The Adventures of the Power Ponies

#41-Song of the Sirens

Fluttershy smiled as she felt the sunlight from her bedroom window shine on her face. Her eyes opened when she felt tiny paws on her side. Turning her head, she saw Angel hopping on top of her, his nose twitching adorably.

"Good morning, Angel," Fluttershy said, giggling as she took the bunny in her hooves. "Did you sleep well?"

He squeaked in response.

"I did too." Climbing out of bed, she went towards the window. "I don't know about you, but I've never felt so well-rested in my life!" Her cheeks flushed. "Might have to do with that dream I had."

She opened the window and looked out at the cityscape. What she loved most about her apartment was the view she got of the Maretropolis Park. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, the squirrels were scattering about down below.

"Oh, it's such a beautiful morning!" she said, inhaling the fresh air. "I feel like singing!"

She twirled her rabbit around as she filled the room with "la da dee das." She continued singing absentmindedly as she showered, changed clothes, and went into the kitchen for breakfast. She fed Angel his food pellets before getting out the pancake mix.

"There's music in the treetops," she sang as she flipped the pancakes.

"And there's music in the vale,
And all around me music fills the sky."

Angel tilted his head from side to side, feeling the beat of her beautiful song.

"There's music by the river,
And there's music in the grass,
And the music makes your heart soar in re—"

She froze when she heard a bark, causing her to flip one pancake so high that it stuck to the ceiling. Turning, she saw Wynona on a leash, wagging her tail excitedly. Holding that leash was Applejack. Pinkie Pie, in her ridiculous glasses, stood by her. Both their mouths were open wide.

"Oh, um," Fluttershy said, biting her lip. "A-Applejack, I thought…I thought you would've gone to your apple cart by now."

Applejack blinked. "W-Well, yeah, but…I was just takin' Wynona for a walk when I ran into Pinkie and we were gonna look at some properties for our bakery and…"

"Are we gonna ignore the fact that Fluttershy was just SINGING IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VOICE EVER?!" Pinkie shouted excitedly.

Blushing, Fluttershy returned to her pancakes. "Oh, I was just…it was nothing."

Pinkie scoffed. "You kidding?! When we stepped in here, we thought this place had been invaded by an angel or something!"

"I've never heard ya sing before, Sugar Cube," Applejack said in awe. "That was…heavenly."

Fluttershy's mane drooped over her face. "Let's just…forget about it."

"Forget about it?!" Pinkie yelled. "How can you forget something like that?! You might as well forget sparkles falling from the sky!"

"That actually reminds me," Applejack said. "Rarity called this mornin'. It's Karaoke Night over at the La Comida restaurant. I'm not much for karaoke, but…maybe if you're not busy tonight?"

"Yeah!"

Fluttershy squeaked as Pinkie suddenly wrapped her hoof around her neck.

"You should totally sing something tonight!" Pinkie exclaimed. "With all those ponies watching you, listening to your amazing voice, you could bring the house down on them so hard they'll all have to go to the hospital because your voice is that amazing!"

Yelping, Fluttershy buried her face in her hooves.

"Think ya overdid it, Pinkie," Applejack said, pushing the pink mare aside so she could talk to her roommate. "You alright, Sugar?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "I just…I've never performed in front of other ponies before and…" She looked at Applejack with pleading eyes. "Please, please, don't tell any pony you heard me sing. I…I won't be able to handle it if I had to sing in front of other ponies."

"Hey, hey," Applejack said, patting her on the back. "Ya don't have to sing karaoke if ya don't wanna, but you should still come tonight. We could get a bite, hang with the girls, might be fun." She sighed. "Besides, with all the Power Ponies stuff plus Pinkie and I tryin' to get this bakery started, we could really use the break."

"Yeah!" Pinkie piped. "I mean I've been running to and fro from here and there to the rock farm and back, trying to find a place to crash, trying to find a place for the bakery, ya gonna eat those pancakes?"

Fluttershy smiled slightly as she stacked half of the pancakes onto a plate for Pinkie. She gobbled them up right away.

"I'll go out with you girls tonight," Fluttershy said. "But I'm not singing."

Applejack returned her smile. "No pony's forcin' ya to."

Fluttershy was about to flip the next pancake when she realized her frying pan was bare. She and Applejack turned to Pinkie, who had stuffed cheeks and batter on her hooves.

"What?" she said with her mouth full.

That night at La Comida, Rarity, Coco Pommel, Applejack and Fluttershy were sitting in a booth, munching on the nachos they'd been given as an appetizer. Pinkie was singing a rock ballad onstage, very loud and sending ear-piercing feedback through the mic every few notes.

"You sure you won't be able to make it, Twilight?" Rarity asked on her cellphone.

"Sorry, girls," Twilight said on the other end. "But I'm at the Maretropolis Stadium setting up for the New Voices Singing Competition. It'll raise a lot of money for the new children's hospital."

"Oh, but you're always working, darling! Whether it's as Twilight Sparkle or…" She glanced around the restaurant. "You know. We've been working together for months now, and not once have we ever gotten together socially!"

"Maybe it's for the best. If the entire team hung out together all the time, we'd be at risk of exposing ourselves. I mean six mares and a young dragon all together at once? Ponies are sure to notice."

Rarity sighed. "Alright. But you should still take the time to…"

She winced as Pinkie wailed into her mic.

"What was that? Trouble?!"

"No," Rarity said with a groan. "Just Pinkie Pie 'rocking out,' as it were."

When Rarity hung up, Rainbow Dash approached their table.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, sitting next to Fluttershy on the end. "My wallet was stolen and I had to get it back."

Applejack scoffed. "Some pony tried to pick your pocket?"

"Yeah," Dash said, running her hoof over the pendant tucked into her shirt. "Let's just say the weather got unexpectedly rough."

"Are you going to give it a whirl?" Rarity asked, tilting her head towards the stage.

Rainbow put up her hooves. "I don't do karaoke. I just came for the nachos."

She grabbed a hoofful from the bowl in the center of the table and stuffed it in her mouth. Rarity cringed at the cheese dripping from her mouth.

"What about you guys?" Rainbow asked, her mouth still full.

"My slot is the fifth one after Pinkie," Rarity said. "I'm going to sing a song by Sapphire Shores."

"I don't really sing," Coco said, rubbing her foreleg awkwardly.

"Me neither," Fluttershy murmured.

Rainbow huffed. "That's rich! You should've heard this girl at the Flight Camp Talent Show! I mean she sang like a—YOW!"

Applejack had kicked her from across the table, sending her a warning glare.

When Pinkie Pie was finished, the restaurant host hastened her off the stage.

"How'd I do?" Pinkie asked as she scooted into the booth with her friends.

They all forced smiles and said, "Greeeeaaaaaat."

"Okay," the host said into the mic, clearing his throat. "That certainly was…interesting!" He checked his clipboard with the karaoke sign-up sheet. "Our next performer is Applejack, who will be singing a song by Trotter Swift. And she's asked to provide her own accompaniment."

Applejack's friends watched her curiously as she made her way to the stage with an acoustic guitar in hoof.

"Huh," Rainbow said, glancing at the brown guitar case leaning against the side of the booth. "I wondered what that was doing there."

Pulling up a stool, Applejack sat in front of the mic. She sent Fluttershy a wink before strumming softly on her guitar. After a short instrumental, Applejack sang in a low, rich, country voice.

"Seems the only one who doesn't see your beauty
Is the face in the mirror lookin' back at you.
You walk around here thinkin' you're not pretty.
But that's not truuuuuue."

As she held the last note, she made eye contact with Fluttershy. "Cuz I know yooooooou."

"Wow," Coco said. "She's pretty good."

"Eh," Rainbow said, waving her hoof. "Country ponies always get the best voices."

When Applejack's song was finished, the audience erupted in applause. She softly thanked them as she made her way offstage and back to the table.

"That was amazing!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I had no idea you could sing."

"Neither did I," Applejack said.

But from the way she looked at Fluttershy, it was obvious Applejack was not talking about her own voice.

