//------------------------------//
// Searching The Ruins 
// Story: The Siren Song: Razzle Dazzle 
// by Shadowmane PX-41 
//------------------------------//

"Whoa..." Rainbow Dash said as she gazed down into the Pit Of Lyrics. She could see all the damaged that had been caused by The Dazzlings. Buildings and roads lied in completely disarray, whilst what looked like a temple was completely beyond fixing. "So this is where The Dazzlings found their songs..."

"Talk about a hole in the ground..." Applejack said as she looked down into the ruins of the Pit Of Lyrics. She could see that this once used to be a wonderfully flourishing city. If not for the fact that it was all in ruins, this place would have made a rather beautiful home. Even more beautiful than Canterlot itself.

"So... Why's it all crushy-looking?" Pinkie asked as she looked at the wreckage of the once-floating city.

"The Dazzlings' Hippocampi forms were mistaken for Dragons, causing all the ponies in the Pit Of Lyrics to panic and hide," Twilight explained, remembering what Sunset had been telling her. "Because no-one was keeping the city afloat, it fell to the abyss below us..."

"Seriously? How could ponies mistake Sirens for Dragons?" Rainbow Dash asked, curious to know how ponies could have made such a rookie mistake.

"Even I don't know how they could have made such a blunder..." Twilight said, still wondering how The Dazzlings could have possibly been mistaken for Dragons, especially since Hippocampi looked nothing like Dragons. "Such a shame, when you think about it..."

"Well, how are we possibly going to get down there to find anything?" Rarity said, gazing down the pit into what looked like at least a 100-foot drop. "If we jump down, we could end up fracturing all of our bones in the process. And believe me, you do not want to see me in a cast. They're just so tacky nowadays!"

"If I try using magic to lower each of you down, it would take too much time and would make me exhaust myself," Twilight began pointing out another way that they wouldn't be able to get down. "And trying to bring that entire city back up with my magic might prove far too much of a challenge for all of us combined."

"So what DO we do, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash started to get a little impatient. She knew that there would be something of critical importance down there and wasn't about to give up on their little quest. "I didn't come all this way, just to have to give up and head home!"

"I know, Rainbow Dash! I'm thinking!" Twilight said as she shuffled through a number of options in her mind. There were a lot of far-fetched options that would get them into the ruins, but eventually, her brain finally clicked and she found the perfect plan. "That's it! It's so obvious now."

"What is it, Twilight?" Fluttershy decided to ask, looking at Twilight's sudden burst of knowledge with a smile on her face. "Have you finally found us a way in?"

"I have. But you might feel a little light-headed afterwards..." Twilight said as she gathered the group together by flexing her hoof to all five of her friends. Once they were all together, Twilight lit up her horn and prepared a spell. "This is gonna be rough..."

Twilight's concentration intensified, enabling her magic to flow even more freely. She closed her eyes and let her magic stream forth, wrapping the six of them in a ring of magenta energy. Once they were sealed by the ring, they were all consumed in a bright purple flash and disappeared.

The next thing the Mane 6 knew, they were at the ruins. That last spell had teleported the six of them to the bottom of the pit, where they could clearly see all the destruction that had occurred when The Dazzlings left this place for dead. They could see some remnants of gold, lining the walls of the many different structures that used to be. The streets they stood on were in no better shape, cracked and broken into many segments with the impact of the ground underneath them.

"Ooh... Where am ah? Did ah take a few apples ta the head again?" Applejack asked when they'd arrived from the flash. The after effects of teleportation had left her rather dizzy and disoriented.

"It felt like going through a washing machine to me..." Rarity said, shaking her head to try and get a good grasp on herself after that little trip she'd taken with Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6. "Remind me to never get that powerful..."

"Aww, come on, Rarity! It's not that bad after a few times." Pinkie said, laughing once she'd finally regained her sense of balance and direction. "In fact, after massive amounts of trial and error, you can actually have fun by being dizzy and confused. I know this, because I kinda threw myself up to the ceiling fans a few times and had fun whilst riding them. However, it does kinda hurt when I get thrown off at the end, but hey! One more reason to enjoy fun things like this, right?"

"Pinkie, how can you enjoy such a thing like this?" Fluttershy showed concerns for Pinkie as she shook off the last of her teleportation dizziness. "It feels like being bombarded by explosions. Oh, I could never undergo such an experience like that again..."

