The Other Journal

by Ganondorf8

Chapter 37: Shattered Friendship

Day: Saturday
Weather: Sunny, with a cool breeze
Time: I'm guessing somewhere between 1:00pm to 7:00pm.

I realize now that I have a problem with my temper. If even a tiny little thing annoys me, I'm likely to lash out without thinking of the consequences. That happened when Trixie claimed that my tackling Rainbow Dash was out of jealous rage. While I claimed otherwise, my friends weren't so sure I was sincere. Even Princess Twilight didn't know what to think, and deep down, she felt like I had betrayed her kindness of giving me another chance. She decided to spend the night with me, wanting to know what really happened. I gave her an answer, but she had trouble believing it. My actions have made me untrustworthy. The next day was supposed to have been a sound check for the Rainbooms, and it was, but Trixie and her friends had other plans. They removed the Rainbooms from the competition and would take their place that night. I also learned something very important. When you're trapped in a closed-off room, tensions had a tendency to explode.

The Other Journal
By Ganondorf8
January 3, 2016
Chapter 37: Shattered Friendship.

" Well? What did you all do to pass the time while trapped?" Twilight asked.

" Before I answer that, I should mention that Princess Twilight's version of Spike was never imprisoned like the rest of us." I answered. It was by sheer luck that he wasn't standing where we were at the time. Otherwise, he would have fallen through the trap door as well. Spike had been playing with some kind of chew toy when Trixie and her bandmates decided to prevent the Rainbooms from competing that night. I'm surprised Trixie never thought of kidnapping him. If she had, he never would have gone to find someone to help us, and we'd have been trapped even longer. To think that there was one other student at CHS who hadn't been affected by the Sirens' singing. Now that I think about it, I do find her reasoning to be unusual at best. Headphones don't really work that way... Do they? " We owe a lot to Spike, as he managed to get help." I said.

" I'd never doubt Spike--both versions. He's always been there for me, and the same can be said for Princess Twilight." Twilight said.

" Despite all of our tension, Spike was the only one who never succumbed to any negative thoughts. Of course, if he hadn't been praising Her Highness like she were some kind of deity, she never would have started questioning her abilities. In a way, he started the ball rolling, though it wasn't on purpose; he was only trying to help." I said.

" Okay, so how did you pass the time?" Twilight asked.

" Alright, since you're dying to know. We were trapped down there for what seemed like forever, though it was actually several hours, as I mentioned before. The only ventilation we had came from a small draft underneath the door, so we had to conserve oxygen. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the conditions of the room combined with how everyone was feeling that day resulted in what I would call an explosion of rage." I answered.

" In other words?" Twilight asked.

" Tensions reached a boiling point. Everyone lashed out at one another. Well, except for Princess Twilight and myself. She had been reduced to quivering jelly, while I remained quiet out of guilt that I had caused much of the tension due to my stunt the previous day. To say that the Magic of Friendship imploded on itself would be an accurate description. In fact, that's what happened." I answered.

When you have so much pent-up rage inside of you, accumulated from various events within a matter of days, you just want to let it all come out, regardless of any consequences. That's what our friends would end up doing. All that frustration, unleashed like an unrestrained animal. In a matter of moments, friendships came apart at the seams. The Sirens knew that to get the magic, they needed the Rainbooms to fall apart.

" I... I don't believe it." Twilight said. She had been staring off into the distance when I revealed what happened in that storage room. I found it strange that she would react like that, considering she must have experienced something to a lesser degree during her time at Crystal Prep. From what all of us witnessed during the Friendship Games, her former classmates often bullied her because she was an easy target to express their frustrations upon. Eventually, Twilight's staring started to make me worry, so I waved my hand in front of her face. She snapped out of her trance before turning towards me. " Sorry about that. I guess I wasn't expecting you to have said something along those lines." Twilight said.

" Do you actually doubt me?" I asked.

" Yes, honestly." Twilight answered.

" It is a pretty difficult pill to swallow, but I believe that I wrote down some of the things our friends said to one another when they let it all out in the journal." I said. Was it weird that I would write down such things? Or better yet, how was it that I remembered I even did it? Much of the time, I couldn't recall what I wrote down originally, as it had been a long time, yet this appeared to be the exception. Did it really have so much of an impact on my life that I would remember it vividly?

