Feel the wave of sound, as it crashes down!
You can't turn away! We'll make you wanna stay!
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!
It wasn't possible, she told herself. They were meant to win. They had to win! They couldn't just fail like this. She couldn't just fail like this. And yet, that was exactly what had happened. Twilight Sparkle, the fourth alicorn Princess of Equestria, was currently not in that world, but the world of humans, here at the request of her friends to deal with a new menace that had risen to threaten this place. Like with every other threat she had faced in her life, she'd tried to thwart it, hoping that working would her friends would save the day and make good triumph over evil.
But that is not what happened.
The battle of the bands. The plan had been clear to all of them. Use their music to bring about Twilight's counter-spell, thus defeating their enemies, the Dazzlings. Those girls, who in ancient times had been known as the Sirens, once terrorized Equestria, using their magical voices to sow hate and strife amongst all they came across. Had it not been for the timely intervention of Starswirl the Bearded, Equestria might have been in their grasp a long time ago. Instead, they'd been banished here, where Starswirl thought they couldn't hurt anypony.
But hurting people is exactly what the Dazzlings, Adagio, Aria and Sonata, had done. They had stood upon the great outdoor stage, where the concert was taking place, and used their voices to gather so much hate, so much power, that their true strength had revealed itself. With her friends by her side, Twilight had hoped to undo all this with their own spell, their own song. And yet, when the time came, when the great clash of magic had finally happened, it was not the side of good that had emerged triumphant.
The Dazzlings stood there, faces plastered with expressions of utter victory, as the Rainbooms, the band of Twilight and her friends, were all knocked to the ground with the sheer force of their failed spell. Twilight, who only now was starting to come to, glanced to either side of her, where she saw her friends, even Sunset, all lying on the ground, their strength just about returning to them as they slowly tried to get up. The shock of their defeat had reverted them to their regular human appearances, removing all of the more pony-like additions their magic granted them, like pegasi wings. The young Princess would have endeavoured to get up as soon as possible, had it not been for the sudden and unexpected feeling of a pair of hands grabbing both of her arms and lifting her upwards.
Only now did she manage to take stock of what was going on around her. All seven of the girls, plus Spike, had all been surrounded by the students of Canterlot High, and were now being forcibly pulled to their feet. Some, Applejack and Rainbow especially, tried resisting against the ones who held them, but mostly the girls simply looked very worried right now. And with good reason, for one look at their captors, at the faint green glow in their eyes, made them realise that these students were still being magically enchanted.
There was only one thing that could make this any worse, and sure enough, it soon happened. For the sound of the cold night air blowing past them was soon overshadowed by a sound the girls now knew all too well, and had grown to fear. It was the sound of a beautiful melodic chorus, one growing louder with every passing moment. As the girls all looked up, Twilight gained a look of horror as she saw that there, hovering in the sky about them, were the Dazzlings themselves. Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk.
All three of them had smug smiles on their faces, but Adagio especially so. As they began to lower themselves, Twilight got a better look at them. They were still clad in the outfits they made for their big final performance, but they had also changed physically. In a twisted mockery of the Rainboom's own transformation, the Dazzlings too now had pony-like ears, tails and a pair of near-transparent wings on their back. The red jewelled necklaces around their necks glowed brightly, as did the sinister red of their eyes as they finally reached the ground.
Twilight and the others would have wanted nothing more than to rush them and try and do something, but with them being literally surrounded by the whole school, that wasn't happening. So instead, Twilight kept her gaze on Adagio. As the Siren leader approached, her walk bearing it's usual hip-swaying, the red glow of her eyes began to dim, revealing her normal ones. When she was but a few feet from Twilight, she broke the silence between them.
"Well then, Princess. I think it's safe to say that we won."
The young Princess narrowed her eyes at that, prompting Adagio to chuckle.
"Oh, don't be like that! You and you little band of friends put up a good fight. Sadly..."
The Siren leaned in close, a sly smile creeping on her face.
"...it wasn't good enough."
Twilight, in stark contrast to her usual calm and collected persona, tried in vain to lunge forward at her enemy, but was stopped from doing so by the pair of students that still held her. This display prompted Adagio to simply shake her head.
"Tsk tsk. Such un-Princess-like behaviour."
The other members of the Rainbooms all looked to Twilight, at the way she struggled before eventually just stopping. She turned to look at all of them in turn, and saw the looks of devastation upon their faces. They didn't say it. They didn't WANT to say it. But their innermost feelings at this moment were plain for all to see. They had failed to stop them. As if to add insult to injury, Twilight's thoughts on the matter were interrupted by the sound of Adagio chuckling. Looking upon her, Twilight saw the Siren walk back a few steps to join her comrades.
"It's not all bad news though. My friends and I couldn't be happier, to be honest. It's been a long time since the three of us felt this kind of...Sonata?!"