"I don't know how I'll be able to top that!" Rarity said, taking Applejack's hoof. "Well done, darling!"

"Next up," the host announced, "we have a group act from three talented, lovely young mares who are going places! Give it up for…the Dazzlings!"

As every pony applauded, three earth mares in glittering sequin dresses sauntered onstage.

"Ooh," Rarity said. "Love their gowns!"

"A bit overdressed for a karaoke night though, don't ya think?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, pish posh! There's no such thing as overdressed!"

The three mares circled around the microphone. The yellow mare in the center had an enormous, poofed up orange mane. The blue one on her right wore her mane in a sweeping blue ponytail with purple streaks, while the purple one on her left had two purple ponytails streaked with blue.

"This song is all about," the yellow one in the center said in a sultry voice, "pop."

The music started and on the second beat, all three mares shouted, "Pop!"

"It's all about the pop," sang the yellow one.

"Pop!" said the blue.

"It's what will take us to the top."

"It's what's new, it's what's hot, and it can't be stopped," sang the purple.

"Pop!" they said together.

"Oh my," Fluttershy said, scrunching her nose in discomfort. "Um, they're…well…"

"They sound like screaming banshees!" Rainbow exclaimed, covering her ears. "They should've used that for their group name!"

"That's not a very nice thing to say," Applejack said with a wince. "No matter how true it is."

Funnily enough, no pony was booing them off the stage, so the Dazzlings kept going.

"Pop is the word!" the yellow mare sang. "It can't be captured, only heard!"

"Pop burns!" sang the blue.

"It's what makes the world turn!" sang the purple.

"They got that right," Rainbow said, lowering her head. "It certainly pops and burns my ears and makes my head turn! Make it stop!"

"Oh, you stop, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity said, waving her hoof. "You clearly have no taste in music!"

Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at her in surprise.

"Uh…what?" Applejack said.

"They're like angels singing," Coco said with a sigh.

"Forget angels!" Pinkie cried, slamming her hooves on the table. "They're like goddesses!"

The three mares that were still unimpressed with the Dazzlings' singing glanced between their friends and the mares onstage in confusion. Then Applejack looked around the room. None of the other restaurant patrons were eating, as their focus was on the Dazzlings. Their expressions did not hold any disgust for their "singing," but awe and admiration.

The Dazzlings sang their last line together. "It's the pop!"

There was a moment of silence. Then every pony stood and clapped harder than they had all night. Every pony, that is, except Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy.

"Fabulous!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Astounding!" Coco said.

"Absatively wowza!" Pinkie cheered.

"Ooh!" Rarity said. "I wonder if they're entering that New Voices Singing Competition Twilight is hosting. They're sure to help her raise a lot of money for the new children's hospital!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "You want them to sing at a charity event?"

"Of course!"

"So much for that children's hospital," Rainbow mumbled.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "No taste! No taste whatsoever!"

Ponies were flocking to the stage, asking the Dazzlings for their autographs…and a few other things.

"You're beautiful!" a stallion said excitedly. "Can I have all your numbers?!"

"No fair!" said another stallion, pushing him out of the way. "I want their numbers!"

"No, I want their numbers!" shouted a mare.

"I want them to sing at my birthday party!" said a young filly.

"I want them to sing at my cute-ceañera!" said a colt.

"Oh dear," Rarity said. "I better get up there if I'm going to refer them to Twilight." Narrowing her eyes, she charged through the crowd. "Let me through, you ruffians!"

"I want their numbers too!" Pinkie cried, pulling out her phone. "That blue one's especially cute!" She noticed the weird looks from Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy. "What? Didn't I tell you girls I'm gender-blind?" She used her a little of her super speed to rush ahead. "HEY, I REALLY LIKE YOU!"

"I'm not gay," Coco said as she jumped out of her seat, "but I want their numbers too!"

Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy watched in puzzlement as their friends fought through the mob.

"Is it just me?" Applejack murmured. "Or did this entire restaurant suddenly become tone deaf?"

"Or we've become tone deaf," Rainbow said, inserting her hoof in her ear. "Can that happen?"

"Oh good," Fluttershy said with a relieved sigh. "So I wasn't the only one who thought they were awful."

"So wait a minute. If you," Rainbow said, pointing to Fluttershy, "thought they were awful, and you," then to Applejack, "thought they were awful, and I," then to herself, "thought they were awful," and finally to the mob, "what's up with them?"

"Probably has to do with their fancy dresses," Applejack said shaking her head. "Typical. Ponies see a few pretty faces and don't care how talented they really are."

"Oh my," Fluttershy said. "You don't think Twilight would really let them compete, would you? I worry about those poor sick foals who might not get their hospital."

"I don't think we have to worry about it. Twilight has better judgment than all these ponies. She would see through their pretty faces and fancy dresses lickety-split."

"They're amazing!"

Applejack dropped the soufflé she'd been making. She pressed down on her commlink to be sure she heard Twilight right.

"Say that again?"

"The Dazzlings!" Twilight said excitedly through the commlink. "They're phenomenal! But I'll tell you, when Rarity brought them in this morning, insisting they enter the competition, I nearly turned them down as the entry deadline had already passed. But when they started singing, I just couldn't say no! I've never seen such talent! And believe me, I've heard a lot of talent from the entries so far."

Applejack blinked. "Really?"

"I don't wanna get ahead of myself, but they're sure to get the winning record deal! These girls are going places!"

She shook her head. "Any pony else gettin' this?"

"I hear it," Rainbow's voice said, "but I don't believe it."

"Ignore them, Twilight!" Rarity said. "They're just jealous!"

"Jealous?!" Applejack shouted.

"Of course. After all, the Dazzlings received much more applause last night than you did."

"Listen here! This isn't about…"

She took a deep breath. Clearly, something weird was going on with these Dazzlings, and half her team wasn't going to be of much help. She needed to find out more about the Dazzlings, but she wasn't going to do that by insisting how terrible they were.

She needed to get into that competition.

"Um, Twilight?" she said into the commlink. "Ya think ya can do me a favor?"

"Sure, AJ," Twilight said. "What is it?"

"This singing competition. It's at the stadium, right?"

"Right."

"So ya must need food vendors."

"Oh, yes. We've got carrot dog vendors, popcorn vendors. Ponies will be donating their profits of the night to the fundraiser."

"Great! Well, I wanna help with the hospital too, so…ya think it would be much trouble if I…?"

"Hey!" Pinkie's voice said. "No business negotiations without your new partner!" Her tone changed to a chipper one. "Can we sell our baked goods at the competition please, Twilight?"

Twilight laughed. "We'd love it if you two would help out."

"Yay! This'll be great! We'll get to help the hospital, and we'll get into see the Dazzlings! You think that blue one Sonata will call me?"

"Come to the rehearsal this afternoon. That's when all the vendors are setting up their booths."

"Thanks, Twi," Applejack said. "We'll be there." She glanced down at what was left of her soufflé. "After I clean this up."

While the stage was being set on the field of the stadium, vendors were setting their booths up in the walkways behind the stands. Pinkie had a paintbrush in her hoof as she looked up at the blank sign above their booth.

"Maybe we should combine our names somehow to make one catchy name," she said, tapping her chin with the tip of her brush. "Apple Pie? Pinkie Jack? For some reason, Pinkie Jack Daniels sounds pretty catchy!"

But Applejack wasn't thinking about business names right now. She was too busy looking down at the field, eyeing the three beautiful mares standing idly by the stage.

"I feel if we include "Applejack" in the name it'll sound like we're selling cereal! But of course I wanna share the credit so I won't just call it Pinkie Pie's. Maybe something sweet that'll make 'em think of sweets, like Sugar something or Applejack are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" Applejack said, snapping her head around. "Uh, sorry, Pinkie, I was, uh…"

Pinkie huffed. "Don't think I didn't notice you eyeing the Dazzlings!" She narrowed her eyes. "I know your game."

Applejack blinked. "You do?"

"It's so obvious." Pinkie grinned brightly. "You're smitten with them too! Can't blame ya, they're gorgeous!" She dashed to Applejack's side to whisper, "But stay away from the blue one. She's mine!"

