//------------------------------// // Part Two // Story: Gleeful Vengeance // by Auto-Buscus //------------------------------// Twilight watched as Singer paced back and forth nervously. This was definitely an Earth shattering development for him. “Singer, sweetie, you’re going to have to stop pacing. You’re beginning to freak me out here.” Twilight said as she sat on a bench. This reaction was definitely not what she’d expected from him. “Twilight, I… I don’t know what to say. I…” “Look, I know you warned them. You warned all of us. And I don’t know what happened, but the reality of the situation is that they fell prey to Miss Reed’s schemes. Whatever’s going on, we can face it together and get them back.” “Twilight, I… I can’t. I just can’t…” “What? Singer! My friends are in trouble!” “I know, okay? But… aaaaagh! This was what I was hoping to avoid. That woman is a devious manipulative wi-… just a bad person. I’ve seen what she’s capable of… first hand.” “Wait… so you’ve actually dealt with her before?” “Yes, and it’s not something I’m keen on doing ever again. She tried to pull this crap back in High School. And tried to use me to do it.” “What? When?” “Not long after I started going to school there, and not maybe a month or so before you transferred there. I was alone, Twilight. You have to understand, I was looking for a place to fit in back then hadn’t yet met Flash, Vinyl or Octavia and I was a social outcast. And I thought she could help me find what I was looking for. But I was wrong, all she wanted was to use me to recruit students who matched her criteria but had zero interest in joining Glee Club. I mean, who could blame them, honestly? It’s not the coolest thing in the world to be a part of as a High School student. But I caught on to what she was doing, and I backed out and called her out on it. She’s ‘had my number’ ever since. If I show up there, things will get ugly.” Twilight’s gaze stayed on him as he hung his head. She could tell that whatever experience he’d had with Miss Reed in the past, it had weighed on him for some time. Her feelings became more conflicted. She didn’t want to put him through the pain of seeing Miss Reed again, but at the same time, who else was going to save her friends? It’s not like they could just go to the police with this. Who would believe that any of this was happening? “Okay… I understand. Believe me. I understand what it’s like to be a social outcast, and I also understand what it’s like to have someone use you for their gain. If I had to face Principal Cinch again, I don’t know that I’d be able to handle it either.” Singer then looked up at her, remembering what she’d told him about Principal Cinch and what she’d done to manipulate her back at Crystal Prep. He looked at her sympathetically. Knowing that they had both had similar experiences in High School, in some weird way, made this seem not as bad as he initially thought. Though it was still hard, he had to place himself in her position as well. He would want to be by her side to help her face her adversary, and he knew that she would be willing to do the same for him. This was every bit as much his battle as it was hers at this point. He sighed and sat down by her on the bench. “I’m sorry Twilight. I lost myself for a second. Yeah, it’s rough. But I don’t want to make you feel like I’m abandoning you. Not when there might be something I can do. But, maybe we can face this together. I care about you, and I know you care about me.” He held her hand as they stared into each other’s eyes. “You’re right. Someone has to help our friends, and we might be the only ones who can.” “Are you sure you want to do this?” “No…” he admitted with a chuckle. “But I do know that you are important to me, and they are important to you, and I have to admit that I am rather fond of them as well. I’m not going to sit on the sidelines because I’m afraid of some scary lady from my past. And I’m not letting you go in there by yourself. Besides, I’ve been running from my fears for long enough. I’m done running.” Twilight stood up, and Singer did the same. They shared a hug before going in for a kiss, however they were interrupted by someone calling out for them. “Yo, lovebirds!” a lower pitched female voice called out to them, stopping them in their moment. Singer and Twilight backed up from each other, blushing and sheepishly smiling as the new party joined the fray. It was a friend of Singer’s, one who loved her loud bass speakers and headset. Vinyl Scratch removed her dark purple tinted sunglasses as she walked up to them. “Hi Vinyl…” Singer said, acknowledging her and being a little disappointed in her timing. “Hey-o Singer, Twilight. Have either of you seen Octavia? I haven’t seen her all day, and she hasn’t been responding to my text messages or calls.” “Uuuh…” Singer said, with growing suspicion forming in his mind. “I don’t know exactly where she’s at, but I have an idea.” “I mean if she’d rather hang around a bunch of randos than hang out with her best friend, that’s fine I guess. Just a heads up would have been nice.” “It’s not like that,” he assured her. “However, the alternative is worse. Miss Reed is back in town and is recruiting people for her Glee Club with her less than desirable methods. It’s not just Octavia, I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to Flash, Fender, and Axel too. Plus Ray, Dusk and the girls, and really who knows who else she has wrapped up in this.” “That devil woman is back?!?” Vinyl shouted angrily. “Son of a-…” “Yes, we were actually on our way to go check it out.” Twilight threw in. “Something has to be done.” “Heck yeah it does! If you’re going in, I’m going too! Nobody takes my best friend!” She almost led the way, but then stopped. “How about I meet you there? I have some gear I’m going to need to grab. We will make our presence known with the power of the Wubs!” “The power of what?” Twilight inquired. “Wubs!” Vinyl repeated. “Forgive me, but what are those?” “WUBS are the awesome sound waves that emit from loudspeakers that blow you the eff away, that’s what they are! Nothing will offset a Glee Club gathering quite like loud music. Especially in a confined space!” An almost evil grin adorned her face as she casually put her sunglasses back on. “At any rate, I’m going to go take care of business. I’ll see you two later!” Vinyl held up double peace fingers with her hands and took off, leaving them alone once again. “Alrighty then. We’ll meet you there.” “I wonder what she’s got planned.” said Twilight. “Who knows? But knowing her, it’ll be something exciting. Something more to look forward to, I guess.” “I guess so. So off to it, then?” “After you, Milady,” Singer said with a bow, gesturing to the auditorium building. “Who knows? Fighting the Glee Club might actually be fun.” “Let’s not get carried away, there. Just, whatever we do, we do together. Promise?” “Aye… I mean yes, I promise.” And with that, the two were on their way into the unknown. The building in their sights, they both carried on. Fears and anxieties arose in both of them, but they knew they had to do this. They’d just hoped that they weren't walking into a trap. “Everything is going off without a hitch as I knew it would,” Miss Reed said as she spoke with a tall man dressed in a suit. “Thank you for convincing Mr Paige to help me out, Record. He was a huge asset.” “Very good. I’m happy to have provided my assistance. Anything to help out a former classmate. I’m impressed by the number of students who have agreed to participate in this show. Though, there’s one not among them who I had halfway expected to be in the fray.” “Oh?” “My son, Singer Case. I understand he’s enrolled in this university. And like myself, he enjoys the chance to participate in musical events like this.” He stood about a foot taller than Miss Reed, who was about average height. He had white skin, blue eyes and a gold/blonde mullet style hair do. He was slightly bigger and more built than his son was. “Oh, I see. Well not to worry, he will be along soon enough. I have a special place for him.” She’d turned off to the side to make a smirk. “Oh, well… uh great. When you see him, could you tell him I’m looking forward to seeing him? We had a bit of a falling out a while back, and I’ve been missing him.” “Oh my, sure I’ll pass that message along. What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” “Oh long story short, I had expressed my interest in him becoming my eventual successor as head of my company. My timing was apparently anything but timely. There’s this girl. He was not keen on moving away to the big city away from her, and I pushed him too hard. He had other things on his mind, and I let my plans get in the way of my own common sense and in doing so, I pushed him away. Big mistake, it turns out.” “Part of being a parent, or at least I assume anyway.” “For sure. Sometimes you just don’t know what to do until you’ve done it wrong the first time…” he cleared his throat. “Well Reed, I won’t hold you any longer. I need to move along. Other things to attend to. I will see you tomorrow.” “Safe travels, to ya then.” She waited until he’d left the auditorium before she snapped her fingers and whistled for her cast of captive characters to file on to the stage. She made it a point to take Bulk Biceps to the