There was an awkward silence inside the gym of Canterlot High. The students in there kept their eyes on the group of people that stood in the middle of it, holding their hands. It was Star Twinkle, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, who all stood there with closed eyes, trying to focus on the magic inside of them to defeat the sirens.
But...that didn't go exactly as planned...
Star Twinkle was the first one to open his eyes. All he saw was how everyone was staring at him confused. He soon knew that something was wrong. "Um...Twilight?" He whispered.
"Yes?" Twilight replied, her eyes still being closed because she tried to focus on her magic.
Star Twinkle was kinda surprised that Twilight didn't notice anything. "Nothing is happening," he then whispered.
As soon as Twilight heard that, her eyes popped open and she looked around to see if what Star Twinkle said was true.
"Uh, weren't there rainbows and lasers and stuff last time?" Rainbow Dash said after she noticed that something was wrong as well.
"I don't understand," Twilight said, being heavily confused about why nothing was happening. "We're all together again. Why isn't this working?" She wondered, but all she got as a reply from her friends were confused expressions.
And of course, the sirens were the only ones who were smiling at those events since they seemed to know what the group attempted to do. "Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they?" Adagio Dazzle said, quickly taking advantage of this situation to make the group look like the bad ones. "Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they've already got this thing all locked up,"
And as expected, everyone quickly took the bait and got angered. "Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!" Trixie exclaimed confidently.
"Whatever, Trixie! We're the best band at CHS!" Flash Sentry answered to Trixie's words.
"No! The Crusaders are gonna win!" Apple Bloom said in the name of her friends.
Soon, the whole gym was getting loud and was filled with arguing students. It seemed to be even worse then it was before. The group felt, in a way, responsible for this and felt really bad but Radiant Blast and Sunset Shimmer went over to them.
"Let's get out of here!" Sunset Shimmer said before she grabbed Twilight's arm.
"But-" Twilight replied, trying to fix everything in the gym again before Star Twinkle interrupted her.
"I think she is right, Twilight," he said, causing Twilight to listen to what he had to say. "It obviously didn't work so let us go and think about everything and come up with a new plan," he further pointed out.
After Twilight carefully thought about those words, she figured that this was actually the best thing to do now so she and her friends tailed out of the gym while everyone was too busy with arguing. But their escape was not unnoticed by the very ones who they tried to stop.
"I think we may have found what we're looking for. Or rather, it found us," Adagio Dazzle said with a smirk on her face before she turned around to the other two sirens only to see that Sonata Dusk was not getting what she meant with that, causing Aria Blaze to slap herself because of that reaction. "Magic!!" Adagio Dazzle exclaimed angrily. "Don't you see?! Everyone else has fallen under our spell. But not those seven,"
"And what does that mean to us?" Aria Blaze replied in disinterest, feeling not really threatened by that.
Adagio Dazzle rubbed her chin and began to think. "Let's just come up with a backup plan. In case things get annoying," she said with an evil smirk on her face. "I think I already have something in mind,"
Whatever that plan ended up being, the group was unaware of it yet and just had to worry about their own plans right now. After all, their original plan did not work at all...
Later, in front of the school entrance...
"Well, that didn't go too smoothly..." Radiant Blast said bothered and also a little sad about the situation.
Unlike him, however, Twilight was rather shocked by this outcome and tried her best to figure out what went wrong. "It doesn't make any sense. I should have been able to create a spark that would help us break their spell. That's how it worked before," she said while she was walking back and forth confused.
"Maybe we do need the crown?" Star Twinkle guessed.
"He's right," Sunset Shimmer agreed. "Remember back. To defeat me, you drew magic from the crown I was wearing. The sirens' magic comes from their music. So maybe you have to use the same kind of magic to defeat them," she pointed out.
Radiant Blast, however, didn't quite understand. "You mean singing?" He asked confused. "But we don't know how to manipulate others with our voices," he pointed out.
"Well...it was just an idea..." Sunset Shimmer replied with a frown on her face.
