As the Dazzlings sang and danced on the amphitheater stage, they captivated their audience with their magic. With an increase in their powers from absorbing the Rainbooms' magic, they felt cocky and invincible. Facing the stands, Adagio started to sing the lead vocals of their song while her pendant began to glow.
Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Welcome to the show
Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah
Our time is now
Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah
Your time is running out
Ah, ah, ah
While the Dazzlings sang, most of Fragment Hunter was in the audience and kept an eye on the right opportunity to strike. At the same time, the Rainbooms were all in Rarity's costumes and were overlooking the Dazzlings' performance from a hill a distance away from the stage. Slate and Celadon were selected to stay with the Rainbooms in case they needed backup. "How are we supposed to play over from from up here," Rainbow Dash asked as she noted the distance between them and the stage. "We don't even have any amps."
Suddenly, a car horn honked to signal DJ Pon-3 was rolling up in her convertible and she pressed a button on a remote. When she did, her car began to transform and reveal a number of hidden devices. A rainbow-colored display screen on the front, lava lamps beside it, and several loudspeakers were shown as the DJ went over her sound and light system. Everyone who saw the vehicle were greatly impressed and the Rainbooms set up their equipment as the Dazzlings continued to sing.
As the Sirens sang their next verses, the effects the magic they absorbed began to manifest. With their hands raised, they lowered them in the direction of the crowd as red waves of magic crashed down on the audience. All but Fragment Hunter had a lifeless look in their eyes after failing to shield themselves from the newest spell. Seeing everyone else hypnotized, Fragment Hunter began to reach for their weapons just as they saw what was happening to the Dazzlings after that.
Feel the wave of sound
As it crashes down
You can't turn away
We'll make you wanna sta-a-a-ay
The three girls began to float in the air as their gems shined a bright red and the light surrounded their bodies. As the light shined, Fragment Hunter could see the Dazzlings were all colored black as they began to transform. Their ears changed shape and placement on their heads as they became more like pony ears, their hair grew longer and more like tails, and the black color seemed to shatter like glass as the transformation ended to reveal translucent fin-like wings growing out of their backs and they continued to float in the air.
We will be adored
Tell us that you want us
We won't be ignored
It's time for our reward
Now you need us
Come and heed us
Nothing can stop us now
"I DON'T THINK SO," Rua shouted as she teleported in front of the Dazzlings and quickly kicked each of them in the face. With the attack knocking the Sirens to the floor, they saw the rest of Fragment Hunter join on the stage. As the three monstrous girls floated back up, they heard a different song playing from the distance and saw the Rainbooms singing with DJ Pon-3 playing alongside them.
Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh
I've got the music in me
Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Don't need to hear a crowd
Cheering out my name
I didn't come here seeking
Infamy or fame
The one and only thing
That I am here to bring
Is music, is the music
Is the music in my soul
As the Rainbooms sang, Sunset Shimmer, Celadon, Slate and DJ Pon-3 saw them transform as they played. However, it was different compared to the times Shimmer saw them change. As their 'tails' grew, each member of the Rainbooms also gained a few streaks of color in their hair to signify that they were likely stronger than before. The new song was able to break the hypnosis on the crowd as they turned to see where the music was coming from, but some of them kept looking to see Fragment Hunter with their weapons ready for a fight against the newly-transformed Dazzlings.
Gonna break out (Out!)
Set myself free, yeah
Let it all go (Go!)
Just let it be, yeah
Find the music in your heart
Let the music make you start
To set yourself apart
"You know, if Yang was here, she would probably say some obviously bad pun," Azalea mentioned as she twirled her baton, Gladion. "Maybe something like 'Time to face the music'. Then, she would get to punching."
"That is pretty bad," Silver said as he pulled out his chainsaw and kicked his boots to reveal hidden blades in the toes and heels. "But, what's stopping the second part," he stated as he revved the engine of his weapon.