"Alright, girls. Stop messing around," Twilight said, getting all the girls to finally stop their complaining and dizziness and get them focused on her in general. "We're here. The Pit Of Lyrics..."

"Oh my, such a marvellous city we have here..." Rarity said, admiring the ruins of what used to be a city that floated purely by song alone. "Such amazing architectural detail, astoundingly well-woven tapestries and gold-lined buildings? Why, it would be a crime to leave this place ruined. Once this whole ordeal with The Blasters is over, I was thinking we could try and restore this ancient city to what it used to be. Sounds like a plan, right?"

"Maybe someday, Rarity..." Twilight said, looking at all the ruined structures and seeing that there might be some chance to restore it, given a lot of dedication and a large amount of magic work done on it. "Maybe someday..."

"Whoa... It's even more ruiny-wuiny up close then it was back up there." Pinkie said as she looked closer at all the ruins. And by closely, she actually put her eyes on all the destroyed buildings and wrecked roads. To any other pony, that would be painful. But Pinkie was Pinkie, so she felt no pain from putting her eyes on the wrecked buildings.

"Well they ARE ruins, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said, stating the obvious for the pink mare with pink hair. The deadpan tone in Rainbow's voice knew that Pinkie Pie was becoming rather obnoxious by saying obvious things that she already know. "They're supposed to be ruined."

"So, Twilight. Where do ya'll think we'll be able ta find clues on how ta defeat The Blasters?" Applejack asked as she looked around the different parts of the city with curious looks in her eyes. She could see that the girls would be able to get something out of this, but the question nagging her now was where would they find them?

"Well, if this place is focused primarily on music and Lyrica was a world made with music, then it should only be logical that there should be information somewhere that connects to what ponies knew about Lyrica." Twilight explained, pointing out some very logical information for Applejack.

"Well, if information's where yer headed, ah think that the library would be the most suitable choice ta begin with," Applejack said, pointing to a collapsed building with a book dangling from a pole on the top. "Even though it looks like it'd made any librarian cringe, ah'd say that the best bet on learnin' about Sirens would be in there."

"Alright then, come on, girls. We've got some books to find," Twilight said as she got the other members of the Mane 6 to regroup at her position so that they could all go into the library together. "Now then, Pit Of Lyrics. Let's see what we can find inside your library..."





The inside of the library was in one of the worst states imaginable. The roof was missing, bookcases were crushed and what seemed like an underground segment had been completely caved in after the city had fallen down to the earth. All that remained of the wrecked library were a few bookcases and all the books that hadn't been destroyed or damaged.

Twilight showed a great deal of sympathy for the destroyed library, repressing memories of the destruction of the Golden Oaks Library back in Ponyville. All those books, all that knowledge, destroyed by three Furen Sirens who nearly defeated her and her Human World friends.

"Sweet Celestia..." she said, quickly running over to some of the destroyed books and pressing them against her head. She could have learned a great deal about this place, if not for all the destruction that had happened over the course of the past few eons.

"The Dazzlings caused all this?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at Twilight shed a few tears as she stroked some of the wrecked books.

"Well, I guess that's another thing to add to the list of reasons they had to be brought to justice." Rarity said, looking at the collapsed parts of the library. They were deemed unreachable for ponies who couldn't fly or use magic.

"Hold on, girls. There might still be some pieces of knowledge left..." Twilight said, using her magic to levitate most of the other books off of the bookcases. Once they were all off, Twilight encased herself in a sphere of hardback books, opening pages with merely a thought. She then levitated some of the other books to her friends, in equal stacks of fifteen. "Everypony, take some books and try finding something connected to Lyrica, King Allure, Furens and Blissens or at the very least, confirmation that the place exists."

The other girls took the books and began reading through them.

Pinkie Pie just opened up the book and planted her face straight on the first cover of the book, as if she wasn't even trying.

Rarity took out reading glasses from her saddlebags and put them square on her face. Once her glasses were on in a rather comfortable fashion for her, Rarity began reading the contents of the first book she'd been given.

Rainbow Dash opened up one book and quickly closed it after reading at least one sentence. It wasn't like her Daring Do books, where she actually had a story to follow. No, it was more like Twilight was asking her to study her way for once, which wasn't Rainbow's type of education at all.

Fluttershy and Applejack were reading their stacks together, trying to find something together. They both read the words in their heads and smiled once they'd both looked at each other after each paragraph.

