//------------------------------// // 6. Finale - Rainbooms VS Dazzlings // Story: Rainbow Rocks - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// It has been quite a few hours since the Rainbooms were trapped under the stage by Trixie after they had beaten her in the Music competition. No one really knew how long it has been but they definitely knew that time was running out because they could hear Trixie's band playing in the place of the Rainbooms. Driven by that, the group had to do something to get out of this room. Rainbow Dash desperately tried to break the only door in the room by running into it. She even managed to convince Star Twinkle to help her with that but he couldn't nearly do this as long as her and quickly figured that the door wouldn't break anytime soon. But that didn't stop Rainbow Dash to continue trying that. After another unsuccessful attempt, Applejack decided to tell her that it was useless. "Give it up, Rainbow Dash. You've been tryin' at this for hours. It's not gonna open," she said. She was also probably tired of seeing her doing this over and over again. Star Twinkle figured that long ago and accepted the fact that someone from outside had to open the door. Fortunately, there was someone of them who was still out there. "Spike wasn't captured by Trixie so maybe he will find a way to free us," he said, trying to see the positive thing about the whole situation. Radiant Blast, who was just sitting in one corner of the room, just chuckled after hearing that. "Yeah, as if he could do anything to help us," he said. Twilight would have reacted to a sentence like that, coming from Radiant Blast, but she seemed too much focused on something else to bother. "Maybe it doesn't even matter that we're trapped down here. I don't think the counter-spell would have worked anyway," she said in frustration as she was sitting on the ground. "Of course it would have worked, Twilight," Applejack replied confidently. "Assumin' a certain band member didn't try to hog the spotlight the whole time we were tryin' to play it!" She added, obviously referring to Rainbow Dash. "Hey! If you wanna tell Twilight she's getting a little too caught up trying to be the new leader of this band, you don't have to be all cryptic about it," Rainbow Dash replied, completely unaware that she was the one Applejack was talking about. "She was talking about you, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity said annoyed by how Rainbow Dash wasn't even remotely aware of that. "Me?!" Rainbow Dash said in shock and confusion. "I'm just trying to make sure my band rocks as hard as it needs to!" She explained. "OUR BAND!!" Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie exclaimed angrily after Rainbow Dash, again, called it her band. "It might've been your idea to start a band, but it's not just your band, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack pointed out angrily. Hearing that started to get on the nerves of Rainbow Dash "I'm the one who writes all the songs!" She explained annoyed. "I write songs!" Fluttershy then angrily exclaimed. "You just never let us play any of them!" She explained in a loud tone in her voice, which was very unlike her, meaning that even she was getting on her limit of how much she could take. Frustration quickly rose in the group, some of them being worried about different things than others. "I had the most perfect outfits for us to wear!" Rarity said while being on the verge of having tears running down her cheeks. "Again with the costumes!" Applejack exclaimed annoyed. "No one cares what we're wearin'!" She explained. "I care, Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed back. "So sorry if I enjoy trying to make a creative contribution to the band!" "Hey! Anybody here remember fun?!" Pinkie Pie then said angrily after having enough of all the arguing around her. Ironically, she joined right in the arguing as well. "I'll give you a hint: It's the exact opposite of being in the Rainbooms!" Star Twinkle was feeling more and more uncomfortable seeing his friends like this and desperately wanted to do something about it. "I think we all should calm down a little bit and-" But he wasn't even paid attention to by anyone and they just continued to argue. "I wish I never asked any of you to be in my band!" Rainbow Dash said angrily. "I wish I'd never agreed to be in it!!!!" Rarity exclaimed back. "Me neither!" The rest of the girls angrily agreed. By now, the arguing in the group got a little out of hand. The girls were so caught up in arguing that they totally forgot the situation they were in right now. Star Twinkle, Twilight, Sunset Shimmer, and Radiant Blast were the only ones who were not part of that. Star Twinkle hoped that one of the others would stop in to calm them down, but that didn't happen. Star Twinkle turned in his frustration towards Twilight in hope that she knew what to do. "Hey Twilight, come on, say something!" Twilight didn't even seem to notice what was going on here. She was way too fixated on something else. "But why wasn't it working? I should know what to do. How could I not know what to do? How could I have failed like this?" She said to herself in her frustration. Thinking about the counter-spell seemed to be the only thing in her mind right now. Star Twinkle looked over to Radiant Blast and Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer seemed to be a little uncomfortable to see the others like that and couldn't bring herself to say anything and Radiant Blast didn't even seem to care what was going on. It only left Star Twinkle to do