“Talking”
“YELLING”
‘Thinking’
“Telepathic link”
Songs
Flashback
"Transformation Index”
It takes two to tango
OP - "WE HAVE A CITY TO BURN" by Aram Zero
The next morning as the sun was rising, Dustin, Sonata, Sunset and Pixel were meeting up in the kitchen. The four were waiting for Allister to arrive. As they waited, Pixel noticed Flutterhsy’s notebook.
"Hey, isn't this Fluttershy's?" Pixel asked as she picked up the pink notebook that was upon the counter.
"Looks like Twilight left it down here last night…" Dustin noted, "She was working on the counter-spell all night," he told the three.
"Uh…well, it doesn't look like she made the best progress…" Pixel noted as she was looking at the notebook's pages, "Take a look," he said, showing them the page of doodles and scribbles, along with words that could barely be made out.
"Um… Is that supposed to be the song they're gonna sing?" Sonata asked as she took hold of the notebook.
"Oh dear God I hope not…" Dustin said with a wince, "That song looks like a train wreck…"
“A train wreck? This looks like it was made by a kindergartner!” Pixel said bluntly, making the others look to her with a deadpan look, “Am I wrong?”
"Well, making a musical counter-spell is not a very easy task.” A familiar voice said, startling the four before making them turn to see Allister, who looked like he hadn’t slept at all in a few nights.
“Jesus! Is this gonna be a regular thing with you!?” Sunset asked, calming herself down.
“Dude, what happened to you, man? You look like you'll about pass out any minute.” Dustin asked with a mix of shock and worry.
“I’m fine. Haven’t slept all night…but I’m good.” Allister said with a yawn.
“Uh…hang on a sec, Al.” Dustin said before he went to a pot of freshly made coffee. He then reached into a cabinet and fished out a mug, poured the coffee and walked to Allister, presenting the cup.
“Here, drink this.” Dustin said as Allister took the mug. “One cup of this and you’ll feel like you can run a marathon non-stop for a whole week.” Pixel, Sonata and Sunset looked to him with shock upon hearing that.
“Seriously, it’s that strong?” Sonata asked, to which Dustin nods.
“Hell yeah sister. Tried me a cup earlier, and I felt wired immediately after.” Dustin said with a shrug.
“Anything to keep me going. Welp, bottoms up!” said Allister before he chugged the whole mug in one gulp. Hah. Not half ba…” Allister paused.
“Uh…Al?” asked Sunset in slight worry.
“You okay?” asked Sonata.
Allister remained silent for a brief moment before he began buzzing with energy. “WHOA! Holy sheep shit on a shingle, that’s good cofee!” Allister said rapidly.
“Uhh….” Sunset looks to Dustin, “What kind of coffee even was that?”
“No clue.” Dustin looks at his mug, “I’ll be sure to ask Pinkie later. Though, I should have told him to take small sips instead of drinking the whole thing at once.”
“Uh….right!” Pixel said before looking back at the notebook. “But back on track, I wonder if Twilight knows what she's doing…" Pixel said as she scratched her head.
"Maybe she could use some help?" Sonata suggested as he took the notebook, "I have no experience with writing a magical song, but we can try to write a song," Sonata noted.
"Yeah," Dustin replied, "Maybe we oughta'-"
"Hey kids, check this out!" Allister said, making the four look to him, and their eyes got as wide as dinner plates when they see that Allister started juggling steak knives while singing some circus song rapidly.
“Uh…how long does that stuff last?” Sonata asked Dustin.
“Uh…I better go get Pinkie.” Dustin said before walking to Pinkie’s room.
(Later)
Twilight Sparkle : Hey, hey, listen
We've got a message for you
We're not all…
But our friendship is true
“GAH SHIT!!!!” Dustin swore as he covered his ears, trying to drown out the horrible sound.
Sunset Shimmer cringed as the feedback from Twilight's off-key singing kept ringing in her ears as the girls were all practicing inside the garage of Applejack's house, now in their regular clothes. She tried to adjust the volume on the amp, but only made things worse as the feedback kept sounding off again and again.
"MAKE IT STOP!" Pixel screamed in pain as while and Spike were atop the amp.