Twilight turned the page. Her eyes opened wide, and her jaw dropped. There were a number of expletives which she just couldn't look at, but I could; I was the one who wrote them down. Those were some of the harsher words our friends said to one another. When you lose control of your emotions, you are liable to say just about anything out of frustration. Our friends had snapped. Their anger exploded into a fury that almost couldn't be stopped. Twilight would eventually will herself into looking at what I had written down, but I didn't force her into doing so. She spent a few moments glossing over everything, and when she was finished, she just stared at me with her eyes wide open.

" Did they really say such things?" Twilight asked.

" Yes." I answered.

" I didn't think any one of them could say such horrible things to each other." Twilight said.

" Frustration, anger, malice, and hatred make people blind to everything that happens around them. Our friends had all of those traits and more when they lashed out at each other, and their words would continue to sting for quite some time. You can easily forgive people, but the emotional scars take a while to fully heal. You don't need to look at those words if they make you feel uncomfortable, Twilight. In fact, I'll omit them when we get to that part unless you want me to include them." I said.

" Just give me some time to think about it." Twilight said.

" While you do that, allow me to tell you what happened before Trixie and her bandmates activated that trap door." I said.

---

I had trouble sleeping for the duration of the night. Princess Twilight wanted to know why I tackled Rainbow Dash during the middle of the Rainbooms' performance, yet she refused to believe what I said in response. I told her the Dazzlings knew she and the others possessed Equestrian magic. She really wanted to believe me, but my actions had rendered me untrustworthy in her eyes. Just when it looked like she and I had come to an understanding of one another, something happened which completely ruined it. I don't blame her for not wanting to accept my words as the truth, yet it still hurt me just the same. I was the only one who knew the truth about what the Dazzlings were after. Everyone else was completely ignorant, too entrenched in the tensions driving them apart. One thing kept on appearing in my dreams as I struggled to sleep: I saw an image of my friends--Princess Twilight included--walking away and leaving me behind. I was on the floor, covered from head to toe in dirt, and crying my eyes out.

Was it a premonition of things to come? I certainly hoped not; that was one scenario which would destroy me. I had to remain positive and hope that everything would turn out okay in the end. It wasn't easy for me, however, as there was so much stacked against me. Should the Dazzlings succeed in their plan, I would be forgotten by everyone and would most likely wander about this world alone forever. Such a thought frightened me to the very core. I didn't want to go back to such an awful experience. My friends meant everything to me, and losing them wasn't an option. Somehow, I had to find a way to salvage my friendships, even if it meant taking the fall for them.

The next morning, after doing those little things humans have to do to get themselves ready--and also sleeping in a little bit--Princess Twilight and I would meet our friends in the field behind CHS, where the location of the finals was. We had gotten there early, as Rainbow Dash wanted to perform a few sound checks to make sure the Rainbooms played at an appropriate sound level, but I suspected she had an ulterior motive. While the others were busy setting up their equipment, Rainbow Dash walked over to where I was standing and presented me with a guitar.

" Huh? What's this for?" I asked.

" You asked me if I could give you a crash course on playing the guitar." Rainbow Dash answered.

" Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, things have been pretty tense over the last twenty-four hours." I said, referring to what happened the other day when I tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground. I assumed she wouldn't want anything to do with me because I almost ruined their chances of reaching the finals. Yet, she took the time to come over here and fulfill a promise she made to me. I wanted to learn how to play an instrument in case the Rainbooms ever needed an additional guitarist. This was because I didn't want to feel left out, and I also wanted prove that I had changed from the way I once was.

" I'm not going to hold that against you. Besides, you asked me to teach you and I'm gonna do just that." Rainbow Dash said.

" Why now?" I asked.

" My band has been so busy what with the competition that I didn't have time, but I figured that I could perform a lengthy sound check while also showing you some of the basics as quickly as possible. It's not my best idea, but this all I can really do." Rainbow Dash answered. Once again, she referred to the Rainbooms as her band when, in fact, it belonged to the entire group. I rubbed the bridge of my nose in frustration over how she just didn't understand that her ego was problematic. I chose to ignore that, though, and I agreed to be given a brief crash course on guitar-playing.

" Alright... You can teach me." I said.