Sighing, Applejack shook her head. "I'm not smitten with any pony." She noticed some of the stagehooves and other vendors ogling the Dazzlings. "I'm about the only one in this entire stadium who isn't smitten with those…those…sirens. How'd they even get into this competition? They're not even that good!"

"Oh, AJ, AJ, AJ," Pinkie said with a pitiful shake of her head. "You really should come to terms this whole jealousy thing here. Of course it's perfectly understandable. After all no pony can compare to how beautiful, talented, and downright delicious those Dazzlings are!"

"I'm tellin' ya, Pinkie! They're up to somethin'! Am I the only one who sees that?"

"Probably." Pinkie looked back at the blank wooden sign. "What do you think of Dunkin' Donuts? Can you make donuts? Then again we should make the name generally apply to all treats…"

As Pinkie rambled on, the Dazzlings were going onstage to rehearse. Applejack rolled her eyes as every pony in the stadium dropped everything they were doing so they could watch, including Pinkie, who dropped her paintbrush.

"Woo hoo!" Pinkie cheered. "Go Sonata! You rock, girl!"

Ripping open her pink raincoat, she revealed a t-shirt with the blue Dazzling's face on it. Applejack stared at it strangely.

"Where'd ya get that there shirt?"

"What?" Pinkie said with a shrug. "I make t-shirts of every pony I meet! I even have one of you!"

She ripped off her shirt to reveal another one with Applejack's face, putting a blush on the real face. As the music started to play, Pinkie tore the Applejack shirt to show another Sonata one. Then, much to Applejack's dismay, the Dazzlings started singing.

"Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh,

You didn't know that you fell,

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh…"

Then the yellow mare in the middle spoke in a low voice into her microphone, "Now that you're under our spell."

It took all of Applejack's willpower not to cover her poor, aching ears. To find out what was going on with these sirens, as she was now calling them, she needed to keep all her senses open and alert. She just hoped her ears could last through the whole song.

"Listen to the sound of my voice," the yellow mare sang.

I'd rather not, Applejack thought.

"Soon you'll find you don't have a choice."

"I can think of quite a few choices," Applejack murmured.

Then she caught a glimmer of red. Three glimmers, to be precise. Squinting, Applejack saw that each of the Dazzlings wore a round red jewel around their necks. And they were glowing.

What's more, they seemed to be absorbing something. A green mist. Applejack took a step back and looked around, realizing that practically the whole stadium was flooded with green mist.

"Did some pony turn on a fog machine or something?"

Slowly, the cheers for the Dazzlings began to change into a cacophony of angry shouts. Applejack looked back down at the field and saw several ponies that seemed to be arguing with each other.

"Pinkie, do ya see…?"

"Why aren't you watching the Dazzlings?!" Pinkie shouted, shaking her fiercely. "Can't you see they're amazing?!" She brought Applejack's face to hers. "Why aren't you watching?!"

"Pinkie, get ahold of yourself!" Applejack exclaimed, pushing her back.

"You know what I think, Applejack?" Pinkie said, crossing her hooves. "I don't think you're taking this whole baking business thing seriously! I mean I'm the one who's been trying to think of a name all afternoon while you keep ogling the Dazzlings and I swear if you try and ruin my chances with Sonata…"

Applejack gawked as the same green mist filling the stadium seemed to emit from Pinkie, who didn't appear to notice. Applejack watched as the mist floated down the stands, across the field and right over to the Dazzlings. She hadn't even realized their song had finished.

There was no applause, as every pony was too busy arguing with each other over…Applejack wasn't sure what. But she got a bit of an idea when Officer Flash Sentry, who was currently off-duty, stomped up the nearest aisle, pursued by Twilight.

"I was not checking them out!" Flash shouted over his shoulder.

"Oh, you so were!" Twilight yelled, pointing her hoof accusingly. "Your eyes were all over them, especially that Adagio!"

"They were singing! Why is it suddenly so wrong to watch a couple of mares perform?!"

"When all you can stare at is their flanks!"

"What about you, huh?" Flash said, spinning around. "You can't deny that you were ogling them too!"

Twilight scoffed. "How…wha…I don't even swing that way! What's your excuse?!"

Their voices drowned out as they walked higher up the stands and out of Applejack's hearing. It was strange. She hadn't taken Twilight to be the jealous type.

Ponies were arguing, Pinkie was still yelling at Applejack, there was mysterious mist everywhere and no pony else seemed to be aware of it. It was a terrible time for Applejack to receive nature's call.

"'Scuse me, Pinkie," Applejack said, pushing past her friend.

"I'm not finished with ya, Smith!" Pinkie shouted. "If you're not gonna invest fully into this partnership, we might have to cut your pay down to sixty-forty! Not to mention the costs that factor into…"

Applejack quickly shut the door to the ladies' room and let out a sigh of relief. Nobody else was in the bathroom, leaving Applejack to the serenity of a private toilet stall.

"Okay, AJ," she said as she shut the stall door. "Obviously there's some mysterious magic at work here, but what?"

She winced at admitting to herself that Twilight's magical knowledge would be very useful right about now. But Twilight was just as corrupted as the rest. Except for Applejack. Why hadn't she been affected by the Dazzlings' spell?

Applejack jumped when the bathroom door opened and she heard voices.

"Well done, girls!" a sultry voice said. "Marvelous performance! Though Aria, you were a little flat on the bridge."

Recognizing one of the Dazzlings' voices, Applejack quickly unlocked her stall door and lifted her hooves onto the toilet so they would assume they were alone.

"Not like it really mattered, Adagio," said a bored-sounding voice which Applejack assumed belonged to Aria. "They were still under our spell, weren't they?"

"And did you see all that negative energy that came from their fighting over us?" said a high-pitched, bubbly voice that reminded Applejack an awful lot of Pinkie Pie. "It was like an all-you-can-eat-buffet!"

"If you thought this was a feast," said the sultry one, Adagio, "imagine what tomorrow's competition will be like. All those seats will be filled with ponies with negative energy ripe for the picking."

"It's been so long since we've had this much attention," Aria said. "It's both endearing and overwhelming."

"Just look at all the numbers I've got!" said the bubbly one which Applejack figured to be Pinkie's favorite, Sonata. "We really should get cellphones so we call 'em!"

"No one said we had to actually call them, Sonata," Aria said. "We're not here to make friends. Besides, I can barely work one of those public phones with these thick hooves."

"You girls never let me meet anybody!" Applejack could imagine Sonata pouting. "Can't we have a little fun with some of these ponies while we're here? That pink mare who was wearing my face back there seemed like she'd be a good time."

Aria groaned. "Must you always play with your food before you eat it?"

"First, sisters," Adagio said, "we gain control of Maretropolis' citizens, then we win the record deal so we can take things on a…global scale. Then you morons can abuse that power however you want."

There was a slip, along with a yelp.

"I miss my fins!" Sonata whined.

"Agreed," Aria said with a moan. "I hate all this walking!"

"Now, now, girls," Adagio said. "You know it would've been impossible for us to walk on land in our true forms."

"If we'd kept our act underwater…"

"But the food is up here! You remember what Madame Circe said."

Applejack gasped and then covered her mouth too late. There was silence from outside. Then the stall was thrown open by the purple one. All three Dazzlings were glaring down at her.

Applejack grinned awkwardly. "Uh…don't suppose y'all would want my number, eh?"

The yellow one must've been Adagio, for she seemed to send silent commands to her compadres with her eyes.

"'Welcome to the Show?'" the purple one, Aria, said.

"Let's do "Under Our Spell" again!" Sonata piped.

"No need, girls," Adagio said, smirking at Applejack. "A few simple arias should do it."

The three of them opened their mouths to sing some 'ahs." To Applejack, they sounded like a cloud of bats screeching after being awoken midday.

"Sorry I'm more into country than opera!" Applejack said rapidly.

Before the Dazzlings could respond, Applejack dove onto the floor and through Adagio's legs. Quickly picking herself up, she dashed out of the bathroom. The Dazzlings had their mouths agape in surprise.

