//------------------------------// // Rainbow Mocks Part 2 // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Absurd: Equestrian Gals: Rainbow Mocks // by Lord Seth //------------------------------// “And it’s time for the second round!” declared Chrysalis. “Just remember that if you lose, it isn’t because you’re a loser. It’s because you went up against someone who, unlike you, is a winner! Anyway, first up are the Shadowbolts. Or at least they will be when we get this equipment calibrated. Come to think of it, maybe I should have waited until that happened to say anything. Ah well, hindsight is 20/20, or maybe even 20/15 or 20/25 sometimes.” She sat down. Meanwhile, Sunset entered the room and went up to Twilight. “Okay, I’m back. Sorry for being a little late; had to find that ukulele again after it got lost. Anyway, what I found out was–” Sunset found herself cut off by Rainbow Dash and the rest of her band entering and coming up to them. “Uh, Rainbow Dash?” asked Twilight. “No need for you guys to be here. Your playing isn’t for a while still.” “But why miss the chance to scope out the competition?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Um,” said Twilight hesitantly. “Oh, right, because outside there’s an animal-loving star athlete that does endorsements for farms and balloon shops. They also have their own clothing line.” “We’re not falling for that one again,” said Rainbow Dash. Crud, thought Twilight, how can I get them out of here so they’re not affected by the Shadowbolts? “Okay,” called out Chrysalis, “now the equipment is calibrated, so we can get on with this battle of the bands. Ordinarily I’d follow that up with a sarcastic quip, but I’ve opted to not do so in order to provide variety and keep you on your toes.” “Um… uh… um…” stammered Twilight as she quickly tried to think of a way to handle the situation. Why not try the truth? Not like I have anything to lose. “Okay, the truth is that the Shadowbolts are sirens from an alternate reality and have the ability to cause discord through their singing, which also gives them power. I’m also from that reality, so I’m unaffected, but you aren’t, so you have to get out of here while they sing so you won’t be under their spell!” There was an awkward pause as the rest stared at Twilight. The silence was finally broken by Pinkie Pie. “Well, why didn’t you just say so in the first place?” she asked. Before Twilight got a chance to answer, she was interrupted by the Shadowbolts starting their song. Crud, she thought as the music started to take effect. “Well, of course she wouldn’t have said that in the first place because it’s clearly made up,” declared Applejack. “Seriously, alternate universes? “I think you were just making that up to try to get more attention to yourself!” added Rarity. “At least she’s had better luck with relationships than you have,” said Rainbow Dash. “Oh?” demanded Rarity. “Then where’s your boyfriend?” “I’m working on it!” “Sounds like an excuse for failing to find one,” said Rarity. “Hey!” said Rainbow Dash. “I’ve been trying for a few days. How long have you been unsuccessful at it?” “Why do either of you think any of the rest of us even care about this stupid bet of yours?” demanded Fluttershy, showing a surprising display of assertiveness. Twilight sighed as they continued arguing. “And there goes that,” she said to Sunset. “Guess it’s time for Plan B.” “You know,” said Pinkie Pie, “even if that whole alternate universe thing was real, why are you spending so much time with this random girl than your actual friends?” “Right!” said Rainbow Dash, momentarily forgetting her argument with Rarity. “Are you saying you don’t want to be in the band?” “She might not be the only one,” muttered Fluttershy to herself. “Fine!” said Rainbow Dash. “Anyone not want to me in my band, you’re welcome to leave!” The group traded glances. Then everyone but Sunset, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash walked off. “Be that way, then!” said Rainbow Dash. “I’ll be better as a solo act anyway!” “I’m still here,” said Twilight. “Yeah, but your ukulele idea was too lame. I guess I’m stuck using it for this round because I don’t have time to get something else, but I can’t have someone around who has lame ideas like that,” said Rainbow Dash dismissively before she walked off. “That song is pretty powerful,” said an eyes-wide-open Sunset. “It seriously broke you guys up in less than a minute.” “Well, there had been a few minor tensions in the group beforehand,” said Twilight. “But that was extremely powerful. I wish we had more information on exactly what their plan was. Well, at any rate, I guess I’ll join up with your musical act.” “I’m sure you’d be better at the ukulele,” said Sunset. “But, anyway, those three Shadowbolt