"I've got a line for the occasion," Blaze said as she pulled out her sword and twirled it before adjusting her grip. "Let's rock!"
"That wasn't bad actually," Cereza noted before readying her tonfa.
The Dazzlings all glared at Fragment Hunter and the Rainbooms before Adagio smiled smugly. "So the Rainbooms and Fragment Hunter want to turn this into a real Battle of the Bands? Then, let's battle," she declared as she and her bandmates began to sing again and hypnotized the crowd once more.
What we have in store (ah-ah)
All we want and more (ah-ah)
We will break on through (ah-ah)
Now it's time to finish you!
As the Sirens sang that last line, their eyes all turned into a bright red and their pendants shined even brighter. Adagio's pendant released energy that flowed into the other gems that Aria and Sonata wore. When all three seemed to power up, their bodies flashed brightly. Fragment Hunter and the Rainbooms saw Adagio summon a large projection of what was most likely her true siren body. As Aria and Sonata did the same thing to summon their own spiritual avatars to attack the Rainbooms on the hill, Fragment Hunter stared down the Dazzlings. "ATTACK," Sunset Blaze shouted as the ten members of Fragment Hunter onstage separated and began to fight the girls in front of them.
Blaze started by swinging her sword at Adagio, but the Siren floated back to dodge. Continuing her assault, Blaze swung again until Adagio caught the blade with her bare hands. Adagio smirked as she grabbed the sword, but was caught off guard by a sudden impact to her gut. Sunset Blaze managed to kick Adagio when she was distracted and Azalea went in to assist by hitting Adagio in the face with her baton. After the strike, the Siren felt a surge of electricity run through her body before she saw Blaze's jacket light up. Knowing what would come next, Adagio floated into the air to dodge a stream of flames that came at her.
Lapis blocked several punches and kicks from Aria with her trident as the Siren tried to attack her. "Take this," Lapis shouted as she unleashed a blast of water and lightning from her trident. However, Aria managed to dodge the attack and grabbed at Lapis' trident. Kicking the rookie Huntress in the knee, Aria forced Lapis down and took the weapon for an attack on Vixen as the latter fought Sonata.
Throwing the trident in Vixen's direction, Aria managed to pin the Fox Faunus to a wall by her sleeve. "Hey," Vixen shouted. "I don't go around burning your clothes, so watch the kimono!" While Vixen struggled to free herself with one hand, Aria began to beat Lapis to the ground while she was disarmed.
On the hill, the Rainbooms were surrounded by the Dazzlings' Siren avatars and everyone was worried. However, Slate took the first move and fired his revolvers at the horse-like projections. The bullets hit each Siren avatar, but they failed to do much damage. As DJ Pon-3 turned up the volume of her sound system, Pinkie began to drum and her magic was channeled through her music. Shockwaves were sent flying at the Sirens and they were forced to dodge the blasts.
As the Siren avatars evaded, this left them open to attacks from the rest of the Rainbooms. Rarity started to play on her keytar and diamonds began to magically form around her. Celadon saw this and used her Semblance to summon her own gemstones to attack Aria's projection. As the two girls sent their attacks flying, they impacted against the Siren and managed to injure it.
Fluttershy used her magic to summon a swarm of butterflies and they flew at Sonata's projection to distract it. Taking the chance, Slate changed his ammo and fired at the distracted Siren. As the bullets flew at the target, they changed direction and began to circle above Sonata's avatar for a few seconds before Slate moved his arms down like he was holstering his pistols. At the motion, the bullets all immediately fell onto the projection and injured it. "Wind Dust bullets. Perfect for trick shots and delayed attacks," Slate mentioned to Sunset Shimmer and Spike as they looked on.
