> Twilight Becomes a Dazzling > by Twilight Lightning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Beginning of a New Beginning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Beginning of a New Beginning “This could be troublesome.” Adagio said as she paced back and forth in the room. “Twilight Sparkle could ruin everything. We need a way to get rid of her, now.” Emphasizing the now to prove how dire the situation was to the others. The tan, yellow skinned girl with lengthy puffy hair was obviously bothered by the lavender pony turned human. “Relax Adagio, not like she’ll do that much damage. I don’t get why you’re so worked up over this.” Aria said as she blew a lock of her purple hair out of her eye. Sonata stepped up and said, “Yeah, I don’t get it. Why is she so bad?” Adagio put her hand to her face and groaned, “Because, if we let her go about doing who knows what, she could ruin everything. What don’t you two get about that?” The teal skinned girl still looked confused. Aria rolled her eyes, “So we lock her up or something, there, problem solved.” She crossed her arms in front of her open green tattered jacket and white shirt. “Wow Aria, that sounds like a great Idea.” Adagio said sarcastically, “Do you know why that wouldn’t work?” Sonata raised her hand, “Oh oh, is it because we don’t have a lock and key?” “Ugh.” Adagio and Aria groaned at the same time. Adagio began speaking before Aria could even breathe, “No Sonata, that’s not the reason. Her friends and the school will notice. They’ll get suspicious. Who do you think the prime suspects would be? Us. We’ll be the immediate suspects if their precious little Miss Sparkle went missing. We need to think this through; I know the concept of thinking is beyond the comprehension of you two morons.” “Oh hey I’ve got an idea.” Perked Sonata. "For realzies." The other two just stared at her with their eyebrows raised. The thing, or person, that they hated most about being banished to this world wasn't the fact that there was no magic, it was Sonata. “What?” said Sonata, clueless to the dislike of her. “You have an idea? Well that’s a first.” Said Aria, putting her hands to her hips. Adagio looked at Sonata and said, “Let me guess, you’re thinking we should all go get lunch aren’t you?” “What, no I’m not.” Sonata said as she brought a fourth necklace out of nowhere. “I thought that she could sing with us.” Adagio had to use her hands to close her dropped jaw. She put her hands on Sonata’s shoulders, “Sonata, that is the smartest thing you’ve ever said.” She took the amulet and stared at it before it dawned on her, “Wait a second, where did you get this from?” Sonata shrugged, “I don’t know, I just found it.” Aria rolled her eyes again, “Ugh you’re the worst. What do you mean you just found it?” “Now hold on Aria, there just might be a brain in her head after all.” Adagio was doing her smile and laugh as she thought of a way to get Twilight to wear the amulet. “But first things first, how do we get her to put this on? How would we even get her to talk to us?” All three of them grabbed their chin in thought until Aria spoke up “Maybe we could ask to talk to her about friendship or whatever.” “And here I thought I was trapped in this world with complete idiots.” Adagio said while giving the amulet to Aria, "Here put the other amulet in your pocket." Aria squinted at Adagio, “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Never mind, we have a little talking to do. Come on, we need to find her first.” Aria reluctantly took the amulet and put it away. Sonata perked up, “Maybe we could check the Cafeteria.” “No. If we’re going to find Twilight, first we’ll need to know how she thinks. Where would I go if I were Twilight?” They all pondered on this thought for a while before they heard Sonata’s stomach growl, “Maybe we should go get lunch first. There’s bound to be at least one person there that will give us the information we need.” At this Sonata smiled and gleefully walked toward the Cafeteria, it was taco Tuesday again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Twilight!” Pinkie shouted across the Cafeteria to her friend before sitting right next to her, “Watcha doin?” “I’m thinking about song lyrics.” She replied not even lifting her head, “I still can’t think of anything good. Nothing seems…right.” Rainbow put her arm around Twilight’s neck, “Eh I’m sure you’ll think of something. Just put down whatever sounds natural. Don’t forget to make it as awesome as I am to, it has to live up to the Rainboom name.” Everyone rolled their eyes at their cyan rainbow haired friend. Twilight giggled, “Alright Rainbow dash. I’m going to head to the library where it’s more quiet, maybe I’ll be able to think more clearly without all the noise.” “Alright then sugercube, we'll be seein’ ya later.” The cowgirl said tipping her hat. After saying their good byes to each other Twilight left for the peace and quiet of the library. About half way there she ran into the Dazzlings. “Oh uh, hey.” She let out nervously, she wasn’t about start something with them of all people. “Sorry I was just on my way to the libr-” Adagio cut her off mid-sentence, “Actually we wanted to talk to you for a minute.” An idea had wormed its way into her head. What could they want? Do they want to sabotage us? No, I shouldn’t judge them like that. Just because Sunset Shimmer is skeptical about them doesn’t mean they’re evil. I’ll give them a chance. "Um, sure, what did you need?” Adagio smiled and said, “We’d like to know if you needed any help. You are relatively new to singing like this right? We could give you a few pointers. Just because we’re supposed to be fighting against each other in the battle of the bands doesn’t mean we can’t help out one another.” Adagio smirked using her gem to bring out more negative emotions from Twilight. “Well, that’s very nice and I do need some help with making up lyrics, but I don’t want to inconvenience you like that." Twilight was anxious to get out of there, so she pointed to Sonata whose stomach was growling again, "I mean your friend sounds pretty hungry.” Adagio spun around and gave her a look that said shut up all over it. Sonata just gave a sheepish smile. Adagio put a smile on her face and turned back to Twilight, “It’s no problem at all, she just really likes tacos. Let’s start with your friends.” she said in such a way that the other two got what she wanted them to do. Aria and Sonata activated their gems as well and walked closer to Twilight. “My friends, why?” “Because that’s an important part of writing a song. What does the music sound like, what flows and feels natural? Once you’ve got a feel for the songs beat, then you write words over it.” They talked like that for a few minutes. Twilight felt like something was wrong, she felt off in a sense. She didn’t like the feeling but she didn’t know where it came from. She also failed to notice the green gas starting to trickle out of her and into Aria's pocket. > Uncertainty and Doubt > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uncertainty and Doubt “You know Twilight, it sounds to me like they’re using you more than anything.” “Huh, what do you mean by that? They’re my friends and they’d never just use me. We’ve had our fair share of trials and have gotten through them with the power of friendship. What makes you think that they would do something like that in the first place?” Adagio thought a bit on this one. This was the most important part, getting her to distrust her friends. If she could get Twilight to doubt them in any way they’d be set, all she needed to do was think of some way to convince her that they didn’t care about her. “Well, think about it. When was the last time they wanted you here? It was during the Fall Formal right, when Sunset Shimmer was power crazy.” “How do you know about that?” Twilight asked “Oh we heard about the whole thing from the other students. They still don’t seem to trust or forgive her.” Twilight seemed to buy the excuse. Adagio inwardly laughed to herself, it was working, they were doing it, just a little more. “Also, if you think about it, what was the reason they contacted you now?” “It was because Sunset Shimmer thought you were up to something. She called me here because she was concerned about the well-being of the school, and our friends.” Twilight said this but started to doubt her friends, just a little bit, but what the Dazzlings said sounded logical. She shouldn’t be doubting her friends, not at a time like this, so why did she have this feeling. Aria spoke up, “Wow, sounds to me like they just want you to solve their problems for them.” “Yeah, they’re just using you to get us out of the way. They probably just don’t want to have the extra competition.” Adagio put up two fingers and bent them while she said competition. “Well, I.” Twilight started tripping over her words. What they were saying made more and more sense the more she listened to them. “I-I don’t know, I mean. No! They’d never do that. They would never cheat, especially Applejack. Rainbow Dash would just brush it off saying how good she was, Applejack believes in playing fair, Pinkie Pie would be too busy having fun, Rarity wouldn’t cheat to get what she wants, and Fluttershy is to kind to cheat.” “Well why don’t you go talk to them about it? I’m sure they would listen to you.” Sonata jumped in, “Hey wait, how did they call you?” Twilight thought about that for a moment, they had used that special book to send her that message. Should she tell them? Should she keep it a secret? She didn’t really know what to do. A voice in the back of her mind started to speak up, If they could have sent that message to her this whole time then why didn’t they write to her sooner? Didn’t they care about her? Adagio noticed the look on Twilight’s face. It was the look of doubt, of worry. It