something in this situation. He was not sure what to do but he had to do something. Getting into a fight at this very moment is something that they really couldn't afford. "Hey! Could we please stop arguing!? We need to get out of here to stop the Sirens, remember!?" He said almost angrily at his friends. However, Star Twinkle's words hit on deaf ears and no one even paid attention to him, with the exception of Radiant Blast who got up on his feet. "As if you are doing anything to contribute to all of this," "What?" Star Twinkle replied confused. "You heard me!" Radiant Blast quickly replied. "Twilight is doing all the work! You are just here because you happen to have some magic inside you as well. You are not exactly doing anything to help either!" "What is wrong with you!? Wasn't it you who told me that being around can help as much?" Star Twinkle replied confused. Radiant Blast didn't seem to care about that anymore and just arrogantly turned his head around. Star Twinkle felt like that the situation was getting worse by every passing second. There they were trapped under the stage without a way out and with most of them arguing. As if that wasn't bad enough, time started to run out right about now. "Ahh, ah-ah, ahh Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah," Above their heads, singing could be heard and from the sound of it, it was the Sirens. Right about now, they were starting their performance. This meant that they were about to unleash their magic at everyone in the school and since they were getting stronger by feeding off hate, they were probably even stronger now. In fact, Star Twinkle could literally see some kind of magic mist coming down to this room, which was most likely coming from the Sirens. Seeing that only made him feel more nervous and helpless. His friends wouldn't listen to him, Radiant Blast was acting strange, Twilight was completely beside herself. and Sunset Shimmer didn't seem to be able to do anything either. Since his friends were also fighting with each other, the Sirens, who were right above their heads would get stronger by absorbing everyone's negative emotions. Soon, Star Twinkle gave up on doing anything and decided to just deal with the situation. He felt like everything was against him so there was no point in continuing. Seeing Star Twinkle frustrated like that actually seemed to amuse Radiant Blast and he began to smile, much to Sunset Shimmer's shock who couldn't believe it at all. In one corner, Twilight was sitting on the ground mumbling some stuff to herself, then there was Star Twinkle who had no idea what to do anymore, then there were the girls who wouldn't stop arguing with each other and Radiant Blast who seemed to enjoy watching the whole situation go downhill. Sunset Shimmer was also well aware of how the Sirens were drawing strength from this whole situation. She didn't know how to get out of this room, she didn't know why the counter-spell didn't work before, and she didn't know why Radiant Blast was acting like this but she knew that if she just did nothing now, then the situation would get even worse. Finally, she put herself together and decided to act. "Stop! You have to stop!" She said as she jumped between the girls. "This is what they've been after all along! They're feeding off of the magic inside you!" After hearing those words, the girls actually stopped fighting for a moment. "How can they be using our magic?" Applejack asked confused after Sunset Shimmer got between them. "It's the magic of friendship," But Sunset Shimmer seemed to have figured everything out and wanted everyone to understand that this was not the time to fight. She watched the whole group for a while now and knew exactly what was going on but she decided to not do anything up until now. Seeing her friends like that, however, made her finally realize that she had to tell them all what she had noticed so far. "Ever since you started this band, you've been letting little things get to you. I never said anything 'cause I didn't feel like it was my place. Not when I was so new to this whole "friendship" thing. I still have a lot to learn. But I do know that if you don't work out even the smallest problems right at the start, the magic of friendship can be turned into something else," she explained, speaking from her heart right now. Both Star Twinkle and Twilight seemed to have snapped out of their frustration as soon as they heard those words now. Twilight came to a realization herself. "I can't believe all this tension was happening right under my nose and I didn't realize it. I'm supposed to be the one with all the answers. And all I've done since I got here is let you down," she said in regret. But Sunset Shimmer disagreed with those words. "I don't think anyone is supposed to have all the answers," she said before she looked over to the girls who were arguing a few minutes ago. "But you can count on your friends to help you find them," she explained with a smile on her face. Star Twinkle had to agree with those words. "Yeah, I mean, I would feel pressured really bad if everyone would expect me to have all the answers," he admitted while he looked over to Twilight. The rest of the girls admitted that they should have supported Twilight instead of fighting the whole time, that way she would have probably have the counter-spell ready by now. Right now, their eyes were opened and they decided to forget all the things that they were fighting about and instead worked together to come up with a solution. Eventually, they gained a new determination to work together to go up against the