side and whisper in his ear. “I need you to look out for Singer Case and bring him to me. By any means necessary. Just you know, don’t harm him… yet.” “YES MA’AM MISS REED!” Bulk said as he jumped off the stage, making the building shake slightly, and bolted out of one of the doors towards the back of the auditorium. “Well now that that amusing display is over with, let’s go from the top. I just have to say, you kids are fast learners and highly adaptable. It almost pains me to do this to you. Almost. Perhaps once I finally hit the big time I can focus on doing this legitimately.” She bellowed a few chuckles with an embarrassing snort at the end. “Any one of you makes a comment on that, and you’re joining Ray in the ‘Comic Relief Dressing Room’…” “Yes Miss Reed…” they all said in creepy unison. That was too creepy even for her to hear. “Ooooo….kaaaaaay… we are not going to be talking in unison anymore. Just save that syncing for the songs in the show.” Pinkie had been backstage making sure Ray had food and water as he was being kept in his dressing room in costume both as a surprise for everyone else, and as a small punishment for how he’d acted when Miss Reed was trying to get him and Sunset onboard. Pinkie stood in front of everyone else right by Miss Reed’s side. “Thank you Pinkie Pie,” she began. “None of this could be possible without you. Together we will show these stuffy rich judges that we do have what it takes to compete in regionals.” “No Problem Miss Reedie!” “It’s Miss Reed, Pinkie…” “Sorry… Miss Reed,” she corrected herself. “I’m just relieved that we were able to get everyone involved… wait… except for Twilight. I don’t see her here.” “The only one we need now is Singer, anyone else would be dead weight.” she said, rubbing her hands together at the thought of nabbing him. It would be the perfect revenge for how he’d exposed her a few years back. “Wait, I thought he was the enemy,” Pinkie replied, confused as to why she’d want him. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Besides, I believe we can persuade him to join us.” “Oh, well okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said gleefully. “It will be nice to get this done and make regionals. It will be the perfect end to a great story.” “Oh, Pinkie… did I not tell you?” “Tell me what?” “It goes well beyond regionals. We have several steps that lead us all the way to Nationals, and then the process keeps going until it starts all over again. No Pinkie, this is our life now. This is forever. Or at least until I decide to retire.” Pinkie winced at that revelation. For the first time since they began, something inside her felt… less than Gleeful. “Oh…” “Now be a good performer and get in line with the others. We have a show to prepare for!” Pinkie unsurely slid into a vacant space between Sunset Shimmer and Dusk. She looked side to side at both of them, noticing how blank their gazes were. Suddenly, things were beginning to fall apart in her mind. This wasn’t what she’d signed up for. However, she remained in place. Maybe things would get better and end on a good note. She could only hope, for the sake of her friends. Things came to an abrupt halt before they could begin their practice session, though. As Miss Reed was about to begin the practice, she was caught off guard by a surprise guest looming behind her. “Hello there…” Singer said as he’d quietly snuck up behind her. “Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up for practice. I was beginning to wonder if you’d show.” She said, clapping her hands as she turned to face him. “I’ve gotta tell ya, that is not the reaction I had expected to get from you.” Singer said quizzically, but shook it off. “What’s your angle, Reed?” Miss Reed stood there smugly, leaving him in suspense while Twilight made her way onto the stage and stood next to Singer. “What? Can’t we let bygones be bygones? I really don’t know what you have to be upset about anyway, I’m not the one who killed your job in building a Glee Club all those years ago.” Miss Reed said, as she circled around him and Twilight. The latter looked a little bit creeped out, mostly at the sight of her friends, but she had to admit Miss Reed didn’t make her feel any easier. “Oh there it is!” Singer yelled. “You know, I knew you hadn’t changed one ounce. Manipulative jerks like you are incapable of such things.” “Oh, but you sure have, haven’t you?” Miss Reed said as she studied both him and Twilight. “From cringy geek to… well, you definitely dress better. Look at that suit. And you’ve even found you a bit of arm candy. Let me guess, Twilight Sparkle. The missing friend from Pinkie Pie’s group. Now we know where she’s been this whole time. Gotta hand it to ya, Case. I didn’t know you had it in ya.” “Leave her out of this. This is between you and me.” “What? I’m just making small talk. Can’t handle that I’ve risen above petty insults? Which, you know, you’ve done nothing but throw my way since the second you arrived. You still have a great deal to learn about tact, my little blue friend. Perhaps, if all goes well in the show, you can reconnect with your father afterwards and he can show you how to talk to your elders.” Singer’s facial expression went from visible confusion to immediate anger at the mention of his father. His fist began to clinch and his teeth gritted as his eyebrows became pointed on his face. “...what did you just say?” “Oops, did I hit a nerve?” “Singer, don’t…” Twilight pleaded. “It’s not worth it, she’s just trying to get in your head. Don’t take the bait.” “Smart girl,” Miss Reed said. “Maybe you should move over there. I don’t think you’re going to be able to stop what comes next.” “Singer, we need to leave. Now…” Twilight said as she tried to pull him away, however he was frozen in place. Anger was swirling in his mind. “Singer?” She made the decision to back up a bit. She’d never seen him angry before, so she wasn’t sure what to expect or if anything she could say would stop him. “You had better shut up, Reed…” Singer growled. “You have no business even knowing about that. I don’t know how you found out, but…” “Hey, he told me that himself, here in person. You actually just missed him a few minutes ago. Seems like even with all the changes you’ve made, you’re still a big disappointment.” Singer lunged with a fist in the air. When he swung, he’d missed. However Miss Reed didn’t, and when she countered him by kicking him in the stomach, she managed to make the blow count. This took the wind out of his sails. “So predictable… I see your temper is still as short as ever…” she laughed as he stumbled to the ground coughing and wheezing. “Please stay down, I sure would hate to damage my star pupil any further the night before the big show.” “I’m not…” he said, trying to catch his breath. “I’m neither your pupil nor am I part of the show. And there’s nothing you can do to make me do it, so you might as well stop pushing it.” “Want to bet?” she said as she snapped her fingers. Suddenly, from behind Twilight, Bulk Biceps returned and grabbed her by her arms and held her into place. “Well done ‘Double B’.” “Hey!” Twilight screamed in protest. “Let me go!” She tried desperately to escape, but to no avail. Singer’s tone changed real fast, as you could imagine it would. “Stop! Please don’t hurt her!” Singer cried out. “She didn’t do anything to you…” “I wouldn’t dream of it. Now her glasses?” Miss Reed swiped her glasses off her face and held them with her hands as if she was about to snap them in half. “Don’t you dare…” Singer growled. “I swear if you do that, I’m going to-…” “Hey, I’m a reasonable person. I’ll make you a deal. Twilight Sparkle goes free with her glasses intact if you come quietly. No resistance, and no funny business. Otherwise, both of you will join us and she will still need new glasses. The choice is yours.” Singer’s eyes widened, his fists were raised again but he let them fall slack as he sighed in defeat. He regained his breath and stood up somewhat weakly. “Fine… you win… I’m sorry Twi, but I-…” “Singer, don’t listen to her! I can always get new glasses, don’t agree to this! We can find another way!” Singer had to look away from her pleading eyes. The shame of failure already falling over him. He knew that there was no other way. If there was, he couldn’t see it “You promised that we’d do this together…” “Sorry Twi, but you getting hurt wasn’t part of the deal.” “No!” Miss Reed placed Twilight’s glasses back on her face and motioned for Bulk Biceps to take her out. “You probably don’t want to be here for this, Twilight. Don’t worry though, he’s going to go far in show business!” “No, wait! Singer, you have to…” “Toodeloo Miss Sparkle! Help yourself to a complementary cup of coffee on your way out!” As she was ushered out, Twilight tried her best to break free, but to no avail. All she could do was try to keep them in her sights during the long walk up the red carpeted aisle of the auditorium, until finally she was taken through the doors and out to the hallway. “You’re a really good boyfriend, Singer. Too bad it’s going to cost you. And boy has it made you soft. That was almost too easy.” “Just get it over with!” Singer shouted. “Yes sir…” she saluted mockingly. “Alright ladies and gentlemen. You know your task. We’ve got him, so let’s do this.” She decided to