was the look that someone had as they were questioning what they had believed in. She outwardly smiled, they were winning, and in just a moment their biggest problem would be solved. She turned to Aria, “How’s the amulet?” “It’s fine. All the negative energy is going straight into it. Why don’t we get any of it?” “Quit complaining, if this works all our plans will go off smoothly. As soon as she feels her friends are just using her as a means to an end, we give her the amulet, she puts it on, becomes one of us, and just like that we’re all set.” She turned back to Twilight, “Well we better get going, think about what we said.” The Dazzlings left and Twilight was left to her thoughts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I hope she’s able to think of a counter song in time, everything rides on this.” Sunset said as she sat next to Applejack. Fluttershy was petting spike’s head and just listened to the others talk. Rainbow looked at her, “Eh I wouldn’t worry about it too much. This is Twilight we’re talking about, she’ll figure something out.” The cafeteria doors opened at the Dazzlings came in. They looked happier, like they were plotting something. “Ah wonder what their so happy ‘bout. Probably nothin’ good.” Applejack stared at them suspiciously. Pinkie Pie looked up from her lunch, “Oh don’t be such a worry wart, they probably just had a good day.” She looked around at her friends who were staring at her, “What? Is there something on my face?” “Pinkie dear I don’t think they just had a good day.” Rarity said Sunset joined in, “Yeah, they’re planning something. But what could it be? Rainbow sighed, “Like I said earlier, don’t worry about it. My band is totally gonna win this, hands down.” Applejack sneered, “You mean our band.” She was irritated that Rainbow dash thought that she was all high and mighty like the rest of them didn’t matter as much. “Hey I started the band, I’m the lead singer, and lead guitarist. That makes me the leader.” Everyone just put their faces in their palms, well everyone but Pinkie. They were all tired of Rainbow’s attitude, some more than most, but they knew they had to come together as a band. The rest of Lunch went by smoothly for the most part. Pinkie Pie was rambling on about how Sonata could have eaten that many tacos, but she stopped eventually. The rest of the school day went by pretty quick; classes weren’t that long due to the event. After the final bell had rung all the students gathered into their groups and began talking about the competition. As Twilight approached she looked like something was on her mind. Sunset was the one to walk up to her and ask, “Hey Twilight, what’s wrong?” “Um, Sunset, how exactly did you get that message to me?” She had to know if there was any truth behind her thoughts. Sunset brought her hand behind her head, “Well, I had that book just sitting in my locker. Like I told them before, deep down I probably knew what I was doing was wrong. Why do you ask?” “I was just curious, why didn’t you use it before? I mean after I left.” “I forgot about it. We could’ve stayed in touch if I was thinking about it.” If she was thinking about it? So she didn’t want to stay in touch? And how do you just forget about something that important, she could’ve contacted Celestia any time she wanted to. She could have asked for her forgiveness, and knowing the princess, she’d forgive her and ask her to come back. What about my other friends? They couldn’t have known about the book. But they could have asked Sunset if she had some way to talk to me or to contact Equestria period. Her fears and doubts were really starting to get to her now. Sunset noticed that Twilight spaced out and had a worried look on her face. “Hey, Twilight, are you ok? She snapped back to attention, “Uh yeah, I’m just stressed out is all. I still haven’t thought of a counter song yet and everything rides on me having it ready. I have the fate of an entire world on my shoulders right now, I don’t know if I can do it.” “You’ll be fine. Just don’t worry so much on your own, we’re here for you.” And with that the two went to the other five who were arguing about how it wasn’t just Rainbow’s band again. They stopped when Twilight and Sunset walked up. “So Twi, how’s that counter song coming along? We good to go yet?” Rainbow asked while tuning her guitar. Twilight sighed, “No not yet. I just can’t think of anything.” Applejack put her hand on Twilight’s shoulder, “Well ya best think up somethin’ quick, the try outs are tomorrow and the final is tomorrow night.” Twilight and the others went to Pinkie Pie’s for a sleep over but Twilight was still uncertain about things. There was no way she could think of a counter song in that amount of time and have it down, not like this. She got up, got dressed, and went out. “Maybe a walk will help clear my mind.” Exiting the door she turned left and walked around town until the Dazzlings once again went up to her. She didn’t know how to feel, her thoughts were all jumbled due to thinking too hard for so long. And her friends had seemed to only prove what they said. What should I do? What can I do? these thoughts racked her brain, further fogging her mind. She, again, didn’t notice the green gas stream flowing into Aria’s pocket where the fourth amulet lay unknown to Twilight. > Adagio's Plan Comes to Fruition > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adagio’s Plan Comes to Fruition Sunset got up and walked to the kitchen, she was having trouble sleeping. She opened the fridge and noticed Fluttershy’s journal on the counter. She got the whipped cream and walked over to it. Looking at what Twilight had down, she tried to suppress a laugh. “These drawings are terrible. She probably used her mouth. Man it must be hard having to adjust back to this, it has been quite a while since…” Sunset frowned thinking about the incident at the Fall Formal. She shook her head at the bad memories, trying to force them away. She was a different person now, she had changed. She looked up and was startled by Maud standing there. “Boulder was hungry.” Maud said in that same flat tone as always. She grabbed some chips and fed them to Boulder, then walked away. “Still hard to believe she’s related to Pinkie.” Sunset said as she closed the journal and walked back to the room. She paused, grabbed the can, and put it back in the fridge. Sunset took one last glance at Twilight’s notes before she put them back in the bedside dresser drawer. She was about to go back to sleep when she noticed that Twilight wasn’t there. “She must have gone for a walk or something to clear her head; after all, Twilight is the one with the most stress.” Getting comfortable again, she fell back asleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Dazzlings were walking towards the exit of the school when they spotted Twilight and Sunset walk towards the room the Rainbooms were using. “Quick, hide.” Adagio said as she grabbed the other two and dove behind the wall. She waited until they were out of sight, then she quietly tip-toed to the door. She whispered, “Alright girls, activate your amulets, maybe we can get a bit more out of her.” All three activated their amulets and waited but nothing came out. They weren’t arguing, Twilight wasn’t emitting any negative energy and the fourth amulet wasn’t ready yet. Aria was the first to speak up, “Ugh, come on Adagio, we aren’t going to get our magic back like this. Nothing’s even happening.” “I know. Come on girls, we’re leaving.” Sonata spoke in her usual voice, “Where are w…” she was cut off by Adagio putting her hand on her mouth. “Are you trying to get us caught? Wait until we leave the building. Clear?” Sonata nodded her head in understanding. “Good.” Adagio removed her hand and continued walking. After they had left the school Sonata spoke up again. “No really, where are we going?” “We’re going for a night on the town. If the amulet is going to be ready then we need to power it with more than just Twilight Sparkle.” “So what, we’re just going to go back to fast food?” Aria put her hands in the air and gave Adagio a look of disapproval. “Well we need to fill it with something. It needs to be near full power if we want it to work, fast food is better than nothing. Unless of course you two have any ideas.” Adagio pointed at them both while saying this. They went silent and Adagio lowered her arms, “Thought so.” They spent the rest of the day gathering negative energy for the amulet which was going very slowly for them. Some of the energy went to their amulets as well. It was almost dark when they were finished filling the amulet as best they could. “That took forever Adagio, was it even worth it?” “Of course it was, with this all our problems will be over.” They had gone to several different locations. First they went to the restaurant they had seen the magical blast from, then they went to the park, after that they went to town square, and then finally they went all over an amusement park. They sat down practically exhausted, all that walking had done them in. Sonata got up and walked away. “Where is she going?” Aria said. “How am I supposed to know, I’m not her keeper.” After a moment Sonata returned holding two tacos in her hands and one in her mouth. She handed them to Adagio and Aria who pushed them away. Sonata shrugged and just ate them all herself. Adagio had her evil smile on her face. Soon Twilight would no longer be a nuisance, and they would be adored by everyone. “It may have taken a while, but it was well worth it. This is going to change everything.” “Whatever, not like the Raindrops or whatever their band is will just let Twilight go.” Aria had her arms crossed in front of her again. Adagio brought her hand to her chin in thought, “Hmm, you’re right, we’ll need to do something about the others. But what can we do?” she paused