guys? They don’t seem to be the sirens that Starswirl banished, because they only came through the portal the last time it was open. They’ve somehow picked up that magical hypnosis power themselves. Not sure if they had it before they came through the portal or if they somehow found it afterwards.” “Interesting,” mused Twilight. And so the next round of the Battle of the Bands continued. The Shadowbolts, Sunset and Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Trixie’s band all advanced. “So!” declared Twilight. “It looks like next round we’ll end up head to head with the Shadowbolts and can win.” “You don’t seem particularly down by the fact your friends deserted you,” observed Sunset. “They’ll all be back to normal after we finish with this, so it’s not that big a deal,” said Twilight. “I hope.” “So, I guess the plan will work as long as we win the next round,” said Sunset. “Which hopefully will happen considering I don’t think our musical act is all that good.” “Oh, as long as we have the ukuleles we’ll be fine.” “What’s this about ukuleles?!” asked Trixie eagerly as she zoomed up to the two of them. “Trixie?!” asked Sunset and Twilight simultaneously. “What are you doing here?” Trixie stared at them briefly. “Oh… wow. That was weird. Did you guys rehearse saying that whole thing simultaneously, or are you mentally linked somehow?” She waved off Twilight, who was just about to respond. “Doesn’t matter. Based on your statement that I overheard, I’ve successfully extrapolated the fact that the secret to your success is ukuleles, possibly due to one or more of the judges having a secret affinity for the instrument! Well, no longer! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall obtain all the ukuleles and shall be victorious!” Trixie suddenly noticed everyone staring at her. “And perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie should not have shouted all of that out loud and exposed the secret to everyone else,” she finished with a sigh. “Well, what are we going to do now?” Sunset asked Twilight after the crowd had all run off, presumably to buy ukuleles. “Our advantage is gone. I’m sure they’re going to pick up ukuleles.” “So,” came a voice, “are you two looking for new band members?” Sunset and Twilight turned to look at who had just spoken and saw Adagio, Aria, and Sonata. “I guess?” said Sunset. “Oooh!” said Sonata. “I’m great at these guessing games! Maybe I can help! Is it chocolate?” “Ignore her,” said Adagio. “She’s not very bright. Anyway, the three of us didn’t quite get a band together in time for the competition, so we were hoping we might be able to join up with someone, and it looks like you have vacancies?” “Well, can any of you play ukuleles well?” asked Twilight. “As it turns out,” said Adagio, “despite her… mental deficiencies… Sonata actually knows a lot about ukuleles.” “And you two said those ukulele lessons were a waste of time,” said Sonata as she stuck her tongue out at Adagio and Aria. “Well, good enough,” said Twilight. “Though I do want to know why you asking about irritability earlier.” “Oh, well, there was a lot of grouchiness going around, and we wanted to find someone who wasn’t particularly grumpy to join up with,” said Adagio. “I guess that makes sense,” said Twilight. “Okay, so Sonata’s on the ukulele. What about the other two of you? Can you sing?” “No!” shouted Aria abruptly. As the other four stared at her, she quickly added “Erm, I mean, no on the singing. Just not very good at it. We’d prefer to stick to instruments. One or both of you two can be the singer for the band.” “Well!” said Twilight. “I guess that’s that. We can meet later today to practice.” They quickly arranged a time and place to meet later before splitting up. “Hrm,” said Sunset after she and Twilight had left. “There’s something… off about those three. And I’m not talking about the weird grouchiness survey either.” “They were too nice,” said Twilight. “Too nice?” “Yes,” said Twilight. “Now, I’m not sure if they’ve been around during the performances of the Shadowbolts, but I remember when the Shadowbolts came into the cafeteria and did their big song and dance routine, which would probably make for a good number on a soundtrack if not for the whole hypnosis thing. But those three were there and were hit by the song. I saw them being affected by it. Yet… now they don’t act like they’ve been affected by it at all.” “It wore off?” said Sunset. “Maybe,” said Twilight uncertainly. “We have to stick with them because if Sonata is actually good at ukuleles, that would give us the competitive edge necessary. But I still wonder…” “By the way, I’ve been thinking about our plan,” said Sunset. “Even if we could outdo the Shadowbolts in regards to skills in playing ukuleles, wouldn’t the hypnosis