The six of them were deep into their study ventures before long, reading some very vital stuff. All apart from Rainbow Dash, who was hoping that some of the other ponies would fill her in with the details once it was all over. But beside that, the other ponies were learning a great deal of the Pit Of Lyrics and Lyrica.





"Well, that was easy," Sonata said once The Dazzlings walked out of the classroom behind a group of other kids. They'd made it through that English lesson relatively quickly and had learned a great deal about sentences from Babs Seed. "I don't even know why I was worried earlier."

"What do you have to worry about, Sonny?" Aria asked, putting a hand on Sonata's shoulder once they were back together in the halls. "We're all in this together, as sisters. No matter where we sit in class, we're never apart from each other."

"And when you think about it, it's like we're all sitting together, in our imaginations," Adagio said, giving Sonata even more confidence for the rest of the classes they had for the day. "And with something like that in your head, you'll never ever have to feel worried again..."

"Thanks, Dagi." Sonata smiled as she looked at Adagio with a smile. Whenever things were scary for Sonata, she merely remembered that Adagio and Aria were right here with her. With that thought running through her head, Sonata had no reason to be worried.

The three of them made their way outside for what they had heard was 'Recess'. They could immediately see many of the things they saw from when they were sitting in the car.

Many of the kids they saw were playing on metallic frames, hitting tetherballs and were seen on see-saws. They all seemed to be having fun and showed no worries or concerns whatsoever.

"Wow... It's even more wonderful than I thought it would be..." Sonata said as she marvelled at the wonders of the playground that she, Adagio and Aria would be spending the next few years playing in.

"Yeah, it truly is, isn't it?" a boy walked up to the three of them, taller than the Dazzlings. He seemed harmless, beside the dark clothing and slick hairstyle. He held out his hand for The Dazzlings."Name's Topaz, leader of the Kids of Shadows in sixth grade."

"Nice to meet you, Topaz." Sonata said, being the first to shake Topaz's hand. She received a smile in return and allowed Aria and Adagio to introduce themselves. "My name's Sonata Dusk, but you can call me Sonata. This is Adagio, and this is Aria."

"Nice to see you all, girls," Topaz shook their hands rather welcomingly. He was quite a sucker for pretty faces like the ones that The Dazzlings bore. He saw no reason to harm them for the time being. "Now then, I don't like to take up much of many kids' time, but I'm the head of a rather special group of kids here at the school."

"The Kids of Shadows. You told us." Aria said, saying in a rather deadpan voice what Topaz had told her earlier.

"Yeah, anyways, I'm just gonna cut to the chase here. We're having a special initiation ceremony for some of the best of the best here at the school," he said, handing The Dazzlings three envelopes with black corners. Then he pointed over to what looked like a large climbing frame. "Meet me and the others under the fort after lunch. I'll be waitin, K?"

"Okay. Sounds like fun." Adagio said as she looked at the envelope she'd been handed. It had a little picture of someone shushing something in the middle of a black spot. "I'll be there. What about you, sisters?"

"Well... I don't really know about that..." Sonata said, looking a little concerned as she gazed at all the black parts of the envelope. She could tell that black reminded her of the dark and that she'd grown a little fear of the unknown, especially after Sunset had scared her on Halloween a few years ago.

"Aww, come on, Sonny! It'll be fun!" Aria said, trying to perk Sonata up once more. Even though she could see that Sonata was a little worried by that invitation handed to her by a total stranger, she tried the best to make Sonata feel at ease with herself. "We'll be right here with you, just like we told you."

"And besides, this whole Kids of Shadows thing sounds kinda fun, to be honest," Adagio said, showing Sonata her envelope and all the little details that Sonata might have missed. "I mean, they're all gonna be kids like us. So why should we be worrying about it? It'll be a great chance to make some friends!"

"But Dagi, we don't even know Topaz!" Sonata said, trying to throw in some of her practicality into the conversation. "He might be trying to prank us..."

"Still, it doesn't hurt to give it a shot, right?" Adagio said, as Aria walked next to her.

"So what do you say, Sonata?" Aria asked as she outstretched her hand for the childish Furen.

Sonata was still debating it in her head. On one hand, there was the possibility that this whole Kids of Shadows thing would be fun and a great way to make friends. But on the other hand, Sonata was still seeing a little bit of doubt in what she'd just heard. It could have been a prank, all the same.

"Okay, Dagi. I'll try." Sonata said, eventually coming to a decision. She was going to try this whole Kids of Shadows thing out with Adagio and Aria.