Sirens. But one certain person was not at all affected by all of this. "Good job!" Radiant Blast said sarcastically while he watched his friends like that. "You just now realized that you were all wrong after it is already too late!" He said with a hostile sounding tone in his voice. "And if you haven't realized it yet, we are trapped here. Right now, the final is going on right above our heads and that is all because you were so focused on other things instead of focusing on stopping the Sirens!" Star Twinkle knew that some of those things Radiant Blast said were true, but the way how he said them was what bothered him. "If we all put our heads together right now, I'm sure we will find a way to stop them," "They already could have been stopped if you wouldn't have argued the whole time!" Radiant Blast said angrily. "But guess what, Sunset Shimmer was the one who had to remind you what is important, you know, the one who you didn't even bother to ask to be part of your band! The one you ignored the whole time! Do you all really think you are in the right place to speak about the magic of friendship?" All those words really hit the group. They started to feel bad and regretted leaving out Sunset Shimmer from their band. Sunset Shimmer, however, felt like that this was the lesser problem now and wanted to go on to deal with the Sirens. However, Radiant Blast managed to let the mood drop down in the group and shake their determination. And it was not like he was done doing that anytime soon. "Twilight was supposed to come to this world in order to help us and you were supposed to assist her, but what did you do? Nothing! You just stood there and let her do everything without a single attempt to help her! And now you think you can defeat the Sirens after realizing that you were wrong? If you ask me, you are no friends! You are just a bunch of losers! It only proves that back then, Sunset Shimmer should have been the one who won the crown and take over-" SLAP! Right in the middle of Radiant Blast's sentence, Sunset Shimmer walked up to him and slapped her hand across his face, leaving a silence in the room that was only filled by the sound that was created by her, slapping him. Radiant Blast looked back at Sunset Shimmer after that with wide eyes and an open mouth while she was glaring at him angrily. The others were highly surprised at that and wanted to say something to both of them but they decided not to because what Sunset Shimmer said afterward was enough that needed to be said at this moment. "Remember when I was about to destroy the portal to Equestria?" She asked while she lowered her hand again. "It was you who stopped me when I was about to go too far. You know what I was doing was wrong but you supported me all this time until I was about to cross the line. You were a friend to me and pointed out my mistake. Now it is time for me to tell you to stop!" Radiant Blast felt bad hearing Sunset Shimmer saying those words while barely containing herself to break out in tears of seeing Radiant Blast act like that. "Sunset...I..." was the only thing he could say at this moment. Despite Radiant Blast seemingly realizing his mistake, Sunset Shimmer continued to continue. "Right now, we have to forget the mistakes that we made in the past and need to continue to focus what is happening right now," saying those words made Sunset Shimmer lower her head a little while forming a little frown on her face. "Funny that I am the one who is saying that since all I've done was thinking about the bad things I did in the past. But only looking at my mistakes will not help me to grow," she then looked over to her friends and smiled. "Luckily, I have friends who help me whenever I don't know how to progress on my own," she then looked back to Radiant Blast again. "Just like how I am now telling you," Radiant Blast seemed to have carefully thought about those words and started to feel weird. He stood there motionless for a few seconds before his eyes glowed in green light and some familiar green mist was flying upwards away from him. "That's...the same mist that the Sirens create!" Star Twinkle pointed out. "So Radiant Blast was controlled by them? That would explain his strange behavior," she figured. Moments after the mist was gone, Radiant Blast almost dropped on the ground if Sunset Shimmer wasn't there to hold him. He managed to stay on his feet with her help and took some exhausted breaths. "What happened?" He immediately asked in confusion. Sunset Shimmer explained. "It looks like the Sirens manipulated you, Radiant," As soon as he heard that, he quickly remembered. "That's right! The Sirens got to me! All the things I did and said...I somehow couldn't stop creating tension between you all and make you fight! I'm so sorry!" He apologized in a mix of frustration and regret. The group quickly identified this behavior as one that only the real Radiant Blast would say and were happy that he is back again. Still, Star Twinkle was wondering why Radiant Blast was affected by the Siren's spell in the first place, especially after listening to their songs previously without any harm. To that, Twilight had a reasonable explanation. "We were protected by our magic," she said referring to anyone except Sunset Shimmer and Radiant Blast. "Maybe you two were just protected because you were close to us. As soon as Radiant Blast was alone, however, the spell started to work on his as well," she figured after she analyzed the situation further. The group could have tried to figure out what was the cause for the whole day, but soon Rainbow Dash, out of all