Recovery

by AlexLoneWolf

When faced with excruciating circumstances, who do we turn to? Are we brave enough to face it alone? Or is facing such things alone really considered bravery? One thing for certain is that all we really want in the end is to feel like ourselves again. And whether it's loved ones, priceless memories, or tangible notes of an instrument, we desperately seek recovery. (Relies on ANH)

3. Let's Rock It to the Top

"Hey…hey…" I felt myself being lightly shaken.

I think I mumbled a bit before I opened my eyes and saw Spirit in front of me. "…what?" I asked, still feeling a little half asleep.

"The others went on ahead to Applejack's farm." She answered. "You still need to get your instrument, right?"

"Oh, right…" It took me a while to get my brain started. "Yeah…I need to get back to Ponyville for that…" I rubbed my eyes.

"Let's get going then. We don't want to keep them waiting." Spirit suggested.

"Right… Okay…" I agreed as I proceeded to get up and fold the blankets.

---

Back in Ponyville, Spirit and I stopped in the front of my old home.

"Wait right here. I'll be right back." I told her.

"You don't need any help?" She offered.

"No, I've got magic here. I can just carry it with that." I mentioned and then made my way into the house.

I remembered last leaving it in my room somewhere, but I unfortunately couldn't remember where exactly. Nevertheless, it wouldn't take much time. My room wasn't messy, so there were only a few places it could be. I scanned over some empty spaces in my room, but nah, nothing. The violin is supposed to be in a solid protective case, just how I left it last time. Maybe I left it under the bed?

Seeing as there was a good chance since I pretty much looked everywhere else, I knelt down and tried to reach my hoof through.

"I hope I didn't put it too far back…" I softly told myself as I reached. The space under the bed was too small, so I wasn't able to actually illuminate the area underneath and see for myself. However, as soon as I grabbed ahold of something, I took it out to see what it was. Once outside from under the bed, I noticed something odd about it. It appeared to be some sort of clothing and definitely not something I'd have in my room. "What the?" I held it up with magic to get a better look at it. Then, I realized it was a dress. A certain dress I was sure I had seen before. "What is this doing in here?"

"What are you doing?" I suddenly heard another voice, startling me and causing me to drop the dress.

The only pony I'd be able to guess that spoke just now would be Spirit, since she was supposed to be waiting for me outside. Did she get impatient and decide to come in to see what I was doing? But no it was not her at all. It definitely didn't fit her voice anyhow. The sound come from my bed, and there I saw someone I absolutely didn't expect.

Starlight was sitting up from my bed with the bed sheets still hung on her a little. It didn't look like she was too happy to see me. In fact, it looked like I actually had just woken her up.

"Oh, Starlight…" I responded a little nervously. We had just worked things out with each other recently, and I really didn't want to screw things up. "S-sorry… I forgot that you were staying here…" She only responded by sighing and rubbing her eyes. "I'm just looking for my violin and I'll be out of here." I quickly mentioned, hoping that'd cool her down if she was mad as she probably was.

She opened her eyes with a bit of surprise. "That was your violin?" She asked, scaring me a little with the way she put it.

"Um…yeah…?" I answered, wanting more information from her.

"You should have told me. I threw that thing out." She responded casually as if she had not a single bit of guilt or remorse.

"What?!" I exclaimed out loud. "Why?!"

"I tripped over it and got mad. So I threw it out the door. I don't know if it's still out there. If not, someone probably took it." She decided to finally get out of bed.

Was she kidding!? She was talking so calmly. She couldn't have possibly done that!

"Please, please tell me you didn't, Starlight." I'm pretty sure if it was outside, I would have seen it. If not, Spirit would have seen it and told me about it.

"Sorry." She returned in a completely unapologetic tone as she walked past me and headed down the stairs. It was as if she was telling me it was my fault for leaving it wherever I had left it.

Of course, I wasn't going to leave it at that. That violin wasn't just any violin. It was the one that Octavia herself gave to me! There's no way to replace that! I anxiously followed Starlight down the stairs, almost desperately pleading that she was joking. "Starlight! Come on! You have to be lying to me!" I could feel myself complaining in a fit of rage now as she continued to lead me somewhere that I didn't pay attention to. "That violin was important to me! A friend gave it to me as a meaningful gift! You can't just buy it!" Finally she stopped in front of a door under the stairs and opened it. Just as I was about to almost lose it, she suddenly pushed something my way. It was a case…the violin case!

"Next time, don't just leave your things lying around." She told me.

Just to be completely sure, I opened the case and noticed the violin in there. It seemed to be in the same condition just as I remembered it last was. "Wha… It's here…!" I looked up at her for an answer. "Why'd you lie like that?!"

"Because…" She crossed her front legs and looked away. "I really did trip on it… And…" She seemed to soften the tone of her voice with the last of her words. "…you haven't noticed…"

"…haven't…noticed…?" I was confused by those words. Based on experience, when a mare gets into the talk of "noticing" things about her, it's usually about her appearance. An example would be a recent haircut or new accessory. Thinking about that caused me to look at her mane to start off. However, that was all I needed to do because I knew then the difference she must have wanted to show me. "Your hair…!" I realized. "It's…it's not covering your horn…!"

"I decided…to try to make a fresh start." She explained as she grinned lightly. "After I left that new fancy castle you have. And you know what? It might not be such a bad look for me."

"I have to admit…" I decided to share. "I think…you look better like that." I surprised her with that comment. "…but are you self-conscious because you can't…?" I didn't really want to discuss her issue directly like that.

She scoffed. "Who cares if I can't do any magic. I've made it here without it. Even if ponies gossip about it, so what? I shouldn't care about them in the first place."

"If you say so…" I was able to muster up with. I know how hard it was to try to think that way, and it seemed to me that she was trying to be confident about something she wasn't even sure about. However, I was suddenly reminded about where I was taking this violin in the first place. I remembered I told Sunset Shimmer last night on how I would bring Starlight so they could…I don't know…make up with each other? But how was I going to tell her that? Just spit it right out? "Hey… Do you want to know why I was looking for this violin?" I asked.

"You don't need to tell me." She sort of made clear, leaving me to be unable help the hidden exasperated expression that came across my face.

"Well…if I didn't want to tell you…I wouldn't have brought it up in the first place…"

"Then just say it in the first place." She sort of fired back the same attitude.

I give up… "Long story short, there's these three girls messing around by making everyone against each other back at the high school that's through the mirror and Twilight, all of the others, and me are going to play music so we can hopefully and ultimately stop them."

She sort of responded with a look that seemed to question why I bothered unloading all of that to her if she really had nothing to do with it in the first place. "So…why did you want to tell me all that?" She asked as if she didn't really care about the three evil girls.

"Well…" I turned my eyes away, not wanting to push any buttons. "Did you want to come along with me?"

It didn't take her too long to think about it and give her answer. "Not really… I think I'll just stay here." She began walking past me to head up the stairs.

It kind of bothered me that I wasted all that extra time I could have used to get back to the others just to get that kind of answer. No way. I'm already this far in. I'm not going to just drop it. "Sunset Shimmer." I blatantly spat out.

That definitely made her stop. She remained silent for a moment before she turned to me. "What about her?"

I still didn't want to give away that I wanted her to come along to restore the friendship I had found out about. So, I tried focusing on a more…impersonal subject involving Sunset Shimmer. "You see… You two kind of ended on bad terms the last time we were there. You know, with her turning into a whole demon kind of thing. But the thing is, she's changed. She's a whole other pony, person, whatever. Believe me. I guess I just really wanted you to come to see that change yourself." This was actually true. I actually did kind of really want Starlight to see the new and improved Sunset Shimmer. It was almost like wanting to brag to someone close to you about something significant you achieved just because it just made you feel amazing.

"So…you're saying she's…good now?" She asked, turning her body to me now.

"Yeah." I briefly replied.

She turned her head away, now taking the time to think. "I guess…we did kind of end on a 'wanting each other destroyed' note…" She crossed her front legs again and lightly pursed her lips to the side. "I suppose it'd probably be the best if we fixed that."

This was good. Since she didn't know that I learned about the thing between Sunset Shimmer and her, she wasn't so reluctant to leave. If she knew what I was trying to do, she'd probably be as stubborn as a mule and lock herself up in the house. Either way, I think I've taken enough time. Who knows what everyone is doing back through the portal.

"Alright then, let's get going." I stated as I grabbed the violin case with magic and began trotting towards the front door.

"What? So soon?" She sort of trailed behind me.

"Well…I'm kind of on a schedule…" I tried to answer politely.

Starlight merely sighed. "Well…I guess I don't really have anything important here to do anyway…"

I saw Spirit in a sort of impatient manner as she had surprisingly managed to wait throughout that entire time. "What took you so long? I've been waiting forever! We've got hurry before we miss—" She paused and noticed Starlight, whom was messing with her mane, standing behind me. "She's here…?" She muttered softly.

"Yeah, she's coming with us." I answered. "Is that okay?"

Spirit seemed to return a disapproving look. "I guess so."

I suppose Starlight decided to question Spirit when she noticed her. "Are you another one of Alex's friends?" She asked, especially since it seemed Spirit was already accompanying me and will be on the way.

"Yeah…" It was pretty obvious Spirit wasn't interested in small talk with her.

"I guess he can never have enough friends, can he?" She commented in a rather playful manner instead of a humiliating or intimidating one. Spirit only slightly pouted her face in soft angry discomfort. "I'm Starlight…?" She introduced, not knowing how to exactly handle Spirit's reaction.

"Spirit…" Spirit returned, turning her head away and beginning to walk ahead, ultimately disengaging from conversation.

"Is she okay…?" Starlight asked me, taking the obvious hint.

"She's just…shy." I came up with.

---

Back on the other side, Spirit led the way for possibly two reasons. One, she was left with the directions before I woke up this morning. Two, she didn't want to be around Starlight. Either way, we were brought to Applejack's farm which didn't take too long. However, there wasn't exactly a warm welcome waiting for us…

"Hey, hey, listen" There was a slightly-off key voice singing an unfamiliar tune, causing for Starlight and I to share a confused look with each other.

"We've got a message for you" The voice continued after receiving a loud feedback. All of this was heard from the big red barn that looked just like the one back home.

"We're not all alike

But our friendship is true" We made it to the inside of the barn and found all of the girls playing this song. On the other hand, Spike and Sunset Shimmer were sort of suffering near the amp where all this was heard. Spike covered his ears and shut his eyes. Sunset Shimmer cringed lightly.

"Yeah, we're really different

But we still get along" Everyone appeared to have noticed Twilight's performance with the song. Even I couldn't believe that she actually…well…sounded…less than adequate. Rainbow Dash sent a look over to Fluttershy, which stopped her from playing with her tambourine for some reason.

"So hey, hey, listen to our song" Afterwards, Rainbow Dash allowed Fluttershy to continue. I wasn't sure why she did all that. I didn't think Twilight even knew what she was doing herself.

"You may think you're in control" The intense feedback continuously bothered the others, even Starlight. It even caused Pinkie Pie to stop, leaving an absolute obvious hole with the instruments. In fact, she looked bored and uninterested. It wasn't until Applejack and Rarity each gave her an intimidating look to get her back on track.

"But we're here to prove you wrong

With the friendship in our music

With the power of our song" Out everyone else, it seemed Rainbow Dash was the only one actually enjoying expressing her skill into the song.

"Gonna stomp our feet, clap our hands

With the magic of friendship" Twilight looked around a bit self-consciously. It seemed she might have known how well the song was going with the others.

"Gonna stop your evil plan"

Rainbow Dash finished with her guitar and seemed to have high potential in activating her magic. However, when she looked around to see if anyone was on the same level, they appeared disheartened or bored. From the look of that scene, she lost interest plus the spark of magic.

"Eh, that sounded... way better than the last... five times you've played it. Heh heh." Spike nervously shared an interesting detail.

"Nnope." Big Macintosh just had to come out at the right time to share his thoughts, leaving to Spike to whimper in fear.

"I think it's pretty obvious what's going wrong with this counter-spell." Rainbow Dash broadcasted to everyone.

"You're turnin' what should be the chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?" Applejack argued.

"I have to pick up the slack somehow!" Rainbow fought back. "Are you guys even trying?!"

"I'm trying." Fluttershy softly mentioned.

"It's fine." Twilight nervously laughed. "It'll be fine. One more time from the top!" Yeah… Twilight didn't look so good.

"Wow…" Starlight spoke up with crossed arms as she had been observing the scene. "I didn't know your friends…had a band."

Everyone heard Starlight's comment and looked her way, especially Sunset Shimmer.

"Starlight!" Sunset Shimmer stood up in surprise. "Y-you're here…!" She still didn't seem too ready in meeting her again.

"Yeah." Starlight seemed to casually respond back. "I heard things…changed…"

"Yeah…a lot of things…" Sunset Shimmer rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"Hey." Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Wasn't she with her when Sunset Shimmer was still…you know?" Rainbow Dash twirled a finger outside of her ear.

However, Sunset Shimmer seemed to care more about the fact that Starlight was here instead of focusing on Rainbow's insensitive gesture. "Forget about it." She directed towards her comment and turned to Starlight. "Hey… Um… I'm…glad you're here." Sunset Shimmer struggled to speak. "Um… I didn't get a chance to tell you…but…for what it's worth…I'm…" She clasped her hands together and bowed her head like she did with me. "I'm really sorry…for what happened last time."

