//------------------------------// // Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks (Part Four) // Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria // by Codex92 //------------------------------// The Battle of the Bands was about to come down to the wire as the semi-finals were already underway. Several bands had come far, only to be bested by their opponents, infuriating the losers and giving the Dazzlings more power with the arguing that ensued. The sirens clearly made it through the finals, whether by Celestia and Luna moving them forward on the brackets on their own or by the spell influencing them, it didn't matter in the long run. On the other side of the brackets to decide the second finalist, the Rainbooms managed to make it to the semi-finals against the Illusionists, thankfully without getting sabotaged this time, though there was still some irritating tension between Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was still having trouble with the counter-spell, more and more pressure put on her to figure out how to make it work when all she kept coming up with was terrible lyrics. It didn't help her much when her friends in the band continued arguing with each other. She wasn't an expert on music, and she didn't have much rhythm dancing to any songs she liked to hear, so how can she make a spell with a song? All that remained in the pages she wrote in were many scratched out lyrics, her brain unable to focus with the possibility of failing and their bickering friends. When Sora told them about his odd immunity to the Dazzling's magic after he and Sunset found them, they were a little surprised and almost had a heart attack. Knowing how strong Sora was with the Keyblade and his Drive Forms, if he were under their control, it would spell disaster for everyone. He was given a hard smack in the back of the head for ending up by himself without being with Sunset by Riku, but at least they were grateful to know he had managed to avoid being caught under their spell. Even though he was immune, telling his theory that it might have been the power of his Harmony Form that saved him from the sirens' song, Riku and Kairi needed to stay cautious and make sure their hearing is protected whenever the Dazzlings are around or expected to be at. Behind the curtains, they tuned out Trixie's song, even though it was pretty good coming from someone who's ego rivals Rainbow Dash's. Sora poked his head out to see how everyone else thought of the Illusionists's performance, which was a surprise to see them enjoying Trixie's song. He spotted Flash throwing a fit, his band beaten by the Dazzlings in the semi-finals, despite the fact those three sirens would have made it regardless of how well they tried. "We're getting close to the finals, and the Dazzlings are getting stronger and stronger." Sora looked back at his friends, the Rainbooms getting themselves ready for their next performance. Twilight doesn't seem to think her spell is truly ready, which means they're running out of time and need to take the sirens on in the finals, putting an end to their plans. "I'm not sure I can take them on by myself, but as long as they don't take their magic, we might have a chance." "So, Twilight, is that counter-spell all ready?" Applejack asked. Twilight winced, clutching Fluttershy's notebook tightly, unable to give a response. "Ah guess not...Don't worry, Twi. The finals aren't until tonight. We'll get some practice before goin' on stage. We won't let y'all down." Even though Twilight should be grateful, she felt guilty as she seemed to be failing everyone. "You won't let me down...but I'm going to..." "Twilight?" She looked up at Riku as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "We still have time. Just breathe and calm down." "Um, I was kind of wondering something," Fluttershy said, fidgeting her tambourine around in her hands. "We haven't played any of my songs yet." "It's the semi-finals," Rainbow said, ignoring the pleading look on her friend's face. "We're going to do 'Awesome As I Wanna Be'." "Oh great," Riku groaned. "As if you need the ego boost when you're supposed to be playing as a team. Even hearing that in practice, the whole performance was all about you." "So? I'm awesome. I'm just being honest." The Keyblade wielder rolled his eyes, refraining from knocking some sense of humility in Rainbow Dash like he does to Sora. The crowd, surprisingly, cheered for Trixie and the Illusionists as they headed backstage, confronting the Rainbooms with a smug grin. "You're never going to top that performance, 'Rain-goons'. None of you deserve to even compete when you have an advantage over the rest of us." "You mean with my superior guitar skills and epic singing?" Rainbow asked. "No. Trixie is talking about her," Trixie said, pointing a finger at Twilight. "If you were really all that, Rainbow Dash, you wouldn't have needed some magical ringer to pull all of your weight. Everyone is talking about how lame you are behind your backs with your little crutch." "Oh yeah!? I could win this whole thing as a solo act!" With Rainbow feeding into Trixie's taunts and threatening her ego, she really began to tick off Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Twilight, Spike, and Sunset knew this was going to end badly if Rainbow decided to act like the weak link and think she's the most important member of the band when it was about all of their performances, not just hers. "I proved it to you back in the music store over that flashy guitar!" "We'll just see about that." Trixie pulled out a smoke bomb from underneath the cloak she wore, tossing it to the ground and blinding everyone as they coughed from inhaling the smoke. When it cleared, Pinkie gasped in shock as she miraculously disappeared. "She's gone!" "No she's not," Riku said with a blank expression, pointing behind drum set on stage. "She's over there." Her disappearing act failing, Trixie fled to the other end of the stage, NOW out of sight from them. "She is a terrible magician." "Next up, the Rainbooms!" Celestia announced, though the audience didn't cheer, due to the sirens commands to try to get the band's tension to spiral into more heated arguments in the future. "Good luck, girls," Spike said. "And no showing off, Rainbow," Riku warned. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rainbow said, shrugging off Riku's words as the Rainbooms walked out on stage. "Too late," Sora groaned. "Trixie called out Rainbow's pride, and knowing her, she's going to do something stupid." "Hopefully she won't show off too much and show the Dazzlings their magic," Kairi prayed. Once the Rainbooms were set up, Rainbow waiting on the sides to time her appearance to impress the crowd, the others for "Awesome As I Wanna Be" mostly just her backup vocals as they played their instruments. [The Rainbooms] Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Rainbow ran out onto the stage, sliding to her spot while showing off, annoying the others while Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Sunset only shook their heads in exasperation. [Rainbow Dash] Awesome as I wanna be [The Rainbooms] Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! [Rainbow Dash] Awesome as I wanna be First you see me riding on a sonic boom Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune There is nothing you can do to beat me I'm so good that you can't defeat me To make matters worse, Rainbow kept walking around her friends, jamming out on her guitar, only furthering angering her bandmates as she was the star in their performance. Pinkie was utterly bored, Applejack and Rarity looked like they wanted to knock Rainbow's lights out, Fluttershy leered angrily at her, showing some attitude from her shy nature, and Twilight was a little nervous, unable to do much and hope