As the group walked out of the village, they noticed the absence of any other inhabitants. Fluttershy couldn't help but express her concern about the emptiness. It was eerie in its emptiness.
"Um... Cinder? Um... Where is everyone?" she asked, her gentle voice filled with a hint of worry.
Cinder sighed and explained the situation. "There isn't anyone here anymore. This place used to be more like a training ground, but everyone left when the music of the flame and lava changed. They didn't want to synchronize with the new melodies. I stayed behind, hoping that things would return to normal while practicing based on memory and scrolls. It's challenging without being able to compare them to the actual melody of the lava as it has changed."
Fluttershy felt a pang of sadness at the thought of the once-thriving village or training ground now deserted. "That's super lonely! Don't worry, we can keep you company!" Pinkie Pie chimed in, always ready to spread cheer and friendship.
Cinder's response lacked enthusiasm. "Yay me. I was going to leave sooner or later. This volcano is no longer a place for learning about fire's songs. The only magic here now is the yellow flames that drive one to madness."
Rainbow Dash, ever observant, pointed out a potential threat. "So... You're saying we have some crazy flame magic going around. Do you think it would affect the wildlife? Because I see some fire dogs, and they're running at us."
Cinder identified the creatures as Hellfire Wolves. "They used to be fire wolves, but now their flames have taken on that neon yellow glow. They attack everything without any sense of self-preservation. I have been itching to punch one!"
Concerned for the wolves and determined to find a peaceful resolution, Fluttershy spoke up. "Wait! Don't hurt them! Let me try something!" With a calming tone, she began to sing, extending her hooves wide as if inviting the wolves to approach her.
The wolves pounced, but to everyone's surprise, they refrained from harming Fluttershy and hesitated. Their yellow flames started to transition to a reddish hue, and they nuzzled against her instead. It seemed that Fluttershy's gentle song and flame protection had a calming effect on them.
"They're responding to your music, Fluttershy! You're able to soothe them," Twilight remarked, impressed by her friend's ability to connect with even the most aggressive creatures.
Fluttershy smiled warmly, relieved that she could offer compassion and understanding to the misunderstood wolves. "I believe they're just scared, confused, and lost. They just needed somepony or someone to show them kindness and remind them who they once were."
Cinder laughs as she shares her thoughts. "Fluttershy is basically a movie princess! I guess the beasts and animals won't be a problem with her. And her kindness seemed to undo the strange flame. Honestly, that alone gives me hope. Now I'm truly committed to this."
Rainbow Dash playfully sought recognition for her contribution. "No 'thank Rainbow Dash' for alerting everypony about the possible dangers?"
Cinder nodded appreciatively. "Thank you. Can I trust you to be our eyes? Report anything you see that you think we can't see. I trust in your judgment."
Rainbow Dash grinned proudly. "Hehe! Of course! But are we actually going INSIDE the volcano? As much as I trust your fire protection spell, I don't know if I trust it to hold up if we swim in magma."
Twilight corrected her terminology. "Magma. It is only called lava when the magma reaches the surface."
Rarity, always concerned with her appearance, expressed her discomfort with the heat. "Cinder Darling, can't you do anything about this heat? The protection is good and all, but I'm sweating like an Earth Pony farmer on a hot day, and it's not doing wonders for my skin."
Cinder pondered Rarity's role in the group. "What does Rarity bring to this group again? We've got Applejack as the muscle, Rainbow Dash as our lookout, Fluttershy as our movie princess, Twilight's nerdy knowledge, and Pinkie Pie's good vibes."
Rarity was determined to prove her worth. "I am VERY much a valued member of the team! I keep everyone looking their best."
Cinder playfully teased her. "I'm still not getting it. My impression of you is like a Karen."
Rarity chuckled. "Haha. The only managers I need to talk to are when there is actually a problem."
Cinder suggested that Rarity use her music to distract herself from the heat. Rarity's eyes sparkled with an idea. She began singing in a high-pitched, operatic tone and used her magic to create a dress made of ice crystals, freezing the moisture in the air. The dress started to steam and melt, but it provided temporary relief from the heat.
"Woah! Cool dress! You wouldn't happen to be able to make one for me, would you?" Rainbow Dash asked, hoping to cool down too.
"Normally I wouldn't want to wear any silly dress unless I had to, but I must say, ya dress made of ice seems mighty attractive right now," Applejack added.
Rarity smiled and used her magic to create ice dresses for everyone. However, she quickly became exhausted, struggling to maintain the creation and make more.
"You all have monstrous potential. Not many can use ice musical elements in a place where it is the weakest. It will be very draining. As much as it feels good, you all should conserve your energy. We are here— a cave entrance leading to the volcano's core," Cinder informed them, pointing to the entrance ahead.