"No. I think you're onto something," Twilight then suddenly replied.
"Really?" Sunset Shimmer said, turning her frown around again as if she was happy to be of some help.
Twilight further extended the theory that Sunset Shimmer mentioned. "It's when you play the music that you transform now, right?" She asked in confirmation.
"Yup. Ears, tails, the whole shebang," Applejack explained.
Twilight seemed to get closer to an answer. "So maybe the way to use that magic to defeat the sirens is by playing a musical counter-spell!" She figured.
"You mean like a song?" Fluttershy asked.
"Uh-huh. And in order to free everyone who's been exposed to the sirens' spell, we'll need them all to hear it," Twilight explained, happily after finally coming up with another plan.
What Twilight said made sense to everyone. It was the only thing left to do anyway so giving it a try.
"Well, the time couldn't be better," Radiant Blast said without anyone realizing what he meant with that at first. "The music event of the school should be the perfect opportunity for us to get everyone to hear this song," he explained happily as if the problem was already dealt with.
The group quickly started to like this idea. Fortunately, they were already a band and knew how to play instruments and sing. They should be more than capable to sing against the Dazzlings. Having their hope raised up again quickly made them forget the failure from before and they had a whole bunch of determination now.
"Guess the Rainbooms are the band to beat," Applejack said confidently.
"And I believe you two just became the Rainbooms' newest members," Rarity added, referring to Star Twinkle and Twilight.
Everyone quickly agreed to that idea as well. It made sense. If the spell was supposed to work, then Star Twinkle and Twilight were both needed. Then again, when they fought against Sunset Shimmer, the six girls were enough to release the magic that eventually defeated. Still, to make sure it would work, Star Twinkle decided to join as well.
Pinkie Pie then brought up an important question. "So what do you wanna play? Triangle?" She said before she actually pulled out one. "Sousaphone?" She asked before she pulled out one of those as well. "Theremin?" She asked, before she again, pulled out one of those from nowhere.
But Twilight quickly brought up something really important. "It might take a little too long to learn how to play something with these," she said, referring to her fingers that both she and Star Twinkle still had to get used to. "How about we just sing?" She then suggested to which Star Twinkle just nodded in response.
Rainbow Dash quickly made one thing sure, however, "Like, as in, lead singers? Cuz that's usually my gig. This being my band and all," Rainbow Dash explained, trying to get her point across pretty fast.
Applejack got a little bothered by how Rainbow Dash was choosing her words. "It's our band! And, of course, as lead singer. Twilight is the one with the magical know-how to help us pull this thing off," she pointed out.
Rainbow Dash, while not really liking to hear that, admitted that this was true. "Okay, yeah, that's cool. I'll just use this as a chance to hone my already insanely good lead guitar skills," she said.
"It's only temporary. And we don't have to win the Battle of the Bands. We just have to perform during the first round of the competition," Twilight explained.
Hearing that actually took a lot of pressure off from Star Twinkle. He even considered playing an instrument if it wasn't necessary for them to win at all. "Alright, then!" Star Twinkle said in a rush of determination. "Then we should get started on learning that counter-spell as soon as possible,"
But unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as everyone expected it. "Well, that's just it," Twilight said in concern "I don't know any," she pointed out, which quickly set the mood of the group down again. " But I'm sure I could figure out how to write one," she then added, in an attempt to raise the mood again for the better.
Spike fully supported those words. "Totally! Twilight can write a spell like it's nobody's business. That's pretty much how she got to become a princess in Equestria," he explained proudly and confidently.
Twilight, however, pointed out what actually happened. "Technically, I helped finish a spell. And there was a little more to it than that, Spike," she added.
The group had mixed feelings about this solution but there was not much else that they could do at this moment. Star Twinkle figured that he should say something to remember them all to this. "Whatever we have to do, there is still some time left. Let's go and get everything ready for now so that you can get into writing that spell,"
Twilight agreed to that and picked up Spike from the ground. "You're right. Leave it to me," She said determinedly. "C'mon!" She then said before she was about to walk inside the school again.