Twilight Sparkle : Yeah, we're really different
But we still get along
So hey, hey, listen to our song
What made matters worse for the song was how unorganized the girls were when trying to play their instruments. Rainbow gestured to Fluttershy to hold back on playing the tambourine, but let her play it once Twilight's singing became worse. Applejack and Rarity were trying to form their magic as their pony ears began to appear, but they vanished as the feedback from the microphone grew louder and louder. They then both noticed that Pinkie wasn't playing on her drums, glaring at her to get going. Pinkie began playing just as Granny Smith was walking by the house, putting apple cores into her ears to drain out the terrible noise.
Twilight Sparkle: You may think you're in control
But we're here to prove you wrong
And the music, yeah, the music
The power of our song
Rainbow was trying as hard as she possibly could to make her pony ears form as she tried to play to the beat of the song.
Twilight Sparkle: But it's still not easy, yeah try hard
With the magic of friendship
We will stop your evil plan…
A mere popping sound was heard once the song ended as Rainbow hadn't fully grown her pony ears. She and the others were disappointed with their failed attempt at the counter spell song.
"Eh, that sounded... way better than the last... five times you've played it," Spike said nervously atop the speaker, "Heh heh."
"Nnope," Big Macintosh said bluntly as he passed by the garage window with a bucket full of apples. Spike cringed as he knew the girls were having trouble with the song.
“Jesus! If the CIA heard that, they’d consider it a weapon of mass destruction.” Dustin said, rubbing his ears.
"I think it's pretty obvious what's going wrong with this counter-spell," Rainbow admitted.
"You're turnin' what should be the chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?" Applejack asked, very annoyed, as was Rarity.
“Aw crap! Not this again.” Pixel groaned with a face-palm.
"I have to pick up the slack somehow!" Rainbow argued, "Are you girls even trying?!" she asked angrily.
"I'm trying…" Fluttershy replied quietly.
“Uh, what were they supposed to do after hearing…that?” Dustin said with an annoyed look, “And you grand staging is not gonna make it better!”
"On the other hand, the counter-spell…" Rarity began to say while looking at Twilight worriedly.
"It's fine," Twilight said with a nervous laugh, "It'll be fine," she said crazily, "One more time from the top!" she exclaimed proudly. However, she only created an awkward atmosphere within the garage.
"Uh…how about we take a sort recess, instead?" Alister said, everyone else nodded in response.
“Yo, Twi?” Dustin asked, getting Twilight’s attention. "No offense, but that counter-spell could use at least a few adjustments here and there. You sure you don't need any help with that?" Dustin asked as grabbed himself a bottled water from a cooler he brought.
"Nope, I'm all good!" Twilight said semi-confidently, with her eye twitching nervously.
"By the way, how’s yer song doin? I bet it’s song's doin' better than ours…" Applejack noted.
"Pretty good, actually”, Dustin said with a nod.
“Care to show us what you picked?” Rarity asked, making Dustin look to Sunset, Allister, Pixel and Sonata with a smile.
“I think you’ll have to wait till the band competition.” Dustin said, making.
“Eh, whatever you say, dude.” Rainbow said with a shrug.
"In the meantime," Rarity began to point out as she had set down her keytar, "we could try on some of the wardrobe choices I've put together?" she asked as she pulled out a clothing rack with dresses upon it, "I'm particularly fond of this one," she said as she pushed the rack away, revealing that she had put on a regal pink dress over her clothes.
"Eh, of course we could always go with something a bit more modern," Rarity noted as she stretched it out.
"We're tryin' to save our school here," Applejack pointed out in annoyance, "Enough with the costumes!" she yelled.
"Oh, you could never have enough costumes!" Rarity argued in a robotic voice while now dressed in a yellow suit with a helmet that had pixelated diamonds upon the visor.
“Oh boy, reminds me of Daft Punk.” Dustin muttered to himself with a chuckle.
"She just wants to make things fun!" Pinkie pointed out, "Isn't that what being in a band supposed to be?" she asked, playing a rim shot in annoyance.
"Well, it is," Allister began, "but it's also about playing your music for people to hear too…"
"We don't have time for any of this!" Sunset Shimmer chimed in, "We're supposed to check in at the Battle of the Bands in fifteen minutes!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, no!" everyone else gasped, beginning to run around and gather all the equipment their bands needed.