"Don't worry about it." Starlight returned, refraining from getting too emotional or feely. "We've all made mistakes we're not proud of…" I could tell she spoke from experience.

"Yeah…" Sunset Shimmer spoke as her eyes wandered to the side. "Believe me… I know."

It was great that there was an apology and forgiveness…but I've got to make sure Sunset Shimmer and Starlight settle their baggage with what happened between them in the past. There's no way you can just leave something like that in the dust and never talk about it again.

"Well, if you guys don't mind…" Rainbow went off again. "We should really get back to rehearsing. We gotta be in top shape for the sirens."

"Starlight." Sunset Shimmer seemed to perk up a bit. "Actually, this may sound a little weird…but we're trying to beat this other band of three evil girls with music. Since you're a singer and all…maybe…you could help us?"

"Whoa whoa whoa." Rainbow Dash waved her hands disapprovingly. "We've got enough as it is. We don't have room for another singer."

"She doesn't have to be in the band!" Sunset Shimmer defended. "She can just…give us tips or something… She has real experience with an actually pretty famous band. I'm sure she could help us. Maybe…she can be like a manager or something?"

I wasn't sure if Starlight was actually willing to do something like that, but the expression on her face as she thought about it said otherwise. "Actually…" She tapped a finger on her chin. "That might be fun. I'm never really taught anyone anything like this before."

Sunset Shimmer's smile grew while Rainbow Dash still didn't look so sure.

"Fine." Rainbow Dash finally agreed with crossed arms. "But only until we kick the Dazzlings' sorry butts!"

Coming from her fiery-at-times attitude, Starlight chuckled. "You really think I'm going to stay here afterwards?"

"Anyways!" Rainbow avoided and changed the subject. "Since you apparently have your own band wherever you come from, why don't you start teaching Twilight a few things?" She placed the spotlight on Twilight, causing her to feel some immediate discomfort. "She could really use them." Rainbow Dash sure was blunt…

"Actually…" Rarity added, seeming to have something else in mind. "Perhaps we could take a short break, try on some of the wardrobe choices I've put together?" She grabbed ahold of a portable hanger for clothes and brought it out for everyone to see. "I'm particularly fond of this one." She rummaged through and quickly presented a flashy costume. "Eh, of course we could always go with something a bit more modern." She mentioned after looking herself over.

"We're tryin' to save our school here. Enough with the costumes!" Applejack reacted, appearing to have dealt with this many times before.

"Oh, you can never have enough costumes!" Rarity argued in a sort of robotic voice from another costume she unusually had on hand.

"She just wants to make things fun!" Pinkie Pie sided with Rarity. "Isn't that what being in a band supposed to be?" She angrily played a rimshot with her drums, even though her expression wasn't on par.

"You don't have time for any of this!" Sunset Shimmer cried out after having stared at her phone. "You're supposed to check in at the Battle of the Bands in fifteen minutes!"

After sharing a loud gasp, all of the band members began panicking. "Oh, no!"

Immediately afterwards, all of them began scrambling around inside the barn to clean up and pack their things. Twilight stood in the middle of it, looking more unstable than the rest of them. "What? But it's not ready! If we play our counter-spell in the first round and it doesn't work, the sirens will know what we're up to and make sure we don't get a chance to play it again!"

They all suddenly screeched to a stop, having heard what Twilight warned about.

"Then we'll have to buy ourselves some time so you can keep workin' on it!" Applejack suggested after exchanging a look with one another.

"But how do you propose we do that?" Rarity questioned.

"We compete in the Battle of the Bands for real!" Rainbow pointed out excitedly. "I take over lead vocals again and we stay alive until the finals! We unleash the counter-spell then!" She turned to Twilight. "You'll have figured it out by finals, right?"

"Of course she will." Spike assured, patting Twilight confidently. "Twilight Sparkle's never met a problem she couldn't solve. Right, Twilight?"

"R-r-right…" Twilight anxiously agreed.

"Then let's go win us a Battle of the Bands!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as they took off towards the school.

"Uh…" I stood there, having had watched everything just happen on the side. "I didn't even…get to practice with…Mmm."

Starlight lightly slapped me on the back, gesturing that I get on going in following the others. "You'll be fine."

"And what makes you think that…?" I muttered under my breath and decided to follow on with her gesture.

Interestingly, I spotted Spirit at the corner of my eye. She had said nothing throughout the entire conversation held inside the barn and only crossed her arms as she leaned on the doorway. I wasn't sure if I had seen correctly, but as Starlight walked behind me, I seemed to notice Spirit give her a quiet glare with a bowed head as she walked past her.

---

"Welcome to the first ever Canterlot High School Battle of the Bands." Everyone that had gathered in the gym heard Principal Celestia announce on the stage I believed we were supposed to be performing on. "I believe I speak for everyone when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this school!" Cheers roared from the excited participants and audience. "We are so glad our three newest students encouraged us to turn this event into something exciting!" She presented the three 'students' at the back of the bleachers. In turn, one flipped a part of her hair carelessly while another waved innocently. They still don't seem to have the same intimidation other villains we've faced before did have…

"But, as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner. Who is it going to be?" Principal Luna borrowed the microphone, causing dismay and anger among the students.

I wanted my inexperience with the violin to be known, but I wasn't so sure that telling Rainbow Dash or maybe even the rest of them was a good idea. I certainly didn't want to start panic. I was hoping that I'd at least get warmed up to the instrument again at the time of practice…but apparently that didn't happen. Turning to the next musical expert that is more prone to being calm and collected, though sometimes too cold, I spoke with Starlight.

"Hey…" I called her in a low voice so the others couldn't hear me. "So…I didn't get to practice earlier and I'm afraid I might screw up as soon as we start. What should I do?"

"You didn't just get this instrument and haven't tried playing it, have you?" She inquired. "Because if you did, you are seriously an idiot for even wanting to play it here in the first place."

Exactly what I meant by too cold…

With a drained and exhausted expression due to her remarks, I answered with not much enthusiasm. "No, no… I did play it… Before I even got it as a gift." Getting into the subject, I reverted my expression back to worry. "It's just that… You know… I'm still not that experienced. I haven't tried playing a song by myself or anything. I hardly know how to work out a few notes."

"But you know how to play something, right?" She focused on. "Even if it's just a few notes?"

"I guess so, if you put it that way…"

"Then that's all you need." Starlight confirmed, having me feel a little better. "You're not looking forward to rocking out some solo, right? As long as you don't care about attention and play in the background, that's all you really need. After all, if you want my advice, what you can do is sort of strengthen the chorus. In example, play a note you know well that'll add more emphasis to a certain part of a song. You get what I'm trying to say? It's pretty hard trying to explain it in words."

"I think so… So, go with the flow?" I tried to summarize.

"Yeah, sure…" It seemed what I said somewhat worked. "You're so big about following your heart, right? Try taking that into account."

"Yeah, okay…" I thought to myself as I stared at the ground.

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had set up an easy-fold table where they sat and watched the performance as they scribbled notes onto their paper. Huh…just reminded me back when I did the same exact thing with Miss Cadence.

Those two troublesome boys were called up first, mostly because they were so confident that they had the entire competition in the bag. They wore some strange yet familiar attire and began beatboxing. However, it was done rather poorly. Thinking back when Pinkie beatboxed, I enjoyed that much more than this.

"Aw, yeah! Snips and Snails indahouse, yo!" Snail began.

"They call me MC Snips and that ain't no lie" Snips rapped. "My favorite food is like pumpkin pie!"

What?

"I'm DJ Snazzy Snails, I like whales, When I go to the beach, I always bring my pails"

Uh…did these two just come up with this on the spot? Pinkie Pie on the other hand seemed to be enjoying it as her two drumsticks poked out of her hair.

"Everybody knows my favorite color is orange, My rhymes are so fly, they're better than... um..." Snips stuttered at the spot until Snails came to his rescue…which wasn't exactly for the best.

"Than an orange, yo!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"Represent!"

After a couple of unamused and bored looks from the Principal and Vice Principal, it seemed that they had trouble coming up with any more new lyrics to rap. Yeah…you don't exactly come up with things on the spot like that…

"What do we... What do we do now?" Snips asked during their beatboxing.

"Get off the stage, I'd like to leave right now" Snails mixed into the rap.

After a few seconds of more beatboxing, they finally wrapped things up.

"Bam! That just happened!" Snips cried out in astonishment.

"Aw, yeah! We out!" Snails added.

"Snips and Snails outta here!" Snips huddled with Snails back-to-back and both of them dropped their microphones onto the floor, causing an insanely loud feedback.

"Please do not drop the microphones." Principal Celestia directed in the most stern and intimidating tone I have ever heard her speak in. This includes the one back home.

"Yeah! Bam!" Snips smacked hands with Snails as he laughed, picking up the microphones afterwards. "In your face, Rainbooms!" He told us as they stepped off the stage.

Yeah…

"Least we know one group who won't stand in the way of us gettin' to the finals." Applejack shared after the performance.

She was actually telling the truth right there.

"Let's get ready to rock!" Rainbow Dash revealed her inner desire and motivation.

"Wait! Where's Rarity?" Pinkie Pie asked, surprising me as I didn't even know she was gone to begin with.

"Oh! Here! I'm here!" We suddenly heard with metallic jingling. Rarity came up towards us as she panted. Nevertheless, she presented herself in a classy manner as she wore one of the outfits she must had prepared for a show. As the others didn't give her a response she most likely wanted to hear, she continued to speak. "We will be performing in front of an audience. I'm not going to wear something fabulous? Hmph."

Having released her frustration with the costume idea before, Applejack only slapped a hand to her face and groaned in disgust. "Guh..."

"We're on next." Rainbow Dash pointed a thumb back to the stage. "Let's get set up so we can start playing."

As I followed the others onto the stage with the violin case still intact with my hand, I heard Starlight offer a sign of good luck. "Break a leg." She said with a sort of smug grin. Spirit remained beside her along with Sunset Shimmer. Spirit was still quiet as ever.

Once the majority of us were set up, I was just about trying to reach the best position I could with my violin. I remembered that it had to go somewhere around your chin or something, and I was trying to readjust it for the new body.

"You know how to play that thing, right?" Rainbow Dash finally had the nerve to worry about. Just seconds right before we were about to play.

"Sure…" I narrowed my eyes in response.

Nevertheless, she ignored them and continued on. "Great. Just follow along with us, kay? Don't do anything to put anyone out of sync!"

"If I even could…" I muttered to myself as I brought the bow up to the strings.

"Remember, we have to be good enough to make it through but not so good we let the sirens see the magic within us." Twilight reminded all of us in a low voice. "They could realize we plan to use it against them."

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash confirmed loudly. "Be cool enough to win, but not so cool that we end up showing off the whole ears and tails and rainbows thing. Sooo... about twenty percent less cool." She turned to Pinkie. "Let's hit it off!"

"One! Two!" Pinkie smacked her drumsticks until they all began singing in unison.

"We've just got the day to get ready

And there's only so much time to lose

Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party

So let's think of something fun to do"

Alright. Okay. I considered myself pretty lucky since all I had to do was really follow in with a few notes. However, being how I was at the time, I still considered it a pretty big challenge, especially since I didn't practice at all beforehand. Either way, I decided to start at Rarity's mark, creating a sort of blending yet shaky note and modifying the pitch/level everytime they did. I kept it really subtle.

"We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen

We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right

All our friends are here

And it's time to ignite the lights!"

Since I was in the back behind Rarity, I immediately noticed something strange happen as it happened. A pair of magnets dropped down from above and seemed to aim at Rarity's sleeves. When they were close enough, they quickly caught onto the metallic additions she had with the sleeves and ceased her from playing.

"Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail, shake your tail"

I didn't know if the others had even noticed because they kept playing like everything was fine. Meanwhile, Rarity was being dragged around like a puppet.

"Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail, shake your tail"

Rarity was forced to bump into Applejack and accidentally flipped over her hat. At first, I thought Applejack would notice and try to do something about the trouble Rarity was in. Instead, she only sent a glare back at Rarity as if she was doing it on purpose.

"So what you didn't get it right the first time"

"Laugh it off, no one said it is a crime"

As Pinkie sung that and surprised everyone with a confetti cannon from her drums, I looked around for someone or something to help. I noticed Spirit at the side of the stage. It seemed she noticed the ruckus too, but she didn't know what to do. Nevertheless, she caught me looking towards her, allowing me to gesture her directions with my eyes.

"Do your thing, you know you're an original" Rarity tried to sing, but as she was forcefully being pulled away from the mic, she could hardly be heard at some parts.

I looked up at the ceiling with my eyes, motioning my head towards the stage for Spirit to come and help. Spirit looked up at the stage and seemed to recognize the problem. She looked back down at me, held a thumbs up, and nodded her head in confidence. She left and from there on, I trusted she would fix the problem and get the job done.

"Your ideas are so funny that they're criminal" Applejack continued with a frown, kicking away Rarity when she bumped onto her again.

"Ohhh-ahh!" Twilight sang along until confetti was caught in her throat.

