The Taking of Tartarus

by Rakoon1

The Return of the Sirens, Part III - Let the Battle Go On

The Rainbooms walked through the studio corridors, seeing as all the bands looked aside and gave despise looks to each other. It seemed that the whole studio had fallen completely under the Dazzlings’ spell except for them.

"This is really bad" Rarity observed. "I never thought to see our friends act like this."

"Me neither" Pinkie Pie said, with her unusual sad face. "And that makes me very sad."

"If there was a way to bring back the happiness that there was before" Fluttershy said.

"And there’s one" Rainbow Dash said. "We just have to stop Dazzlings."

"Yeah, but how?" Applejack asked.

"Well..." Rainbow Dash began. "I don’t know."

It was then that they were surrounded by a magical aura that pulled her into an empty room.

"What tha hay..." Applejack began.

"Okay, who's pulled us here just like that?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking around. "You will learn a great lesson."

"It was me, Rainbow Dash" a voice said.

They turned up and then were faced with a unicorn mare with a golden coat and a sun-colored mane with three stars as Cutie Mark.

"Who are you and why did you drag us here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Girls, don’t you recognize me?" the mare asked. "I look different, but I think I still have something that remains the same."

The five musicians mares looked closely at her and that's when Applejack could see more than what she saw with her eyes.

"Twilight?" Applejack asked, while the others were confused.

"Yes, it's me" the mare said.

"But how..." Applejack started, beginning to approach.

"Wait a minute" Pinkie Pie said, placing ahead of Applejack and coming face to face with Twilight. "You don’t look like Twilight.”

"Pinkie, that's because I'm disguised" Twilight replied, rolling her eyes.

"A very convenient history" Pinkie Pie said. "How do we know you're not one of those super duper evil villains that the Lord of Chaos had to make us believe that you are Twilight just for you eat our brains?"

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Pinkie Pie, that’s very silly, even for you" Rarity said. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, I recently saw a film that is about zombies posing as normal ponies just to approach to eat their brains" Pinkie Pie answered. "It was a very exciting movie. I ended up eating ten buckets and three quarters of popcorn and I drank soda that took me two hours straight just to..."

"Okay, I think we don’t need a detailed description" Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie, Ah think this is our friend Twilight" Applejack said. "Ah think Ah can say if this is not Twilight."

"Let the expert determine that, Applejack" Pinkie Pie said, turning then to Twilight. "Very well, if you are the real Twilight, answer me this. What is my favorite treat?"

"All of them" Twilight replied.

"My favorite sport?" Pinkie asked.

"See how long you take to make everypony of Ponyville laugh" Twilight replied.

"Okay, and now for the final question, tell me: what is my biggest dream?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Living in a land made of ice cream" Twilight replied.

When she asnwered that, Twilight was embraced strongly by Pinkie Pie who said:

"It’s really you, Twilight!"

"That's what I said" Twilight replied, freeing herself from Pinkie.

"But how did you end like that?" Rarity asked.

"Purple Smoke used a spell that, along with part of his smoke, managed to turn me into another pony... although temporally" Twilight replied. "So I could come without drawing attention. It seems to me that you need help."

“You bet" Rainbow Dash said. "There are strange ponies who recently arrived at the studio and are quite strange."

"Yes, and I know who they are" Twilight said. "And believe me, I have bad news about them.

And Twilight explained to her friends about who the Dazzlings were and what they wanted. After finishing, Applejack asked:

"So if we don’t stop her, we may be jeopardizin’ tha security of tha Light Kingdom?"

"Yes, and you know that if the Kingdom of Light fall, the other kingdoms will fall with it" Twilight said.

"But what about the Generals?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I thought they were immensely powerful. They could easily kick those Sirens’ asses."

"No, they can’t, Rainbow" Twilight replied. "They are affected by their voices. Only Melody is immune, but..."

"But what, dear?" Rarity asked.

"Melody lost her voice" Twilight replied.

That news left her friends in suspense.

"Worse, it seems that Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane were defeated by the Dazzlings and now the Light Kingdom only has my magic, Purple Smoke’s and Heartbeat’s to defend itself."

"Okay, now this is serious" Pinkie said.

"So it seems we must defeat them in the old-fashioned way" Rainbow Dash said, pumping her fists and starting to give some blows in the air. "Since we are not influenced by the Dazzlings’ magic, we can handle them."