" You won't be able to play much of this guitar until the afternoon when we have more free time. That's why I suggest you watch what I do during the sound check. You can help me adjust the settings until our sound is where we need it to be. That should give you some extra know-how on guitar playing." Rainbow Dash suggested. I had no other choice but to do it that way. The others may not appreciate her teaching me on the side when she should be doing a sound check. I propped the guitar up against a wall before following Rainbow Dash towards where the equipment was located.

It was similar to what was used during the rehearsal back at Sweet Apple Acres, so I would have no problem figuring out what to adjust. Rainbow Dash then took out her guitar and began strumming a few notes while I watched her fingers carefully. Each delicate stroke was like poetry in motion; she knew exactly what she was doing. Despite all of that bravado, Rainbow Dash was a very skilled guitarist. All those years of playing had really paid off. She could really go far in a career as a professional musician, but she would need to understand what humility meant. Her self-centered attitude needed to change, otherwise her life would simply spiral out of control. Rainbow Dash continued with her strumming while adjusting the knobs on the end of the guitar. She told me doing so would alter the pitch, which could be helpful when playing something fast or slow, depending on what a song required.

Things were pretty peaceful, which made a nice change of pace. I thought everyone would be lashing out at each other in frustration, yet they were showing tremendous amounts of restraint. Perhaps things were going to get better after all. That's when I noticed that we weren't alone. I tilted my head several times to the right to inform my friends that we were being watched by the Dazzlings. I had no idea how long they had been sitting in the bleachers, but things could turn ugly were they to come over.

" What should we do about them?" Fluttershy asked.

" Just ignore them. I made sure to let Principal Celestia know yesterday that we needed this time to perform a sound check. They'll just have to wait their turn for whatever it is they're going to be doing before the finals." Rainbow Dash answered. It felt really unnerving that the Dazzlings were watching our every move, yet Rainbow was pretty adamant about ignoring them. She was clearly focused on that sound check. " Check, one, two. Testing, testing." She then tapped a microphone several times with her finger and little sound came out of it in response.

" That didn't sound all that loud." Fluttershy said.

" Yeah, so how about we raise the decibels a little." Rainbow Dash suggested. I then turned the knob slightly before she tested it again to see if it was better. The shaking of her head indicated that it still wasn't loud enough. I turned the knob almost the entire way, and Rainbow proceeded to test the microphone. " Testing." This time, there was a massive amount of feedback, which almost caused all of us to go deaf. I quickly turned the knob back before blushing out of embarrassment.

" Sorry about that." I said.

" Good thing that didn't attract their attention." Rainbow Dash said looking over to where the Dazzlings were still sitting. It amazed me that those girls didn't run away screaming with their hands covering their ears. Either they were deaf to all sounds save their own, or they had a lot of discipline to maintain their composure. I turned the knob about halfway, and Rainbow Dash waited a few seconds before testing again. " Check, one, two. Testing. Hey! This sounds just about right." I felt relieved knowing that I managed to get it to the appropriate volume.

" Something has been bothering me..." Fluttershy began.

" Like what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" It, um, has to do with what happened the other day when Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna revealed the results. Um, they did seem rather strange when they announced that our band was moving on instead of Trixie and the Illusions." Fluttershy answered. I gulped in response to what she said, as I knew what had happened to the two sisters. The Dazzlings used their singing to hypnotize them into giving the win to the Rainbooms, which is why they were preparing for the finals tonight. A part of me really wanted to tell them, but I hesitated out of fear that they wouldn't believe me. My previous actions had made me a liability.

" We made it through in the end, and that's what counts." Rainbow Dash said.

" Maybe." Fluttershy said.

" Maybe? Maybe what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" It's just that, um, I, um, think it doesn't make sense. We were awful. Doesn't anybody else think it's strange that we're the ones that made it to the finals? Um, I know we needed to 'go the full distance' in order to take on the Dazzlings, but I feel like we did Trixie a great wrong. I know you two haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but perhaps we should try to explain it to her so that she might feel better about it." Fluttershy suggested.

" I guess we could do that." Rainbow Dash said.