make Chrysalis give them a pass anyway?” “She’s not hypnotized,” said Twilight. “She’s so crazy that the music would have no effect?” “No,” said Twilight. “She’s just been putting in earplugs whenever they perform to dodge the effects. Remember, she knows what’s going on; she just doesn’t care.” “Okay,” said Sunset. She frowned. “By the way, I think I’ve used or heard the word ‘ukulele’ more times in the last few days than I have in the rest of my entire life.” “I still say we should just grab the pendants right back,” grumbled Aria. “Much simpler than this convoluted thing we’re doing. Especially because the plan is to grab the pendants back anyway.” “Do you really want me to have to explain again the reasons why that would be a bad idea?” asked Adagio in a frustrated tone of voice. “Yes,” said Aria. “Not only because it might make you realize how dumb it is, but also because Sonata probably won’t remember it otherwise.” “Remember what?” asked Sonata. “Exactly,” said Aria. “Fine,” said Adagio. “If we take it from them, they could try to take it back. Or just report the theft to have them taken back by law enforcement.” “Wait, why didn’t we do that when they were stolen?” asked Sonata. “We did,” said Adagio. “But we didn’t know who they were so we couldn’t send the police straight after them, like they could with us. And I’m sure that as soon as they got the pendants, they’ve used their hypnosis to come up with faked documents to indicate that they’ve always been the owners of the pendants and then just claim the pendants we lost were somewhere else.” “Oh,” said Sonata. “Anyway. Beyond that, they have the opportunity to just take them back themselves. We need to take them as closely as possible to us performing to minimize the chance of that happening. Once our plan succeeds, then it’s too late for them.” “I still think–” started Aria. “Furthermore, they count as having Equestrian magic. And you know what would sure make them angry at each other? Losing! But we’d have to imprison them somewhere near where we’d perform, and it’d be a lot harder for someone to stumble upon them in the meantime if that’s done shortly before our performance.” “I think at this point you’re just trying to come up with anything that’s different than my plan to avoid having to admit I was right all along,” said Aria. “Look,” said Adagio, “if some perfect opportunity to snatch them comes up in the meantime, we’ll take it. Does that satisfy you?” “I guess,” said Aria in a clearly reluctant tone. “By the way,” said Sonata, “a while ago you described Twilight as lavender. Don’t you think she’s really more of a pale orchid color?” “Why in the world do you even care?” asked Aria. “Because color is important!” “But the meaning is obvious! Heck, I thought lavender was already getting pointlessly specific; why not just say purple?” Sonata and Aria continued arguing with each other. Adagio sighed. What did I ever do to deserve this? she thought to herself. Outside of, you know, all the mind control. Meanwhile… “So, just the semifinals and finals to go, right?” asked Thunder. “Yeah,” said Stormy. “Looks like we’re up against Sunset. Oh, won’t it be interesting to go up against her alternate self.” “Why would you even care about Sunset? She didn’t do anything to foil any of ours plans; the only one she was around for was that Cloudsdale thing and all of the blame for the foiling goes to Rainbow Dash.” “Which is why I said interesting!” Stormy sighed. “Whatever. It’s not going to be that hard to win those last two rounds with our hypnotic singing.” “Hrmmmm,” said Maelstrom. “So where are our new band members?” asked Sunset. “They’re late.” “I’ll call them up,” said Twilight as she took out her phone. “What was their number again? Oh, right, it was–” “We’re here!” announced Adagio as the three arrived. “Why so late?” asked Sunset. “Don’t ask,” grumbled Adagio. “We got distracted going up the mountain when we met up with a jive-talking purple penguin who turned out to be a figment of our imagination,” said Sonata. “Huh?” asked Twilight. “Ignoring that already really weird penguin bit, what mountain? There’s not any near here.” “Oh, I was just trying to make something up so we wouldn’t have to admit we got pulled over for speeding,” said Sonata. “And then Adagio tried to flirt with the officer to get away with it, going so far as to…” she trailed off as she noticed Adagio staring daggers at her. “Oh, wait. I’m doing that thing where I accidentally reveal secrets again, aren’t I? The point is, we got delayed. Also, she’s not going to be driving again anytime soon.” “As I was saying,” said Adagio through clenched teeth, “don’t ask. The important thing is that we’re here now.” And so the group practiced. But because practice is rather boring, that segment will be skipped over in a musical montage. But due to the difficulty of accomplishing that in a non-audiovisual medium, and the fact it probably wouldn’t fit that well anyway in this context, that will also be skipped over. “Well, I think we’re actually doing a pretty darn good job considering we’ve only been practicing together for a few hours,” said Twilight. “And Sonata is surprisingly good at playing the ukulele.” “Finally, a reason to have kept that idiot around,” muttered Aria to herself. “What did you say?” asked Sonata. “Uh, nothing,” said Aria. “For realsies?” said Sonata. “Because it sounded like you said, ‘Finally, a reason to have kept that idiot around.’ But that must have been my imagination.” Later, at the next round of the Battle of the Bands… “That’s… nice, but not quite what we were looking for,” said Chrysalis after Rainbow Dash had finished. “Trixie’s band progresses.” “What?!” protested Rainbow Dash. “But she played the exact same song she has in every other round! All she did was add ukuleles!” “Who cares?” said Chrysalis. “Her song ‘Tricks Up My Sleeve’ is catchy enough I could listen to it over and over again. Would make a good song for a soundtrack. Next!” “And after I spent that work into learning how to play the ukulele,” muttered Rainbow Dash to herself as she walked off. “I’d smash this if it weren’t much more cost effective to simply return it to the store.” “Hey!” said Chrysalis. “I said ‘next’! Where is the next band? Did people fail English class and not understand what the word next means?” “Well,” said Luna, “I’m pretty sure that even someone failing English class would understand the meaning of the word ‘next.’ However, if they were doing well in English, they would observe that you were not using a complete sentence. As a result, your meaning was ambiguous. Although one could perhaps try to fill it in through inference, it still isn’t entirely clear.” “You lost me,” said Chrysalis in a bored voice. “Can you explain that in English?” “I just did!” “My usage of the expression was clearly to indicate that, while you were technically using English, you were talking in such a confusing manner it was unclear,” said Chrysalis in a tone that just barely stopped short of sounding smug. “Uh, can we start now?” asked Sunset. “Quiet,” said Chrysalis, “the adults are talking.” There was a pause. “Are the adults done talking now?” asked Sunset wearily. “No, not quite,” said Chrysalis. There was another pause. “Okay, they’re done now.” “Huh,” observed Thunder as Sunset’s group started playing, “that one is actually rather talented with the ukulele.” “Yeah, well, I don’t care how much Chrysalis might secretly like ukuleles. It’s still no match for our hypnosis,” said Stormy. “Hrm,” said Maelstrom thoughtfully. “Though it sure would be nice if a certain member of our team would contribute to the plans a little more often!” said Stormy. “Well, that was adequate,” said Chrysalis after the group had finished performing. “Next! And I’d like to clarify that when I say ‘next,’ I do mean I want the next performer to start performing.” “Well I guess we just have to hope that was good enough to make us pass,” said Twilight after the group had left the stage. “So do I!” said Adagio. “Also, I just realized the three of us have to run out and do something. We should be back in time for the judging!” “Wait, what did we have to do?” asked a confused Sonata. Instead of answering, Adagio and Aria simply grabbed Sonata and pulled her out of the room. “That was odd,” said Sunset. “Well, I guess it means they won’t get hypnotized.” “That wouldn’t have mattered that much,” said Twilight, “as we’d either pass or we wouldn’t. Either way, we didn’t really need them anymore. But I did actually want them to stay around so I could try to observe them.” “I just want this whole thing to be over already so I can head back to my own world,” grumbled Sunset. “Though at least this hasn’t been as nerve-wracking as some of the stuff I’ve had to deal with in Equestria.” “Because it involves less imminent danger to your physical self?” “Because if I screw up, I can just run back to my world and forget this ever happened,” said Sunset. “But also that.” Twilight raised an eyebrow but said nothing. After another verse and chorus, the Shadowbolts finished their song. “Well!” said Chrysalis. “That was a reasonably entertaining number. However, the win goes to the other band.” “What are you talking about?!” demanded Luna. “The Shadowbolts were clearly much better!” “Hey, I’m the one with the tiebreaking vote,” said Chrysalis. “So the Shadowbolts lose. Sorry.” “Were you even listening to them?” “Would it matter if I wasn’t?” “Yes, because then you wouldn’t be able to properly judge them!” said Luna. “Your objections have been noted,” said