people reminded them that there were more important things to worry about now. "Who cares! We have to stop the Sirens now!" She said. "She's right," Fluttershy agreed. "We have to stop them before they manipulate everyone in the finals," "You're right!" Twilight said. "We need to get out of here!" He said before she leads the way to the door that Rainbow Dash was busy smashing down for the whole time. "But Rainbow Dash tried to smack the door open! It won't open that easily," Applejack pointed out. "Yes, that is why we all have to try it now. After all, if we work together," she started. "Then there is no one who can stop us, right?" Star Twinkle finished with his mood rising in this seemingly hopeless situation. "Exactly!" Twilight replied before she stood ready to charge right at the door, followed by the rest of her friends standing right next to her to assist her. As soon as she saw how everyone stood ready, she gave a signal so that everyone would start to charge now. "Go!" She said before she and her friends began to run towards the door at full speed to knock it down for good. Bamm! A loud smashing sound echoed through the room after the group ran right into it. ... But unfortunately, the door was still standing, which could not be said by the Star Twinkle and his friends who all laid down on the ground with some minor pain. Even nine people were not enough force to bring this metal door down, much to the frustration of the group. "You know what?" Star Twinkle said as soon as things stopped spinning in his head. "I think a metal door is enough to stop us," This certainly dropped the mood of everyone to zero again and left them with no other option left. Before anyone could even address what to do next, the door actually began to open, much to everyone's surprise. "A delayed reaction?" Radiant Blast asked confused, although most of the group doubted that that was the case. As soon as the door was fully open one familiar cold nosed face greeted them. "Spike!" Twilight said as soon as she spotted her number one assistant again. "Sorry I took so long. I had to find somebody who wasn't under the sirens' spell to help me get you out," Spike explained. The group was surprised to hear that there was actually someone who wasn't affected and were curious about who it was. Seconds later, a girl showed herself in front of the group. She had white skin, and her hair consisted of cobalt blue and brilliant opal blue colors. She was also wearing purple sunglasses, a white jacket and a white shirt with purple leggings beneath it. "Why isn't she under their spell?" Twilight asked. Spike quickly explained. "Never takes off her headphones," he simply said, which caused everyone to just now realize that she was indeed wearing aquamarine-colored headphones. It was obvious after thinking about it. The Sirens manipulated others with their singing so if someone didn't hear their singing, then their magic will not work. "Figures," Star Twinkle replied after he heard Spike's explanation. Now that the door was open, the only thing left to do was going out there and confront the Dazzlings. Everyone was in high spirits to defeat them this time. "Ooh, which version of the counter-spell are we going to play?" Rarity asked before they set foot outside. "I don't think it matters what song we play, as long as we play it together as friends," Twilight explained. Rainbow Dash was the first one to speak up on that. "I know just the song," she said, to which everyone quickly figured that she was about to mention one of her songs that would further glorify herself. But, that was not the case. Instead, she walked over to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy's written a really great one," she said, offering to play one of her songs this time, something that Fluttershy waited for such a long time. Needless to say, Fluttershy was really happy to hear this, not to mention her other friends who were glad to see this change in Rainbow Dash. Applejack also had something in mind before they were to set out to deal with the Sirens. "We're about to save the world here. Personally, I think we should do it in style," she said before she turned over to Rarity, asking her to provide some outfits for the band. Of course, Rarity was really happy to hear this. "I thought you'd never ask!" She said before she pulled all of the costumes that she made over to her. Radiant Blast was happy to see all of them treating each other like friends again without complaining or being bothered by every small thing. "Glad that they all get along again," he commented after he watched his friends happily. "Of course," Star Twinkle said. "We may forget the most important things from time to time, but in the end, we all remember it again. We may be friends but that doesn't mean that we are completely saved from doing mistakes. I guess that is what the Sirens tried to take advantage of that from the very beginning," he then figured. "Don't worry!" Radiant Blast then said with an optimistic tone in his voice. "No matter what they are up to, I know that you will defeat the Sirens this time!" He added with a cheerful grin on his face. Soon, Rarity walked over to Star Twinkle and presented him with the costume that he was supposed to wear now. "Here you go, Star Twinkle," she said while she handed him his costume. Much like the costumes for the girls, which were all very colorful, Star Twinkle's was looking fancy as well. His costume consisted mostly of colors ranging from, yellow, light green and white. For Star Twinkle's taste, it was a little too flashy but he had to admit that