for a while before snapping her fingers and saying, “I’ve got it, we get the other students to take care of them. All we have to do is get them to want the Rainbooms out of the way bad enough that they’ll sabotage them, and I’ve got just the right idea.” Sonata finished her last taco and spoke up, “What is it? Are we going to…” Adagio put her finger up, “If you’d let me finish you’ll know. Now as I was saying, we’ll play through the battle of the bands and during the semifinals we make it so that they win, but we’ll have to get them to mess up so that the other students despise them. The competition will be so hot that they’ll have to break out their best song, going by what Twilight said earlier Rainbow dash will try to show off and give something away.” “What do you mean?” asked Sonata “If you’ve been paying attention to what they’ve been up to you would have noticed that they are making a counter song. I’ve seen what happens when they play, the magic flows through and transforms them. The idiot even put up a video of herself transforming. When she shows off she’ll most likely transform slightly, Sunset will try to stop her from giving away their plans and mess up the performance. When that happens we rig it so that they win, then we get the team that went against them to get rid of them once and for all.” “Oooh I get it now.” Sonata said as she nodded. “Good, then let’s go.” They left the bench and started walking back to the place they were staying when they spotted Twilight. She looked like she was thinking about something. “Here’s our chance.” Adagio said as she walked up to Twilight. The negative energy went from her to the amulet right away. “Oh, hey.” Was all she could say. “Hello Twilight, how did the talk with your friends go?” She sighed, “Not too well. You were right about them, I don’t think they do care about me, they just want me to solve their problem.” “Well that certainly is a shame isn’t it? We’re so sorry, but look on the bright side, at least you have us.” Adagio smiled as her plan was about to reach its conclusion. “What do you mean by that?” “Well we’re all friends, aren’t we? You have us to be your friends.” “We are?” said Sonata. Adagio turned around and made the motion of her hand cutting her throat to silence her. Aria just rolled her eyes. Adagio held out her hand so Aria could give her the amulet. After she received it, she handed it to Twilight. “Here, take this as a sign of our friendship. It’s the same amulet that the rest of us have, it shows our special bond.” “Ok, um, thanks.” Twilight put the amulet on and Adagio showed her evil smile. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Ok, um, thanks.” Twilight didn’t know why they were being so nice to her but she didn’t mind it. She put the amulet on and instantly felt something was wrong, she felt something change inside of her. The amulet was changing her, making her something she’s not. All she could do was wait as she went from a pony to a siren. > This Can't be Good > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Can’t be Good Pinkie Pie was looking everywhere in her house but Twilight was nowhere to be found. The others were searching all over the general area but neither of them had any luck. Pinkie appeared on a TV screen and started calling for Twilight. “This doesn’t make any sense, where could she be? She wasn’t here last night when I woke up, she isn’t anywhere near the house, and she’s not in the school library.” “Relax Sunset, we’ll find her in no time, just watch.” “Bad news girls, Twilight ain’t at the barn, an’ ah don’t think she’s by the cakes.” “Maybe she went home, I mean, not like she’d abandon her friends or anything like that.” “No, she wouldn’t have left for Equestria without me. She would usually leave a note for situations like this.” “Sunset, Spike darling, would you check just in case? It would be rather awkward if her world had two sets of the same…pony.” “Well if you think so, but i’m not so sure that she would just up and leave like that.” The Rainbooms, Sunset, and Spike went to the statue where the portal was. Sunset was taking deep breaths trying to calm herself down. “What’s the matter, nervous?” “Yeah. It’s been so long I…I don’t know. The last time I was in Equestria was when I stole her crown, I don’t think I’ll get the warmest of welcomings there.” “Oh hooey, we’ve forgiven ya, an’ I’ll bet Twi’s friends over there have to. Just walk through, ask if they’ve seen Twilight, an’ come back, hopefully with good news.” “It’s not that simple Applejack, but I’ll try. You ready Spike?” “I guess. The sooner we find Twilight, the better.” They both nodded their heads before walking through the portal. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The mane 5 were all gathered in the main room of the castle waiting for Twilight to return. They jumped when somepony came through the portal. “Twilight, wow that was quick! How’d it go? Did you beat the sirens? Can I throw a Hooray the Sirens are Gone party now?” Pinkie stepped back and ended her death hug after the pony gasping for air didn’t sound like her friend. She looked the new unicorn over and gasped. “Hey, you’re Sunset Shimmer aren’t you? The one that took Twilight’s crown, and then Twilight went to get it but ended up making friends with you and…” She rambled on and on until Applejack put her hoof in her mouth to muffle her voice. “Sorry ‘bout that sugarcube. Howdy, mah name’s Applejack.” She said as she gave Sunset a hoof shake, nearly tearing Sunset’s off in the process. “Uh, hey, my name is Sunset Shimmer. I have a question to ask you guys, has Twilight come back here? All five were caught off guard with that question. They all stared at her with blank expressions on their faces. She sighed, “Guess not.” “I’m sorry darling but why would she have come back now? Isn’t she still taking care of those awful sirens?” “I wish I knew the answer to that. We don’t know where she went, but I can say for certain that she hasn’t taken care of the sirens.” “Oh my, what happened to Twilight?” Fluttershy asked while hiding behind Rainbow dash. Sunset was silent, not wanting to bring the news that their friend was in danger. Spike was the one who stepped up to be the bearer of the situation. After listening to the whole thing her friends had all gasped. They couldn’t believe that Twilight of all ponys would just go missing like that. “This is beyond dreadful, what if the sirens have her locked up or worse. I don’t even want to think about what else.” “Hang on; I’ll go tell the Princesses.” “Wait spike, maybe we can still find her over there.” “I hope you’re right. If Twilight’s gone then who’s number one assistant am I going to be?” “Well it was nice meeting all of you regardless of the situation. I hope we’ll see each other again someday.” With that Sunset walked back through the portal to tell the others. Spike was about to leave but the others stepped up to give farewells. After Pinkie Pie was done talking she put Spike in the party cannon and fired him through the portal. “Boy ah sure hope Twilight’s ok.” “We all do Applejack, but all we can do is wait for her to come back. Like she said, it would be weird if there was suddenly two of each of us.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike came through the portal at rocket speed and crashed right into Sunset Shimmer. The others helped their friends up and sighed, they had already heard the report from Sunset. “Well if she ain’t there then where in tarnation could she be?” “Who knows where she is, but the try outs are in fifteen minutes. If we can’t find her in time then we’ll just have to go on without her.” “Rainbow dash, we need her to use the counter song. Without her we don’t stand a chance against the Dazzlings, let alone saving anyone.” “Sorry Rainbow, but I have ta agree with Sunset here. Without Twi, how are we gonna activate the magic an’ free everyone from their spell?” “Just go with it guys, trust me when I say that my band is going to wipe the floor with the competition.” Rainbow walked off before Applejack could comment on how it wasn’t just her band. She wouldn’t admit it, but she was pretty broken up about Twilight’s sudden disappearance as well. “Wherever you are Twilight, I hope you’re alight.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “So we’re going to hold off on giving our best until the finals right?” “Precisely, then when the Rainbooms are no longer an issue we can gather the negative energy from them while their arguing. They’re the most powerful magic source here and they don’t even know it. By the time we’re done, we’ll have everyone in this school eating out of the palms of our hands.” Adagio was practically having a field day, not only did their plan to make Twilight one of them work but they were almost about to get their true Equestrian magic back. The plan had gone off flawlessly to, and the Rainbooms were in for a surprise. “Ugh, I wish they’d just put us on already.” “Just be patient, we can’t rush this. Besides, I want to see the look on their faces when they see their precious little princess on our side.” Twilight waved off the compliment, even if it was true. “Come on Adagio, I’m not that special.” “For realzies, cause I think that being a princess is a big deal.” “Well that part is true, but I don’t think I’m any better than anyone else.” “That’s not true Twilight, you’re a siren now, you’ll be the most important thing in this whole world.” Hearing that from Adagio made Twilight smile, not her usual cheery smile, not her go along with it smile, but a smile that mimicked Adagio’s. She was feeling pretty good too, even though the shift from pony to siren would still take time to adjust to and the amulet had been mostly drained, she could still get more from the students later. “I still have one question though. Where did you get this fourth