//------------------------------// // The Final Fight (Part 2): Shaky Ground // Story: Equestria Girls: A Fairly Odd Friendship // by redandready45 //------------------------------// Wanda continued to cry into her hands while Cosmo patted her on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Come on Wanda," the green-haired fairy urged her in a kindly tone,"Go to your happy place! The one where Mama Cosma can never, ever visit us and you have all the chocolate in the world!" Wanda thought of herself as the rational one in the family. The one who tried to get her son and husband to think critically about their choices. Timmy and Cosmo often called her a nag, but she knew that she was only thinking about the safety of those around her. The rational side of her brain knew Cosmo was right: crying wasn't going to get her anywhere. (Boy, even thinking those words was odd). But the rational side of her brain also told her that going to her happy place couldn't help her either. Her godchild was possibly in the worst trouble of his entire life and she and her husband couldn't do anything because they were stuck in a stupid glass ball. No matter how many times they tried to bang away, they couldn't breakout. "Timmy's tough," Cosmo continuing in a soothing tone. What Cosmo lacked in brains, he made up for in optimism and bringing joy. The hopeful side of her brain tried to imagine Timmy somehow outsmarting those evil witches, running back here, and getting them out. Timmy had overcome so many odds before and saved them. But the rational side of her brain told that Timmy probably couldn't this time. Timmy was a brave kid, but the rational side he was still a small boy who couldn't reach the shelves, and he was against three sirens who were bigger and stronger then him. They were also among the most ruthless beings she had ever encountered. Wanda once considered Vicky to be the worst person in Timmy's life, but these Sirens were on all whole other level of cruelty and manipulation; Using horrible magic on Timmy, on them, destroying his life in order to make him their minion. and finally brainwashing Timmy into attacking a group of teenagers who she now knew weren't monsters. They would hurt anyone and anything for power, and they were gonna beat Timmy so badly, he would have to give into their demands. Those sirens weren't fools like either. They had successfully conned their way into Timmy's good graces with a good hero act. Even the dumbest of the sea witches, Sonata, was able to manipulate the pink-haired fairy with a good crying act. The hopeful side of her brain reminded her Timmy, for all his bad grades, was crafty, but these Sirens were master con artists. Wanda tried to find something to hold onto. Something that could get her through this hopeless situation. Something that would tell her everything would be OK. But she couldn't, and began weeping again. "Wanda!" Cosmo yelled suddenly. "Look!" 'What is it Cosmo," Wanda wailed, not in the mood for her husband's irreverance, "another squirrel?" "Well yes," Cosmo declared with an oblivious smile. "And it's an adorable little squirrelly, but look who's here!" Wanda pulled herself up and looked. Her tears faded and her eyes widened in shock as the last group of kids she expected came into the room. "What a wretched place," Rarity muttered with disgust as she entered the dilapidated factory. She flinched as the floorboards began squeaking under her step. "It's not so bad," Pinkie Pie said, skipping her usual skip, "I think this place it just-," Pinkie quickly plummeted through the floor, the boards snapping. "Eekk," Pinkie Pie shrieked, grabbing onto the wood with her life to keep herself from falling. Rarity and Sunset bent down to help their pink-haired friend up. "Could use a few repairs," Applejack muttered, while leaning on metal column, only for that column to suddenly bend and nearly fall over. "Or a lot!" Applejack sighed with annoyance. As Pinkie was pulled out from the floor, she looked up, smiled, and started gesticulating and pointing wildly. "Ooh! Ooh! Guys! Guys! LOOK!" Sunset rolled her eyes."What is Pinkie Pie?" "Another squirell?!" Applejack muttered tiredly. "Well yes," Pinkie said with happy eyes. "And it's a cutie-patootie squirell," she cooed. She then pointed upward. "But I also spy with my little eye, something with tiny wings." The three other Rainbooms glanced up, and their eyes widened with both shock and relief. "There they are," Rarity exclaimed happily, "the fairies!" One of them-Sunset didn't remember their names-had green hair, a white shirt, a black tie, black pants, and black shoes. The other one had curly pink hair, a yellow shirt, and black pants and shoes. The green one looked at them with a huge smile, which raised Sunset's spirits quite a bit. But the pink one didn't seem to be happy with her presence. She just stared at her with what looked like a confused expression and a morose frown. Maybe the pink-haired fairy was in shock from whole ordeal. Or maybe she still remembered the stories about how bad Sunset used to be. Well, at least Sunset could prove her sincerity to them. "Don't worry y'all!" Applejack said with a happy grin and a cheerful smile. "We're here to spring you from captivity," Rarity exclaimed. "And save Timmy-Wimmy!