it actually looked really good. He also agreed with Applejack, if he and his friends were about to save the world, then they may as well do it with style. The only thing left was to actually save the world now... Later outside... As soon as everyone was fully dressed and ready, the group made haste to the stage. From far away, they could hear the Sirens singing on the stage. The group had to find a place to play, it had to be somewhere where everybody could hear them playing. Obviously, it couldn't be on the stage because the Sirens were on it already, and they most likely did not intend to share it with the Rainbooms. They managed to find a spot on a little hill right behind the audience seats. The group looked over to the stage and saw the performance of the Sirens. The crowd in front of them cheered for them and almost seemed to be in some kind of trance the longer they continued to sing. As usual, Adagio Dazzle was the lead singer while Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze provided the background music. "Welcome to the show Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah We're here to let you know Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah Our time is now Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah Your time is running out Ah, ah, ah," The longer the group listened to them, the more they wanted to stop them, however, there was one problem that Rainbow Dash pointed out. "How are we supposed to play over them from up here?" The Rainbooms may be in clear sight of everyone but the problem was that the Sirens were on the stage with all the music equipment, which of course, helped them to let everyone hear their music. The Rainbooms had all their instruments with them but without proper equipment, they could not be heard from that hill, especially if the Sirens were playing over them. "Maybe we just have to play really loud?" Radiant Blast suggested, which was, of course, an idea that came out of frustration. But things didn't seem all too helpless. Honking could be heard from behind the Rainbooms. It came from the girl that rescued them before who was parking her car next to them. She then pressed a button and miraculously, the car started to change. It turned from a car to some kind of DJ studio, fully equipped with music speakers which is exactly what the group needed right now. "That should help a lot," Star Twinkle commented after he saw this convenient thing right in front of him. "Then let's go!" Twilight said, prompting everybody to get ready now. Unbeknownst of the actions of the Rainbooms, the Dazzlings continued their song without care, starting to get everyone in the crowd under their control by now. As if that wasn't enough though, a change started to happen to them now. Red waves of magic started to come from them and the three girls levitated above the ground. And just like with the Rainbooms, the Dazzlings began to change their appearance. Their amulets started to glow and they were soon surrounded by the same light. They started to grow ears on their heads, their hair began to get longer and see-through wings appeared on their backs. It seemed as if their power was growing stronger by the second. "Feel the wave of sound As it crashes down You can't turn away We'll make you wanna sta-a-a-ay 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," They continued to sing while already feeling victorious. But ironically, the Rainbooms were starting to sing now, much to the confusion of the three, who just noticed their competition. Star Twinkle and Twilight were doing the lead singing part while the rest of the girls were playing, and Sunset Shimmer and Radiant Blast watched, hoping that this time the counter-spell would work. "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 Gonna break out!" And this time, finally, the magic inside of everyone was released. Ears started to grow on their heads, the hair of the girls got longer and Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy grew wings on their backs. As soon as that happened, Radiant Blast jumped up and down in excitement. "Look! Magic! They did it!" He said towards Sunset Shimmer, who advised him to be quiet again so that he wouldn't interrupt the Rainbooms now. "Set myself free, yeah Let it all go Just let it be, yeah Find the music in your heart Let the music make you start To set yourself apart," The crowd actually took their eyes off from the Dazzlings and looked over to the Rainbooms. The counter-spell started to work and broke everyone out of their trance. But even though the plan of the Sirens seemed to slowly crumble away, they were not intimidated at all. "So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real Battle of the Bands?" Adagio Dazzle said after she saw this attempt to stop them before a smug smile began to form on her face. "Then let's battle!" She said before she and the other Sirens continued their song, this time focusing their magic directly at the Rainbooms. "What we have in store All we want and more We will break on through Now it's time to finish you!" As they continued their song, the three girls started to release even more magic. Their eyes started to glow in red light and even more, red magic waves were released from them. They were ready to unleash their full power now. Another Change started to happen to them, this time, while their bodies remained immobile, three pony-like creatures emerged right above their heads. There was no doubt that it was the true form of the Sirens. They had an upper-body that strongly reminded the group to some kind of mix of a pony and