"Well, we're certainly going to find out something about the Sirens here..." Twilight said as she looked at how otherworldly this place looked on the inside. There were pillars at the each corner of the entrance, each one housing what looked like the magic of pure music. The carpet looked like a treble clef and had a variety of different colours woven in every stitch.
"My oh my, this place is the pinnacle of pure beauty..." Rarity said as she admired all the reconstructed sections of the temple she'd recreated with Twilight. She was awestruck by all the beauty and smiled at every little detail that was used in the castle. "Let's just see Suri try to copy any of this..."
"Focus, girls. We're not here to admire the place. We're here because the riddle that was handed down to us will give us a way into Lyrica, enabling us to study the Siren species..." Twilight reminded the Mane 6 on the goal at hand. "If we can learn about Lyrica and the Sirens straight from the heart, then we'd be able to find all the strengths and weaknesses of any and all Sirens that resided there..."
"I have a question, Twilight," Fluttershy asked as the six of them started to climb up the stairs to an astrology chamber so they could realign the stars. "What about The Blasters? I mean that if they have freedom of travel, then they might be waiting in Lyrica to attack us..."
That got Twilight to stop and freeze on the spot. She hadn't accounted for The Blasters anticipating her arrival in Lyrica. She then started to debate a number of outcomes that might essentially happen if they do open up a portal to Lyrica. On one hand, she could find that The Blasters are either in Equestria or the Human world, harvesting energy for themselves. But on the other hand, she could envision them waiting for them on the other side of the portal. She was torn between answers and couldn't come up with a verbal response for that.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked another question, seeing that the purple Alicorn had completely frozen up in place.
"Huh?" Twilight said, snapping out of her train of thought. "Oh, nothing, Fluttershy. I've just been thinking about what you just said..."
"Don't worry about it, Twilight. Even if they decide to ambush us when we arrive, I'm sure we'd be able to take them out pretty quickly," Rainbow Dash said, performing martial arts with her hooves for a few moments. "We'll give those Blasters a beatdown they'd never even see coming!"
"Ah agree with Rainbow Dash here. After the Tirek crisis, ah reckon there's nothin' we can't beat," Applejack said, showing a surprisingly high amount of confidence. "Why, ah'm sure that with all our power, The Blasters'll be on their knees beggin' fer mercy."
"And besides, those gemstones that a Siren wears would be a most wonderful addition to my collection..." Rarity said, remembering that Siren Pendants were gemstones hanging from a leather collar. "Why, if I could learn to duplicate such a audacious piece of ruby and sapphire, I'd become one of the most successful dressmakers in all of Equestria!"
"So, whaddaya say, Twilight? Think we can handle one last battle together?" Pinkie Pie asked as the others now looked at her with smiles on their faces. "You'd do it for Sunset and your other world friends, right?"
Twilight had collected all of their feelings from their words of encouragement. She could see now that each of the girls was truly living up to their element, even after all the years that had passed. She was happy to have such loyal, honest, generous, humourous and kind friends by her side in times like this. She could also see that they were all confident and full of hope, which just perked her up even more. If her friends were sure they could win, then Twilight was sure they could win.
"Thank you, girls..." Twilight smiled and began walking once again. Her confidence returned with every step of the way. "I know see from all of your feelings of hope, that we definitely have a fighting chance in fending off The Blasters if they do try and strike upon our arrival."
"Well, don't mind us, sugarcube. We're always here ta help." Applejack said as she and the other members of the Mane 6 followed Twilight up to the astrology chamber.
Once they made it to the top of the tower, they saw a rather wonderful sight. There was a massive sphere of pure magic radiating in the middle of the room, with many signs of music emanating off of it. They could also hear a rather angelic choir playing from out of nowhere. All these wonders made the Mane 6 drop their jaws for a lengthy period of time. They were awestruck at what they were all looking at.
They also saw a massive construct above the sphere. A metallic series of rings with some sort of magnifying device in the corner of it. They could also see the open sky right above this construct, as if to utilize the power of the stars to create otherworldly magic.
"So, this is what we're using as a ticket to get into Lyrica..." Twilight said as she marvelled over how well-designed the construct was. She could see clearly that these rings were to be used to magnify the stars' powers and create a vortex to Lyrica. "I really should write a book about all this. This is a golden age of magic we're looking at here!"