Star Twinkle knew where she was going to and followed her but the rest didn't know what was going on.
"Where are you two going?" Radiant Blast asked confused.
Twilight explained. "Well, last time we were here, Star Twinkle, Spike and I spent the night in the library,"
"Yeah," Star Twinkle added. "You won't believe how stiff your back gets once you sleep a night on a few books," he expressed while he stretched his back just by the thought of sleeping in the library again.
But Pinkie Pie didn't like to hear this at all. "Are you crazy?! We're besties now! Slumber party at my house!" She exclaimed happily.
However, Rarity felt a little embarrassed by the thought of it. "Wait! A slumber party with boys!?" She said in shock and embarrassment.
Radiant Blast quickly agreed that this would maybe a little weird so he came up with a solution. "Don't worry! Star Twinkle can stay at my place!" He demanded.
Star Twinkle was thankful to hear that. "Only if it isn't too much trouble..." he added.
"Of course not!" Radiant Blast replied happily.
Having Star Twinkle and Twilight split up like that, meant that the girls could do whatever they want without having to worry about the boys being around. Star Twinkle was just glad that he didn't have to spend the night in a library again, like the last time he was in this world so he happily appreciated Radiant Blast's offer to stay for the night.
At Radiant Blast's place...
While the girls were all spending the night at Pinkie Pie's place, Star Twinkle was spending the night at Radiant Blast's place. There was nothing much to say about the place. It didn't look too fancy but also not to bad. In fact, the place looked better than what Star Twinkle was used to from his own home.
The two spend the night having some fun instead of worrying about the next day. Star Twinkle felt kinda bad that he had to let Twilight figure out a spell all on her own but he was also aware that there was not much that he could do so he just agreed to do what Radiant Blast wanted to do, even if he wasn't too good at some things.
"And I won again!" Radiant Blast said cheerfully after he took another win in the video game that the two were playing.
"Looks like it..." Star Twinkle replied with a slightly bothered expression on his face.
Radiant Blast chuckled. "Wow, you are really bad at video games," he said amused after taking another win.
Star Twinkle was actually not too surprised about that. "Well, still don't know how to operate these," he replied.
"What? The controller?" Radiant Blast asked confused.
"No...these," Star Twinkle replied before he was moving his fingers in front of his head.
"Oh! Yeah...figures..." Radiant Blast said before he turned off his console. "Well, I think now is probably the best opportunity to talk a little," he said before he sat down next to Star Twinkle on the ground.
"About what?" Star Twinkle replied confused.
"Well...about you!" Radiant Blast said highly excited. "I mean, the last time we met, I was too busy being mean to you. I know that Twilight is a princess in Equestria and that she was the student of Princess Celestia herself but I don't know anything about you!"
Star Twinkle was feeling a little awkward that the conversation was focusing on him now, especially since Radiant Blast seemed really excited to hear something about his life. However, it was only fair that he should tell Radiant Blast something, after all, Star Twinkle knew a few things about Radiant Blast. For example, he was a member of Celestia's Royal Guard before he left to follow Sunset Shimmer into this world to not leave her alone.
"Well, where to start..." Star Twinkle said before he thought about what would be the most basic thing to tell someone something about himself. "For starters, my full name is Starfall Twinkle,"
Radiant Blast reacted positively surprised. "Neat," he said in interest.
Star Twinkle continued. "I live in Ponyville, where I work as a carpenter pony in a workshop called The Iron Hammer,"
"Cool!" Radiant Blast replied before he came up with a question now. "And how did you meet Twilight?"