Chrysalis. “Anyway, next!” “There isn’t a next,” said Luna. “There were only four because this was the semifinals.” “Ah, I’m glad you noticed that!” said Chrysalis. “I was a little worried about your math skills so I said that as a test.” “Okay, you know what?” said Luna. “I have put up with your craziness for way too long without proper compensation. You can consider this my two weeks’ notice.” “Oh, please, you’re only saying that because you’re hypnotized by the Shadowbolts,” said Chrysalis in a voice loud enough to be heard by Luna but quiet enough that no one else heard. “Which is probably also why you were voting for them to continue, incidentally.” Luna stared at Chrysalis for a moment or two before walking away while shaking her head in confusion. “Enh, she’ll get over it,” said Chrysalis after Luna had walked off. “So anyway, Shadowbolts and Rain-Booms lose, the other teams move on, and I’ve used up all of my witty retorts for now so just suppose I said something really funny right here.” Meanwhile, in the same room… “We lost?” said Stormy. “How does that even work?” “I think Chrysalis has been putting on earplugs in order to stop us from hypnotizing her,” said Thunder. “If she knows we can hypnotize her, why is she letting us play in this competition?” demanded Stormy. She paused. “Oh, right. It’s Chrysalis we’re talking about. Who knows why she does anything? Whatever. Plan B. Let’s go.” Meanwhile, also in the same room… “Victory!” said Twilight. “Well, sort of. It really won’t be quite complete until we find out for sure what their plan is and how to stop it for good. But we’ve stopped it for now.” “So, we’re done?” asked Sunset. “That all felt rather anticlimactic, but that’s hardly anything to complain about.” “No, we need to make sure they don’t try to pull anything in the finals,” said Twilight. “Because I expect they will. I don’t think anyone who came to this world to try to enact some kind of diabolical plan that involved them winning this competition would give up so quickly. At any rate, we should go find Adagio, Aria, and Sonata. We’ll need them for the final round.” The two were interrupted by Trixie zooming up to them. “Ha! The Great and Powerful Trixie is here to announce that she will be the victor in the finals!” “I forgot how much more annoying you were before you started up Mare Do Well,” muttered Sunset. “Mare do what now?” asked Trixie. “Never mind.” Meanwhile, not in the same room but instead just outside of the aforementioned room… “Okay, the Shadowbolts must be done playing by now, so it won’t blow out cover to come back in and be unaffected. Let’s go back into the auditorium,” said Aria. “And then we’ll finally stalk them and get the pendants back, right?” The Shadowbolts took the opportunity to enter the hallway themselves. “Hello?” said Stormy. The Dazzlings took a quick glance at each other before lunging at the Shadowbolts, who managed to dodge them and then run off. “After them!” shouted Adagio. “Because we clearly couldn’t figure that out ourselves,” muttered Aria as the group gave chase. “I didn’t think it was that obvious,” said Sonata, prompting an exasperated sigh from Aria. Meanwhile, not only not in the same room as originally, but not even in the same universe… “You ever get the feeling that if there was a film about somepony else’s life, it might cut to you briefly as some kind of a gag?” asked Trixie. “Uh… no,” said Lightning Dust. “Oh, good,” said Trixie in relief. “Neither do I!” Meanwhile, back in the original room… “What was that Mare Do Well thing you mentioned?” asked Twilight as she and Sunset left the room. “It’s this comic book character that Trixie and Lightning Dust came up with back in my universe. It’s actually incredibly popular. See, the story is that there’s this pegasus superhero named Mare Do Well, but despite having tremendous strength, she’s also kind of an idiot, balanced out mostly by her far more intelligent and reasonable changeling sidekick, Carapace. The most recent story arc involved them going into this alternate universe where everyone’s genders were reversed and so were the days of the week, and then…” Sunset trailed off as she noticed Twilight staring at her. “Look, I don’t read it myself! But I hear about it a lot, so I sort of absorbed a lot of knowledge.” “Well,” said Twilight after they had looked through the nearby hallways, “those three don’t seem to be here… I’ll just call them up on my phone, I suppose.” “I think they’re finally started to tiring out,” panted Adagio as both groups continued running. “I guess those PE classes at this school we had to take actually paid off.” The three sirens pursued the Shadowbolts up onto the outside stage that the final round of the Battle of the Bands would be performed on. The Shadowbolts