“Then what the hell are we doing just standing here!? We better haul ass!” Dustin exclaimed.
"What?" Twilight asked as Rainbow ran past her, "But it's not ready!" she said as Pinkie grabbed the microphone stand she was using, "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 explained worriedly, making everyone come to a screeching halt.
"Then we'll have to buy ourselves some time so you can keep workin' on it!" Applejack replied.
"But how do you propose we do that?" Rarity asked.
"We compete in the Battle of the Bands for real!" Rainbow responded, "I take over lead vocals again and we stay alive until the finals!" she explained confidently, "We unleash the counter-spell then!" she said with a pump of her fist, "You'll have figured it out by finals, right?" she asked.
"Of course she will," Spike replied, tapping his paw against her ankle, "Twilight Sparkle's never met a problem she couldn't solve," he added, "Right, Twilight?"
"Right…" she said not so confidently, giving off a nervous smile.
"Well… if you're that sure, then I guess we can count on you to get things done," Dustin said as he grabbed his guitar cases. “But if all else fails, we have Jammer as a back-up plan.”
"But what happens if you guys don’t make it to the finals?" Rainbow asked as Dustin. "If you guys aren't gonna make it to the finals, how are you supposed to win?"
"We'll do our best to make the finals," Allister responded as he brought his car keys.
“Though I highly doubt it will be easy.” Sonata said with slight worry, but Dustin patted her back.
“We’ll just have to do our best. But we can’t attend the competition if we’re late for the competition.” Dustin said as he strapped his guitar to his back.
"Then let's go win us a Battle of the Bands!" Rainbow exclaimed. She and the other girls then raced out, with the Web Surfers following close behind. Twilight waved goodbye as she remained in the garage, nervously holding her arm, unsure if she'd be able to come up with a good counter-spell for the finals.
"Welcome to the first ever Canterlot High School Battle of the Bands," Principal Celestia greeted over the microphone as every band was gathered in the gymnasium upon the stands, "I believe I speak for everyone when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this school!" she continued, making the students cheer in delight, "We are so glad our three newest students encouraged us to turn this event into something exciting!" she finished, pointing out the Dazzlings at the top of the stands, who were just lounging around.
"But," Vice Principal Luna began to point out, grabbing the microphone from Celestia, "as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner," she explained, "Who is it going to be?" Luna's question brought forth more arguing between the bands, and the aura of negative energy that billowed out from them all flowed into the Dazzlings' necklaces.
Decibus was well hidden in the janitor’s closet, watching the events unfold with a grin on his visor.
"You feel that, Aria?" Adagio asked, "Our true power is being restored," she said, making Aria laugh maniacally. Just then, the Rainbooms entered the gym, making Adagio gesture to have Aria cease the laughing. "And that's before we've tapped into the strongest magic here," she added as the girls all looked around nervously, noticing that the conflict was worsening.
"But the Rainblossoms, or whatever they're called, aren't under our spell," Aria noted, "How exactly are we supposed to get to their magic?" she asked with an annoyed look on her face.
"The Rainbooms are just as capable of falling apart as anyone else," Adagio replied, "They just need a little... push in the wrong direction," she said with a gesture, "I have a feeling everyone here is going to be lining up to give them a shove," she noted.
"Everyone except the Web Surfers," Aria pointed out as they walked in, looking around at the angered students, "Those guys aren't under our spell either…"
"Hmm…" Adagio said as she rubbed her chin, "Well, perhaps we can take them down a different way," she noted, "Especially since we’ve both gotten a taste of Dustin Miller’s power," she said with an evil smirk.
“But remember that Sonata is with those losers too. What if she has the same thing we do?” Aria asked with a raised eyebrow, and Adagio was stumped at that question.
“No clue. But I’ll think of something if that little traitor does.” Adagio said with a grin.
A while later, the first round of the competition had started, with Snips and Snails up on stage, performing like rappers, wearing backwards caps, sweatshirts, and baggy pants over big shoes, along with pairs of glasses. Snips was beatboxing poorly as Celestia and Luna observed them as the judges.
‘Oh hell to the fucking no!’ Dustin thought with a deadpan look.