Star Twinkle had a feeling that this question was coming up. He remembered all too well when that was since this was the day where his whole life changed for the better. "A while ago...at the Summer Sun Celebration. Something was threatening to take over Equestria and Twilight and her friends wanted to stop it. I just happened to follow them for some strange reason and helped them to archive that. I've been friends with her ever since,"
Radiant Blast was highly impressed to hear a story like that and had his mouth open in awe. "Wow! That is a really cool way to meet someone for the first time,"
Star Twinkle had to admit that it was a pretty crazy story after he remembered it back. "I guess it is,"
This story actually caused Radiant Blast too look up and think about his first meeting with Sunset Shimmer. "I kinda wish it went the same way with me and Sunset Shimmer. I think she didn't really like me that much when we first met," he said with a smile on his face.
"Really?" Star Twinkle replied confused. "I would have never thought that she seems to really like you after all,"
"You think!?" Radiant Blast immediately replied with wide-open eyes before he got a little embarrassed and grinned nervously. He quickly decided to change the subject. "So...do you think that Twilight can come up with a counter-spell in time?"
"Yes," Star Twinkle replied immediately, much to Radiant Blast's surprise. "Knowing her, she is probably scratching her head to come up with one, right now but she always ends up with the right solution,"
Radiant Blast smiled after he heard that. "That's a lot of trust that you are putting in her. Good!"
"Good?" Star Twinkle asked.
Radiant Blast explained. "Don't get me wrong now but I always figured that Twilight's role of coming here was always a little bit bigger than yours..."
Even though Radiant Blast probably meant to not sound offending, Star Twinkle immediately knew what he meant and admitted that he was right. It was just like last time, Twilight needed her crown back, so naturally, she was the one who had to come to this world to get it back. But Star Twinkle only kinda tagged along on the way and helped her. In the end, he wasn't even needed to defeat Sunset Shimmer and Radiant Blast, making his stay in the world rather pointless after thinking about it.
"I guess..." Star Twinkle then replied with a small frown on his face.
Radiant Blast noticed Star Twinkle's reaction. "No! That is not what I meant!" He said. "What I mean is, it's the same with me and Sunset Shimmer!" He added. Star Twinkle didn't quite understand what he was meaning with that at first so Radiant Blast further explained. "Despite that, you keep helping Twilight in any way possible, just like how I help Sunset Shimmer whenever I can! And that is awesome!"
"It is?" Star Twinkle replied confused.
"Listen," Radiant Blast said. "I am well aware that I can be a little dense sometimes and that Sunset Shimmer was usually the one who took charge of the situation back then but I know that...me being around helped her as well! Just like how you being around Twilight always helps her out,"
Star Twinkle got a little confused by those words. "Me being around...helps Twilight?" He asked.
Radiant Blast further continued. "Sunset Shimmer might be the smarter one, she always knew what to do, and she was the one who took charge of the whole situation since we got sent here to this world...but...whenever there was something that she couldn't do or if she was at a loss at times, then I was always around, just in case," he explained with a wide grin on his face. "And the same goes for you! Just because Twilight is a princess and gifted in magic doesn't mean that she won't need any help from every now and then,"
Hearing those words actually made Star Twinkle feel better again, which was strange because they came from Radiant Blast, who was not known to spill wise words like that around very often. "Thanks, I think you're right," Star Twinkle said with a smile on his face.
"Of course I am! "Radiant Blast said with a grin on his face. "Now let's get some sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow!" He advised before he walked over to his bedroom. "I placed a mattress in my bedroom, you can sleep there,"
"Thank you," Star Twinkle said in gratitude. It was no real bed but it sounded a million times better than sleeping on some books so he was pretty happy to hear that.
"But I should warn you! I snore! Loudly!" Radiant Blast pointed out.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad," Star Twinkle said without a worry.
...
But a few hours later, Star Twinkle realized that Radiant Blast wasn't kidding. He was snoring really loudly, making it really hard for him to catch some sleep. But it wasn't like that was the only thing that kept him awake. He started to think about what he said before.
"I did say to Radiant Blast that I believe that Twilight will find a solution but...is she really supposed to be the only one who takes care of the situation?" He started to wonder. Those thoughts kept him awake for a good amount of time and they wouldn't leave his head any time soon.