"We've just got the day to get ready" Twilight coughed until Fluttershy quickly stepped to her side to slap her back with her tambourine. It seemed to work as Twilight spat out the piece of confetti lodged inside her, but she lagged for a while on the song until she got back on track.

"And there's only so much time to lose

Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party

So let's think of something fun to do"

I tried focusing back on playing, hoping Rarity would be free soon as I couldn't keep track on Spirit's progress. Nevertheless, another problem arose. I heard Fluttershy stop playing her instrument and turned my head to see her frozen. A spotlight had suddenly lit her up brightly for everyone to see. Knowing about her stage fright problems already, nothing good was bound to come from it.

"We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen

We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right"

She continuously roamed around the stage, completely forgetting about the song. All she cared about was getting away from that spotlight.

"All our friends are here

And it's time to ignite the lights!"

I heard a noise strike the floor. Whatever was controlling Rarity finally stopped, as she was no longer being forced to keep her hands away from her instrument. Rarity tried to forget what had happened, but she knew she had to finish the song first. She resumed playing in confusion. I turned to see Fluttershy unknowingly come my way as she tried to run from the spotlight. She bumped onto me, taking a while before she realized who she was next to.

After that, the spotlight stopped focusing on Fluttershy and seemed to actually sort of…drop dead at the center of the stage, restoring balance once again.

"Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail, shake your tail

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail, shake your tail

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail, shake your tail

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail, shake your tail

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight!"

It appears they finally finished as they all came to a stop. The majority of them looked towards Principal Celestia and Vice Principal to see their reaction on our…strange performance.

Surprisingly, out of everyone else from the audience, they were the only ones who looked as us with a pleased look on their faces as they clapped enthusiastically. From there, they wrote notes as everyone began to walk off-stage. I followed them still having not much of a clue on what happened backstage.

"Oh no!" I heard Rarity cry out once out of sight. I saw her delicately and softly trying to remove the magnets from her sleeves. "Please tell me these will come off cleanly! I can't afford a tear on this!"

"Rarity, were you tryin' to make us lose out there?!" Applejack confronted Rarity after resting her bass down on the ground.

"Wh- Oh! This was not my fault! This was an act of sabotage!" Rarity defended herself.

"She's right." We heard Starlight's voice behind us. We turned to see Spirit just finish landing after she jumped from the middle of the ladder leading to the stairwell above the stage. Starlight finished climbing down to face the rest of us with hands on her hips. "Boy…that is really messed up." She commented as she stared back up at the stairwell. "A group of kids up there were messing with you guys. Had to smack a couple around to get them to leave. Of all the times I've been on stage, I've never seen something like that…"

"It must be how bad the Sirens' spell is." Sunset Shimmer mentioned. "It's got everybody so swept up in the competition, they'll do whatever it takes to win!"

"Well, we wouldn't have had so many problems if Rarity here didn't decide to play dress-up!" Applejack continued to blame. "We don't need to dress to win, Rarity! We need to sound good! Is there some reason that concept seems to escape you?"

"And what was with the confetti, Pinkie Pie?!" Rainbow Dash started elsewhere after having just picked out the last pieces of confetti lodged into her guitar. "How am I supposed to shred if there's paper stuck in my frets?!"

"It was pretty distracting..." Fluttershy timidly added in to the complaint.

"Ugh! Says the girl who was running from a light the whole time!" Pinkie Pie reacted defensively. "A light!"

"Hey!" Sunset Shimmer barged into the fighting to hopefully resolve it. "Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna still liked the performance you gave. It wasn't all that bad! Compared to Snips and Snails, it was still a major win! After all, all that matters right now is advancing to the next round." She turned to Twilight. "But it'd be great if we can have the counter-spell ready as soon as possible. I don't know what else might happen later into this competition." She turned towards the stage and noticed the next group coming to play. "You all find a place to practice where the sirens can't hear you. I'll keep an eye on things around here."

"I'll stay here with her." Starlight decided, leaving us to go along without her.

As I began following the girls outside the back entrance of the gym, I looked at Spirit and held a fist up horizontally towards her. "Great job out there, Spirit." I commended.

She noticed my gesture and actually managed to smile a bit, which was a good thing to see. "Thanks." She pounded my fist modestly.

"Well, where should we go practice now?" Applejack asked.

"We don't know where the Sirens might pop up or be, so we probably shouldn't use a classroom…" Twilight suggested until someone else spoke out of the blue.

"Losers…" We heard a muttered breath, but for some reason, the low volume struck high enough for us to hear.

We all stopped, and Twilight turned to question the individual who seemed to mutter that. It looked like we've seen him before. It was that guy always carrying his guitar around.

"Excuse me?" Twilight confronted. She didn't look like she was fighting back with attitude. It seemed more like she didn't catch what he said.

"Uh, you guys hear something?" He asked his other bandmates.

"Uhh-uhh."

"Aw, nope."

They played along with his aggravating behavior.

"What is—"

Before Twilight could even speak properly, he interrupted her rudely.

"There it is again. So annoying."

Yeah, I knew apparently every student was under the spell, but that didn't stop me from wanting to almost desperately knock his teeth out. I clenched my fists and almost was about to make a move until Spirit suddenly grabbed a hold of my hand. I turned to her and noticed her shaking her head. "It's not worth it.

"She's right." Applejack agreed, gently pushing the bothered Twilight forward. "We've got things to do." She led us to advance further down the hallway.

"Hah!" He laughed behind us. "Like there's any worth choking on stupid confetti!" He taunted.

Twilight was especially hurt since this was directed straight at her. I was shocked to see Twilight actually begin tearing up. She seemed to try wiping away the tears before anyone else could see what she had just done, but I know she was still hurting deeply inside. Just then, I remembered how hard it was for her to take personal attacks like that. Heck, she was even tougher when it came to physical attacks…but as for emotional ones… I've seen her experience with such jabs before. The first thing that came to my mind was when Starlight freaked out that one time at the Crystal Spa and intimidated and insulted her before I stepped in to get punched back. She didn't take that lightly at all.

Even though Spirit told me it wasn't worth it, I couldn't help but want to stop and head back. But Spirit actually beat me to it. She stopped to stand firmly in the middle of the hallway as the rest of the girls continued on. She was staring at the ground with a provoked frown and clenched fists angling upwards with risen shoulders. My attention was turned towards Spirit instead.

"Spirit?" I called in concern.

"Keep walking." She instructed me.

"But…"

She shut her eyes tightly for what she was about to say next. "Twilight needs you by her side, Alex. Just please go. I'll be right there…"

She seemed really steamed… Even I felt like I didn't want to linger around her any longer. I decided to move along as she asked, trusting she'd be back with us. I sent one last glance towards her before catching up with the others.

---

Spirit

---

I didn't know what came over me. As I just stood there, I almost couldn't even move. I even felt like…bursting into tears. Why? Behind me, I could hear that boy begin to mess with his guitar and play a few notes. But I wasn't done with him yet.

I turned around and walked towards them with an irritated scowl. It seemed they weren't expecting me as they were too busy minding their own business. Once I stood in front of them, waiting to get their attention, that boy with the guitar stopped and looked up to see me.

"What do you want, freak-eyes?"

That tore it.

For no particular reason, I snatched the drumsticks out of the drummer's hands and stuck it between the boy's frets and strings. When he turned his attention to his guitar, I forcefully pushed him against the lockers behind him, burning the sound of the impact in my mind.

"You should crawl in a hole and die."

After, I turned around and left without looking back. I guessed they probably shrugged it off and continued on, but I couldn't. I felt myself wanting to break down in the middle of the walk. Where Alex and the others left to was still several feet away, and I didn't think I could make it. I made a sharp turn towards another hallway felt the tears escaping around my eyes. I wanted to look for a place of solitude, but I was only able to find what appeared to be another way into the gym.

"The next band to take the stage will be Trixie and the Illusions." I heard the voice of one that was judging the performances from an intercom.

The space near the double doors to the gym was darkened. It was as good as it was going to get because I had no time in finding another place and past those doors were a bunch of other crowds I didn't want to be near.

I sat down in the corner and buried my face into my legs. From there, I just lost it. I tried not to be noisy, but every now and then, I let out a whimper that I was a bit embarrassed and ashamed to hear.

Unexpectedly, there was a malicious chuckle. "Aw… Tears already?"

I looked up with a few tears still making their way out of my eyes. At the next moment, I was not only miserable, but extremely frightened. I saw those three girls again. Did they know?! Do they remember?! Are they here to…?!

"What's with the long face?" Adagio mocked. "Your band's only getting started. There's no need to cry now." I couldn't speak. My heart raced and I could only bury my head back onto my legs in silence. I felt them continuing to stand there and stare at me. I didn't hear anything else after what felt like hours. At some point, she spoke again. "…have I seen you before…?"

I gasped, widening my eyes which were hidden from sight.

"What are you talking about, Adagio?" Aria questioned in her usual annoyed tone. "She's just some girl. I've never seen her here before the whole time we've been here."

"That's just it." Adagio grew closer. "There's something about that that's odd." She now kneeled down in front of me, and I tightened my grip on myself as I begged her inside to go away. I felt a nasty scowl attack me from outside.

"What's wrong, Adagio?" Sonata took humorously. "Are you like, jealous of her or something?"

"Shut it!" Adagio shouted back at Sonata, scaring me. "You're hiding something…" I heard Adagio say directly towards me. "Could it be…that…?"

I heard the sound of the gym door opening, interrupting her.

"What's going on here?" I heard a familiar friendly voice.

"Oh, well if it isn't the one who showed us around the school!" Adagio pointed out.

I slowly lifted up my head and noticed Adagio was standing back up and facing the person who just arrived to the scene. Sunset Shimmer!

Sunset Shimmer crossed her arms and looked at them with a deep but soft glare. "I know what you three are up to."

"Why…whatever are you talking about?" Adagio, in no way, tried to answer innocently.

"You're never gonna get away with this." Sunset Shimmer threw straight to the point.

Adagio laughed. "Why? Because you didn't?" She surprised Sunset Shimmer there. "Oh, we know all about you, Sunset Shimmer. You've got quite the reputation at Canterlot High." She explained as they began to circle around Sunset.

"I've changed! I'm in a much better place now!" Sunset argued.

"Waiting in the wings while your friends have all the fun?" Aria joined in trying to corrupt Sunset Shimmer's self-esteem.

"Oh, yes, you girls are so tight. And yet... they didn't ask you to be in the band." Adagio brought up.

"Probably afraid no one would want to see them play if she was in the group." Aria added tastelessly.

"Too bad! So sad!" Sonata ridiculed lastly.

"If it's any consolation, no one is going to remember you at all by the time we're done." Adagio confidently addressed as she began to leave with the other girls. She aggressively bumped into Sunset Shimmer with her hips as Sonata repeated the action after.

I could have easily let them leave, but I couldn't sit there and do nothing while Sunset Shimmer took the blazing heat off of me. After all…they were here because of me…

"You're wrong!" I stood there with teeth clenched and tears brimming from the corner of my eyes. I was really scared. So scared. But I couldn't stand back like a coward. I had to face my problems straight up if I wanted to be brave. Adagio stopped and turned back, leading for her followers to do the same. "You're not going to hurt anyone! Just…leave her alone!"

Adagio's mouth opened lightly, as if she just realized something about me or with what I just said. Soon, she immediately began walking towards me, and I stood there bracing myself as much as I could. She grabbed the bottom of my face with her fingers and made me face directly at her. I couldn't last keeping my eyes shut, so I had to look right into hers. "You…" She said. "It was you…wasn't it…?" I couldn't help but whimper and gasp. "You're the reason we're stuck here…!"

I could see the flame that suddenly exploded in her eyes. I was afraid of what was going to happen next. I had no idea. I could only wish that I was back with Alex because I was here all alone…

"Shouldn't you girls be getting ready for your little show…?" Another voice came from the gym doors.

It was now Starlight as she stood with an attitude that clearly revealed her disapproval of the current situation.

Adagio thankfully removed herself from in front of me and turned in the direction of Starlight. "Well, if it isn't the little demon's sidekick."

Starlight was completely unfazed. "Pffft." She took light-heartedly. "I've heard better insults from a ten year old."

"Why? Because you've frightened them with your face?" Adagio tried smugly attacking again.

Starlight didn't succumb to her poison. "I'm not the one with the clown wig on my head, honey." She wittily responded.

Sonata, being as she always was, snickered and giggled at Starlight's comment.

"Shut it!" Adagio commanded Sonata and then angrily faced Starlight once again. "We'll see who's laughing when everybody is screaming our names out there."

Starlight didn't bother answering. She only allowed them to pass as she gave them an unamused and unintimidated expression. Adagio was sure to glance back at me one more time before they left. Once they were finally gone, she looked back at us. "You guys okay?"

Sunset Shimmer sighed and looked away in dejection. "Not really."

After seeing what Starlight did…Starlight…I couldn't help but feel…guilty… I hugged both of my hands together and bowed my head down in shame. All this time, my eyes had been burning with hatred from looking at her. But here…she saved not only Sunset Shimmer…but…me…

---

Alex

---

I wondered what had happened to Spirit because she never came back like she said she would. I worried that something might have happened…but then again…Sunset Shimmer and Starlight were nearby. Maybe…she's with them? But why would she be anyway?