that things will turn out fine. [Rainbow Dash and the Rainbooms Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be (Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be The lead guitarist then went into a guitar solo, all the spotlights shining down on her. "She's freaking showboating," Riku groaned. "This is exactly how bands easily break up: someone gets too much pride, they think they're the biggest star of the group, and eventually, they'll end up splitting apart because of the constant arguing over who's more important than whom." [The Rainbooms] Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! While Rainbow continued her solo, she was getting too into it, soaking in all the attention. The Keyblade wielders, Sunset, and Spike gasped when they saw her equine ears starting to form in a bright light on her head. She was going to show off her Equestrian magic right in front of the sirens as they watched, not even caring about stopping them and keeping the school safe as she acted like the center of attention. "Rainbow!" Sora hissed, trying to get the girl's attention, swiping his hand across his neck to tell her to stop. Ix-nay on the ainbow-ray ower-pay!" Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! She wasn't paying attention, but the damage was already done. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata saw the lights. They know for sure that they have the magic they seek now, no thanks to Rainbow Dash defending her pride and trying to upstage Trixie, proving she was better than her. Without thinking, Sunset ran out to stop her. "Sunset, what are-!?" Kairi called out, but they were too late to stop her. Sunset tackled Rainbow Dash, sending them flying back toward Twilight and knocking her over too. Twilight accidentally grabbed Rarity's keytar to lessen her fall, which caused her to fall forward, one of her feet kicking Applejack's bass out of her hands, sending it flying neck first into one of Pinkie's drums, stopping the song before it was even finished. As the lights turned back on, Fluttershy fled backstage, the whole room was silent after seeing the display before them. "Oh boy," Sora uttered. "That was a terrible idea," Riku said. As the girls got up, Rainbow leered at Sunset for messing up her solo, but the distraction was enough to stop her magic from completely appearing. Due to the interruption of the song, Celestia and Luna shook their heads and wrote their judgement down, clearly disqualified by Sunset's interference. All the students' eyes were on the former bully, seeing her act of keeping her friend's magic a secret to the sirens as a sign of her reverting back to her old self. "Now THAT'S the bad girl we all love to hate!" Flash yelled out, sparking the jeering the rest of the crowd gave her. "The real monster's back, just as we thought!" another student said among the others booing at Sunset. "N-No," Sunset mumbled, her voice caught in her throat as she couldn't really prove why she did that. "I-It's not like that..." She began to back away where she ran out from, feeling like crying again as everything she worked hard for to make up her mistakes in the past were all thrown away. Under a spell or not, no one wanted anything to do with her. With their performance ruined, the Rainbooms headed backstage, knowing their one chance to stop the sirens were ruined. "What the heck was all that about, Sunset!?" Rainbow exclaimed angrily. "I-I'm sorry," she apologized. "You were showing your magic. I-I didn't know what to do." "Maybe close the curtain on us? Unplug her amp? Let us deal with it?" Rarity suggested bitterly. "Hey, guys, lay off of her!" Sora butted in. "We were trying to get Rainbow's attention, but she was too busy 'being awesome as she wants to be' to even realize she was showing her magic!" "And none of you did anything to stop her, either," Riku added. "And you three couldn't!?" Rainbow scolded. "You three have better athletic skill than me! You could have leapt up on the catwalk and done something!" "Maybe if you didn't let your inflated ego get to your head and show off Trixie with her challenge, this wouldn't have happened!" Sora argued back. "You know, you and the pegasus Rainbow Dash in Equestria are definitely alike; you two think you're amazing at what you do, but you're so thickheaded to realize you made a huge mistake and misjudge someone when they're trying to do something right!" "How the heck are we alike?" Rainbow questioned. "Pony you accused me of bringing the Heartless in Equestria after I saved her life from some that attacked her," Sora explained. "She didn't hear me out and explain what was happening, and just assumed I was going to try to take over the world! You're judging Sunset over stopping you when you're too busy jamming out and purposefully showing your magic off to the Dazzlings, which was something you weren't supposed to do until the finals!" "...I-I was?" The Keyblade wielders nodded. She looked back at the others, all of them showing the same irritated expressions as they agreed with Sora, Riku, and Kairi. "...Oh...Oops?" "'Oops' is right," Sora said, crossing his arms over his chest as he tapped his foot, leering at Rainbow. "Now they know what we're up to if they saw the ears about to form. Thanks for ruining the element of surprise." "Thanks, indeed!" Trixie said, approaching the group with a smug stride in her step. "Trixie believes you gave her the win by default." "Trixie, not now," Sora growled. "Trixie actually enjoyed the part where Sunset Shimmer barged right on stage and threw you 'Rain-blowouts' off," the egotistical magician/guitarist continued, ignoring the spiteful glares from the others as she approached the still emotional teen. "She tackled Rainbow Dash in mid-guitar solo in a fit of jealous rage! That was perfect!" Sunset growled, stepping toward Trixie and grabbing her hard by the shoulders. "It was not a fit of jealous rage!" Suddenly, a dark aura sprung up around her hands, making her gasp in horror, as well as everyone else as she pulled away. Sunset began hyperventilating, shaking her hands to get rid of the darkness as if they were hot flames, scared of turning back into the demon that was her darkness again. It disappeared as she tried to fight it, but seeing the look of terror on Trixie's face, she was sure to tell everyone she was a step closer to turning back to what she became at the Fall Formal. "...I-I didn't...It just happened. I don't know why...!" "Sunset, it's ok," Sora assured, trying to calm her down and keep her from panicking. "It was an accident." He tried to gently approach her, but Sunset ran away, tears running down her face, fearing she would end up losing control again and won't be able to control it again. "Wait! Sunset, don't run!" Sora chased after her, leaving the others behind. Everyone turned to Trixie, who was still highly shocked by Sunset's small bout of rage that released some of her darkness. "...G-Good riddance?" Trixie stammered, shrugging her shoulders. "Trixie, just shut up," Applejack muttered. "Your band's already won the round. Congratulations." Trixie, for once, kept her mouth shut, being wary of the other two Keyblade wielders leering at her. She quickly turned around to avoid their gaze, Riku and Kairi looking back at the back door where Sora chased after Sunset. "I hope Sunset's alright," Kairi said. "She really panicked when that aura sprung up on her." "She willed it back at least, but after how she used it before, she really doesn't want it to appear again," Riku said. "Darkness always has some negative effect on someone in some way, more psychological than physical. Some people like myself or Terra can fight back against it, but others might think it'll come back even worse and change them again, though they think it will be permanent the next time." Celestia and