"Rainbow Dash, only you to come with such violent idea" Rarity said.

"Rarity is right" Twilight said. "We cannot use violence against the Dazzlings. To defeat them, we have to win in their own game."

"Ya mean winnin’ the Battle of Bands?" Applejack asked.

"That's right" Twilight replied.

"But how do we defeat them, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, only Melody managed to do it..."

"Don’t worry" Twilight said. "Melody gave me a bit of magic that will be activated as soon as we make music."

Focusing on her magic, Twilight made five orange light balls that amazed her friends, especially Pinkie Pie. Each light ball directed to each of the mares and went inside of them.

"Now, remember" Twilight said. "We can only activate this spell once, so we can only do that just and only just when we face the Dazzlings."

"Wait a second, sugarcube" Applejack said. "How can we do that if the magic is activated when we make music?"

“I think we just have to be good enough to make it through but not so good we let the Sirens see the magic Melody gave us” Twilight said. “They could realize we plan to use it against them and then we would be helpless against them.”

“Got it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Be cool enough to win, but not so cool that we end up showing off the thing. Sooo... about twenty percent less cool.”

“So is this mean you’ll join the Rainbooms, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“I want to help you, so I thing so” Twilight answered.

“So what do you wanna play?” Pinkie Pie asked, going taking instruments there were in the room. “Triangle? Sousaphone? Theremin?”

Pinkie Pie played theremin and then said:

“Soooo magical.”

“Actually, I’m not fond to any specific instrument” Twilight answered. “I’ll just sing”

“Like, as in, lead singer?” Rainbow Dash answered. “Cuz that's usually my gig. This being my band and all.”

“It's our band!” Applejack answered her, turning then to Twilight. “An’, of course, as lead singer. She's tha one with tha magical know-how tah help us pull this thing off.”

“Okay, yeah, that's cool” Rainbow Dash agreed. “I'll just use this as a chance to hone my already insanely good lead guitar skills.”

“It's only temporary” Twilight said. “And we don't have to win the Battle of the Bands. We just have to perform against the Dazzlings and beat them.”

“Let's get to learn that musical counter-spell!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Well, that's just it” Twilight said. “I don't know any.”

Her friends sighed in dismay.

"Melody is better at this stuff" Twilight said. “But I'm sure I could figure out how to write one.”

“Of course you will” Rarity said. “After all, you’re the one that can learn anything.”

Applejack then looked at the clock of the room and said:

"We'd better go, gals. It's time for the tonight party."

"Uh, I love parties!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Especially those that happen in a music studio."

"And you can also know the Dazzlings" Rarity said to Twilight. "This party is for all the bands who signed up to be in the Autumn Equinox Ball."

Twilight nodded, thinking it was a good idea.

They then went to the lounge area, where all the bands were there too. On the edge of the drinks table, Twilight watched things and noticed the hostility that existed between the bands.

"You weren’t kidding" Twilight said. "Things are really bad here."

They waved.

It was then that the Dazzlings entered. Rainbow Dash, noticing them them, motioned to Twilight, pointing to the Sirens.

The Dazzlings, on entering, beheld all the disharmony that was there with a smile, especially Adagio, who said in a cynical tone:

“Oh, no! No one's mingling! It's like there's some kind of underlying tension that could bubble to the surface at any minute!”

“It's the fruit punch, isn't it?” Sonata asked, with a glass on her hoof. “I knew I used too much grape juice!”

Agadio rolled her eyes and said to her:

“It's not the fruit punch! It's us!

“But the punch is awful, too” Aria said to Sonata.

“What do you know about good fruit punch?” She asked her.

“More than you!” Aria replied her.

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

Adagio interrupted them and said them:

“This is just the kickoff party, girls. Imagine what a tizzy they'll be in by the time the Battle of the Bands starts.”

"That's what we'll see, Dazzlings" a voice said.

They turned and saw Twilight and her friends.

"We know what you are plotting" Twilight said. "And we will not let you take your onward. We will catch you and end the Battle of the Bands."

Adagio, realizing their intention, not intimidated, and to end it, began to say in a way that everypony could hear:

“Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they? Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they already got this thing all locked up.”

Her words had a great influence on the ponies. Trixie said:

“Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!”

The other ponies also began to say the same kind of things, starting one more intense discussion between bands that generated a huge amount of negative energy that the Sirens began to absorb with their pendants.

But Adagio was more focused on the Rainbooms that didn’t seem to have been affected by her magic and her sisters’. But she then looked closely at Twilight and noticed a strange light in her, something she had only seen in the most powerful beings of that world: the Generals of Order. But the light was different. It was more powerful and bright. It was then that she realized who Twilight was. She then told the other two with a smile:

“I think we may have found what we're looking for. Or rather, it found us.”

Aria, realizing what Adagio meant, nodded, smiling too. But Sonata didn’t realize and shrugged, which made Aria slap herself and Adagio exclaim to Sonata:

“The Light! Don't you see?! Everypony else has fallen under our spell. But not these ponies “she motion to the Rainbooms that were getting out of the room. “These ponies are special. And I think I know who that golden unicorn is.”

The Rainbooms went to their dormitory, where they could talk more freely.

"Well, it was a disaster!" Twilight exclaimed. "Did you see? This only caused them to become even stronger."

"Relax, Twilight" Applejack calmed her. "We still didn’t lose."

"Yes, we still have the magic that Melody gave us" Rarity continued.

"Not to mention my..." Rainbow Dash began, before amend herself. "Our musical qualities."

"Furthermore, we still have you, Twilight" Fluttershy said. "We are sure that you will be able to create a song that would enable us to defeat the Dazzlings."

That made Twilight give a nervous laugh, because the truth is, now that she met the Sirens, she didn’t know if she would be able to do that.

In the Sirens’ dormitory, they had a mirror that they used to contact their master.

"How are things going?" the Lord of Chaos asked, sitting in his chair.

"Very well, master" Adagio replied. "We're only here for one day and we have acquired a lot of negative energy. I'm sure it will not be long until we have our old magic back."

"Perfect" the Lord of Chaos replied.

"However..." Adagio began.

"Adagio, you know I don’t like howevers” the Lord of Chaos said.

"It’s just there’s a band that doesn’t seem to be affected by our voices" Adagio said.

"Yes, and also they seem to know who we are" Aria said.

"Oh, you must be referring to Princess Twilight’s friends" the Lord of Chaos said. "They are linked to Elements of Harmony. That’s why you cannot charm them. Don’t worry. I'm sure you can handle them."

"There is also another thing" Adagio said. "There was a unicorn mare with them containing a different light. It looked identical to the... original star seed’s."

"I see" the Lord of Chaos said, thoughtfully. "You're right, Adagio. This light is from the original star seed. That unicorn should be Twilight Princess. Purple Smoke probably used one of his transformation spells so she could help her friends unnoticed."

"Do you think she will be some nuisance?" Adagio asked.

"She’s the Princess of the Light Kingdom" the Lord of Chaos replied. "She’s always a nuisance, while her light still shines. Therefore, try to make the Rainbooms argue with each other."

The Sirens exchanged glances and Adagio asked:

"Would it be easier to remove them from the battle?"

"No, they would just find another way to reach you" the Lord of Chaos replied. "To defeat them completely, you have to destroy what they have of most precious: their friendship. Furthermore, I think about the negative energy that you might have by breaking their ties."

"But how do we do that, if they are immune to our voices?" Adagio asked.

"You’re three are smart" the Lord of Chaos, then noticing in Sonata that smiled to him. "The most of you, at least. There are more than one way to create chaos."

And having said that, he disappeared.

Adagio though for a bit on the Lord of Chaos’ words and then she had an idea:

"I know what we'll do."

It was night and Rainbooms were having a slumber party in her bedroom. While Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie talked happily, Twilight was lying on her bed trying to compose a song that they could use against the Sirens in Fluttershy’s notebook she kindly lent to her. But just as she had predicted, Twilight was having difficult in writing a song. It was then that Rainbow Dash asked her:

“So, Twilight, how is that counter-spell comin'?”

That question took Twilight off guard who said:

“Huh? Oh, uh, good. Great. Thanks for letting me use your notebook, Fluttershy. I really like the song you wrote for the Rainbooms.”

“Thanks” she thanked, then sighing. “Hopefully one day, we'll get a chance to play it.”

When it was late at night, Twilight’s friends fell asleep, but she stayed awake to work on the counterspell. Not wanting to disturb her friends, Twilight left the bedroom and went to the inside garden, but even in that way, she couldn’t find the perfect lyrics.

“No. That's not gonna work.”

She sighed, not wanting to believe that depended on her to find the perfect song to defeat the Dazzlings when she couldn’t compose as well as Melody. Then a deep, soft voice asked:

"Problems, princess?"

Twilight turned and saw the Lord of Order by her side.

"Lord of Order?" she asked. "But what are you doing here?"

"I had the feeling you weren’t doing well, so I came to see what was going on" he said, sitting on her edge. "What’s up?"

"I think you know what's going on" Twilight replied. "I'm not able to compose anything. We only get one shot at this. It has to be perfect.”

"You know, Melody has a secret when she composes her songs" the Lord of Chaos said.

"Really, and what is it?" Twilight asked, in an enthusiastic way, and when she realized what she had done, she tried to moderate. "I'm sorry."

"Don’t worry" the Lord of Order said. "I know what it feels when people expect things from us, especially great things. It only makes things harder because the last thing you want to do is…”

“...let everybody down” Twilight completed.

"Precisely" the Lord of Order said. "But I have faith in you, Twilight. Just as I had faith in Princess Aurora, I know that you will be able to do great things."

He stood up, preparing to leave, but then he turned to Twilight, saying:

"By the way, in answer to your question, you already know the secret, you’re just not seeing it."

And having said that, he disappeared, leaving Twilight thinking about his words.

The next day, the Rainbooms were practicing a new song with the lyrics that Twilight had written, but it happened that was not as good as it should.

In the end, Fluttershy was the first to speak, saying in a soft voice:

“Eh, that sounded... way better than the last... five times we've played it.”

But to see the look of her friends, Fluttershy confessed:

"Yes, you’re right, it was a disaster."

“I think it's pretty obvious what's going wrong with this counter-spell” Rainbow Dash said.

“Ya're turnin' what should be tha chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?” Applejack asked, while she and Rarity made harsh stares to Rainbow Dash.

“I have to pick up the slack somehow!” Rainbow Dash defended herself. “Are you guys even trying?!”

“I’m trying” Fluttershy said, bashfully.

“It's fine” Twilight said with a nervous laugh, trying to convince herself instead the others. “It'll be fine. One more time from the top!”

But her friends did not respond and Rarity said, advancing a few steps:

“Or, perhaps we could take a short break, try on some of the wardrobe choices I've put together?”

She made up a clouth cart with six sets, saying then:

“I'm particularly fond of this one.”

He pushed the cart, appearing with a beautiful purple dress with glowing on the skirt and still with epaulettes on the shoulders.

“Eh, of course we could always go with something a bit more modern” Rarity admitted.

“We're tryin' tah save tha studio and the world here” Applejack answered her. “Enough with tha costumes!”

At that moment, Rarity had another cloth that was a bright yellow suit similar to the space ones and with a helmet that gave her a more robotic voice. She told to Applejack, in an indignant tone:

“Oh, you can never have enough costumes!”

“She just wants to make things fun!” Pinkie Pie said to Applejack, behind her battery, in a bored way. “Isn't that what being in a band supposed to be?”

And she played a rimshot angrily.

Fluttershy locked to the clock and said:

“I don't think we have time for any of this. We're supposed to check in at the Battle of the Bands in five minutes!”

“Oh no!” the others exclaimed, starting to pack everything.

“What?” Twilight asked “But it's not ready! If we play against the Dazzlings with our counter-spell in the first round and it doesn't work, we will not be able to defeat the Sirens!”

That made the others stop and then Applejack said:

“Well, we jest have tah hope that doesn’t happen until tha counter-spell is finish’d. Meanwhile, we have tah stay in tha competion.”

“Now we talking my language” Rainbow Dash said. “I take over lead vocals again and we stay alive until Twilight finish the counter-spell and we unleash it against the Dazzlings!”

“We are countin’ with ya, Twilight” Applejack said to her with a smile.

“Thanks, Applejack” Twilight answered, nervously.

“Then let's go win us a Battle of the Bands!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

They went to the main auditorium where the event would happen, except the final that would happen at the ball, where the winner would play when the equinox had happened. When everypony was seated in the stands, Swan Song and Sound Wave appeared on stage and the first told to everypony:

“Welcome to the first ever Melody’s Studio Battle of the Bands. I believe I speak for everypony when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this studio!”

The ponies acclaimed with emotion Swan Song’s words. She continued:

“We are so glad our three newest members encouraged us to turn this event into something exciting!”

She was talking, of course, about the Dazzlings, that were exhibiting fake smiles while waving to everypony.

It was Sound Wave’s turn to speak:

“But, as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner that will inaugurate autumn. Who is it going to be?”

That question made the ponies begin to argue once more and generate more negative energy that was absorbed by the Sirens. After absorbing it, Adagio asked to the other two:

“You feel that, girls? Our true power is being restored.”

That made Aria and Sonata laugh.

Then Adagio saw the Rainbooms entering and she made her sisters stop laughing, saying then:

“And that's before we've tapped into the strongest magic here.”

“But the Rainblossoms, or whatever they're called, aren't under our spell” Aria said to her. “How exactly are we supposed to get to their magic?”

“As our master said, we can create chaos in many ways” Adagio said. “The Rainbooms are just as capable of falling apart as anypony else. They just need a little... push in the wrong direction. I have a feeling everypony here is going to be lining up to give them a shove.”

And the auditions for the Battle of the Bands began, with bands acting to the two headmasters. The duo that preceded the Rainbooms were rappers, but their act was not brilliant, actually it was pretty bad, joining the microphones resonances. Adagio and Aria released a mock laughter. The only ones that seemed to be liking were Pinkie Pie and Sonata. In the end, they left the stage, telling to the Rainbooms:

“In your face, Rainbooms!”

When they walked away, Applejack said to her friends:

“Least we know one group who won't stand in the way of us gettin' to the finals.”

“Let's get ready to rock!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Wait!” Pinkie Pie said. “Where's Rarity?”

It was true, Rarity wasn’t there.

“Here!” she exclaimed, approaching and panting. “I'm here!”

They saw then that she was wearing a jacket and boots decorated with light metal plates with a ribbon around the head. She expected some reaction from her friends, but when she didn’t get any, she said:

“We will be performing in front of an audience. I'm not going to wear something fabulous?”

That made Applejack roll her eyes with annoyance.

They then took the stage, but they noticed that none of the other participants seemed satisfied by seeing them. In fact, they were even whispering between each other.

“Remember, we…” Twilight said, trying to not speak to the microphone.

“Yes, we know” Rainbow Dash. “We have just to be cool enough to win. Enough talking, let’s go rock!”

"One, two, three" Pinkie Pie said, beating the drumsticks and starting the song.

The six began to play a song called "Shake Your Tail".

They were going very well, showing their potential, but what they didn’t know was that one of the rival female bands were up there, preparing magnets attached to marionette control bars with a mischievous smile. The leader pointed to Rarity and the others two launched the magnets that made the metal bars being attracted to them and so the ponies could control Rarity’s to great shock of her. They forced her to make a ridiculous dance that caught Applejack’s attention. She didn’t realize what Rarity was doing. With one movement, Rarity took Applejack’s hat down, which made her catch it with the tip of her bass and put it in her head again, making then a harsh look to Rarity. She tried to sing her part of the song, but their manipulators wouldn’t let her and she ended up bumping against Applejack that moved her away with a kick, while singing her part.

Pinkie Pie, looking at the audience, noticed that some ponies were find their act boring, so she decided to launch the surprise she had. Removing the drum head of one of her drums, Pinkie cocked it and it came out, like a cannon, a lot of confetti. But what she didn’t expect was that Twilight choked with one of them, which forced Fluttershy to go up to her and hit her in the back with the tambourine to make her spit the confetto before returning to sing.

Up there, the rappers also began to sabotage the Rainbooms’s act, focusing the spotlight on Fluttershy. She, feeling the eyes on it, began to feel her stage fright appearing. She tried to deviate from the light falling on her, but the light continued to follow her, which forced her to run on the stage to escape from the light, always trying to hide in any hiding place she found, but always with light finding her.

All those sabotage were ruining Rainbooms’ performance, with the sleeves of Rarity’s jacked ripping apart due to her attempts to break free of the magnets, which made her cry, and with Fluttershy hidden behind Pinkie Pie’s drum, while she played her tambourine and sang in a low way. Truth be told that the song didn’t end as it had begun. After all, Swan Song and Sound Wave applauded (being the only ones to do so) and took notes.

They left the stage with Rarity saying, as she cried:

“Ruined! Absolutely ruined!”

“Rarity, were ya tryin' tah make us lose out there?!” Applejack asked coldly.

That question offended Rarity that, stopping crying, replied:

“This was not my fault! This was an act of sabotage!”

“Yeah, well, whoever did this couldn't have done this if ya didn't insist on dressin' like... like... this!” Applejack exclaimed, pointing to Rarity’s clothing. “We need to sound good! Is there some reason that concept seems to escape you?”

“And what was with the confetti, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash said to Pinkie Pie showing her one confetto. “How am I supposed to shred if there's paper stuck in my frets?!”

“It was pretty distracting...” Fluttershy agreed.

“Says the pony who was running from a light the whole time!” Pinkie Pie answered her. “A light!”

Twilight tried to calm things down, saying:

“We still sounded much better than most of the other bands. I'm sure we'll make it to the next round. But it won't matter if we don't have that counter-spell ready. You all find a place to practice where the sirens can't hear us. I'll follow you.”

And so they did that. They left muttering to themselves. Repair on that, Adagio laughed and said to Aria and Sonata:

“Arguing already? This is only the first round.”

The other two also gave a laugh. Then they heard Swan Song to say through the speakers:

“The next band to take the stage will be Trixie and the Illusions.”

“Better head back. We're supposed to go on after Trixie.”

But when they went to the entrance of the auditorium, they met with Twilight that seemed to be waiting for them.

“You're never gonna get away with this.”

“Why? Because you’re telling so… princess?” Adagio asked.

Twilight became petrified when Adagio said that.

“That’s right” Adagio told her, while she and the other two started to circle Twilight. “We know who you are, Princess Twilight. We can see your light. I was thinking what the other ponies will say when they find out who the sixth member of the Rainboom really is.”

“You wouldn’t do it” Twilight said.

“Of course we would” Aria replied. “We’re bad, remember?”

“But you’re right, we wouldn’t because we don’t need it” Adagio said. “I mean… Have you seen how your dear friends were arguing?”

“I think it will not last until your friendship break” Aria said.

“Too bad!” Sonata said. “So sad!”

“If it's any consolation, you will not have to care about that by the time we're done” Adagio said, passing through her with her sisters.

Seeing them moving away, Twilight became worried. She had to hast to complete the counter-spell or everything would be lost.

After Trixie and her band’s performance, it was the Dazzlings’ turn. They were behind the curtains, while the others were waiting for them. Holding their microphones, Adagio said to her sisters:

“Remember, girls. We want to save the good stuff for when our full power has been restored.”

And they began to access the power of their pendants. When the curtain goes away, they soon began to sing while spreading more disharmony, generating even more negative energy that was absorbed by them.

The battle of the bands continued with all the bands fighting to win. The round of the playoffs was established with the Rainbooms and Dazzlings to compete in the final if they win all the rounds, something that seemed to be fulfilled. Each of them was winning battle after battle to reach the semi-finals.

The Rainbooms made a huge effort to not reveal the power that Melody had given to them, but it seemed that some were having more difficulties than the others. Rainbow Dash seemed to be getting more and more excited in every passing round, becoming quite obvious that she wouldn’t hold it much longer. However, Twilight tried to finish her counter-spell, but she was not succeeding and time was running out, something that made her even more nervous.

Then the semi-finals and the Autumn Equinox Ball day arrived with the Dazzlings deserving their place in the final. The last battle of the semi-finals that lasted was the one between the Rainbooms and Trixie and the Illusions. Before they start the battle, the Rainboom were behind the scenes to prepare themselves.

“This is it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Last round and you're in the finals to battle the Dazzlings! Is the counter-spell ready, Twilight?”

Seeing her air, realized that the counter-spell was not yet ready. Applejack said to her:

“Don't worry, Twilight. Finals aren't until tonight. We'll get in a little more practice before we're supposed to hit the stage. We won't let you down!”

The other nodded, sharing the same feeling as Applejack.

“You won't let me down...” Twilight said to herself, thinking that should be the opposite.

“Um, I was just wondering” Fluttershy said to Rainbow Dash. “We haven't played any of my songs yet, and...”

“It's the semifinals” Rainbow Dash answered. “We gotta do ‘Awesome As I Wanna Be’.”

“Don't know why I even asked...” Fluttershy said to herself, discouraged.

Trixie and her band were finishing their act with "Tricks Up My Sleeve", ending with an incredible burst of light. Swan Song and Sound Wave cheered amazed with the first saying:

“Fantastic!”

Trixie and his band thanked with a nod and then went backstage, where she said to the Rainbooms with her usual haughty air:

“You're never gonna top that performance, Rain-goons. You shouldn't be allowed to when you can have a little advantage than the rest of us.”

“My superior guitar playing and off-the-charts awesome singing voice?” Rainbow Dash asked her in a mocking way.

“Oh, don't be ridiculous, I mean her!” Trixie replied, pointing to Twilight, not knowing who she was. “If you were really all that, Rainbow Dash, you wouldn't need another singer to have half a chance. Everypony's talking about it.”

“Puh-leeze!” Rainbow Dash answered. “I could win this thing as a solo act and everybody knows it!”

Her friends didn’t seem very happy about that selfish comment of Rainbow Dash.

“Sure you could” Trixie said in a cynical way.

She then casted a smokescreen that made everypony cough. When the smoke dissipated, Trixie wasn’t there anymore.

“She's gone!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, leading her hooves to her mane. “Oh, wait. There she is.”

She pointed to her drum where Trixie was hidden before she leaves.

“Next up, the Rainbooms” Sound Wave announced.

They took the stage and started playing the song Rainbow Dash said they would sing: "Awesome As I Wanna Be".

Rainbow Dash was the lead singer, much to Fluttershy’s annoyance, who simply did the chorus, while playing her tambourine. Rainbow Dash started walking briskly across the stage while playing her guitar excitedly, as she came to her friends who wore expressions equal to Fluttershy’s, and they were also fed up with Rainbow Dash’s exhibitionism. Even Pinkie Pie lost her joy, playing her drums in a boring way. Then all the spotlight focused on Rainbow Dash, which only increased the other’s annoyance.

Then something began to happen. Rainbow Dash was so uncontrolled that her mane began to glow, which meant she was about to show the magic given by Melody. Suddenly, a red aura circled Rainbow Dash’s hooves, causing her to stumble and stop the music. Seeing that, the ponies began to scoff and booing, while Swan Swong and Sound Wave took notes in a not very encouraging way.

When they left the stage, Applejack asked to Rainbow Dash:

"But what was that, Rainbow Dash?!"

"I don’t know, okay?" She said. "It was not me. Somepony made me stumble."

"Yes, I was" a voice said.

They turned and faced with Heartbeat.

"Heartbeat?" They asked at the same time.

“Why did you do that?!” Rainbow Dash asked her, angrily.

“You were showing them your magic” Heartbeat answered. “I came here just to check everything by Melody’s request and, when I saw what you were doing, I had to act.”

“You could just maybe close the curtains?” Rarity said to her. “Unplug her amp? Give us a chance to deal with the situation?”

"I’m sorry if I avoided you lose your changes of use Melody’s magic against the Sirens" Heartbeat said, sarcastically. "I just wanted to help. But I if you don’t want my help, I think I'll go back to the Light Kingdom to help Purple Smoke to make Melody recover her voice."

And having said that, she disappeared.

"I cannot believe Heartbeat may have made us lose" Rainbow Dash said.

“None of this would've happen’d if ya weren't tryin' tah show off… as usual” Applejack said to her.

It was then that Trixie appeared and said cynically:

“Good show, Rain-brooms. I especially liked the part where you, Rainbow Dash, stumbled in your mid-guitar solo!”

“It wasn’t me, Trixie” Rainbow Dash protested.

“If you say so” Trixie said with a mocking smile. “Ooh! Looks like they've already decided who'll be moving on to the finals!”

She was referring to Swan Song and Sound Wave who were discussing who would pass to the final on the other side, appearing to have come to a conclusion.

“I'm guessing it wasn't too difficult a decision” Trixie said, taking her mirror to arrange her mane.

Then something caught Twilight’s attention. She saw the doors behind the two headmasters opening and the Dazzlings appeared and began to sing to them, who entered in a trance state, as their eyes flashed with a green light. Twilight wondered what they were up to. She was to ask her friends what they thought, but they were more concerned with the result to pay attention to the Dazzlings.

“What can we do?” Rarity asked. “There isn't gonna be another opportunity for us to play. And I had the most gorgeous outfit for the finals!

“Yup, 'cause that's the real tragedy here, Rarity: that you won't get to play dress-up!” Applejack exclaimed, sarcastly, what irritated Rarity so much.

“You know perfectly well that is not what I meant!” She answered her.

Rainbow Dash ended their discussion, saying:

“You guys wanna keep it down? They're about to announce who's moving on.”

“Who are you kidding?” Fluttershy asked. “You know it isn't gonna be us.”

Swan Song and Sound Wave went to the stage and the first announced:

“The band that will be joining the Dazzlings in tonight's finals during the Autumn Equinox Ball is... The Rainbooms!”

All were shocked by such an announcement, especially Trixie and the Rainbooms themselves.

“What?!” Trixie exclaimed.

“Did they just say, the Rainbooms?!” Pinkie Pie asked.

Completely angry, Trixie went through the Rainbooms with heavy step, telling them:

“This isn't over!”

Rainbooms went to the stage, with only Rainbow Dash showing some joy.

“Congratulations, girls” Swan Song told them. “You deserve it.”

“Seriously?!” Pinkie Pie asked. “We didn't even finish our…!”

But Rainbow Dash didn’t let her finish, making just a smile to the headmasters. It was then that the Dazzlings appeared from the other said and told them:

“See you at tonight's big show, Rainbooms. We are really looking forward to it.”

And they started to move away. What Adagio said seemed to have irritate Rainbow Dash that said to them:

“Yeah, well... not as much as we are!”

But it was then that the ponies of the audience started to jeer them, what made them leave the stage sadly, while they were jeered by the ponies until they leave the auditorium. Seeing them leaving, Trixie exclaimed:

“This is a travesty! A travesty!”

“It really is!” Adagio said, appearing by her side, along with Aria and Sonata. “The Rainbooms don't deserve to be in the finals. Not when your band was so much better in the semis.”

“And wanted it so much more” Aria added.

“Alas, this is the way it's going to be” Adagio said. “Dazzlings vs. Rainbooms.”

“Unless, of course, the Rainbooms don't manage to make it to their set or held up for some reason” Sonata said.

When she heard what Sonata said, Trixie made a sinister chuckling, because she had just the perfect plan that would allow her and her band to go the final instead of the Rainbooms.

Later, the Rainbooms were at the state where they would act during the Autumn Equinox Ball, whose area had been evacuated so the performers could practice, preparing themselves.

“This doesn't make any sense” Fluttershy said, while preparing her tambourine. “We were awful. Doesn't anybody else think it's strange that we're the ones that made it to the finals?”

“Very strange” a voice said.

They turned and saw Trixie appearing at the stage, along with the other two members of her band.

“What are you doing here, Trixie?” Rainbow Dash asked her. “Pretty sure the losers are supposed to be up there in the cheap seats.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most talented pony at Melody’s studio” she said. “It is I who deserves to be in the finals. And I will not... be denied!

She made a sign to her colleagues and one of them pulled a lever that made the trapdoor under them open, making them fall. Trixie laughed and said to them:

“See you never!”

And they closed the trapdoor before Rainbow Dash could fly to get out.

The Dazzlings were seeing the scene by far with a wicked smile on their faces. Adagio so told to her sisters:

“Told you somepony would give them a shove.”

“She didn't shove them” Sonata said. “She pulled a lever.”

That made Adagio bring the hoof to her face, while Aria rolled her eyes, saying:

“Go back to sleep, Sonata.”

The Lord of Chaos also saw that scene and was very pleased to the Dazzlings’ plan.

"Yes, my dear Sirens" he said. "Finally, I can feel the taste of victory."

"Yes, with the Rainbooms out of the way, no one can stop the Dazzlings to win" Fire Punch said.

"Fire Punch, is not only that" the Lord of Chaos told him. "You will see that this plan has a greater purpose."

And having said that, the Lord of Chaos gave one of his evil laughter.