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "You can count on-," Sunset frowned as the pink one began waving her finger around her ear. "You can't hear us?" Sunset asked them, imitating the gesture. The pink-haired one silently nodded. Sunset sighed in frustration. "OK girls," Applejack said with narrow yes and a determined grin, "let's get into formation." Sunset pulled out her cellphone and called Rainbow. "We found the fairies. Over." Adagio was shocked beyond belief as she stared at the Rainbrats who hovered in mid-air. She never expected the goody-toe-shoes teenagers to be able to plan their way out of a cardboard box, let alone get past her security system. But they had gotten past her, apparently defeated Doombringer, since that white-haired freak wasn't sending her any messages, and saved that snobby little brat from plummeting to the Earth. Adagio broke out of her shock as she saw that meatheaded athlete put a finger to her ear. "We caught Trixie too. Over," Rainbow said, before turning back to the Dazzlings with a taunting smirk. Realizing that the loudmouthed Rainbrat had an earpiece, her shock turned to snarling anger. She was so close. Close to getting the bucktoothed brat to give her what she deserved. She wasn't gonna let these pony-loving human brats get in her way! Her eyes glowing red, and her hands balled into angry fists, she and her younger sisters unleashed a powerful sonic wave at the Canterlot High athlete. Hopefully, the blast would knocked that raven haired snob out of her hands. Rainbow stood like a deer in the headlights and was forced to drop Trixie in order to move out of the way. "No,' Timmy muttered in pained sadness. The Dazzlings smiled. At least they would make that buck-toothed brat suffer for his insolence. "FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow yelled, a smirk forming on her face. To the Dazzlings' astonishment, the pink-haired girl caught the elementary school student and flew away with her protectively in her arms. "Don't worry Trixie," Fluttershy cooed in a soothing tone as she carried the raven-haired girl in her arms while flying as fast as she could. "I got you!" The girl just let out a tired moan, still unconscious from the shock. Fluttershy patted the girl on the head as she flew. While her usual compassion played out on her face, underneath her kindness was a thunderstorm of rage at the meanies who had put her in danger. "How could they do this to a little girl?" Fluttershy muttered with barely contained hate. This girl didn't do anything to the sirens. And they were gonna kill her just to make Timmy do what they want. Fluttershy was broken out of her vindictive thoughts when she looked down and saw the cops they freed from the Dazzlings' control. They were sitting on a bench devouring their Pinkie donuts. Fluttershy smiled as an idea came to her brain. Fluttershy landed in a nearby alley so she could change back to her normal form where no one could see her. Once her wings went back into her body, she walked out of the alley and approached the police officers, who were having a very enlightening conversation. "I say it's the egg before the chicken." "No, it's the chicken before the egg. Think about it! The thing that came before the chicken laid an egg, and out came the chicken!" "Excuse me, sirs?" Fluttershy asked, interrupting their conversation in her usually soft and patient tone. The officers turned to look at her. "You're one of those kids we saw earlier," one of the cops commented idly. Their idleness faded as Fluttershy presented to them the unconscious raven-haired girl."Is she one of the hostages?" One of them asked her, his face becoming stern and serious. All four of them jumped from their bench. "Yes, her name is Trixie Tang," the animal shelter volunteer said gently, "can you guys make sure she finds her way home?" "Of course," one of the cops said with a mixture of resolve and compassion. The cop looked tough, but when he took the girl from Fluttershy, he cradled her very gently, as if Trixie was his own daughter. "And um, so you don't scare her, make her think everything that happened was a dream," Fluttershy advised them. The cop holding her silently nodded, determined to make sure no harm came to this child. After giving them one last grateful smile, Fluttershy ran back to the alley, let her wings form on her body, and prepared to take flight. Her anxiety formed on her face. She wasn't the bravest person. She didn't like to fight. She especially didn't like heights. But she remembered a little boy and his magical friends who were still in danger, and her anxiety faded in favor a calm, stoic expression that masked her burning anger. No one messed with her friends and a bunch of little kids on her watch! Raising her arms, she took flight ready for what would be the battle of her life. She flew past a park, saw a bunch of pretty birdies, and smirked as another idea came to her brain. The Dazzlings once again looked at Rainbow Dash with a a mixture of shock and frustration. That wispy little animal lover had taken away their hostage! She heared Rainbow mutter something into an earpiece before looking back them with a taunting smirk, as if saying, "You called us idiots. Now it's us idiots who are beating you!" Adagio snarled and let out another sonic blast at the rainbow-haired goon. She would show her who was- A massive pink blast cut through her sisters' sonic blast. "WHAT?!" Aria bellowed. Suddenly, a third figure appeared in the air. The Dazzlings had often been told countless stories of the awesome majesty of an alicorn princess. The Princess of the Sun could obliterate whole villages, whole armies, and whole nations that threatened her little