Back on the stage, Vinyl was fighting Sonata and neither could land a clean hit on the other. Every time that Vinyl went for a slash with one of her weapons or a kick, Sonata just floated out of the way. And every time that Sonata went for an attack of her own, Vinyl either used her weapon to summon hard light disks that blocked the attack or she dodged like she was breakdancing. Soon, Layla stepped in and used her telekinesis to hold the Siren down as Vinyl unleashed a flurry of roundhouse kicks as a katana made of light slashed away at Sonata during the combo.
Cereza and Silver began to attack Aria relentlessly after she downed Lapis and trapped Vixen. With swift kicks, swings of a chainsaw, and switching between who attacked, Aria was forced into Sonata as they backed up into each other. "Oh yeah," Silver exclaimed as he used his weapon's whip form to try and strike at the Sirens. However, they managed to grab the chain and pull him to the ground before he had a chance to recover it.
Twilight tried to use her magic against the Dazzlings' Siren projections, but Adagio only countered by singing louder than Twilight did. As red sound waves deflected back the attack, it also physically pushed her backward. Glaring at Adagio's avatar in anger, Twilight saw the three projections regroup. On the stage, all three Dazzlings did the same and loudly vocalized in harmony to force back both the Rainbooms and Fragment Hunter.
While they were being pushed back, Rebecca tried to use her Semblance to create a smokescreen around the Dazzlings and try to stop their singing. Unfortunately for Fragment Hunter, the gems on the Dazzlings' pendants began to glow brighter as they sang. The smoke failed to damage their voices as it got blown back with the Hunters and the injuries that the Dazzlings took during the fight began to quickly heal. "Time to fight fire with fire," Sunset Blaze muttered before turning to Lapis and covering her ears. "LAPIS, DO IT!!!!"
Noticing Blaze's order, the rest of Fragment Hunter covered their ears as well as Lapis inhaled deeply. Suddenly, Lapis screamed loudly and released silvery-blue sound waves at the Dazzlings. Everyone and everything in range was affected by Lapis' Semblance. The Dazzlings' ears began to bleed, lights on the stage began to shatter, and the audience even covered their ears in defense despite their trance. As the Dazzlings were struck by Lapis' high-pitched sonic scream, they countered by singing again. As red and blue sound waves crashed against each other, it looked like a stalemate until the Dazzlings gradually sang louder.
As they took control of the battle, Lapis began to suffer from overusing her Semblance. Her throat felt like it was on fire and her voice started to become hoarse until she had to stop her attack and coughed badly. Sensing weakness from Fragment Hunter and even the Rainbooms, the Dazzlings kept singing and forced all of them to the ground. As that happened, Twilight's microphone flew out of her hand and landed next to Sunset Shimmer.
Picking it up, Shimmer reluctantly held onto it and thoughts of doubt flooded her mind. As the Rainbooms struggled to get up, Twilight saw Shimmer with the microphone and called out to her. "Sunset Shimmer, we need you!" Seeing her friends in trouble and hearing that they needed her help, Sunset felt nervous. Her mind was clouded by doubt and fear until she remembered what Azalea said to her before.
"If people don't like you, show them that you are more than what they believe you to be." Hearing Azalea's voice echo through her memory, Sunset Shimmer had a look of determination and stepped forward. The Rainbooms saw Sunset Shimmer remove her jacket as she stood in front of them. DJ Pon-3 started the music back up and a drum solo sounded off. Fragment Hunter and the Dazzlings saw what was happening and Azalea cheered on as Sunset Shimmer started to sing. "GO, SUNSET!!!!"
You're never gonna bring me down
You're never gonna break this part of me
My friends are here to bring me 'round
Not singing just for popularity
As Shimmer sang, the Dazzlings began to grind their teeth in anger at Sunset Shimmer standing up against them. Fragment Hunter only smirked at their leader's counterpart taking control of herself and helping when they needed her. After helping Twilight to her feet, Shimmer began to sing together with her and the Rainbooms.
We're here to let you know
That we won't let it go
Our music is a bomb and it's about to blow
And you can try to fight
But we have got the light of
Friendship on our side!