Luna were about to step up on the stage on the other end, but the sirens caught up with them and began singing. Riku and Kairi noticed, making sure their ear plugs were kept firmly in place as the principal and vice principal were hypnotized by their voices. The Rainbooms began to bicker again, though they were tuned out as the two Keyblade Masters wondered what they were up to. The adults soon appeared on the stage in front of the students, ready to announce who would be moving on to the finals. "The band to face off against the Dazzlings in the finals is...the Rainbooms," Celestia said, nearly sounding monotonous in the trance she was put in. "What!?" Trixie exclaimed. "What!?" the Rainbooms exclaimed as well. "Did she just say 'the Rainbooms'!?" Pinkie questioned. "We didn't even finish the-!" "This doesn't make any sense!" Trixie shouted. She turned around and growled, storming past the group as she stormed out of the gym. "This isn't over, Rain-bores!" "Ok, those three are up to something," Riku uttered. "And I have a bad feeling it's not gonna be good." Feeling utterly confused, the band walked out on stage with the Dazzlings. "See you girls tonight at the big show, Rainbooms," Adagio said. "We're looking forward to it." None of them were able to offer a retort, going along with winning, somehow. The crowd began jeering at the Rainbooms, both disliking them for making it this far and winning over Trixie, the latter more believable than the former. "The Dazzlings want us to move on to the finals," Riku said to the girls. "They probably want to face off against you personally." "Yeah, it is weird," Twilight said. "But what about Sunset? Do you think she'll lose herself to the darkness again?" "I doubt it if she swallowed that aura back inside her, keeping herself from losing control. You girls think you can handle setting things up tonight while Kairi and I check on Sunset, just in case she does give in?" Riku asked. Twilight gave them a nod, even if she was a bit nervous about her spell. "Ok. Just be careful." He gave his girlfriend a quick kiss and left with Kairi to find Sora and Sunset. Adagio spotted the two Keyblade wielders leaving, motioning for Aria and Sonata to follow them and initiate her plan, ensuring that they will be caught under their spell. As her companions left, she headed over to Trixie, who was still fuming over the uncalled loss she shouldn't have taken. "Well, Trixie, it was such a shame that you lost," Adagio said sympathetically. "I mean, your performance was far better than theirs, and it was interrupted. I don't blame the judges for making a ruling over favorites, but you should be facing us the finals. It would be quite a shame if they didn't make it to their set, otherwise the runners up would take their place." She let the idea fester in Trixie's mind, sensing the sneaky grin the magician had on her face. Adagio calmly walked out to find Aria and Sonata, wondering if they found Riku and Kairi and caught them in their trap. Kairi and Riku ran through the halls, checking every room they passed, but they didn't find any sign of them. "Dang. Where did Sunset run away to?" "Maybe they're outside somewhere," Kairi suggested. "Ok. Let's check." Riku pulled out his earplugs, his ear canals a bit sore from wearing them for hours. "I really hate these things. At least the sirens will be too busy setting up for the show to bother us." "Same here." Kairi did the same, rubbing her ears after taking the plugs out. "Kairi! Riku!" Before they stepped foot outside, they heard Sora's voice come from the other end of the hall. "Sora?" Kairi asked. "I found Sunset! She's doing just fine, but she might need a little help!" Worried about Sunset losing her fight against her darkness, the Keyblade Masters ran down the hall to where they heard him. As they rounded the corner, they saw a door close, which must have been where Sunset and Sora were. Riku and Kairi approached the empty classroom door and went inside, but they didn't see any sign of them inside. "Sora?" Riku called out. "You in here?" They soon heard singing come from behind them, the door closing on them. Aria stood behind them as she cast her siren spell on them, already hitting their ears as they struggled to fight through the trance they were slowly succumbing to. "Sorry, but Sora's not here." Riku and Kairi turned to the other end of the classroom, finding Sonata approaching them as she cleared her throat. "Ooh boy. Making a boy's voice is kinda hard, but I mimicked him perfectly, didn't I?" "D-Damn," Riku swore, struggling to dig his hands into his pockets to pull out his ear plugs. "I-I didn't think...you could...mimic voices." Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried to tune out Aria's singing, they couldn't fight back for much longer. "Sirens can do more than just sing, silly," Sonata said mockingly, grabbing both the teens' ear plugs from their lethargic hands and tossed them away. "Whoopsie. Won't be needing those." Sonata began joining in, making the spell stronger as Riku and Kairi slowly began to lose consciousness. Riku summoned his Keyblade to try to fight back, as well as Kairi, but their eyes drooped as they finally fell under their spell, dropping their blades as they fell on their knees, collapsing to the ground. Aria and Sonata stopped as soon as they were unconscious, surprised to see the same kind of weapon Sora had summoned they had, only differently shaped like the ones in the picture Adagio stole. "Huh. Guess these two are like Sora," Aria commented. "Is this a thing that happens?" "Ooooh! I like hers!" Sonata picked up Kairi's Keyblade, staring at the flowers that made the teeth. Adagio walked into the room, smirking devilishly. "Well, well, well, seems like these two aren't as immune to our song like Sora. He really must be stronger than these two." "I think we got lucky," Aria grumbled. "These two also have those key sword things. They could have tried to kill us." "And you followed my plan to trap them perfectly." Adagio chuckled as she dropped to her knees between Riku and Kairi. "We'll have the Rainbooms fighting long enough to steal their magic, and keep Sora distracted until we perform." With her pendant glowing, she vocalized a hypnotic tune that reached the unconscious teens' ears. Slowly, they shifted and rose up onto their knees, their eyes opening and glazed over. "Let's check on the Rainbooms as they're setting up their band at the amphitheater. They'll be in for a surprise for the little 'mishap' the judges made sending them on to the finals after their botched performance..." Sora continued chasing after Sunset as they had ran outside the school. She ran up a hill that overlooked the amphitheater where the Musical Showcase was supposed to be held on the weekend for Canterlot High, but now that it was a Battle of the Bands, it would be used tonight for the finals. Sunset tripped and fell to the ground, panting heavily as she got up on her knees. "Sunset!" Sora slid to a halt beside her. "It's ok. We know it wasn't on purpose." "That's what I'm afraid of!" she exclaimed. Sora tried to help her up, but she pulled her arm away from him. "Now no one's going to accept me. Everyone's still going to see me as that...thing!" "But you didn't let it control you," Sora said. "You fought back from using it. You just can't let frighten you for the rest of your life." "That doesn't even matter!" Sunset argued. "I'm not like Twilight; I just can't get over it because I actually did use this power..." She looked down at her hands, the darkness gone now, but she could still feel it inside her. "I want to get rid of it. Permanently...I don't want to feel this guilt anymore. I've tried so hard to prove to everyone here I'm not the old Sunset, but after what happened with Trixie..." "It was an accident. Some things