give the musicians and their instruments a break and play the instrumental to this song over the loudspeakers on stage. “You’re going to need to pick up the volume, especially for tomorrow. So why not practice over this loud music. Grab those mics and make this one count…” “Empty spaces what are we living for? Abandoned places I guess we know the score On and on Does anybody know what we are looking for?” Sunset Shimmer took the first part of the verse before handing it off to Rainbow Dash. “Another hero another mindless crime Behind the curtain in the pantomime Hold the line Does anybody want to take it anymore” Suddenly, everyone else surrounded Singer, pointing their fingers at him and began to belt out the lyrics to the chorus. “The show must go on The show must go on” “Inside my heart is breaking My makeup maybe flaking but my smile still stays on” Rarity sang, taking a small solo in the chorus. “Whatever happens I’ll leave it all to chance Another heartache another failed romance On and on Does anybody know what we are looking for” Dusk sang before handing it off to Fluttershy. “I guess I’m learning I must be warmer now I’ll soon be turning Around the corner now Outside the dawn is breaking But inside in the dark I’m looking to be free” Singer had fought as long as he could, but he could no longer resist. It happened, he cut loose and took the next mic. “The show must go on The show must go on Inside my heart is breaking My legs and back are aching But my song still plays on The show must go on The show must go on I’ll top the bill I’ll overkill I have to find the will to carry on With these songs They’re all wrong But I’ll sing along” As the music’s final notes played on the stage, Singer stood in the center of them all holding his microphone in the air. “The show must go on…” Bulk Biceps had taken Twilight outside and placed her right outside the building’s front doors. “MISS REED SAID NOT TO LET YOU BACK IN UNTIL THE SHOW. SORRY TWILIGHT, RULES ARE RULES!” Bulk said as he turned tail and went back inside. Twilight was devastated. And not just because she was now alone, but because now the friends she’d cared about the most had all been taken by Miss Reed and her Glee Club of horrors. She’d remembered that Vinyl was lurking elsewhere, but she had no idea where and at this point, and she had lost all motivation to do anything. All that had been left for her to do was return back to her room to study. Study? How could she even think about that at a time like this? Still though, the fact remained that she had no idea what to do or if there was anything she could do at this point. Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Dusk, Ray, and now Singer… they were all stuck. Dejected, she let out a defeated sigh and started back to her room. What else was she to do? The tears began to form the closer she’d gotten to her room. The more she’d thought about it, the more sad it made her. What she’d found when she had walked in her door didn’t help matters at all. When she walked in, she saw that Spike had fallen asleep, and wouldn’t you know it? He’d been watching ‘The Walking Dead’. She furiously grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. The sudden lack of background noise woke Spike up. He’d only had to look up and see Twilight’s disapproving glance to know that he was in trouble. “Uh… would you believe that I sleep dialed that?” Spike smiled sheepishly. “No, I would not. And it looks like you’ve lost your TV privilege for the evening.” “Aaaaw man…” “Spike, I am way too upset right now for your blatant disregard for the rules! I will deal with you later. Please clean this mess up.” “Yes,Twilight. I’m sorry…” Spike said as he started to pick up the popcorn that had fallen on the floor and a few stray candy bar wrappers. “Can I ask what happened that made you upset? You’re acting like someone tried to steal your lunch.” “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Spike. I guess that’s the part of this that makes me the most angry. For once in my life, I have no idea what’s happening or how to fix it.” “Try me, if it’s coming from you, I think I can manage to take it seriously. I mean, you’re not exactly the nonsensical type, Twilight.” “Fair enough…” Twilight said with an exasperated sigh. She proceeded to tell him everything. Sparing no detail as she went over everything that she knew and the current state of the situation. Spike’s eyes had widened when she’d described the state of her friends when she saw them on stage. “I told you it was crazy, but I swear I’m not making it up.” “It’s just like the Walking Dead… Glee Zombies… Glombies!” “Spike! Enough with the Walking Dead!” Twilight had grown even more irritated. “Sorry, sorry. Any chance you won’t tell mom about that?” “Not a chance…” she crossed her arms and looked at him crossly. “Didn’t think so… wait, what if I help you with this Glee Club problem?” “No offense Spike, but this isn’t exactly something that I think you’d know how to fix.” “Aw come on, Twilight! At least let me try to help. Come on, the two of us, running into danger to save our friends, it would be like Spy Kids or any of those old clichéd kids action movies where two siblings team up to save the day and defeat some over the top villain! That old Miss Reed lady doesn’t scare me. We can take her!” “Spike, if you don’t mind… I just want to sit in silence for a while. I’m done with team ups, and I’m done trying to fix something that I just don’t have the understanding to fix. Last time I tried that, I just made things worse. Just go do your homework or something.” She said as she fell down on her bed and buried her head into her pillow. Spike begrudgingly complied and pulled out his backpack, taking it to the table and prepared to start on his homework assignments. Yuck, he thought as he pulled out a science book. Fortunately for him, his homework woes were short lived as someone started to knock on Twilight’s door. “I’ll get it!” Spike shouted as he shot up and ran to the door. He was surprised to find that the person knocking was Pinkie Pie. “Uuuuh, Twilight?” “Spike, for the last time, I want to be left… alone?” When Twilight saw her standing there, she froze. She wasn’t sure what to make of this. However, once she’d gotten over the initial shock of the moment, she’d come to realize that Pinkie looked sad and was clearly wallowing in regret. “Pinkie? A-Are you alright?” Pinkie leaped forward and embraced her friend in a hug. “Twilight, I’m… I’m so sorry…” tears falling down her face and everything. This was no Glee Club trick, Pinkie had broken free of it and this was genuine. “Pinkie, you have no idea how happy I am to see you right now. Like this.” Twilight returned the hug, and wiped tears from her own eyes. “Twilight, all of this is my fault! I’m the one to blame. When Miss Reed first approached me and talked to me about getting my friends to join the Glee Club, I thought she was just misunderstood and I just wanted to help. But she’s been playing me this whole time! When I saw what she did to you, I realized what kind of person Miss Reed truly is, I had to snap out of it. But now all of our friends are still stuck in a Gleeful prison and it’s all my fault.” Twilight harkened back to what Singer had told her before, about how Miss Reed had done the same thing to him in High School, or at least tried to. Clearly her craft had been improved upon because she was able to string Pinkie along for quite a while and all else whom she had recruited. But what Pinkie had just said about snapping out of it gave her hope. There had to be a way to reach the others. “We have to go back,” she said. “Our friends are counting on us!” “Yeah!” Spike cheered, and Pinkie’s face began to adorn a smile again. “Twilight, Singer had a contingency plan in the event of an emergency. He didn’t by any chance give you the key fob to his car did he?” “Actually,” she said as she pulled it out of the pocket of her skirt. “Yeah, he slipped it to me just before we entered the auditorium. But I have no idea why. Wait! Singer has contingency plans? I have to say, I’m kind of proud!” “He thought you’d be. Let’s just hope this works.” Twilight looked up at Pinkie, who just shrugged as if to say ‘let’s just roll with it’, and with that the two of them followed Spike out the door. Spike led them outside to where Singer’s car had been sitting, and theatrically pressed the trunk opening button on the fob, opening it up. Inside was a briefcase, emblazoned with his insignia, a microphone with a cut off cord and his name labeled on it. Spike grabbed the briefcase and stood before the two girls holding it out. “So did he explain what the briefcase is for or…?” Twilight asked. “He just said to hand it to him and he’d take care of the rest-… oh…” “So wait, the plan only works if Singer is standing here?” Pinkie remarked. “Silly Spike, can’t hand him something if he’s not here to use it!” She let out a few giggles, indicating that the old Pinkie was back. “I uh… maybe I’m remembering it wrong.” Spike said. “Maybe if I…” he tried to open it but was stopped by… “Aaaaw man. It has a combination lock on it.” “Well that doesn’t really help us at all…” Twilight deadpanned. “But Singer or no Singer, we have to do something…” Twilight pondered for a moment, pacing back and forth to think