" Don't bother!" We all turned towards the left side of the stage upon hearing that voice, and standing there was Trixie and her two bandmates. I assumed she had been listening in on the entire conversation, but her cold demeanour told me she had no interest in listening to what we had to say. I was curious about why one of her bandmates was holding onto a rather oversized lever. " Trixie finds it very strange that my superior band lost to a band that didn't even finish their performance. I would point fingers at who caused that little fiasco, but I think we all know without pointing her out." She was glaring at me when she said that. I decided to say nothing in case I lose control of my temper and do something I would regret.

" What do you want?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" My friends and I wanted to come here in order to take care of a small problem." Trixie answered.

" Pretty sure the losers are supposed to be up there in the cheap seats." Rainbow Dash said.

" Very funny coming from the true losers." Trixie said.

" What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash asked. It seemed I wasn't the only one who had a problem with her temper. Rainbow was just as quick to react to something as much as I was, yet she was holding back. I would have walked right up to Trixie's face and let her have it.

" The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most talented girl at Canterlot High. My band deserves to be in the finals, and everyone knows it. Even you lot think that's true according to what you were all saying as we arrived." She motioned to her bandmate. " I'm sure you're all curious about why one of my bandmates happens to be holding onto this giant lever. Trixie believes that her band has been cheated out of its rightful place in the finals, and we shall rectify that little mistake right now." Trixie answered. She then snapped her fingers, prompting her friend to pull the lever with a loud click. Suddenly, the floor below Princess Twilight, my friends and me gave way, and we fell down into a room below the stage, landing on the ground with several loud thuds. " Trixie shall never be denied."

" What are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked, shouting up to the top of the trap door.

" Getting rid of the competition who didn't deserve to be there to begin with! Since Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna stated that should either of the final bands be unable to make it to tonight's performance, the runners-up would take their places. I knew getting rid of the Dazzlings would have been impossible, so I decided to focus on you Rainbooms instead. By the time anyone has figured out where you all are, my band will already have been declared the winner! See you never!" Trixie said, laughing evilly. She then had her bandmate pull the lever back, which closed the trap door with a loud slam. The Dazzlings, who had watched everything that transpired on stage, also decided to join in on the laughter, but I couldn't hear them very well over Trixie's cackling.

Judging from all the spare costumes and props lying around, this room was used for storage between plays. There were no windows, and the only means of ventilation came from under the door itself. If something wanted to be preserved in here, it had a pretty good chance of surviving, yet the same couldn't be said for us. Rainbow Dash got up and walked over to the door. She tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge; it had been locked from the outside, most likely to prevent someone from sneaking in and stealing costumes and props. That meant no one was aware that we were all trapped down here aside from the Dazzlings and the Illusions, neither band willing to let us out until the competition was over. Just when things were starting to look up, it all came crashing down on top of us.

---

" How far did you fall when the trap door opened?" Twilight asked.

" I'd say about three meters before we landed on solid concrete." I answered. Twilight's jaw dropped in response, and I couldn't blame her. It still boggles my mind how none of us suffered any broken bones from falling so far. Not only that, the girls' instruments also fell with us, but they were completely intact. If there was one positive about being trapped in a room with no ventilation, it would be not having to worry about freezing to death. Instead, we just had to worry about stuffiness and dust. All of those costumes and props took up a lot of space.

" You could have been paralyzed or killed." Twilight said.

" I think the former would have been more likely." I said.

" Still, why did she resort to something like that in the first place? I know she was upset that the Rainbooms were given the win instead of her band, but to use such tactics? I'm surprised she didn't have to talk to the police." Twilight said. Considering no one witnessed what happened, aside from Trixie's band and the Sirens, the chances of her being arrested were slim. I doubt the Sirens would have wanted to get the police involved, especially when they were so close to achieving their goal of regaining their full power.

" Remember when I said Trixie had an encounter with the Sirens when she stormed off after learning the results?" I asked.

" I did find that an odd thing for her to do." Twilight answered.

" We would later learn from Trixie herself that they manipulated her into getting rid of our friends from the competition. By using the right words, she was convinced that preventing the Rainbooms from making it to the finals would guarantee the Illusions getting their spot instead. Trixie wanted to be in the finals more than anything, so she was willing to do whatever it took." I said.

" So her actions were a mixture of her own ambitions and the Sirens' influence?" Twilight asked.

" Yes."