ponies without a frown or even a raised eyebrow. The Dazzlings heard how she was able to maintain this composure even when she was forced to banish her dear sister turned traitor. Adagio was both intrigued, excited, and somewhat terrified at facing such a ruthless opponent. While Adagio was tough, she knew it would be foolhardy to go after a being who could commanded the Sun without plan. So, Adagio waited until the correct moment to strike, like a predator waiting to capture its prey. The moment when Celestia would let her guard down or would be took weak to fight back, she would pounce. Luna's banishment to the moon had been a prime opportunity for her to attack: Celestia had been at her weakest in years: the banishment of her sister had robbed the Princess of a major ally and source of emotional support, she had been emotionally drained from the trauma of having to exile her own flesh and blood turned traitor to the Moon, and she was magically weakened from having to learn to move both the Moon and the Sun. Her kingdom and her precious ponies had also been shaken by this, meaning they were all vulnerable to her song. But even then, Adagio and her sisters made sure to attack and absorb the negative energy from as many ponies as possible before attacking Canterlot. But before they could have a chance to face the Princess or gather the magic, they had been banished by that annoying wizard and his goons. The destined fight between herself and the Princess of the Sun had been ripped away from her. It was not just a defeat, but a blow to the eldest siren's pride to be stopped by that goody-good's pet wizard. But Adagio did eventually encounter an alicorn princess, Twilight Sparkle, and she was unimpressed. Twilight was an annoying, fidgety, and weak little busybody who had been easily outsmarted and trapped. The Dazzlings wondered how some obnoxious child could've been granted the power of an alicorn when she couldn't even break out from under a stage. But now Adagio saw why. Twilight hovered in the air with massive purple wings and a horn jutting out of her forehead. Despite being human, she carried all the attributes of being an alicorn very well. But what was more striking was the expression on the Princess of Friendship's face. The face of the quirky and chirpy teenager was replaced by a cold and merciless gaze carved from stone. There was no mercy, pity, or empathy in the youngest princess' expression. This was the frightening majesty that Adagio had only read about. Her sisters were shaken too, especially as the Princess of Friendship's horn began lighting up, her expression still unchanging. The three siren sisters shook with anger and fear at that. For a moment, Adagio's faced twisted into terror as the Princess of Friendship charged up her attack. But then Adagio regained her composure as Aria whispered into her ear a wonderful, terrible idea. Aria suddenly held up the obnoxious boy as a human shield. Twilight's composure slipped as she saw the Dazzlings put Turner in the line of fire. "Don't want to blast the boy, do you?!" Adagio gloated with a nasty smile. "ADAGIO!" Twilight bellowed in a rage, and clenched her fists, as did Rainbow. Twilight could get as angry as she wanted, but it wouldn't help her. Twilight had the power of an alicorn, but she was still not really used to this body, and didn't have as much control over her magic in it. Timmy was badly bruised and possibly had injuries she didn't know about out. Twilight bit her lip, trying to suppress her anger at that. Timmy was already in bad shape, and no matter how much she wanted to blast those monsters, she couldn't risk causing him any more pain. "Do it, Twilight!" Timmy yelled, his voice a pained wheeze, much to the shock of both the Rainbooms and the Dazzlings. "Just hit me. I'll be fine, just save Cosmo and Wna-," Timmy stopped as Aria covered his mouth with her hand. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Rainbow bellowed. The two flying Rainbrats tried to fly toward them to rescue the boy, only to be nearly blown away by Sonata's sonic blast. The two weren't hit, but being forced to dodge gave Aria enough time to run downstairs, Turner in hand, and her sisters to fly into the air, ready to battle two flying Rainbrats herself. "LET HIM-," Rainbow yelled, only for Sonata to plow into her with a yell. To her anger, Rainbow felt the earpiece in her ear fall out. Twilight tried to interfere, only for the poofy-haired siren to slam into her. Applejack and the others groaned she had to support all of her friends on her shoulders. Not being able to find a ladder tall enough to reach the glass orb on the ceiling, Applejack and her friends had to form a human ladder. Applejack, despite being a strong girl, strained under the weight of her friends. Above her was Pinkie Pie, who was the second strongest due to having to work in her parents' mines, Rarity, and finally Sunset who was trying to pluck the orb from the ceiling to free the fairies. "Can y'all...reach them," Applejack called out in a tired voice. "No," Sunset muttered in annoyance, trying to reach the orb and failing. It was so frustrating. She almost was able to reach the fairies. Almost able to get them within her grasp. But her fingers were just barely inches away from the orb. It was so frustrating how close she was, and yet so far away. The fairies were also frustrated by the situation. "Ah needs a break," Applejack muttered in exhaustion. With a sigh, everyone climbed off the apple