"Good to hear, Sonny," Adagio said as the three of them walked through the playground together, looking for something to occupy their time before the bell went. "Now then, what should we do before our next lesson..."





Meanwhile, back in the Pit Of Lyrics, Twilight and friends were still going through page after page of books. It seemed that their ventures into studying bore absolutely no fruit whatsoever. They'd learned an awful lot of stuff about the Pit Of Lyrics, but nothing involving Lyrica.

"Uggh! How much longer do we have to do this?" Rainbow Dash complained as she looked at all the books that were still unchecked. She counted at least thirty-five more books for the girls to read through. "It's almost going to be sundown soon..."

"Patience is a virtue, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said as she finally showed her face, only to shoot a death-glare at Rainbow Dash for a few minutes before covering it back up with the sphere of hardbacks. "And besides, I think we're almost there..."

"Even I have to agree with Rainbow Dash here, Twilight. We're getting absolutely nowhere with this little charade," Rarity said, adding on her opinions to the matter at hand. "We've read at least half of the books you gave us and none of them bore any fruit on the knowledge of Lyrica and the Siren species."

"I know, I know! I'm searching as fast as I can!" Twilight said, casting another spell through her frustration. It caused a wave of magenta energy spread out through what were the ruins of the library.

All of the Mane 6 could feel the violet wave of energy emanating from Twilight's orb of books. They immediately stopped what they were doing and dropped all the books that they were holding. Twilight's book orb collapsed in on itself, half-burying Twilight in paper and hardback covers.

The wave had hit all the books and made giant purple figures of another language appear above the heads of all six of the ponies. They looked up and saw Twilight's horn was being used by itself, decoding the message for the three of them.

"What is that?" Applejack asked as she looked at the message clear itself up and translate itself into a language that the Mane 6 understood.

"It looks like ancient Siren language, being decoded into Equestrian for all of us..." Twilight said as the message finally stopped translating itself into something as clear as the daylight. Once it was done, Twilight read the message aloud: "Under the Siren's gaze, Lyrica is lost. Under an Alicorn's gaze, it is returned. Go to the temple and realign the stars, before all of your time is burned..."

"So... I'm guessing the temple's where we're headed next?" Rainbow Dash asked as she looked at the finished message.

"Looks like it." Twilight said as she saw the message vanish from sight, before reappearing in the form of a little paper. She picked it up and tied it around her hoof, so she wouldn't forget it whilst they were at the temple.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Such a chance to go to a ruined temple should not go to waste," Rarity said, leading the group out of the library and back onto the ruined streets. "Why, I can simply envision the temple now. Regal tapestries, marvellous architecture, simply divine astral projections..."

The group walked down the street until they made it to a massive amount of rubble and debris. There was no doubt about it, this was the temple of the Pit Of Lyrics, only now, it looked more like a pancake of rubble and dust than a temple. There used to be a balcony, but it looked like it had been broken off completely when the pit fell to the earth after The Dazzlings attacked it.

"Oh. Well, this is simply an atrocity against regality!" Rarity said, huffing much like a lady as she saw the wreckage of what she thought would be a regal sanctum for ponies to keep the place floating. "Twilight, activate your horn. We are fixing this disaster right now!"

"Alright then." Twilight said, knowing that Rarity would have none of it if her words were declined.

The two lit up their horns and used their combined magic on all of the pieces of the destroyed temple. Once the two got a good stream of magic going, they put their horns together, creating a blue and purple stream of energy which created a massive spectral clock in the middle of a splash of magic.

The clock ticked backwards and made a rather bizarre spectral noise. As it did, the girls could faintly hear the sound of time reversing itself. After the noise had stopped, all the pieces of the temple had their time streams reversed, so that they were re-assembling themselves into the temple that used to be.

Once all the pieces had re-formed the initial structure, there was a massive flash of white light. This occurrence blinded the Mane 6 for a brief instant. Once their eyes readjusted, they saw a truly marvellous sight.

"There. Much better." Rarity said as she admired the temple that she and Twilight had just repaired. It was at least five stories tall and had an astrology tower. The rest of the building was rather sturdy, with marble walls and a golden frame. The balcony was back in its' initial place and the doors were wide open for the Mane 6 to walk inside.

"Come on, girls. We need to pick up the pace," Twilight said as all six of the equines walked inside the temple. "We need to realign the stars so that we can find something to beat The Blasters..."