with her newfound energy. “Yo!” Vinyl called from across the parking lot. “Not now Vinyl, I’m-…Vinyl?” “Hey there! Alright, we’re all set! I’ve got the subwoofers installed in the auditorium, so we’re ready to rain on Miss Reed’s parade!” “How did you manage to do that without getting caught?” Spike inquired. “Very very stealthily…” “Okay,” Twilight spoke up. “I think I might have an idea, but we’re going to need to let the show go on as Miss Reed plans for it to.” “Huh?” Spike returned. “Why would we do that?” “Because, stopping her plans before the show can start won’t fix the problem all the way. We need to hit her where it counts. If we can get her to mess up in front of the others, we might stand a chance of them coming to like Pinkie did.” “I like it.” Vinyl said with a grin. “Vinyl, you said earlier that your subwoofers would be very disruptive. That much is true, especially if we turned them up to a reasonably loud volume. However, I think I have something else in mind for them. But first, we’re going to need a way to get Miss Reed to mess up, or at the very least distract her.” Twilight said, as she averted her gaze over to her party inclined friend. “Oh! Oh!” Pinkie said, jumping up and down and waving her hands in the air. “Distractions are my specialty! And… I know just what, or rather, who to recruit for that!” “Great, I’ll leave you to it.” Twilight nodded to Pinkie, who saluted her and ran off back towards the auditorium. “What do we do, Twilight?” Spike asked, halfway hopeful that Twilight would let him help. “You’re with me. Bring that briefcase with you just in case there actually is something in it Singer can use once we get him back.” “You got it!” Spike held the briefcase in his right hand and followed Twilight with Vinyl also in tow. “Hold out just a bit longer, everyone. We’re coming…” The dawning of a new day came and passed, and the midday was upon them on that fateful Saturday afternoon. On one side, there was an insane woman using college students as captive performers for her show, and on the other side of the coin, you had a ragtag band of last minute heroes hoping to save said captive students. The race was on for the latter, however the time they had was on their side as they too were able to make preparations for their plot. The game was set, and as the previous song had said, the show must go on. As people began to funnel into the auditorium to watch the production, they had little idea what they were about to witness. But people from all over the campus, some of the cast members’ families had shown up to watch the production, and a few seats were even reserved for the judges that would be there for regionals. Everything was falling into place and Miss Reed was giddy with excitement. She hid behind the curtains while she watched a good portion of the seats fill up. “Today we stand at the precipice of glory, to obtain a goal I have so tenaciously worked towards…” Miss Reed said this as she turned to her roster of students. She shot a gaze at Singer, who, like the others, had been dressed in Miss Reed’s likeness of khaki pants, white collared shirts with red sweater vests that had red smiley faces on them. “And you, my friend, are just the icing on the cake. My Gleeful Vengeance is nearly complete…” “Ha ha! She said it!” Some random fat guy with a white button up collared shirt and green pants being held up by a thick belt had made his way backstage. “What are you doing back here?!? Go take a seat or I’ll have security escort you out!” “Nyehehehehheh” laughed the random man as he ran off, presumably to go take his seat. She didn’t care as long as he left. “That had better not be a sign… I don’t need anything going wrong at this stage. Not when we’re so close!” She turned to her students once again. “You’ve all done well. And today, we will put it all out there and don’t hold back. Your best won’t be good enough, and I will likely yell at you when this is done, but by golly you’re the best Glee Club I’ve ever worked with! Make me proud!” With that, Miss Reed exited the stage to go take a seat next to the judges. Near where they had been sitting, Golden Record had also been there waiting. She took a seat next to him and shot him a look of confidence. His expression was one of encouragement, so she just sat back and relaxed. She couldn’t help but think in her mind, if only he knew what was really going on. She smirked at the very thought of getting through this scot free. “We start in twelve minutes!” Shouted Flash Sentry from backstage as he signaled to one of the other students who would be opening the big curtains when the time came. While the ever nervous, ever excited Pinkie Pie was waiting for the show to start. She promptly excused herself from the others, and made her way backstage towards the dressing rooms. One member of their group had been held within, and Pinkie figured an early escape from said room would be good for him. Besides, Ray was a vital part of her stage of the plan. She knocked on the door and awaited a response. “Hey! Finally! I was really starting to get bored. Will I go on soon? Or do I still have to wait for the halfway portion of the show?” “It’s me, Pinkie Pie!” She greeted him from the other side of the closed door. “And yes, Miss Reed wants you to make your appearance early, in about… fifteen minutes. So set your stopwatch and get ready! Okie dokie lokie?” “Awesome!” he exclaimed. “Yeah, I’m beyond ready. It’s getting stuffy in here!” “Break a leg, Ray!” she said as she kindly left him a water bottle in front of his door. “Drink up!” “Thanks Pinkie.” “Yeppity doo!” She shouted, speeding off back to where the others were waiting for the show to start. She caught a glimpse of Vinyl hiding backstage behind some extra scenery and she shot her a thumbs up as she ran by. She took her place next to Dusk once again as she now waited for it all to begin. She took a deep breath and flashed a smile in the direction of another hidden friend, Twilight Sparkle, who was in disguise as another stage worker. She’d found a blonde wig to wear, and an extra stage crew uniform to put on while they prepared their plan. She had Spike hidden behind a large box that was sitting backstage, with a hooked rope that was suspended from the ceiling on a pulley system. Pinkie knew her part, and they knew theirs. All she needed to do was sing and let them think she was still on Miss Reed’s side. Minutes passed, and the anticipation was over. The show was about to begin. The room darkened and the spotlight shone on the closed curtains that were starting to open. At first it shone upon the ones in the background with the instruments. Flash Sentry stood at the forefront of them with Bulk Biceps on the electric keyboard playing the opening notes of the song, a tall lanky red skinned guy with brown dreadlocks named Fender played bass guitar, and a short stocky green skinned guy with yellow hair by the name of Axel sat at the drums. A small haze of smoke emitted from the smoke machines as the spotlight expanded and revealed the cast of vocalists with Singer and Sunset standing front and center. The rest of the girls, in addition to Octavia, Derpy, and Dusk made up the background. A little lacking on the male vocals, but it didn’t hurt the song any. “Just a small town girl Living in a lonely world She took the midnight train going anywhere” Sunset began the song, before handing it off to Singer for his part. “Just a city boy Born and raised in South Detroit He took the midnight train going anywhere” Pinkie Pie walked up between them to sing the next part. “A singer in a smoky room The smell of wine and cheap perfume For a smile they can share the night It goes on and on and on and on” She stepped back and let the former two take it in unison. “Strangers, waiting Up and down the boulevard Their shadows searching in the night Streetlights, people Living just to find emotion Hiding somewhere in the night Working hard to get my fill Everybody wants the thrill Payin anything to roll the dice Just one more time Some will win, Some will lose Some were born to sing the blues Oh the movie never ends it goes on and on and on and on Strangers, waiting Up and down the boulevard Their shadows searching in the night Streetlights, people Living just to find emotion Hiding somewhere in the night” The musicians played their instrumental ensemble as the chorus was looming and building up. The crowd cheered as more smoke filled the stage, giving Spike the perfect cover to hook the line onto Singer’s belt without being seen. He scurried back over to Twilight, who was now waiting for the right moment to pull the rope. Spike also got into position to help her. Miss Reed was watching on in the crowd, seemingly pleased thus far, and she’d take the occasional glances at both Record and the judges to see their reactions. So far, so good. Twilight and Spike then used their strength to pull on the rope, making Singer appear to fly over his fellow vocalists, but he didn’t let it bother him. He was still engaged in the song in spite of being suspended in the air. He just rolled with it. He would join everyone else as they all sang in unison for the chorus. “Don’t stop believing Hold on to that feeling, yeah Streetlights, people oooooh Don’t stop believing Hold on, ooooh Streetlights people-…” A