farmer. "This is so nerve-wracking," Rarity muttered, her calm expression strained by how they couldn't reach the orb. But suddenly, Pinkie Pie starting jumping up and down with a happy smile on her face. Applejack looked at her excitable friend with annoyance. "What is it-?" "Look guys, bricks," Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily. The Rainbooms looked and saw a whole pile of them lying in the corner. "So," Sunset said. "If we use a brick, we can break the glass, free the fairies, save Timmy-Wimmy, and throw a 'we saved the day, party!' "Applejack and Rarity perked up, looking at Pinkie Pie with proud smiles. "That's,,,not a bad idea, actually," Rarity expressed. "Yer a genius, Pinkie Pie," Applejack said to her pink-haired friend with a proud expression on her face. She began walking over to the pile, ready to use a brick to free the poor trapped things, only for Sunset to stop them. "We can't use a brick." Three of the Rainbooms turned to Sunset, who looked skeptical about the whole idea. "We just can't!" Rarity looked at the fire-haired girl with concern. "Why is that, Darling?" "Because the glass might cut them?" Applejack inferred. "I can't live in a world where Rainbow Dash is right!" Sunset said, the very concept sounding sickening to her. Everyone glared at the former unicorn. "Alright," Sunset said with a sigh ,"we'll use a brick." She then looked at her friends sternly. "But Rainbow Dash can't kever now about this." Aria ran down the stairs, the bucktoothed brat in her arms. The boy struggled against her grasp. The boy was short and weak, so he couldn't break out of the second eldest siren's arms. But still, carrying around was a pain in the butt. Losing patience with the brown-haired moron, Aria slammed the boy against the wall. He let out a pained wheeze. Out of patience with the boy's disobedience, and needing to get back to the factory floor Aria decided on a desperate idea. While holding the boy still with one hand, Aria reached into her vest and pulled out another Medallion of Manipulation. Timmy began squirming even more, remembering with terror what the Medallion did his mind. In an act that combined, fear, hatred, and desperation, Timmy used his big buck teeth and viciously bit Aria on the arm. Aria let out a yell of pain and was forced to release the boy. Timmy tried to run away, but was tackled by the second eldest siren who lept on top of him. With an animalistic snarl, Aria viciously wailed on the boy, punching him several times in the face. The combined rage of being bitten, being insulted by the brat, and their plan for world domination coming under threat powered the punches. By the end of Timmy had several more bruises on his face, his nose was broken, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. The sheer joy she got from giving this brat so much punishment helped Aria calm down. With that, she bent down and placed the Medallion on his neck. Despite being savagely beaten, Timmy tried resist, feebly reaching for the psychic device in an attempt to pull it off. "No," he wheezed. "You-," Another slap across the face broke his resistance. With the Medallion secured, Aria lifted Timmy by his neck and pulled him to her face. "Everyone hates you Turner!" Aria snarled in a voice laden with spite. "THE SOONER YOU GET THAT THE BETTER!" The Medallion, as a psychic weapon, was no good for getting any emotional energy. But if he could get the boy under her control, he would be an easier hostage. She started squeezing his neck and cutting off his air to add to the pain. "NO ONE LIKES YOU! EVERYONE WANTS TO GET RID OF YOU! IF THEY HAD WISHES, YOUR PARENTS WOULD WISH YOU DIDN'T EXIST!" Her voice become a low, spiteful hiss. "The only reason why those midgets follow you around is because they have to." The Medallion began glowing and Aria's green negative energy also began flowing into the boy. After a few minutes of struggling, Timmy's eyes starting turning green. SHE'S RIGHT! NO ONE LIKES YOU! WHY DON'T YOU JUST- Timmy ran into his room crying. Vicky got him into trouble with his parents again. But his tears faded as Cosmo and Wanda pulled him into a big hug. They were sweeter than all the ice cream in the world. Don't listen her. She's lying because she wants hurt your feelings. Cosmo and Wanda love you! And they need you! To Aria's shock and fury, a small smile instead formed on Timmy's face. "WHAT ARE YOU SMILING ABOUT, BRAT?!" She bellowed, released the vice grip she had on his throat. "Cosmo and Wanda love me," the brown-haired boy chocked out in a voice that was both happy and spiteful, and eyes that were both joyful and defiant. "They've," he paused to let out a pained cough, "always loved me." Aria couldn't help but be amazed. Despite the pain, despite the agony, despite having a horrible medallion on his neck, Timmy could still smile. Aria didn't want to admit it, but Adagio was right. This boy had the potential to be a mighty warrior in Sirenia. He had outsmarted adults bigger and stronger then him, nearly kicked their butts, and now was smiling despite the pain she was putting him through. If only they he weren't some bratty wimp who- Aria was pulled from her brief bout of resepect by hearing noise from the factory floor. She moved over to the windows that overlooked the area from a few stories up and her jaw dropped in horror. Four of the Rainbooms had gotten past the Doom lady and were trying to free the fairies from the glass orb. Timmy smiled brightly at this and