On the morning of the next day, Twilight friends’ band, the Rainbooms, was ready to pratice in the room they had reserved for it. Each one was playing a different instrument: Rainbow Dash played a guitar, a bass to Applejack, Rarity had a keytar, Fluttershy had a tambourine and a drum for Pinkie Pie.
"All right, girls" Rainbow Dash said to the others. “Let’s go.”
"One, two, three" Pinkie Pie said, beating the drumsticks to start scoring pace with her drum and start the song.
The five then began to sing a song called "Better Than Ever". They sang the chorus all together and then shared with each other the rest of the letter.
At the end of the song, they seemed satisfied with their work, it was then that they heard what sounded like a cynical applause. They turned and saw Trixie, who had entered in Melody’s studio with them with her own band: Trixie and the Illusions.
"Not bad, Rainbow Dash" she said, with her cynical smile. "It seems that your band is playing reasonably well."
"What do you want from here, Trixie?" Rainbow Dash asked coldly. "I reserved the room for me and my friends."
"Don’t worry, I'm leaving" Trixie said. "After all, I have to prepare my great act for the Autumn Equinox Ball. I am sure it will surpass anything you play."
"That's what you wanted" Rainbow Dash said. "We will overcome you in the calm."
"Girls, do you realize it's not a competition, right?" Applejack asked.
"Of course I do" Rainbow Dash and Trixie answered at the same time.
"Well, I'm walking to my own pratice" said Trixie. "See you at lunch... losers."
And Trixie left. Rainbow Dash grunted and said:
"That Trixie gives me some nerves! But no matter, my band will roll with hers."
“Your band?” Rarity repeated, frowning as well as the others.
“Duh, it was my idea to start the Rainbooms so we could pass some days in Melody’s music studio” Rainbow Dash answered. “Plus I’m the lead singer and guitarist. By the way, Rarity, you’re still coming in a little late on the second verse and, Applejack, your bass solo could use a little work. But I’m sure you’ll get it together in time for the Autumn Equinox Ball.”
That made the unicorn and the earth pony make her a harsh look, which went unnoticed to the pegasus with the rainbow mane.
Rainbow looked at the existing clock in the room and then said:
“We’ve still got a few minutes before lunch starts. What do you say we do ‘Awesome As I Wanna Be’?”
“Uh, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked, approaching timidly with her personal notebook on her back. “I was wondering if we could maybe play the song I wrote?”
“We’ll get to it” Rainbow Dash replied, going to get her guitar.
That discouraged Fluttershy, who had struggled to write her letters in the hope they would be played by her and her friends. But because of her peaceful nature, she said:
“Oh. Okay.”
Then the voice of one of the headmasters (other than Melody), Swan Swong's, said through the existing speaker in the room:
“Fluttershy, please report to the main foyer.”
“Sorry, girls, but I volunteered to show some new ponies around the studio” Fluttershy said to her friends, keeping her tambourine in her saddlebags. “I thought it would be nice for them. See you later.”
And having said that, she left the room. Then Rainbow Dash said to the others:
"Well, it seems we have to practice without Fluttershy. Let’s go."
Fluttershy addressed the main foyer and said to the ponies who were there:
“Hi. Are you the ponies I’m supposed to show around?”
It turned out that the new ponies were, nothing more, nothing less, than Adagio, Aria and Sonata. They went a step ahead and Adagio said, showing a slightly sinister smile:
“We are.”
“Melody’s music studio is great” Fluttershy said, while starting to walk along with the others. “You’re really gonna love it.”
“Oh, yes, we really sense there’s something… harmonious about this place” Adagio answered, exchanging a few smiles with her Siren companions.
Then Fluttershy started to show them the studio.
“That’s the instrument store” Fluttershy said, pointing rooms. “The indoor garden is in there.”
They then went through a poster that was communicating the Autumn Equinox Ball and Fluttershy said:
“Oh, and the ponies from the studio will act at the Autumn Equinox Ball! The all studio is pretty much rallying around it.”
“Don’t you say” Adagio said, with a interested air.