"Well don't just stand there!" Adagio exclaimed, smacking them both upside the head. "Get her, you idiots!"

Aria and Sonata raced out the door, Adagio following after them. They searched the walkway for Applejack.

"She's vanished!" Sonata said.

"Impossible!" Adagio said. "She wasn't a unicorn!"

Suddenly, a glowing rope lassoed around the three of them. With a mighty tug, it bound them together. The Dazzlings shrieked as they fell to the floor. Sonata flailed her hooves about, but that only made the lasso pull tighter.

"Demeter's Lasso!" Adagio cried.

"That's right, gals." Mistress Mare-velous's smirking face peered over them. "Not only is Ole Bessie pretty tight with crooks, but she can choke the truth outta ya like a swallowed apple seed."

The Dazzlings gasped as the golden light emitting from the rope washed over them. When it faded away, they had transformed. Their bodies were now scaly and hairless. The upper-halves remained equine, though taller and thinner, but their backsides had been replaced by fish tails. There were murmurs as ponies started gathering round.

"Ha!" Mare-velous said, pointing at the three hippocampi. "What I tell ya? Can't hide anything from Ole Bessie here!" She brought her face closer. "Y'all thought ya could manipulate these ponies so y'all could feed on…whatever it was y'all were feedin' on!" She set her front hoof on them. "But ya didn't fool me! No, sir!"

"Mistress Mare-velous…"

The hero turned to see Twilight approaching. To Mare-velous' surprise, she was looking at her appallingly.

"What are you doing to the Dazzlings?" Twilight asked.

Mare-velous blinked. "Huh?"

"She's tied up the Dazzlings!" a pony said.

"Mare-velous has flipped!" said another.

"Tying up three poor innocent mares! The nerve!"

"W-What are y'all talkin' about?" Mare-velous asked in confusion. "Look at 'em! Can't y'all see they were playin' y'all?!"

"Let those poor girls go!"

"Sonata!" Pinkie shouted as she pushed through the crowd. "I'll save you, baby!"

Mare-velous glanced around anxiously as ponies brought out their cameras and phones. A chuckle came from Adagio, making the hero look down at her.

"It doesn't matter if they see our true forms," Adagio said, smiling tauntingly. "They're already under our spell."

"The way they see it," Aria said, "you just tied up three innocent mares for no reason."

"Ooh," Sonata said, cringing. "That's not gonna look so good for you, is it?"

The crowd was closing in on Mare-velous.

"I'd hightail it out of here, if I were you, Soldier of Demeter," Adagio said. "Something tells me you're not willing to fight fifty civilians."

"No matter how angry they are!" Sonata piped.

Taking one last look at the furious crowd, Mare-velous willed the rope to untie the Dazzlings, thus returning them to their pony disguises.

"This ain't over," Mare-velous said, lassoing her rope on one of the steel trusses in the ceiling.

Grabbing hold, she jumped and swung away from the crowd, trying to block out their angry shouts all the while.

"Today at the rehearsal for the New Voices Competition, Mistress Mare-velous shocked the world by tying up three beautiful young singers with her magical lasso for apparently no reason. Video footage and photos of the incident went viral within seconds."

Applejack gawked at the image that appeared on the television. It showed her standing over the tied up Dazzlings, only they were in their pony disguises and not their hippocampus forms. Fluttershy, who was sitting beside her on the couch, glanced at her sympathetically.

"The three singers, who call themselves the Dazzlings, became an overnight sensation with their karaoke performance at a Mexican restaurant just last night. Mistress Mare-velous has yet to come forward about her impulsive, inexplicable display, but Twilight Sparkle, CEO of Sparkle Labs and chairpony of the New Voices Competition, had this to say."

"Oh no," Applejack said.

The footage switched to Twilight Sparkle at the stadium, speaking into a reporter's mic. "I don't know what's gotten into Mistress Mare-velous, but I can assure you that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated from any pony." She looked directly into the camera, almost as if she were glaring right at Applejack. "And we will do everything in our power to ensure that Mistress Mare-velous does not disrupt tomorrow's event."

"While we were unable to get in touch with Mistress Mare-velous, fellow Power Pony Fili-Second was available for comment."

Fili-Second then appeared on camera. "MM has gone totally ballistic! I don't know why she's so jealous of the Dazzlings! She's been going on and on about how terrible they sound since they got discovered! I swear the rest of us Power Ponies had nothing to do with this!"

"Twilight Sparkle has upped the security for the event to make sure this hero gone rogue does not…"

Applejack switched the television off with the remote.

"It's, um," Fluttershy said, cringing, "not as bad as it looks…"

"It's all lies!" Applejack shouted, standing up. "I've not gone rogue! Those no-good Dazzlings are manipulatin' every pony!" She pointed to her ear. "I had to take my commlink out, everyone was shoutin' at me! Even Spike!" She began pacing. "And how'd they even change that picture? They didn't look like that when I tied 'em up! They must've convinced some pony to edit all the footage that was taken with their magic singin'!" She stopped and looked at her roommate. "You believe me, don't ya?"

"Of course I believe you," Fluttershy said. "I heard those girls too, and, while I don't mean to be judgmental, I didn't particularly like their singing either."

"That's what I can't figure out," Applejack said as she started pacing again. "How come you and I are the only ones still awake?"

Fluttershy pointed. "Don't forget Rainbow Dash! She didn't like them either."

"Yes. And what do we all have in common that we don't have in common with every pony else?"

"We have superpowers."

"But so do Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie, yet they're as spellbound as every pony else in Maretropolis. Hmm." She tapped her chin. "The Dazzlings had mentioned something about Circe, who was a sorcerous in Ancient Grace. Maybe there's a connection there. After all, Dash has Zeus' bolt, I have Demeter's lasso, and you…"

She stopped and turned slowly to Fluttershy.

"What?" Fluttershy asked. "What about me?"

Applejack gulped. "I…I'm not sure but…"

The front door burst open and Rainbow Dash flew in, carrying a book.

"I came as soon as I heard!" she said, slamming the door. "I only got bits and pieces through the commlink, but what you said about the Dazzlings being hippocampi…"

"Hippocampi?" Fluttershy asked.

"Pretty much horses with fishtails. They're distinct from mermares as they have longer bodies and are a whole lot scalier, but they are a heck of a lot smaller than kelpies."

She noticed Applejack's raised eyebrow.

"Don't look so surprised," Rainbow said. "Or did you forget I used to be an archaeological assistant and that I work at a museum? Anyway," she said as she flipped through her book, "the hippocampi plus the singing reminded me of a myth involving three sirens."

She set the book on the coffee table so her friends could see. The page had an illustration of three hippocampi sitting on rocks, their mouths open as if they were singing. One hippocampus was yellow, one was purple, and one was blue.

"That's them!" Applejack said, pointing her hoof on the page. "That's what the Dazzlings looked like when I tied 'em up!"

"Well," Rainbow said, her hoof pointing to the text, "according to this Gracian mythology book, these particular sirens were the result of a romance between the sea god Poseidon and a mermare," she winked, "if you catch my meaning. As if their looks weren't entrancing enough, their voices were more powerful than any creature on land or sea."

She turned the page. "You know the story of the Odyssey, right? Well," she pointed to a picture of a ship heading for the Sirens on the rocks, "these are supposedly the same Sirens who tried to lure Odysseus' ship to crash into the rocks. They only survived cuz the crew had covered her ears, but Odysseus had tied himself to the mast because he wanted to hear their beautiful singing."

"So how do we defeat them?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow shrugged. "Earplugs?"

Rolling her eyes, Applejack said, "We can't just plug the ears of every pony in Maretropolis! They're too entranced by the Dazzlings to listen to anythin' we say!"

"Well, the book doesn't say anything about how to reverse their spell, nor does it say anything about them making themselves to look like ponies."

"What about the mist?" Applejack asked.

"Mist?"

"When the Dazzlings were singin', there was green mist everywhere. Every pony was arguin', and…the mist seemed to be comin' from them and goin' into the Dazzlings' amulets."