"Aw, yeah! Snips and Snails indahouse, yo!" Snails exclaimed with a couple of hand gestures.
"They call me MC Snips and that ain't no lie," Snips rapped, "My favorite food is like pumpkin pie!"
"And here is Snails, I like whales," Snails rapped, "When I go to the beach, I always bring my pails!" As the two of them continued to rap poorly, Pinkie was grooving to the beat while the rest of the girls were merely annoyed by the terrible song.
“Oh god, just blow my brains out.” Dustin said with a groan.
"Everybody knows my favorite color is orange," Snips rapped as he jumped closer to the edge of the stage, "My rhymes are so fly, you better... uh... um..."
"Than an orange, yo!" Snails finished for his partner.
"Yeah!" Snips said.
"Yeah!" Snails yelled.
"Represent!" Snips shouted. Celestia and Luna looked on nervously while everyone else was tired of the annoying rapping. Snips and Snails continued to beatbox and freestyle as poorly as possible. Sonata was enjoying the tune as opposed to her companions in the stands, who giggled at the horrendousness of the rap.
"Bam! That just happened!" Snips exclaimed.
"Aw, yeah! We out!" Snails said as he and Snips were back to back.
"Snips and Snails outta here!" Snips said. The two of them then dropped the microphones onto the stage, causing a large amount of feedback in the gym, making almost everyone cringe and cover their ears.
"Please do not drop the microphones," Celestia said to the duo.
"Yeah! Bam!" Snips said as he and Snails high fived before they walked off the stage, laughing all the while, "In your face, Rainbooms!" he gloated as they walked past them.
“That was just plain sucky.” Dustin muttered.
“Agreed. I’ve heard better rap songs than that shameless display.” Allister whispered to Dustin.
"Least we know one group who won't stand in the way of us gettin' to the finals," Applejack joked.
"Let's get ready to rock!" Rainbow exclaimed with a pump of her fist.
"Wait!" Pinkie yelled, "Where's Rarity?" she asked.
"I thought I saw her just a minute ago…" Pixel said.
"Here! I'm here!" Rarity called out as she trotted over. Instead of her normal outfit, Rarity was dressed in hippie sort of outfit with metal fringes upon the sleeves of her arms. Her violet skirt was considerably longer as she shook her head, waving her hair around.
“Damn! You sure dress to impress.” Dustin said with a whistle.
"Of course darling. We will be performing in front of an audience," Rarity mentioned, moving her fingers across the fringes, making them jingle, "I'm not going to wear something fabulous?" she asked rhetorically, "Hmph."
"Guh..." Applejack sighed as she smacked herself in the face in agony.
"All right, the next band to take the stage will be…" Celestia began, looking through her papers, "the Rainbooms!" she said.
“Well, that’s your cue ladies.” Allister said to the Rainbooms.
“Good luck.” Dustin said as they approached the stage.
"Remember," Twilight began to explain, covering the microphone with her hand, "we have to be good enough to make it through," she said, "but not so good we let the sirens see the magic within us," she continued, "They could realize we plan to use it against them."
"Got it!" Rainbow replied, "Be cool enough to win," she began, "but not so cool that we end up showing off the whole ears and tails and rainbows thing," she finished, "Sooo... about twenty percent less cool."
"One! Two!" Pinkie exclaimed as she banged her drumsticks together, indicating that they were ready to play.
The Rainbooms: We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do
"So far, so good." Dustin said with a sigh.
"Hey, what's going on up there?" Sonata asked as she pointed up to the catwalk. Up there, three girls were standing right above the stage, pulling out magnets attached to puppet strings, lowering them down far enough so they'd magnetize Rarity's metal fringes, removing her hands from her keytar.
"Hey! That’s Photo Finish and the Snapshots!" Sunset exclaimed, "But what are they doing?!" She asked in shock.
"Looks like sabotage to me," Allister replied.
"Well, we can't let that happen, now can we?" Dustin said dialing up the Digitrix and tapped the screen once he selected the right transformation.