“I’m sure since you’re new, Swan Song and Sound Wave would let you sign up if you’re interested.”
“We have been known to sing from time to time” Aria said, looking to her hoof.
“Hello, we sing, like, all the time!” Sonata exclaimed. “It’s how we get ponies to do wath we want.”
That made Adagio turn to her and pass the hoof by the neck with an angry air, sending her to shut up. Fluttershy watched them a little confused.
“What?” Sonata asked with a smile, not realizing why Adagio was mad with her. “What did I say?”
“What you meant to say was that acting in the Autumn Equinox Ball sounds like a great way to meet the other ponies” Adagio said, trying to emend Sonata’s mistake.
“Oh, yeah” Sonata said, realizing. “What she said I meant to say. That’s what I meant. To say.”
And she smiled her biggest smile.
“And what you would have said if you weren’t the worst” Aria said to Sonata.
“You are!” Sonata answered her.
“You have to excuse them” Adagio said to Fluttershy. “They’re idiots.”
Fluttershy would be lying if she said she didn’t find those girls a little strange. Then she noticed the pendents they were using and found them immensely beautiful.
“Those are pretty” Fluttershy said, extending her hoof to Adagio’s pendant. “Where did you…”
But seeing Fluttershy approaching the hoof to her pendant, Adagio reacted to remove in a sharply way Fluttershy’s hoof. Realizing what she had done, Adagio made a slight laugh and said:
“Sorry. These pendants mean an awful lot to us. We’d just hate for anything to happen to them.”
And having said that, she and the others two moved away, leaving Fluttershy somewhat puzzled.
The Lord of Chaos and Fire Punch saw that scene in the mirror.
"I don’t know, master" Fire Punch said. "I know they defeated three of the Generals of Order, but I don’t know how this infiltrate in the Melody’s music studio will help you in your plan to conquer this world."
"Patience, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos said. "As I told you, the Sirens need to be able to regain the power they had before. And you will see that these ponies will be the perfect food source. And with Princess Twilight’s friends there, things may have a quite interesting end."
The lunch time arrived and the ponies of the studio were all there in the cafeteria to have lunch. Fluttershy came to the edge of her friends. Repairing in her air, Applejack asked:
“So how was tha tour?”
“I don’t know” Fluttershy asked. “You know that I don’t like to talk about other ponies behind them, but these girls, they were… There was something off about them.”
“Like, off like this?” Pinkie Pie asked, using her own mane to do some beard and mustache. “Or off like this?” she put two lettuce leaves over her eyebrows and two carrots (one with the tip nibbled) in the mouth like teeth. “Or… Or… Like…”
“Maybe we should just let her tell us” Rainbow Dash said to Pinkie Pie.
So Pinkie Pie just look to Fluttershy, letting the carrot with the tip nibbled fell. The yellow pegasus so continued:
“That’s just it. I can’t put my hoof on it. They just acted sort of… strange around me. Maybe somepony told them something bad about me.”
“Fluttershy, dear, what could somepony tell something bad about you?” Rarity asked. “You’re probably the sweetest pony we know.”
The others nodded, agreeing with her.
“Yes, you’re probably right” Fluttershy said.
On the outside the cafeteria, the Sirens were there. Adagio said the other two:
“This is it, girls. The moment we’ve been waiting for.”
“Lunch?!” Sonata exclaimed, excitedly.
Adagio pass the hoof by her face, not wanting to believe in Sonata’s stupidity.
“The chance to get our magic back.”
“Oh, right” Sonata answered, while Aria rolled her eyes.
“Our voices are just strong enough to make them want something so badly, they’ll fight to get it” Adagio said, looking to the ponies through the mirrors of the doors.
“So we’re just gonna do what always do?” Aria asked to Adagio, in a mocking way. “Stir up some trouble and then feed off the negative energy? Some plan, Adagio.”
“Don’t forget that the Lord of Chaos is counting with us to get our power back to defeat the Light Kingdom and its princess” Agadio replied to her. “And their negative energy will give us the power we need to make this world do our bidding and, by extension, our master’s.