loud microphone screech disrupted the song, made their ears ring and stopped everyone in their tracks as Vinyl hijacked the performance. “Alright everyone!” She said in one of her own microphones, hiding in the background. “It’s time for a very special guest to make his appearance!” Miss Reed stared in disbelief at first, but soon began to boil in her own anger as it set in. “What is going on?!? This wasn’t part of the show… not yet anyway!” she shouted in anger, but she stopped when she noticed that the judges and Golden Record were looking at her. “Eeeh… technical difficulties. I’ll see to it right away.” She stood up and started towards the stage. “From a Swamp far far away from here, you know him, you love him ! Give it up for Shrek!!!” Ray ran out dressed in his Shrek costume, complete with the appropriate looking clothes and a Shrek mask, much to the surprise and enjoyment of people in the audience. “What’s up everybody?!?” He shouted excitedly in his best Shrek impression, waiting for the big burping sound effect that Vinyl provided to go off. “Better out than in, I always say! I guess you’re waiting for a song, then?” The crowd erupted into a mixture of laughter and cheers and the music began. “I don’t have much of a singing voice, but I’ll give it a go.” “Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb in the shape of an L on her forehead Well the years start coming and they-…” Twilight used that distraction as a way to draw attention from the fact that she was pulling Singer towards her. He was visually confused as to why he was flying in the first place but he was eventually lowered down in front of Twi and Spike. “You look familiar, have we met?” He asked as he continued to hang in front of them, gawking at the blonde stranger holding him by a rope. He looked down at the name tag that she had on her shirt. “Funny, you don’t look like a Carl… Carly perhaps? I don’t really know any Carly’s, but I-…” “Oh, right!” Twilight said, pulling the blonde wig off she had on and tossed it off to the side. “We’re here to rescue you!” “But the show… it must go on! We literally had a whole musical number and everything about it, you should’ve seen it!” “Singer, I need you to listen to me-…” “Miss Reed will be most upset if I’m not ready for the next song. I gotta get down from here, could you just…” he tried to reach for the rope, but no use. Twilight knew time was of the essence and she needed to figure out how to get him back, pronto. One idea came to mind and she ran with it. She grabbed him by the face and looked into his eyes. He looked back into hers as she sighed. “This is so cliché, but at this point, I’m willing to try anything.” “What do you-…” he was cut off mid-sentence as his lips were met by hers. His eyes grew large in shock at first, but gradually he closed them as he was taken in the moment. As cliché as it was, it had worked. Once they ceased, he blinked his eyes rapidly as he began to come back to himself. She’d gotten back through to him. “Wow… Twilight?” “Hey… you with me now?” “I think so. Yeah, I’m good.” With that, she knew it was safe to lower him down so he could stand on his own feet. “Thank goodness, you’re back!” She hugged him, and he returned it. “I’m sorry I had to resort to that.” “Why are you apologizing? I enjoyed it.” a playful grin made its way onto his face. “Oh, well… good.” She giggled and ran her fingers through her hair. “Twi, I just want you to know. I’m sorry for that back there, I was just trying to protect you. I didn’t mean to make things worse and-…” he was stopped by her placing her finger on his lips, halting his speaking. “It’s okay, Singer. I know. We both kind of walked into that one.” She smiled warmly at him. “Now, I believe that we have some unfinished business here…” Twilight gestured towards Spike who was bearing Singer’s briefcase. “Spike, you brilliant kid!” Singer exclaimed as he noted his briefcase in his hands. “Operation: Let’s Get Dangerous’! That’s usually reserved for parties and conventions but I know just what to do to make it work here.” “Wait, this isn’t your contingency plan?” Twilight said. “Spike said you had some sort of contingency plan for emergencies.” “That’s another briefcase. Spike must have grabbed the wrong one.” Spike facepalmed. “Dang it!” Meanwhile, Ray continued to put on his little show on stage before he was abruptly stopped by a very angry Miss Reed who shoved him, nearly knocking him down. “Hey, what’s the big idea? I was on a roll!” Ray protested, taking his Shrek mask off. “You just couldn’t stick to the script could you?!?” She screamed. “Hey, you’re the one who changed the program at the last moment, not me!” “What are you talking about?!?” “I told him!!” Pinkie ran up to her. “It’s not his fault, I’m the one who told him to do it.” Reed’s eye twitched and her teeth gritted. “And why would you do a thing like that?!?” “I dunno. I thought it would be funny!” She fist bumped with Ray, who in spite of being scared out of his wits at this very moment, couldn’t help but applaud Pinkie’s sense of humor and valiant move. “Funny? FUNNY?!? Do you clowns realize what you’ve just done?!?” “Hey, you could have just rolled with it instead of just barging on to the stage. The show’s disruption is all on you, Reed.” Ray remarked. “Oh and word of advice, if you can’t handle a good heckling, then being on stage probably isn’t your thing!” “Heckling?!? I’ll show you heckling!” she roared, reaching behind a nearby box, she pulled out a paintball gun filled with red paintballs. “I didn’t want to have to use this, but you forced my hand, Strikey!!!” “Oh crap!” Ray shouted as he darted off. He wasn’t fast enough as she quickly shot him multiple times in the back, to which Ray responded with a melodramatic death scene performance. “I’m hit! I’m done for! Down for the count! Don’t mourn my death! Remember me for the good times we had… I’m fading…fading…” Suddenly a flash of blue swiped near Miss Reed’s head and broke the part of the paintball gun that housed the red paintballs, making them all fall either onto the legs of her khaki pants or onto the floor for her to step on. She turned to see who was responsible, and it was Dusk who had found the blue dueling lightsaber, and was evidently no longer under Miss Reed’s control. “I’m going to have to ask that you stop firing upon my friend, Miss Reed!” “Dusk!” Ray perked back up at the sound of his voice. “You’re back!” “Indeed,” he said. “And I’m not alone.” Dusk gestured to the girls who’d witnessed that entire exchange. They’d all witnessed their friend being verbally and physically attacked and it snapped them out of it. Miss Reed’s hold on them was no more. “This ends here and now!” Sunset Shimmer shouted. “No one gets to berate and shoot paintballs at Ray, except me!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed. “And me!” Applejack added. “Hi AJ…” Ray said as Applejack walked over and offered her hand to help him up. “Tryna get outta work by fakin yer own death again, Ah see…” she said with a playful wink. “No, no, just a bit of theatrics is all. If I have to be here, I might as well have fun with it. Trust me, I know not to cross you, Applejack.” “Dern tootin, ya do!” “Well I for one am over this whole ordeal.” Rarity said, whipping out her mirror and makeup again, and she wasn’t even ready to see what her hair in a frazzled mess. “Just look at my face, and my hair! I don’t know who styled it, but they will pay for this injustice!” “Rarity, you styled it.” Dash said, rolling her eyes. “Oh… right, of course. Oh my goodness what am I wearing?” She noted her outfit change, she gasped when she saw that everyone else had been wearing the same thing. “This is a crime against fashion!” “Oh dear…” Fluttershy lamented. “Has anyone seen Fievel?” “What is happening right now?” Miss Reed said hysterically. Suddenly the mouse in question appeared right on Miss Reed’s left shoulder. She turned to see it on her and she started to freak out, scaring the poor little critter to where it jumped off of her and onto a nearby amp. Miss Reed saw another dueling lightsaber, the green one, and proceeded to grab it and swat at the mouse with it. “Loathsome vermin!” “No, Fievel!” Fluttershy cried out. “Come on, come back to me!” Dusk waved his lightsaber around and stood to face Miss Reed, catching the wayward instructor’s gaze. Miss Reed looked up as Fievel had escaped her range and scurried over to Fluttershy. She then locked eyes with Dusk and began to swing her saber around as well. “You don’t want to do this, Dusk…” she said with a light growl. “You will lose.” “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” He pointed his blade at her. “Rather low risk if you think about it.” “Risking your dignity, but if you insist…” She charged at him right away, without so much as a warning, but Dusk had been ready. He blocked her attack with his blade and pushed her back. “Oh my… someone thinks they’re some kind of a hero.” She taunted. “You can do it, Dusk!” Rarity called out to him. “Yeah, use ‘The Force’ or whatever!” Dash shouted in support of him, still apparently trying to hide the fact that she was a closet geek. That gave him motivation. He took it upon himself to switch to offense rather than defense. He swung his blue blade into her green blade, catching her a