Dustin said before tapping onto the Digitrix’s screen, causing his body to be surrounded by a ring of what looks like strangely colored Bar Code surrounded him, making an egg shaped dome as his skin began to glow so his entire body was now a shining silhouette of white light. Two rectangular 'plates' seemed to appear out of nowhere and they surrounded Dustin's glowing form, one in front of him and the other behind him, both standing vertical before moved towards each other, squashing around Dustin as if he was in a press mold.
A black humanoid silhouette then appeared out of nowhere and fused onto his body before the 'mold' suddenly exploded and Freakshow fell through the air and splats on the familiar small square platform with the Digitrix Symbol before reforming back into humanoid shape.
"FREAKSHOW!" Dustin exclaimed as the 'egg' of Data surrounding him then dissipated.
Dustin then merged with the nearest and moved towards the Snap Shots’ direction in a shadowy mass.
“Whoa! What even was that?” Sonata said, a bit creeped out by what she saw.
“Oh boy, looks like Dustin used Freakshow.” Sunset said with a shiver.
“Of all the transformations, he had to choose an Erebonite?” Allister said, worried that Dustin might do something reckless.
Rainbooms: We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!
Photo Finish was taking control of the magnets as she swung the puppet strings from left to right. Rarity swayed back and forth as Applejack took notice of how oddly she was acting, especially when she accidentally knocked her cowboy hat off her head onto the neck of her bass. She put it back on as Rarity was still under Photo's manipulation.
But they failed to noticed Dustin was behind them, until he cleared his throat, making her and her teammates look to him. Before the Snapshots could even react, Dustin had sprouted tendrils and wrapped them around them, making sure to cover their mouths so they never uttered a sound.
Rainbooms: Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Twilight Sparkle: So what you didn't get it right the first time
"Boring!" Apple Bloom stated before she and Crusaders began to leave. Pinkie quickly responded by flipping one of her drums, shooting out a plethora of confetti from it.
Pinkie Pie : Laugh it off, no one said it is a crime
Rarity : Do your thing, you know you're an original
Applejack : Your ideas are so funny that they're criminal
Rainbooms: Ohhh-ahh!
Twilight then began choking on a piece confetti that fell into her mouth. She failed to cough it out, but luckily Fluttershy smacked her on the back with her tambourine, causing the piece to fly right out of her mouth. As that happened, Flash and his band left the gym. C.ausing Twilight to look around nervously in worry.
Rainbooms: We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do
Dustin had approached to Allister, Sunset, Sonata and Pixel, having the Snapshots tied up and gagged.
“Crisis averted, for now.” Dustin said
"Uh…we got another problem.” Pixel said, pointing up to the catwalk as well. Sonata, Feaskshow, Sunset and Allister looked up to see Snips and Snails upon the catwalk, chuckling as they headed over to one of the spotlights.
"Ugh. Be right back," Dustin groaned before going back up the catwalk.
"Awesome," Snips chuckled as Snails adjusted the spotlight, making sure that it was shining over Fluttershy. But before Snips and Snails could humiliate Fullershy any further, Dustin wrapped his tendrils around the two before bringing them close to his face, a wicked grin visible.
“Hello, boys. Remember me?” Dustin said with a wicked chuckle, making both Snips and Snails wide eed in fear.
Rainbooms: We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
As the Rainbooms sang, Dustin came back to his teammates, having Snips and Snails tied and gagged as well.
“Well, thought you rats could get away with sabotage, didn't you?” Allister said with a glare at the two, “I have half a mind to disqualify you two immediately.”
“I think I have a better idea, Al.” Dustin said before grinning so wide, it could make the Cheshire cat green in envy. Snips, Snails and the Snapshots were shaking when Dustin morphed into a truly indescribably monstrosity. This scared the captives to the point of feinting.
Dustin smiled in satisfaction before regaining humanoid shape and in a flash of blue light, Dustin was back to normal.
Rainbooms: Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight!
Once the song ended, Celestia and Luna were the only ones who applauded the performance, as everyone else just stared at the girls who looked upon the students nervously. The two principals then began to write their judgments on their papers while the Rainbooms went backstage.
"Ruined! Absolutely ruined!" Rarity cried out as her mascara was running.
"Rarity, were you tryin' to make us lose out there?!" Applejack asked angrily after she put down her bass.