“But we can get lunch after though, right?” Sonata asked, turning to a poster with the image of tacos. “It’s Taco Tuesday!”
“Just follow my lead” Adagio told her.
“Or my lead” Aria said, in a suggestive tone.
“My lead!” Adagio told her in a threating way.
That made Aria not able to contest Adagio, what made her back with what she had said, what made Sonata give a little chuckle.
They then broke into the cafeteria as they began to sing. All other ponies who were there started listening the singing.
Hearing them singing about a battle of the bands to decide who would act in the Autumn Equinox Ball and encourage them to want to win, no matter the price, the ponies began to give in to their little idea and some such way that doesn’t take long until all start looking in a askance way to the ponies that were not of their bands and then discuss intensively. This all started, without them noticed, to create a light green mist that was being generated by all the negativity that they were causing and being absorbed by the Sirens through their pendants.
The only ponies that were not being influenced by their music were Twilight’s friends, who were concerned about what was happening.
At the end of the song, when the ponies were all discussing, Pinkie Pie said to her friends:
“Oh, they’re that kind of off”.
Seeing this, the Lord of Chaos laughed and said to Fire Punch:
"You see? This is the power of my Sirens. All the ponies of the studio will compete against each other in a competition full of distrust where everypony will do everything to win. But of course, they will not be the one who will win, but Adagio and the others. And when they act in the Autumn Equinox Ball, ponies will bow before them and give them the power they lost so they can invade and conquer the Light Kingdom, whose defenses are weakened with the loss of four Generals."
And he gave his evil laugh.
"Wow, I think I can already smell the victory" Fire Punch said. "But master, Princess Twilight’s friends did not seem to have been affected."
"Well this is because they are protected by the Elements of Harmony" the Lord of Chaos said. "But no one is invulnerable to disharmony, even the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. We just need to make pressure in the right place."
After what had happened in the cafeteria, Twilight’s friends walked through the studio corridors, talking about what had just happened.
"Looks like you were right, Fluttershy" said Rarity. "They are really strange. Those three are definitely in possession of some kind of dark magic.”
“Probably, they’re new villains sent by the Lord of Chaos” Rainbow Dash.
“Don’t worry, y’all” Applejack said. “We’ll let the headmasters know all about this and those three will be kicked to the curb in no time.”
But that didn’t happened, when they went to talk with Swan Song and Sound Wave. When they told them about the three newcomers, they didn’t seem to believe. Swan Song was a unicorn mare and Sound Wave was an earth stallion.
“Dark magic?” Swan Song asked, sitting on her chair behind her desk in her office. “Villains of Tartarus? I find that very hard to believe. Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful.”
“Perhaps you five are fighting the Lord of Chaos’ villains that you see them everywhere” Sound Wave said, standing beside Swan Song.
“Maybe you’re right, but…” Fluttershy started.
“That’s not what’s happening!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “We saw all of this go down in the cafeteria!”
“Yes, but isn’t your band supposed to be part of the subscribed to the Autumn Equinox Ball?” Swan Song asked.
“Yes” Rainbow Dash answered.
“Perhaps you’re all just worried that the Dazzlings will steal your spotlight” Sound Wave suggested.
“Tha Dazzlings?” Applejack asked.
“It’s the name of their musical group” Swan Song said. “That’s why they came by my office earlier today to sign up for the Autumn Equinox Ball. They even sang a little song to Sound Wave and me.”
“They did?” Applejack asked, wondering if that meant she was thinking.
“Yes” Swan Song answered. “And we think, and we know that Melody will agree, having a Battle of the Bands to decide who will act at the Autumn Equinox Ball is a marvelous idea.”
It was then that they saw their eyes shining with a green glow, equal to the mist that had formed when Dazzlings incited discord among the ponies.
Later, the Rainbooms were in the indoor garden to talk about what had happened.
“I can’t believe they got to Swan Song and Sound Wave too” Fluttershy said.
“They’ve gotten to everypony” Rainbow Dash said.
“Not everypony!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, gesturing to herself and her friends.
“Pinkie Pie’s right” Applejack said. “We were there when tha Dazzlings were singin’ and we weren’t affect’d. It was like we were protect’d somehow.”
“Maybe it’s because the Elements of Harmony” Rarity suggested.
“Do you think they get to Melody too?” Fluttershy asked.
“Ah don’t think so” Applejack said. “She is tha General of Music. Ah don’t think tha Dazzlings can enchant her with music.”
“I think it’s better we try to contact Twilight about this” Rarity said. “She may know how the break the spell and defeat the Dazzlings. Or maybe the Generals know.”
“Yes, but how?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Duh, the alarm” Pinkie Pie answered. “We just have to hope she will come.”
“Pinkie’s right… again” Applejack said. “Even if we don’t ask, Twilight will always come for our help.”
In the Light Kingdom, in Melody's room, she was about to be subjected to another attempt of Purple Smoke to cure her from the effects of the mutant poison joke. Heartbeat was also there eating popcorn as if she was watching a show or a movie.
"Come on, Melody, just another one" Purple Smoke said, handing her a cup with a steaming solution.
But Melody kept to refuse.
"Come on, don’t you want to get well?" Purple Smoke asked.
"That’s if you can do it" Heartbeat said.
"And what does that mean?" Purple Smoke asked to his youngest sister.
"Come on, it’s not needed to have empathy powers to see that Melody is not liking any your approaches" Heartbeat said, while Melody nodded in agreement. "I mean, she has vomited, turned purple, her tongue was swollen, she turned purple again (though in a lighter tone) and then returned to vomit."
"The expression trial and error tell you something?" Purple Smoke asked.
"And the phrase Mirror Coat is right also tells you something? " Heartbeat asked back.
Then Twilight came in, ending with the discussion, and asked:
"Have your siblings arrived? They went to go watch na alert yesterday and I have not seen them since then."
"I didn’t see them" Purple Smoke said, while Melody shook her head.
"Me neither" Heartbeat said. "But I am sure they must be to appear. I mean, what kind of villain can defeat three Generals at once?"
Then the alarm rang again, this time louder.
"Okay, I was wrong" Heartbeat said, using her magic to stop the alarm.
"I knew something had happened to them not to return" Twilight said. "We must be facing a very powerful villain."
"Well, for that to happen, it would have to be one of the villains who are in the solitary of Tartarus" Heartbeat said, while eating popcorn. "I mean, it’s there that the most dangerous villains we face are."
Realizing what she had just said, Heartbeat said in a more serious tone:
"Oh no."
"If this is true, then the Lord of Chaos must have got find a way to release them without using his own magic" Purple Smoke said.
"Wait, back of" Twilight said. "Villains of the solitary?"
"Well, yes, they are the most dangerous type of villains that each of us, Generals, have faced and defeated" Purple Smoke said. "The top six, you want. Their cells were so well protected that a very strong magic to open them would be required. The Lord of Chaos couldn’t do that unless he wanted the Lord of Order to join the party. "
"Something he certainly doesn’t want to happen" Twilight said.
"Precisely" Purple Smoke said. "Which brings us to believe that he should have used the negative energy that he must has collected with all the villains he has sent to free them."
"Well, what kind of villain we are dealing, then?" Twilight asked.
"We have six chances, but I think it must be one that can easily defeat the Generals" Heartbeat said. "Probably the loss of Melody’s voice is linked to it somehow, because the Lord of Chaos doesn’t tip unknotted."
Hearing Heartbeat saying that, Melody thought for a moment and then realized much to her distress with whom they were dealing with. She tried to draw the attention of everypony, and when she did it, she began to make gestures to herself, trying to say that they were the villains she defeated.
"What?" Purple Smoke asked. "We are not getting it."
"Duh, it's so obvious" Heartbeat said. "Melody is saying that we are dealing with the Sirens, the villains she defeated and imprisoned in solitary."
Realizing what she had just said, Heartbeat said:
"Oh no, again."
"Are you sure?" Purple Smoke asked to Melody, which just made him one of her stares that made him say. "I’m just asking. Well, this is bad, very bad."
"What?" Twilight asked. "Who are these ... Sirens?"