This sudden change of tone from the Siren leader prompted not only the Rainbooms to look towards the blue-haired member of the Dazzlings, but also Aria. Sure enough, there was Sonata, ,who was holding onto her newly-emerged hair-tail combo in the same way that a young child might hold onto it's favourite toy. After having heard her leader call out her name however, she looked over and only now realised that everyone was staring at her. Looking rather embarrassed, she let go of her tail before looking meekly at Adagio.
"Sorry. It's just...I really like having a tail again."
In response to this display from their comrade, Adagio slapped her forehead in frustration while Aria just let out a groan that had become quite typical with her.
"Even after a win like this, you're still the worst!"
Adagio, sensing the growing tension, raised both hands, the left facing Sonata whilst the right faced Aria.
"That's enough, girls. Let's not lose sight of more...promising matters."
Glancing at each other, Aria and Sonata both gained a devilish smiles on their faces as they looked back to Twilight. But the Princess was in no mood for their words, and instead looked with contempt upon the wings they bore on their backs. Adagio, catching this, gained her characteristic smirk before addressing her.
"Yes, they are impressing, aren't they? Of course, gathering the hate magic from these mere students would never have been enough. However..."
Taking a few steps further, Adagio raised a hand and placed a finger square in the middle of Twilight's chest.
"...gathering such strife from those with Equestrian magic in them, that was FAR more potent!"
So that was how they did it, Twilight told herself. When she and her friends had been trapped under the stage due to Trixie's involvement, the group had all descended into a fierce argument. That hate energy, coupled with the magic of Equestria within them must have been exactly what the Dazzlings needed to push their power over the edge. It also made her realise how they gained a transformation and appearance so reminiscent of that they themselves took on when that magic was activated. Looking upon Adagio now, Twilight saw that she had taken one hand and was now caressing one of her wings, smiling to herself as she did so.
"I'd heard for a long time that such a change was beautiful to behold. The rumours did not overstate it. Although..."
The Siren leader took a moment to glance at her two cohorts, who returned sly smiles to her, before continuing.
"...I think we can all agree that we three pull off this look somewhat better than you girls ever did."
It was here that there was finally some action from one of the other Rainbooms. Turning, Twilight saw, to her surprise, that it was none other that Sunset, now struggling greatly against the grip of the students surrounding her. Adagio, her attention now gained, turned to the former student of Celestia with a raised eyebrow before Sunset spoke.
"Twilight can still defeat you, monster! The magic of friendship...!"
But Sunset was prevented from saying anything further by a single raised finger from Adagio, before she finished Sunset's words in her own way.
"The magic of friendship...has FAILED!"
Turning to face Twilight once more, Adagio gained that look of victory once more.
"Isn't that right, Princess?"
Twilight said nothing to her. She didn't want to acknowledge anything to this girl, nor did she even want to admit it to her friends. But, as she looked to her right, at her friends, even Sunset, who all looked to her for her to say something, anything that would let them know that she had a plan, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she silently hung her head low, staring at the ground. It was silent, but the message was clear all the same, and the Rainbooms all looked to each other with expressions of sadness.
Seeing this look of defeat from their foes, Adagio afforded herself a brief chuckle. It was a display that prompted Twilight's expression to turn to one of anger, as she spoke in a hushed but still edged voice.
"You've stopped me...but I'm not the only Princess. Celestia, Luna, my friends. They'll fight you. They will stop you if you even TRY to get back to Equestria!"
Twilight had expected those words to give the Dazzlings some cause for concern, to give them pause. What she had not expected was for Adagio to let out a very loud laugh, which led to Twilight looking up at her with confusion. As the Siren's laughter eventually died down, she smiled as she spoke to Twilight.
"Go back to Equestria? I think not!"
Seeing Twilight's confused look, Adagio began to explain.
"Oh, there may have been a time when returning to that place was something we wanted. We lingered in this world for centuries, like ghosts, never being noticed, and getting by on only the barest scraps of hate. It was a nightmare."
Her smile deepened as she stretched out her arms, indicating the vast crowd around us.
"But now? We have more than enough power to make this entire world adore us. Every man, woman and child will look upon us and know that we rule them. Nobody will ever ignore us again!"
Adagio took a brief moment to look upon the look on Twilight's face, a look that made it clear that she was worried just what they would do to this world now that they had won, before looking over to Rainbow, Fluttershy and all the others. Striding over to them, she put a hand on her hip and smirked at them before continuing.
"I really should thank you, girls. If it wasn't for your magic, none of this would have been possible."
Rainbow took that comment and, like Twilight before, attempted resisting, but also like Twilight, the students around her held firm. All it achieved was another smug chuckle from Adagio, who then cast a sinister glance over to Twilight.
"Now then. I think it's time we got to business. You don't belong in this world after all."