The sounds of a heavy electric guitar reverberated from inside the cave. Rainbow Dash's ears perked up, and her eyes lit up with excitement.
"My kind of music! Somebody is jamming out in there! It's good but we are 20% cooler!" Rainbow Dash beams with pride.
Twilight, always the voice of caution, quickly interjected. "Hold on, Rainbow Dash. We should stick together and approach with caution. We don't know what we're dealing with. It could be dangerous."
True to her spontaneous nature, Pinkie Pie bounced ahead without a second thought. "Oooh! It sounds like so much fun! I can't resist a good party! Let's go, everypony!"
Twilight groaned but knew they had to stay together. "Pinkie Pie, wait! We should stick together! Safety in numbers!"
However, Rarity, always the observant one, had noticed something peculiar. "Darlings, I think you are all failing to notice something. The cave is actually not hot. In fact, the music seems to distract from the heat. The closer we get, the harder it is to focus on anything. We should be ready to face someone with disruption-based effects."
Twilight nodded, recognizing Rarity's keen observation. "Good thinking, Rarity. We won't be caught off guard now if something goes wrong with our melodies. We'll just stop and orientate ourselves before joining back in. But we need to stick together!"
Cinder, who had remained quiet, stepped forward. "And while you all do that, I'll see if I can do something about the magma."
With a determined expression, Cinder led the group, running through the tunnels with an unwavering sense of purpose. They followed her closely, their hearts pounding with anticipation.
Finally, they arrived at a large cavern, where a figure stood on a built-in stage. His performance was electrifying, every chord from his electric guitar producing beams of neon light that mixed into the magma. The figure bore a glowing mark on his body, signifying he has committed a crime.
"Hey! Do you know what you're doing?!" Twilight shouted, her voice filled with a mix of concern and frustration.
The figure turned to face them, a wild grin on his face. "Oooh yeah! I have an audience now! Sit back and enjoy this show! Cylen's show stops for nothing!"
Twilight's eyes narrowed, and she mustered her resolve. "We challenge you to a musical battle!"
Cylen paused, turning to meet Twilight's gaze. The mark on his body glowed, silencing his music as it forced him to comply and accept the challenge.
"Challenge ME?! Now you all are being a bad audience! I'm going to rock your world!" Cylen exclaimed, his voice filled with arrogance.
Twilight took a deep breath, ready to showcase her new musical magic. But before she could start, Cylen's fingers began dancing across the strings of his electric guitar, producing a rapid and disruptive melody that startled her.
Rainbow Dash took Cylen's solo performance as a challenge and started to sing her song using Cylen's own performance and tempo for her own song.
"I'm awesome-" Rainbow started to sing.
"Iguana! Iguana Iguana Iguana Iguana." Cylen starts saying in fast session to the beat of his guitar intending to trip her up.
"-As I Iguana be- wait... What?" Rainbow Dash says confused as she got distracted and messed up. She falls and crashes into the ground as her musical magic of flight got disrupted.
Twilight quickly regained her composure. She realizes this is harder than she thought. They can't all sing at the same time without her establishing a mental link and she can't start a countdown to get them in sync if she keeps getting disrupted.
Pinkie Pie, always full of surprises, couldn't resist joining in the fun. She started dancing and bouncing around the stage, creating her own energetic rhythm. Cylen tries to disrupt her by suddenly changing the melody but Pinkie Pie is already distracted with her own thoughts.
"Party rockers in the house tonight! Everypony's gonna have a good time!" sings Pinkie Pie. Cylen waits for whatever effect might occur but nothing happens. Moments later a party cannon fires from behind him making him jump startled. Both Cylen's and Pinkie Pie's disruptive melodies fuse and make several fireworks made of magic go off before both of their songs go quiet.
Fluttershy, attuned to nature, noticed that the disruption caused by their music was affecting the stability of the cave. Small tremors began to shake the area, and chunks of rock started falling from the ceiling.
"Everyone, be careful! The cave is becoming unstable!" Fluttershy warned, her voice filled with concern.
Applejack, using her strength, shielded her friends from falling debris, while Rarity not being disrupted used her magic to create protective barriers around them after a quick opera singing. They managed to avoid any serious harm, but the chaos of the situation added to the challenge of the battle.
Cinder, realizing the danger and sensing the growing instability of the Volcano, focused her magic on controlling and calming it. She sang a powerful tune that resonated with the elemental energy of the volcano, seeking to bring harmony and stability back to the raging flames. It did little to calm it as if it didn't understand her being so infused with outside magic.