"The Sirens, princess, are three beautiful but dangerous creatures who have the power to charm ponies with their music. But to maintain this power, they have to feed on the negativity and distrust of others. The more negative energy they consume, the stronger their voices become and the farther they can spread their dark magic."
"They sound awful" Twilight commented.
"It's because they are" Purple Smoke said. "Their voices are so powerful that, even in their weakened state, they can still manipulate ponies at ease. Even we, the Generals, are vulnerable to them... Well, except Melody. It was because of her immunity and her voice that she que could defeat them."
"Wait, if you also can be influenced by their voices, that means..." Twilight began.
"That Golden Paladin, Leaf Mane and Mirror Coat were defeated by them" Heartbeat confirmed.
Twilight couldn’t believe it. This meant that now only there were Purple Smoke and Heartbeat to defend the Light Kingdom, beyond herself. She could not allow her kingdom, and the others, fell into the hands of the Lord of Chaos and his villains.
"How can we defeat the Sirens?" Twilight asked to her three generals.
They exchanged a look and Purple Smoke replied:
"Winning them in a musical battle. But the only pony that was able to defeat them was Melody. But now that she lost her voice..."
"Then I'll have to move forward" Twilight said.
"But, Princess..." Purple Smoke began.
"No buts" Twilight said. "You have to stay to help to protect the Light Kingdom. Now, where are the Sirens?"
"They have to be in a place where they can accumulate huge dark energy and sing without giving the eye" Purple Smoke said.
"They will also need large amounts of negative energy to achieve the power that they had before, so they need a large audience" Heartbeat added.
Upon hearing that and meditating, Melody realized where they could be. She began gesturing to herself again and Purple Smoke told her:
"Can you stop that? And everypony says I'm convinced."
"You really are an idiot" Heartbeat said to him. "Cannot you see she is saying that the Sirens are in her music studio?"
Melody nodded, confirming what Heartbeat had said.
"But how do you know what she is trying to say?" Purple Smoke asked to Heartbeat.
"Hello, I’m the General of Affection" Heartbeat said. "I have empathy powers, remember?"
"Wait, they are in Melody’s music studio?" Twilight asked. "But that's where my friends are. So are they in danger?"
"No, I think not" Purple Smoke said. "To my knowledge, the Elements of Harmony contain the magic that is opposite to the Sirens’. The two spells should cancel each other out."
"To some extent" Heartbeat said. "This protection is only kept if the harmony between them is unharmed."
"Well, then you better join me to them" Twilight said. "If the magic of the Elements of Harmony is able to defeat the Sirens, then we should use them against them."
But then Melody tried to say something, but she could not scratch the right gestures to express. Fortunately, Heartbeat translated what she meant:
"Melody is right. That doesn’t work if not add music."
"So I have to join my friends’ band" Twilight said.
"Yes, but, princess, that may raise many suspicions if everypony sees you joining your friends’ band" Purple Smoke said, then thinking for a while. "I know, wait here."
He teleported himself, but seconds later he reappeared, carrying a bottle with purple smoke that seemed to belong to his smoke form.
"I've been practicing a spell that allows me to use my smoke to transform things other than me" Purple Smoke said. "So far it has gone well."
"Wait a minute" Twilight said. "Have you tried this on ponies?"
"Well... no" Purple Smoke replied. "But don’t worry, princess. Everything will be fine."
"Yes, it can be seen by your failed attempts to cure Melody" Heartbeat said.
"Hey, at least it has a pretty safe success rate" Purple Smoke said. "Moreover, in times like this, it’s better to risk, don’t you think?"
Heartbeat was going to answer, but Twilight said:
"Purple Smoke is right. We don’t have time to think in a safe plan when time is precious. We have to catch the Sirens. Just tell Blue where I am and for him not to worry."
"Don’t worry, Princess" Heartbeat said. "We take care of it."
Twilight nodded to Purple Smoke, giving him authorization to start the spell. He then released the smoke from the bottle, saying:
"I hope this work."
And, having said that, he used his magic to launch the purple smoke against Twilight, wrapping her and starting to submit her to its effect.