There wasn't much to practice with since Twilight still hadn't finished that counter-spell. The others already seemed to be in top-notch standing, but at least I was given the time and space to somewhat practice my instrument, even if it was working on individual notes. We didn't go back to the stage until we were next in line to perform.

When we were, I realized that Spirit did end up being there with Sunset Shimmer and Starlight for some strange reason… However, she was sitting with her legs huddled to her chest and her arms wrapped around them in uneasy silence. She looked to be deep in thought, and I wasn't so sure it was okay to go talk to her in the condition she was in. Sunset Shimmer wasn't looking so great either. She wasn't sitting like Spirit, but she crossed her arms and looked away, trapped in thought as well. It was only Starlight that was looking out into the stage as she observed the bands that were constantly at it with their performances.

So many things seemed to be happening during that moment, and I wasn't sure what to do. I wondered if I should just keep silently practicing, just to make sure I didn't mess anything up that would stop us from advancing. I supposed I could talk to these girls later after we were set with a plan. Speaking about plans… I turned to Twilight to notice her frantically writing on Fluttershy's notebook. I don't think there was any doubt that she was having trouble with the counter-spell, but what could I do? I didn't know anything about making spells. Sigh. So many things I wanted to help handle, but all I could do was just make sure I didn't stop us from getting the chance to stop the Sirens in the first place.

Ironically, after another one of our awkward performances, we kicked Octavia out of the competition. She was there, playing her cello, and I felt pretty guilty because I mean…she's pretty much the reason why I'm here on the stage in the first place…

Either way, tensions still seemed high among the group as they fought over little things. Twilight tried to calm them down with talk about her counter-spell, which still wasn't finished, and ultimately Starlight had to smack a few heads around to get them to straighten up. She tried explaining how fighting would just separate everyone, but they didn't really seem to take her too seriously, considering they didn't even know her.

Somehow, by the way things were going, we actually made it to the semi-finals. The Dazzlings just kicked that one kid from the hallway right out of the competition. Served him right. Even though the Dazzlings were our enemies, I even felt like thanking them a little…

"This is it!" Sunset Shimmer announced after studying our placement on the competition. "Last round and you're in the finals!" She turned to Twilight. "Unless you think the counter-spell is ready to be played now."

Twilight didn't look so confident, which pretty much gave her answer.

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

The rest of them agreed in confidence.

"You won't let me down..." Twilight looked to say under her breath.

"Um, I was just wondering." Fluttershy timidly began speaking to Rainbow Dash. "We haven't played any of my songs yet, and..."

"It's the semifinals." Rainbow Dash tried to reason with Fluttershy, punching her arm in a friendly manner. "We gotta do 'Awesome As I Wanna Be'."

"Don't know why I even asked..." Fluttershy reacted with disappointment.

Trixie's band had just made their way onto the stage and began their performance.

"Ya better believe

I got tricks up my sleeve

And I captivate

'Cause I'm powerful and grea-ea-eat"

Welp, all we could do at the time was either plan a little more or watch and see.

"Hey, Alex…" Applejack placed a hand on my shoulder, turning me around to meet with her. "I'm just saying…but I think you might have a tough time working with Rainbow Dash's song."

"Rainbow Dash's song?" I repeated in question. "'Awesome As I Wanna Be' ?"

"That's the one." Applejack replied. "The whole song's practically her and her guitar. You might not even have to play. I guarantee you the spotlight is going to be on her."

"How do you know that?"

"We've rehearsed it a couple times before… She practically drains us all out with her instrument…"

"And you're okay with that?"

Applejack only shrugged. "What's more important right now is getting to the finals so Twilight can finish her counter-spell. If we have to put up with Rainbow Dash for a little while to get there…well…so be it."

"Ah…" I understood. "Well…I honor your…sacrifice?"

Applejack returned a sort of smirk and patted me before she exited the conversation.

I looked around and noticed Spirit in the same manner ever since we had gotten back here on stage. I decided it was a good time as any to speak with her. I walked her way and took a seat next to her.

"What's wrong? You haven't looked so good since what happened back at the hallway." I told her.

"I just want to leave already…" She sadly responded.

I couldn't figure out what was getting to her so badly, so all I could come up with was a few words of encouragement. "Hey…stay strong, alright? We'll be done with this soon enough."

"Am I bad person?" She unexpectedly asked.

"Huh?" I didn't know why she just brought that up.

"I don't think they deserved it… They just were…"

I was confused. I still didn't know what she was talking about in the first place, but I didn't have time to get into it as Trixie's song seemed to just about finish.

"...I got tricks up my sleeve

See me dominate

'Cause I'm powerful and grea-ea-eat!" She threw out her pick towards the judges.

Principal Celestia laughed in both joy and entertainment. "Fantastic!" She applauded as Luna joined her.

Trixie made her way over to us to most likely gloat. "Hmph. You're never gonna top that performance, 'Rain-goons'." She proudly acknowledged herself. "You shouldn't be allowed to when you have such a big advantage over the rest of us."

"My superior guitar playing and off-the-charts awesome singing voice?" Rainbow Dash fired back after having stared at Trixie with a smug grin.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." Trixie flipped her hand. "I mean her!" She pointed at Twilight, whom blushed back in embarrassment. "If you were really all that, Rainbow Dash, you wouldn't have needed to bring in some magical ringer to have half a chance. Everyone's talking about it." It seemed that Trixie picked only on her since Twilight was to substitute Rainbow Dash in singing for the band. Me? Well, I guess I just wasn't good enough to be picked on. Not that I cared.

"Ha! Puh-leeze! I could win this thing as a solo act and everybody knows it!" Rainbow Dash returned instantly, causing silent steaming kettles in the back.

Trixie scoffed. "Sure you could." Afterwards, she performed her signature act and disappeared from sight in a cloud of dust.

"She's gone!" Pinkie Pie cried out in horror after all the coughing, but once the dust settled, she seemed to notice someone hiding in the back. "Oh, wait. There she is." Trixie noticed and quickly dashed away.

"Next up, the Rainbooms." Principal Celestia announced, causing us to walk onto the stage.

"Knock 'em dead, Rainbooms!" Spike cheered from behind.

On the way, I noticed Twilight looking sullen and distressed. I realized how I've hardly even gotten to talk with her either since we got here. It wasn't like last time when were together practically the whole time. Everyone here was having their share of problems and it felt like too much to stay on track with for me. I wanted to sort of let her know I was there for her too, so I stepped to her side and held a hand on her shoulder.

"Take it easy, okay?" I told her. It was all I could come up with at the moment. "Don't push yourself so hard."

She smiled softly and nodded, but it didn't really change her mood in the long run.

Everyone got their own spotlight as the song started. Everyone…except me. As I've thought of before, I suppose my violin wasn't strong enough. But whatever. It puts less pressure on me and I could care less about being the center of attention.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" The girls chanted together until Rainbow Dash hopped into the center.

"Awesome as I wanna be!" Rainbow Dash sang in the lead.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" I noticed Fluttershy with a glare aimed straight at Rainbow Dash. I suppose this was about before with her songs never being played.

"Awesome as I wanna be!" Rainbow Dash moved out of sight, causing Fluttershy to roll her eyes and continue playing with a bad temper.

"First you see me riding on a sonic boom" She slid over to Twilight, startling her as she stood straight back up.

"Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune" She danced back as she rocked out on her guitar towards the center.

"There is nothin' you can do to beat me

I'm so good that you can't defeat me" She stopped between Applejack and Rarity, annoying them with her obvious ego.

"Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution

Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be

(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution

Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be" Rainbow continued singing as she showed off to not only us but the entire crowd ahead.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" The girls continuously chanted along as Rainbow Dash rocked out her loud guitar solo. I could see how annoying and tiresome it was getting for them since that was all they seemed to have had to say in the song.

"Step aside now, you're just gettin' in my way!" Rainbow Dash now made her way over to me, actually bringing some light to shed on me.

"I got sick chops you could never hope to play!" I narrowed my eyes, unable to tell if Rainbow Dash was really expressing how she felt or if it was all a part of the song.

"When it comes to makin' music, I'm the ruler

You wish you could be twenty percent cooler" She finally hopped off.

"Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution

Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be

(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution

Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be" She repeated at the center, soon receiving all the spotlights from everyone else. She left every one of her band members in the dark, just like me.

She ran around for another immensely huge and longer guitar solo. At the moment, I noticed something strange happening to her. There was a glow coming from a certain part of her head. It must have been the magic from when they played! I wasn't sure what to do, but before that magic could burst out in her playing, I heard a shout from the side of the stage.

"Sunset! Wait!" It sounded like Starlight.

Sunset Shimmer ran into the stage and tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground, interrupting the flow of everyone else as they bumped into each other and eventually cut their entire song off. As soon as the lights came back on, Fluttershy freaked out and ran behind the curtains.

The excitement that once used to be in Rainbow Dash's eyes were now filled with a fiery glare. Sunset Shimmer noticed this, but she was too concerned about looking towards the judges. They didn't look too happy and Celestia angrily scribbled a most likely dissatisfying note.

"Now that's the bad girl we love to hate!" I heard and saw the same kid back from the hallway. The way he announced it sounded like it gave him so much satisfaction.

Soon after, I even heard Octavia's voice add into the chaos that erupted from the crowd. "I knew she was still trouble!"

"The real Sunset Shimmer is back!" Another felt the need to shout out.

Biting her lip, Sunset Shimmer froze in the middle of the stage. "No. It isn't like that."

I decided to place a hand on her and lightly pushed her back behind the curtains.

"What was that?!" Rainbow Dash immediately fired once Sunset Shimmer regrouped with them.

"You were showing them your magic!" Sunset Shimmer tried to reason for her actions. "I-I didn't know what else to do!"

"Ugh. Close the curtains? Unplug her amp? Give us a chance to deal with the situation?" Rarity seemed to be just as upset as Rainbow Dash was.

"Hey, hey!" I reached a hand out in defense of Sunset Shimmer. "It was in the heat of the moment! There was no way she could have thought of anything else to do. Besides, nothing would have stopped this from happening!" I found it to be true, at least. If we closed the curtains, everyone would question and freak out about why we stopped playing. Unplug the amp? Well…it'd still look bad. After all, Rainbow Dash was the lead in the song. How would everyone react if the lead in the song suddenly stopped? It's not exactly easy to come up with something on the spot like that. Otherwise…it might have even turned out as embarrassing as Snips and Snails.

"I'm sorry… I just wanted to help." Sunset Shimmer continued to apologize in shame.

Despite what I said, Rainbow Dash continued to bash on her. "Yeah, well, you didn't."

Applejack seemed to have some kind of sense when she came onto the argument. "None of this would've happened if you weren't tryin' to show off – as usual."

I didn't want to blame anyone…but yeah…that was kind of true.

Before Rainbow could respond, Trixie came along to boast once again.

"Good show, 'Rain-brooms'." She said and then suddenly grabbed ahold of Sunset Shimmer. "I especially liked 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 Shimmer swiftly screamed back at her with reddened cheeks. She had so desperately tried to make it clear, that she even scared Trixie in the moment. However, she looked back at everyone else, and they all seemed to give back a silent response.

Starlight unfortunately didn't really contribute anything to side with Sunset Shimmer. Instead, she walked up with crossed arms and held a sort of bored expression on her face. "Just go back where you came from, Twixie."

I couldn't understand whether Starlight intentionally mispronounced her name, or got it wrong from not knowing her long enough.

"It's Trrrrrrrrrrrrixie!" Trixie rolled her r in high emphasis to correct Starlight.

"Yeah, whatever." Starlight cared less as she glanced up towards the ceiling.

Despite that, Trixie looked back at the other side of the stage to see the judges conversing with one another.

"Ooh! Looks like they've already decided who'll be moving on to the finals!" Trixie brought out her mirror and looked over her hair. "I'm guessing it wasn't too difficult a decision." She mentioned as she flipped a bang conceitedly.

However, the gym doors behind them unexpectedly opened, and out came those three girls we were after. They gathered around the judges and began vocalizing for some reason. For another strange reason, I suddenly felt this sort of…de-ja-vu emotion all of a sudden. It was really odd. I don't believe I've heard them sing before…? Or have I…?

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

"Yup, 'cause that's the real tragedy here, Rarity – that you won't get to play dress-up!" Applejack shot.

"You know perfectly well that is not what I meant!" Rarity stood face-to-face with Applejack in anger.

"You guys wanna keep it down?" Rainbow Dash seemed to diffuse the situation. "They're about to announce who's moving on."

"Who are you kidding?" Fluttershy cried out pessimistically. "You know it isn't gonna be us."

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna walked out onto the stage. "The band that will be joining the Dazzlings in tonight's finals..." Trixie stroked her hair confidently as she waited for her band to be called out. "The Rainbooms!" She began walking out until she suddenly realized what she just heard.

"What?!" Trixie exclaimed out loud in surprise.

"Huh?" The others questioned as well.

Even though it was a surprise that we were picked instead, Starlight didn't seem to have the energy to change the expression on her face from before.

"Did they just say, 'the Rainbooms'?!" Pinkie asked for clarification.