Rainbow flipped through the book. "There's nothing in here about green mist either. It just says their singing made ponies do what they wanted."

"But why would they make ponies shout at each other?" Fluttershy asked. "That's not very nice."

Rainbow sighed. "Unfortunately, this is just a myth, which in archaeological terms means 'incomplete history.' This book may not be telling the whole story or anything true at all. For all we know, this picture may just be a coincidence." She looked up at her friends. "But if they are the Sirens, why hasn't their singing affected us?"

"Applejack thinks it might have something to do with her rope and your bolt," Fluttershy said.

"And what about you?"

"I…I don't know. Applejack was just about to tell me when you came in."

They turned to Applejack, but she was too deep in thought to hear their last few sentences.

"Applejack?" Rainbow asked. "Do you know why Fluttershy…?"

"If those Sirens existed in the time of the Olympian gods," Applejack said, rubbing her chin, "then the gods must've dealt with 'em at some point."

"So? How does that help us? We're not the gods."

"No. But we can ask one of 'em how to defeat 'em."

"Oh, sure," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "And how are we supposed to do that? Call 'em on speed dial?"

Applejack walked past her. "I'll just summon Demeter."

Fluttershy and Rainbow gaped as Applejack went into the kitchen. They bolted after her.

"Excuse me?" Rainbow said. "Did you just say you were gonna summon Demeter?"

"Yup," Applejack said, taking three apples from the fruit bowl.

"The Demeter. Goddess of the Harvest? A goddess?!"

"There any other Demeter?" Applejack said, opening the pantry.

"Whoa, whoa, back up." Rainbow held up her hooves. "You know how to summon Demeter?!"

"Yup."

"How?"

"She told me," Applejack said nonchalantly, producing a loaf of break from the pantry.

Rainbow's jaw dropped. "Demeter spoke to you?!"

"Yup," she said, opening a cupboard above.

"When?!"

"Not long after I first got the rope." Applejack pulled a basket-woven cornucopia out of the cupboard. "She told me how to call on her if I ever needed her guidance."

Rainbow blinked in disbelief. "But…I thought the gods had retired!"

"They have," the earth mare said as she gathered the apples and bread into the cornucopia. "They may not directly interfere in the mortal world anymore, but since I'm Demeter's Vassal, I wield a piece of her power, the same way you wield a piece of Zeus'. She can still make contact with the mortal world through me."

Rainbow bit her lip, astonished and envious that Applejack was in contact with Demeter. Meanwhile, Rainbow had been wielding Zeus' Lighting Bolt for months, and not once had the god actually spoken to her. Was there some Gods' Gift user manual she was supposed to read or something?

"So…we're going to meet a…a goddess?" Fluttershy said, her eyes wide in wonder.

"Sorry," Applejack said as she carried the cornucopia out of the kitchen. "But this is somethin' I halfta do alone. If she's gonna come, I'm gonna need complete silence, so no pony make any noise out here and keep outta my bedroom closet."

As she went into her bedroom, Rainbow muttered under her breath, "Sure, she's all buddy-buddy with her goddess! Zeus never told me about any summoning ritual. Didn't even pop into say, 'Hi, how are ya? Enjoying my bolt so far?'"

Fluttershy laid a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm sure there's a reason Zeus hasn't spoken to you yet, Dashie."

"Yeah," Rainbow said, shrugging off her hoof. "Maybe he's too chicken to tell me how disappointed he is in me."

Fluttershy was silent as Rainbow stomped over to the couch. She didn't know the words to comfort her.

Applejack, now dressed as Mistress Mare-velous, prepared her altar in the closet decorated in newspaper clippings. On the table was the cornucopia filled with the apples and the bread loaf, her rope surrounding it. On either side of the table were two torches bolted into the wall. As a precaution, there were no newspaper clippings hanging above them.

Striking a match, she lit both torches. Then she blew the match out, closed her eyes and knelt to the ground.

"Great and gracious Demeter," she murmured, "Goddess of the Harvest and Protector of the Fields, accept my offering and hear my prayer. I, your most loyal and obedient servant, beg that you come forth and give me the guidance I so desire."

She waited in silence. A minute passed, and then the rope began to glow around the cornucopia. Mare-velous did not flinch as she felt a breeze flow through her mane. Suddenly, everything around her was warm, and the room was filled with the smell of fresh wheat.

"Hello, my soldier."

Mare-velous opened her eyes. Stalks of wheat surrounded her, reaching as high as the sky. But that was not all that towered over her.

A tall green earth mare stood before her. A crown of wheat sat atop her brown mane, which was tied into a long, single braid down her shoulder. Her gown was made of fallen autumn leaves which flapped against the wind. She looked down at Mare-velous with chestnut brown eyes.

"My Lady Demeter," Mare-velous said, bowing her head.

Demeter lifted the hero's chin with her hoof. "Why do you call upon me, my champion?"

"My lady," Mare-velous said, lowering her gaze in respect, "I apologize for any disturbance I have brought, but we are facing a foe—well, three for that matter—who may have wreaked havoc during your reign."

She then explained all that had happened with the Dazzlings. The goddess listened to this news with a calm composure.

"These three mares you describe definitely sound like Poseidon's bastard sirens," Demeter said. "They have even share their names: Adagio, Aria and Sonata." She shook her head. "But it is also impossible, for Poseidon had stripped them of their singing voices eons ago, as punishment for their misdeeds."

"Well, they must've gotten 'em back somehow," Mare-velous said. "I heard 'em mention Circe."

"Circe?" Demeter closed her eyes with a sigh. "I should have known. That witch's island Aeanea is not far from where the Sirens used to dwell. If the Sirens had made a deal with Circe, it might explain their new abilities. Of course, dark curses are not my department, but it sounds like their new voices thrive off the negative energy produced by mortals when they argue, which might have been that green mist you saw. Circe might have given them those pony disguises as well."

"So the more ponies fight around them, the more powerful their voices become?"

The goddess nodded.

"So how is it that two of my friends and I aren't affected?"

"Ah, yes," Demeter said, looking down at her grimly. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that new friend of yours."

"If ya mean Rainbow Dash, sure she can be a lil' reckless sometimes, but she can be a lotta help when…"

"I'm not referring to Zeus' Vassal. I'm referring to Discord's Vassal."

Mare-velous raised her head. "Ya mean…Fluttershy?" Her expression became fearful. "Then…she's really…?"

"Yes," Demeter said. "That is why the three of you are unaffected by the Sirens' song. Your individual, personal connections with the gods protect you from any dark enchantment."

The hero shook her head. "No. No, no, Fluttershy can't be Discord's Vassal. Discord's not an Olympian god! Fluttershy doesn't have any talisman or object of Discord's!"

"A talisman is not always necessary for a god to bond with a mortal, nor is it limited to those who have thrones on Mount Olympus. When your friend Fluttershy found Discord and touched his amulet, he gave her a piece of his power and, in turn, bonded with her, making her his Vassal. She belongs to him as you belong to me and Rainbow Dash belongs to my brother. Whether or not she is aware of this connection, I do not know."

Mare-velous gulped. "It's true then. The statue at the museum really is Discord."

"Yes, and I'm afraid his connection with your friend has put her and the mortal realm in grave danger." The goddess bent down to her Vassal. "Applejack, you cannot undo what has already been done, but you can prevent what might happen. A part of Discord lives in Fluttershy, which means she has the power to release him from his stone prison."

Mare-velous' eyes widened.

"Applejack, it is imperative that you do what you can to keep Fluttershy away from Discord so that he may never be released."

"I…" Mare-velous stammered. "I…I'll try, my lady."

"See that you do." Demeter straightened up. "Now, as for the Sirens…"

"Right." The hero had almost forgotten why she had summoned the goddess. "How do we defeat them?"

"It won't do to simply destroy them. Their spell will remain on the poor mortals. Their magic comes from their song, so a song must be sung to counteract theirs."

"So…we have to sing? What song?"