Cylen pauses as does everypony else. They know to continue fighting would be dangerous and Pinkie Pie's music would likely be the turning point that would lead to his defeat. He clears his throat. "You all think you can judge me?! I used to be a nobody! But look at me now! I have made the element of fire more intuned with my magic than most are attuned to normal flame! This is an artistic expression! So what if I was put up to this?! Not all of us were born good singers! Not all of us are talented! I should get to even the playing fields! Forget it! I rather bury us all than give up this-"
Cinder pushes him into the corrupted magma which is so infused with Cylen's music and magic doesn't kill him but solidifies around him like stone. Cylen was petrified. The volcano seems to stabilize now.
Cinder smiles and smirks not feeling sorry for the guy, "He talked far too much. I finally understand the music inside my soul. I tried so hard to find my way. I tried to be as vigilant and as good of a person as I could be. But I wasn't being true to myself. Seeing Pinkie Pie's song and rhythm completely ignoring the disruptions... It made me realize that I was just afraid to be me in fear of what others thought. I realized. I'm not the hero. I'm more of an anti-hero."
Twilight was shocked, "Y-you! What would you have done if that had killed him?!"
"But I didn't so it works out morally. And had I actually killed him it would be my burden. Either way, I can't go on with all you ponies. I have to do damage control and fix the damages which will take months to years. But before we part ways... Pinkie Pie. Your music was explosive. Let me add my song of flame with yours so that you may use a bit of my power." Cinder says with a sigh of relief.
"That sounds cool but the only thing you really did was push a guy and give us flame protection," says Rainbow Dash.
"I think we could all use some improvements miss 'awesome as I iguana be'." she teases.
"HEY! He tripped me up! He was loud and distracting!" Rainbow Dash pouts.
"Y'all keep talking while some of us are a little hurt from falling debris..." Applejack says trying to remind them.
And so Cinder teaches Pinkie Pie a simple melody of flame. Cinder gives the group directions telling them that if they want to find someone who knows about the natural order of the world then they should travel to the college of music and magic. It would be a week of travel by land for normal humans.
Meanwhile in Equestria
A portal opens up and a dragonic pony steps out and into the throne room which is empty at this time of night.
"I sent them back here. Why did they let them go back? Was I not clear enough? Was I-" Mel says talking to himself. Luna's bat-pony night guards with their superior hearing burst into the room and surround him.
"Take me to Luna. If you are all unwilling to cooperate then you will do so unwilling." Mel says in an angry tone warning them that he fully means what he says.
"Threatening the night guard will not get you to the princess. How did you get in here? Leave. You are trespassing." the night guard lieutenant holds his ground.
"Trespassing? How ironic. I'm here because of some ponies doing the same thing. Luna. Stop hiding. I know you can see through their eyes. I am not here to cause problems, but things will get messy if you make this into one." Mel says annoyed.
Luna appears from the lieutenant's shadow.
"Who art thou? Thou could seeth past our spell. Thou art, not a Kirin... Why doth thou seekth to see us?" Luna says being tense and ready for a fight.
"Royal Medieval tongue? We are a race not of thy world. We sendth back thy heroes. They were in danger and we did the responsible thing and sent them back. Yet, by thy sister and thee's authority, they were sent back to our world. They art trespassing now. We do not wish to spill blood so do not give us a reason." Mel says copying Luna's speech and the royal we.
"Thou art mocking us! The 'royal we' is used only for royalty! And thou knowth not the one-" Luna starts.
"I am the ruler of my world. I know who you are Luna. I don't want pony blood on my hands. All that happens in my world is my responsibility. Take them back. You know my world's problems are no longer Equestria's business." Mel says calming himself and trying to make her see reason.
"Thou art right. We hath no business in the affairs of other worlds. However, this was not our call. Thou art underestimating us as a race." Luna nods and relaxes knowing that Mel means well.
"Perhaps. Perhaps.... One last chance. If they can't handle the weight of our world's problems then.... Well... I don't know. I don't want war. I don't want bloodshed. You see? Being a ruler is difficult. Being kind and being firm is a difficult line to walk. Everyone and everypony says 'Just don't be an evil ruler and be kind'. It's never that easy. And when we hold others dear then they will inevitably be caught up in our struggles as well." Mel says.
"So thou truly art a ruler. Indeed. It is never as easy as everypony makes it out to be. However tragic.... If we were to lose Twilight and her friends... We would be at a loss. But rest assured we will not seek out retaliation. We desire peace as well."
"I fear that the problems were worse than I thought back home. If the worse comes to pass... Please allow my people to seek refuge in your world. I have to go. Every minute that goes by the more the Necromancer recovers from his injuries." Mel says as he reopens a portal and leaves without confirming if Luna agrees to support his people.