That was unless it was impossible for him to form any thoughts while listening to the snoring right next to him. It actually made him jump because it was happening when Star Twinkle was right in the middle of a thought.
"He really wasn't kidding..." Star Twinkle said bothered before he grabbed his pillow to cover his ears in the hope to get some more sleep.
On the next day...
Before the Rainbooms were about to attend the music event, they decided to practice the spell that Twilight came up with. They did that in a barn of the Apple family. Twilight actually managed to get it done in time and all that was left to do was playing it.
Star Twinkle actually sang with Twilight and did a pretty good job on doing so. But something seemed wrong. He usually wasn't the one who pointed at other mistakes but he could swear that Twilight was having a really hard time singing the song that she wrote.
"Hey, hey, listen
We've got a message for you
We're not all alike
But our friendship is true
Yeah, we're really different
But we still get along,"
While the text sounded good at best, the way how she sang it was really forced and nervous, which was really unlike her. Also, unlike what the others told Star Twinkle before, there was only little indication that they were releasing magic or transformed while playing.
Still, Twilight and Star Twinkle continued to perform the song.
"So hey, hey, listen to our song
You may think you're in control
But we're here to prove you wrong
With our friendship and our music
With the power of our song
Gonna stomp our feet, clap our hands
With the magic of friendship
Gonna stop your evil plan,"
After the song was finally done, there was an awkward silence. Not only did they not manage to transform, but they also had to listen to this pretty bad song. It made them all wonder if this so-called counter-spell would work at all.
"Eh, that sounded..." Spike started before he tried to find the right words. "way better than the last... five times you've played it. Heh heh," he said nervously after being exposed to the song for so long.
"Really?" Radiant Blast asked confused. "I thought it sounded just as bad as-" he said before he was poked in the sides by Sunset Shimmer. "I-I mean...yeah totally better, right?" He asked before he looked outside the window where Applejack's big brother, Big McIntosh was standing at, watching the band singing.
He only had one word to say after hearing their performance before he walked away again. "Nope."
Rainbow Dash was a little annoyed by all of this as well and didn't even attempt to show it openly. "I think it's pretty obvious what's going wrong with this counter-spell," she said.
But before she could go into any detail, Applejack pointed out what she thought was going wrong. "You're turnin' what should be the chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?" She said annoyed.
Of course, Rainbow Dash got even more annoyed after hearing that. "I have to pick up the slack somehow! Are you guys even trying?!" She asked.
"I'm trying..." Fluttershy said quietly and nervously.
Seeing how everyone was losing their cool, Twilight got more and more nervous. "It's fine," she said before she laughed nervously. "It'll be fine. One more time from the top!" She suggested much to the dislike of everyone else.
Needless to say, no one was really looking forward to another performance. "Or, perhaps we could take a short break, try on some of the wardrobe choices I've put together?" Rarity said, in order to change the subject far away from the horrible singing. She brought in a few outfits and proudly showed them off in front of everyone else.
While she was busy doing that, Star Twinkle decided to walk over to Radiant Blast and Sunset Shimmer to whisper something to them without anyone noticing it. "Say...was it really that bad?" He asked.
Radiant Blast and Sunset Shimmer looked at each other nervously before Sunset Shimmer took it upon herself to answer. "No! No...it wasn't...I mean...There are better songs out there but..."
Star Twinkle quickly noticed how Sunset Shimmer was having a hard time getting her words across so he decided to make his words more clear. "No, please, be honest,"
After he said that, Radiant Blast and Sunset Shimmer looked at each other again and nodded. Radiant Blast then spits out what he thought. "It was horrible," he brutal honest said in Star Twinkle's face.
Star Twinkle was not really surprised to hear that. "I know..." he said depressed.