"It does not matter. As long as the three of you are singing together in harmony, you will be able to overpower the Sirens." Demeter sighed. "I do not approve of you working with Discord's Vassal, but you need three divine voices to defeat their three divine voices."

"Divine?" Mare-velous chuckled. "I sing okay, but I don't know about divine."

The goddess smiled softly. "The three of you are blessed with our divine powers. When the three of you sing together with faith in your hearts for us, as well as faith for yourselves, you will be able to use those powers beyond your normal abilities. That's how we'll defeat them."

"Ya mean…if we sing…you, Zeus and…Discord, will be with us?"

Demeter lightly touched the hero's chin. "I'm always with you, Applejack, but this time, I'll be able to work through you." She cringed. "And yes, Zeus and Discord will be there too. At least a part of each of us will be. You'll see what I mean. But you have to sing the song when every pony who has been affected by the Sirens' spell is present, otherwise they will never be free."

"The competition! Every pony will be there! Or if not, they'll be watchin' it on TV!"

"Then you must sing the song then." Demeter stepped back. "Good luck, my champion. Or should I say, break a leg?"

As the goddess winked, the wind blew the wheat surrounding them. Mare-velous then opened her eyes and found herself back in her closet. The cornucopia on the table was empty.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were reading magazines when Mistress Mare-velous came out of her room.

"That didn't take long," Rainbow said, putting down her magazine. "What'd the big gal say?"

Mare-velous then explained how to defeat the Sirens. Fluttershy looked horrified while Rainbow looked disgusted.

"Ya gotta be kidding me!" Rainbow said, throwing her hooves in the air. "We already defeated one villain by singing, now we gotta do that to defeat three more?! No offense, Flutters."

"We're gonna have to sing?" Fluttershy said, shivering. "In front of all of Maretropolis?!"

"It's the only way," Mare-velous said. "Like Demeter said, three divine voices can overpower three other divine voices."

"Divine?" Rainbow said.

"You and I are Vassals to Zeus and Demeter. By singin' to the Sirens, we'll be usin' the powers Zeus and Demeter gave us."

"Yeah, but…what about Fluttershy? She's no vassal or soldier for any god."

"Well, she…" Mare-velous bit her lip as she looked nervously at her roommate. "She…" She sighed. "When you got your powers from Discord's amulet, it…it sort of protects you from any other dark magic."

"Really?" Fluttershy said, looking down at her hooves in wonder.

"Huh," Rainbow said. "Guess there's an advantage to being cursed by the God of Chaos."

"She's been blessed by a god," Mare-velous said. "Even if the cause was Discord, she has to sing with us if we're to defeat the Sirens."

"Okay. So what are we gonna sing?"

"Demeter said it doesn't matter, as long as we do it together."

"Then let's sing a rock ballad! If we're gonna be fighting with music again, we should at least make it something cool."

Mare-velous raised an eyebrow. "Thought ya didn't like karaoke."

"I said I didn't do karaoke. Not like I can't."

"But we should really sing somethin' more soulful, like a country ballad. After all, it'd be easier if the three of us were singin' on-key."

Rainbow scoffed. "Excuse me! But rock is not off-key!"

"It's not even singin'! It's just yellin' to music!"

"But country is so slow! We'd bore the audience to death before we defeat the Sirens. Besides, the Sirens have been singing upbeat pop music. It's only logical that we sing something upbeat."

"Ya think country can't be upbeat?"

"We're doing rock!"

"Country!"

"Rock!"

"Country!"

"Rock!"

"Country!"

"STOP!"

Rainbow and Mare-velous turned to Fluttershy, who had stood up from the couch.

"I don't care what you sing!" Fluttershy said, tears welling up in her eyes. "There is no way that I'm going out there and singing in front of all those ponies!"

She raced out of the room.

"But Fluttershy, we need ya!" Rainbow called.

"I'm such an idiot," Mare-velous said, facehoofing herself. "I forgot all about her stage fright! Of course she wouldn't be up for this!"

"Whaddya mean stage fright? Why would she…? Oh." Rainbow cringed in realization. "That…explains a lot."

"What?"

"Okay, I should've read into this more, but," Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her neck, "back at Flight Camp, there was this talent show. Fluttershy was gonna sing. I'd come over to her house and hear her rehearse. But that was before…" She hung her head. "The day she was knocked out of the sky."

"Ah," Mare-velous said, nodding in understanding. "I take it that experience had changed more than just her temper tantrums."

"I mean she was always pretty timid, but I told ya, after that day she just shut every pony out. When the day of the talent show came, she walked onstage, but she just froze up. I never knew why. She had sung for me before, and I was right in the front row, supporting her. But I guess it wasn't sounding bad she was afraid of, it was…"

"Her fear of losin' control." Mare-velous sighed. "I ain't no psychoanalyst, but her fear of Saddle Rager might've manifested into a fear of performin' in front of others."

"MM?" Rainbow said, glancing sideways at her. "What you said about…Fluttershy being blessed with Discord's powers…is there…is there something more to that you're not telling us?"

Mare-velous winced and then turned to her. "You're her friend too, Rainbow, so ya must know. And ya work at the museum, so you can help me."

"What are you talking about?"

The earth mare took a deep breath. "Demeter told me that…the real reason Fluttershy's immune to the Sirens' magic is that…" She looked away. "Ya know how you carry a piece of Zeus and I carry a piece of Demeter?"

Rainbow tilted her head in concern. "What are you saying?"

Mare-velous closed her eyes. "It's the same with Fluttershy and…Discord."

Rainbow's eyes widened.

"The day Fluttershy received her powers," Mare-velous explained further, "was also the day she became Discord's Vassal, in the same way that I'm Demeter's and you're Zeus'."

Rainbow took a step back. "Then…that statue…at the museum…is really Discord?"

Mare-velous nodded. "I didn't know how to tell Fluttershy, but she is connected to Discord, and he is a dangerous god to be connected to. Demeter told me I had to keep her as far away from the statue as possible."

"It's worse than you think." The pegasus looked at her worriedly. "The statue, it's…it's cracking. It's been cracking for weeks now! I called Daring Do and she said there's some prophecy about him being set free by a pony, the Keeper of His Core." She glanced at Fluttershy's bedroom door. "I don't know why I didn't think of it before. She was the one who found him, who was blessed by him, she visits him almost every day."

"Then this is worse than we thought," Mare-velous said, grabbing Rainbow's shoulders. "Dash, we can't let Fluttershy know about all this."

"Why? If she understood the danger…"

"Have you met Fluttershy? She could go right up to a rattlesnake and treat it like it's a lil' angel! If she knew she had the power to release Discord, a statue she's been talkin' to for years, what do ya think she'll do?"

Rainbow opened her mouth and then shut it.

"Exactly. We gotta make sure Fluttershy never gets close enough to Discord to let him out. I'm her roommate, and you work at the museum where the statue's kept. It's up to us to make sure Discord stays in stone. Agreed?"

With a gulp, Rainbow nodded. "Agreed." She stepped out of Mare-velous' hold and rubbed her foreleg awkwardly. "So, um…what's it like talking to a goddess?"

Mare-velous glanced up at the ceiling in thought. "Like…talkin' to your favorite teacher. A teacher ya respect and fear at the same time."

The pegasus' ears drooped. "Must be nice…being able to call on your patron goddess whenever you want."

Noticing her distress, Mare-velous lay a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I know that…ya've heard nothin' from Zeus since ya got the lightning bolt, but ya shouldn't feel bad about it."

"But why hasn't he spoken to me yet? Like you said, it's not like those gods are doing anything else." She looked upwards. "Is he…afraid or…embarrassed to see me?"

Mare-velous shook her head. "He wouldn't be embarrassed if he'd chosen you to wield his weapon."

"Well what if I made him embarrassed?" Rainbow turned to her. "After all, I…I can be clumsy sometimes and…" She touched the bolt around her neck. "I'd be less clumsy if the big guy'd just show up and tell me how this worked! Demeter couldn't wait to start mentoring you!"