"So... How are we going to use it?" Pinkie asked, wondering how this bizarre-looking construct would be used to generate a power strong enough to get them to Lyrica.
"Actually... I'd never thought of that part..." Twilight said, remembering that denizens of the Pit Of Lyrics would sing to do stuff like this. But she couldn't just come up with a song out of nowhere. And even if she did, she was unsure whether or not it would activate the device and open up a gateway to Lyrica.
"Why don't ya just do what everypony in yer position would do? Just use yer magic ta activate this here device," Applejack said, trying to establish some practicality to this little discussion. "After all, magic's been yer solution fer every problem that gor hurled yer way, Twilight."
"I know that. It's just that my magic might not be enough to activate the device at hand," Twilight explained. "Even though my Alicorn Magic is strong, it might not be the type of magic that would resonate with such a device like this. And even if it did, I'd have no clue how to operate it.
"So what? We did come all this way for nothing, didn't we?" Rainbow Dash said, looking a little apprehensive at the situation the girls were now facing.
"No. We. Haven't, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shot her a death glare and lit up her horn again. "I might be able to get a faint signal if I lock on to the right frequency... It might take some time though, so just stay where you all are."
Twilight's horn automatically took in a rainbow-coloured stream from the orb underneath the construct. She instantly felt the magic of the Pit Of Lyrics running through her. While she did force a little bit of a smile, she was still focused on the task at hand.
Her horn now glowed brightly and made the orb resonate with little pulses of Twilight's Alicorn Magic. Once it did, it shone brightly for all the girls to see and spread rainbow streams across the floor in what seemed like a web of lightning. The magic streams all touched the walls and brought a series of mechanisms to life for all the girls to witness.
They could clearly see that the rings now glowed in a similar manner to the energy that Twilight and the orb were resonating. The rings all aligned themselves and acted like crosshairs. Once the rings were stacked, the orb shot a massive pillar of rainbow energy into the sky above.
The rainbow light collided with the stars in the cosmos and created a stream of astral energy. The energy swirled around for a bit before violently colliding with the orb in the astrology chamber. The collision of the two energies created a massive surge of energy from both Twilight and the orb, knocking the rest of the Mane 6 against the walls.
"Twilight! Are ya sure this is gonna get us anywhere?!" Applejack asked as she tried to reach Twilight over the roaring of all that energy that consumed nearly all the sound in the room.
"I'm certain of it, Applejack!" Twilight said, surprised that she was able to talk to Applejack and concentrate on opening the portal to Lyrica. "If I can hold this spell for long enough, the stars will triangulate and open up a portal to Lyrica! Once it does, we jump on the count of three!"
"And then what?!" Rainbow Dash yelled over the near-deafening noises of magic being magnified to a colossal extent.
"WE FIND OUT A WAY TO DEFEAT THE BLASTERS!" Twilight yelled, magnifying her powers beyond levels ponies had even thought of reaching with years of dedication. She could feel like she was intaking powers that would rival that of any and all things she'd fought in the past.
Twilight let out a scream of power and her horn's magic became unmatchable. She worried that she might take in too much and exhaust all of her stamina. However, this didn't faze her and she was now concentrating even harder than ever before. Her wings unfurled as she fired a laser at the orb.
The combination of all that magic resulted in the orb creating a window of magic. This window was a vortex of red and blue energy, similar to that used by Sirens. Twilight smiled and saw the others getting to their feet.
"Now then. On the count of three, we jump!" she said, the magic still roaring throughout the room like an almighty hurricane. "It's now or never, girls!"
"One! Two!" The girls all said as they all began to run towards the swirling mass of red and blue energy, before it sealed up on them. With one final jump, they all leapt through the portal together. "Three!"
The Mane 6 all leapt through the portal that had been formed in front of them, not giving themselves any time to look back. The portal sealed up behind them and silence befell the astrology tower. They flew through the violent torrent of energy, not even flinching as they hurtled through the maelstrom of red and blue magic.
Meanwhile, back in the Human World, Adagio, Aria and Sonata had just finished a rather delicious lunch. They made their way outside to the playground once again where their initiation into the Kids of Shadows would begin. As soon as they got outside, they pulled out the envelopes that Topaz had handed them earlier.
"So, I guess it's now or never, huh?" Adagio said as she looked at what Topaz called the 'fort'. It was a rather massive climbing frame where almost all of the kids were playing on. She could see some kids sitting underneath the climbing frame, so she assumed that that was where Topaz was holding his meeting.
"I'm still concerned about this, Dagi..." Sonata said, still showing signs of worry as the three of them approached the climbing frame for their initiation. "After all, it is out of sight. So if this does turn out to be a prank, then-"
"No-one will ever know and we'll keep our dignities," Aria said, trying to calm Sonata down a little. "And if anyone does ask what happened, say that we were just playing around with some of the others."
"Okay, Ari..." Sonata sighed, knowing that there was no swaying her two Furen sisters. They were confident in every aspect that the Kids of Shadows was going to be a great head-start in The Dazzlings' goal to make lots of friends.
The three of them made it to the bottom of the frame and ducked it. Once they were the size that they could fit through, they could see all the other kids who had already made it in, as well as the ones who were waiting to take their initiations. At the centre of it all, was Topaz, who looked like he was wearing some kind of ritual robe for all the new recruits. Apart from all that, all of the kids were wearing what looked like black tribal paint. Mostly on their faces and in very bizarre designs as well.
Once The Dazzlings got inside the place, they sat over with the other kids who were also holding their invitations to the Kids of Shadows. They saw a couple of familiar faces from back when they were in kindergarten as well as some kids they'd likely never seen before.
"Ahh, nice to see you again, girls. Come in, come in. We're just about to start the ceremony," Topaz said as he saw The Dazzlings sitting down with all the new entrants for the Kids of Shadows. "Now then. I call to order this 29th meeting of the Kids of Shadows to order. Let's all say the pledge."
"Our names are secret, our purposes unknown. By the time you figure it out, we'll already be full-grown!" said all of the kids who were already part of the group, as well as Topaz himself. They let out little cheers afterwards, as a sign of unity and trust.
"Now then. Our first order of business is to welcome all the new recruits to our little clan here," Topaz said, showing all the kids who were already members to all the kids who had the envelopes he'd given them. "Now. For three of these kids, this is their first day here, so I hope you treat them with as much respect and toleration as you would the rest of the group. OK?"
"Pardon me, Chancellor Topaz. But who are these kids?" a girl with a large black x on her face said, looking at all the kids with the envelopes. It could have been any three of them from her point of view.
"Who are they, you ask? Well, to help you understand their names, they get to go first." he said, looking over at The Dazzlings and using his finger to pinpoint the first of the three girls. He pointed at Sonata and flexed his finger, getting her to stand up.
"State your name, new one..." he said, telling Sonata in his words that her initiation had begun.
"Sonata Dusk." she said, with no pauses or flinches hindering her speech. She knew that any sign of weakness would be a bad thing for not only her, but for the rest of The Dazzlings as well.
"Sonata. You stand before us with the opportunity of a lifetime..." he said, telling Sonata of the wonders ahead of her. "As a follower of the Kids of Shadows, your goal is to maintain a new alias and tell no-one of your true identity. It's a big secret, but a rather rewarding one as well."
"The chance to be a Kid of Shadows will grant you rewards beyond anything you could have possibly imagined..." Topaz went on with his little welcoming speech. "Not only will you be a friend of mine and of all of us, but you get to play in ways that no-one in this school could even fathom of doing."
"The one question that remains though, is will you accept this honour..." Topaz held up a sceptre made out of what looked like metal, but was actually plastic. "And join us among the shadows?"
The Mane 6 finally arrived on another world with a crash. The portal they'd flown through caused their impact with Lyrican soil to create a crater. They could feel a massive amount of pain surging through them, but other than that, they were completely intact.
The first one to climb out of the hole was Twilight. She could immediately see that this place was different from Equestria on a number of aspects. The main one was the sky. While most skies looked clear and blue, this one had dark clouds littering a sinisterly bland dark yellow sky.
"So this is Lyrica..." Twilight said as she examined the world ahead of her. What she could make out straight away was the ruins of a kingdom. The towers had been completely destroyed and the walls protecting the city now lied in rubble and dust. "Not what I'd call a home anymore..."
"Exactly. Not what you'd call a home ANYMORE..." a male voice said through the breeze, telling Twilight and her friends that they weren't alone.
The Blasters entered the scene the same way they'd done for when they met Sunset. With a flash of light turning into an electrified ball of red and blue energy. The energy dispersed once again, revealing Fortissimo, Allegro and Orchestral to the Spirits of Harmony.