"This isn't over!" Trixie stormed off the stage, proving to be in a fit of rage herself.

Nonetheless, the others walked out on stage where the principal and vice principal were.

"Congratulations, girls. You deserve it." Celestia said strangely.

Pinkie seemed confusingly upset, but Rainbow Dash clearly didn't seem to mind at all.

"Seriously?! We didn't even finish our—!" Rainbow Dash bumped her elbow against Pinkie Pie, stopping her from saying anything more.

"See you at tonight's big show, Rainbooms." Apparently the leader led the rest towards us, speaking band-to-band. "We are really looking forward to it." She mentioned before seeming to look past us. Her eyes darted almost over my shoulder. Once they turned to leave, I turned my head to notice Spirit behind me with a troubled look on her face.

"Yeah, well... not as much as we are!" Rainbow Dash argued as if she had just been insulted.

Out of the blue, every person from the crowd threw jeers at us.

"Zis never should haf been you, Rainbooms!" Photo Finish shouted from the bottom of the stage.

Everyone continued booing us down as the rest of the band members shamefully stared down at the floor. Every now and then, on the journey towards the gym doors, they would glance around them, but the jeers from everyone else pummeled their heads back down. I wasn't so much as affected to being…ashamed. If anything I was feeling a little annoyed out of their stupid reaction. Of course, the only person that absolutely didn't care was Starlight. She merely walked with an uninterested expression on her face with crossed arms.

As soon as we were outside, the boos seemed to fade out.

"Yeesh…" Rainbow Dash looked back at the gym doors with a lightly terrified expression. "That was…not awesome."

"What'd you expect?" Applejack asked. "You can't stand there and tell me that we did a better job than Trixie did. She finished her song. We didn't."

"Who cares?" Rainbow Dash shrugged off. "We won. That's what matters. We can rock out in the finals and use that counter-spell to beat the Sirens!" The rest of the others seemed to stay silent, as if Rainbow Dash hadn't caught on to something they had. "Come on." She led the way through halls. "We don't need to be in that boring gym anymore. We've got a new set!"

---

Our next set location was outside for a change. I had to admit, the area looked a lot better than the gym back inside. It was actually more of an auditorium. The shape of the area was sort of a half elliptical. The stage, which was under what looked to be a large saddle, stood in the center while the rest of the shape was filled in with seats.

Everyone else was doing their thing in setting up for the finals. Sunset Shimmer and Starlight were standing near what I guessed were the music controls and technical equipment for the lights and all that. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack were tuning or setting up their instruments. Twilight was hopefully wrapping up the counter-spell. Spirit sat on top of the big block where the drums were supposed to go. She didn't look as bad as she did before, but she still remained heavily quiet. Finally, Fluttershy didn't need to set or tune anything, so she was sitting around the corner of the stage messing with her tambourine.

I hadn't spoken to Fluttershy practically at all the whole time I've been here. I didn't need to have a long conversation with her or anything. I guess I just needed to know that…I don't know…we were good? I decided to spend that free time just to speak with her a little.

"Hey." I greeted as I sat next to her.

"…hi…" She shyly answered.

Did her timid self come back again or something? I guess this was kind of the thing that was bothering me. It almost seemed like she was meeting me all over again.

"How's it been since we've been gone?" I asked.

"Oh…you know…just stuff…" She returned.

"Hey, um…" I kind of just wanted to get to the point. "…are you okay…? With me, I mean. It seems like you were cool with me the last time I was here after we had talked for a while but now you're back to being…well…shy."

"I'm sorry… It's my fault…" She immediately softly apologized.

"Huh?" I wondered.

"It's just…I didn't know how to react after you did that… And ever since then…I feel embarrassed around you."

"Sorry…" I apologized because I didn't exactly catch on to what I did. "…what did I do again?"

She widened her eyes in surprise, almost in disbelief. "You don't even remember?" She questioned pretty sadly. She turned her head away and proceeded to answer. "You…kissed me…" She said really lowly, but I could still understand every last word.

"O-oohh! That!" I began to feel a little hot myself because now that I thought about it, I was wondering if it was really too fast for her. I mean, I did it in the heat of the moment because I technically already knew her. But as for her… "Yeah…S-sorry…" I rubbed my head, feeling through the strands of my hair.

"C…can…I ask you…something?" Her cheeks began blushing red.

"Y-yeah?" I was a little nervous about what was to come.

"Do…do you…like me…?" She lightly faced me, but her hair covered certain parts of her face, such as her left eye. I was only seeing her right as she awaited my answer.

Uggghh. This was so hard… I mean… Of course I technically liked her. Loved her even. Because she's…well…Fluttershy! But she's not the one I'd get to be with every day. I tried thinking of the best way to explain it, but I decided to give it to her straight…sort of…

"Uh…well you see… It's complicated…" I managed to say.

"…com…plicated…?" She continued resting her eyes delicately on me.

"…you know how we're from another world? Well…yeah…um… There's…there's another…Fluttershy there… She's just like you in every way. I mean, if she were to have come with us, you probably couldn't tell the difference in appearance. So…in order to answer your question… Yeah. I do like you. A lot. But…it comes from the other Fluttershy…you know…?"

"Oh…" Fluttershy seemed a little disappointed, but at the same time, not too disappointed because I technically did like her. "If… If there's another me…then could that mean there's another you…? Here…?"

There would be most likely…if it wasn't for…one thing. "Believe it or not… I was kind of made differently. That in itself is another complicated thing to explain. But because I was made differently, I wouldn't know. This world doesn't have magic like in Equestria…so…"

"Oh…" Fluttershy repeated again, but a little more unhappily.

"But…" I didn't want to end it there. "…you never know. If you do find him." I proceeded to release a relaxed closed-eye smile. "I'm sure you'd love being around him."

Fluttershy's mouth was open a little from surprise, but she soon formed a soft satisfied smile in response to my comment. She nodded lightly.

"Check, one, two. Testing, testing..." We heard Rainbow Dash say into the microphone as we continued smiling at each other. "Testing...!" Her voice suddenly burst through the speakers, leaving an ear-piercing pitch from the feedback.

"S-sorry." Sunset Shimmer apologized and analyzed the technical equipment. "I don't know how to work this thing. Do you?" She asked Starlight.

"Kind of…" Starlight looked at the different levels or whatever they were called. "I think I'm going to find someone who's good with this kind of stuff."

Starlight was just about to walk on ahead until Spike unexpectedly spoke up. "Wait! I'll come with!"

"Spike?" Twilight was surprised herself when Spike offered to go with Starlight all of a sudden. "Why do you want to go with Starlight all of a sudden?"

"Oh…you know…" He chuckled a little nervously. "Just to make sure she doesn't do anything…suspicious."

"Suspicious?" Starlight questioned, crossing her arms in confusion.

"She's alright, Spike." I told him. "She's not like how she used to be before."

"Remember Discord?" Spike asked. "We thought he was all goody two-shoes until he bailed with Tirek!"

Before I could try coming up with something else to actually defend Starlight with, Starlight actually laughed heartily at the manner. "It's fine." She meant with a smile on her face. "If your little puppy really wants to make sure I'm not going to do anything stupid, he can come with me." She looked over to him and kneeled down. "I can carry you if you want."

"Uh…no thanks." He declined as he walked past her. "I'll stay on the ground."

Starlight shrugged. "Whatever you say."

After they walked off, everyone else continued to work on their own thing. Sunset Shimmer turned back around to study the technical equipment.

After playing with her tambourine for a while, Fluttershy finally spoke up to everyone.

"I don't get it. This doesn't make any sense. We were awful. Doesn't anybody else think it's strange that we're the ones that made it to the finals?" Fluttershy spoke back about the gym. Yeah. Something was up with that.

"Very strange." Someone else other than the ones who were supposed to be here answered.

Trixie and her two other bandmates were standing at the side of the stage, appearing jealous and seeking vengeance for not making it to the finals instead.

"What are you doing here, Trixie? Pretty sure the losers are supposed to be up there in the cheap seats." Rainbow took the situation lightly by teasing them.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most talented girl at Canterlot High. It is I who deserves to be in the finals." You don't even talk about your other bandmates? How do they even put up with you? "And I will not..." She took a short pause to snap her fingers. "...be denied!"

One of her bandmates pulled a lever nearby. Then unexpectedly, the floor disappeared below us. I heard a bunch of screams as we all fell down to whatever was below us. As soon as I somewhat recovered from the fall, I looked up to notice Trixie sending a mischievous grin back at us.

"See you never!" Trixie waved as she laughed defiantly.

Then, the doors closed, leaving us almost entirely in darkness.

"Wh-what just happened?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in a burst of confusion.

"We were… 'trixed'!" Pinkie Pie answered.

Since there must have been some light seeping through various places, our eyes were able to adjust and be able to fairly see where we were.

"Everyone alright?" I asked. I heard a collection of "Mm-hm" and "Yeah". "So…that just happened…"

"We've gotta get out of here!" Rainbow Dash sounded like she was beginning to panic. "We've got to be up there to play in a few hours!"

"Calm down!" I requested, actually feeling calm myself because I believed there was someone we could count on. "Remember about Starlight and Spike? They went to go look for someone to help us with the technical equipment. It shouldn't be long before they come back and find that we're missing."

"But what if she doesn't find anyone?" Rarity asked, having to cause more insecurity. Just as I was about to answer that with a reasonable response, she continued. "Or what if she does and comes back but is tricked by Trixie too!? Or what if she doesn't find us here, so she goes and searches elsewhere? What if the Sirens get them? WHAT IF WE NEVER GET OUT!?"

"Hey!" I grabbed ahold of her and lightly shook her. She immediately froze when she realized our faces were inches apart. "We'll find a way out. Starlight and Spike give us a cushion to rely on. That doesn't mean we're going to sit here waiting for them without thinking of something ourselves."

"Sure…whatever you say…" Rarity replied weakly.

Afterwards, I let her go and thought to myself out loud. "Okay…what are we going to do…?"

"I found a door!" Applejack shouted out, but seconds later she responded disappointingly. "Aaand…it's locked."

"Yeah." I sort of expected that. "Trixie and her minions probably made sure there was no easy way out for us before she brought us in here." I paced around in a horizontal line as I placed my fist to my chin in thought. "Let's see… What can we do…what can we do…"

"Hey, Alex…" I suddenly heard beside me, surprising me.

I turned and saw Spirit, looking as if she had something to tell me. However, she had just given me a brilliant idea just by appearing out of nowhere. "That's it!"

"…what?!" She asked, being startled herself by my outburst.

"Spirit, remember?" I recalled something back from Equestria. "You can go inside me and come back out, right?"

"You can do that?!" Pinkie Pie excitedly asked for the rest of everyone else and especially herself.

"Y…yeah? So?" Spirit switched glances between all of them and eventually ended with me.

"So…you could technically teleport out of here and open the door for us!" I pointed out.

"B…but I can't just teleport anywhere I want. It has to be somewhere close to you…" She mentioned.

"I'll just stand right next to the door." I easily suggested. "That'll work right?"

"I…I guess so…" Spirit believed.

"Alright, let's get started!" I felt energized. "Just make your way into me and I'll move right next to the door so you can get out!"

"O…okay…" She glanced at everyone else a little nervously but then she closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. After she exhaled it out, she seemed to focus herself. She kept her eyes closed for some time, but it didn't seem like she was doing anything. I believed eventually Spirit realized this and slowly opened her eyes. "I… I can't…"

"Huh?!" I asked in shock.

"There's no magic here, Alex." Twilight answered for her. "I think that's why she can't."

"But…she's different, isn't she? She doesn't exactly use magic." I tried to say otherwise.

Twilight shrugged a little sadly. "I think it goes for any kind of magic…well…except our friendship…"

I sighed and pinched between my eyes with my fingers.

"Sorry…" I heard Spirit apologize.

"No, no…" I refrained from hearing her sound like she was doubting herself. "It's not your fault. It was only one idea. We'll come up with another one."

"How about we just break the door down!?" Rainbow Dash offered instantly.

"That door is solid wood, Rainbow Dash." Applejack argued. "There's no way you can break through it without something just as strong."

"I am just as strong!" Rainbow Dash claimed. "No, I'm stronger than this door!" She put her shoulder first and charged straight towards door. However, as soon as she made a connection, she instead was pushed back and made a short cry of pain.

"Stop it, Rainbow!" Applejack ordered.

"Y'know, if all you guys came and helped me, we'd get out of here quicker!" Rainbow Dash stated.

"No, that's a dumb idea!" Applejack countered. "We'd get nowhere and would only hurt ourselves! Even if we did get out of here after, we wouldn't be able to play because we'd break our arms from trying to break open that door. You should just come on back here and wait for Starlight and Spike to come back. That idea makes much more sense."

"And what if they don't just like Rarity said?" Rainbow returned. "It's us that need to be up there playing tonight! If we don't, the Sirens are going to win and probably take over the whole world!" She paused to take in a heavy breath. "I'm going to keep trying to break this down whether any of you help me or not! If anyone finally gets a few brain cells in their head, feel free to come over here at any time!" Rainbow then began to continue her tackles without anyone's approval.

"Ugh…!" Applejack sighed in frustration and shook her head.