tried to yell, only for Aria to put a hand over his mouth. Aria growled in anger, before her eyes widened. Then a sinister smirk on her face as she saw the giant ball that hung from the ceiling. "I think I figured out a way to deal with those pesky Rainbrats once and for all," Aria hissed. She then turned the boy with a devious smile. "And you're going to be a big help." Timmy's brief hope was replaced with anxiety. In the air above the old factory, a siren princess and a pony princess traded blows and blasts. The Princess of Friendship tried to blast the head siren with her horn, but Adagio kept dodging, all with a mocking smile that tore at Twilight's composure. "Oh you almost got me," Adagio gloated as she continued evade more and more blasts. "Why don't you just give me a dumb friendship speech? It's the only thing you know how to do." Twilight just responded with another angry blast that the orange haired siren dodged. Twilight had no friendship speech to give Adagio. She had no thoughts of making any friends right now. The only thing the Princess of Harmony and Friendship was thinking about right now was how she was going to go to the deepest pit of Tartarus, dig the pit even deeper, and dump the Dazzlings there when she was done with them. She was even considering the Discord option and have them turned to stone. No, Twilight had no room for compassion, mercy, or even pity in her soul at this moment. Princess Twilight Virgo Sparkle wasangry. She never felt so much anger and desire to hurt another being since Tirek destroyed her library and threatened to kill her friends. If Twilight had all of the Princess' other magic right now, she would've reduced Adagio to ashes, no questions asked. This-this witch and her awful sisters had done so many terrible things. No, not just terrible. Criminal. Using dark magic on children, kidnapping, assualting a minor, nearly throwing an innocent girl to her death, breaking a deranged criminal out of prison, and larceny of pink hats. She was mostly sure some of the things these sirens did were illegal under human law, but anyone of these things could get a pony banished from Equestria, or sent to a dungeon, or sent to a dungeon wherever they have been banished. But all of these at once- But she wasn't just angry over their crimes. She was angry because these three foul beings had violated something very core to her being: friendship. Sunset's mission with Timmy started out with trying to save a child from corruptive magic that make him into a threat to public safety. But along with that mission, Sunset found another, more worthy mission: giving friendship and love to a troubled and lonely child. Nothing could've shown Sunset's growth as a person more than how she becoming caring and protective toward her new charge, and Twilight was proud of her for that. And the Rainbooms and the other students of Canterlot High also showed Timmy love and compassion he so desperately needed. And these sea monsters stomped on it. They exposed Sunset's dark past to Timmy in the worst possible way, used it to frame Sunset and the other's care for Timmy as a farce, lied to him, and exploited his insecurities and weaknesses in order to have their magic restored. Even when Sunset proved her innocence to the boy, the three still managed to poison the relationship between Timmy and Sunset. And how did the Dazzlings repay the boy and his fairies? Using their dark magic on them, turning his friends and families against him, treating him like a meal ticket and a servant, using him as a puppet to enact a final revenge against the Rainbooms, and finally kidnapping his magical companions and throwing him away like garbage and leaving him in tears when he refused to do their bidding anymore. And what they had done to those fairies- Twilight didn't know much about Cosmo and Wanda. But what little she did know initially didn't paint a very good impression of them at first. They both commanded incredibly power magic and were quite ruthless in how they dealt with the issues in Timmy's life: dumping garbage on people, dropping meteors on trucks, turning people into worms, and making everyone forget Sunset's redemption. Twilight could understand why Sunset wanted them taken away from Timmy, even if it was partly due to a grudge. The fairies and Timmy were both incredibly irresponsible in how they acted and could pose a threat to public safety when they were sufficiently provoked. But then Twilight noticed Timmy's horrible despair after they had been ripped away from him and the photo album that showed Timmy and his fairies being so happy together. Twilight put 2 and 2 together and realized what they were: a scared family trying to protect one another from the monsters that threatened them. Those fairies loved him like he was their child, and Timmy loved them like they were his parents. That impression was only confirmed when Timmy finally stood up to the Dazzlings. Those witches tried to blackmail Timmy by threatening to have his fairies taken away. They tried to indoctrinate him into their horrible beliefs. But Timmy didn't take the bait and violently refused. And he did so because he didn't want to see the beings he loved imprisoned forever and being reduced to nothing but a source of magical might. There was no greater statement of one's love for someone then giving them up if it meant protecting them. For all of Timmy's faults, the love he had for his fairies was genuine and pure. And these monsters attacked him over