Twilight took a moment to process those words before her eyes widened with realisation, leading to her struggling yet again against the students around her. Laughing at this, Adagio turned to Aria and Sonata before nodding to them. The two Sirens nodded back to their leader and their jewels, to everyone's surprise, began to glow again. The Dazzlings opened their mouths and began their usual chorus, and as their eerily beautiful voices carried over on the wind around them, a figure began to move amongst the crowd. Narrowing her eyes, Twilight tried to make out who it was in the dark of the night.
Those eyes widened again as she recognised the figure soon afterwards. A boy her age with spiky blue hair and a leather jacket, but still possessing the same glazed-over enchanted look of all the other students.
"Flash?"
The boy did not response to her words, or even look in her direction. merely standing there like a statue. Unable to do anything to get to him, Twilight looked on as Adagio, who was now floating in mid-air again, hovered over to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder, smirking to Twilight as she did do.
"Flash dear, would you be so kind as to escort Twilight to her portal?"
Sentry did not say anything to that, instead simply following the orders of his master, walking over to Twilight before holding onto her arms tightly, the other students near her now having finally let go. The Rainbooms, all of whom were being similarly pulled along, watched in despair as Twilight looked upon the boy who held her, and how he didn't seem to feel a thing. As bad as this was for Twilight, what was worse was Adagio, Sonata and Aria all hovering around the two of them, smirking all the way. It especially got under her skin as Adagio hovered closer.
"Probably for the best of Flashy here sends you away. After all...nothing quite like rubbing salt into the wound, wouldn't you say?"
Twilight grimaced at that statement, but her expression soon turned to concern as she regarded not only her friends, who were still being dragged along for all of this, but also Flash, who like every other student there, had become a victim of these creatures. Seeing the look of concern and affection upon Twilight's face, Adagio took on another sly smile as she placed a finger under Flash's chin.
"Oh, don't worry about your handsome friend here."
The Siren leader's smile became even more devious as her voice took on a more seductive ton.
"We'll be sure to take extra special care of him."
Twilight narrowed her eyes at her, but that soon stopped as she saw that she and the others had finally been brought to their destination. It was the majestic horse statue outside the front entrance to the school, the icon which served as the gateway between this world and Equestria. Flash kept on dragging Twilight towards it, despite her struggles, as her friends watched helplessly. Once within a few feet of it however, Flash stopped. Although confused by this, Twilight looked on to see Adagio, Aria and Sonata land on the ground near her, with Adagio keeping her eyes locked onto Twilight's.
"As good as this evening has been for us, this right here will be the cherry on top. Your true defeat."
Twilight glanced over to the portal before turning back to Adagio as she continued.
"You will be cast out from this world, and spend the rest of your days in Equestria, knowing that you failed your friends, this school, and an entire world!"
The Siren leader took a few steps forward before staring at Twilight straight in the eye.
"Now it is you...who will know what it's like to live a life of humiliation and defeat!"
Adagio took a few steps backwards and made a gesture with her hands, prompting Flash to start pulling Twilight before the statue. The young Princess didn't want to believe what Adagio had said, but deep down, a part of her knew it to be true. She turned, just in time to see another pair of students carrying Spike, who like her had been resisting the whole way, before they casually threw him into the portal, much to Twilight's horror. Now it would be her turn, and knowing this, she looked over to her friends one last time.
Rainbow Dash. Applejack. Rarity. Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie. Even Sunset Shimmer, the one she never thought she would become friends with, but who had proved herself to be a true one in the end. She looked at all of them as tears began to form in her eyes, and spoke the last words she knew they would ever hear from her.
"I'm...I'm sorry."
The group didn't even have time to respond to that, for with a single push, the enchanted Flash pushed her through the portal, which let out a near-blinding light as she passed through. Seeing their enemy now gone, the Dazzlings afforded themselves a chuckle, but it was soon interrupted by the sound of struggling from all the other girls. Sunset in particular was being very vocal about this.
"You MONSTERS! You'll never get away with this!"
Adagio said nothing, but merely turned to her with a grim smile on her face. The girls all looked at each other with worry, wondering what she was going to do. Their curiosity was, sadly, soon answered as Adagio raised a hand and snapped her fingers loudly. Before the girls could react, they looked on with horror as many of the surrounding students produced a number of blunt objects, hammers, axes, even bricks, and began swarming the statue. The girls let out scream after scream, begging them to stop, but it was no good, for the Siren's spell was too strong for their words to get through.
So they simply stood there, held in place by those they'd once called friends and classmates, as the rest of the student body viciously assaulted the statue, breaking and shattering it over the course of several minutes. All of the girls began to develop tears in their eyes, Fluttershy especially so, as they knew now that Twilight would never be coming back. The Dazzling had taken their friend away from them, and in so doing, had made sure that their victory was well and truly complete.
As Adagio, Aria and Sonata looked upon the pile of rubble that had once been the beautiful horse statue, Adagio turned to the girls with her usual smirk, and spoke.
"And that, dear Rainbooms...is how the magic of friendship...lost!