"Welcome to Lyrica, Spirits of Harmony..." Fortissimo said. Here in Lyrica, he wasn't wearing his Human World get up. Instead, he wore black armour with streaks of red and blue running down the sides. The left half of him had blue streaks whilst the right side had red. "We've been expecting you..."
"The Blasters. At last we meet." Twilight said, eyeing up The Dazzlings' brothers with a rather scornful look. She could tell it in Fortissimo's eyes that The Blasters were going to be even more of a challenge than The Dazzlings could ever have hoped to have been.
"Princess Twilight. Your sins against Lyrica must be punished..." Allegro said as his pendants glowed bright for all of the Mane 6 to see. He looked at Fortissimo and Orchestral, who also had glowing pendants. He took the stance of a swordsman and out of nowhere, he was given two swords that were the colour of his skin and had Furen and Blissen gems encrusted on the hilts. "You stand accused of striking down three Sirens of Furen descent. Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk and my poor little sister; Aria Blaze."
"According to the laws of Lyrica, any non-Siren that manages to defeat a Siren of either side of the Balance of Lyrica must be tested," Orchestral said, smiling a sadistic smile as he readied his two swords for combat. "What, you thought we were just going to sing to you? Please..."
"Answer me something, Fortissimo," Twilight said, trying to reason with the leader of The Blasters. "Why do you need to go this far to revive the Siren Species? Surely you could just bring them back without The Dazzlings..."
"What an insipid, arrogant, infantile little fool you are, Princess Twilight..." Fortissimo said as he used his magic to upgrade the hilt of his sword so that it now sprouted wings coming out of the guard and cross. "In order for the Song of Resurrection to reach full power, the two halves of King Allure must be reunited. Only the Souls of Song have the power to utilize such a powerful song."
"When Allure created the Right Souls of Fury and the Left Souls of Bliss, he literally had to separate his spirit in order to do so," Allegro explained. "He shed all his feelings of happiness and all of his feelings of hate. Once this was done, he sent the souls into the bodies of two groups of three, where they laid dormant for tens of thousands of years..."
"For you see, The Dazzlings and we were to become the new Kings and Queens of Lyrica when Allure gave us the opportunity. However, the war made fate a cruel and unforgiving mistress..." Orchestral decided to add on. "After the Siren species had been wittled down to just the six of us, there was really nothing else for us to do but to try and conquer ourselves. You already know by now that our little sisters fled to Equestria after the war..."
"And they were sent to the Human World by Starswirl the Bearded..." Twilight went on, recalling the rest of The Dazzlings' story.
"And they had been struck down by seven high-school teenagers after that." Fortissimo said, recalling on harsh memories when The Dazzlings had their last battle before the Second Life Song was sung. "One of them, was YOU."
"I could hypnotize you right now. Turn you into our mindless audience and make you follow our every order..." Fortissimo said, raising his sword and then quickly lowering it with his next sentence. "But I won't. I think as an Alicorn Princess, you deserve a fair fight."
"And to be even more fair, we'll even let you use all five of your pathetic little pony friends to help you out," Allegro said, smiling as he readied himself for combat as well. "Not like they're possibly gonna help you win it, after all..."
"Oh yeah?! We'll see about that!" Rainbow Dash said as all the other members of the Mane 6 climbed out of the crater and got a good look at The Blasters. Rainbow was still as confident as ever when she looked at her opponents. She wasn't even fazed by the fact that they had swords.
"But, if you don't want to fight us, we'll be more than happy to accept that as well..." Fluttershy said, trying to get The Blasters to stand down. This had no avail and Fluttershy could easily see that.
"Ready yourselves, Spirits of Harmony..." Fortissimo said as he and his fellow Blasters grew their dragon wings, pony ears and hair extensions. Their swords glowed brightly with red and blue auras; and The Blasters now hovered a few feet off the ground. "Because you're gonna DANCE!"
The Mane 6 all glowed as bright as the sun, blinding The Blasters for a few moments. Once the flash had stopped, The Mane 6 were all in their Rainbow Power forms, with extra colours in their hair and wings. Their Cutie Marks were now all over their hooves and they now looked as confident as ever as they stared down The Blasters.
The Blasters and Rainbow Powered Mane 6 charged towards each other at blinding speeds, ready to deal the first strike. They knew now that the fight had truly begun and were ready to see who would stand the victor. Once the girls all got close to The Blasters, Fortissimo merely smirked as their attacks collided with one another...