stopped near some kind of control panel to catch their breath. “Ha!” declared Adagio as she, Aria, and Sonata ran towards them. “Now we can–” Whatever Adagio was going to say will be forever lost to the ages, as Stormy took the opportunity to pull a lever, which opened up a trapdoor and sent the three sirens tumbling down. “Ha!” she said. “Make them chase you towards the trap door and then make them fall. Works every time.” “When has it ever worked before?” asked Thunder. “Wasn’t this the first time we used it?” “Not the point!” “Any idea why those three were after us?” asked Thunder. “Well, they were outside, so maybe they didn’t know they had won,” said Stormy. “So this may have been intended as an act of sabotage or revenge. Whatever. It just means we’ve gotten an extra use out of that trap door.” “Now that I think about it,” said Thunder, “do you think those might have been the sirens we grabbed the pendants from? I didn’t think of it before because they looked different, but they might have put on disguises.” “Well, in that case,” said Stormy, “our plan will work even better with those three trapped down there.” “Hrm,” said Thunder, prompting an eye twitch from Stormy. Underneath the stage… “Well, we walked right into that one,” said Sonata as she tried to get water out of her hair and clothes. “Or more accurately, ran right into that one.” “Whose idea was it to put a big tub of water underneath the stage?” asked Aria as she did the same. “I’m soaking.” “Well,” said Adagio, “the door’s locked and I can’t break it down, and the cell phone’s not working, possibly due to falling into the water, or maybe there’s just a jammer they set up.” “Okay, fearless leader,” said Aria sarcastically, “what’s your plan now?” “You two try and help me break down the door. Maybe if all three of us slam it at once it’ll open.” The three tried to slam into the door at the same time. This didn’t cause the door to break, but did cause them all to end up falling onto each other in a comedic manner. “Wow,” said Sonata. “We’re all dripping wet and on top of each other. This reminds me of that time we got caught in a rainstorm and after we were able to take cover, to keep warm we had to–” “WE AGREED TO NEVER MENTION THAT AGAIN!” “Well, they’re not picking up,” said Twilight with a frown. “I guess we’ll just have to do the finals ourselves.” “And most likely lose horribly,” said Sunset. Twilight shrugged. “If Trixie wins, the problem is still solved. Though I’m surprised you seem disappointed considering you were so eager to run back.” “Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to win something after all this work.” “What do you suggest, then?” asked Twilight. “The ukulele advantage isn’t working anymore.” Sunset thought for a moment, then a few more moments. “Okay, I’ve got nothing,” she admitted several moments after that. “I guess we can just wing it.” “Greetings!” announced a human Suri who walked up to the two. “It’s come to my attention you two are going to be in the finals! And I’m having a sale on some designer clothing I picked up! I bet you’d look great in them and win!” She pulled out some clothes. “How about it?” Twilight looked at the clothes. “It says ‘Not to be confused with actual designer clothes’ on the tag.” “That’s, um, just a typo,” said Suri. “I think we’ll pass,” said Sunset. “Fine!” said Suri. “I’ll have you know plenty of others have purchased the designer clothes I’ve picked up, and none of them have ever complained!” “Isn’t that because you always skedaddle before they get a chance?” asked Twilight. “That’s not true!” said Suri before she skedaddled away. “She’s been trying to pull that on various people,” said Twilight. “I’m surprised she hasn’t gotten arrested for it yet.” “Her schemes seem a lot more transparent than the Suri from my universe,” said Sunset. “Maybe because she seems younger here for some reason. How does that even work?” “I try not to think about it too much,” said Twilight. An indeterminate amount of time (but probably just a few hours) later… “Testing, one, two, three,” said Twilight into the microphone. “Well, it seems to be in working order. Still no sign of the Shadowbolts.” “No sign of who?” asked Thunder with a smirk as he jumped onto the stage. Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “And what are you planning to do here?” she asked. “Perform some kind of sabotage?” “Nah,” he said. “That’s Stormy’s job.” Stormy, who had used the opportunity to sneak onto the other side of the stage, pulled a lever that caused the trapdoor from the earlier scene to open and cause Twilight and Sunset to tumble down into it before it closed again. “Seriously,” said Thunder, “who set it up like that? Did the architect put it in as a joke?” “Thunder,” said Stormy, “haven’t we been over this? Say the witty quip like ‘Nah, that’s Stormy’s job’ after I pull the trick, not before. Doing it before gives them a second or two to respond. You should have made your comment after I pulled the lever.” “Does it matter? It worked!” “I’m just saying, for any future instances–” “What future instances?” demanded Thunder. “We’re about to take over the world! We won’t need any more!” “Yes, we are about to conquer the world,” said Stormy. “And the time we did it? Was when I was a leader. Clearly showing I am better.” “Yeah, well, take over the world first, then you can brag.” “Hr–” started Maelstrom but stopped mid-syllable after a glare from Stormy. “Well, look who decided to join us,” commented Adagio after Sunset and Twilight had landed on the floor. “Maybe we shouldn’t have moved that pool of water out of the way.” “Oh, so this is where you guys were?” asked Sunset as she got herself up. “Did…” she trailed off as she looked at the three. “Wait. Your skin is a different color, your hair is different… did you get in disguise or something?” “No, silly!” said Sonata. “Those wigs and body paint were the disguise! This is how we actually look.” “How did you fit hair that big under the wigs?” asked Twilight. “Wait a minute,” said Sunset. “Blue… purple… yellow… the same color as the sirens in the book… are you three actually the sirens banished to this world?” “Wait, how did you know that?” asked Aria. “Mostly the fact you just told me,” said Sunset smugly. Aria facepalmed. “Ha!” said Sonata. “For once I’m not the one who inadvertently gives away a plan!” “So,” continued Sunset, “based on this, I’m going to assume that the Shadowbolts must have come into this world, grabbed your powers somehow, and then tried to enact the plan themselves. And you joined with us in order to stop them and possibly get the powers back. But then you fell through the trapdoor like we did.” Adagio scowled. “I suppose there’s no point in trying to deny it,” she said, “especially because with all of us stuck here, it’s not likely to matter. I can only assume that they’re going to take advantage of our absence to take part in the finals and in doing so gain the power to hypnotize the world. Oh, and the door’s locked pretty shut; don’t think it’ll open or anything by trying to force it.” Twilight pulled out her cell phone and tried making a call. “This isn’t working either. They must have set up a cell phone jammer nearby.” She sighed. “Well, guess there’s nothing to do until someone rescues us. Anyone have any games we can play to pass the time?” “Oooh! Oooh!” shouted Sonata as she waved her arm around eagerly. “I’m an expert at Monopoly!” “Do you have a Monopoly set?” asked Adagio. “No, but I’m still really good at it!” said Sonata. This is going to be painful, thought Sunset to herself. “And so,” announced Chrysalis, “rather than investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of our bands, we’ve opted to do the cost-saving measure of just having the band they beat in the semifinals perform in the finals. Because that’s obviously not suspicious at all, right? Anyway, here they go, the Shadowbolts.” Underneath the stage… “Ha!” said Sonata. “You landed on my property!” “Sonata, no one cares about this imaginary game of Monopoly you’re playing against yourself,” said Adagio in a tired tone of voice. “You just say that because I’m winning,” said Sonata as she stuck out her tongue. “Ugh,” said Sunset. “Not only do we have to wait here while the world gets taken over, we have to put up with them in the meantime.” “Welcome to my world,” grumbled Adagio. “Hey, if we had just grabbed the pendants like I suggested, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now!” said Aria. “Huh, I was right, it was the pendants that were the source of their power,” muttered Twilight to herself. “Oh please,” said Adagio. “Just because my plan didn’t quite work perfectly doesn’t mean yours would have worked.” “‘Didn’t work quite perfectly’? Understatement!” “Guys?” asked Twilight. “If arguing gives them power, maybe we should stop arguing?” Adagio took a deep breath. “You’re right. We should try to avoid it for now.” “Exactly!” said Aria. “So when I say things like your plan failing miserably shows you were a lackluster leader, you can’t argue with me about it.” “You wouldn’t have done a better job,” said Adagio. “All you ever do is second guess things.” “You’re arguing again,” said Twilight. “Wait, how is this arguing?” asked Sonata. “We’re just stating facts that are contradictory to each other. We do that all the time.” “That’s what arguing is!” said Twilight. “I’m not sure about that,” said Sonata. “You’re arguing with me right now!” “Am not!” Yeah, thought Sunset to herself, I am so running back to Equestria whenever we get out of this.