Seeing him like that prompted Sunset Shimmer to say some cheerful words. "Don't worry, I'm sure you will get the hang of it sooner or later!" She said, keeping a positive attitude before she looked over to Radiant Blast. "How much time do we have left, Radiant?" She asked.
Radiant Blast then looked over at his watch to check the time. "You're supposed to be checking in the Battle of the Bands in...fifteen minutes,"
"What!?" Everyone except Radiant Blast exclaimed in shock.
A nervous smile was formed on Radiant Blast's face after he heard this reaction. "Sorry...must have forgotten it..." he admitted with a wide nervous grin on his face.
As if everyone wasn't already nervous enough, hearing that really didn't help now. "But it's not ready!" Twilight said in a panic. "If we play our counter-spell in the first round and it doesn't work, the sirens will know what we're up to and make sure we don't get a chance to play it again!" She pointed out, which was definitely something that they had to prevent.
The group was about to pack all their stuff to carry it over to the school but as soon as they heard that, they stopped. Things got more and more complicated every second. However, Applejack seemed to have found the solution to this problem.
"Then we'll have to buy ourselves some time so you can keep workin' on it!" She suggested.
"But how do you propose we do that?" Rarity asked confused.
Rainbow Dash, however, seemed to know what Applejack was on about. "We compete in the Battle of the Bands for real! I take over lead vocals again and we stay alive until the finals! We unleash the counter-spell then!" She explained.
Star Twinkle rubbed his chin after he heard that plan. "That actually sounds like a good idea, that is, if we win each time,"
Rainbow Dash quickly felt offended by those words. "Oh, please! Of course, we win! It's my band after all!" She said proudly.
"Our band," Applejack corrected.
"Guess we have no choice," Star Twinkle said. "You'll have figured it out by finals, right?" He then asked towards Twilight.
She didn't answer right away so Spike was the one who answered for her. "Of course she will. You know Twilight. She's never met a problem she couldn't solve," he said confidently before he turned towards Twilight. "Right, Twilight?" He asked towards her.
"...Right..." Twilight replied with a lot less confidence in her voice and a nervous expression on her face.
Without realizing that reaction, Rainbow Dash decided to lift the spirit of the group again. "Then let's go win us a Battle of the Bands!" She said determined to take home the victory.
Still, Twilight, from all people, was the least excited one about this. She was probably too concerned about the Dazzlings at this point. But whatever was on her mind now, it had to wait. Right now, the group just had to get to the school in time or the won't even have a chance to stop the Dazzlings.
Later, inside the gym of Canterlot High...
The group actually managed to get inside the gym on time. When they entered it, however, there was already a lot of tension. All the students kept a close eye and glared at each other. And group knew all too well why that was the case.
Fittingly, they saw the three members of the Dazzlings sitting on top of a grandstand, looking down on them.
"We just arrived here and people are already arguing," Star Twinkle said after he looked around the gym.
"Yes, but don't worry," Radiant Blast said. "Once Twilight finishes the counterspell, everything will be back to normal,"
As soon as Twilight heard those words, she couldn't help but get nervous again while also trying to not let anyone notice that.
Of course, the Dazzlings had a close eye on the group as soon as they saw them entering the gym. However, they didn't seem the least bit intimidated by them.
"Looks like our main dish has arrived," Adagio Dazzle said amused.
"Main dish?" Aria Blaze asked. "Hasn't our true power already been restored?"
"Well, it can't hurt to have some more, right?" Adagio Dazzle replied.
"But how are we supposed to get their magic?" Sonata Dusk asked confused. "They are the only ones who aren't under our spell,"
Adagio Dazzle was all too aware of that as well. "The Rainbooms are just as capable of falling apart as anyone else. They just need a little... push in the wrong direction. I have a feeling everyone here is going to be lining up to give them a shove," she explained. "And if that doesn't work, then we just have to make sure that they will fall apart from the inside," she added with a sinister smile on her face.
It was not clear yet what she meant with that by the other two but whatever it was...it will most likely not be pretty...
To be continued...