it. Twilight would defend the boy no matter what. She would save his fairy friends and reunite them with him. Not just because it was the right to do, or because she cared for Timmy. But because Timmy proved he was worthy of power and worthy of friendship. Rainbow hovered in front of the youngest siren, preparing to throw down with her."Alright Sonata," Rainbow snarled, "let's go!" "OK," the blue-haired siren said with a shrug. "But first I need some tacos." She pulled out some hot sauce packets from her pocket and tried to open them. Emphasis on the word "tried." "Ehh," Sonata grunted, failing to open something as simple as a packet. Rainbow rolled her eyes in disbelief at Sonata's inepititude. It seemed almost unfair to beat her up. This girl was a ditz after all. But then she remembered having to save Trixie Tang from falling to her doom. Rainbow didn't care much for that girl on a personal level. She was a snob who rejected Timmy's genuine, if somewhat creepy, advances, and chose to hang out with a bunch of rich jerks who cheated their way to the top. But the Tang girl, for all her faults, didn't at all deserve to be thrown off a building. And while it was Adagio's decision, Sonata didn't even show hint of remorse at the action. Ditz or not, Sonata was still an accomplice in that, along with the other horrible things her sisters had done. In fact, the fact that she could be silly while horrible things just made her so much worse, because she thought they were normal. Her last bits of hesistation fading, Rainbow flew toward the siren, ready to bring on the hurt. Sonata continued trying wrench the packet open with her teeth, oblivious to the angry athlete flying toward her. "Dashie," Sonata asked, gesturing the packet in the direction of the rainbow-haired girl while squeezing it between her index finger and thumb, "could you please open the sauce packet for me?" Rainbow's eyes narrowed in anger. "Oh, I'll open something. I'm about to open up a can off,-" suddenly the packet burst open under Sonata's grasp, and the sauce flew right into Dash's eyes, temporarily blinding her and causing her to crash into a nearby building with a yell. "YAY!" Sonata exclaimed happily. "Thank you Dashie!" "My eyes!" Rainbow shrieked, trying to rub the burning sauce out of her eyes. "My beautiful eyes!" "Can you help me with more taco stuff?" Sonata asked innocently as she flew to Rainbow. Twilight blasted Adagio with lavender colored blasts. Or tried to. Every time she blasted, the siren princess simply dodged out of the way with incredible speeds. The blasts were powerful enough, but they were poorly aimed. "Congratulations, you almost got me that time," Adagio mocked, before letting out a sonic blast that Princess Twilight barely dodged. Key word being "barely." While Adagio was weaker than Twilight magically, even with Cosmo and Wanda's magic powering her, she was far more agile. Twilight, in a rage, tried to let out another magical blast, only to overshoot it. It sailed past Adagio and crashed into a nearby street, much to her horror. "Oh," the Princess Twilight squeaked in shame. "I hope I didn't hit anyone." Denzel Crocker drove his magical surveilleance van down the street. Using his non-broken arm, he steered his van to some abandoned factory. "If my readings are correct," Crocker purred with excitement as he watched the readings on a screen he installed into the dashboard, "there is a magical event happening in this veryi instant." Crocker pulled over and lept out, still on crutches. "With any luck, I shall encounter magic-,"Denzel paused as he saw a massive purple light coming from near the roof. "Oh poopie!" Crocker muttered in fear before being fried with magic. Denzel stood in a daze. "Curses," he muttered, before collapsing. Adagio took advantage of Princess Twilight's brief bout of guilt to unleash another sonic blast. This time, Princess Twilight couldn't dodge out of the way, and was nicked on her leg. "AHHH!" Princess Twilight screamed. The pony princess grabbed her leg. Princess Twilight tried, and failed, to suppress a sob and a pant. "Oh what's the matter?" Adagio asked in the faux-sympathetic voice while floating in front of her, "getting tried already? We've only been fighting for a few minutes." Princess Twilight let out another magic blast, but Adagio dodged it easily. Adagio floated back, and to the Princess of Friendship's frustration, Adagio didn't look at all winded."I guess that's what happens when you float around in a body you're not used to in a world you just don't belong?" The Princess of Friendship hate to admit it, but the siren was right. Magic wasn't just about the power you had. Magic was as much about the brain as it was about the body. In order to perform a spell, you had to properly imagining yourself performing one. A unicorn had to imagine himself or herself as unicorn in order to perform a spell. Alicorns had far more power, but the principle was the same: in order to tame your magic, you had to properly imagine yourself performing it. If Twilight was in her alicorn body, she would've knocked Adagio down easily, because she was in her natural form. But Twilight Sparkle was in a human body. And try as she could, the pony princess couldn't imagine herself as a human performing magic. Princess Twilight hadn't spent enough time in this world to be able to see herself as a two-legged human. The longest she stayed as a human was the week she spent dating Flash after the Dazzlings had been defeated. Sure, she'd learn to walk on two legs, grab things with hands, eat with a fork and knife, and use the technology. But this body still felt foreign to her. Like she was wearing the skin of another creature and it didn't quite fit. And so she couldn't perform her magic properly in it. For the same reason, she couldn't really fly so fast in her current form. She was still a flying novice in her normal body, and she was even less skilled as a human. Adagio, meanwhile, had spent almost a millenia in her human body. She'd been human for far longer than she'd been a sea creature, and had adapted to it. Adagio could imagine herself as a human performing magic, because that's what she had been for centuries. She could fly around as one. She could fight as one. "No, you and your dumb ponies have always enjoyed your happy little lives in your happy little homes and your happy little kingdom," Adagio continued in the same conversational, but dark, tone while throwing another blast at her. Princess Twilight barely dodged that one, letting out another pant as well. To her growing terror, Princess Twilight realized why Adagio could speak so calmly: because she was so confident, so powerful, so strong, while the Princess was becoming weaker and weaker. "You've always had magic, and alicorns, and rainbow lasers to protect you. But all that peace has cost you your strength, and victory has defeated you." Adagio narrowed her eyes. "Look at you. Two minutes in, and you already want to call it quits." Twilight, out of fear, tried to make a retreat. She flapped her wings tiredly, only for Adagio to crash into her and spin her around. Adagio's face was cold, merciless, and driven, Twilight, out of fear, defensively put up her arms around her face, but it did her no good. Twilight felt the wind leave her guts as a massive fist embedded itself into her stomach. Before she could get her bearings, she felt another first slam into her face and then a hand yank her by her hair. Once Rainbow had rubbed the sauce out of her eyes, she found her pony friend being beaten up by the older siren. In her rage, Dash tried to fly over and and save Twilight, only for the youngest siren to start floating towards her, cooking something taco in a skillet...despite not having any kind of oven. "Dashie, you want some tacos?" Before Dash could respond, the taco went flying into her face, burning it. "AHHH!" The rainbow haired girl yelled, her forehead searing in pain. "Ah come on," Sonata whined to Rainbow, "I tried my best." "See Princess," the eldest siren hissed as she beat on the pony princess even more. Princess Twilight tried to fight back, but even as a pony, she wasn't skilled at direct physical combat. "Once you've been robbed of your precious castle, your servants, and your rainbow powers, you're nothing but a weak, little filly!" Adagio yanked Twilight by her shirt and slammed her fist into the side of her head. "Me, I've spent a thousand years exiled from my own home, my family, from my birthright and my chance at glory because of that stupid wizard!" She slammed other fist into Princess Twilight's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. "Banished to a magic-less world and left to starve. Being hunted, persecuted, despised, and chased by these humans for the simple crime of having magic!" Adagio slammed a knee into Princess Twilight's stomach. "Denied any chance at power and wealth for being who I am! While you and your stupid ponies and these pathetic have been LIVING IT UP! AND I REFUSE TO STARVE!" Despite her pain, Twilight couldn't help but notice the sheer rage and pain in Adagio's voice as she screamed at her. And, admittedly, Adagio was...kind of right. Twilight did have a better life than almost any other pony: she had a loving family, the best foalsitter ever, a baby dragon who loved her, and the best teacher ever. She'd gone from being the apprentice of a princess to being princess herself. And she had taken those things for granted; over-relying on the Elements of Harmony, her superior magic, and luck to get her way. She was often so driven to complete a goal, she could ignore logic and morality to do it. Heck, she brainwashed an entire town just so she could write a friendship report. Even after loosening up a bit, she could still get angry and throw a fit when things weren't going her way. It was why she was in her current predicament. She'd basically ordered her human friends to spy on, manipulate, and deceive a ten year old child, and she didn't consider that he wouldn't like the fact that Sunset and her friends only befriended him for the purpose of ripping a magical artifact away from him. Twilight just assumed a total stranger who didn't know about her reputation would accept those actions. Looking back, she realized Timmy did have a good reason to run away from her. And Twilight could understand why Adagio was so angry. While Princess Twilight could understand why Starswirl had the sirens , the part of her felt that it was a bit unfair for Starswirl to not offer them a hoof of friendship and rob them of their home completely. Twilight herself had been scared and nervous when she ended up in the human world. Even knowing she had a way back, Twilight was fearful about not having magic, friends, or the Princesses by her side. The Dazzlings, meanwhile, were dumped into that world without a way to come back, and with no one to turn to. Anyone would get angry over that. And robbing them of their magic was also something Twilight didn't