My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks facts for kids

Quick facts for kids My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jayson Thiessen Ishi Rudell
Produced by	Devon Cody Sarah Wall
Written by	Meghan McCarthy
Starring	Tara Strong Ashleigh Ball Andrea Libman Tabitha St. Germain Cathy Weseluck Rebecca Shoichet Kazumi Evans Maryke Hendrikse Diana Kaarina
Music by	William Anderson
Editing by	Rachel Kenzie
Distributed by	Screenvision
Release date(s)	September 27, 2014 (2014-09-27)
Running time	70 minutes
Country	Canada United States
Language	English
Money made	$347,511 (Finland, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Uruguay)

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks, often called Rainbow Rocks, is a fun animated musical movie from 2014. It's based on the popular Equestria Girls toys and shows, which are a spin-off of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic series.

This movie was made in Canada and the United States. It was written by Meghan McCarthy and directed by Jayson Thiessen and Ishi Rudell. It's a sequel to the first Equestria Girls movie from 2013.

Rainbow Rocks first showed in some movie theaters in the United States and Canada on September 27, 2014. Later, it was shown on the Discovery Family TV channel on October 17, 2014. You could also buy it on DVD or Blu-ray starting October 28, 2014.

Just like the first movie, Rainbow Rocks shows the main characters from My Little Pony as human teenagers. They go to a high school called Canterlot High. The story happens between the fourth and fifth seasons of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic TV show. In the movie, Twilight Sparkle comes back to Canterlot High. She joins her friends, including Sunset Shimmer, in a Battle of the Bands. They need to save the school from three magical creatures called sirens who came from Equestria.

Critics really liked the movie, saying it was much better than the first one. After Rainbow Rocks, there were two more movies in the series: Friendship Games and Legend of Everfree.

What Happens in the Movie

Sunset Shimmer's New Start

The movie starts with Sunset Shimmer. She used to be a bully at Canterlot High. But after the first movie, she changed her ways. Even though she tries to be good, most students still don't trust her. Her only friends are the human versions of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity.

These five friends have a rock band called "the Rainbooms." They plan to play in the school's musical showcase. They find out that the magic from Twilight's crown gave them special powers. When they play their instruments, they grow pony-like ears, tails, and wings!

The Dazzlings Arrive

Sunset wants to make a good impression. She gives a tour to three new students: Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and Aria Blaze. Sunset tells them about the showcase. She doesn't know that these new students have dark magic. They call themselves "the Dazzlings."

The Dazzlings sing a song that makes all the other students angry and competitive. They convince everyone to change the showcase into a "Battle of the Bands." Sunset and her friends are safe from the song because of their own magic. They try to tell Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna about the danger, but the principals don't believe them.

Twilight Sparkle Returns

Sunset remembers a magical book that Princess Celestia (her old mentor in Equestria) keeps. Sunset uses the book to send a message asking Twilight for help.

Twilight gets Sunset's message. She figures out that the Dazzlings are sirens from Equestria. Sirens are magical creatures that feed on bad emotions. They use their singing powers to take over the world. Twilight uses the book's magic to open the portal again. This lets her and Spike (her dragon friend, who turns into a dog) return to the human world.

Twilight and her friends try to break the Dazzlings' spell, but it doesn't work. They realize they need to perform a special musical counter-spell. So, the girls enter the Battle of the Bands. This gives Twilight time to finish the spell.

The Battle and Friendship

During the competition, other bands are mean to the Rainbooms and try to mess up their performances. This makes Twilight's friends argue with each other. In the semifinal round, they play against Trixie's band. Rainbow Dash sings a very proud song instead of the counter-spell. She almost turns into her full pony-like form. Sunset has to stop her performance to keep their plan a secret from the Dazzlings.

Even so, the Dazzlings let the Rainbooms go to the final round. But Trixie gets mad and traps the Rainbooms under the stage. The Dazzlings take their place. Stuck for hours, the girls start arguing a lot. This allows the Dazzlings to steal their magic.

Sunset realizes that their fighting is stopping Twilight's spell from working. She convinces her friends to stop arguing and make up. Twilight then figures out that playing together as true friends will make the counter-spell powerful enough.

Saving the School

DJ Pon-3 (whose headphones protect her from the Dazzlings' spell) helps Spike rescue the girls. DJ Pon-3 gives the Rainbooms a sound system. They use it to start a musical battle against the Dazzlings.

The Dazzlings are very strong, but then Sunset joins the Rainbooms. With her help, the Rainbooms become powerful enough to destroy the Dazzlings' special necklaces. These necklaces are the source of the sirens' powers. After this, Twilight and Spike go back to Equestria. Sunset uses Celestia's book to stay in touch with Twilight.

In a short scene after the movie ends, the human version of Twilight Sparkle is shown. She is looking into strange magic around Canterlot High. This leads to the next movie, Friendship Games.

Who's in the Movie

• Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle. She is a smart "alicorn" (a winged unicorn) from Equestria. She sings for the Rainbooms band. Tara Strong also voices the human Twilight Sparkle in a scene after the movie.
• Ashleigh Ball as Rainbow Dash. She plays lead guitar and started the Rainbooms. Ashleigh Ball also voices Applejack, who plays bass guitar for the Rainbooms.
• Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie. She is the drummer for the Rainbooms. Andrea Libman also voices Fluttershy, who plays the tambourine.
• Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity. She plays the keytar for the Rainbooms. Tabitha St. Germain also voices Vice Principal Luna, who is the vice-principal of Canterlot High.
• Cathy Weseluck as Spike. He is Twilight's dragon helper. In the human world, he turns into a dog.
• Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer. She is a unicorn from Equestria who used to be a bully but became friends with the Rainbooms. Rebecca Shoichet also sings for Twilight Sparkle.
• Kazumi Evans as Adagio Dazzle. She is the leader of the Dazzlings, the sirens from Equestria. Kazumi Evans also sings for Rarity.
• Maryke Hendrikse as Sonata Dusk. She is one of the Dazzlings and sings backup.
• Diana Kaarina as Aria Blaze. She is another Dazzling and sings backup.
• Vincent Tong as Flash Sentry. He is a student who likes Twilight and plays guitar in a rival band called Flash Drive.
• Kathleen Barr as Trixie. She is a magician and plays guitar in another rival band, Trixie and the Illusions.
• Nicole Oliver as Principal Celestia. She is the principal of Canterlot High.

DJ Pon-3 is also in the movie a lot, but she doesn't speak.

Other Fun Stuff

Animated Shorts: Before the Movie

Before the movie came out, Hasbro released eight short animated videos on their YouTube channel. These shorts were like "prequels" to the movie. They showed how each of the Rainbooms discovered their special magic when playing their instruments.

Here are the titles of these shorts and when they first came out online:

Animated Shorts: After the Movie

After the movie, Hasbro released three more music videos on March 31, 2015. These songs were "Friendship Through the Ages," "Life Is a Runway," and "My Past is Not Today." These shorts helped lead up to the third Equestria Girls movie, Friendship Games.

Here are these shorts:

Movie Soundtrack

The songs from the movie were released as a soundtrack album on September 10, 2014. It was available on iTunes. The soundtrack did very well, reaching #10 on the Kid Albums Billboard chart!

Here are the songs on the soundtrack:

See also

In Spanish: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Rainbow Rocks para niños