"Aren't you going to try to stop her?" Sunset Shimmer worriedly asked.

"Trust me…" Fluttershy answered for Applejack. "When she gets like this, you can't get her to stop."

"Alex, if you get any more bright ideas, we'd love to hear them." Applejack told me. "The sooner we get out of here, the better. Maybe Rainbow Dash won't have to break her arm in trying when there's no point."

Rainbow Dash only ignored Applejack's comment and possibly used it for fuel for the fire she was trying to ignite in her body to create the strength to open the door.

I sighed, wondering if all this negativity was starting to get to me too. "I'll try…"

Honestly, with all the time we had, I couldn't think of anything that had a possibility of working. There weren't many items inside the area we were in, and everything was too solid to be broken. Sort of like how Applejack mentioned, we didn't have any tools that could help us either except our own bodies.

---

It didn't help that Starlight and Spike didn't seem to ever come back. And even if they did, they apparently didn't know where we were.

"Ya better believe

I got tricks up my sleeve

And I captivate

'Cause I'm powerful and grea-ea-eat"

I knew time had passed once I started hearing the song come through the floor muffled. Jeez… Were we really stuck in here for hours?

Rainbow Dash had slowed down time from time and even had to take breaks to get her energy back. Nevertheless, I hadn't expected her to keep going after all this time. It wasn't until Applejack finally had enough of all the banging that she spoke up about it.

"Give it up, Rainbow Dash. You've been tryin' at this for hours. It's not gonna open."

Rainbow Dash didn't respond. Maybe she finally realized that Applejack was right as she rubbed her most likely sore arm.

"Maybe it doesn't even matter that we're trapped down here." Twilight unexpectedly mentioned in a disheartened tone. "I don't think the counter-spell would have worked anyway."

"Of course it would have worked, Twilight." Applejack tried to keep her spirits up by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Assumin' a certain band member didn't try to hog the spotlight the whole time we were tryin' to play it!" She faced towards Rainbow Dash.

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

Twilight's mouth shook as it looked as if she was about to cry again.

"She was talking about you, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity stepped forward in front of Twilight, whom began to slowly back off.

"Me?! I'm just trying to make sure my band rocks as hard as it needs to!"

"OUR BAND!" The rest of them shouted as they corrected her.

"But why wasn't it working?" Twilight had sat down against the wall with her hand to her head. "I did everything I could! I should know what to do. How could I not know what to do? How could I have failed like this?" She proceeded to bury her head in her legs just as Spirit had previously.

"It might've been your idea to start a band, but it's not just your band, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack continued the heated argument between her and Rainbow Dash.

"I'm the one who writes all the songs!" Rainbow fired back.

"I write songs!" Fluttershy passionately shot. "You just never let us play any of them!"

"I had the most perfect outfits for us to wear!" Rarity added into the dispute.

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

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

"Hey! Anybody here remember fun?!" Pinkie Pie popped furiously in between. "I'LL GIVE YOU A HINT: It's the exact opposite of being in the Rainbooms!"

Usually, I tried settling clashes like this, but I was blank at the moment. I didn't really know a lot about this band thing. However, in the middle of their fight, I took a glance at Spirit and noticed something wrong with her. She had a hand to her head and slowly slid against the wall before sitting down. She looked as if she was having a massive headache.

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

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

"Me neither!" Fluttershy and Applejack added.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Spirit practically screamed at the top of her lungs to plead, but the others didn't listen. They only continued arguing with each of the voices toppling each other's.

I tried to reach out to Spirit, but all of a sudden I felt weak and sick to my stomach. I felt myself kneeling on the floor, almost unable to get up. Was this happening because Spirit was in pain?! I looked up to see her attempting to block out all the noise with her arms as she held her head with her hands.

Soon, everything sounded fuzzy and unclear, especially when I heard the same vocalizing as last time back in the gym.

"Stop! You have to stop!" Sunset Shimmer pleaded next, but they didn't bother listening. She quickly looked around and found a chair turned over on the floor. Knowing not what else to do, she grabbed a hold of the chair and threw it against the door that kept us in here. The impact was loud enough to get everyone's attention, especially those that were arguing. Sunset Shimmer didn't spare any time to think through her words as she needed to tell them something they desperately needed to hear. "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?" Applejack inquired. "It's the magic of friendship."

Looks like you're anything but friends right now…

Sunset Shimmer, now having their complete attention, took a moment to sigh. "Ever since you started this band, you've been letting little things get to you. I never said anything 'cause I didn't feel like it was my place. Not when I'm so new to this whole '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, the magic of friendship can be turned into something else."

I saw Spirit slowly regaining her sanity as all the loud noise dissipated into the air. I myself felt the former tension inside unwind.

Twilight managed to stand back up and join Sunset Shimmer. "I can't believe all this tension was happening right under my nose and I didn't realize it. I'm supposed to be the one with all the answers. And all I've done since I got here is let you down."

Sunset Shimmer looked reluctant at first, but then she decided to rest a warm hand on Twilight's shoulder. "I don't think anyone is supposed to have all the answers. But you can count on your friends to help you find them." She presented a hand towards the others.

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment and suddenly opened them wide the next. "I think you already have." She presented a grin of assurance. "C'mon!" Twilight raced over to Spirit and me to help us up. "We need to get out of here!" She pointed at the door and then suddenly charged towards it.

Forgetting about what Applejack mentioned before, all of the others, including Applejack herself, ran towards the door and proceeded to help her push her way out. Unfortunately, it seemed they allowed their brightened spirits to forget the fact that the door was solid wood, so they were pushed back from the force. Nevertheless, the door unexpectedly easily opened.

Two friends we were completely glad to see were standing right there in front of us.

"Spike!" Twilight called out.

"Starlight!" I called as well.

"Sorry we took so long." Spike apologized for the wait. "First of all, we had to find someone who wasn't under the sirens' spell to help us with the tech stuff. Second, we didn't even know you all were stuck here in the first place until we heard this loud bickering!"

"It was that first one that took the longest." Starlight mentioned. "If we'd known you were in trouble, we would have come back as soon as possible."

"Yo, yo. We gonna do this or what?!" The person that they had went to go get stepped in and revealed herself.

It was Vinyl Scratch. Of course…

"Why isn't she under their spell…?" Twilight asked.

"Never took off her headphones." Spike amusingly answered.

"I didn't even know everybody was under a 'spell'." She shrugged embarrassingly.

"Doesn't matter!" Applejack responded, reinvigorated with hope. "Time to prove we've still got the magic of friendship inside us!"

"And there's only one way to do it!" Twilight said.

"We're getting the band back together?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

"We're getting our band back together!" Rainbow Dash happily corrected.

"Whee!" Pinkie cheered.

"Ooh, then what's the counter-spell we are going to play?" Rarity questioned.

"I don't think it matters what song we play, as long as we play it together as friends!" Twilight confidently answered.

"I know just the song!" Rainbow Dash returned, catching some looks as she walked over to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy's written a really great one."

Fluttershy immediately formed a face of glee when she finally received the chance to play her song.

"We're about to save the world here. Personally, I think we should do it in style. Rarity?" Applejack finally agreed with the idea of dressing up.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Rarity pulled the portable clothes rack out of nowhere. I guess she must had brought them along and they fell with us inside.

"Alright, alright." Starlight tried to speed up the scene. "Do whatever you need to do, just get your butts out there quick! I don't know how much time we have before we're too late." She began leaving before I stopped her.

"What are you going to do, Starlight?" I asked.

"I'm gonna go ahead with our new friend here and get the equipment we'll need." She responded with a smug smirk.

"I'll get the car!" Vinyl Scratch held up a couple of keys and jogged out, leading Starlight along with her.

"Well…let's hurry and get with the costumes?" I slightly shrugged over to Rarity's direction.

"Oohh…I have something special for you!" Rarity mentioned to me a little oddly.

I wonder if I should be scared of what she means by that…

---

The Dazzlings continued vocalizing for the crowd just as we arrived with our instruments where we were supposed to meet with Starlight and Vinyl. We had all changed into the new costumes Rarity had for us, so we were all wearing something new. Well…sort of for me. Rarity kind of did an upgraded or improved version of my hoodie, but either way, I had to admit I really loved it.

Nevertheless, we pretty far away from the Dazzlings, prompting the first question in Rainbow Dash.

"How are we supposed to play over them from up here?"

We were surprised to hear honking nearby. We looked over to see Starlight and Vinyl move towards us in a huge vehicle. Vinyl stopped the vehicle and pressed a button on her phone. We were all flabbergasted to suddenly see the vehicle heavily modify itself to where it eventually became a powerhouse speaker! Just like Vinyl!

"I had something else in mind when you were bringing your car…!" Sunset Shimmer commented on the scene.

Despite that, the Rainbooms were cheering with full effort at the sight of it.

"Feel the wave of sound

As it crashes down…" I heard the Dazzlings sing, having me bring up the plan to subject.

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked.

"What are you talking about?" Starlight answered my question with a smirk. "Play!"

"We will be adored

Tell us that you want us

We won't be ignored

It's time for our reward" I turned to see the Dazzlings continue. Except this time, their necklaces were glowing brightly red. From this, they suddenly started…evolving! They obtained pony ears and ponytails on their hair just like the girls had when they activated their magic. Only this time…wings that must have belonged to the sirens appeared behind their back!

"Now you need us

Come and heed us

Nothing can stop us now!"

"Hit it, Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash broadcasted.

Pinkie Pie smashed onto the drums that were set up in front of the car, opening way for our tune.

"Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh" They all sang.

"I've got the music in me

Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh" We certainly got their attention as we loudly interrupted their performance. As soon as we had started, I immediately felt myself lose control of my playing in a good way. It was as if my heart made its way into my hands and took over. I even felt I was playing better than usual!

"Don't need to hear a crowd

Cheering out my name" Twilight began after a short solo from Rainbow Dash.

"I didn't come here seeking

Infamy or fame"

"The one and only thing" The rest joined in for a harmonic concert.

"That I am here to bring

Is music, is the music

Is the music in my soul

Gonna break out (Out!)" As soon as they shouted that out together, everyone began morphing with our magic, including me.

"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!"

"So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real Battle of the Bands?" The leader at the stage asked unfazed. "Then let's battle!"

"What we have in store (ah-ah)

All we want and more (ah-ah)

We will break on through (ah-ah)

Now it's time to finish you!"

Her eyes turned demonically red as her necklace spiritually connected with the others. Out of a bright red flash, we saw the real sirens release from each of their necklaces. We all stood there in awe, possibly not expecting this to happen at all. As they swiftly came towards us and circled us around, I couldn't tell who was in control of these sirens. Was it those girls?! Or did these sirens have minds of their own?!

"Keep playing!" Starlight shouted out loud.

Pinkie Pie started a melody with her drums, having us follow in after. Using Vinyl's giant speakers, we were able to somewhat defend ourselves from these sirens with our music. Each one of the girls played their entire heart, leaving Twilight in an attempt to finish it off with a loud and broad vocal note.

However, their leader wasn't taking it. Instead, she deflected Twilight's note and pushed her back with her very own. Hoping I could help Twilight, I stepped in by her side in an effort to combine our notes. Before we could try, the three sirens gathered together and literally drove us back with their combined strength. The force of their voices were so strong, we couldn't even continue playing our instruments.

I tried to fight back, positioning my fingers on the strings and bringing up my bow to play. But the force was too strong. It was like trying to move again a heavy snowstorm. Eventually my violin was forced out of my hand, wounding the fingers that were on the strings. I cried out lightly, but even the sirens' voices went over that.

I wasn't the only one with the instrument knocked out of my hand. As soon as Twilight's microphone flew out and landed on the ground behind us, everything grew immensely quiet. I took a glance at my fingers to see blood begin to trickle out. I looked back to see the location of Twilight's microphone…and surprisingly, it was right near Sunset Shimmer's feet.

She only stared at it, appearing as if she was too scared to touch it.

"Sunset Shimmer, we need you!" Twilight cried for her help.

"I…ah…" Sunset Shimmer seemed to be unable to move, continuing only to coldly stare at the microphone.

"Sunset!" I tried talking to her, holding the wrist of my wounded hand with the other. "This is your chance! This is the moment you've been waiting for! The chance to show and prove to everyone here at this school who you really are!"

Sunset seemed to be affected by my words, but it wasn't me that dealt the final blow.

"Shimmy…" Another voice I had not expected suddenly called out to her. Sunset Shimmer turned to see Starlight was the one who called her by that name. She jumped out of the car and picked up the microphone on the ground. "You didn't forget…did you…?" I watched Starlight as she seemed to be working into talking sense to her. For the first time…Starlight didn't have a 'bored' or 'unamused' expression. She even lost her 'coldly cool' attitude! She was speaking with furrowed eyebrows as if retrieving something treasured in her heart. "Remember right before our performance at the show? You got stage fright… And this moment is just like back then." Starlight paused to see Sunset Shimmer astonished at her reminisce.

"Star…" Sunset could only say.

"Remember our chant?" Starlight asked. "The one we sang that gave us the courage to go out there and show everyone what we were made of." Starlight raised a fist, mentioning to her that she had the strength to overcome this fear. Inside this fist…was the microphone.

Sunset Shimmer continued staring at Starlight in somewhat disbelief until she closed her eyes and reopened them into determined ones. She grabbed ahold of the microphone Starlight held for her and stepped forward in front of Twilight. There, she took off her jacket and carelessly threw it to the ground.

"Hit it, Star." Sunset instructed.

Starlight looked proud of the moment and then directed Vinyl to start.

As a drum solo began, Sunset Shimmer took the very opportunity she had to show what she was made of.

"You're never gonna bring me down

You're never gonna break this part of me

My friends are here to bring me 'round" Sunset Shimmer helped both me and Twilight up.

"Not singing just for popularity!"

"We're here to let you know

That we won't let it go" Sunset Shimmer and Twilight sang, even having me join them to support the cause.

"Our music is a bomb and it's about to blow" Starlight grabbed ahold of my violin and bow and tossed them over to me.

"And you can try to fight" I positioned the violin correctly

"But we have got the light of" I placed the bow over the strings and my bloodied fingers on the frets.

"Friendship on our side!" Every single person joined in harmony.

"Got the music in our hearts

We're here to blow this thing apart!" An enormous rainbow shot out from our side, preventing the sirens the opportunity to attack. Immediately after, they appeared to have lost significant power.

"And together, we will never

Be afraid of the dark"

Surprisingly, Sunset Shimmer was lifted into the air! No way! She's evolving along with us too!

"Here to sing our song out loud

Get you dancing with the crowd

As the music of our friendship

Survives, survives!" Sunset Shimmer proudly obtained her ears and tail. Soon after, we were all brought together and lifted up.

"Got the music in our hearts

We're here to blow this thing apart!" The girls repeated with more power and significance to their words.

As they continued to sing passionately, I heard another voice call out to me.

"Alex!"

I looked up to see Spirit upside down and facing me. She was being lifted up even higher than the others and didn't seem to be stopping. With a bright and cheerful smile to her face, she grabbed ahold of my hand and brought me up along with her. I accidentally released the violin and bow, but Starlight smugly caught them both for me. As I felt my damaged hand heal, I continued moving upwards with a giggling Spirit along the rainbow.

"And together, we will never

Be afraid of the dark"

Spiritually, in the clouds, I felt myself connect deeply together with Spirit. In this bright burst of light, we suddenly became this huge ghostly Alicorn of light that emerged from the clouds!

"Here to sing our song out loud

Get you dancing with the crowd!" The entire school joined with the song, shocking the sirens.

But they even grew more terrified once they saw Spirit and I staring at them from the clouds.

"As the music of our friendship

Survives, survives!"

We motioned and waved our hooves in the air before we shot out a big burst of not only just magic but light of the rainbow! This ray shattered the sirens that appeared before the girls and soon the necklaces they wore.

After that immense attack, I soon found myself feeling light-headed back on the ground.

"Ugh…" I expressed until I heard some really horrible and off-key singing from the stage.

"We will be adored

Tell us that you want us

We won't be ignored…"

An entire collective amount of boos came from the audience at the seats in front of the stage.

"It's time…for…our reward..." The volume of their lyrics came to a low point even quieter than Fluttershy. However, they were immediately interrupted by thrown food and refreshments, causing them to run off in fear.

I noticed Spirit had recovered next to me. She looked my way and smiled. It seemed whatever was worrying her before was completely off her mind. She raised a fist and waited for my move. Realizing what she was doing, I smiled as well and pounded my fist into hers. She grinned cheerfully and suddenly attacked me with a hug.

---

We regrouped with Sunset Shimmer and the others back on the stage where the sirens fled.

Sunset Shimmer picked up a broken piece of the necklace from the shards they left behind. "Guess that explains why these were so special to them."

"Without those pendants and the magic you brought here from Equestria, they're just three harmless teenage girls." Twilight observed.

Sunset Shimmer sent a cheerful smile of her own back to Twilight and then turned to Starlight. "Star… You really remembered?"

"Course I did…" Starlight crossed her arms with a warm and modest expression. "How could I forget something so important? After all…you were the only pony that helped me get through my toughest times. That's why… It was so hard when you left just like that…" Starlight actually frowned and uncrossed her arms. The frown itself was an extremely rare occurrence.

"Star… I'm so sorry…" Sunset Shimmer apologized deeply. "I never got to tell you why… Could you ever forgive me for that?"

"There's no way I could stay mad at my best friend." Starlight returned a relieved smile. "But you have to promise you'll tell me all about it."

"I promise!" Sunset Shimmer excitedly agreed.

Then, it was very warming to see the both of them hug it out.

It wasn't until Trixie came along to ruin it. "You may have vanquished the Dazzlings, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She shared only what she had to share and immediately vanished with her cloud of smoke.

After all the coughing, Pinkie Pie proceeded to cry out in horror once more. "She's gone!" However, she paused and took a second look. "Oh, wait. There she is." She spotted her climbing over the wall near the crowds. But she lost her balance and fell over instead.

"Trixie's okay!" Trixie herself confirmed.

"You know, Twilight is going back to Equestria soon." Rainbow Dash mentioned to Sunset Shimmer. "The Rainbooms could really use someone to help Fluttershy on backup vocals."

Sunset Shimmer spotted a nearby guitar and grabbed ahold of it to unexpectedly play wildly. After her little riff, she stood innocently with her hands behind her back. "I also play guitar."

After taking a little time to recover from their gaping jaws, Rainbow Dash returned an accepting smile. "We'll see."

Then, every one of the girls in the band gathered together for a great big group hug. Even Spike joined in as well.

"I have to admit…" Starlight began as she, Spirit, and I enjoyed the scene. "I can see why you love your friends so much."

"Hah." I laughed. "You should be around the ones I'm with at home. I think they're even crazier…"

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Pinkie Pie suddenly exclaimed. "There's that carnival we were supposed to go to after the musical showcase, but since everyone was so hung up with the Battle of the Bands, I almost completely forgot about it!"

"No way! Really?" Spirit surprisingly asked in excitement.

"Yeah! That's probably where they all went." Pinkie Pie pointed out towards the crowd…except there wasn't a crowd anymore. They had all left already.

"Wow…" I could only say in amazement of the time it took for them to clear out.

"Alex, we should totally go!" Spirit grabbed ahold of my hand and looked at me with exhilaration in her eyes.

I would have gone anyway, but seeing the look on her face, there was no way I could possibly turn it down. "Yeah, of course!" I agreed with a bright smile.

Starlight, on the other hand, yawned. "I think I might want to head back on home."

"Aw, come on, Star." Sunset Shimmer told her with a lightly begging smile. "Can't you stay? You know, for old time's sake? We can…catch up."

Starlight sent an appreciative beam towards Sunset Shimmer and soon agreed. "Yeeah, sure. I'm used to sleeping late anyway."

Everyone else cheered, and all of us soon dashed out of there.

---

I was surprised to see how lively the carnival was already despite what happened. I guess everyone must have completely forgotten or have been unaware how they were under a spell in the first place. Either way, everyone there seemed to be enjoying the time, and it was time we'd enjoy it too.

To go on all the rides we wanted to see, we split up in parties of two. Had I not been with Spirit, I would have definitely gone with Fluttershy and Twilight. However, seeing as I had hardly spoken with Spirit during the trip here, she deserved to be with me. After all, she's pretty much mentioned or hinted before how I'm really the only person she trusts. I suppose she still needs to warm up to the others…

Nevertheless, the other groups were Applejack and Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, and of course Starlight and Sunset Shimmer. Just knowing their long lost friendship was being repaired and strengthened even more than before was warming to feel.

We decided that we would spent an amount of time in the carnivals with these groups and later on would all regroup to enjoy the bigger rides. When Spirit found out that I'd be spending that entire amount of time with her, she was overwhelmed with joy. But she didn't spend any time expressing that joy. Instead, she only grabbed my hand and dragged me out of there.

The first place she took me to was the enormous rollercoaster that the whole carnival could see. She didn't hesitate taking me to the cart and sitting me with her at the very front. She looked totally excited, but I for one felt differently…

"Uh…Spirit… I'm not so good with rollercoasters…" I tried to tell her without crying.

"Don't be such a wuss!" She teased. "Don't you love the rush?"

As I felt the bars close in front of us and settle us in, I began crying in the inside. "No…." I fearfully responded as I slowly shook my head.

Of course, the cart began moving along and eventually began ascending up to a big hill.

"Why'd you bring me here?" I almost tearfully asked. "I hate rollercoasters!"

"How can you hate something you've never gone on?" She knew so much about me.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I've dropped from heights enough to hate the rushing feeling in my heart. Rollercoasters are so uncontrollable!" I stated as I tried to think of a way out, but I should have known that there'd be no way.

Spirit placed her hand on mine and lightly held it. Giving me a sincere smile, she tried to calm me down. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to you. Just watch me enjoying it, you'll see so yourself!"

I inhaled and exhaled a heavy breath. "I don't think it's easy as that…" I said until I looked forward and noticed we were just at the tip of the iceberg. My eyes widened as I began to feel the rollercoaster tip forward to its ultimate demise.

"Here we go!" Spirit exclaimed in exhilaration.

"Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…!" I screamed out, waiting for my inevitable death.

I was pretty shaken up throughout the entire ride. I didn't know what Spirit was talking about at all. While she was screaming in delight the whole time, I was cowering in terror. I had tried closing my eyes to see if that helped…but not so much.

She had to sort of drag me out of there since I was too weak to walk out myself. Nevertheless, she decided to treat me to cotton candy in hopes to feel better. Taking it slow afterwards, we stopped by several other stalls with small games and entertainment. It was finally until we stopped by a photo booth. Spirit gasped in astonishment and ran in there, having me trail behind like always.

It seemed she was trying to figure out the controls as I made my way in there.

"You want a picture?" I asked for clarification.

"Of course!" She responded excitedly as she messed with the buttons. The two of us sat inside with the curtains beside us covering the booth. "Look! There we are!" She pointed obviously, as if she was a little kid. It looked like there was already a camera capturing us, so we appeared in another screen in front of us. "Looks like you can add borders and stuff."

"Don't choose something over the top." I asked of gently, hoping she wouldn't go too far.

"No. I think this is the best." She decided and allowed me to preview it on the screen. It was just us.

"You didn't select anything." I mentioned.

"Exactly!" With a flip of her finger, she pressed a button in front of us and smiled lightly.

I had no idea she had pressed the button to take the picture, so after the camera snapped the photo, I came out in it looking surprised. Spirit noticed this and laughed. "You didn't smile!"

"…I didn't know…" I tried to excuse myself out of embarrassment.

"Okay then." She accepted. "I'm about to press the button then. Say cheeeese!"

To the best of my abilities, I sort of forced out a bright smile just as she did. After all, the quicker you had to prepare for a photo, the harder it was to smile naturally. Either way, the two of us grinned widely with shut eyes as we heard the click of the camera.

Spirit only laughed in reaction to the next photo. I wasn't so sure if I wanted to keep taking pictures…

"Hey…" The tone of her voice suddenly changed.

"Huh?" I replied.

"The truth is… I'm you and Fluttershy's daughter from the future."

"Ehh?!" I reacted in utter confusion.

There was another click. And then she suddenly burst out laughing.

"That's a keeper!" She exclaimed in delight.

She picked up the photos we took and began walking out, having me stick close to her like glue. Why the heck did she say that all of a sudden?

"What was that all about?" I asked her about as I followed her around.

"Pictures." She briefly stated while holding up the ones we took.

"Ugh…" I felt a little let down since she wasn't giving me an answer. "You were just joking, right?"

"I don't know. Maaybe." She poised herself as if she could just skip the rest of the way.

"Spirit, please." I placed a hand on her and spoke in a more serious tone. "It's these kind of things that I don't like you to joke about."

My tone and touch voluntarily stopped and caused her to turn around and face me. She was no longer looking merry and she even appeared to have become serious as me. "Chill, Alex…" She responded. "I'm sorry. I was just joking."

I sighed and leaned over to place my head on her shoulder in relief. "Okay. I can never know with you, you know? After all, you and I kind of…aren't like anyone else."

"Tell me about it…" She muttered.

The thing is… I think inside me…it was possible for her to really be what she joked about. After all, she was someone from inside me. Someone that controlled the light. But she was never really truly born was she? She comes from me… So in that case…wouldn't it technically be possible if she…

Nah. No. That wouldn't make her that. It's more like she's a manifestation of me, right? I don't even know anymore. Really, for all this time, I've been taking it like she's just been another friend. But when she says things like this time, it just makes me want to question her true identity…

Eventually, we came across Twilight and Fluttershy while walking in the middle of the carnival. Fluttershy was adorably holding a cone of cotton candy.

"Hey! Alex! Spirit!" Twilight greeted us.

"Hey, Twilight. Fluttershy." I welcomed.

"Hey." Spirit joined in, offering a small smile this time.

"You finished yet? We were just about to regroup so we can get on the Ferris wheel!" Twilight mentioned.

"Oh really?" I answered and then turned to Spirit. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded while holding her hands behind her back.

"Great. Why don't you guys come with us?" Twilight invited.

We accepted their invitation and followed them to the Ferris wheel. I suppose, besides the rollercoaster, it was one of the biggest things in the area, so it was fairly easy to regroup and find one another by that. As we came across the rest of the entire group, I took a glance at everyone's faces. I wanted to see how their time together seemed to be treating them. It was nice to see them all having a good time, but it was more important to take a look at Sunset Shimmer and Starlight. As I noticed them speaking with each other and laughing, it was warming to the heart to see a bond stay strong.

We were all going to go on the ride at the same time. However…there was a slight problem. One cart couldn't fit us all in. There was no way. Each cart seemed to only fit a maximum of six people, but I honestly figured it wouldn't be much of a problem to solve. I decided Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and even Spike, since he's a dog, can fit onto one cart.

Sunset Shimmer and Starlight could fit with us, but I'm pretty sure it'd be much better if they had a cart to themselves. After all, I think Sunset Shimmer still had a few things she promised to tell Starlight. Being in the Ferris wheel would be the best time to tell her before we left back home.

After they had all boarded their carts, leaving only two of us left, Spirit looked slightly confused. "You didn't want to go with any of them?" She asked.

"Sure." I answered as I looked at the wheel for the next cart to stop by. "But, I think it'd be just as fun with you."

"You don't just feel sorry for me, do you…?" Spirit didn't seem to quite believe that.

"Hey." I returned. "We'll be leaving back home soon. We should make the most of it."

"Exactly…" Spirit muttered before the next cart came to a stop.

I didn't answer but only led Spirit into the cart. Once we were both safely on in, the ride continued. In the first few minutes, we were pretty silent as we observed the scenery around us. People grew smaller and the whole world was expanded for us. After all, this was a world we hadn't fully explored yet, and I doubt we really ever will. But when you really thought about it, it was intriguing to be able to see much more of this new world on the Ferris wheel we were on.

"Alex…" Spirit suddenly called softly.

"Hm?" I turned to her.

"Thanks…" She expressed.

"For what?"

"For being here with me. I know you didn't have to but you did."

I tried thinking up of an acceptable response. "Well… You know… Don't ever think you're just a bother or not a friend like the others are. You're just as important to me."

Spirit smiled gently and then turned away lightly. "Hey…"

"Yeah?"

"Back when I said that I was you and Fluttershy's daughter… I'm totally not, of course, but if I was really serious about that… Would you believe me?" She asked quite unexpectedly.

"Would I believe you…?" The question itself was a bit hard to dissolve much less answer. "Well… To be honest, if you really meant it…a part of me would want to believe you because of what you mean to me. But I don't think my head could accept it. It just wouldn't make sense."

"Oh… Okay!" She sounded a big gloomy at the beginning, but then she smiled cheerfully at the end. She turned away to observe the environment on the other side of the cart as she held her hands together between her legs.

After a moment, something suddenly shot up towards the sky and exploded. A firework… After the leader, more flew up and burst into different colors and shapes. Of course, the first one was enough to catch Spirit's attention. I wondered if these fireworks were scheduled for midnight as they usually were. As the rest followed their scheduled arrangement, Spirit's eyes reflected each and every color. And to see someone have two different colors of eyes instead of one, this was quite interesting to catch. It wasn't anything too fascinating… It was just…nice to observe.

Spirit caught my unintentional stare and reacted a little embarrassingly. She jumped a little and turned her head away. "What?"

"Don't think this is cheesy, but…" I placed the palm of my hand under my chin to rest my head. "…I honestly think you have beautiful eyes. And to be quite frank, you shouldn't even be sensitive about them. I know people might feel…differently about it just because you're not 'normal' but…you should be proud. Having the eyes you have now…just makes you more unique and likeable." I grinned both warmly and cheerfully.

It was Spirit's turn as she now kept her eyes still on me. Her mouth was agape as if she was deeply surprised. A few tears sparkled at the corner of each eye, having the reflections on both her eyes appear a lot shinier and brighter. "I…" She tried to say something but paused. She sniffed a bit and used her arm to lightly wipe her eyes. Then, she burst out this huge beam and proceeded to finish her sentence. "I love you, Alex."

My body shook and shivered from surprise. "Y-you don't… You don't mean that in a romantic kind of way, right…?" I asked fairly quickly. I was kind of hoping she didn't… I mean…how would it even…?

"What?" She asked, losing her smile. Then, when she realized what she heard correctly from me, she sort of became upset. She frowned, crossed her arms, and turned away. "Of course not!" She mentioned clearly. "Jeez, way to ruin the mood."

"Sorry…" I apologized immediately. "It's just…ever since Rarity…I'm kind of scared when I hear that for the first time from someone." I told her honestly.

Spirit didn't reply. I continued looking at her for an answer. I even slightly leaned to the side to see if I could have a better view of her face. It wasn't until I heard more sniffles and shaking shoulders to where I got an idea. All of a sudden, the proof escaped from her lips. She was crying.

"Spirit?" I called out in gentle concern. "Why are you crying? I said I'm sorry."

"It's not that…" She tried to regain control of her speech. She continued to sniff and tried to wipe her endless tears. "I'm just…so happy…" She said. "…but sad at the same time…"

"…sad?" I repeated. I could understand the happy part…but sad? Why would she be sad?

"It's okay…" She assured. "I guess I just…go through this sometimes." She waited a bit until she calmed down and regained more control of herself. "Thanks a lot." She told me as she turned back to face me. There she regained her signature smile. "Thank you very much being with me like this. I had a lot of fun with you…"

I returned another smile and turned my head over the cart to see below. We were about to complete our round. "Guess we'll be going home pretty soon."

Spirit yawned a little. "Yeah… I guess I'm tired anyway."

"Hm…" I thought. "I wonder when the next time we'll be back here again is…"

---

We regrouped back at the portal once we were finished at the carnival. Twilight and I shared hugs with those that we would be leaving for now. After a moment of some reminiscing, I supposed we were getting ready to walk back through.

"Sure wish you could stay longer." Applejack shared.

"Me too." Twilight answered. "But we have responsibilities in Equestria that we have to get back to." She glanced over to me, seeing as we were pretty much stuck together. "Its citizens need us. But now we can go through the portal whenever we need to." She paused. "This isn't goodbye. It's just goodbye 'til next time." She clarified.

Sunset Shimmer understood with crossed arms as she smiled and nodded. She turned to Starlight. "It was great seeing you, Star. I wished things could have gone better in the past but…" She paused, rubbed her head, and then looked at me. "…I guess what matters is the present…right?"

"Don't let it get to you, Shimmy." Starlight responded with a calm smile. "Things are really starting to look up, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Sunset agreed with a grin and turned back to me. "Thanks for everything. Especially with…bringing back Starlight."

"Of course…!" I answered a little embarrassingly.

Surprisingly, Starlight placed an arm around me. "Yeah, he's something, isn't he?"

"Heh…sure…" Despite it all being a group of friends, I still didn't feel too comfortable under the spotlight like this.

"There's something else that's been kind of bothering me too…" Sunset Shimmer brought up all of a sudden. She looked in the direction of Spirit. "Hey… I know we didn't really talk this whole time…but…" She seemed she wanted to say something, but she paused as she placed a few fingers to her lips.

"But what?" Spirit wondered, looking at Sunset Shimmer curiously with her hands behind her back.

"It just feels…like I've seen you before. But that can't be, right? This is the first time you've been here." Sunset shared her thoughts.

"Hey…" Applejack rubbed her chin. "Now that you mention it… I also feel like I've seen you around before…"

Spirit could only shrug. "I'm sorry. I don't know what makes you think that. I've really never been here before."

"Okay." Sunset Shimmer understood. "But for some other reason…There's this strange feeling inside of me. I don't know if it's because of what I did before…but…I feel like I need to apologize to you too."

"W-what?!" Spirit reacted pretty embarrassingly. "No, no! You don't have to apologize for anything!"

"Well, whatever you say… I'm going to anyway." She took a moment of silence before she did. "I'm really sorry."

"Th-that's okay." Spirit looked bashful since she didn't know how to handle the situation. "I accept your apology…even though I have no idea what you did because you couldn't have possibly done anything personally to me."

I took the moment to laugh a little before I decided we should most likely get ready for bed. "We should probably get going now." I pointed a thumb backwards to the portal.

"…oh! Wait!" I heard someone unexpectedly come out from the group in front of us. Fluttershy raced towards me and stood politely. With both hands held together in front of her waist, she smiled lightly and bowed, as if giving me a special form of thanks. Then, she leaned closer to me and unexpectedly kissed me on the cheek. "Goodbye." She calmly stated.

"Bye…" I felt a bit paralyzed… I suppose it was her…sudden change of behavior?

"Alright, come on. Let's go." Starlight grabbed the top of my clothing and began dragging me out of there.

Our friends at Canterlot High only laughed to themselves and waved farewell. Spirit, Twilight, and Spike followed in after us.

---

Back home, I supposed everypony was asleep, so no one was there waiting for us.

I heard Starlight yawn loudly and carelessly. "Well, see you another time." She said without spending a lengthy time for goodbye. She was going to be near anyway…

"Yeah… Night…" I said, having her shortly wave back before she made her way out of the castle. I turned to Twilight and Spike. "You guys going to bed too?" I asked.

"Yeah…" Twilight mentioned a little sleepily. "We've been up a pretty long time while fighting three crazy sirens. I think sleep will do us really good."

"You said it." Spike couldn't agree more.

"What about you?" She asked me.

I thought about it. Actually, there was somewhere I kind of wanted to stop by before I headed off to sleep… "I think I'll just make a quick stop before bed."

"Welp." Twilight stretched for a bit. "See you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight." I told her as she began walking off with a smile.

That stop I was going to make, it had to do with the violin. I gave a quick search around me, but I didn't see the case. Wait… I didn't leave it behind, did I?

"Looking for something?" I heard nearby.

I turned to find Spirit. Of course… "Yeah, thanks." I expressed as I noticed her place the case down on the ground for me to grab.

"I've got your back." She returned cheerfully as I used my magic to hold the case up. "Can I trust you to stay safe while I rest up?" She joked as she shared a mischievous expression at me.

"Yeah, yeah." I nodded as I laughed a little.

Afterwards, she closed her eyes and gave one last hearty grin. "See you."

Then, she disappeared with a trail of light.

---

I stood waiting outside Octavia's house after I had knocked. I felt a little bad since I figured she'd be asleep by this time, but I couldn't wait to see her. The door opened and she slowly and tiredly came out. Yes, it sure did look like she had been asleep.

"Alex?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I came by to thank you." I answered.

"For what?"

"You helped me play a pretty big part." I held the violin case in front of her.

"The violin I gave you…?" Octavia figured after analyzing it for a moment.

"I played, Tavi." I told her as I expressed a short sweet smile. "I played my heart out."

"Th-that's great…" It didn't seem Octavia could get too excited even if she wanted to. She appeared to still be a bit drained, but I wasn't going to keep her for long. "Can I hear a little something?" It seemed she wanted to see how I progressed.

"Hm…" I tapped my chin in thought. "Maybe another time. I should really let you sleep. Besides…" I opened the case and brought out the violin for her to see. "I kind of need to clean it a bit." I presented with a nervous smile.

"Is…" She opened her eyes widely as she begun to take a closer look at the strings portion of the violin. "Is that…blood…?!"

"Yeah…" I felt like I could have blushed to the point of embarrassment.

---

Sometime after that night, Twilight came to me with a book. It was the same book we had received the first message from Sunset Shimmer. However, she told me there was a message for me. Curiously, I accepted the book as she went on to do her daily activities, and I searched for this message I had received.

I came across the words: Dear, Prince Alex.

Just like I had written to your partner in royalty, Princess Twilight, I'm missing the both of you already. I hope you'll come back soon, and if Starlight isn't busy, it'd be great if she came too. I'm really happy to tell you that…things surely are looking up for me here. People aren't afraid of me anymore. Heck, they even come to my help when they need it. I can't tell you how happy I am and…I don't know if thanking you is enough. Seriously. I think you played a big part in turning me around. All of you did. You, Twilight, and Starlight… I don't know what else to say… If there's anything I can do in return, please, don't hesitate to ask. At the same time, I hope you don't mind if I write to you or Twilight for advice. After all, I think I still have a lot to learn about friendship. Anyways…really hope to see you soon.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

I closed the book and felt as if my heart was near a cozy fireplace. It didn't seem Twilight had written a message to her back yet, so I decided to wait until we would both be free and write a message together.

For the time being, I took the book with me to a table and sat down. There, I just wanted to take a moment to think to myself. I suppose I just wanted to summarize everything that had happened. It was a lot to take in, but in the end, I had a good feeling it was all for the better.

Friends, you are in my life

And you can count on me to be there by your side

Huh?

And when the music comes alive

We sing our songs to lift us up so we can shine

I began hearing another strange tune in my mind.

And the sound that we hear in our hearts

Makes a crescendo

Despite the circumstances, I let it play peacefully. It was weird… It wasn't like I was completely hearing voices in my mind. No. It was more like I was hearing these words come back up from within. And after the second adventure back in their world, I knew the very people that sang these lyrics.

And the light that ignites in the dark

It makes us all glow

They seemed as harmonious as ever…

The Rainbooms…

And shine like rainbows

We shine like rainbows…