" I do find it strange that they had a storage room built right under the stage with that trap door." Twilight said. For a while, I had often wondered what the point of having a large trap door situated in such a crucial section of the stage was. Most could have easily stumbled into it during a performance, and unless they had something to cushion their fall, I could see a lot of potential lawsuits being made. I would learn from the Drama Kids that the trap door allowed them to enter and exit the stage if the play they were performing had need of it. There was always someone on hand who would operate the mechanism. They also used smoke and other special effects to add to the illusion that they were disappearing instead of just going into the room below. " Sunset, how long were you and our friends trapped down there for?" Twilight asked.

" That's a tough question." I answered. I didn't have the heart to tell her that we were trapped down there for roughly six hours. While that may not seem like much, it was without any food, water, or access to any washrooms. Not having those essentials would make such an experience unbearable for just about anyone. Yet, we somehow managed to survive, which was a miracle. I looked at Twilight's face, and she was giving me the puppy dog pout. It was an expression that I never liked, because it always forced me into revealing the truth, no matter what might happen. I knew right away that denying Twilight would be impossible, so I told her the truth. " We were trapped for about six hours, although it may have been seven." I said.

" How did you manage to avoid losing your minds?" Twilight asked.

" Princess Twilight had completely caved in under all of the pressure she had been receiving, and was completely unable to do anything. I would constantly look up at the ceiling, where I could hear the sounds of singing and music coming from the stage, courtesy of both the Sirens and the Illusions. As for our friends... It took only a few minutes for them to start ripping each other apart." I answered.

" None of it involved you, did it?" Twilight asked.

" Our friends did have some grievances with me over my more recent actions, but those were pretty tame compared with what they said to each other. Well, you already have a good idea on that, as you've seen some of their more hurtful words written down in my journal." I answered. While ponies back in Equestria had times where they would get into arguments with their friends over different things, they, at the very least, never resorted to violence. You could thank Princess Celestia for having made that decree a thousand years ago as a result of her banishing her sister when she became Nightmare Moon. Humans were much more prone to violence, a result of being exposed to different forms of culture that vary from place to place. " Anyway, I should first explain what happened after Trixie and her bandmates locked us up in the storage room. While I wasn't a threat to her ambitions, she decided to get rid of me, too, just in case." I said.

---

Trixie's laughter still echoed through my ears, even after she had her bandmate pull the lever and trap us in this storage room. Princess Twilight and my friends had all managed to recover after falling several meters, and while their instruments remained intact, I could tell their spirits had sustained a lot of damage. They were all set for a final showdown with the Dazzlings, despite not feeling they deserved to be there, but Trixie had thrown a monkey wrench into the plan. No doubt she was going to wait until the very last minute to inform both Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna that the Rainbooms weren't going to show. I could envision her saying they were too afraid of performing in front of a crowd who had condemned them for cheating, so the Illusions had come to fill the void. With a locked door between us and the outside world, we just waited for some kind of miracle to happen. We waited... for a long time... doing nothing... just waiting.

Several hours had passed. At least, I think it had been that long. My watch sustained some damage when we fell down here, so it wasn't able to tell the time. Our cellphones had no signal, either, so there was no way of knowing what time it was. Why we needed a signal to see the time, I'll never know. Rainbow Dash had been spending the last couple of hours trying to knock the door down, but her efforts were wasted. The door had been locked from the outside, and it was too thick to budge without Herculean strength. We couldn't even tell if the sun were still out. All we had were our own thoughts for company. I looked at Princess Twilight. She was sitting by herself, curled up in the fetal position and mumbling some words, which made me suspect she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. At least she had something to do to occupy her time. Me? I had spent most of my time looking up at the trap door, and wondering where everything went wrong. Our friends had been busy trying to relieve themselves of boredom, but I knew someone was going to crack. It was just a matter of when as opposed to if.

Another hour passed with us still down here, but we now had the displeasure of hearing the sounds of singing and music coming from above. The finals must have started by now, and because the Rainbooms were trapped below the stage, they were unable to perform. They had been disqualified as a result, with Trixie's band filling in as the runner-up. I could tell that hearing her singing made my friends get really testy. It should have been them on stage performing right now! Instead, they were down here wasting away with no signs of seeing freedom. One thing did cross my mind when I looked at my friends again. Everyone was down here except for Princess Twilight's companion Spike. I don't believe he fell down here with the rest of us, so that meant he was still free. Perhaps he could find a way to get us out.