you can't really control when you're frustrated, and we all saw how difficult it was for you to keep yourself under control when you fight so hard to change." She looked up at Sora, shaking her head as she glared at him. "How do you even know how I feel?" she asked. "You're not like your friend, Riku. You don't have even the slightest hint of darkness in you. Twilight told me what happened to her, even what happened to you and Kairi when you were trying to find her in the past. You gave up your heart for her..." "...But that's how my darkness came to be." Even though Sora was reluctant to tell Sunset he knows exactly how she felt, he was willing to tell her. He held his hand out to her to help her back on her feet. "Everyone has both light and darkness in their hearts. And even if I don't seem like I do, I have a darkness that I can't control." Confused and slightly curious, Sunset took his hand as he helped her up. "What are you talking about?" "When I gave up my heart to wake Kairi, in a way, I did kill myself," he explained. "I turned into a Heartless upon losing my heart. In the darkness that threatened to swallow me, I felt Kairi's light, the warm brightness guiding me away from the empty void of darkness and back to her. Thanks to her, she saved me after I saved her, but that didn't mean my Heartless was completely gone as well. "You recall my Harmony Form? The same form I used that had the Elements of Harmony's power in the form of Keyblades?" Sunset nodded, seeing him in that form that helped save her life from her own darkness consuming her. "I have several other forms I use; Drive Forms. I used to rely on my friends' power to transform, each one granting me enhanced speed, strength, magical power, even allowing me to dual wield two Keyblades at once, which isn't normally possible for Keyblade wielders. In tough situations, I use one of them to give me an advantage, but they only last for a limited amount of time or when I willingly stop using them." "...Ok. So, these 'Drive Forms' help you when fighting. And, seeing how you didn't need any help to transform a few months ago means you're strong enough to transform at will without extra support." Sora nodded his head, but it didn't make much sense to Sunset with his explanation. "Then how does that reason how you know how I feel? They don't let you use dark powers or magic. They don't turn you into a monster." "...They don't...but I do turn into one by unfortunate luck." Sora held up a hand, placing it over his heart. "If I rely on my Drive Forms too much, my power can backfire and revert it to a dark power, one that I can't control...Instead of light shining from my clothes, where my Drives' power is held, it turns dark and shrouds me in a sphere of darkness. It turns me into a human-like Heartless, where my body's dark and black, my attacks are swift and deadly with sharp claws instead of a transformed Keyblade, and glowing yellow eyes; a seventh Drive Form I call my Anti Form." "...A-Anti Form?" Sunset didn't believe that Sora could have a form like that. She imagined him looking as he described the dark form looked like, now fearing ever seeing him like that. He had turned similarly to how she had, but where hers was slowly taking possession of her body, his was only temporary due to his limited power. "...You...didn't hurt anyone...did you?" Sora lowered his head, which answered her question immediately. "...I was showing Twilight and her friends my Drive Forms, but I really didn't want to. I was pressured and did it anyway...My friends, Donald and Goofy, they were there too to show them about the magic we can use...I thought I was lucky after turning into my Valor Form, but when I moved to the next one...it happened." He clenched his fists, the painful memory forever stuck in his mind. "I told Kairi about it before she even saw it the first time, which was why I was so afraid to tell her how I felt about her. I was afraid I would hurt her if it ever happened... "I hurt her, and Donald and Goofy, too." He looked up at Sunset, seeing the painful look on his face as he recalled that day. "I can't fight back against my darkness, no matter how hard I tried when it happens. Kairi believed I could do it, she even tried to help guide me out of it with her light, but it was no use. My Anti Form is like a caged beast, wild and furious, not even caring if who it looks at is friend or foe. I struck her and could have killed her if Twilight and her friends didn't stop me. "They managed to knock me out and change me back, but I saw everything it did...I felt so ashamed, feeling highly responsible for putting them all in so much danger, and everyone but Kairi knew about my Anti Form. I thought everyone would shun me, never look at me the same when they saw someone who swore to fight back against the darkness has a darkness inside that can never be controlled." Sora looked down at his hands, still feeling the pain he had caused that day and the remorse of his darkness running wild. "I don't know what Master Yen Sid would think if he found out...Or Riku...I dread what would happen if they knew in some way, whether by someone who saw it or I accidentally turn into it again." "...Sora..." He looked back at her, this time with determination as he clenched his fists again. "Even after all of that, they still stayed by my side," Sora continued. "Kairi still loves me for who I am, not what I turned into. My friends still see me as Sora, not the Heartless I became by complete accident. Still, I'm a little worried what would happen if I told my best friend about it, or even Master Yen Sid, but if they truly trust me, they'll see it was only a mishap and it was just a stroke of bad luck." He then gently grasped Sunset's shoulders, getting her full attention. "You're still you, Sunset. What happened back there was an accident. Even with that aura appearing around your hands, you fought back against using it, which proves to your friends that you didn't change back to the old you. Every one of us has a darkness inside of us, but if we've fallen too deep, you have your friends to help pull you out of it and back in the light." Sunset was a little surprised at the heartfelt speech Sora made. Thanks to him, she was given a second chance after being engulfed in the terrifying darkness she let herself fall into in her anger. She was afraid everyone at CHS would always hate her for what she did and what she turned into, but Sora was right. He still called her a friend. Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity were still their friend. Even Flash still had before falling under the sirens' spell, still having feelings for her even after their breakup. That darkness that came out was indeed accidental, the stress of every single person she knew no longer giving her a chance after doing all she could to make up for it bringing it out after nearly blowing up on Trixie with her snarky comment. She even saw Sora in a different light. How a young man who's known to be comically goofy and kindhearted to any he meets can keep a dark secret so dangerous that he fears would make him hateful was baffling. He can't control what appears against his will, but even after feeling depressed from what could happen, he was brought back on his feet by the ones who still cared about who he really was. Sunset took in a deep breath, now a bit more relaxed from the scare she gave herself, surprising Sora with a hug. "...Thanks, Sora," she said. "As strange as you are, I'm actually glad you still see me as a friend." "...Heheheh. I guess I'll take that as a compliment, then." Sunset pulled away as Sora chuckled, though his silly demeanor dropped as he gave her a pleading look. "But, seriously, I don't want you to tell Riku about my Anti Form. I really don't know how he'll react to that information when