As the Dazzlings sent their avatars to attack the Rainbooms again, the latter continued to sing and play. Their combined power actually repelled the Sirens and broke the audience out of their trance with a rainbow-colored shockwave of magic. As the Dazzlings and Fragment Hunter were hit by the blast, the former were weakened as the red glow faded from their eyes and the latter group felt re-energized.
Got the music in our hearts
We're here to blow this thing apart
And together, we will never
Be afraid of the dark
After weakening the Dazzlings, the Rainbooms, Spike, Slate, and Celadon all saw that Sunset Shimmer was starting to float in the air. Smiling as her ears changed to those of her friends' current state, Sunset Shimmer felt a surge of magic filling her and warming her very being. As her hair grew longer, she posed confidently with a hand on her hip as her clothing instantly changed with her. Her skirt gained a red and yellow sun emblem and her entire outfit seemed to shimmer as everyone was amazed by the transformation.
Here to sing our song out loud
Get you dancing with the crowd
As the music of our friendship
Survives, survives!
As the Rainbooms began to float alongside Sunset Shimmer, Rua teleported to grab Celadon and Slate. "Come on! Let's finish this," Rua declared as she warped back to the stage with her friends. As Fragment Hunter was regrouped on the stage, the Rainbooms all released a rainbow aura of magic that collected in the clouds above them. The magic condensed into a ball that soon sprouted wings as it grew in size.
Fragment Hunter stared down the Dazzlings as Sunset Blaze gave the final order for the fight. "Time to end this battle," Blaze exclaimed as she changed her sword into a sniper rifle and added a new cartridge into it. It had a stylized snowflake on the side and as she pulled the trigger, the Dazzlings saw ice forming around them. Every member of Fragment Hunter that had Ice Dust, used it to freeze the Dazzlings in place and prepare for the final strike.
While Layla used her telekinesis to send Sunset, Azalea, Rebecca, Silver, Celadon, Vinyl, and Rua into the air with some effort, the rest of Fragment Hunter started to attack the trapped Dazzlings to try and weaken them further. As they were sent above the audience, Vinyl used her hard light disks as platforms for herself and Rebecca to stand on while the latter used her Semblance in a more creative way. Focusing her abilities, the smoke she created managed to grab at the other airborne Hunters and sent them higher.
As Rebecca gave them more altitude, Silver and Celadon changed their weapons into their respective whip forms. Azalea and Sunset Blaze grabbed onto the whips and their friends sent them flying higher into the sky before Rua teleported above them. Preparing her shield, Rua waited for Azalea and Blaze to place their feet on her weapon. When she felt their weight, Rua pushed them off at the same time they kicked off the shield to return to the stage. As Azalea and Blaze went flying past the Dazzlings' Siren avatars, they pulled their arms back and got ready to punch as the moon shined behind them. Fragment Hunter cleared away from the Dazzlings as Azalea and Blaze came in fast with fire and light surrounding them. The Dazzlings could only look on in horror as the two girls came crashing down on top of them and punched them hard enough to break them out of their icy prison.
Got the music in our hearts
We're here to blow this thing apart
And together, we will never
Be afraid of the dark
Here to sing our song out loud
Get you dancing with the crowd
As the music of our friendship
Survives, survives, survives!
To add insult to injury, the Dazzlings heard all of Fragment Hunter singing along with the Rainbooms and the crowd. As they recovered from the attack, the Dazzlings were mad that they lost control of their audience. However, their expressions changed from anger to fear as they saw what the Rainbooms' magic manifested. Fragment Hunter took note of their faces and turned to see what they were looking at. As the twelve saw what their new friends summoned, they were awestruck and they could stop smiling at the sight.