"Rainbow, I think…"

"Just forget it." Rainbow shrugged off her hoof and walked towards the door. "It's late. I should…probably get some rest for tomorrow's battle of the bands." She looked over her shoulder. "Think Zeus'll appear in my dreams like some animal spirit guide or something?"

"Rainbow, you should know…"

"Yeah, you're right." She opened the door. "He's probably busy courting some mortals as a goose or something."

She shut the door before Mare-velous could stop her.

Sonata stared at the strange slop of food that had been placed in her hoof. "What is this?"

Pinkie Pie snorted. "It's a taco, silly!"

It was evening, and Sonata and Pinkie were standing at a taco stand in Maretropolis Park. The pink mare was chomping on her taco, not minding that cheese sauce was dripping down her chin.

"You mortals actually eat this stuff?" Sonata asked.

"Mmm-hmm," Pinkie said, swallowing. "Ya mean they don't have tacos where you come from?"

"Eh, we usually ate seaweed or shellfish. That was when we lived underwater, before we started feeding off mortals' negative energy."

"Ah, that makes sense," Pinkie said, unfazed.

Sonata smirked. "It's so much easier to be honest when your date is brainwashed."

"Ya gonna eat that or what?"

The siren gulped as she stared at the messy taco shell. Closing her eyes, she brought the taco to her open mouth and bit down on it. Her eyes popped open and she gobbled down the rest of it.

"Mmm!" she said with her mouth full. "Dis ish duh bust ding uh evuh daystud!"

"Ay-huh!" Pinkie said, her mouth also full. "I-nymph in?"

They swallowed simultaneously and laughed.

"I must have more!" Sonata said, slamming her hooves on the counter of the taco stand. "Gimme all the tacos you got!"

"Okay," the stallion said with a smile as he picked up the condiments. "It's on the house!"

"Sweet!" Pinkie said. "Who knew going out with an evil singing siren would be so beneficial?"

"Told ya it'd be fun," Sonata said. "Ooh, what's that over there?!"

Pinkie looked to where Sonata was pointing. "Oh, that's a fountain."

"Water!" She raced off. "Wait for the tacos, will ya?"

"Okay, have fun!" Pinkie shouted, waving.

Sonata dove into the park's fountain and started splashing around.

"Oh, sweet!" Sonata said, picking up some coins. "Free money!"

She continued swimming around, collecting more coins until a police officer came over.

"Hey, no swimming in the fountain!" he said, raising his matchstick. "And taking coins out of a fountain is stealing!"

Sonata's head came out of the water. "Oh, but officer," she said, batting her eyelashes, "I'm just a sweet innocent little girl. I didn't know any better."

The cop rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, tell that to the judge."

Smirking, Sonata opened her mouth and sang a few "ahs." The officer dropped his matchstick and stood there mesmerized.

"Do you still wanna arrest me?" Sonata asked, curling her lip into a pout.

The cop smiled. "So sorry to bother you, miss. Enjoy your swim."

He turned around and walked away, forgetting his matchstick. By this time, Pinkie had arrived, carrying a tower of tacos.

"Not to be a mother hen," Pinkie said, peering around the tacos, "but if ya eat while swimming, you're likely to cramp up."

Sonata snorted. "That's ridiculous. I eat while swimming all the time and that never happens!"

"Maybe when you were a sea pony, but now you're a land pony. And the laws of physics state that if you're changed into a land pony, you're more likely to cramp up if ya go swimming while eating."

"Well what if I just sit here and not swim anywhere?"

Pinkie shrugged. "That might work."

She lowered herself and placed down the pile of tacos so she could sit beside Sonata. They each took a taco from the bottom of the pile, amazingly without having the whole thing fall over.

"I've been talking a lot about myself," Sonata said as she bit into her taco. "Tell me about you."

"Whaddya wanna know?" Pinkie asked.

The siren propped her elbow on the rim of the fountain and leaned her chin on her hoof. "Absolutely everything!"

"Well, I was born on a rock farm with my three sisters Limestone Pie, Maud Pie and Marble Pie. Marble's my baby sister by only a few minutes but Maud is really my closest…"

As she went on, the two of them slowly devoured the tower of tacos. Sonata did not say a word, as she was watching and listening to the bespectacled mare with interest.

"And that's pretty much the story of my entire life!" Pinkie said as she swallowed the last taco. "That is, up to the point where you called me and asked to hang out. But you know everything after that."

"That's amazing," Sonata said. "Living a double-life as a rock farmer and superhero. Also explains how you were able to get to my apartment so fast."

"Yeah," Pinkie said with a sigh. "But I really wanna be closer to Maretropolis so I can do the superhero stuff more often, but Dad doesn't really want me to leave the rock farm. He says I should stay with my family."

"So you have daddy issues." The siren looked up at the starry sky. "I know how that feels."

"What? Did your dad not want you to be an evil siren or something?"

"That must've been it. I mean first he left our mom high and wet with three fish eggs, for the stupid reason that he had to go back to his wife; then for years he doesn't bother to visit, not even during the holidays; nor did he show up for Mom's funeral. He never sent a card! And it's not until after we sink a few hundred ships that he finally shows up, and it's to take our voices away!" She sighed. "At least your dad was around to make you feel loved and adored."

Pinkie nodded. "That's tough. No wonder you and your sisters are taking over the world."

Sonata smiled. "I knew you'd understand."

An hour later, Pinkie and Sonata were walking down the hallway to the Dazzlings' apartment. The two of them were laughing.

"Your sister got her head stuck in what?!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"A soda bottle!" Sonata said, bawling. "Poor Aria's head was swollen for weeks!"

"Guess we mortals really shouldn't litter, huh?"

"You really shouldn't! Maybe Aria would hate all you mortals a little less!"

They laughed again. Sonata grinned as she rubbed her foreleg.

"Thanks for walking me back to my apartment," she said. "You didn't have to. I don't get lost anymore."

"What kind of date would I be if I didn't?" Pinkie asked.

Sonata frowned. "Hey, um…Pinkie…do you think…you know, if you weren't…?"

She paused when she caught Pinkie's perpetually excited expression. It hadn't changed all night.

Sonata shook her head. "Never mind."

They made it to Sonata's apartment door.

"Want me to come in?" Pinkie asked.

"No, no, no," Sonata said, turning to her. "My sisters are home and they don't really want me fooling around with any mortals until after we take over the world. But don't worry!" She grabbed Pinkie's shoulder. "Once we take over the world, we can fool around all we want!"

"Sounds like fun, bye!" Pinkie said, turning to leave.

"Call me tomorrow!" Sonata called, waving.

"I'll call the minute I get up!"

Giggling, Sonata opened the door. She frowned when she saw Adagio and Aria waiting on the couch. Their hooves were folded over their chests and their eyes were glaring.

"Where have you been?" Adagio demanded. "We're supposed to be resting our voices for tomorrow's performance!"

"Chillax, will ya?" Sonata said, shutting the door. "I was just getting some air."

"Uh-huh," Aria said. "With whom?"

"Just this mare who'd given me her number at that karaoke thing. Remember, she was the one wearing my face today?" She squealed. "She showed me a taco cart! You girls ever tried a taco? It's amazing!"

Adagio slapped herself in the forehead. "What did I say about fooling around with mortals? We're in the middle of a grandmaster plan to take over the mortal word here! We can't afford any distractions!"

Sonata huffed. "I was not fooling around!" She went over to the kitchen counter and hoisted herself onto it. "It was just one little date!" She folded her hooves. "We didn't even kiss."

"Then what did you do?" Aria asked.

"We just…you know, walked around town, ate some tacos, swam in the fountain and just…talked." She grinned. "Pinkie is a very good listener."

"Uh, hello?" Aria said, rolling her eyes. "She's under a spell! Of course she's a good listener!"

"Oh but she was also so weird! Like…the good kind of weird." She put her hooves together. "Please, please, please, can I keep her?"

"We don't have time for this!" Adagio said, rising from the sofa. "We need to find a way to take care of that meddling Soldier of Demeter's."

"What's the point?" Aria said. "It's not like she can even get close to us without getting mobbed by our adoring fans."