" Ya better believe,

I got tricks up my sleeve.

See me dominate!

'Cause I'm powerful and grea-ea-eat!" Trixie sung, although it was slightly muffled because of the ceiling.

While the music was really good, the lyrics could have been something other than Trixie making herself out to be the greatest thing around. I did find it strange that her band chose to sing "Tricks Up My Sleeve", as they sang that during the semi-finals. Could it be the only song Trixie knows how to sing, or was her ego too proud to want to play anything else? Rainbow Dash, in the meantime, decided to try her hand at knocking down the door again. She ended up hurting her shoulder rather than making the door budge.

" Give it up, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack said, finally breaking the silence.

" If I give it one more try, I'm sure we can get out of here." Rainbow Dash said.

" You've been tryin' for hours, and all you've gotten out of it is a banged-up shoulder. Face it! That door isn't going to be openin' any time soon! I reckon we should have asked for the key to this storage room in case something like this happened." Applejack said.

" Okay! I won't tackle the door again! Besides, my shoulder feels like it could fall off at any moment." Rainbow Dash said, sitting down and rubbing her bruised shoulder until the pain started to subside a little. It was a valiant effort on her part for thinking she could knock down the door, but there was no way any of us were going to be budging it, so we had to remain down here until someone let us out.

" Maybe it doesn't even matter that we're trapped down here. I don't think the counter-spell would have worked anyway." Princess Twilight said. Her first words in quite some time, and they were her admitting defeat. " I just don't understand why nothing I did was able to create an good spell to counter the Dazzlings'. I even spent several hours this morning trying to come up with something. Nothing ever clicked for me. If I were still attending Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, this would've been my first failed assignment." Her Highness must have felt really bad to have gone and said that. If only she had accepted my help instead of refusing because our friends would have protested, we could have come up with something passible, at least.

" It's not your fault, Twilight." Applejack said.

" Then I'm to blame." I said.

" It's not your fault either, Sunset. I reckon the counter-spell could have worked, no problem! Assumin' a certain band member didn't try to hog the spotlight the whole time we were tryin' to play it!" Applejack said.

" Hey! If you wanna tell Twilight she's getting a little too caught up trying to be the new leader of this band, you don't have to be all cryptic about it." Rainbow Dash said.

" Did you just... I can't believe you..." Applejack said while trying to hold back her temper.

" What's with her?" Rainbow Dash asked. The sounds of several foreheads being slapped echoed throughout the room. We've been trapped down here for several hours, and she still hasn't realized that she had been the source of much of the band's current dysfunction. Rainbow Dash had finally made Applejack crack, but it looked as though someone else was about to step up and tell it to her straight.

" She was talking about you, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity said.

" Me? What did I do?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" If you haven't figured it out by now, then you're completely hopeless." Rarity answered.

" I'm just trying to make sure my band rocks as hard as it needs to!" Rainbow Dash said. Uh-oh. She just referred to the Rainbooms as being her band again. I knew right away that the others were about to give her a loud response.

" OUR BAND!!!!" Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie shouted.

" Are you okay, Twilight?" I asked.

" But why wasn't it working? It should have worked! Why? I should know what to do. Magic is my Element, after all. It represents my special talent, which means there is no spell that I'm unable to figure out, yet I couldn't write a simple counter-spell. How could I not know what to do? How could I have failed like this? Everyone is looking to me to figure things out, but all I've done is fail them each time." Princess Twilight answered.

" You haven't failed us yet." I said.

" I'm a failure." Princess Twilight said as she resumed the fetal position. Well, she lost her last shred of sanity. Things were beginning to look really grim. We had our only true magical expert succumbing to her own failures and effectively taking herself out of the equation. We had five humans arguing over who really "owned" the band, and were only getting worse with every passing moment. And then we had me, who had no idea what to even do anymore. I felt as though my whole life was crashing all around me. I couldn't help anyone. All I did was make things worse.

" Twilight..." I said.

" This world is going to succumb to the Sirens because I failed." Princess Twilight said.

" It might've been your idea to start a band, but it's not just your band, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack shouted. It looked like things were about to get even worse as my friends continued to argue. Now everyone seemed to be ganging on Rainbow, and all she could do in response was resort to a defensive stance before going on the attack in order to get her point across.

" Of course it's my band. I named it after me! I'm the lead singer, and I write all of the songs we play. I have the most experience at playing an instrument! I've been pulling my weight a lot in order to make up for the slackers who insist on giving me a hard time." Rainbow Dash said.

" I write songs, too!" Fluttershy shouted.

" You do? Since when?" Rainbow Dash asked.

" I've always been writing songs in my journal! Twilight knows because she's actually seen them for herself, and she told me they were really good. I always ask you if we can play some of my songs, but you completely ignore me like I don't even exist! To top it off, you insist that we play your songs! I don't know if you've noticed, but none of us like them. They're all about inflating that big head of yours!" Fluttershy answered. Despite being quiet most of the time, Fluttershy certainly knew how to speak her mind whenever she felt the need to. Rainbow Dash looked quite taken aback, as she never expected someone like Fluttershy to speak to her in such a fashion.

" I had the most perfect outfits to wear!" Rarity shouted.

" Again with the costumes! No one cares what we're wearin'!" Applejack shouted.

" What are you saying?" Rarity asked.

" The most important thing that our band needs is to sound good and provide solid entertainment. Costumes and them other fancy things don't mean anythin'! Wearing all that nonsense would only cause people to ridicule us!" Applejack answered.

" No one has ever done that to us!" Rarity shouted.

" I've been hearing students talking about how you've been focusing too much of your time on pointless costumes and not enough time on your music. They say that you're the weakest member of the Rainbooms, and I'm startin' ta think they may be onto something. I'd say you could be a whole lot better if you focused on what's important and leave that fancy dressin' at home where it belongs. I'm tellin' you, no one cares about the costumes." Applejack said.

" I care, Applejack! So sorry if I enjoy trying to make a creative contribution to the band!" Rarity shouted.

" You call that a contribution?"

" I do!"

" Could've fooled me."

" Take that back!"

" I'm just tellin' it like it is." Applejack said. That little statement pushed Rarity over the edge. Her face turned bright red, and I could have sworn that her eyes had suddenly burst into flames. She then walked up and pushed Applejack who in turn pushed her back. They shoved each other back and forth several times before bumping their foreheads against one another. This lasted a few moments before breaking it up when Pinkie Pie finally decided to say something. She had been relatively quiet since we first became trapped down here, and I had every reason to be afraid. My friends had told me about the other persona that Pinkie is said to have: an alter-ego whose mind is on the brink of insanity. She was known as Pinkamena Diane Pie, which was strange, as that was Pinkie's full name. Should her poofy hair suddenly become flat, Pinkamena shall take over, and things will become really scary, really fast.

" Hey! Anybody here remember fun?! I'll give you a hint: It's the exact opposite of being in the Rainbooms!" Pinkie Pie shouted, waving her arms up and down in a crazy fashion.

" We're still having fun." Rainbow Dash said.

" Yeah, right! I know what fun is all about, and right now I'm not having it." Pinkie Pie said.

" Oh, what would you know?" Rainbow Dash said.

" More than you ever will in an entire lifetime! This band started out with so much fun and happiness, and now look at what it's been reduced to! It's ruined! No one enjoys being a part of it. All you've done is turn this into a one-person show like Applejack said! You know, when you really think about it, this band should be called the Rainboom." Pinkie Pie said.

" I wish I never asked any of you to be in my band!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

" I wish I'd never agreed to be in it!" Rarity shouted.

" I wish that I formed my own band, where everyone could have fun and play together!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

" I wish my songs could be used more often!" Fluttershy shouted.

" I wish I didn't have to listen to all your bellyachin'!" Applejack shouted.

Just like that, my friends had gone past the point of no return and began to argue, violently shouting at one another. Applejack then started pushing Rainbow Dash around. Rainbow, in return, grabbed Applejack's Stetson hat and slammed it on the ground before stepping on it. That caused Applejack to slap her in the face before picking her hat back up and brushing off the dirt. Rainbow Dash reeled back for a few seconds as she checked the bruise on her face, then she tackled Applejack to the ground. Seeing that reminded me of what I did to her, so I couldn't believe she went and did that.

Applejack got to her feet, and Rarity started laughing at her because her tough farm girl attitude had just been challenged. In response, Applejack picked up one of Rarity's spare costumes she had brought along, none of which anyone noticed until now, and ripped it down the center of the fabric before tossing it aside. Rarity was beside herself with horror over witnessing something so deplorable. She pushed Applejack as hard as she could, resulting in the farm girl falling to the ground. Applejack then got back onto her feet again and butted heads with Rarity like before. This time both of them were baring their teeth, blinded with fury. It was then that Rainbow Dash decided to join in, as she had some issues with both Applejack and Rarity.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, in the meantime, had been shouting at one another. While it was a relief to see that neither of them resorted to physical altercation, their verbal insults proved to be just as damaging. Pinkie criticized Fluttershy for being too shy to stand up for herself, told her to grow a spine, and worst of all, claimed that her soft nature would make her a doormat for the rest of her life. Those words were enough to make Fluttershy burst into tears, but she wasn't about to back down. She criticized Pinkie for only caring about parties and making a complete fool of herself, acting weirder than any person she's ever met. She even stated that Pinkie was nothing more than comedy relief that people took pity on. Pinkie gasped in horror before they were soon joined by Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, and they all started arguing with each other again.

As I looked at what I had just witnessed, I turned towards Princess Twilight, who was still in a fetal position. I felt utterly helpless at that moment. Her Highness was too upset with her own perception of failure, and my friends hated each other. Their friendships had just come crashing down with no signs of being able to get them fixed. I then looked up at the ceiling, where I could still hear Trixie's band playing their song. It seemed all of the noise from down here didn't filter up onto the stage, yet when I turned back towards my friends, something else was filtering upwards. They were all surrounded by green barriers and were producing green mist, just like our fellow students had done when the Dazzlings took advantage of their feelings. This mist was different, though; it appeared to have a magical property to it. That's when I came to the conclusion that they were releasing negative magic... exactly what the Dazzlings had been wanting.

---

" I... I don't know what to say." Twilight said.

" We had all hit rock-bottom at that precise moment. No one on stage was even aware of what was happening. All of that tension finally exploded, and our friends were at each other's throats like savage animals. They had fallen afoul of the Sirens' dark magic, though the Sirens weren't only to blame. Our friends lost sight of what was truly important." I said.

" And their magic?" Twilight asked.

" It had become tainted with hatred and no longer represented the Magic of Friendship." I answered.

" What about you?" Twilight asked.

" I was still reeling from when I tackled Rainbow Dash the previous day, but I'll admit that I wasn't feeling as helpless as I claimed. I knew that I was the only one who could make everyone see the truth, yet it took me a while to come to that realization." I answered.

" Hopefully all of that arguing didn't cause too much damage." Twilight said. I scratched my head in response while turning my eyes away from her. The truth of it was that our friends said a lot of horrible things in addition to being rather physical when they snapped. It wouldn't all just go away with the snap of a finger. It would take some time after the competition concluded before everyone would forgive each other for acting out the way they did. This was just the beginning for me, as I would soon have another experience where everyone turned on me with hatred. I wasn't looking forward to that.

Twilight then turned the page, and she picked up the journal, which had been sitting on my lap for some time. I felt relieved knowing I could move my legs again after having the slightly heavy book on top of my legs. Twilight adjusted her glasses before pushing her nose into my journal as though she had seen something of great importance. She combed through the two pages for what felt like forever, but she would eventually pull her face out before placing it down onto her lap. I then looked down at the page in question, and there was yet another photo glued onto the page. Once again, Photo Finish knew how to take good photos. This one was difficult to recognize at first because of how big the object in the photo was, but it didn't take long for me to recognize it.

" I'm still amazed we managed to create something like that." I said.

" What is it?" Twilight asked.

" Equestrian magic used at full power." I answered.

" I don't follow." Twilight said.

" The object in the photo is a giant alicorn that resembles what humans would call a 'proper' horse, but with wings and a horn. I know it sounds ridiculous, but believe me when I say that it would be what we used to resolve the Siren problem." I said.

Comments

[icecreammac]

Wow, this was much more interesting than the argument in the movie, and I already thought that argument was interesting.

[Ganondorf8]

6808034

I wanted it to go beyond what the movie depicted, and perhaps even apply some physical altercation. Because this story is rated Teen, I can get away with doing some things, but I can't go completely overboard. Otherwise, this would have to be redefined as a Mature rated story, a bad practice especially this far in.