he himself was a victim to a darkness he struggled to fight against that wasn't his own." "My lips are sealed," Sunset promised. "But, maybe you should tell him if he-" She paused when she looked over over at the amphitheater. Setting everything up on the stage were the girls, though what they were doing there confused her. "What are the girls doing down at the amphitheater?" "Hmm?" Sora looked over in the same direction. "Huh. That's weird. Why are they here?" "Well, the amphitheater was where the Musical Showcase was supposed to be held this weekend, but now that it's a Battle of the Bands, this is where the finals are supposed to be," Sunset explained. "...They couldn't have made it to the finals after...I messed them up." "Then it looks like Celestia and Luna gave the Rainbooms the win thanks to the Dazzlings. But where are Riku and Kairi?" They both ran down the hill down toward the amphitheater. Passing by the empty seats, Sora leapt up onto the stage while Sunset went around to the stairs, surprising the band. "Hey, what's going on?" "Well, we're in the finals by some miracle," Applejack said. "Yeah. We were terrible and we're going to face the Dazzlings," Rainbow said. "It makes no sense." "Where are Riku and Kairi?" Sora asked. "They went to find you and Sunset to help her if her darkness went out of control," Twilight replied, looking over at the now calm teen. "You ok, Sunset?" "I'm fine. It's under control. I just hope I don't do that again." The girls were relieved that Sunset wasn't too traumatized. "Sora helped reassure me I wasn't going to turn back into that demon again. He has quite a way with words." Twilight giggled as Sora nervously scratched his cheek. "I guess that's true." "Sora!" Riku called out as he ran to the amphitheater, leaping up onto the stage. "We've got a problem! Heartless have appeared around the school!" "What!? What about Kairi!?" Sora asked. "He's taking care of them, but there are a lot more still coming," Riku said. "They must have sensed Sunset's darkness and decided to invade this world." Sunset winced, feeling responsible for bringing the Heartless into this peaceful world, even though they could have appeared months ago when she changed into a demon. "Great. Let's take care of them. Twilight, hopefully that counter-spell is working, because we're going to need it now before the finals. We'll be right back once we take care of the Heartless." "R-Right." Sora ran off the stage and made his way back to the school. Riku, however, stood in place as he watched his friend go on ahead. "Riku, aren't you going, too?" "...I'm sure he can handle it," the Keyblade Master said, though his voice sounded more monotone than panicked like he was earlier. "Then couldn't you have handled taking care of them with Kairi instead of running down here to find Sora?" Sunset asked. "There you are, Rainbooms!" The girls turned their attention to Trixie and her bandmates on the stage by some of the theater's controls for the lights and a lever for a trapdoor. "What do you want, Trixie?" Rainbow questioned. "The Great and Powerful Trixie deserves to be in the finals," she claimed. "Not you losers!" She snapped her fingers, ordering one of the Illustionists to pull the lever. The large trapdoor was right underneath the girls as they screamed in surprise, falling down to the bottom of the stage floor in a heap. Spike heard the noise as he was busy playing with a rope toy behind a speaker, his jaw dropping in shock at what he saw. Trixie laughed maniacally as she looked down at the fallen girls, Spike wondering why Riku wasn't stopping this or even attempted to help them. "So long, Rainbooms! Trixie will win the Battle of the Bands as the Illusionists take your place in the finals!" Twilight stood up, growling angrily as she summoned her Keyblade. "Alright, that's it! Enough sabotage!" Thanks to the training she was given, Twilight made a huge leap, jumping out of the opened trapdoor as she surprised Trixie. Her enhanced stamina and strength even surprised the other girls trapped under the stage, the door leading out only able to be opened from the outside. "Trixie, we're in the middle of a crisis, and whether you're under the sirens' spell or not, we don't have time for your petty-!" Riku suddenly appeared in front of Twilight, making her gasp as he summoned his Keyblade and swung at her. She quickly blocked it, but the Keyblade Master's strength outmatched hers. "R-Riku!? What are you doing!?" "The Rainbooms will not succeed," Riku answered in his trance-like state. Twilight got a better look at his eyes, shocked to see them glazed over. "Mistress Adagio, Aria, and Sonata will take the magic they seek. Whatever you try to do to stop them will fail." "Oh no..." Twilight was shoved back, nearly losing her balance and falling back down the trapdoor. She knew there was no chance she had taking her boyfriend on while he's in the hypnotized state the Dazzlings put on him. And if he was caught in their spell, then Kairi must have as well, which meant Sora was heading straight for trouble. What's worse is that she doesn't have experience fighting while she's a human, only able to use her hands to hold her Keyblade and would end up tripping over her feet if she tried to evade. Riku charged forward, swinging his blade again that was quickly blocked, but the force of the attack threw off her guard. As Twilight staggered, Riku kicked her hard in the stomach, sending her falling back down to the bottom of the stage, her friends gathering around her and helping her up. "Twilight! What's going on!?" "R-Riku...The sirens are hypnotizing him," she groaned. "They've also got Kairi." "And Sora's going to help her," Sunset muttered, quickly gasping in shock. "It was a trap!" Riku stood by the edge of the trapdoor, looking up and back at Trixie and her bandmates. "Close it. You want to face the Dazzlings in the finals, right?" "Riku, don't!" Twilight called out, but her words didn't reach him. She tried to jump back out, only to receive a powerful shock from a Thundaga spell from the mind controlled Keyblade wielder, sending her slamming back down to the ground, her body paralyzed from the electricity. The other girls tried to plead with Riku, telling him to snap out of their hold, but Trixie closed up the trapdoor, trapping the Rainbooms and Sunset under the stage. Confused, the magician approached the Keyblade Master. "Why are you helping me?" Trixie asked suspiciously. "Weren't you with the Rainbooms?" "Good luck tonight," Riku said, ignoring her question as he made his leave. Trixie stared at him as he leapt off the stage, shrugging her shoulders, too focused on taking the Rainboom's place as the runner-ups for the finals. As the Illusionists began setting up for their grand performance, Riku walked up past the rows of seats for the audience in the amphitheater, where Adagio, Aria, and Sonata stood at the end of the walkway as they watched the spectacle in the background. The mind controlled teen lowered himself down on one knee like a knight bowing to their ruler, his Keyblade pointed down in front of him. "The Rainbooms will not be a bother to you anymore, my mistresses." "That girl also had one of those sword things," Aria said. "How many close calls are we going to have, Adagio?" "She wasn't able to stand up to our new pet," Adagio pointed out, patting Riku on the head. "Besides, I told you they needed a little shove." "But they fell down a trap when Trixie pulled the lever," Sonata said, which made Adagio facepalm. "And he kicked that other girl, Twinkle Sparkler, back down in there." "Ugh. Just go back to sleep, Sonata," Aria groaned in irritation. "But it's five in the afternoon." Aria facepalmed now, growling at how dumb the ditsy siren was. "Maybe your brain's the one that fell asleep," the irate siren grumbled under