a dragon. They had hooves, but also scales and fins on their back. Their lower body looked like the backside of a fish like a sea creature. The Rainbooms quickly felt intimidated by this sight and before they knew it, the three Sirens flew right towards them and began their attack. However, it was not like the Rainbooms had no means of defending themselves. "Turn up the music!" Sunset Shimmer said towards the DJ behind the machine. The counter-spell worked with the help of magic, so playing even more intensely was helping them out to protect themselves from the Siren's attack. Every one of the girls released some of their magic and fired them right at the Sirens. So did Star Twinkle and Twilight who both fired at Adagio Dazzle. However, the Siren countered with her own magic and screeched at the two of them. Star Twinkle and Twilight could barely stand after this attack and as if things weren't bad enough, the other two Sirens joined in as well and screeched right at the whole band. Having to deal with all this magic was really hard and the group started to drop down on their knees. Twilight even dropped her microphone in the process, causing it to fly out of reach and right in front of Sunset Shimmer's feet. It almost looked as if the Rainbooms lost. Seeing them in this helpless state was exactly what made the Sirens feel victorious again. "We can't beat them," Star Twinkle said as he was kneeling on the ground defenselessly. Sunset Shimmer picked up the microphone and was about to bring it back to Twilight but Radiant Blast had a better idea and walked over to the machine of the DJ to ask her something. The only reply he got was a positive nod and soon the girl opened some kind of door behind the machine. Radiant Blast walked over there and picked up something before he stood in front of the Rainbooms. He placed a keyboard in front of himself that he then started to play with a serious expression on his face. "What are you doing, Radiant!?" Sunset Shimmer asked in her confusion about Radiant Blast's action. Radiant Blast then explained. "I may not have magic inside of me like the others, but I will try to help in any way I can," he said before he looked over to the Rainbooms and smiled. "Every little thing helps, right?" He said with a grin on his face. Affected by this sudden action, Sunset Shimmer looked at the microphone in her hand formed a determined expression on her face. She took off her jacket and walked right next to Radiant Blast, who started playing after he saw the determination on Sunset shimmer's face, who started to sing at this very moment. "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," Seeing how the two of them were about to counterattack right now, and far away from giving up any moment, the Rainbooms started to get on their feet again to finish this all. Star Twinkle and Twilight quickly joined Sunset Shimmer's singing. "We're here to let you know That we won't let it go," The rest of the Rainbooms also got back up on their feet and continued playing, while providing some background singing. "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!" In the midst of the song, the Dazzlings started to charge at the Rainbooms, however, they were powerless against the magic that they released and were pushed away from it. A rainbow came flying towards the stage and freed all the people that were under the spell of the Sirens who's human bodies also got hit by the rainbow and made them lose their balance. "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!" Then suddenly, in the middle of the song, A light began to surround Sunset Shimmer and Radiant Blast and levitated them above the ground. The group had a pretty good guess what was happening to them. Both of them started to grow ears on their heads and Sunset Shimmer's hair got longer, just like what happened to the rest of the Rainbooms. The Rainbooms also levitated above the ground by now and all the nine people who were singing now concentrated their magic created a massive rainbow above their heads. "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!" The Sirens were definitely intimidated by that sight but as soon as they saw what was above the heads of the Rainbooms, they knew that they were in big trouble. Above the rainbow was a giant ball of magic, which started to grow wings. Eventually, this ball transformed into a giant Alicorn which shot a magic beam right at the true form of the Sirens, and soon at the three girls on stage, destroying their necklaces as soon as they got hit by that beam. The three Sirens helplessly looked at their broken necklaces. The crowd in front of them was wondering why they stopped their singing and waited confused for them to continue. So they did... "We will be adored Tell us that you want us We won't be ignored It's time for our reward..." Their singing sounded a lot worse all of a sudden. It seemed as if their singing abilities came right from their necklaces and without them, they didn't have any singing talent at all. And of course, because their singing sounded horrible now, the crowd was booing them and threw stuff at the stage. The only thing that was left to do for the Sirens was to leave the stage. They ran away from the angry crowd and escaped for good, leaving the Rainbooms victorious. The only thing that remained where their shattered necklaces on the ground, which Sunset Shimmer picked up for a moment, only to find out that they were completely useless now. Twilight seemed to have figured out what exactly that meant. "Without those pendants and the magic you brought here from