"Wh- Oh!" Rarity gasped as she rubbed some of the mascara off, "This was not my fault!" she claimed as Applejack got into her face, "This was an act of sabotage!" she stated.
"Yeah, well," Applejack began, "whoever did this couldn't have done this if you didn't insist on dressin' like... like... this!" she said angrily, surprising Rarity, "We need to sound good!" she said, making Sunset and Spike glance at each other nervously, "Is there some reason that concept seems to escape you?" she asked rhetorically.
“Well, lucky you, we caught the saboteurs.” Dustin said as the Rainbooms notice Snips, Snails a,d the Snapshots tied up, gagged, and unconscious.
“Uh…what the heck happened to them?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Used Freakshow to scare them into submission”, Dustin said crossing his arms.
“Hopefully you didn’t permanently scar them” Sunset said with a shiver.
"And what was with the confetti, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow asked as she held a piece in front of her face, "How am I supposed to shred if there's paper stuck in my frets?!" she asked rhetorically as well, dropping the confetti piece.
"It was pretty distracting..." Fluttershy admitted.
"Ugh!" Pinkie responded, "Says the girl who was running from a light the whole time!", she retorted, pointing at her, "A light!"
"That’s enough! Arguing ain’t gonna make it any better.” Dustin said with a groan.
"Regardless, it appears that the competition's gonna be more intense if cheating's involved!" Allister said as he untied the captive Snips Snails and Snapshots and removed their gags. “I’ll be sure to inform Celestia and Luna for their scandalous acts.”
"At least you guys played through it," Sonata said as with a positive smile.
"Yeah, but we got wrecked out there!" Rainbow replied.
"You still sounded much better than most of the other bands," Sunset said as she had put Spike down, "I'm sure you'll make it to the next round," she added, "But it won't matter if you don't have that counter-spell ready," she continued, making Twilight cringe nervously, "You all find a place to practice where the sirens can't hear you," she said as Derpy's band was taking the stage, "I'll keep an eye on things around here." Derpy began playing a musical saw while sitting on a stool, while her band mates were using a cowbell and a triangle respectively to play a creepy tune.
"I don't think we should use a classroom," Twilight replied as she, Spike, the Rainbooms, and the Web Surfers walking along the hallways before the next round. Just then, she suddenly bumped into the back of Flash Sentry, who only glanced at her while she gave a nervous chuckle, "We really need to stop bumping into each other like this," she said nervously as Flash tuned his guitar out of boredom.
"Uh, you guys hear something?" Flash asked his band mates, not paying attention to Twilight.
"Nope, nuh-uh," they replied as they were looking away from the Rainbooms and the Omniversals. Oblivious to what they were trying to do, Twilight tried to speak louder.
"I said, we have to stop—"
"There it is again," Flash interrupted, "So annoying," he said, turning away from Twilight.
"Why are you acting like this?" she asked, "I thought we were friends." The comment made Flash angrily breathe air through his nose.
"Yeah, and then you decide to come back here just so you can beat me in the Battle of the Bands," he replied angrily, "I want this, Twilight, and you're trying to take it from me!" he stated, "Some friend."
"Dude, whoa," Dustin said in surprise.
"That's not why—"
"Come on, Twilight," Applejack interrupted, grabbing her shoulder, "We've got things to do," she said as they began to walk away.
"You really think you're gonna help them?!" Flash mocked, "Ha!" he laughed sarcastically, "I bet you have no idea what you're even doing!" he shouted, making tears form in Twilight's eyes.
“Why you mother fucker!” Pixel said as she formed her arm into a plasma cannon before aiming it at Flash.
“Uh oh!“ Sonata said with both shock and worry.
“Who, who, whoa! Cease fire, cease fire!” Dustin said, trying to calm Pixel down. “He's under the Dazzling’s spell like everybody else, remember?” Dustin said, and Pixel finally conceded as her arm changed back to normal.
Twilight wiped them away, trying to forget what just happened as she and the others passed by the Dazzlings. Adagio chuckled as she saw Twilight rub her eyes.
"Tears already?" she asked sarcastically, "This is only the first round," she said, making Aria laughing maniacally. Dustin clenched his fists tightly the moment he heard them laugh, and his teammates noticed.
“You ok?” Sonata asked worriedly.