her breath. "Quit your bickering!" Adagio shouted. "We're this close to getting what we want. If you two can quit fighting with each other, we can get ourselves ready by tonight. By then, those girls will begin arguing, and the magic will be ours when we get on stage." She brought her attention back to the bowing Keyblade wielder as he had one more objective to accomplish. "Why don't you go and keep Sora distracted for us? Your partner may need some help." "Yes, Mistress Adagio." Riku stood up, following the siren's command as he ran back to the school to keep Sora "distracted". "I wished we had Sora obeying us," Sonata whined. "His hair's more spiky than that one's." "Please don't tell me you have a thing for him," Aria begged, nearly gagging at the thought of one of them ever getting attached to a mortal, human or pony. "After over a thousand years, I still don't know how your brain even functions, and you choose the strangest, disgusting things to like." "Hey, he's actually cute for a human!" Sonata argued. "I like him, but that doesn't mean I love him!" Adagio groaned and rubbed her temples as her two siren accomplices were at it again. "This is going to be a long evening..." Sora ran up to the front yard of Canterlot High, his Keyblade held in his hand as he prepared to fight off the swarm of Heartless invading this alternate universe of Equestria. He slowed down, surprised to see not a single Heartless in sight, any signs of a fight, or any sounds of battle at all. "Ok...Where are the Heartless?" Sora asked himself. "Did Kairi beat them all on her own?" Remaining cautious, he looked around the school for any sign of her. Up on the roof, he spotted someone standing on top of the school, recognizing the long auburn hair and the pink outfit Kairi wore. He quickly rushed over to the building, jumping up onto the side and ran up the wall, vaulting himself up onto the roof as he reached the top. "Kairi! What's happening!? Where's the Heartless!?" She didn't respond, her back facing him as she looked out at the town. Sora began to worry as he walked up to her, feeling an odd sense of deja vu seeing her back turned to him and the creepy silence like when Destiny Islands was being destroyed by the darkness. He reached his hand out, gently touching her shoulder, feeling her move slightly as she slowly turned her head. "...Sora," Kairi mumbled, her voice devoid of any life, which began to worry Sora greatly. "Kairi? Are you ok?" She slowly moved her hand, gently touching his. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, Kairi summoned her Keyblade in her other hand, grasping onto his with the other tightly. "Die." "Huh!?" Kairi suddenly threw Sora over her shoulder, surprising him with how strong she really was. Right as he was flipped upside down, she charged after him, thrusting her Keyblade right toward his abdomen. Sora blocked the oncoming attack, vaulting off his free hand, flipping away from his girlfriend as he was confused by her odd behavior. "Kairi, what are you doing!? It's me, Sora!" She rushed forward again, casting a barrage of spells at him without giving him a verbal response. Sora avoided the large blasts of Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells constantly cast at him, rolling or leaping away with each volley that tried to strike him. He was about to run off the roof, only to step on a hidden Mine spell, launching him up in the air in a fiery blast. Kairi leapt up after him to attack while he was stunned, but he recovered and blocked her Keyblade, defending against her onslaught of swings and thrusts. Sora pushed away from another strike, getting far enough away from Kairi. "Kairi, stop! What's the matter with you!?" She let out a battle cry, running toward him again. He began evading another flurry of swings, slashing back to push against her. "Why are you attacking me!? Did I do something to upset you!? Did I miss our anniversary or something!?" "You will not interfere with my mistresses' plan," Kairi said, slowly pushing Sora back as he pushed even harder. He had no idea what she was talking about until he saw the look in her eyes. He gasped, seeing her blue irises were glazed over, caught in a hypnotic trance. "Mistress Adagio will take the magic from the Rainbooms. They will unleash their power unto this world and Equestria." "...No...You're under their spell," Sora uttered in horror. Kairi must have been caught by the sirens when she and Riku tried to find him and Sunset. "Wait...but if they caught you in their spell...then that means-" He heard Riku roar from behind him, taking a glance over his shoulder to see his friend charging after him with his Keyblade aimed at his back. Sora quickly cast a Reflect spell, pushing Kairi away while bouncing off Riku's back attack, the reflective shield unleashing a shockwave of light upon contact that sent Riku flying back. He flipped back on his feet, staring down Sora with his glazed eyes in his fighting pose. Sora looked back at him, then back to Kairi as she readied her blade. The sirens were far more crafty than he thought they were. It was a bad idea to have themselves be separated from each other against beings with the power to cast magic with their vocal chords. Sora may have been extremely lucky that he wasn't under their control, but Riku and Kairi weren't. They always had some kind of backup plan in case someone or something ruined their initial one, going along with the events as they happen and shape them to their advantage. Looking out at the amphitheater, wondered what happened to the others, hoping the sirens didn't command Riku to hurt them when they needed their magic. "Really cheap move," Sora muttered. "Having my best friend and girlfriend fight against me when you can't try to take me on with your own power. You sirens are just that desperate to be at your strongest." Riku and Kairi slowly began to circle him, waiting for him to make the first move. "I really don't want to hurt you two, but if it means breaking you out of their control from being knocked unconscious...I don't have much of a choice." Tapping into his Drive Forms, Sora's body was engulfed in a flash of light, his clothes glowing brightly as the light shattered around him. Riku and Kairi tried to stop his transformation, leaping forward with their blades poised to strike. Sora held out his arms, his clothes turning yellow as he used his Master Form, the Oblivion and Oathkeeper Keyblades appearing in his hands, blocking the attacks from the hypnotized Keyblade wielders. "I'll get you two out of this trance. I just hope we don't exhaust each other too much for the sirens!" He pushed his mind controlled friend and lover back, starting with Riku as he rushed forward, holding Oblivion in his right hand while Oathkeeper hovered by the other. Kairi began casting spells to deter Sora, but with the enhanced magical power of his Master Form, he was able to counter them with Reflect, using the pulse of the rebounding light outside of the clear barrier to boost forward. Gripping both Keyblades, Sora unleash a devastating combo that Riku was unable to block for long. Kairi ran forward while he was distracted, halting his attacks as he flipped upside down and blocked her sneak attack. Riku had quickly recovered, catching Sora in a pincer strike, alternating between him and Kairi to defend their thrusts and slashes. They were a lot more aggressive under the Dazzlings' spell, the sirens intending to keep Sora far enough away from them or stop him completely. Kairi and Riku swung down vertically simultaneously, Oathkeeper blocking Destiny's Embrace in front of Sora while Oblivion blocked Way to the Dawn from behind him. As Sora pushed back, he attempted to try and reach out to Riku and Kairi, hoping his voice will help them break free of the sirens' control. "Guys, you gotta snap out of it! I don't want to hurt you two! You need to fight back!" "You will not win," Riku uttered. "Our mistresses will not allow it," Kairi said, seeing her eyes flash green for a moment. They were too deep under their control, whatever amount of magic they used to control them more potent than what they did to the rest of the school. "Come on, Riku! Kairi!" Sora said, trying his hardest to get them to come to their senses. "You're stronger than them!" They weren't going to listen. Sora shoved them back as they went back to attacking him from both sides. He flipped away as their blades clashed, their heads turning toward him as he fired a barrage of Blizzaga spells toward them. Right as the ice flew at them, they swung their Keyblades together, shattering the ice to pieces as the shockwave sent them flying back toward him. Sora spun both his Keyblades to deflect the shards, only to see Riku dash forward. He swung, but missed as a Thundaga spell struck Sora and stunned him. Riku slashed, sending Sora flying back, quickly flipping back onto his feet as he skid across the rooftop. It felt like their battle had lasted for almost an hour as they exchanged blows, fired a large variety of spells, and clashed blades. The sun was already beginning to set, but Kairi and Riku were not going to relent with the trance they were under. Even with one of Sora's stronger Drive Forms, he was still holding back, not willing to hurt his friend and girlfriend if it meant returning them to normal. The hypnotized duo charged forward again as Sora blocked both of their Keyblades again, all three of them battered and slowly wearing down what stamina they had left in them. He struggled to push back, but as luck would have it, his Master Form had run out, reverting him back to normal as he now only held his Kingdom Key again. He was still blocking Kairi, but Riku had an opening, rushing forward and striking Sora's gut with a knee. Losing his breath, his guard was dropped as he staggered backward, leaving him defenseless as the two Keyblade Masters struck him one at a time. Sora wasn't able to counter or get away as he was constantly pushed back, Kairi slamming her Keyblade hard into his right arm, making him drop his weapon. They finally stopped their barrage as he staggered over to the edge of the school's roof, nearly falling off after almost tripping over the side. Riku grabbed Kairi's arm and began spinning her around, gaining momentum as Sora tried to recover. He managed to summon his Keyblade back in his hand just in time as Riku let go, sending Kairi soaring straight at him. She rammed into him, sending the two of them flying off the roof and to the ground below. The two spiraled through the air, Kairi quickly stopping their spinning as she grabbed a hold of his shirt, dashing down toward the ground with Sora underneath her. They hit the ground hard, Sora taking the brunt of the impact as he skid across the front yard of Canterlot High, leaving a long groove in the grass and dirt until they came to a complete stop, Kairi's Keyblade still held back by Sora's even as they fell. Sora, unfortunately, was heavily injured as he began losing his strength, having his Keyblade knocked out of his hand as Kairi tried to press her blade down against his neck. He struggled to push back to keep her from choking him, staring into the blank, hypnotized blue eyes of his girlfriend. Riku leapt down from the roof and slowly approached them, standing directly over Sora with his blade aimed down at his head. "R-Riku...Kairi...Don't," Sora pleaded in a last ditch effort to snap them out of their entranced states. "Our mistresses have already won," Riku said. Sora braced himself as death awaited him, quickly shutting his eyes to avoid seeing Riku's Keyblade aiming right between his eyes. "Sora!" He squinted an eye open as Spike called out his name, running right at Riku with his teeth bared. "Spike!?" The canine barked and sunk his teeth in the unsuspecting, mind controlled teen, making him yell out in pain. Kairi looked up from the distraction, giving Sora the chance to retaliate. Recalling his Keyblade again, he zapped Kairi with a Thunder spell, shocking her long enough for him to push her off of him. Vaulting back up on his feet, he spun and swept his leg under Riku's hopping one, the one Spike bit as he clung on trying to shake the pup off, sending him falling to the ground. Spike let go as soon as he fell, both canine and teen backing away as Riku and Kairi got up, Riku limping slightly from the bite. "Ok, as reckless as that was, I appreciate the save." "I guess it's too late to warn you Riku's under the sirens' spell," Spike said. "Kairi too?" "Yeah. They must have fallen for a trap." Sora and Spike continued back up until they reached the steps of the school entrance. "I can't snap them out of it. I don't even think Esuna can even cure someone under someone else's mind control." Someone tapped Sora's shoulder, surprising him as he turned around. Standing before him was one of the students of the school, someone who also had a pony double back in Equestria he had seen a few times. It was a girl with two-toned electric blue hair, wearing a pair of blue headphones on her head, a white jacket skirt with blue lines down the shoulders and ends of the sleeves and a black music note on the skirt, purple pants with lighter lavender lightning bolt patterns around the legs, and blue sneakers. He recalled the unicorn of this girl was named Vinyl Scratch, easily recognizable by the purple-tinted sunglasses she wore all the time. "I'd cover your ears, dude," the girl warned. She opened the doors, a pair of large speakers blocking the way in as they faced out of the entrance. "These two need a loud dose of sick beats!" She turned the dials on the speakers up to the maximum volume setting, Sora and Spike quickly taking her advice and covering their ears. After plugging her MP3 player into the large stereo set, picking out one of the many favorite songs within her vast library of music stored in the small device, she immediately began playing it as Riku and Kairi shrugged off their confusion from the DJ's appearance and lunged forward. She timed it right as the speakers played a dubstep song at near deafening levels that made all the glass on the windows and doors of the building shake, threatening to shatter them. Taking the full force of the booming beats that pulsed out of the stereo speakers, Riku and Kairi screamed out as their ears were bombarded by the electronic song. Even Sora and Spike winced with their ears covered, and they weren't in the speakers' range. As the hypnotized teens clutched their ears to drown out the sound, their eyes squinted open, their eyes slowly returning, the loud music flooding through their ears and into their heads drowning out the spell of the sirens' song until it was completely out of their system. Once they fell to their knees and dropped their Keyblades, fading away in a flash of light as they hit the ground, the teen DJ turned down the stereo's volume and stopped the music. "Augh, my ears!" Riku cried out. Sora removed his hands from his ears, carefully approaching his friend and girlfriend as they slowly came around and recovered from getting deafened at point blank range. He gripped his Keyblade tightly as they lifted up their heads, their eyes no longer glazed over, back to their normal selves. "Who the heck blasts speakers up that loud!?" "Riku? Kairi? You two ok?" Sora asked. "That depends on if our ears are bleeding," Kairi grumbled, slowly regaining her hearing. "I think mine are," Riku said. He tried to stand up, only to wince and fall back down. "My leg!" Looking down at his injured leg, he lifted up his pants leg to see a bite mark that dug deep into his skin. "What the-? Did a dog bite me?" "That was me," Spike admitted. "I had to stop you from hurting Sora, and you two clearly weren't yourself." Riku and Kairi remembered what had happened when Spike mentioned they weren't themselves, which made them cringe in shame. "Right...The sirens tricked us..." "What exactly happened to you two?" Sora asked as he helped them both up. Riku cast Cure, the effect of the healing spell surrounding the three Keyblade wielders to numb the pain of his leg bite, along with the rest of his sore body. "We were trying to find you and Sunset in the school, just to make sure her darkness doesn't get too serious and we needed to help you out." "We heard your voice, but it turned out to be one of the sirens mimicking your voice," Kairi added. "Before we realized it, we were too late to get away, and they cast their spell on us." Seeing the tired state the three of them were in, along with their slightly torn clothing, she and Riku must have fought Sora while under the sirens' control. "Guess they figured we were powerful fighters like you when we tried to fight back, though we were too late to do anything when they finally got us." "I actually thought you two had me," Sora said, though having nearly killed him didn't lift Riku or Kairi's spirits. "Hey, you're finally freed from their spell thanks to having music blasting in your ears. I guess if you play something at max volume straight to your hearing, it breaks their hold on you." Though the Dazzlings were a different kind of siren, the other two Keyblade wielders figured their spell could be beaten if a song was louder than their singing. "...I guess that was possible. Even if it was magical, breaking someone out of a trance through force or a trigger word or phrase can break any kind of mind control." "What else did we even do while under their control?" Riku asked as he rubbed his head. "You helped Trixie trap the girls down at the bottom of the stage of the amphitheater and attacked Twilight when she had gotten out from the trapdoor," Spike explained, which made the teen wince as he struck his girlfriend against his will. "Great. That's going to haunt me more than nearly losing her several times," he grumbled. "It wasn't on purpose, Riku. I'm sure Twilight and the girls will understand." Riku grunted sadly and looked down at the ground, hoping Twilight would forgive him. Sora turned to Kairi and wrapped his arms around her. "And I know you won't really hurt me unless I do something stupid." "Yeah," Kairi said with a giggle. "I probably would." She wrapped her arms around Sora's neck as the couple shared a kiss, holding each other closely as he forgave Kairi due to her will being manipulated by three equine songstresses. "I guess this makes up for what happened last winter with my you-know-what form," Sora said as he whispered in Kairi's ear. "But next time, you're going to have to knock me unconscious before we're even with each other." She laughed again, but nodded her head. The two pulled apart as they looked at the girl who helped save the Keyblade wielders, taking pictures of the couple with her phone with a sly grin. "Hey. No flash photography." "Hey, you don't get many good pics over heroics around here that often," she said, putting her phone away. "As if you guys didn't get enough action at the Fall Formal," Sora said sarcastically. Now that things had calmed down, he began to wonder why the DJ wasn't like everyone else. "...Is your name Vinyl Scratch?" "You know my name without even talking with me?" Vinyl asked as his guess was correct. "Well, you kind of look like a unicorn I've seen around town back through the portal," he answered. "You know, where everyone there's a pony?" "There's a pony that's exactly like me? And I'm a unicorn there?...Sweet." Vinyl gave a thumbs up, making Riku shake his head in exasperation at the blatant response to knowing of one's double from an alternate world. "But how come you're not like the others?" Kairi asked. "Everyone's supposed to be fighting and arguing, and you didn't compete with a band." "I was actually wondering about that." Vinyl scratched her head in confusion. "I thought that everyone was supposed to be practicing for the Musical Showcase this weekend, but then I heard a Battle of the Bands was going on right at the last minute. What really made me worry is my best friend, Octavia Melody, yelled at me after I asked her what was happening, and I know she can be a bit uptight with her usual behavior and poise as a cellist, but that wasn't like her at all." "Were you in the cafeteria yesterday?" Spike asked. "That's when the sirens began singing their spell to everyone competing in the Battle of the Bands." "I was there, but all I heard was my music I made for the showcase." The DJ pointed at her headphones she was wearing. "I played my beats full blast in my headphones. Need to make sure every single beat and pitch were perfect so I could get everybody jumping out of their seats at the amphitheater." "Well, guess that explains why you aren't like the others," Riku reasoned. "I guess music really is the only defense against the sirens; the louder the song, there's no way they can reach your hearing with their magical singing." Vinyl brought a finger to her chin as she looked up in thought, now understanding what was the cause of the strange behaviors everyone had. "Though how you don't lose your hearing if you blare music like that, I don't know how you haven't gone permanently deaf at this point." "Dude, dubstep is the best!" Vinyl argued. "That stuff needs to be played loud: the bass booming, the ground shaking, it's perfect music for anything! And I just played you guys my best song I made for the showcase!...By the way, those new girls you called sirens, are they with Sunset Shimmer or what?" "They've apparently been in your world for over a thousand years," Sora answered. "...Huh. Thought they would have looked older," Vinyl pondered. "Just keep those headphones on if they sing." The DJ nodded her head, never going anywhere without her headgear. "Speaking of, where's everyone else? I'd expected someone or several people rushing out to find out why someone played loud music around here." "They all must be down at the amphitheater, then." They looked out to where the outdoor stage was, the sun nearly set completely as they saw lights shining in the distance. "Oh no. The finals are already starting!" Spike exclaimed. "And the others are trapped under the stage!" "Hopefully none of them are fighting with each other, or else the Dazzlings will take their magic from their negative energy." Sora looked back at Riku and Kairi. "You two need to stay as far away from the amphitheater if they get on stage. We don't want to risk you two getting back under their mind control again." "Hey, if we're dealing with magical singing creatures, and if my headphones kept me safe, I've got extras I carry," Vinyl said. She pulled out a couple pairs of spare headphones connected to a couple more MP3s, one colored pink while the other was white. "And if we're gonna turn this Battle of the Bands into an epic fight, the Rainbooms will need some sound equipment to play over those beasts from a safe distance. I just need to run back to my place and get my gear." "Thanks, Vinyl. We're going to need it to play that counter-spell...if Twilight finally finished it yet." Riku and Kairi took the offered devices, placing them on their heads and making sure they weren't set at deafening levels. "Meet us at the hill overlooking the amphitheater. That seems like a perfect spot to set up your equipment." "Cool! I'll see you there!" The Keyblade wielders and Spike split up from Vinyl, the DJ running back into town to gather her sound equipment while the heroes ran to the amphitheater, ready for a showdown against the Dazzlings after they rescue the girls trapped under the stage.