Equestria, they're just three harmless teenage girls," she explained. "Which means that they won't be any danger anymore," Star Twinkle figured. The group was just happy that the Sirens were defeated and laughed it all off. However, there was one person who wasn't too happy at this very moment. And that person was Trixie, who just appeared right next to the group. "You may have vanquished the Dazzlings, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She simply said before she threw a smoke bomb on the ground, causing everyone to cough because of the smoke. Once the smoke settled, Trixie was gone "She's gone!" Pinkie Pie said in shock. "No, she is right over there," Star Twinkle corrected before he pointed towards the exit of the audience seats where Trixie could be found climbing over the fence so that she could vanish. As soon as she was spotted, however, Trixie lost her balance and fell over and landed abruptly on the other side of the fence. "Trixie's okay!" Was the last thing that they could hear from her from the other side. Once the group was left alone again, they discussed some things that happened only a few minutes ago. Rainbow Dash pointed out that Sunset Shimmer and Radiant Blast did very well in the fight against the Sirens and offered them to provide some backup vocals. Radiant Blast happily agreed to that and Sunset Shimmer picked up a guitar and played on it as a response, much to everyone's surprise. "I also play guitar," she then said with a smile on her face after showing off her skills with the guitar. Rainbow Dash was actually quite shocked to see some competition that could replace her as a lead guitarist but she decided to stay cool. "We'll see," she casually said, much to everyone's amusement who all saw right through her poker face. After that, the group attended to the crowd who was cheering on them after this performance. It was well deserved and it felt good to be cheered instead of getting booed at, like before. The next day... Before they knew it, the day had come where Star Twinkle, Twilight, and Spike had to return to Equestria. The whole group met in front of the portal and said their goodbyes. "Sure wish you could stay longer," Applejack said in the name of everyone who was present. But unfortunately, that was not so easy for Twilight. "Me too," Twilight replied. "But I have responsibilities in Equestria that I have to get back to. Its citizens need me," Luckily there was one positive about the whole situation. "But now we can go through the portal whenever we need to. This isn't goodbye. It's just goodbye 'til next time," she explained happily. "Which hopefully is not when this world is in danger again," Star Twinkle added after having clearly enough of fighting dangers in this world. "Yeah," Twilight replied with a smile on her face before she turned towards Spike and looked back at Star Twinkle again. "You two ready?" Both Star Twinkle and Spike nodded in response, signaling her that they were both ready to go through the portal again. Shortly after, they walked through it and were back on the other side again, leaving only the seven members of the Rainbooms. "And now, they are gone," Radiant Blast said after the three vanished before their eyes. "Yep, I already miss them," Sunset Shimmer added. And with that, life at Canterlot High returned to normal again. At least in some ways. After the Battle of the Bands, Sunset Shimmer's reputation finally had the change that she wanted. The students of the school accepted her and she began to build friendships with them. Radiant Blast liked how this change finally came. Seeing how everyone started to see what Radiant Blast saw in her, made him really happy. A few days later, at the stage where the Battle of the Bands took place, the Rainbooms met to practice again. Before that, however, Sunset Shimmer sat on the ground and decided to write to Twilight with the diary that she used before. "Dear Princess Twilight, Missing you guys already, and I hope you'll be back soon. Things are definitely looking up for me here at Canterlot High. But I know I still have a lot to learn about friendship. Luckily, I have good friends to help me out with that. Hope you don't mind if I write to you for advice when I need it, Your friend, Sunset Shimmer," Radiant Blast patiently waited for her to finish her message. After she was done, Radiant Blast helped her up and the two of them looked over to the rest of their friends who also patiently waited for their two newest members to join them on their practice. "You seem a lot happier than before," Radiant Blast said out of nowhere, causing Sunset Shimmer to feel a little embarrassed. "Thanks to you and the others," she shared with a smile on her face as she and Radiant Blast walked towards the others. Radiant Blast was happy to hear that. "Hey, you did your part as well," he pointed out. "Remember? Don't focus too much on the past and instead look at what is in front of you," "Yeah," Sunset Shimmer said happily while she looked at the rest of her friends. "You're right," The thing that was right in front of her now, were her friends, who were there for her whenever she needed help. And she really appreciated that. Not to mention that everyone in the school slowly started to accept her. All thanks to Radiant Blast, Princess Twilight and the rest of her friends who not only stopped her back then but also forgave her for what she did in the past. If it wouldn't be for that, then things wouldn't be as they were now. But just like Radiant Blast said, she had to focus what was in front of her... Her friends... To be continued...