little off guard. She countered by pushing back. “You’re a bit more formidable than I expected.” She said, “but I won’t be defeated so easily. I've been taking fencing classes since I was half your age.” “Neat.” Dusk replied. She switched her stance and aimed for his leg, which Dusk was not expecting. Dusk had almost fallen down due to the contact, but was able to correct himself. “Give up, you will not stop me.” “You talk too much.” Dusk said as they both clashed blades again. They both took turns throwing blows with the dueling sabers, but they appeared to be in a bit of a stalemate. Miss Reed was already losing patience and kept trying to keep him down but he just kept coming. She’d found something that would slow him up, though. The excess paint from the paintballs from the now broken paintball gun. She figured she’d show him. She pushed him back just right to where he’d stepped on the slippery spot where the wet paint had fallen, causing him to lose his balance. Dusk tried, but failed to keep his balance, and with that, he lost his lightsaber, dropping it when he hit the floor. “It would appear that my actions have become my own undoing…” he grunted while he lay on the ground. “Aw come on, she cheated!” Rainbow Dash shouted in protest. The crowd gasped along with a few of the other girls. “Well, you gave it your best shot, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Now you, all of you, get back in line!” She pointed the lightsaber at Dusk and then at the rest of them. “We’re going to get this show done, and we are going to do it right. Whether you’re on my side or not, even if it kills me!” A random explosion of purple smoke caught her and everyone else by surprise. As the smoke expanded, Miss Reed was growing increasingly more irritated. “What now?!?” “I am the terror that flaps in the night…” “What? Is he serious right now?!?” she screamed, continuing to lose her mind, while everyone else was looking around trying to figure out where it was coming from. “I am the theater term ‘break a leg’ taken literally in the play of justice” “Hey, I know this schtick,” Ray said. “It’s….” “I am The DARKWING!” Singer, now dressed in a dark purple cape which he’d had most of his body covered by as he walked out of the purple smoke left behind by the smoke bomb. When he pushed it back behind him, underneath that gray large brimmed hat he wore on his head was a light blue turtleneck sweater underneath a purple long sleeved shirt, a black utility belt, dark gray pants and black sneakers. The only thing he was missing was a mask over his eyes, but he didn’t need that. “No! Not you…” Miss Reed screamed. “I had you right where I wanted you! Now I guess I’m going to have to take care of you once and for all, Darkwing Dork!” The green lightsaber that she had flew from her hands as she threw it spinning right in his direction. Unfortunately for her, he’d caught it with his own hand. For a split second, Singer felt like an actual superhero when he’d caught it like he had, but reality came when pain suddenly shot through his hand due to the force at which the spinning prop was traveling when he’d caught it. “YOUCH!” He tossed it over to Ray, who’d caught it, giving Singer a chance to rub his hand where it hurt. His gaze returned to Miss Reed’s. “You think you’re winning? All I see is someone shouting and throwing temper tantrums and projectiles in desperation. Give it up, Miss Reed. This game has gone on long enough and everyone is tired of it!” Miss Reed stood alone now, seemingly defeated. She struggled to find something, anything to say. Despite this, she still stood defiantly in their wake, refusing to give up. “This game ends when I say it ends.” She snarled. If that wasn’t bad enough, things were about to get worse for her. A projector screen suddenly deployed from the ceiling at the back of the stage, and Vinyl Scratch appeared in a video transmission. “Hello Miss Reed. Vinyl Scratch here, and I just wanted to let you know that your goose is cooked.” Vinyl said in a gloating tone. “Last night while my buddies and I were putting this scheme together, I did some digging. Online and backstage. And turns out, you’ve been telling an awful lot of lies recently. Plus the black marks on your record are glaring to say the least. Such as your teaching license expiring two years ago, you’re wanted in five, no six counties for tax fraud, and get this. You’re not even the real Glee Club Instructor at Canterlot University. That honor goes to my new friend, who I found locked in a closet just down the hall.” Miss Reed’s facial expression grew blank as all of her dirty laundry was being aired out. She took a glance over at Golden Record, who was glaring at her with the intensity of a Lion. She went into full panic mode when she looked back up at the screen and saw a man with white skin, blue eyes, a short brown mustache and beard and brown curly hair, wearing a white colored shirt and a dark blue sweater vest come onto the screen he wasn’t too much older than the students at the university. Late twenties to early thirties. “My name is Fabian Fabiano, and that woman stole my Glee Club and ruined the good name of Glee in this school! I would like to apologize on behalf of the actual Glee Club for any damages this woman did in my absence. That is all.” “Next time you’ll think before taking people, especially my best friend Octavia, and forcing them to perform Glee. Rest in Prison, Bozo! Please enjoy some head banging music in the meantime.” The transmission ended. Vinyl turned on some daft punk music playing over her loud subwoofers for a few minutes to keep some noise going. Now you’d think that this would be the straw that broke the camel’s back in this instance. But nope. She was far from done. She hadn’t lost all of her Glee Club. Surely what remained would be enough to buy her some time. “Listen up, we have some traitors in our midst. Please escort them off the stage, now!” She sped off and ran backstage. Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Dusk and Ray had been gathered at center stage when she barked the order. They now found themselves faced off against Bulk Biceps, Derpy, Octavia, Flash Sentry, Fender and Axel. This left them in a bit of a predicament, however. The ones they faced were still under the influence of the Evil Glee Club, and they all knew that they couldn’t bring themselves to hurt them. “Y-You don’t actually expect us to fight them, do you?” Fluttershy asked, trembling at the thought. “There has to be another way!” Rainbow replied. “Well, we can’t exactly let them punch us around either!” Ray exclaimed. “Ladies, and… Ray. Though these are our last moments as members of the Glee Club, we must do what we can do to keep our adversaries at bay until an opportunity presents itself to free them from the clutches of this unspeakable evil. We cannot lose hope. We must have faith, and furthermore… don’t let them beat us into a bloody pulp.” Dusk proclaimed. Pinkie’s tears were tears of pride. “That was so beautiful, Dusk… You heard the man!” “Thanks for that, Dusk,” Sunset said. For lack of anything better, Sunset decided to echo a certain caped crusader currently amongst them. “Ready yourselves everyone, and Let’s Get Dangerous!” “Heck yeah!” Rainbow Dash said as the two sides charged towards each other in a clash of the Glee Clubs. Applejack set her eyes on the big guy. She seemed to be the most capable of them to hold him off. She’d even bested him at arm wrestling in the past. Their hands met as they began to push against each other. “Howdy partner, Ah don’t suppose there’s anything I can say ta get ya to simmer down, is there?” “TRAITOR!!!!” He screamed like he did almost every other time he spoke. “Ah didn’t think so…” she deadpanned. Ray matched up with Flash. “This guy doesn’t look so tough to me. Put up your dukes!” He put his fists up, but then mentally slapped himself, “Oh, right, right. Don’t hurt anyone.” “What’s the matter, you chicken?” Flash taunted, bending his arms to make “chicken wings”. “Bwak bwak bwak!” “I’m above falling for that age old tomfoolery. Do I look like Marty McFly to you?” “Oh, well how about this even more dated reference? KABONG!” He smirked as he picked up his guitar and swung it at him. “DUDE!” He yelled as he dodged. Rarity had no idea what she was up against with Octavia. But she’d heard from sources that Octavia had a bit of a background in certain martial arts. So it would be all she could do to avoid her. “Come now, darling can’t we put this aside and act as elegant as both of our upbringings? From one girl to another?” Rarity shrugged hopefully. “We could, but I’m afraid that I lack the ability to control myself at the moment, so I’m afraid conflict is inevitable at this point.” “I was afraid of that…” Rarity dodged her surprisingly powerful strike. She countered by grabbing and swinging Octavia around by the arm. Octavia spun elegantly around when Rarity did this, and returned to her fighting stance. “Oh, now you’re just showing off!” “Come now, Rarity. Jealousy is so unbecoming of you.” Rarity took a moment to breathe before quickly letting her guard back up. “I suppose you’re right. Let’s continue this dance.” Dusk noticed that the drummer, Axel, was closing in on Fluttershy, who was still holding on to Fievel, she cowered against