High above the stage and towering over the Dazzlings' projections was an absolutely enormous alicorn projection with a starry blue coat and a flowing mane that looked like a real rainbow was moving with the wind. Fragment Hunter saw the beast above them and they all silently agreed that it was the most beautiful thing they have seen in their lives. Wordlessly, they all got together for a group hug as the alicorn blasted the Dazzlings and their Siren avatars. Caught in the laser beam, everyone on the stage was hit by the blast, but only the Dazzlings were harmed by it. The Siren projections broke into pieces, the Dazzlings began to change back to their human forms, and the pendants they wore shattered as a bright light enveloped the area.
After the laser vanished, the alicorn faded away and the Dazzlings began to stir and saw that their pendants broke apart. As they tried to sing, they were horribly off-key and Fragment Hunter had to cover their ears as they heard the girls. Realizing they were singing badly, the Dazzlings started to run off as the crowd booed at them and began to throw things at them. As they got offstage, Fragment Hunter was waiting for them as the Rainbooms made their way back. "I don't think so," Rua said as she teleported in front of the Dazzlings.
As the Dazzlings gulped and were paralyzed by fear of what Rua would do to them, Sunset Shimmer picked up a shard from one of the pendants. "Guess that explains why these were so special to them," she said as she looked at the gem in her fingers.
"It let them influence everyone, absorb negativity, healed their wounds, and even sing properly," Lapis listed as she collected the other shards. "If anything, we were protected by their spells because we were from a completely different world and our Auras."
"Without those pendants and the magic you brought here from Equestria, they're just three harmless teenage girls," Twilight said as she turned to Sunset Shimmer.
"They did try and plant a few seeds of doubt when they thought I was Shimmer, though," Blaze mentioned. "So, what should we do with them?"
Twilight thought about it for a minute, but her thoughts were interrupted by someone. "Rainbooms rules! That was amazing," Flash Sentry exclaimed as he got onto the stage and hugged Twilight. As he held the purple girl in his arms, she blushed as Sunset Shimmer, Fragment Hunter, and the Rainbooms giggled.
"Gag me," Aria muttered as she and the other Dazzlings looked disgusted by the lovebirds in front of them. Rua and Azalea glared at the three girls before looking back at their friends. As Twilight and Flash looked at each other, they were both blushing before they were pushed away from each other.
Trixie showed up between them and faced Twilight and the Rainbooms. "You may have vanquished the Dazzlings, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie," she stated before throwing down a smoke bomb. With everyone on the stage coughing from the smoke, Pinkie was the first to notice Trixie's disappearance.
"She's gone," Pinkie exclaimed before seeing out to the stands. "Oh, wait. There she is," the drummer said as she saw Trixie trying to climb down. However, Trixie lost her balance and fell down to the ground. Several members of Fragment Hunter immediately went over to check on the performer and saw her give a thumbs-up.
"Trixie's okay," she told everyone.
Back on the stage, Fragment Hunter let the Dazzlings go and leave the school grounds. "You know, Twilight is going back to Equestria soon. The Rainbooms could really use someone to help Fluttershy on backup vocals," Rainbow Dash mentioned as she turned to Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset Shimmer saw a guitar resting next to an amp and started to play a guitar riff with great skill. "I also play guitar," Sunset said after her demonstration. The Rainbooms were shocked at their friend's talent with the instrument and Rainbow Dash was speechless over what she saw. "What? I dated Flash and was interested in his guitar. Plus, it gave me practice using my hands when I first showed up here."
"Not only that, but she was playing with us in the competition," Azalea mentioned and caught the attention of the Rainbooms. "Remember when we played 'This Will Be The Day' in the first round? Shimmer was taking Blaze's place on lead guitar."
"Thought she needed the confidence boost," Blaze mentioned.
"We'll see about the guitar thing," Rainbow Dash said. "But for now, welcome to the Rainbooms, Sunset Shimmer!" Upon hearing this, Sunset had a warm smile before the Rainbooms all got together for a group hug.
"Now that just leaves one thing," Slate spoke up. "How are we going to get back home to Remnant?"