Dustin didn’t reply as he ran to the direction he heard the laughter.
“Oh boy. We better follow him.” Allister said as he, Sonata and Pixel ran after him.
Meanwhile, the Dazzlings had just turned a corner, about to walk into the shadows before entering the gymnasium. However, Adagio put her arm out to stop Aria, as she and the others saw Sunset Shimmer leaning against the wall, waiting for them.
"You're never gonna get away with this," she said as she stood up.
"Why?" Adagio asked as she and her friends were unfazed by her sudden appearance, "Because you didn't?" she asked sarcastically, surprising Sunset, "Oh, we know all about you, Sunset Shimmer," Adagio said as she walked around her as she was glaring at them, "You've got quite the reputation at Canterlot High."
"I've changed!" Sunset claimed, "I'm in a much better place now!" she added.
"Waiting in the wings while your friends have all the fun?" Aria asked sarcastically as she walked around her as well.
"Oh, yes," Adagio began to say, "you girls are so tight," she said, "And yet... they didn't ask you to be in the band."
"No. But Dustin asked me to be in his." Sunset said in defense.
"Well, those Rainboom losers were probably afraid no one will want to see them play if you were in the group," Aria suggested, making Sunset feel even worse.
"Tis a shame really, but if it's any consolation," Adagio began, "no one is going to remember you at all by the time we're done," she said, bumping Sunset with her hip, as did Aria as they all walked towards the gym doors. Sunset held her arm in depression as she thought about what they said.
"Yeah? Not if we got a say in it, cheese poof!” Sunset and the Dazzlings turned to see Dustin, Allister, Pixel and Sonata.
"Dustin?" Sunset said in surprise, "What are you guys doing here?" she asked.
"Taking care of business," Dustin replied as the Dazzlings turned around to face them. Sonata walked to the two.
"Adagio, Aria, please! This has gone on long enough! It’s time to put a stop to this.” Sonata pleaded, but Aria and Adagio just scoffed.
“And why would we do that? Just so you and your new besties here can hog all the glory?” Aria sand with a sneer.
“Now look here. We could do this the easy way…” Pixel morphs her right arm into an energy cannon while her right arm morphed into a aqua-colored plasma blade, “Or we could do this my way!”
"Oh ho, ho", Adagio chuckled, "That's a neat trick rust bucket," she said jokingly, "What makes you think you can challenge us?" she asked as she stepped forward.
"Oh, trust me, bitch! You don't know what we're capable," Dustin said, "We're all tired of seeing kids fight with each other. It ends now!"
"So you think you and your posse's got what it takes red head?" Aria quipped.
"How about we find out, pigtails", Pixel quipped back angrily. They all stared each other down as Sunset nervously looked on. Until a clapping noise can be heard.
Everybody tuned, and saw Decibus walking towards the groups, a wicked grin visible on his visor.
“My, my, my. Had I known there would be such an entertaining display happening, I would have grabbed a chair and some refreshments.” Decibus chuckled, making Allister growl. Decibus’ attention was then brought to the Web Surfers.
“I must say, Allister. I had no idea this would be your petty band. A former queen bee, a robotic girl, a traitorous siren…” Decibus then looks to Dustin, “and the wielder of the Digitrix, Dustin Miller.”
“So, you know who I am?” Dustin growled angrily.
“Of course”, Decibus said before looking to Adagio and Aria. “And I assume you lot have been playing nicely?” Decibus said sarcasm still in his tone.
“Cut the bullshit! Either you tell us what we need to know, or things will get ugly.” Dustin growled in anger as Pixel readied her weapons.
"Well, I suppose we can take our time, considering that we won't be performing for a while," Adagio noted.
"Take your time?" Allister asked, "With what?"
"Just this," Adagio said, when suddenly, she was encased in a fiery red aura as her hands became like those of Firefox’s claws, nine tails sprouted from her tailbone, and a pair of fox ears sprouted from the top of her head.
Aria followed suite as her skin changed from light purple to light blue with blue lines down her face and arms, deep blue fins sprouted on her forearms, a set of gills appeared on her neck, and a long fish tail sprouted from her tailbone.
The Web Surfers were in disbelief over what they just saw.