wish to happen. But Twilight had no sympathy left for Adagio. She remembered what she had told her Canterlot High friends when they tried to defend Timmy's misbehavior: being surrounded by terrible people and having terrible experiences didn't give a person a right to be terrible. The Sirens may have had bad breaks in life, but in their choice to bring misery and hate wherever they went. Starswirl may have been harsh, but he was rightfully defending his land from three sirens who wanted to tear it apart. Even after being blasted with Elements of Harmony, even after the Princess of Friendship had offered the three a hand in friendship, the Sirens still chose do even more horrible things. They chose to torment a buck-toothed boy and their fairies, chose to beat him to a pulp, chose to deceive him, and chose to hurt the girl he had a crush on. While Princess Twilight may not be the most socially astute individual, Twilight knew that underneath the rage in Adagio's voice, was a temper tantrum thrown by an angry little brat who was mad about not getting her way. That's all the Dazzlings cared about: getting their way. Adagio never accepted any responsibility for how her life turned out, instead just blaming her hardships on everyone else, and envying others for having a better life. She had shown zero remorse or regret for any of the horrible things she and her sisters did, even trying to justify their actions to Timmy with the "I want to build a better world" speech, but Twilight knew that whatever tyrants existed in this world, the sirens only cared about being the new tyrants. Timmy knew that too. The boy had seen right through their self-serving justifications and rationalizations and realized that their "better world" was built on torment and imprisonment of two beings he cared for, and he would not stand for that. That's what made the little guy a hero to Twilight. Twilight knew being a hero wasn't about being perfect: everyone made a mistake, but a hero could admit they were wrong, make amends, and learn to do better. That's what made Sunset a hero in the end. Timmy, for all his faults, could sacrifice having magic to protect those he cared about. Knowing this, Twilight decided she had enough of this little brat and her head games. Adagio threw a punch, but saw it was blocked by the glaring Princess. With her other arm, the Princess of Friendship yanked Adagio by the scruff of her neck, much to the shock of the eldest siren. Twilight may not be strong, but she had adrenaline and righteous rage coursing through her. With the siren caught off guard and at close range, she lit up her horn, and prepared to make the siren pay. But suddenly her hair had been yanked. It appeared the siren had not been so stunned and managed to use her free hand. Slamming her elbow into her head, Adagio jerked Twilight's head in the direction of Rainbow. Twilight tried to stop her magical attack from being unleashed, but then the siren tickled her horn, activating a reflex that set off her horn. The blast was fired toward Rainbow, who was rubbing her face, ignorant of the magical energy coming her way. "RAINBOW!" Twilight billowed. The prism-haired girl tried to turn around but it was too late. Rainbow was blasted with the full brunt of alicorn combat magic and yelled in agony as her body was fried. When it was over, Rainbow was smoking. After letting out a wet cough of pain, Rainbow lost consciousness and fell to the ground. "Rainbow," Twilight muttered tearfully, upset at what she did. Twilight found herself being put into a painful headlock by the siren princess. Twilight tried to budge, but she couldn't. She was too tired, and had exhausted the last of her magical reserves with that blast. "Sonata," Adagio said, her voice brimming with joy over what she did, "be a good little sister and help me deal with thispesky little princess." "Sure," the blue-haired siren muttered, and began flying over with a nasty grin on her face. With that, Adagio resumed her beatings. Twilight tried to fight back, but she couldn't. With the adrenaline gone, the Princess of Friendship couldn't pull another sneak attack and felt the pain course through her body. She couldn't fight a siren in hand to hand combat, let alone two. The younger siren flew behind her and grabbed her by her hips while Adagio pinned her place with her arms. Adagio smiled her demented smirk as she prepared one last full on sonic attack. Had the two siren sisters not been so focused on dealing with Princess Twilight, they might have noticed someone coming back to catch Rainbow. They might have also noticed the sound of many flapping wings. But they failed to notice and were caught off guard when someone yelled "ATTACK!" Suddenly a whole flock of birds, mostly pidgeons, slammed into Sonata, carrying her away with a yell much to Adagio's shock. Adagio turned and saw another group of birds flying toward her. They hit her like a tsunami, seperating from the pony princess. They all bit and pecked at her. Adagio tried to regain her bearings, only to see something else flying toward her. "YOU BIG....DUMB....MEANIE!" Fluttershy slammed into the siren like a missile, screeching like a madwoman, and slamming her fist into Adagio's gut. Adagio tried to fight back, but the birds kept painfully pecking at her face. Adagio couldn't protect her eyes and fight the animal lover at once. "Say hello to my little friends," Fluttershy sneered, before raising her fists, and driving her knuckles into Adagio's face. POW!