“Ugh.”

Twilight and Rarity both threw a pointed glance at Rainbow, who was sprawled across a pile of open books. Twilight straightened the pile of novels she had been stacking before turning to face Rainbow. “Something you’d like to say?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow barely lifted her head. “Ugh.”

“This ‘woe is me’ act of yours isn’t very flattering,” Rarity spat, dusting off an encyclopedia. “We’ve been working for a mere half-hour. You could at least try to help.”

“I have been helping!” Rainbow shot back. “But how come Applejack gets to map out the Palace while we’re stuck here organizing books? Do you know how awesome I am at exploring? Like, super awesome!”

“Because unlike her, you can fly,” Twilight explained. "You can help reach the higher bookshelves."

Rainbow scowled and started to argue, but was cut short as Applejack entered the room. "Hey, girls!" she chirped, a brown box on her back. "Look what I found!"

Everypony crowded around her. Twilight gasped. "It's a radio! I had no idea the castle came with one—they're so expensive, usually only the richest of the rich own them!"

"You are a Princess now, sugarcube. Say, why don't we put on some tunes while we're working?" Applejack laid the radio on the ground and started playing with the knobs, until the static was replaced by the rhythmic twang of banjos. "Whoa, they've got Filly Nelson on this thing?" She hummed along with the tune--only to stop as she realized that Rainbow and Rarity were glaring at her. Her cheeks went pink. "What?"

Rarity sighed. "You're given the chance to listen to any music in the world, and you choose country music?"

"Why? What's wrong with it?"

"I'm not listening to freakin' banjos all day," Rainbow said.

"It's not just banjos!" Applejack said. "There's washboards, too."

Rainbow grabbed the radio and spun the dial until there came a thunderous chorus of electric guitars. "Hay yeah, Starswirl Priest! This is my jam!" She flared her wings, and started headbanging violently, completely out of time with the music. Sweat flew in every direction, forcing Rarity and Applejack to back away. She was just priming herself for the guitar solo when the music shifted to an electronic beat. Her eyes flew open. "Hey, what gives?"

Rarity smiled as her magic faded. "I think you'll find that Sapphire Shores is vastly superior to that 'scrap metal' music of yours."

Applejack cringed as Sapphire's auto-tuned voice droned through the speakers. "Right, because this is so much better than Filly Nelson."

"I'm glad you agree," Rarity cooed. "This is 'popular' music for a reason."

"Yeah, because ponies have no respect for the classics!" Applejack flipped back to country music. "I found the radio, didn't I? I should get to decide."

"You're not even gonna be in the room!" Rainbow yelped, pushing her away and switching back to heavy metal. Applejack switched it to country. Rainbow switched to metal. Country. Metal. Rarity grabbed the radio away and switched to pop. Rainbow growled and spun around to face Twilight, over by the bookshelves. "It's Twilight's radio, she can decide. Starswirl Priest totally rocks, right, Twi?"

Twilight looked from a book and smiled. "Personally, I've always been partial to ska music—"

Everypony groaned. Rainbow rolled her eyes. "We're rocking out, and that's final."

"You can rock out to Filly Nelson," Applejack said, snatching the radio away. Just as she closed her mouth, Rarity switched it to pop.

"There's still loads of books to sort," Twilight called.

At that moment, Rainbow slapped Rarity's horn. Rainbow grabbed the radio and sped away, but was blocked off by Applejack, who tackled her to the ground. As they fought for control, Rarity slipped in and grabbed the music box, before sprinting away. Rainbow and Applejack barrelled into Rarity's side, throwing her to the ground. Everypony cried out as the radio flew across the room, and out an open window--until it came floating back in, encased in a magenta glow.

Twilight floated the radio over to herself. "Girls, stop fighting! Music is meant to bring ponies together, not drive them apart! This is shameful."

The three kept their glares up for a few moments more, but soon broke. "Sorry," they all muttered. With Twilight still holding the radio, Rarity and Rainbow trudged back to the bookshelves. Applejack moved to the doorway.

There was a click, and trumpets filled the air.

Everypony groaned again as Twilight started skanking. Rainbow hit her head on a wall. "I'd rather listen to banjos."