amulet from?” > History of The Fourth Amulet > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- History of The Fourth Amulet It was bright outside of the small town. The sun was shining brightly, the grass was lush and green, birds flew out of trees and out of sight while other woodland creatures hid from the arguing of everypony. Sounds of singing could be heard throughout the town as three sirens flew overhead. After they had their fill they flew towards the cave that lay at the end of a rock formation deep in the mountains, which was where the sirens currently called home. Once inside, Aria floated down for a nap, she was tired after filling herself with the negative energy of the large town. “Now that was a satisfying meal.” Aria said while getting comfortable. “I know, and tomorrow will be even better. Rest while you can Aria, you know we can’t stay here for too long if we want to get to Trottingham before wind gets to the princesses.” The purple siren just grunted in response, she knew the drill by now. Go in, stir up trouble, feed off of the energy, find a cave to rest in for a short time, go to another town, come back, and leave. Adagio had practically hammered that into their heads before they had started their attacks. Sonata just flew all over the place, full of excess energy and excitement while Adagio slowly hovered in the air thinking about how it would go down. It wouldn’t be easy to pull this off, but if they could divide Equestria apart then they could conquer anything. “So when are we going to go, I’m buzzing with excitement.” “You don’t need any more extra energy than you already have Sonata.” “Quiet girls, I trying to think of a plan. We have to study on this one, the general population has to be present in a single area. Trottingham isn’t like the smaller towns, it takes up a larger plot of land. We can’t simply waltz right in and sing like we usually do, we need to take caution.” “You worry too much Adagio. We can totally just waltz right in there and sing, it’s what we do. “You’re missing the point Sonata. These ponies may be naïve but they aren’t stupid, they’ll realize the danger they’re in faster than you two think. We can’t underestimate our opponents, we’re going up against Celestia and Luna; furthermore, if you think defeating them with the amount of power we have right now will be a cake walk then you’re wrong.” “Get off our backs Adagio, it won’t be that hard to crumble their little empire of peace.” Adagio put her head in her hoof and sighed, she didn’t understand why they didn’t realize the threat that the princesses posed to them. They were the ones who defeated Sombra and stopped Discord; they were not to be trifled with so carelessly. The princesses had earned their respect for ending Discord’s reign of chaos; they couldn’t feed off of negativity that they didn’t create. But their time was up, and it was time for them to rule. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia and her top commanders were sitting at a circular table littered with plans to stop the sirens. She heard a familiar chiming of bells when the door opened and Starswirl walked in. He sat right next to Celestia as she began to speak. “What have we learned about the sirens?” A Pegasus put his hoof on a small town to the west and moved it towards the mountains. “They appear to hide somewhere in this district your highness. A small portion of our stealth group was sent to investigate only minutes ago. I put Captain Stormfeather in charge of the mission.” Celestia nodded her head in approval. She knew that if anypony could lead a stealth mission, it was Stormfeather. A unicorn put his hoof on Trottingham and began to circle it with a quill dipped in red ink. “We believe that their next assault will be here your majesty, I have sent some new recruits along with the veteran Wymond. With his battle expertise guiding the recruits I have the utmost confidence that they will succeed.” Celestia nodded again and turned to Starswirl. “What about you old friend, what insight could you gain on the sirens?” “I have terrible news. The sirens have existed for as long as history can tell. Not only that, but they were once every day ponies. The change is caused by wearing a special amulet, one that changes you inside and out. Luckily many of those amulets were destroyed by the ponies before us, and no new sirens have been found.” A gray stallion earth pony slammed his hoof down, sending some of the papers flying. “So what you’re saying is that if we can destroy the amulets then we not only stop the sirens but we also save innocent ponies from themselves. “Calm yourself Commander Ironhoof, let me finish. As I was saying, once the amulets are put on they change the pony in both body and spirit. They become a siren through and through. What’s more is that the amulet also melds to the bearer’s body and acts as somewhat of a core. If we were to break their cores, they would survive but not for long. The amulet acts as a stomach to feed the negative energy into their bodies, without them the sirens would starve.” “So what you’re telling me is that we can’t save the innocent ponies trapped inside those monsters.” “The process is irreversible. No amount of magic will change them back, or at least none known to us at the moment.” Ironhoof put his head down. His primary objective as Commander was to save and protect everypony in Equestria that he could. He looked to Hawk Eye for some sort of idea. “I’m sorry Ironhoof, but it looks like we can’t really do much for them. I know how you feel but our efforts have their limits.” “There is more. I think I have been able to find the location of one last amulet here in Equestria. We should get to it before they find out about it.” “You found another one, why didn’t you bring it back with you?” “I said I may have found the location of a fourth amulet, not the real thing.” Celestia spread her wings before the argument could escalate any higher. Her face was stern and her form demanded them to stop without having to say anything. “One more thing, this is perhaps the most unnerving part of it. The Elements of Harmony will most likely have little to no effect in stopping them now.” Everypony in the room gasped as Starswirl said that last bit if news to them. “Starswirl please tell me you aren’t serious, just this one time.” Said Ironhoof But one look from Starswirl had him silent. “Princess, may I take a small group of veterans to accompany me in searching for this amulet?” “Indeed you may. Take as many as you need Starswirl, I just hope that you come back with good news.” Starswirl bowed before saying, “Of course your majesty, I will be departing shortly. Hawk Eye, could you get Spear Thrust and meet me outside of the castle? Aura Blade, if you would follow me.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “This isn’t good.” Said Adagio as she flew back and forth trying to plan ahead of the guards that had arrived before them. Aria rolled her eyes, “Come on Adagio, we could take them on easily. It’ll only take a few seconds and bam, that problem is taken care of.” Adagio grunted in annoyance. “Do you realize how many guards could be here? Before we do anything we need to figure things out.” “Hey guys.” “Ugh what is it Sonata, can’t you see that we’re busy right now?” Aria said before turning back to Adagio. “I don’t see why you have to over complicate things, with the amount of magic we have now they’ll be no problem.” “Guys.” “You’re still missing the point Aria; if we take them lightly we’ll have lost the upper hoof. If we played this carefully we could feed off of them in two more days, they’ll have a special event in town square and everypony will be there. Just be patient.” “Guys.” “Ugh fine, but this better be worth the extra wait.” Aria flew back to the cave as well as Adagio, Sonata just followed behind still trying to get the other’s attention until a bolt of fire magic blew past them. They looked down to see a middle aged stallion unicorn in purple gold trimmed armor with his horn sizzling from the intensity of the blast. His silver mane flowed from his helmet covering his right eye. “Why you little…” “Your kind is not welcome here. Leave now.” Aria was about to rush the unicorn but was stopped by Adagio who was giving her that special look. It commanded that she back down and there would be consequences if she didn’t. Aria reluctantly backed away and the stallion guard stood from his battle posture nodding his head. When they were out of earshot Aria exploded on Adagio. “What were you thinking Adagio, why did we let him go? We had the chance to take one of them out and you passed it up!” “If you were thinking you would have noticed his weakness. He’s just like any other pony in Equestria, a soft hearted fool that we can manipulate. Just give it two days Aria, then we’ll be feasting like royalty.” Over the course of their flight Sonata had forgotten all about the amulet that she found. After the two days were up the sirens flew back to Trottingham. It naturally had more guards than usual, but that was to be expected. Adagio lead the trio above the heart of town square and began to sing. The whole ordeal had taken longer than expected but they managed none the less. The three sirens had left without anypony bothering them, and their next target was Manehattan. Unbeknownst to them a certain bearded unicorn had seen them and followed them to their lair. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “You what!” shouted Iron hoof. He couldn’t believe his ears, the sirens hide out had been found. Even though he had come back without the amulet before, he had still managed to do the most important part. “Yes, they reside in a cave near the water’s edge. But I warn you do not celebrate too quickly, for we’ve yet to subdue them.” “I knew you would turn up with something old friend. Thank you for all you have done.” “You need not thank me princess, it was my pleasure to assist you. I have more unsettling news though. They are growing too powerful for us to handle. We must make the final blow soon.” “Do you have an idea?” Starswirl nodded, “That I do princess.