“Wh-whoa”, Sunset said in shock.
"What the fuck", Dustin asked with a scared look upon his face.
"If you’re wondering how this is possible, Miller," Adagio began to reply as she willed a small flame in her hand, "We both absorbed the negative energy from you in the gym," she explained as the flame died out, "So, in a sense, we both got copies of your powers."
"Wh-What?" Pixel asked as she backed off a bit.
"Shit! This is bad…real bad!" Dustin said nervously. Just then Sonata got infront of Dustin, her arms outstretched in a protective manner as she started both down at Aria and Adagio.
“Just know that if you’re going to hurt my friends, then you’ll have to go through me first!” Sonata said bravely, making Dustin, Allister, Pixel and Sunset worried for their new friend.
Adagio however just laughed at the display.
“Oh, is that so? Well, in that case…” Adagio then willed a ball of fire in both hands, “Then you can join them in Hell!” Adagio then launched both fireballs at Sonata, who closed her eyes in preparation. When the fireballs hit their target, an explosion was made. Dustin, Allister, Pixel and Sonata watched in horror.
“SONATA NO!” Sunset said in worry
“Hehehehe! Truly a noble sacrifice.” Decibus said with an evil grin, but his grin then turned into a look of shock when the smoke cleared. Sonata was covered in armor that was made out of Rainbow Rocks crystal. Her head was adorned by a helmet with a rainbow crystal emerging from the top, her shoulders wee covered in grayish blue pauldrons, her upper chest was adorned with a breastplate made of the same grayish blue material, her arms were covered in arm-guards with a rainbow crystal spike on each one, her skirt had crystal plating on it, her knees were capped with shin guards, and her forelegs had crystalline leg guards on them. But apart from having crystal armor on, she also had a pair of wings on her back that resembled more like fins, a pair of pony ears that sprouted on top of her head, and her pony tail grew in length.
“What the…” Both Adagio and Aria asked in total shock.
“Sonata”, Dustin asked in shock but was relieved that Sonata was ok.
“What tomfuckery is this?!” Decibus asked in total shock. Sonata then looked to herself, examining the armor and her wing
"Oh my gosh", Sonata exclaimed in both surprise and delight, "This is soooo cool!" she said happily, but she calmed down and focused back to the situation at hand. “If you guys want a fight, then you got one!”
Decibus, Aria and Adagio growled at this.
"You know what?” Adagio said with a wicked grin “Giving these powers a test run on you and your buddies is a good idea," Adagio added, her hand and the tips of her nine tails catching on fire while Aria readied her arm fins.
"Sunset, you and Pixel find the others," Dustin said to her, "We might need their help if this gets out of hand."
“What? We ain’t leaving you guys to face these punks alone!” Pixel said, but Dustin looked to her with a scowl.
“Pixel, that was not a suggestion, goddammit!” Dustin said with a growl, making Pixel back up a bit out of shock. She just conceded and morphed her arms back to normal.
"Uh… g-got it! Come on Pixel!" Sunset replied nervously, running off while still in utter disbelief.
"You really think they’re gonna help you?" Aria asked sarcastically as Sunset and Pixel both turned a corner.
"But if we’re going to brawl, we best take it outside," Decibus added. “The last thing we need is to draw unwanted attention.”
"Right," Dustin replied, "'Cause getting on Celestia or Luna's bad side is definitely not on my to do list.” Dustin said with a growl.
“Good idea. We could use some fresh air.” Allister said before he and everyone else disappeared in a flash of blue light. They then reappeared out at the football field in the same blue flash.
“So. We gonna stand here and quarrel?” Dustin said before activating his Digitrix and turning into Indestructile. “Or are we gonna get down to business?”
“Adagio, dear, you and Aria handle Miller and his little sidekick. I’ll deal with Allister.” Allister said as both Aria and Adagio laughed maniacally.
"Let's have some fun…" Adagio said with an evil grin as she and Aria raced after the Sonata and Dustin.
“Now, Allister. Let’s see if age has caught up with you.” Decibus said with a grin visible on his visor.
“Alright then, Count Dubstep,” Allister quipped, making Decibus growl angrily as his sleeves emitted gun barrels, “Let’s dance!”
To be continued…