the backdrop behind her with him inching slowly towards her. He made eye contact with Applejack, who appeared to be having a bit of a struggle herself. “Dusk! My rope!” Applejack said. She had dropped it prior to tussling with Bulk, it was coiled up next to her feet and she kicked it over to him. “Help Fluttershy!” “But, I… I’ve never used a lasso before!” he said as he picked up the rope. “Ain’t nothin to it, just aim towards his foot and pull!” Dusk did as she said. He concentrated on his target. He inhaled as he swung the lasso end three times and exhaled as he launched it. Bullseye! Now he just needed to pull on it to catch his foot… and he missed his opportunity when Axel moved his foot too quickly. “Don’t fret Dusk, try again, hurry!” He repeated the process, deciding instead to focus on where his foot was going to be. Once again, his throw was good, and Axel stepped into it. Now! He shouted in his mind as he pulled. This time, he’d caught him in the lasso. Axel fell about two feet away from Fluttershy. Just in time. “Thank you, Dusk…” she smiled at him with gratitude. Dusk returned it before turning his attention elsewhere. Sunset was going to see if Dash needed any help, but she appeared to have it under control as she toyed with Fender. “Come on bruh, slow down so I can catch you!” The tall lanky and slow bass player said as he chased Dash. “You’re going to need to be quicker than that if you’re going to catch me!” Dash laughed. “Ugh… idiot!” He huffed like a tired teenager. It didn’t go unnoticed by Sunset that Applejack was in need of assistance, as well as Ray. Fortunately, she and Dusk had their hands free. “Dusk, help Ray. I’ve got Applejack!” She shouted. Dusk nodded and ventured over to help his friend. He’d tossed Sunset the lasso as he passed her by. “Hey Bulk! You don’t look so tough to me. Why don’t you put your money where your muscles are?” Bulk stopped and released his grip against Applejack, who immediately fell to her knees, and faced Sunset. Sunset immediately regretted that. “Oh…boy… what did I just do?” But with her quick thinking, she tossed the lasso back to the cowgirl who knew how to use it. Applejack, even on her knees, was an ace. She’d managed to lasso both of his feet, and tightened it. This made it impossible for Bulk to walk, and he, like Axel, fell to the ground. “Ow…” Dusk leapt into action and stopped right beside Ray, who Flash continued to try and whack with his guitar. “Dude, guitars aren’t cheap. Don’t waste that trying to play whack-a-mole with my face!” “You’ve fought valiantly against one target, Flash. But let’s see how you fair against two!” Dusk shouted as he and Ray divided his attention. Flash swung at both of them as they ran in different directions. They’d managed to keep themselves from getting hit as Flash wasn’t particularly very fast with his swings. The game appeared to be trying to get him to tire out at this point. “Alright, not cool guys!” Flash protested. He was still dangerous with his guitar in his hand, and both Dusk and Ray were running out of ground as he had them both backed up to the front of the stage. Much more fighting, and they’d both fall off. However, salvation would come in the form of a young kid, barely old enough to be in high school. “If Singer can be Darkwing, then I will be…” Spike said as he jumped out from behind a cardboard tree. “Launchpad McSpike! And what does he do best? Well according to DuckTales, he crashes… a lot. Charge!!!” Spike darted off towards Flash and took a dive into the back of his legs, causing Flash to lose balance and he fell on his back on top of Spike. He lost grip of his guitar and it flew up into the air. “Oh no you don’t!” Ray shouted as he dove to catch the wayward guitar. He caught the bottom of it with the palms of his hands, saving Flash an expensive future purchase. “Phew…” Everyone had been taken care of, well except for Derpy, but her idea of carrying out Miss Reed’s latest order was trying to bribe Fluttershy to leave with banana nut muffins. She would have too, if not for Pinkie intervening, shaking her head ‘no’. Applejack had to once again be the mvp and help Rarity by lassoing Octavia and holding her down. And Dash was fine just keeping Fender busy. But there was still a lingering problem… Twilight had made it back where Vinyl had set up shop, and fortunately she’d caught her right before she was getting ready to start tear-down. “Vinyl, we still have a problem. There are still some members of the Glee Club that are still under Reed’s control and they’re fighting my friends.” “Hmmm… I wonder if maybe we can end this with the wubs…” Vinyl pondered. “Or, and I’m just putting this out there… What if we play a song so annoying and over played that it, hopefully snaps them out if it. Miss Reed has fled the scene, so we can’t count on her messing up again.” Twilight said. “It’s at least worth a shot, right?” “Let’s do it! Take your pick. I’ve got Gangnam Style, Macarena, I like to Move it Move it, The Thomas the Tank Engine theme, wait!” She pointed to a title so vile, so overplayed, it had to work. “Are you sure you want to subject everyone to that?” Twilight asked nervously. “It’s the only way. You give the order, Captain Sparkle.” Vinyl said as her finger hovered above the button. “Do it!” The opening music played. Countless moans, and some cheers could be heard both from on stage and in the audience. “Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and Desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie And hurt you” Twilight thanked Vinyl and hurried off. “Hey, where are you going?” “I have to go find Singer! Keep up the good work, Vinyl!” “Sure thing!” Vinyl said shamelessly bobbing her head to the song. “I don’t care what anyone says, this song is just fun.” Singer took off after Miss Reed without hesitation. He knew that she was acting in desperation, and that she’d probably try to do something drastic. But this was it. He’d had it. He wasn’t about to let her get away with what she’d done, just so she could just go try again somewhere else. She was still backstage. There were no exits back there that would lead to outside. He looked around, but didn’t see her at first. But some movement behind him caused him to be alert. “Miss Reed? I know you’re back here…” Singer pulled out his cellphone and turned the flash light on to look around. He shone it around and kept looking. Nearly jumping a couple of times at the props that looked like they may have been a shadow. His heart really skipped a beat when he turned around and saw a sweater vest with that same smiley face, however… when he pointed his light slightly higher, it was just a mannequin. “Real funny…” A shadow emerged from behind him, glowing eyes emitting from the shadows head. Singer turned around quickly, and was tackled by it. It was Miss Reed. She didn’t pin him down though, she got back up. “You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?” she said, allowing Singer to get back up. “No, you really think I’m going to let you just run off and go kick people around elsewhere? No! You need to answer for your crimes…” “As if!” “No! This is it! I’m not letting you leave.” “Fortunately for you, I’m not looking to. You and I have unfinished business. You want a fight? You got it!” “I’m not going to fight you.” Singer said pointedly. “You had no qualm about it yesterday. Think I forgot about your poor attempt to clock me in the face?” “Yeah, and I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that.” “Well, that’s the only way this ends. You’ve been a thorn in my side for too long. Now fight, or I’ll just mow you down and be on my way.” Singer sighed. “Fine… you want a fight? You got it.” “That’s a good boy…” she said. “Come now. Let’s settle this once and for all.” Singer got into a defensive stance, and smiled confidently. “Let’s Get Dangerous!” She lunged at him, and swung punch after punch, while Singer just deflected them with his hands. She went to kick, but he blocked with his knees. “So you know how to fight. I wish you actually would.” “This is a fight. A fight to keep my face intact.” She gave him another kick to the stomach, one he almost wasn’t ready for. “Why is it always the stomach?” She kicked him again while he was still blocking, and he tripped backwards and before he knew it, he was back out on stage. The Rick Astley song that Vinyl put on was still playing. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on you coward, fight!” Miss Reed shouted, coming back out on the stage. The others noticed this, and Rainbow was about to jump in. “Rainbow, wait.. this is his fight.” Applejack said, stopping her. She charged at him and elbowed him in the face, causing him to fall over. She almost stomped him in the face, but he recovered quick enough to move out of the way. He hopped up again, and decided to charge in her direction, but she just grabbed his cape and pulled it over his back and in his face. She then kicked him in the back, making him fall on his face. Once he pulled his cape back to where it should go, he found it difficult to get back up. He was running low on energy at this point. “Can’t believe I’m losing to an old lady…” “This old lady’s actually putting up a fight. Get over yourself and do something!” “I… can’t…” Rainbow Dash stepped up, started pumping her fist in the air, and began to cheer. “Darkwing! Darkwing! Darkwing!” “Darkwing! Darkwing! Darkwing! Darkwing!” Others on the stage joined in, followed by the audience. Singer lifted his head, as he couldn’t believe it. People were cheering for him. This helped. He quickly began to find himself lifting himself back up. “It’s just like the real Darkwing Duck…” he said to himself. “When things were at their worst, he always gets back up. Come on… get back… UP!” He shot back up, still visibly tired, but he had the drive to keep going. “Hit me with your best shot!” Miss Reed simply laughed at the melodramatic display. “Oh give me a break!” She punched him in the face once again. The impact made him lose his hat. He wasn’t concerned about it right now. All he needed to do was hold on until the police arrived. It was proving difficult as Miss Reed continued her assault and kicked him in the stomach. This time, he fell over allowing his arms to be free just in time to catch himself. He lied down on his back, clutching his stomach. “You forgot to dodge!” she remarked. “Agh! The stomach, why is it always the stomach with you?” She walked up to him, and pushed down on his chest with her leg. “There are two kinds of people in this world, winners like me who refuse to take no for an answer, and people like you who ‘follow your heart’ and all that gushy nonsense. Well look where it’s gotten you. Vengeance is m-….” She was cut off when someone else’s fist met her face and she fell over. Singer looked to see who had dealt the blow and he was surprised. It was Twilight! She breathed heavily and her heartbeat was rapid, it had happened so fast. Her eyes fixed on Miss Reed who looked up at her surprised. Twilight looked surprised herself. “Don’t… you… touch him… again…” Twilight, the girl for as long as Singer had known her, had trouble with performing certain physical feats like much of anything athletic, or much less being able to punch very hard, but she’d done it. And with enough force to stop Miss Reed in her tracks. Reed’s smirk returned, after the initial shock of the happening left, she suddenly got a new idea. “Ya know, if I can’t get you to fight, then maybe I can have some fun with your pretty little girlfriend…” “I wouldn’t recommend it” said Rainbow Dash, standing behind them with Ray, Dusk, Spike and the rest of the girls. “I think you’ve done enough for one day.” Sunset Shimmer said pointedly. “Over there!” Vinyl’s voice called from behind them. They split their positions so that way Vinyl and the police could come through. “There she is.” She pointed Miss Reed out to them. Miss Reed had a defiant expression on her face at first, but ultimately, she knew she was defeated. She lifted her hands in concession as she awaited her punishment. Miss Reed was put in cuffs and taken away by the police. She said nothing, as she had nothing further to say to any of them. The rightful instructor of the Glee Club had made it a point to be on the stage as the police took her through. Mr. Fabiano smiled triumphantly as the fraud of an instructor was taken away. The final evidence of her plot was no more with the remaining Glee Club members having been set free by the power of Rick Astley. Twilight extended her hand to Singer and helped him up. Without hesitation, he pulled her close to him and leaned in for a kiss. Their lips met for a brief second before they separated. “I…” he tried to get the words he wanted to say out. But she just smiled. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m so proud of you.” “I’m proud of you too. I never got to properly thank you for saving me. For saving all of us, really. And wow, who knew you had that in you? You’re like an Adorkable Warrior-goddess or something.” “Well, I couldn’t just leave you there, you dork.” She giggled. “I know. That’s not your style.” They embraced once more in a hug. “I can’t believe Twilight punched someone!” Dash said in disbelief. “Little noodle-arms Twilight!” “Well, you would too if someone was threatening your significant other.” Rarity remarked. “Not that I condone violence, but there are… certain… times when it can be a considerable course of action.” Dusk grew quiet at Rarity’s words. Though he himself preferred not to fight, he couldn’t help but agree. He looked over at her. She looked back over at him and smiled. He returned it. He almost walked over to say something to her, but he was interrupted. “Hey everybody, I don’t mean to interrupt,” Pinkie started. “But we still have an audience.” They noted the many people still sitting in the stands. The judges in their seats were beginning to look impatient and wondering why no more songs were being performed. “Look, I know you have all had a rough day, but… do you think I can get you to perform one or two more songs?” Fabian asked. “I’d hate to let a perfectly good audience and setting go to waste. Even if this show lacks thematic focus or any cohesion whatsoever, I want to end this crazy night on a high note.” “I think we can manage that,” Sunset said. “That is if everyone else agrees.” “You seem cool,” Ray said to Fabian. “I think I can make it through one more song. You’ve earned it for having to deal with that woman. Trust us, we all know your pain.” “Great. Maybe we can put our heads together and come up with a great send off song for the finale. But we will need someone to keep the audience entertained while we figure this out.” Mr. Fabiano said. “Leave that to me,” Singer said. “Or rather, us?” He said, looking at Twi. “Y-You want me to sing with you?” she replied with a blush. “If you feel like you can. I don’t want to pressure you one way or the other. But I’ve heard you sing a little, not a lot. But from what I can tell, you’ve got a great voice. I don’t know, I was just thinking it would be nice if we…” “Yes. I would love to.” She smiled. “And I think I know the perfect song.” Twilight took a microphone from Derpy who’d brought one for her and Singer, and began to sing while an acoustic guitar cover for the song behind them. “All those days watching from the windows All those years on the outside looking in All that time never even knowing Just how blind I’ve been Now I’m here blinking in the starlight Now I’m here, suddenly I see Standing here it’s all so clear This is where I’m meant to be And at last I see the light And it’s like the fog has lifted And at last I see the light And it’s like the sky is new And it’s warm and real and bright And the world has somehow shifted All at once everything looks different Now that I see you” Singer was smiling as he heard the sound of her singing. He too took his microphone and began to sing himself. “All those days chasing down a daydream All those years living in a blur All that time, never truly seeing Things the way they were Now she’s here shining in the starlight Now she’s here suddenly I know If she’s here it’s Crystal Clear It’s where I’m meant to go” The stage grew dark as a spotlight shone on them. They sang the remainder of the song inunison. And at last I see the light And it’s like the fog has lifted And at last I see the light And it’s like the sky is new And it’s warm and real and bright And the world has somehow shifted All at once everything is different Now that I see you…” The audience applauded and cheered for their performance. It had been well worth the wait during all of the craziness for most of them. The two of them stood hand in hand and took a bow. The applause continued backstage with everyone getting ready for their performance, but they took time to congratulate the young couple on theirs. Singer looked out in the crowd and was shocked to see Golden Record, his father on the front row right in front of him. He smiled proudly at his son, pointed at him with a grin and shook one of the judges beside him. “That’s my son!” With joyful tears in his eyes, he smiled and gave his father a thumbs up, before he had Twilight grab onto him. He shot a grappling hook gun up towards the ceiling, hooking onto a batten and swung backstage with her. The stage grew dark again with only a spotlight shining on a random spot on the stage. Mr Fabiano, wearing what looked like a sort of red marching band uniform, walked out on stage, bowed to the crowd and then turned around as the conductor. Everyone else in this performance would also be wearing the uniform as well. “One, two, three, four…” Flash Sentry began to play his guitar for the beginning of the song with Fender playing his bass guitar, joining in. The spotlight shone on them before expanding over everyone else on stage. Bulk began the piano solo, and Pinkie Pie stood in front of everyone and began to sing. “The winner takes all It’s the thrill of one more kill The last one to fall Will never sacrifice their will” Axel hit his drums and Pinkie’s party cannons shot confetti in the air. Sunset Shimmer took the next part. “Don’t ever look back On the world closing in Be on the attack With your wings on the wind Oh the games will begin…” Everyone: Dusk, Ray, Derpy, Octavia, Vinyl, Spike, Rarity, Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack all came together for the chorus. “And it’s sweet, sweet, sweet victory Yeah! And it’s ours for the taking It’s ours for the fight And the sweet, sweet, sweet victory And the one that’s last to fall The winner takes all!”