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When Adagio woke up she felt on top of the world, nothing could ruin their plans now. They all went to Manehattan for surveillance; none of them knew it very well. They were about to head back when they heard a pony calling out to them. The three sirens turned to see a bearded pony in robes and a hat with bells. “Well what do we have here? Looks like somepony wanted to see us off.” “Wow look at that beard.” Said Sonata “Never mind what he looks like, if he wants to stop us then let him try.” Before they knew it they were being sucked into a hole that the pony was creating. They flew through the hole while their bodies changed and they felt their power leaving them. When Adagio came to she was in some sort of new world and their cores had gone back to being amulets. They were wearing cloth and had legs, their front hooves had turned into sticks with five smaller sticks coming out the end. Adagio looked around to see Aria and Sonata in the same state as her. > Under Our Spell > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Under Our Spell “Oh yeah.” Said Sonata after just remembering their history. “Oh yeah what Sonata? What are you going on about now?” asked Aria “I just remembered how I found the amulet. I went into this creepy ruin and it was just sitting there. I tried to tell you guys back at Trottingham but you never listened.” Adagio and Aria stared at Sonata while they tried to contemplate what they had heard. They remembered what happened at Trottingham all those years ago, and how they ignored Sonata when she tried to get their attention. “You better believe I’ve got tricks up my sleeve” “And I captivate cause I’m powerful and great” “You better believe I’ve got tricks up my sleeve” “See me dominate cause I’m powerful and great” “Well, it looks like they’re done. Shall we start the actual battle girls?” said Adagio “Ugh finally, it feels like we’ve waited for hours.” “Activate your amulets girls, this is where we begin our plan to get the Rainbooms into the finals and out of our way.” “Hey Adagio, would you mind going over the plan again, cause I still don’t get it?” “Yeah, what exactly will you do to them? I don’t want to hurt them or anything.” “Relax Twilight, we’re just going to trap them underneath the stage.” Twilight nodded her head in understanding. She didn’t care for them much, but she didn’t want to hurt them. Hearing that they’d be safe made her a little happy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “We sucked!” Rainbow dash yelled as she and the rest of the Rainbooms went backstage. “Rarity what in tarnashin were ya thinking?” “Well I’m sorry for trying to look good in front of a crowd. Just because it isn’t to particularly large doesn’t mean I shouldn’t look my best.” “Girls calm down, I think you did alright.” Sunset said as she tried to get them to focus. “You have to stay focused on the finals and stopping the Dazzlings.” “But what about Twilight, how are we going to stop them if she’s not there to activate the counter spell?” Flutterrshy asked while hiding behind Rarity. Rainbow sighed, “We’ll just have to go on without her if she doesn’t make it. Oh and Pinkie Pie, what was with the confetti? How am I supposed to play when I’ve got paper in my frets?” “Well excuse me for making things more fun!” “It was rather distracting.” Said Fluttershy “Says the one who hid from a spotlight the entire time!” “GIRLS!” everyone stopped and stared at Sunset’s sudden outburst, “This is not going to solve anything, we need to stop fighting and work together. You need to stop fighting.” A moment of silence passed by as the Rainbooms looked at each other and then stared at the floor sighing. “Ah reckon you’re right Sunset, but we still need Twilight.” “You guys can battle, I’ll look for Twilight. I’ll let you know right away if anything comes up.” “Oh Sunset dearie you shouldn’t look for her on your own.” Said Rarity Spike stepped forward and attempted to salute, “Don’t worry Sunset I’ll help you. If anyone can track her down it’s me.” “Thanks Spike, I appreciate the thought.” Sunset petted Spike on head and rubbed behind his ears. “Ahem.” Applejack grunted, “Ah know this is good an’ all, but we still gotta find her ‘fore we do anythin’ else. How do ya plan on findin’ Twi anyway? Ah remember Spike saying somethin’ ‘bout bein’ a dragon back in Equestria, so that means he ain’t really used to bein’ a dog.” “I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about it Applejack, I’ll be fine with Sunset with me. With me knowing Twilight like I do and Sunset knowing the town I bet we’ll find her before the finals.” Everyone nodded their heads in understanding. They had a plan, now all that was left to do was pull it off. The Rainbooms left and spike moved ahead. “I’ll look outside the school, you look around here just in case she comes to the battle of the bands. Sound good?” “Yeah Spike, I’ll see what I can do.” With that Spike walked out the door and into the open air. Sunset walked around until an all too familiar voice rose from behind her. “Oh well hello Sunset.” Cooed Adagio, “What are you doing back here, shouldn’t you be with the others? Oh wait that’s right, you aren’t in their band. Adagio and Aria circled Sunset, each saying something to get to her. “Probably afraid no one would want to see them play if she was in the group.” “Th-that’s not true.” “Believe what you will, but you know we’re right.” Sunset left with her eyes shut, tears almost starting to form. She didn’t notice Twilight walk by or her small bit of concern. When she reached the others she had to ask. “Did you really need to say those things to her?” “Oh come now Twilight, you know it’s true. Maybe they have something against Equestrians in general.” Twilight let that sink in for a moment. It seemed to make sense, Sunset already has a bad track record but she thought the others had forgiven her and gave her a second chance. Were they playing along, did they ever even care about Sunset in the first place? Were they only friends with Sunset because she asked them to, is that the only reason? With each thought Twilight’s concern for Sunset grew, while her discontent with her friends did the same. “Come on Twilight, we’re up.” Adagio called to Twilight who was spacing out in thought again. They activated their amulets and began to sing. Everyone’s attention was on the Dazzlings. “Oh whoa oh, oh whoa” “You didn’t know that you fell” “Oh whoa ho, oh whoa” “Now that you’re under our spell” They sang all the while a certain pink person was watching with disbelief. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Oh wait, I’ll go grab some snacks. Maybe they have some left over from last time.” “Um, ah don’t think that’s such a great idea sugarcube.” Pinkie stared at Applejack hard, “Huh, why not?” “Cause there was a lot of people there, ah don’t think theyd’ve had left overs.” “Oh you’re just being a stick in the mud. Don’t worry I’ll be riiiiiight back.” Before Applejack could process what she heard Pinkie had already left. Pinkie opened the doors and grabbed the left over cookies from before, but she heard familiar singing. This time it was different though. She couldn’t place her finger on what, but something was different. She shrugged giving up and turned around, her jaw dropped to the floor almost instantly. “Now you’ve fallen under our spell” “Oh whoa ho, oh whoa” “We’ve got the music, makes you move it” “Got the song that makes you lose it” Pinkie repeatedly blinked and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things, but each time the picture never changed. Twilight was singing with the Dazzlings, at least she was safe, but she was with them. Pinkie picked her jaw up and bolted out the door, the others had to hear this. > The Competition > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Competition Pinkie Pie dashed through the halls of the school searching for the others, they had to hear the news. The Rainbooms were in the band room preparing for their next performance, everyone jumped when Pinkie came bursting through the door panting and tripping over jumbled words. Rarity was the first one to try and help her. “Pinkie darling you must calm down, we don’t understand what you’re saying.” “Twi…light…Dazzlings…with…singing.” Pinkie let out through ragged breaths. “Huh, what the hay are you talking about Pinkie? What about the Dazzlings?” “What were ya sayin’ about Twilight?” Pinkie Pie took in a deep breath before eating some of the cookies she had stuffed in her hair. After noticing the other’s look of disgust she continued. “I said, Twilight is singing with the Dazzlings!” Everyone in the room stared at her as though she were crazy, some looked puzzled, and Fluttershy hid behind Rarity. No one was willing to believe what their friend was saying. Rainbow Dash put her hand on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Are you sure your sugar hype wasn’t causing you to see things? I mean, come on, Twilight. You can’t be serious. Why would she, of all people, sing with the Dazzlings?” “I’m positive, I saw her singing with them. The Dazzlings were all like lalalala and Twilight was like lalala and…” The others tuned her out, they didn’t want to hear that their friend had betrayed them. But deep down, they all felt that what Pinkie was saying, was the truth. “Well girls, we’re on.” Said Rainbow sounding as cocky as ever “But…but.” Pinkie stuttered as she tripped over her own words. She frowned at them for not listening, but she went with them to the stage anyway. With each step the Rainbooms took their hearts sank deeper in fear of what they’ll see. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flash Sentry left angrily as the Dazzlings moved ahead of them on the team board. Luna took her seat next to Principal Celestia as she began to speak. “Alright students, next up is the Rainbooms.” “Alright Girls, this is it. The final battle before the finals, and my band is gonna rock it. Who’s with me?” “For the last time, this ain’t just your band Rainbow.” “Yeah, yeah whatever. Let’s just get this over with, we gotta play Awesome as I Wanna Be.” “Um Rainbow Dash, we still haven’t played any of my songs yet.” Fluttershy said as she held up her notebook. “Huh, we don’t have time for that, come on.” Fluttershy sighed, “I don’t know why I even bother.” The curtain rose and they began playing. Everyone but Rainbow Dash had a frown on their face as they played her song. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey” “Awesome as I wanna be” “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey” “Awesome as I wanna be” “First you see me riding on a sonic boom” “Got my guitar shredding up my latest tune” “There is nothing you can do to beat me” “I’m so good that you can’t defeat me” The Rainbooms continued until Rainbow reached the solo part. She got so pumped up that she went all out, accidentally awakening the magic inside of her. Sunset on the other hand saw this coming and had to act fast. What do I do, she’ll give it away? In a panic she leapt onto the stage tackling Rainbow and sending her into Rarity who stumbled forward kicking Applejack’s bass into Pinkie’s left tom. The lights turned on, everyone gasped and eyed Sunset Shimmer as she stood up. She nervously looked out into the crowd and her friends until Flash stood up. “Now that’s the bad girl we love to hate.” Everyone in the crowd complained about what Sunset did. Octavia yelled out, “I knew she was still trouble!” “The real Sunset Shimmer is BACK!" “No, it isn’t like that.” Sunset hung her head low and walked offstage with the Rainbooms. Once backstage Rainbow let her have it. “What was that?” Rainbow said while she folded her arms. “You were showing them your magic I-I didn’t know what else to do.” Rarity pouted, “Uh, close the curtains, unplug her amp, give us a chance to deal with the situation.” “I’m sorry I just wanted to help.” “Yeah, well you didn’t.” Applejack put her and on Rainbow’s shoulder to turn her so she could say, “None of this would have happened if you weren’t tryin’ to show off, as usual.” Trixie walked up from behind Sunset to congratulate them. “Good show Rainbrooms, I especially loved the part where Sunset Shimmer, in a fit of jealous rage, knocked out Rainbow Dash mid guitar solo.” “It wasn’t a fit of jealous rage!” Sunset slightly blushed. “If you say so.” Trixie looked over to the other half of the stage at principal Celestia and vice-principal Luna. “Ooo, it looks they’ve already decided who will be moving on to the finals. I’m guessing it wasn’t too difficult of a decision.” Just then the doors opened and the Dazzlings walked in with Twilight and began singing. “Aah aah ah, aaaaah ah. Aah aah ah, aaaaah ah.” They sang in unison as Celestia’s and Luna’s eyes glowed with a green tint. Sunset took note of this and was shocked to see Twilight with them, in the background she could hear the others arguing again. “What do we do? There isn’t going to 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 be able to play dress up.” “You know perfectly well that is not what I meant!” Sunset tried to get their attention, “Uh, girls.” Rainbow stepped in between the two. “You guys wanna keep it down, they’re about to announce who’s moving on.” “Who are you kidding, you know it isn’t going to be us.” Celestia and Luna stepped center stage to announce the winner. “The band that will be joining the Dazzlings in tonight’s finals…the Rainbooms.” Everyone let out an audible “What!” except for Rainbow Dash. “Did they just say the Rainbooms?” asked Pinkie Trixie stormed away. “This isn’t over.” She said through clenched teeth They walked up center stage. Celestia said, “Congratulations girls, you deserve it.” At this Pinkie raised an eye brow. “Seriously? We didn’t even…” was all she could get out before Rainbow elbowed her in the side. The Dazzlings walked up with Adagio leading. “See you at tonight’s big show Rainbooms, we are really looking forward to it.” “Yeah, well not as…” Rainbow stopped mid-sentence. She couldn’t believe her eyes, she didn’t want to believe her eyes. Standing next to Adagio was Twilight. Pinkie Pie was right, she is with the Dazzlings. > It's been nice knowing you > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's been nice knowing you The Rainbooms had gathered at Applejack’s barn to think about what just happened and what they saw. No matter how many times they tried to deny it, none of them could come to terms with it. Neither of them wanted to break the silence in the room, they just sat there waiting for something to give reason to what they saw. “Ah just don’t believe. How could Twi be with them? Why would Twi be with them? It just don’t make any sense.” “We all saw it Applejack. Whether we want to admit it or not, Twilight is with the Dazzlings.” Said Sunset “Ah know but still. There’s gotta be some sorta explanation fer all this.” “We all do, but we don’t have the slightest clue as to why she joined them in the first place.” Pinkie Pie jumped up and messed with her appearance to look all hypnotized and said, “Maybe those Dazzlings have her under some kind of spell.” “No, this isn’t hypnosis or mind control. Remember that I was once Princess Celestia’s personal student to, I learned all about this stuff back then.” Sunset sighed, “And I even demonstrated it at the Fall Formal. Twilight doesn’t look like she’s under any sort of spell, she just…” She trailed off not finishing her sentence. Rainbow kicked some hay before standing up. “Well standing around here isn’t going to get us anywhere. If we want answers then there’s only one person who can give them to us. Who else is with me?” They were hesitant but eventually all of them had stood up to join Rainbow. “Um, R-Rainbow Dash, how do you plan on asking her if we don’t know where she is?” “Easy, we look for her. With my speed there’s no way she could get away.” “That ain’t the only problem Rainbow. We’ve got no idea where ta even begin searchin’, not ta mention how smart Twi is. No tellin’ what she’ll do.” “What do you mean by that? Look at Sunset, she has no magic, so why would Twilight?” “She’s probably got siren magic; sorry I don’t know anything about them. The princess never brought them up, almost like she was trying to hide it from me or something.” “Well isn’t that just great. We’ve got nothing to go off of here. Thanks for the help Sunset.” Rainbow said sarcastically Rarity rushed to defend her. “Now wait just a minute. There’s no reason to just go and blame Sunset for this.” “I’m not blaming her for anything; all I’m saying is that she’s not helping.” Sunset looked down to her left, “Not like I could help anyway.” “Look, I’m sorry for acting like I did towards you. I had no reason to be like that, you made the right choice.” “Thanks Rarity.” “This is great and all, but we still gotta find Twilight. Come on; let’s go before the finals start.” They all followed Rainbow to the school to search for the Dazzlings in hopes that they’ll lead them to their friend. They searched the whole premises but they couldn’t find them. They settled on waiting for the finals and went to set up the stage. As they were setting up the person they least expected walked up to them. “Hey girls.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everyone booed at the Rainbooms as they left the stage. They didn’t deserve the spot so why was it them? Trixie looked especially mad about what happened, being the one that actually deserved it. “This is a travesty, a travesty!” Adagio put her hand on Trixie’s shoulder. “It really is. 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” said Aria “Alas, this is the way it’s going to be. Dazzlings vs Rainbooms.” “Unless of course the Rainbooms don’t manage to make it to their set or are held up for some reason.” Sonata said putting her hand to her chin in thought. This gave Trixie an idea. If the Rainbooms didn’t make it to their set then they wouldn’t make to the finals, and if they didn’t make it to the finals then the runner up would play in their stead. Trixie would have her revenge and become famous yet. She laughed darkly at her plan. “Trixie’s band will be the ones to hold all the glory. If you’ll excuse me, I have something to do.” Trixie said as she walked towards the exit with her other band members following her. “Are you sure about this Adagio?” Twilight asked “Of course I am Twilight. Who better to trap them under the stage than Trixie. Once she takes care of the Rainbooms we’ll be all set.” “I still want to talk to them. I have to settle things with them, I can’t just leave things as they are.” Adagio put her arm around Twilight. “Of course Twilight, you can take as long as you need. Just remember to not stand over the trap door.” “Hey girls, why does the schools stage have a trap door in the first place?” asked Sonata Aria brought her hand to her face and sighed. “How should we know Sonata? Look, just don’t go asking questions you shouldn’t be asking.” Sonata nodded her head and they left the semis. Twilight began to think. What am I going to say? Should I cut straight to point, should I help Sunset Shimmer or is she going to side with them? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight walked up to the finals stage, they were just starting to set up their equipment. She sighed and walked up the stage. “Hey girls.” “Twilight!” they all shouted at once. Pinkie was the first to get to her. “Oh my gosh Twilight are you okay, do you know who I am, why are you singing with the Dazzlings-“ Twilight put her hand up to stop her friend from going on. Pinkie Pie closed her mouth and listened carefully. “As for your questions, I’m fine, yes I know who you are, and the reason I’m singing with them is simple, they’re not using me as a weapon to save themselves.” The Rainbooms all gasped at Twilight’s statement, even Sunset shimmer was a little shocked. A few moments passed before anyone said anything, Rainbow Dash was the one to break the silence. “What do ya mean using you as a weapon? We never used you as a weapon, and we…” “Yes you guys were Rainbow. The only reason I’m here right now is because you girls asked me to get rid of the sirens. You contacted me with that book, but you never used it before to write or anything. I get that the book slipped Sunset’s mind, but you never thought to ask her if she had a way to contact Equestria. Another thing, the only reason we know each other is because Sunset Shimmer stole my crown. If she hadn’t taken it and became that demon then we never would have even crossed paths. You used me to save yourselves, that’s it.” They had all looked hurt at what Twilight was accusing them for, no one made a sound as they let it sink in. Finally Applejack stepped forward. “I’m real sorry sugarcube, but that ain’t true. We never used ya fer anythin’. Heck, you’re the reason that we became friends again in the first place.” “Yeah!” Pinkie said, “We were all strangers and you helped us, you helped us become friends with each other after Sunset drove us apart. You’re the sticky stuff that holds our friendship sandwich together.” “You really are our friend darling. Why if it weren’t for you the school would still be split apart because of Sunset. No offense dear.” “I’m really sorry if we came off as using you Twilight, but we weren’t I promise.” “You’ve got things all wrong Twilight. We would never use our friends like that. If I treated my friends like that then I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.” Everyone nodded in agreement with Rainbow Dash. “Listen Twilight, I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble. And I get that they kind of did use you in a way, even I was using you. But that doesn’t mean we meant for things to turn out like that.” Sunset said with her head down. Twilight smiled at them before saying, “Excuses. Those are all excuses. Did you girls really ever care?” They were about to respond but Twilight continued. “Thanks for apologizing Sunset, but that isn’t enough.” She backed up as Trixie walked on stage. “The great and powerful Trixie is the one that deserves to be in the finals, and I will not be denied.” Trixie snapped her fingers and her other band members pulled the lever to open the trap. The Rainbooms fell into the trap and looked up. The last thing they saw and heard was Twilight. “It’s been nice knowing you, bye.” > Welcome to The Show > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the show Twilight walked off the stage and back to the Dazzlings. Adagio was waiting for her by the entrance. “Wow Twilight, I didn’t expect that to come from you.” Twilight sighed. “Do you think I was too harsh?” “Not at all Twilight, you told them exactly what for. You spoke your mind and Trixie finished the job, the Rainbooms got what they deserved. Don’t you think so Twilight?” “I suppose.” “Then there’s nothing to worry about. Everything is going according to plan.” Aria blew hair out of her eyes and said, “Don’t mess up this time Adagio. I don’t want to wait another thousand years for something like this, again.” “Everything will be fine Aria. Things will be different this time around, I can feel it. We are going to get our true Equestrian magic back and then we’ll make everyone in this pathetic little world adore us.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “It’s been nice knowing you, bye.” Spike was playing with his dog toy behind the equipment when he heard Twilight’s voice. He stayed hidden until he thought the coast was clear, then he dove out and ran to find some help. “I’ve gotta find help for the others. Oh man, think Spike think. Who isn’t under their spell? Flash Sentry? No. The Crusaders? No.” Spike continued to name people until he bumped into Vinyl Scratch who was wearing her headphones. “Whoa there little guy, where’d you come from? Wait, aren’t you usually with the Rainbooms? Oh man I totally forgot about the finals tonight.” Spike motioned for Vinyl to take her headphones off and she complied. “Vinyl, Trixie came back for revenge and trapped the Rainbooms under the stage, you gotta help them!” “Whoa, whoa, easy there buddy. You’re saying that Trixie trapped them under the stage? She’s just a show off, but I believe you. Secondly, why’d you come to me for help?” “Everyone else is under the Dazzlings’ spell. Didn’t you notice?” “Nah, to busy listenin’ to my jam.” “That’s what I was counting on. You’re the only other student at Canterlot High aside from the Rainbooms that isn’t under the siren’s spell.” “Well, I guess.” Vinyl looked at her iPod to check the time. “Eh, I think I got time to kill before I meet with Tavi, Lead on.” By the time he had gotten back to the finals the Dazzlings were already performing. “Oh no we’re too late!” “Relax, you need to chill pal. Where’s the door that leads under the stage? Aha, there it is.” Vinyl calmly walked over to the door and opened it. Spike rushed to his friends. “Spike!” They all said. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rarity yawned as the Rainbooms sulked under the stage hearing Trixie play. Rainbow smashed her shoulder into the door and rubbed it due to the pain. The door hadn’t budged an inch, still stuck in that same place, locked from the outside. Applejack, who was annoyed at the constant yet futile attempt to open the door, groaned. “Give it up Rainbow Dash you’ve been tryin’ at this for hours. It’s not gonna open.” Rainbow rubbed her sore arm in defeat. She couldn’t open the door no matter how hard she hit it, so she just let it be. Sunset sighed. “I don’t think it matters that we’re trapped down here anyway, the counter spell wasn’t finished, there was no way it could’ve worked.” Applejack put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Course it would’ve worked, assumin’ a certain band member didn’t hog the spotlight the entire time we were tryin’ ta play it!” She said looking accusingly at Rainbow Dash. “What, why are you looking at me?” “She was talking about you Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said behind clenched teeth. “Me!” Rainbow pointed to herself with both hands. “I’m just making sure my band rocks as hard as it needs to.” “Our band!” Everyone yelled. Applejack got in Rainbow’s face and yelled, “It may have been your idea to start a band, but it’s not just your band Rainbow Dash!” “I’m the one who writes all the songs!” Fluttershy stepped from behind Rarity, “I write songs, you just never let us play any of them!” “I had the most perfect outfits for us to wear.” “Again with the costumes! No one cares what we’re wearin’!” “I care Applejack! So sorry if I enjoy trying to make a creative contribution to the band!” “Hey, anybody here remember fun? I’ll give you a hint; it’s the exact opposite of being in the Rainbooms!” “I wish I had never asked any of you to be in my band!” “I wish I never agreed to be in it!” said Rarity Both Fluttershy and Applejack moved to her sides and said, “Me neither!” As the Rainbooms fought they didn’t notice themselves glow green as the green gas poured out of them and flowed upward. Sunset Shimmer on the other hand took full note of it and looked up to try and figure out what was going on. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “You better believe I’ve got tricks up my sleeve” “See me dominate, cause I’m powerful and great” Trixie’s band walked backstage as the crowd cheered. She passed by the Dazzlings to rub in her glory. “Try to top that.” She said in a cocky manner. “Oh gosh, I don’t know if we can.” Adagio said sarcastically. The Dazzlings snickered and Adagio put her hands up to silence them. “See that girls?” Adagio pointed at the gas coming from under the trap door. “Their falling apart, just like I said they would. Now all that’s left is to absorb it and victory will be ours.” The crowd went silent as the Dazzlings started their performance. All four sirens emerged from the gas swinging their bodies in a seductive manner as they began to sing. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ahh ha ahhhhhhhhh” “Haaaaa ahh ahh, ha ah ah, ha ah ah” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Sunset stared at the ceiling as the realization was hitting her, hard. She realized they had been played like fools just so the Dazzlings could use them as a source of magic. She had to stop them from arguing with each other and fast. “Stop! You have to stop!” She yelled coming in between them to stop them from making the situation worse. “This is what they’ve been after all along. They’re feeding off of the magic inside you.” “How can they be using our magic, it’s the magic of friendship?” “Ever since you started this band you’ve been letting little things get to you. I never said anything because I didn’t feel like it was my place, not when I was so new to this friendship thing, I still have a lot to learn, but I do know that if you don’t work out even the smallest problems right at the start then the magic of friendship can be turned into something else.” Everyone looked around in realization at their actions. The Rainbooms all smiled and nodded, they knew what had to be done. “Come on, we need to get out of here.” Said Sunset Everyone threw themselves at the door in hopes of getting it to open. They all pushed as hard as they could as a group but to no avail. The Rainbooms dropped to the floor as hope was starting to die out. When they fell, the door unlocked and Spike rushed towards them. “Spike!” they all said “Sorry I took so long, I had to find somebody who wasn’t under the siren’s spell to help me get you out.” Vinyl poked her head through the door frame and waved. “Why isn’t she under their spell?” asked Sunset “Never takes off her headphones.” They all turned to Vinyl who gave them a thumbs up and a smile. “Come on y’all, time to prove we still got the magic of friendship inside us.” “And there’s only one way to do it.” “We’re getting the band back together?” asked Pinkie “We’re getting our band back together.” Said Rainbow “Weeee!” Pinkie shouted in joy “Oh, which version of the counter spell are we going to play?” “The counter spell was never finished remember. But, I don’t think it really matters what you guys play so long as you do it together, as friends.” Rainbow Dash walked up to Fluttershy and said, “Fluttershy here has written a really great one.” Which caused Fluttershy to have a wide smile. “we’re about to save the world here; personally, I think we should do it in style. Rarity.” Applejack said “I thought you’d never ask.” Rarity said while bringing out a rack of dresses for them to wear. “I had one for Twilight but it’s gone now.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Ha ha, aha aha ah, aha aha ah” “Ha ha, aha aha ah, aha aha ah” “Welcome to the show” “Ahh aha ahh” “We’re here to let you know” “Ahhh ah haa ah” “Our time is now” “Ahh aha ahh” “Your time is running out” “Ahhh ahh ah” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rainbooms had made their way onto a hill that was just overlooking the stage and the audience. Rainbow frowned. “How are we supposed to play over them from here?” Vinyl honked her horn and brought her car around. She pressed a button and the car transformed into a big DJ set. They all stared in awe at Vinyl’s car. Raibow turned to Sunset Shimmer. “Hey Sunset, wanna be lead singer?” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Feel the wave of sound, as it crashes down” “You can’t turn away, we’ll make you wanna stay” As the Dazzlings started singing the chorus they floated up and began to magically transform. They were enveloped in a red light and pony ears sprouted from their heads, they grew longer pony tails. As they were nearing the end of the transformation they began to crack and their shells shattered revealing siren wings. “We will be adored, tell us that you want us” “We won’t be ignored, it’s time for our reward” “Now you need us, come and heed us” “Nothing can stop us now” Out of seemingly no where they heard drums being played. Aria pointed over to a nerby hill and they all noticed the Rainbooms. “Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh” “I’ve got the music in me” “Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh” “Don’t need to hear a crowd cheering out my name” “I didn’t come here seeking infamy or fame” “The one and only thing, that I am here to bring” “Is music-is the music, is the music in my soul” Everyone but Sunset transformed with the magic and grew pony ears with extended pony tails. Rainbow and Fluttershy grew wings as well. “Gonna break out (Out)” “Set myself free yeah” “Let it all go (Go)” “Just let it be yeah” “Find the music in your heart” “Let the music make you start” “To set, yourself, apart” Adagio looked at them unfazed. “So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real battle of the bands, then let’s battle.” “What we have in store, all we want and more” “We will break on through, now it’s time to finish you” The sirens’ eyes glowed red as they charged up a spell. A magical soundwave connected the four amulets as they summoned magical projections of themselves in their true siren form. The projections flew towards the Rainbooms to attack them. Vinyl pushed the knob on the mixer up and Pinkie played her drums to send out a soundwave of their own. The intensity of the battle was heavy, not only did the entire fate of the world rest on them defeating the Dazzlings but they wanted to save their friend as well. They still believed in Twilight and thought that if they could somehow reach her then they would win. As Aria and Sonata were getting beat by Rarity and Fluttershy, Adagio went up against Sunset shimmer. Sunset sang into the mic but Adagio countered with her own voice and pushed Sunset back. The other sirens joined Adagio as they sang in harmony against the Rainbooms. Their harmonized voices brought the Rainbooms to their knees, Sunset stumbled up and felt the surge of friendship from the others. She took off her jacket and threw it to the side as she began singing. “You’re never gonna bring me down” “You’re never gonna break this part of me” “My friends are here to bring me ‘round” “Not singing just for popularity” “We’re here to let you know, that we won’t let it go” “Our music is a bomb and it’s about to blow” “And you can try to fight” “But we have got the light of friendship on our side” “Got the music in our hearts” “We’re here to blow this thing apart” “And together, we will never, be afraid of the dark” Sunset began to transform getting the ears and pony tail to go with her friends’. “Here to sing our song out loud, get you dancing with the crowd” “As the music of our friendship survives, survives” “Got the music in our hearts” “We're here to blow this thing apart” “And together, we will never, be afraid of the dark” “Here to sing our song out loud, get you dancing with the crowd” “As the music of our friendship survives, survives, SURVIVES” After the Rainbooms finished their song they looked around, and then at Twilight. What they saw extinguished their hope for saving the school and their friend. When they Dazzlings sang again everyone went back under their spell. After the Dazzlings finished singing they looked towards the Rainbooms and released a harmonized soundwave. The Rainbooms, in turn, took it directly and fell back. They sat there until the sirens floated up to them, their projections going back into their amulets. Adagio smirked and began to chuckle before saying, “That was it? That was your big plan? It didn’t seem to work out so well now did it?” Sunset raised her head to look Twilight eye to eye. “Twilight, please, we can’t do this without you.” “There it is again, you only want to use me. I’m not some tool to be used like that, i’m not some weapon for you to point at your enemies. Sorry Sunset, but it’s over, you girls lost.” “Well said Twilight. Tell me Sunset Shimmer, do you realize what this means? It means that the magic of friendship, is dead. Not even your precious little princess can save you now.” The Dazzlings basked in their victory as they had gotten their true Equestrian magic back. No one in this world could stop them now, the Dazzlings had the world in the palms of their hands. Twilight looked around at the scene before her and smiled. They had done it. She let out an evil chuckle. "Yes, everything is gonna be just fine." > Epilogue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Epilogue Sunset Shimmer watched as the school fell into the hands of the Dazzlings. Their one hope of fixing everything had failed, their hope of saving Twilight had failed, the magic of friendship…failed. She saw Twilight hovering in midair and reached out one last time, this had to work. “Twilight, please listen to me for a second.” Twilight turned her head towards Sunset to hear what she had to say. “What is it?” “Listen Twilight, I know that we used you but what about your friends in Equestria? What about them, did you think about your other friends or how you’d explain this to them?” If Twilight still listened to logic, then all she had to do was get her to realize her mistakes. If Sunset used her Equestrian friends and princess Celestia as reasons to turn around then Twilight might just come back. “What about my other friends? What do they have to do with any of this?” “Say you went back to Equestria now, how would you explain to them what you did? There's also Spike, what will he do now that you're a siren? And what about the princesses, did you think about how this will impact your Equestrian life at all?” Twilight brought her hand to her chin in thought, a quizzical look played across her face. No, she hadn’t thought of that. She hadn’t thought about any of that. She had been so fixed on what was happening here that the consequence never crossed her mind. But she didn't care, why should she? “If my friends should-no, my friends back in Equestria will understand. They're true friends and they'll except me no matter what. Even princess Celestia, she trusts me and my judgment.” “But, Twilight, you have to snap out of it. We can't do this without you.” Twilight smiled at Sunset almost wickedly, if there was still a chance that she would go back then it just vanished. She chuckled, inwardly laughing at Sunset. “You really don't get it do you. I'm done with helping them, i'm done with being the one tasked with solving every problem they can't handle. But more importantly, i'm done being everyone's little tool. Sorry Sunset, i'm not going back.” “...” Sunset stared in shock and dropped to her knees. She failed...again. Twilight wasn't going to come back to them, all hope was lost. “You should go back now, I don't want to hurt anyone, but who knows what will happen to them. Sunset, could you do me a favor and keep an eye on them?” Sunset snapped to attention. Maybe there was still a little of their Twilight in there after all. “Twilight.” Adagio’s voice called over the hill. “Bye Sunset, try not to get into any trouble.” “Twilight-” Twilight flew over to Adagio and reveled in victory as she thought back to what Sunset had said. She thought, They'll understand. They have to, they're my friends.