"That doesn't mean she won't try." Adagio began pacing. "If only we knew more about this hero, where she lives, who her friends are…"

"Maybe my new girlfriend can help," Sonata piped.

Adagio groaned. "If I hear you talk about your girlfriend one more time…"

"No, I'm serious! I mean she's in this whole club of heroes thing called the Power Ponies. One hero can shoot lasers from her horn and one of 'em has this magical lasso that…"

The eldest sister stopped. "What did you say?"

"I said one of 'em shoots lasers and…"

"No, no, no. The one with the lasso."

"Oh, yeah. She has a lasso and these horseshoes which she throws around. She's called Mistress Mare-velous and Pinkie says she can be a real grump."

"Really?" Adagio smiled maliciously. "What else did your girlfriend say about this…Mistress Mare-velous?"

Fluttershy was standing on a stage, a microphone in front of her. She looked out at the audience of ponies and saw that it stretched on for miles. She couldn't even see the back of the theater.

"And now," said a voice, "the musical stylings of Fluttershy Buttercream, who will be singing a song to defeat the evil Sirens and save the world!"

She was blinded by a spotlight, and her knees grew weak. Crickets chirped and some pony coughed. Fluttershy opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Suddenly, there were screams. Fluttershy glanced around to see what was going on, but the spotlight prevented her from seeing anything. Then she looked down at herself and found that the muscles in her legs had enlarged.

"No," she said in a deep, gruff voice as she backed away. "No, no!" She yelped as her heavy weight caused her to fall through the stage. "This isn't me!" She covered her eyes. "No!"

As she scrunched herself into a ball, the screams started to fade away and she felt something cold but soft touch her back. She did not flinch, for she knew the touch well.

"I'm here, my darling," said a male voice. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

Without opening her eyes, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around the warm, furry body. She felt lighter now and more like herself. As the creature's claw ran through her mane, she cried softly into his fur.

"That's it," he said. "Let it all out."

She sniffed. "I…I still can't understand how…how you can be here."

His paw moved gently down her back. "I feel your distress and I come. I am just strong enough to be able to reach out to you subconsciously and visit you in your dreams." His voice sounded sad. "I wish I could do more."

"It's all I need," Fluttershy said, clutching his fur.

"But tell me, my darling. What has you so distressed?"

She opened her eyes. All she could see was a white void.

"I…I'm supposed to sing tomorrow," Fluttershy said. "In front of millions of ponies."

"Sing?" he said, surprised. "You can sing?"

She hung her head. "I'm not very good."

"Now I doubt that." She closed her eyes as he cupped her chin in his claw. "Your speaking voice is so sweet, I'm certain your singing voice is angelic."

She smiled softly. "But the thing is…I have stage fright." She moved her face out of his hold. "It's not that I'm worried about sounding bad or anything, it's just that…" She gulped. "Whenever…whenever I go up and…so many ponies are watching, I…I'm afraid that…they'll see me. The real me." She dropped her head into his fur. "Every part of me."

There was silence. "And what's wrong with that?"

She inhaled sharply as his claw began stroking her face. It felt so cold, but comforting at the same time.

"I cannot see anything while I'm in stone," he said. "I can't even see while in your dreams. But whenever I hear your sweet voice, do you know what I see?"

"What?"

He lifted her face up and Fluttershy opened her eyes. She could not see his face, only a tall brown body that faded into the void.

"I see the most remarkable creature in the universe. One who is kind, compassionate, and whose voice pierces through the darkness like a shining beacon. When those ponies hear you sing, that is what they will see." He gently ran his paw through her mane. "Besides, it's not as if the fate of the world rests on you singing."

She bit her lip. "Actually, it…kind of does."

He was quiet for a moment. "Well, um…you still shouldn't worry. Even if I'm in stone," she could hear the soft whisper in her ear, "I will be with you. They can take my statue to the edge of the world, but my heart and spirit will never leave you." He pulled her closer. "Remember that when you sing tomorrow. Sing for me, because I know that anything that comes out of your mouth will be beautiful."

Fluttershy sat up in bed. Her dream had given her an idea. Opening her side table drawer, she pulled out a yellow notebook with a pink butterfly on it. After grabbing a pen, she started writing.

In the morning, Fluttershy and Applejack were at the breakfast table. Applejack was reading Fluttershy's notebook. After a while, Applejack looked up at her roommate.

"Where'd ya come up with this?" she asked.

"It, um…came to me in a…dream." Fluttershy blushed. "W-What do you think?"

Applejack set down the notebook. "I think we just found our song to defeat the Sirens."

"Shoot," Applejack said as they waited in line to get into the stadium. "I almost forgot. Twilight's pretty much blacklisted me! Pinkie won't want me workin' the stand either!" She looked down at the badge around her neck. "My vendor's pass is probably no good anymore."

"I figured as much," Rainbow Dash said. "Which is why we're going in the old-fashioned way."

"What's that?"

Rainbow held up three tickets. "Duh!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Still, I bet those guards have a picture of me. Don't forget Twilight knows my secret identity and wouldn't let Mistress Mare-velous or Applejack Smith in!"

"Thought of that too. Here." She produced a pair of glasses out of her jacket pocket and handed them to Applejack. "Take my spares."

The earth mare raised an eyebrow as she put the spectacles on. "No way this'll work."

"Why not? Works for me all the time." Rainbow tilted her head. "Though ya might wanna lose the hat. It's a real telltale sign."

"My rope's in here," Applejack whispered, touching her hat.

"Then we gotta hide it somehow."

"Whaddya suggest?"

When the three heroes reached the front of the line, Rainbow smiled as she handed the tickets to the ticket taker. As he ripped off the stubs, he looked Applejack over.

"Enjoy the show," he said, handing the stubs back. "And congratulations."

Applejack forced a smile as she patted the belly bump beneath her beige trench coat. As soon as they were out of the ticket taker's hearing, she narrowed her eyes at Rainbow, who had a smug look on her face.

"Told ya it'd work," she said.

"I can't believe it," Applejack said, shaking her head.

But she couldn't help smiling to herself. It was a pretty good plan, albeit ridiculous.

"So how are we going to do this?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean we can't just walk onstage and sing."

"Got that covered," Rainbow said, waving a hoof. "I got in touch with one of the sound ponies, Vinyl Scratch. She agreed to set up some equipment so we can sing over the Sirens during their song."

"How'd ya manage to do that?" Applejack asked.

"Vinyl was the only one on the crew not under the Sirens' spell, so she was more than happy to help. Plus we went to Maretropolis U together."

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

Rainbow smirked. "She never takes off her headphones. Come on, she said she'd meet us in the sound booth."

Fluttershy looked out at the stadium and saw how many ponies were in the stands. The sight made her slow her pace. Applejack turned back to her.

"Ya comin', Sugar Cube?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Y-You girls go ahead. I have to, uh…" She spotted the mares' restroom. "Powder my muzzle!"

As she whizzed into the bathroom, Applejack and Rainbow glanced at each other.

"We'll meet up with ya later," the former said, following after her roommate.

When Applejack opened the bathroom door, she heard hyperventilating. She pulled her hat out of her coat and placed in on her head so she could feel more like herself. Peering around the corner, she saw Fluttershy staring into the mirror and gripping the sink.

"Who am I kidding?" she said, hanging her head. "I can't do this!"

"Sure you can."

Fluttershy spun around as Applejack approached her.

"Ya sounded great when we were practicin' together," the earth mare said.

"But that's when it was just you two," Fluttershy said, looking away, ashamed. "I don't know if I can sing in front of all those ponies."

"Hey," Applejack said, placing her hooves on her shoulders. "Remember why we're here. If we don't do this, our friends and all of Maretropolis will be under the Sirens' influence forever. We'll beat 'em if we work together, I know it."

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing Adagio's voice, Applejack turned to see her and Aria in the doorway wearing smug expressions.

"Somehow we knew you'd come back for more, Mistress Mare-velous," Adagio said.

Applejack was silent.

"Oh, yes," