FictionalVideoGame: Applejack and Rainbow Dash play one at Pinkie's house, based on a humanized version of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E6PowerPonies the Mane-iac]]. |
| 280 | * FinishDialogueInUnison: Sunset's and Twilight's bonding moment during the MidnightSnack at the sleepover is finished with Sunset joining in on the last sentence. |
| 281 | -->'''Sunset Shimmer:''' Well, that doesn't stop them from expecting it.\ |
| 282 | '''Twilight Sparkle:''' Which only makes things harder because the last thing you want to do is...\ |
| 283 | '''Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer:''' ...let everybody down. |
| 284 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 285 | ** During the song "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)", [[spoiler:Vinyl Scratch[=/=]DJ Pon-3]] can be seen in the background paying absolutely no attention. |
| 286 | ** Spike justifies his reason to go with Twilight through the mirror is that she'll never know when she'll need her faithful assistant. |
| 287 | ** Princess Twilight tells her pony friends they shouldn't come to the human world with her because having two of them around would be weird. [[spoiler:Twilight's human counterpart is finally seen in the stinger.]] |
| 288 | ** The five human girls' arguing throughout the movie: Rainbow Dash referring to the band as hers, Fluttershy's song never being sung, and Rarity's obsession with fashion for the band (with Applejack being the most annoyed by it). |
| 289 | ** A very subtle hint for things to come -- not in the movie, but in ''Season 5''. [[spoiler:At Twilight's new castle, Pinkie is seen sitting on ''Applejack's'' chair, but there's really nothing odd with that. However Rarity -- who's sitting on her own throne -- has her cutie mark emblem above it glowing. From the SDCC Season 5 animatic, we know that when all six sit on their respective chairs, they activate a magical map of Equestria.]] |
| 290 | ** Adagio says to Sunset that the ruby pendants she, Sonata and Aria wear are important and would hate to see anything bad happen to them. [[spoiler:Turns out their pendants are what help them sing, and when these are destroyed in the final battle, they can no longer sing and are powerless.]] |
| 291 | * FiveManBandConcert: TheMovie's entire premise is this trope, complete with [[WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocksShorts prelude shorts]]. Long story short, the villains turn the Canterlot High talent show into a vicious BattleOfTheBands. Since they are not affected by the evil spell, "The Rainbooms" team up to stop "The Dazzlings" -- Twilight Sparkle will write the counterspell while the rest will enter the show as a competing band to buy time for her. Rainbow Dash is the vocalist and guitarist, Applejack is the bassist, Rarity plays the keytar, Fluttershy is on the tambourine, and Pinkie Pie is on the drums. For this, they perform [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b5kIhkNecc "Awesome as I Wanna Be"]]. Later, they reunite to cast the musical counterspell together by performing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msGMkMhYw_U together]]. Here, they are [[SixthRanger joined]] by Sunset Shimmer as the guitarist and Twilight Sparkle as the vocalist. [[spoiler: Sunset Shimmer becomes the lead singer after they are temporarily defeated by The Dazzlings]]. |
| 292 | * ForgivenButNotForgotten: While the Rainbooms have forgiven Sunset for her actions in the past and do consider her a friend, there is noticeable tension between them and her. Considering the fact that she used to bully them, this makes sense. They unintentionally snub her by not even offering to let her be part of the band. Likewise, Twilight is also hesitant of her when she first enters the human world again. [[spoiler:Fortunately, after Sunset helps to break up the growing tension between the Rainbooms thanks to the Dazzlings and joins them in the film's climax, Sunset fully integrates with her friends and she is shown jamming with the band at the end.]] |
| 293 | * FreeHandedPerformer: The movie shows most of the Rainbooms playing instruments, but Twilight Sparkle, being from a world of ponies who don't have hands, is limited to singing. |
| 294 | * FreezeFrameBonus: |
| 295 | ** The video game AJ and RD are playing at the SlumberParty has a humanized version of the Mane-iac on the cover. |
| 296 | ** As Twilight struggles to write a song, she stares forlornly at a page full of scribbles and doodles... including one of her disembodied head spitting lightning bolts at a crudely-drawn Adagio. |
| 297 | ** While listening to "Under Our Spell", Luna has drawn a heart on her notes. |
| 298 | ** Vinyl Scratch's car [[spoiler:(before transforming)]] has a hood ornament shaped like ''DJ Pon-3's unicorn counterpart''. |
| 299 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: |
| 300 | ** When Rainbow Dash talks about her role in the Rainbooms in the band room, Pinkie Pie can be seen wearing a cymbal on her head like a hat. |
| 301 | ** During the "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)" song, most of the students are entranced by the Dazzlings... except DJ Pon-3 who's listening to her headphones and is oblivious to this. [[spoiler:Becomes an important detail later, however...]] |
| 302 | ** During the main cast's walk down the hallway to Principal Celestia's office, Pinkie is seen skipping merrily, similar to how her pony self often hops instead of walks. |
| 303 | ** At the party in the gym, when Twilight and the Rainbooms hold hands to defeat the Dazzlings, Pinkie can be seen with a cookie in her mouth and her fist in the air. As the others wonder why their standing together in unity isn't unleashing magic, Pinkie is still seen with her fist in the air, the whole cookie stuffed in her mouth, and crumbs on her chin. |
| 304 | ** As the Rainbooms show disdain towards Rarity's outfit before the first round, Applejack facepalms while the others give an eyeroll... except Twilight who just hangs her head sadly. |
| 305 | * GaleForceSound: When Rainbow Dash repeats "my band" one time too many, the others yelling back "OUR BAND!" together is enough to blow Dash's hair backward. |
| 306 | * GarageBand: |
| 307 | ** The "Rainbooms" are seen repeating in the barn of Applejack's family farm. Several of the Web shorts preceding the movie also show them picking up their respective instruments. |
| 308 | ** Trixie and her two girlfriends form "Trixie and the Illusions". |
| 309 | * GemstoneAssault: What Rarity's attack against the sirens looks like, though it might be just as well PureEnergy taking the shape of her diamonds symbol. |
| 310 | * GentleGiant: Bulk Biceps' humanized form is pretty much spot-on given his pony self, with a muscular upper body and tiny little wings on his baseball cap. His instrument of choice is a violin, which he plays with a light touch -- until his last bow stroke, which blows Snips and Snails off the stage. During the end credits, he lifts Sunset up so she can get Angel down from a high perch. |
| 311 | %%* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition. |
| 312 | * GibberishOfLove: Flash and Twilight bump into each other (again) for the first time in this movie at the party before the pre-selections. After he catches her from falling, they stare at each other for a second, and Twilight starts descending into this. |
| 313 | -->'''Flash Sentry:''' Twilight?\ |
| 314 | '''Twilight Sparkle:''' Heh heh... bumped... into... always... doing! |
| 315 | * GirlGroup: |
| 316 | ** The Dazzlings are the sexy {{Idol Singer}}s version. |
| 317 | ** The Rainbooms are the rock band variant, with the five human girls joined by Twilight Sparkle as lead vocalist, [[spoiler:and later Sunset Shimmer]]. |
| 318 | * GirlPosse: Several. |
| 319 | ** The Dazzlings look like one, with Adagio as the AlphaBitch, Aria as the BetaBitch, and Sonata as the BrainlessBeauty. However, they are more sinister than usual for this trope. |
| 320 | ** Photo Finish and Trixie Lulamoon have two cronies each respectively, and are also antagonistic in this movie, although this is mostly the result of the Dazzlings' influence. Without this, they are more or less ordinary girls. |
| 321 | * GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Flash Sentry points at Sunset Shimmer when saying "Now ''that's'' the bad girl we love to hate!" Harsh considering their history together, but he's NotHimself. |
| 322 | * GoodColorsEvilColors: The Dazzlings' power and aura, coming from their gems, glow an evil red. It's contrasted with the Rainbooms, with each of their individual bright colors mixing to form rainbows. |
| 323 | * GreatBallsOfFire: |
| 324 | ** Trixie and the Illusions' rendition of "Tricks Up My Sleeve" ends up with green fireworks firing from the stage (even better, they do look like they come from Trixie herself). |
| 325 | ** The Dazzlings and the Rainbooms fighting a Battle of the Bands results in quite the impressive light show, but here they're using real magic and not just pyrotechnics. |
| 326 | * GroupHug: |
| 327 | ** How the girls welcomes Twilight when she's back to the school (not including Sunset Shimmer, who backs away). |
| 328 | ** The conclusion following the climax for the Rainbooms, [[spoiler:''this time'' with Sunset Shimmer in the middle]]. |
| 329 | * {{Hammerspace}}: |
| 330 | ** Where ''does'' Rarity get that rack of new outfits for the final performance for the Rainbooms? |
| 331 | ** Not to mention Pinkie Pie pulling out several musical instruments out of nowhere before suggesting them to Twilight. |
| 332 | * HairFlip: Rainbow Dash has a rather epic one in "[[IAmGreatSong Awesome as I Wanna Be]]". |
| 333 | * HandBehindHead: Sunset Shimmer rubbing the back of her head as a CharacterTic starts with this movie, showing her insecurities. She notably does it while admitting that she dated Flash Sentry just to get more popular, again in Celestia's office later, and yet again after helping Twilight stand up. |
| 334 | * HandWave: Pony Applejack {{Lampshade}}s a possible PlotHole in the Sirens' {{Backstory}} -- "But Star Swirl must have sent them there ages ago. How come they're just surfacing now?" -- to which Twilight simply says she doesn't know and moves on. [[TheTeaser The opening scene]] from the Sirens' perspective shows that the events of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls the first movie]] brought some [[TheMagicComesBack Equestrian magic to Earth]], and the Sirens hope to use it to restore their full power. The main characters never learn this particular detail. |
| 335 | * HatePlague: The Dazzlings' song "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)" makes the students uncharacteristically competitive and hostile to one another. |
| 336 | * HeadphonesEqualIsolation: DJ Pon-3 is always wearing her headphones. In the background of "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)", while the Dazzlings use their music to brainwash the student body, she's seen [[FunnyBackgroundEvent bouncing to her own music]]. [[spoiler:That means she wasn't affected by the Dazzlings' MindControlMusic: she ends up freeing the Rainbooms and helping them in the final battle.]] |
| 337 | * HeelFaceTurn: Sunset Shimmer proves that hers is legitimate, as she sticks by the Rainbooms and Twilight throughout the movie despite her insecurities [[spoiler:and joins her power with theirs at the end to defeat the Dazzlings. The end credits show that the rest of the school has started accepting her as well]]. |
| 338 | * HeroicBSOD: Twilight is put under lots of stress throughout the movie, the Rainbooms trusting her entirely with coming up a song counterspell to fight the Dazzlings. [[spoiler:Toward the end, as the group is tearing itself apart, she buckles under the pressure, admitting that she'd probably wouldn't have finished the counterspell in time, and slumps into a TroubledFetalPosition, unable to ease up the tension between her friends]]. |
| 339 | * HeroicBuild: The human version of Bulk Biceps averts TopHeavyGuy (despite his pony version being a quadruped example of it) by having reasonably proportioned legs; his torso is nonetheless quite muscular, with his tight jersey barely hiding his bulging muscles. |
| 340 | * HeroismMotiveSpeech: [[spoiler:Sunset]] gets two. [[spoiler:The first when she realizes it ''is'' her place to step in and help the girls stop bickering and resolve their issues.]] The second comes [[spoiler:in song when she joins the FinalBattle with the Dazzlings, announcing she's not going to let herself be beaten down when she's trying to change. This leads to her gaining a hybrid form of her own]]. |
| 341 | * HighSchoolAU: Returning again to the humanized world of Canterlot High. |
| 342 | * HollywoodMagnetism: The cartoon magnets used by Photo Finish are strong enough to lift Rarity (and her heavy dress) from the floor, or rip off her sleeves, but don't have any effect on other metal objects on the stage. |
| 343 | * HollywoodToneDeaf: |
| 344 | ** Twilight's first counter-spell is majorly off-key. |
| 345 | ** [[spoiler:The Dazzlings can no longer sing after their gem pendants are destroyed.]] |
| 346 | * HopeSpot: Despite Sunset Shimmer interrupting the Rainbooms during the semi-finals, Celestia declares them the winners and would go on to the finals, giving them more time to prepare the musical counterspell. However, their victory is specifically engineered by the Dazzlings, who mind-control Celestia and Luna. This leads to an uproar amongst the student body, who feels they don't deserve it, making their victory a [[PyrrhicVictory Pyrrhic one]]. And to top it all off, the Dazzlings manipulate Trixie into trapping them under the stage, thus completing dashing any hope of performing the musical counterspell [[spoiler:at least until Vinyl Scratch helps them out]]. |
| 347 | * HowIsThatEvenPossible: Expressed by pony Rarity about Sunset Shimmer managing to contact them through the enchanted book, despite the fact that the connection between their worlds is supposedly still cut off for many moons. |
| 348 | * HumanHummingbird: |
| 349 | ** Twilight shortly flaps her arms during the sleepover, while trying to navigate around her sleeping friends without waking them up and almost losing her balance. |
| 350 | ** Pinkie Pie also moves her arms fast enough to make a flapping sound when she angrily complains that their band has become the very opposite of fun. |
| 351 | * IAmBecomingSong: The Rainbooms' portion of "Welcome to the Show" -- specifically the song Fluttershy wrote, which plays right when the band interrupts the Dazzlings -- is about them finding their true selves and learning to "break out" and "set themselves apart". |
| 352 | * IAmTheBand: Rainbow Dash constantly insists that the Rainbooms are ''her'' band -- after all, she's the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter, and she named the band after herself. |
| 353 | -->'''Rainbow Dash:''' I could win this thing as a solo act, and everybody knows it! |
| 354 | * IdiosyncraticWipes: The Rainbooms' TransformationSequence during the final battle are each preceded with brief cutie-mark-based transition wipes (apples, diamonds, butterflies, rainbows, balloons, and a magic star). |
| 355 | * IdioticPartnerConfession: During the tour of the school given to the Dazzlings by Sunset Shimmer, Sonata running her mouth almost blows their cover. Though since Sunset has little reason to think of them as any sinister yet, this only confuses her. |
| 356 | -->'''Sonata Dusk:''' We sing, like, all the time! It's how we get people to do what we want. |
| 357 | * ImmuneToMindControl: |
| 358 | ** The Dazzlings hypnotize the entire school with their enchanted singing, [[AdultsAreUseless including Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna]], into turning the initially friendly musical showcase into a BattleOfTheBands. However, the Rainbooms and Sunset Shimmer, thanks to the [[ThePowerOfFriendship the magic of friendship]] that [[TouchedByVorlons was imbued into them in the previous movie]], are the only ones in the school who aren't mind-controlled into showing animosity towards their schoolmates; in fact, they devise a plan to try to break the Dazzlings' spell on the rest of the school. [[spoiler:Double Subverted into that, due to their arguing over little things along the way, the Rainbooms almost fall into the trap of turning on each other and showing ill-will amongst themselves, thus giving the Dazzlings more energy, until Sunset Shimmer tries to reconcile them and bring the band back together again.]] |
| 359 | ** [[spoiler:DJ Pon-3 was also not affected by the Dazzlings' spell because at the time of the song in the cafeteria, [[HeadphonesEqualIsolation she was wearing her headphones]] [[MeaningfulBackgroundEvent and was seen bouncing to her own music]], and continues to wear them throughout. She eventually becomes the one whom Spike finds to help the Rainbooms fight back.]] |
| 360 | * ImOkay: At the end, after her second SmokeOut, Trixie tries to sneak away in the audience, but slips and falls behind the bleachers because of her impractical dress. Then comes her voice... |
| 361 | -->'''Trixie Lulamoon:''' Trixie is okay! |
| 362 | * ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: |
| 363 | ** The "fabulous" dress Rarity shows up in for the pre-selections. It's full of dangling metal shingles that, if they nicely reflect every light, also make the thing so heavy Rarity has trouble just walking in it -- and render her vulnerable to magnets, to boot. |
| 364 | ** Trixie's costume for the final concert. It's quite fetching and impressive, as fitting for a true showwoman, but also very impractical to make a sneaky exit or climb a walled fence. |
| 365 | * ImprobablyCoolCar: Vinyl Scratch's sweet ride. It isn't explained how a high school student, who's seen working part-time in a music shop in the shorts, can afford [[spoiler:such a heavily customized TransformingVehicle]]. |
| 366 | * IncrediblyLongNote: [[spoiler:The final part of "Welcome to the Show" has the Rainbooms draw out "Survives!!!" for a prolonged time just before their alicorn zaps the Dazzlings and destroys their avatars as well as their pendants.]] |
| 367 | * InertiaIsACruelMistress: Exaggerated -- if pony Twilight enters the magic portal just at a brisk trot, on the other end she plain and simply ''flies'' through the exit, landing a few meters away. |
| 368 | * InformedAttribute: Rainbow Dash and Adagio Dazzle claim that "Shake Your Tail!" and "Under Our Spell", respectively, are not their best songs. Or at least, those are the songs they choose when they're actively trying to not reveal their MagicMusic. |
| 369 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: |
| 370 | ** Rarity lampshades the crush Flash has on Twilight while Sunset, his ''ex'', is in the same room. To her credit, she is quick to realize this and apologize. |
| 371 | ** Referring back to the last time the Equestria Girls defeated an evil and nasty creature from Equestria becomes something of a RunningGag. Oh, er, no offense, Sunset Shimmer. |
| 372 | --->'''Sunset Shimmer:''' ''[sigh]'' None taken. |
| 373 | ** By the time Twilight references the incident, Sunset just rolls with it and says she's used to it. |
| 374 | * InvisibleToNormals: It is strongly hinted that only Sunset Shimmer (besides the Dazzlings, of course) can see the negative energy manifesting as a green mist, as she's the only one seen reacting to it. The Rainbooms are easily convinced that there is dark magic at hand from the behavior of their schoolmates in the cafeteria, though. It isn't clear whether Twilight can too; probably, but she's always distracted by other worries when it happens. |
| 375 | * IronicEcho: |
| 376 | ** The Dazzlings' VillainSong is the antithesis of the first film's title song. "Equestria Girls (Helping Twilight Win the Crown)" encouraged the students to unite and support Twilight in winning the Fall Formal, while "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)" induces a {{hate plague}} and a dog-eat-dog competitive attitude, generating [[ThePowerOfHate negative energy]] [[EmotionEater by which the Dazzlings gain power]]. To drive the contrast home, both songs are staged impromptu in the CHS cafeteria. |
| 377 | ** Before the performance of "Shake Your Tail", Twilight reminds the others they have to perform carefully so the Sirens don't see their magic; ironically, before "Under Our Spell", Adagio reminds Sonata and Aria they want to save their ultimate weapon by the time they restore their full power. |
| 378 | * IsThisThingOn: Just before the finals, Rainbow Dash does the "Check, one two, testing, testing" thing and taps the microphone. Then Sunset Shimmer unwisely raises the volume to the max, causing an ear-splitting feedback on Dash's next try. |
| 379 | * IveHeardOfThatWhatIsIt: Pony Pinkie Pie pulls one when Twilight explains she suspects the Dazzlings to be sirens, very similar to when Twilight mentioned genealogy to her in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E9PinkieApplePie Pinkie Apple Pie]]". |
| 380 | -->'''Pinkie Pie:''' ''NOT'' THE ''SIRENS''!\ |
| 381 | ''[gets close to Fluttershy and stage-whispers]''\ |
| 382 | '''Pinkie Pie:''' I don't actually know what that is... |
| 383 | * JawDrop: Pinkie's reaction to [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer showing she can play the guitar]]. |
| 384 | * JuxtaposedHalvesShot: |
| 385 | ** During "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)", in a close-up Aria and Sonata's faces merge to create such a shot (just as they sing "''One and the same thing''"). Then it split in the middle to reveal Adagio's face. |
| 386 | ** [[http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/File:Equestria_Girls_Rainbow_Rocks_The_Mane_Event_cover.jpg The cover]] of ''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks: The Mane Event'' also uses one to illustrate the conflict in the book, with Twilight Sparkle and Adagio Dazzle's half-faces separated by a microphone stand. |
| 387 | * KickTheDog: Flash Sentry, who by this point is [[NotHimself under the Dazzlings']] [[HatePlague spell]] ignores Twilight after she joins the Rainbooms and when she won't take a hint angrily chews her out and insults her, reducing her to tears. The Dazzlings see this and laugh that tears are shedding before the first round is even over. |
| 388 | * LampshadeHanging: Twilight saying to Flash, "We really need to stop bumping into each other like that..." |
| 389 | * LateArrivalSpoiler: |
| 390 | ** Sort of. The {{Transformation Sequence}}s at the end of the previous movie were left out of the trailers for it and thus treated as a spoiler; the teaser for ''Rainbow Rocks'' based on the shorts shows the hybrid forms almost right away. |
| 391 | ** Likewise, Sunset Shimmer's HeelFaceTurn from the first movie is in full effect here. |
| 392 | ** Also, one who hasn't seen the Season 4 finale of ''Friendship Is Magic'' might be surprised to see [[spoiler:Twilight's library tree replaced by a huge crystal castle]]. |
| 393 | * LaymansTerms: After Twilight's pony friends are quite baffled by her MagiBabble about how she reconnected the portal, it's Pinkie Pie who somewhat provides an explanation, although in her own hyperactive way. |
| 394 | -->'''Pinkie Pie:''' Duh! She's gonna take the magic in here and put it in there. That'll make the portal open up so that whenever she wants to, she can go from here to there. There to here. Here to there. Here there! Here there! Here--\ |
| 395 | '''Applejack:''' We get the idea! |
| 396 | * LeastRhymableWord: |
| 397 | -->'''Snips:''' Everybody knows my favorite color is orange\ |
| 398 | My rhymes are so fly, they're better than... um...\ |
| 399 | '''Snails:''' Than an [[RhymingWIthItself orange]], yo! |
| 400 | * LetMeAtHim: It's very quick, but at the end of the "Under Our Spell" montage, it looks like Derpy is trying to pick a fight with ''Bulk Biceps'', with Lyra and Bon Bon restraining her. |
| 401 | * LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: When Twilight and her friends lock hands together to confront the Dazzlings and she exclaims "Friendship is magic!", the music rises dramatically... before falling flat since nothing happens. Embarrassed silence follows, which is [[ChirpingCrickets quiet enough you can hear a cough]]. |
| 402 | * LogicalWeakness: Vinyl Scratch shows that since the Dazzlings use MindControlMusic to enthrall people, [[spoiler:those unable to hear it can't be affected]]. |
| 403 | * LongSongShortScene: Two of them -- indeed, the official Hasbro music videos featuring the full songs use lots of unrelated footage from the shorts and movies as padding. |
| 404 | ** Rainbow Dash's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM0p7ETnBg4 "Awesome as I Wanna Be"]] is interrupted mid-song by Sunset Shimmer tackling her, because she is starting to show off her magic to the Dazzlings. |
| 405 | ** As for Trixie and the Illusions' song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOEKu8L5UqQ "Tricks Up My Sleeve"]], we gets the tail end of it the first time they sing it, and then at the concert just the beginning and end, while the gist of it is muted and in the background as the scene focuses on the Rainbooms. |
| 406 | * MagiBabble: Twilight Sparkle's explanation of how she connected the mirror to the other world through the enchanted books. |
| 407 | * TheMagicComesBack: The events of the previous film seem to have triggered such an event and permanently introduced Equestrian magic to the human world. |
| 408 | * MagicMusic: The Rainbooms now enter their anthropony forms from the climax of the previous film when they play, though they're unaware of why. [[spoiler:They come to use it fully during the Battle of the Bands against the Dazzlings, blasting the Sirens' manifestations with showers of cutie-marks-shaped sparkles through their instruments.]] |
| 409 | * {{Magitek}}: The results of Twilight's jury-rigging of the magic mirror with various parts to connect it up to the castle and Celestia's book. |
| 410 | * MaliciousMisnaming: |
| 411 | ** Aria Blaze refers to the Rainbooms as the "Rainblossoms". |
| 412 | ** Trixie refers to the band as the "Raingoons" and the "Rainbrooms". |
| 413 | * MarionetteMotion: Rarity, during the "Shake Your Tail!" performance, is moved around like a puppet for most of the song, the metallic tassels of her dress stuck to Photo Finish's magnets. |
| 414 | * MatchCut: Toward the end of "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)", we see several students in a succession of {{Hard Cut}}s (Trixie, Thunderbass, Snips, Octavia, Watermelody, Normal Norman and Diamond Tiara), each in a position matching the preceding one, thus giving the impression of one continuous movement. |
| 415 | * MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: During "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)", while everyone is focused on the Dazzlings as they sing their song, [[spoiler:DJ Pon-3 can be seen wearing her headphones and bobbing her head to her own tunes, completely oblivious to the Sirens]]. |
| 416 | * MeaningfulEcho: Attempted by Twilight. In the previous film Flash jokingly said "we need to stop bumping into each other like this" after they bumped into each other a second time. After bumping into him for a second time in this film Twilight says the same line herself, but Flash [[NotHimself ignores her]] due to being under the Dazzlings' spell. |
| 417 | * MicDrop: Snips and Snails conclude their awful rap by doing one together, generating a squeal of feedback when the microphones hit the floor. Principal Celestia then warns them not to do that again. |
| 418 | * MidnightSnack: Sunset Shimmer wakes up for one during the SlumberParty, finding Twilight in the kitchen (and nothing but whipped cream in the fridge). She must have licked the cream off her thumb [[BehindTheBlack when the camera wasn't on her]]. And then [[spoiler:Maud Pie shows up to feed her pet rock. "Boulder was hungry."]] |
| 419 | * MindControlEyes: |
| 420 | ** When Celestia and Luna are under the Dazzlings' spell, their eyes flash a sickly green. This effect strangely does not happen on Flash, Trixie and the students. |
| 421 | ** During the final concert, the students' eyes shrink to the size of pencil points when they get invested by the Dazzlings' music. |
| 422 | * MindControlMusic: The Dazzlings use their singing to drive people into hostile arguments. They also influence Luna and Celestia into accepting the Battle of the Bands idea and ignoring any warning that dark magic is at work. [[spoiler:By the end, they've recovered enough of their power to enthrall and brainwash the whole audience into adoring them.]] |
| 423 | * TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: |
| 424 | ** Spike is once again acting very dog-like in this movie, eating dog biscuits and playing with a dog toy at one point. He's still himself, though, and helpful to the end. |
| 425 | ** Moments after Twilight and Spike arrive in the CHS world, Applejack mentions Flash Sentry, Twilight's crush from the first film. Twilight instinctively twirls her hair with her finger, a uniquely human expression of infatuation. |
| 426 | * MirrorCharacter: Sunset Shimmer has gone from being Twilight's EvilCounterpart in the first film to being a more direct counterpart. [[spoiler:She even starts writing Twilight friendship letters at the end.]] |
| 427 | * MomentKiller: Near the end, Trixie interrupts a moment between Twilight and Flash Sentry. |
| 428 | * MoodWhiplash: The climax of the movie has one extreme change of mood following [[spoiler:the very intense conclusion of the Battle of the Bands, with a giant celestial alicorn blasting out the Sirens and their pendants... and then the Dazzlings still try to sing, only to be hilariously off-key]]. |
| 429 | * MusicalisInterruptus: "Awesome as I Wanna Be" comes to a sudden halt when Sunset sees Rainbow starting to transform and plows right into her. |
| 430 | * MusicalPastiche: |
| 431 | ** Like the "Cafeteria Song" from the previous movie, the opening theme "Rainbow Rocks" begins with a drum intro similar to Music/{{Queen}}'s "We Will Rock You". |
| 432 | ** Trixie's "Tricks Up My Sleeve" is sung in a style resembling early Music/BritneySpears. |
| 433 | ** The "Hey! Hey!" refrain in "Awesome as I Wanna Be" seems to be paying homage both to Music/{{the Ramones}}' "Blitzkrieg Bop" and Music/AvrilLavigne's "Girlfriend". |
| 434 | ** "Shake Your Tail!" borrows the phrase "ignite the light" from Music/KatyPerry's "Firework". Similarly, "the light that ignites" appears in "Shine Like Rainbows", and Sunset's part of "Welcome to the Show" references "Part of Me". |
| 435 | ** Most of the Dazzlings' and the Rainbooms' songs are pastiches of middle-of-the-road GirlGroup songs, with the Dazzlings leaning more towards {{Trance}} and the Rainbooms favoring PowerPop. |
| 436 | * MusicalWorldHypotheses: Of the diegetic type. All of the songs (save for the opening credits) are shown as performed by the various bands, with some songs also showing other scenes (both real within the fictional aspect, or the proverbial BattleOfTheBands shots) alongside the band performing. Perhaps the most extreme example is the song Sunset Shimmer performs as she and the Rainbooms finally defeat the Dazzlings. Considering the personal nature of the lyrics, it could only have been performed on the spot. |
| 437 | * MusicGenreDissonance: The Rainbooms are stated to be a rock band, but their music is PowerPop at best. |
| 438 | * MusicStories: Unlike the first movie or the main show, where the songs are mostly of the spontaneous kind, this film and [[WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocksShorts the preceding shorts]] are true music stories, depicting the Rainbooms' efforts and tribulations from forming a rock band and competing at the musical showcase, with some supernatural complications thrown in the way. |
| 439 | * MysticalHighCollar: |
| 440 | ** Trixie's ImpracticallyFancyOutfit for the final concert sports an elaborate high collar, fitting with her CuteWitch thematic. |
| 441 | ** Twilight's scenic costume also includes one. Note that it's the only Rainbooms outfit that does so. |
| 442 | * MythologyGag: |
| 443 | ** This isn't the first time ponies turned humans have had a Battle of the Bands plot... just look at ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales''. |
| 444 | ** The Sirens are part horse, part fish, and known for their singing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4TedkQP_hM The Sea Ponies have returned with a thirst for blood.]] |
| 445 | * NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:By the end of the movie, the Dazzlings have all of CHS under their control with their constant bickering feeding them more magic every time. Meanwhile, the Rainbooms are trapped under the stage and after the various problems amongst each other and being exposed to the hatred of the Dazzling-controlled CHS, they're now at each other's throats while Twilight and Sunset look on helplessly with no idea how to fix this. All of this is fueling the Dazzlings even more power than they've ever dreamed of. If Sunset hadn't resolved the Rainbooms' argument, or Spike hasn't fetched DJ Pon-3 to rescue them and help them, the Dazzlings would have won.]] |
| 446 | * NeverTrustATrailer: |
| 447 | ** The music videos for "Under Our Spell" and "Welcome to the Show" feature a shot of the audience looking uneasy, as if being entranced by the Dazzlings' music. [[spoiler:This scene actually takes place when the Dazzlings' gems are destroyed, rendering them unable to sing in tune, and the audience is actually disgusted before they start booing them.]] |
| 448 | ** The latter music video completely plays up all of the Dazzlings' verses, leaving out the Rainbooms' parts and the ending. |
| 449 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: |
| 450 | ** Star Swirl the Bearded sent the Sirens to Earth in an attempt to DePower them, thus allowing the Dazzlings to cause the havoc they did. |
| 451 | ** Twilight and the now reformed Sunset's actions at the climax of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls the first film]] are what gave the Dazzlings the clue that the power they needed exist in the human world, and thus the motivation to become the antagonists of this film. |
| 452 | ** Sunset tells the Dazzlings about the band event, and even suggests that they visit Principal Celestia. (Although they might have already known, and precisely chose this day to enroll for this reason; their expressions at this moment are ambiguous.) |
| 453 | ** Sunset stopping Rainbow [[spoiler:from transforming and possibly revealing their plan to the bad guys]] almost gets the Rainbooms kicked out of the competition, and the girls' bickering [[spoiler:gets so bad that they start getting affected by the Dazzlings' spell and end up providing them with enough Equestrian magic to almost succeed]]. |
| 454 | * NonStandardCharacterDesign: The humanized Diamond Dogs would look less out-of-place in a Music/{{Gorillaz}} clip than in an ''Equestria Girls'' movie. |
| 455 | * NoOntologicalInertia: [[spoiler:When the Sirens' pendants have been destroyed, all of their spells are broken and everyone is released from their HatePlague.]] |
| 456 | * NormalFishInATinyPond: How the Sirens feel about their predicament in being banished to the Human World. The magic there doesn't work the same way as Equestria's and they can only accumulate so much. |
| 457 | * NoSell: |
| 458 | ** The Equestria Girls and Sunset Shimmer are unaffected by the Dazzlings' MindControlMusic. [[spoiler:As is Vinyl Scratch since she's always wearing her headphones. The five human girls, however, are eventually rendered vulnerable by [[AppleOfDiscord their own conflicts]], allowing the Dazzlings to feed off their magic and reach their full power.]] |
| 459 | ** Then when the girls try to unleash the Magic of Friendship to break the Dazzlings' spell, nothing happens; this is because the Dazzlings' magic comes from their music, and the girls can only channel magic by playing music themselves, thus they need to use the same type of magic against them. |
| 460 | * NotHelpingYourCase: Alright, Sunset, we understand you're emotionally distressed, but furiously telling someone, right in their face, that you didn't push Rainbow Dash mid-performance in a fit of jealous rage... isn't going to convince anyone you didn't push Rainbow Dash mid-performance in a fit of jealous rage. |
| 461 | * NotHimself: The CHS students under the Dazzlings' spell, becoming confrontational and ultra-competitive. Most notable with Flash Sentry, for whom it's completely at odds with his NiceGuy persona from the first movie. He even snaps once at Twilight Sparkle, making her cry, once the Rainbooms enter the show. On the other hand, it's unclear whether Trixie would be any less antagonistic even without the Dazzlings' influence. |
| 462 | * NothingCanStopUsNow: It's word-for-word the final line of the Dazzlings' song before the Rainbooms interrupt. TemptingFate, much? |
| 463 | * NothingIsTheSameAnymore: |
| 464 | ** It's implied that the events of the previous film have permanently introduced Equestrian magic into the other world. Twilight has taken the Element of Magic back, but the human versions of her friends are still able to shapeshift into their anthropony forms and the Dazzlings are able to command stronger magic than they could before. |
| 465 | ** The ending also implies that the rest of the world starts waking up to what's really happening at Canterlot High, in this case in form of none other than [[spoiler:the ''real'' human Twilight]]. |
| 466 | * NotJustATournament: With the exception of the Rainbooms, the students and faculty of CHS see the BattleOfTheBands as a spirited competition. Since they have no knowledge of magic outside the events of the previous film, they could never guess the Dazzlings are using their competitive spirit to fuel their HatePlague. |
| 467 | * NotWhatItLooksLike: When Sunset tackles Rainbow Dash and stops her song to prevent her from ponying up and blowing their plan to the Dazzlings. While the audience knows that Sunset's doing it for the right reason, the school thinks she's gone back to being an AlphaBitch. |
| 468 | * OffLikeAShot: Trixie takes the pose just before zipping away after her first failed SmokeOut. |
| 469 | * OhCrap: |
| 470 | ** Trixie has one in her facial expression when Sunset gets right in her face. She looks as though she's afraid to get beaten up, rather than retaining her smug demeanor (though that swiftly returns when Sunset calms down). |
| 471 | ** Sunset has this reaction when she sees Rainbow steal the spotlight during the semifinals, which results in her being about to transform. |
| 472 | ** Two by Sunset Shimmer [[spoiler:as she helplessly watches both the corrupt magic from the girls being drained by the Sirens and Twilight going through a HeroicBSOD]]. |
| 473 | ** The looks on all three Dazzlings' faces [[spoiler:as they spot the giant alicorn emerging from the clouds are really not happy ones]]. And they have an even bigger one after [[spoiler:their gems are destroyed and they find out they can no longer even ''sing'']]. |
| 474 | * OnlyOneFindsItFun: |
| 475 | ** During Snips and Snails' poorly made freestyle rap, Pinkie and Sonata are the only ones enjoying it. |
| 476 | ** When the Rainbooms' "Shake Your Tail" number begins to fall apart, Pinkie is the only one still having fun, while Rainbow just becomes mildly confused at what's going on. Because of the Dazzlings' spell, Celestia and Luna are shown clapping happily at the performance, while the rest of the students present just found the performance boring or tried to sabotage it. |
| 477 | ** Rainbow is the only one having fun during her "Awesome as I Wanna Be" number, as the rest of the Rainbooms are showing either disdain, annoyance, and outrage at her always hogging the spotlight. |
| 478 | * OohMeAccentsSlipping: During the credits song "Shine Like Rainbows", Rarity completely loses her Mid-Atlantic accent. |
| 479 | * OpenMouthInsertFoot: |
| 480 | ** One of Sonata Dusk's many airhead moments. |
| 481 | --->'''Sonata Dusk:''' We sing, like, all the time! It's how we get people to do what we want.\ |
| 482 | ''[Adagio makes a [[BeQuietNudge frantic cutthroat gesture]]]''\ |
| 483 | '''Sonata Dusk:''' What? What did I say? |
| 484 | ** Sunset Shimmer's friends can't help but bring up repeatedly her not-too-glorious moment as a "raging she-demon" from the first movie. |
| 485 | * OurWormholesAreDifferent: The connection established by Sunset Shimmer's enchanted book with Equestria is illustrated by a very colorful wormhole, which leads to Ponyville. |
| 486 | * {{Overcrank}}: Twilight's microphone dramatically flying in slow-motion [[spoiler:until it falls at Sunset Shimmer's feet, during the final battle]]. |
| 487 | * PalmFistTap: Twilight Sparkle taps her palm with her fist when she gets the idea of creating a musical counterspell to stop the Sirens. |
| 488 | * PassThePopcorn: Derpy is indeed seen eating popcorn while watching Lyra and Bon Bon argue with Octavia in the gym. |
| 489 | * PetTheDog: Quite literally in the opening credits: Sunset Shimmer is seen picking up puppy Spike, showing she no longer has a villainous role. |
| 490 | * PillarOfLight: As seen in the prologue, the one generated by Sunset Shimmer's transformation in the previous movie ''does'' attract some attention. First from the Dazzlings, but also [[spoiler:with Twilight Sparkle's human counterpart]]. |
| 491 | * PissTakeRap: Snips and Snails' attempt. It is as bad as it sounds; having one lyric end on the LeastRhymableWord "orange" doesn't help. Neither does the MicDrop at the end, complete with feedback. |
| 492 | * PowerCrystal: The three Dazzlings wear necklaces with red gems acting as {{Amplifier Artifact}}s, allowing them to use their MindControlMusic in the magic-deprived human world. The gems are a prominent motif of the opening credits. |
| 493 | * PowerFloats: |
| 494 | ** The transformation of the Equestria Girls in their anthropony forms is usually marked by them starting floating, both in the shorts and the movie. Though not always -- it doesn't happen when singing "Better Than Ever", notably. |
| 495 | ** In the finals of the Battle of the Bands, [[spoiler:the Dazzlings start floating as they're recovering their magic powers]]. |
| 496 | ** And then, [[spoiler:the Rainbooms do the same when they're filled with ThePowerOfFriendship, starting with ''Sunset Shimmer'']]. |
| 497 | * ThePowerOfHate: The Sirens' magic is generated by feeding on the negativity and distrust of others; the more negative energy they consume, the stronger their voices become. |
| 498 | * ThePowerOfRock: The first film required the Equestria Girls to win with ThePowerOfFriendship, but this time they specifically need to save the day with song, which becomes visualized in the final battle. They intended to use a {{counterspell}} in song form but end up using [[spoiler: Fluttershy's song that has the ThePowerOfFriendship as its theme]]. |
| 499 | * PreAsskickingOneLiner: "So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real BattleOfTheBands? Then let's ''battle''!" |
| 500 | * PreviouslyOn: The beginning of the opening credits summarizes the first movie; the lyrics of the intro song also allude to those previous events. |
| 501 | * ProducePelting: After the climactic battle, [[spoiler:once the Dazzlings have lost their magical voices, the CHS students reward their last attempt at singing with booing and throwing fruits and sandwiches]]. |
| 502 | * PunchCatch: Rainbow Dash getting overexcited at the Cakes' café and doing some wild karate moves ends up with Applejack catching her fist. |
| 503 | * PuttingTheBandBackTogether: The start of the first trailer puts it this way; not really the case, though, since the "band" technically just formed for the CHS Musical Showcase. Although they do need to reunite with Twilight Sparkle to have the full cast of the first movie. [[spoiler:Pinkie Pie also says the trope name just before they gear up for the final battle]]. |
| 504 | * RackFocus: A common effect, used to give a more three-dimensional feel to the movie. Notably, at the beginning of the "Awesome as I Wanna Be" performance, one side-shot focuses on Rainbow Dash on her guitar enjoying taking center stage, which then shifts its focus to an annoyed tambourine-playing Fluttershy right next to her. |
| 505 | * RageBreakingPoint: Very nearly subverted. Sunset is put through a lot over the course of the film, being outcasted from the student body, constantly given dirty looks, and having her friends constantly bring up her past as a villain. After she tackles Rainbow to stop her from showing her magic in the semi-finals, she is yelled at by both the crowd and her friends. The last straw is when [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame Trixie]] says her favorite part was when Sunset tackled Rainbow in a fit of jealous rage, causing Sunset to glare at her and loudly shout that it ''wasn't'' a "fit of jealous rage" before quickly getting herself together. It is quick, but Trixie is shown to cower under her for a second. |
| 506 | * RageQuit: Rainbow Dash, while losing to AJ in a video game during the sleepover, slams on the console. |
| 507 | * RainbowMotif: |
| 508 | ** The Rainbooms naturally use this motif, as the band was Rainbow Dash's idea. Their logo is a horseshoe with trails and stars of the seven colors of the rainbow on a black background. |
| 509 | ** The equalizer display [[spoiler:in front of DJ Pon-3's transformed car]] also uses [[RainbowLite six colors of the rainbow]] in order. |
| 510 | * RealMenWearPink: Bulk Biceps daintily plays the violin. |
| 511 | * RearingHorse: Besides the usual CHS statue... |
| 512 | ** DJ Pon-3's car has a rearing unicorn hood ornament... shaped like her pony counterpart! |
| 513 | ** [[spoiler:The giant ethereal alicorn briefly rears over the clouds before blasting the Dazzlings.]] |
| 514 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Adagio, Aria, and Sonata give one to Sunset Shimmer when she confronts them in the hall and declaring that whatever they are planning, they won't get away with it. The Dazzlings simply scoff at her and call out her own past misdeeds from the first movie, saying that they are not the slightest bit worried about it. Why? Because even if Sunset knows their plot, she can't do anything about it since she's reduced to the school pariah due to her past sins. They continue to rub it in that no matter how hard Sunset tries, people will always hate her and never forgive or forget what she's done. Adagio finishes by mockingly consoling Sunset that no-one will remember her at all by the time she and her fellow Sirens are done with their scheme. |
| 515 | * RecordNeedleScratch: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgf6r9xpiTY The teaser]] uses one when it reaches the point mentioning that Sunset Shimmer is part of the "band". |
| 516 | * RedEyesTakeWarning: The Dazzlings' eyes turn completely red when they unleash their full power and summon their siren avatars against the Rainbooms. |
| 517 | * RedSkyTakeWarning: After the Dazzlings unleash their full power and summon their siren avatars, the sky goes from indigo to a much more threatening red. It fades out once the trio has been weakened after Sunset joins. |
| 518 | * ReflectiveEyes: In the prologue, the PillarOfLight caused by Sunset Shimmer (from the first movie) reflects into Adagio's eyes when she catches sight of it. |
| 519 | * ReformedButRejected: While the Rainbooms have befriended Sunset Shimmer and she has mended her ways, the rest of the school is not so forgiving. Considering that she terrorized the school as the AlphaBitch for quite a while and especially her actions in the first movie (the Fall Formal is something of a BerserkButton), its easy to see why they're not very forgiving. [[spoiler:The end credits show that the rest of the school has warmed up to her.]] |
| 520 | -->'''Flash Sentry:''' Now ''that's'' the bad girl we love to hate!\ |
| 521 | '''Octavia Melody:''' I ''knew'' she was still trouble!\ |
| 522 | '''Random student:''' ''[off-screen]'' The ''real'' Sunset Shimmer is ''back''! |
| 523 | * {{Retcon}}: The {{Novelization}} of the shorts had the name of the bands as [[TitleDrop The Equestria Girls]], but the band is called the Rainbooms in the film proper. |
| 524 | * RockMeAsmodeus: The heaviest music passages during "Welcome to the Show" are when the Sirens' demon avatars escalate the fight with the Rainbooms. |
| 525 | * RuleOfCool: Yeah, there is absolutely no way [[spoiler:DJ Pon-3's [[TransformingVehicle transformer car]] and [[AscendedMeme BASS CANNON]]]] could be seriously explained within the context of the movie. Do we care? NO! It's just too awesome. |
| 526 | %%* RuleOfThree: The "No offense"/"None taken" gag with Sunset Shimmer (see below) happens three times. |
| 527 | * RunningGag: |
| 528 | ** The girls (and later Twilight) ramble on about issues with the Dazzlings, and comment on how a demon took over the school last time, forgetting that Sunset is standing right next to them. Apologies are quickly offered. |
| 529 | --->'''Applejack/Rainbow Dash/Twilight Sparkle:''' [[PhraseCatcher No offense]].\ |
| 530 | '''Sunset Shimmer:''' [[CatchPhrase None taken]]. |
| 531 | ** Rainbow Dash calling the Rainbooms "my band", eliciting progressively more annoyed reactions from her bandmates. |
| 532 | ** Trixie's ninja-smoke-bomb disappearing gag. |
| 533 | --->'''Pinkie Pie:''' She's GONE! ''[{{beat}}]'' Oh wait, there she is! |
| 534 | ** Having one girl getting something smeared on her face or clothes, and another subsequently wiping it off, happens a few times (as remarked in the DVDCommentary).[[invoked]] |
| 535 | * SealedEvilInAnotherWorld: The Dazzlings were sent to the Human World by Starswirl the Bearded for the chaos they caused in Equestria. |
| 536 | * SelfDemonstratingSong: The Dazzlings' "Under Our Spell". |
| 537 | -->''We've got the music\ |
| 538 | makes you move it\ |
| 539 | got the song that makes you lose it\ |
| 540 | We say "Jump!" You say "How high?"'' |
| 541 | * SelfDeprecation:[[invoked]] WordOfGod is that the gym scene where the Rainbooms attempt (and fail) to call on their powers to defeat the Dazzlings then and there was intended as a joke about how often defeating the villain has boiled down to exactly what they did: join hands/hooves and call on ThePowerOfFriendship for a DeusExMachina CurbStompBattle. This time, nothing happens. |
| 542 | * SensualSpandex: The Crusaders' hard-rocker outfits. Seriously, those are ''tight''. |
| 543 | * SequelHook: |
| 544 | ** [[spoiler:Human Twilight appears in TheStinger, and she's got a StringTheory about the weird goings-on at Canterlot High...]] |
| 545 | ** [[spoiler:Equestria's Twilight has also said that she may return now that she can come and go at will. On top of that, Sunset Shimmer now writing friendship letters to Twilight means this may not be the last we'll see of her.]] |
| 546 | * ShaggyDogStory: |
| 547 | ** Twilight spends most of the movie freaking out over writing a musical counterspell, [[spoiler:only to realize at the end that it doesn't matter what they sing to defeat the Dazzlings as long as they do so as friends]]. |
| 548 | ** It was also pointless for the Rainbooms to become so preoccupied with [[spoiler:preventing the Dazzlings from seeing their anthropony transformations, since the Dazzlings already knew that the Rainbooms were a source of Equestrian magic due to being ImmuneToMindControl]]. |
| 549 | * SheCleansUpNicely: Derpy dresses up in a simple paper bag-brown wrap dress when her "band" performs in the competition. |
| 550 | * ShipTease: |
| 551 | ** It's made ''very'' clear that Flash Sentry still has a crush on Twilight. |
| 552 | ** Despite her denial of it, it's hinted that Sunset Shimmer still has feelings for her ex-boyfriend. |
| 553 | ** Lyra and Bon Bon singing a duet and playing on the piano together. They even [[FriendshipMoment lean close together]] when playing. |
| 554 | * ShoutOut: |
| 555 | ** During "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)", Sonata and Aria dancing behind Adagio makes it look like she has six arms, a common representation for gods in Myth/HinduMythology. |
| 556 | ** Aria and Sonata's short exchange of slaps over the fruit punch would make Film/TheThreeStooges proud. |
| 557 | ** When Rarity is showing off potential band outfits, one of them is styled like Music/TheBeatles' ''[[Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand Sgt. Pepper]]'' band costumes. She even suggests that it may be a bit old-fashioned, so she switches to a Music/DaftPunk-style outfit, complete with a working replica of Guy-Manuel's helmet. |
| 558 | ** When Pinkie notices Trixie hiding, Trixie zips offscreen leaving some hairpins behind, much like Witch Hazel from ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''. |
| 559 | ** Derpy's bandmates bear a very close resemblance in hair color and style to Shana and Kimber from ''WesternAnimation/JemAndTheHolograms''. Even the one that is like Kimber (with the triangle) has piano key-style decor on her clothes, reflecting on Kimber being the keyboardist for the Holograms. And Derpy's wrap-dress in this scene is similar to Jem's usual wardrobe. |
| 560 | ** "Tricks Up My Sleeve", the song Trixie and the Illusions perform, notably uses the famous ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' transforming sound effect, best heard on the official soundtrack. |
| 561 | ** Speaking of ''Transformers'', there would be some serious questions about Vinyl's Bassmobile if Hasbro didn't own the copyright already. |
| 562 | ** The FinalBattle [[spoiler:between the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms plays out like the "Amp vs. Amp" battle from ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'']]. |
| 563 | ** Also during the FinalBattle there is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference. [[spoiler:The Dazzlings gems glow and red ribbons engulf their bodies, reminiscent of the transformations from ''Anime/SailorMoon''.]] |
| 564 | ** The Dazzlings' verses during the final concert are similar to "Alejandro" by Lady Gaga. |
| 565 | * ShownTheirWork: |
| 566 | ** As per the[[invoked]] DVDCommentary, the animation team spent time to get the appropriate motions for close-ups of when the Rainbooms are playing their instruments to match the parts of the songs, such as the fingering patterns on the guitar necks, Pinkie's drum playing, and Fluttershy tuning the head on her tambourine. |
| 567 | ** The "Guitar Centered" short and the movie itself depict all kinds of electric guitars instead of reusing the same stock electric guitar model. Trixie and [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer in the movie]] play Flying Vs, Rainbow Dash used to play a semi-acoustic (but her new guitar is an Ibanez similar to a Strat), and Flash Sentry plays a non-reverse Gibson Firebird. The guitar shop itself has all sorts of electric guitars and other instruments with recognizable real-life counterparts. |
| 568 | * SicklyGreenGlow: |
| 569 | ** The Dazzlings feeding on negative energy is manifested as a green mist that is sucked through their necklaces. Although it is probably InvisibleToNormals, as only Sunset Shimmer seems to be able to notice it. |
| 570 | ** Also, Celestia and Luna's eyes flash green to show they're under the Dazzlings' spell. |
| 571 | * SidetrackedByTheAnalogy: From pony Pinkie Pie, as she is wont to. |
| 572 | -->'''Rainbow Dash:''' I hate to burst your bubble, Twilight, but the connection between their world and Equestria will still be totally cut off for a super-long time.\ |
| 573 | '''Pinkie Pie:''' Okay, first of all, if there was bubble-blowing going on, why wasn't I told about it?! |
| 574 | * SignatureInstrument: The Equestria Girls are forming a rock band called the Rainbooms. Five of the [[WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocksShorts prequel shorts]] show them picking their favorite instruments through moment of MagicMusic: |
| 575 | ** "Guitar Centered": An electric guitar for Rainbow Dash, which gets an instant makeover of shiny sapphire-blue and lightning bolts when she starts playing. |
| 576 | ** "Hamstocalypse Now": Fluttershy picks the tambourine and uses it to sooth rowdy hamsters. |
| 577 | ** "Pinkie on the One": Pinkie Pie can't help drumming with whatever at hand, making her a perfect pick as a drummer for the group. |
| 578 | ** "Player Piano": Rarity gives up on playing the grand piano when a keytar is suggested instead and she digs it. |
| 579 | ** "A Case for the Bass": Applejack recovers her bass guitar from the Flim-Flam brothers, and playing covers it with her apple cutie marks. |
| 580 | ** The movie itself shows [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer]] and Trixie Lulamoon playing "Flying V" guitars; fitting for Trixie's CuteWitch theme as it somewhat looks like a FlyingBroomstick. |
| 581 | * SimultaneousArcs: The prologue takes place during the climax of ''Equestria Girls'', when Adagio witnesses the time of Sunset Shimmer's defeat. |
| 582 | * SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Sunset Shimmer is completely absent from the shorts, and her role is downplayed (or flat-out ignored) by much of the promotional material. [[{{Deuteragonist}} She's actually among the most important characters in the film.]] (This was done intentionally to keep Sunset's role a surprise.) |
| 583 | * SkewedPriorities: Rarity designing outfits for the Rainbooms during the contest and concert. Applejack is the one most annoyed by this and constantly argues with Rarity over it. |
| 584 | * SlasherSmile: During the song "Under Our Spell", the Crusaders sport menacing grins for their performance, but Apple Bloom's and Sweetie Belle's are terrifying. |
| 585 | * SlumberParty: Pinkie Pie holds an impromptu slumber party at her house with all her friends (including Sunset) so that Twilight Sparkle wouldn't have to sleep in the library again. |
| 586 | * SmokeOut: Trixie uses a smoke grenade twice to make a showy departure, just like her pony counterpart. And just like her, she flubs it both times. |
| 587 | * TheSocialDarwinist: The Dazzlings spread a message reminiscent of Lightning Dust's philosophy, saying that it doesn't matter who you hurt as long as you succeed. |
| 588 | * SoundtrackDissonance: The performance of "Shake Your Tail!" The song is a very upbeat number about getting together for a party, and when it was released as an online short video, the visuals supported this. In the actual movie, the visuals include Rarity and Fluttershy having on-stage breakdowns due to sabotage from the other bands, AJ glaring at the latter for having to deal with this, and Twilight getting worried over Flash Sentry. |
| 589 | * SpearCarrier: The delivery pony who brings the pile of books to Twilight's castle, including Celestia's phone book. |
| 590 | * TheSpeechless: Like in the original series, Vinyl Scratch never speaks at all. What really pushes her into this is, in the prequel novel, she communicates to people next to her via text messaging, hinting that she might be completely mute. |
| 591 | * SphereOfPower: For the final battle, the ultimate move of the [[spoiler:Rainbooms singing in unison generates a rising rainbow beam made of the Magic of Friendship, which coalesces into a multicolored sphere of twirling energies. And then a huge pair of glowing wings emerge from it, prelude to the summoning of a giant WingedUnicorn made of light]]. |
| 592 | * SplitScreen: |
| 593 | ** A few in "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)" for close-ups of the three Dazzlings. |
| 594 | ** Several are used during the "Under Our Spell" montage to illustrate a few rounds of the Battle of the Bands, when two bands are competing. Then they are reunited on the same screen when the winner's music (metaphorically) "blasts away" the loser. |
| 595 | ** Finally, the screen is split in three parts for [[spoiler:a close-up of the Dazzlings' gems being destroyed]]. |
| 596 | * SpotlightStealingTitle: The subtitle "Rainbow Rocks" should be your first clue; Rainbow Dash is the leader of the band, which is called the "Rainbooms", and as always the rainbow is a recurring visual motif. Also a case of[[invoked]] BillingDisplacement; contrary to the film's advertising, Rainbow is not TheProtagonist, or even given all that more prominence than the rest of the five. |
| 597 | * SqueakyEyes: Not systematic, but an audible blinking sound is regularly heard. Notably, preceding the first two "No offense" -- "None taken" gags, when the girl who spoke realizes what she just said and blinks. |
| 598 | * StaggeredZoom: |
| 599 | ** The "Under Our Spell" sequence starts with a succession of zooms centered on Adagio's mouth. |
| 600 | ** The very end of the movie focus on Pinkie starting the ending song by beating her drumsticks and saying "1, 2, 3, 4!" with a slanted zoom on every number. |
| 601 | * StealthPun: |
| 602 | ** Sunset Shimmer's magical book, and Celestia's counterpart, allow communication between Equestria and the human world and vibrate like cell phones. They are phone books. |
| 603 | ** Trixie and the Illusions, in all their appearances in the film, only have one song... which is used ''twice''. Trixie is a one-trick pony. |
| 604 | * {{Sting}}: Pinkie Pie does a rimshot on her own drums, but unlike in "Pinkie on the One" this time this version of her is using it ironically, as what she says isn't that funny, and from her grouchy expression she knows it. |
| 605 | -->'''Pinkie Pie:''' She just wants to make things fun! Isn't that what being in a band supposed to be? ''[plays rimshot]'' |
| 606 | * TheStinger: [[spoiler:The human world's Twilight has figured out that there's something strange going on at Canterlot High.]] |
| 607 | * StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Snips and Snails' performance draws many reactions from the audience from scoffs to horror, but no-one seems to think highly of it. No-one except [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Pinkie]] and [[TheDitz Sonata]]. |
| 608 | * StringTheory: After the credits roll, [[spoiler:it is revealed that human Twilight (the ''real'', original human Twilight) has been tracking the occurrences of the two movies using this trope, and all the strings on her board lead [[SequelHook directly to CHS...]]]] |
| 609 | * StuckInTheirShadow: InUniverse example. Twilight thinks Fluttershy's song is good, but Rainbow Dash always puts off rehearsing it. [[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}} in the end when Rainbow Dash picks Fluttershy's song for the final showdown.]] |
| 610 | -->'''Fluttershy:''' I write songs! You just never let us play any of them! |
| 611 | * StylisticSuck: |
| 612 | ** The "Bad Counterspell" song and Snips and Snails' rap draw cringes and plugged ears from many in-universe. |
| 613 | ** Many viewers have also observed that the Rainbooms' songs, while not ''bad'' at all, are not on par with the Dazzlings', right up until Sunset picks up the mic. This is probably intentional, as a reflection of the Dazzlings being two steps ahead of the Rainbooms for most of the movie, and generally much better at this MagicMusic thing. |
| 614 | * SuddenlySpeaking: |
| 615 | ** A few background students get to say a line during the Dazzlings' song "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)"[[note]]The quotes below use[[invoked]] {{Fan Nickname}}s (except for Trixie)[[/note]]: |
| 616 | --->'''Blueberry Cake:''' I could beat you!\ |
| 617 | '''Cherry Crash:''' Ha, you wish!\ |
| 618 | '''Trixie Lulamoon:''' I so want this!\ |
| 619 | '''Captain Planet:''' Not if I get it first! |
| 620 | ** Photo Finish was voiceless in the first film, but has a brief speaking role during the announcement of the finalists, with [[UnexplainedAccent the same accent as her pony counterpart]]. |
| 621 | --->'''Photo Finish:''' Zis never should haf been you, Rainbooms! |
| 622 | ** Octavia Melody, who was previously completely voiceless in the series. |
| 623 | --->'''Octavia Melody:''' I ''knew'' she was still trouble! |
| 624 | * SummonMagic: The final move of the Rainbooms during the Battle of the Bands [[spoiler:is very similar to the ultimate attack found in many Eastern [=RPGs=]: a gigantic magical beast is summoned to deliver a powerful and decisive strike, in this case in the form of a rainbow-beam-firing alicorn]]. |
| 625 | * SuperCuteSuperPowers: When the Rainbooms battle the Dazzlings' spectral avatars, their magical blasts are depicted as showers of rainbows, diamonds, butterflies, and sparkles. |
| 626 | * SuperMode: In the finale, the Rainbooms [[spoiler:get rainbowfied super modes on top of their anthropony transformations]]. |
| 627 | * SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Sunset is quick to deny actually having had feelings for Flash Sentry when they were dating, and that she doesn't have a problem with him crushing on Twilight, but her down face when Rarity lampshades the crush implies otherwise. [[spoiler:However, when Twilight arrives, she seems to go along with the idea of Flash and Twilight being together.]] |
| 628 | * TemptingFate: |
| 629 | ** Adagio, talking about the Dazzlings' gems: "These pendants mean an awful lot to us. We'd just hate for anything to happen to them." Well done, Dazzle, now you jinxed it. |
| 630 | ** Twilight proudly claiming "There isn't going to be a battle of the bands!" to the Dazzlings. Even if this wasn't happening about 30 minutes in the movie, you just know she's doomed herself and her friends to such a battle before the end. |
| 631 | ** The Dazzlings then triumphantly sing "NothingCanStopUsNow" just before the Rainbooms show up to defy them in said BattleOfTheBands. |
| 632 | %% TerribleTrio doesn't fit for The Dazzlings: they are the main antagonists for one movie, and not recurring minor villains. |
| 633 | * {{Thememobile}}: Vinyl Scratch's sweet ride very much follows her color scheme, with musical notes decorations and a hood ornament shaped like DJ Pon-3's unicorn counterpart. (The toy version even has a detachable windshield that can be used as CoolShades.) It has various[[invoked]] {{Fan Nickname}}s (Vinylmobile, [=DJmobile=], Wubmobile...) with the most popular being [[https://derpibooru.org/search?q=Bassmobile Bassmobile.]] To top it all, [[spoiler:it is a TransformingVehicle that can become a DJ booth with several big speakers and a laser light show]]. |
| 634 | * ThemeMusicPowerUp: During the FinalBattle, [[spoiler:when DJ Pon-3 fires the first salvo with her BASS CANNON, followed by cutie-marks sparkles attacks]], the music is a TriumphantReprise of the theme for the first movie (specifically, from the moment the ''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls'' title card is shown on screen). |
| 635 | * {{Theremin}}: Among the instruments Pinkie suggests Twilight should play, she brings out a theremin and plays a haunting tune. |
| 636 | -->'''Pinkie Pie:''' So magical... |
| 637 | * ThisCannotBe: Adagio's reaction, after the Dazzlings attempt to finish off the Rainbooms is repulsed and their spell over the crowd is broken, is one of disbelief. Her RedEyesTakeWarning fade due to having been severely weakened at the loss of her thralls, and she's left staring up at the Rainbooms looking like she just got socked hard in the stomach and got the wind knocked out of her. |
| 638 | * ThisIsTheFinalBattle: Twilight confidently tells the Dazzlings that "There isn't going to be a battle of the bands! We're gonna make sure of that." Of course, since this is only half an hour into the movie, she's wrong. |
| 639 | * ThoseTwoGuys: The "tornado" blue guy and the "square root of heart" guy, who are seen laughing together during "Better Than Ever", squabbling like all the other students during the tournament, and singing together at the end of "Welcome to the Show". |
| 640 | * ThroatSlittingGesture: When Sonata nearly reveals the Dazzlings' true intentions to Sunset, Adagio promptly gives her this to stop her and change the subject. |
| 641 | * ThrownDownAWell: Just before the final battle, [[spoiler:the Rainbooms and Sunset are thrown down a stage trap into a locked room]], where [[spoiler:their tensions that have been building throughout the film come to a boil, fueling the Dazzlings with enough negative emotional energy to reach full power. Fortunately, Sunset is able to resolve their argument, and Spike, who avoided the trapdoor, fetches DJ Pon-3 to rescue them]]. |
| 642 | * TimeSkip: With the exception of the prologue, the movie takes place six moons after the first ''Equestria Girls'', as noted in the commentary. |
| 643 | * TimmyInAWell: Amusingly InvertedTrope with Spike [[spoiler:and Vinyl Scratch: he's a talking dog who seeks the help of a speechless human]]. The ''WebVideo/BroniesReact'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7DCOyu6TRI video for the film]] indeed makes a ''Series/{{Lassie}}'' joke out of it. |
| 644 | * TitleDrop: When Twilight and her human friends first attempt to stop the Dazzlings, she shouts, "Friendship is magic!" |
| 645 | * TitleThemeTune: [[http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Rainbow_Rocks_(song) "Rainbow Rocks"]], the movie theme tune, {{Title Drop}}s at the end of the chorus. |
| 646 | * TrailersAlwaysSpoil: |
| 647 | ** The Hasbro and Shout! Factory trailers and sneak peeks essentially cut up the first 15-20 minutes of the film into individual scenes and snipped some jokes and bridging sequences between them. If you kept up with them before seeing the film itself, you can essentially skip to the point where the group contacts Twilight without missing much of anything. |
| 648 | ** Even worse with the Hub Network/Discovery Family promos, which show [[spoiler:Sunset joining the band in the end as well as the final battle between the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms including the transformations of the former]]. |
| 649 | * TransformationSequence: |
| 650 | ** The Equestria Girls still transform into their pony-human hybrids as at the finale of the first film, but now the transformations are [[ThePowerOfRock powered by their musical talents]]. |
| 651 | ** The Dazzlings also get one at the end [[spoiler:after draining enough Equestrian magic]]. |
| 652 | ** [[spoiler:As does Sunset when she joins the Rainbooms; hers in particular is very much in the MagicalGirl style compared to other transformations.]] |
| 653 | * TransformingVehicle: [[spoiler:Vinyl Scratch's car transforms into a DJ booth with several big speakers and a laser light show.]] |
| 654 | * TrapDoor: Right before the finals, Trixie and her two bandmates [[spoiler:trap the Rainbooms under the stage by pulling a lever and opening a trap door right under their feet]]. |
| 655 | * TriumphantReprise: |
| 656 | ** The Rainbooms' part of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfqhLM_k60c "Welcome to the Show"]] is triumphantly reprised after [[spoiler:Sunset joins the band and they conjure up a giant WingedUnicorn avatar to defeat the Dazzlings once and for all]]. |
| 657 | ** Also, the moment in the battle [[spoiler:where DJ Pon-3 fires the first salvo with her BASS CANNON, followed by cutie-marks sparks attacks]], uses the theme from the first movie (specifically, the part when the ''My Little Pony: Equestria Girls'' title card shows on screen) in a more upbeat/rock cover. |
| 658 | * TroubledFetalPosition: |
| 659 | ** Sunset Shimmer slumps into one after Principal Celestia mentions the Fall Formal, and every student in the gym (save the Rainbooms) start glaring at the former school queen. |
| 660 | ** Twilight Sparkle gets into one too [[spoiler:when the Rainbooms are trapped under the stage and start blaming each other, and she admits that she couldn't get the counterspell ready and agonizes over how she could have failed like this]]. |
| 661 | * TruckDriversGearChange: The final chorus of "Welcome to the Show" modulates up a whole step. |
| 662 | * TheUnapologetic: Despite being freed from The Dazzlings control at the end of the film, Flash Sentry, Trixie, and the other students don't really give off much of an "I'm sorry" for their horrible treatment of Twilight, Sunset and the Rainbooms. |
| 663 | * UncommonTime: "Welcome to the Show" alternates between 4/4 and 7/8 time. |
| 664 | * {{Understatement}}: When discussing Sunset Shimmer's past deeds, Fluttershy says "You were pretty bad at the Fall Formal." Sunset is a little more honest about it when she bluntly says "A demon. I turned into a raging she-demon." |
| 665 | * TheUnmasquedWorld: [[spoiler:If human Twilight in TheStinger is any indication, the events of the two films are starting to attract outside attention...]] |
| 666 | * UnwittingPawn: Trixie and the Illusions. They're basically regular, neutral members of the student body, but are [[spoiler:manipulated into trapping the Rainbooms just before the final battle]]. |
| 667 | * VillainExitStageLeft: Done quite literally by the Dazzlings when they are defeated, courtesy of ProducePelting from the audience. They run off the stage and are never seen again. |
| 668 | * VillainHasAPoint: While they say it to break her will to oppose them since she already figured out their plans, the Sirens are not wrong at telling Sunset that, despite the Humane Five forgiving her and being nice to her, they hardly were her friends, since there were still tensions between them by [[InnocentlyInsensitive bringing up her "Raging She-Demon" stunt several times throughout the movie, and not even bothering to ask Sunset to join their band, something they did with Twilight]]. |
| 669 | * VillainOpeningScene: The film opens with the Dazzlings draining the emotions of a restaurant full of people, then noticing the final events of the first movie in the distance. This sets off their entire scheme to take over the world. |
| 670 | * VillainousFaceHold: Adagio briefly holds Trixie's chin with her hand during "Battle". |
| 671 | * VillainSong: The Dazzlings, a.k.a. the Sirens, have three: "Battle", "Under Our Spell", and their part of "Welcome to the Show". The second of these is a double meaning, [[SuspiciouslyAproposMusic as it's about falling under their spell in addition to already being under it.]] The third gets a DarkReprise once the trio have been rendered tone-deaf following their pendants being destroyed. |
| 672 | * VisualPun: During the song "Awesome as I Wanna Be", a spotlight shines on each of the Rainbooms one by one, which is normal since they're performing on scene. It becomes significant when, in the middle of the song, all the rays of light focus on Rainbow Dash, who is literally stealing the spotlights with her showboating. |
| 673 | * VolumetricMouth: As in the first movie, this effect is sometimes used, most notably by pony Pinkie. Also ThoseTwoGuys singing arms-in-arms in the crowd during the climax. |
| 674 | * WardrobeWound: During the song "Shake Your Tails", Rarity's '60s-themed outfit with dangling metal shingles get caught by Photo Finish's magnets, and when Rarity gives a hard pull on it to get free, the sleeves are ripped off. Rarity's horrified reaction is to burst into tears right on the scene. |
| 675 | -->'''Rarity:''' Ruined! Absolutely ruined! |
| 676 | * WeirdnessCensor: Nobody in the CHS universe is surprised to see and hear Spike [[TalkingAnimal talk]]. {{Justified|Trope}} with the CHS students, who learned [[YouCanTalk he can talk]] at the Fall Formal in the previous film, but even Mrs. Cake at the malt shop doesn't notice. |
| 677 | * WhamLine: |
| 678 | ** On a meta level, "So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real Battle of the Bands? Then let's ''battle.''" This is the moment you realize there's more to the climax than a OneHitKill after both sides transform. |
| 679 | ** [[spoiler:"No doubt about it, Spike, there's definitely something strange going on at that school."]] |
| 680 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: |
| 681 | ** We never find out what happens to Celestia and Luna after the semifinals, as they aren't seen again from that point on. |
| 682 | ** [[spoiler:Once the Dazzlings are defeated and run off, they are never seen again.]] This doesn't qualify as ChuckCunninghamSyndrome because they are mentioned later. |
| 683 | * WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: The crowd gets these as the Dazzlings enthrall them during their final song. |
| 684 | * WingedUnicorn: Besides Twilight Sparkle, [[spoiler:a ''gigantic'' winged unicorn made of the Magic of Friendship materializes at the climax of the final battle, using a beam from its horn to blast away the spiritual forms of the Sirens and destroy the Dazzlings' gems]]. |
| 685 | * WorldOfJerkass: All of Canterlot High except for the Rainbooms, Sunset Shimmer, Spike and Vinyl Scratch/DJ Pon-3 become this due to the Dazzlings HatePlague. |
| 686 | * WrongGenreSavvy: The first thing Twilight Sparkle and friends try against the Dazzlings is use ThePowerOfFriendship the same way that was used to deal with every villain prior. Too bad for them magic doesn't work that way in this universe. |
| 687 | * WTHCostumingDepartment: Invoked InUniverse when Rarity dons a costume worthy of TheSixties and full of metallic tassels during one set. |
| 688 | * YouCantThwartStageOne: Things would have been way easier for the Rainbooms if they had stopped the Dazzlings earlier, when they were at their weakest. They try to defeat them as soon as they're all together, but ThePowerOfFriendship doesn't activate, prompting them to find a more specific solution they must spend the film working on. In the end, [[spoiler:they fall for the Sirens' manipulations, letting them drive a wedge between themselves, which finally allow the Dazzlings to drain a good amount of the Rainbooms' Equestrian magic and regain a large part of their powers. Only then does the real BattleOfTheBands start, and the Dazzlings are now very dangerous foes]]. |
| 689 | * YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Sunset Shimmer is enraged and humiliated when The Great and Powerful Trixie praises her for tackling Rainbow Dash in an alleged fit of jealous rage. |
| 690 | * YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive: Like Sunset Shimmer did in the first film, Adagio uses this when she says "We're going to use [Equestrian magic] to make everyone in this pathetic little world adore us." |
| 691 | * YourMagicsNoGoodHere: Trying to use friendship-powered magic in a universe where magic normally doesn't exist results in nothing happening. At least, not without a magical object from Equestria to harness it from. |
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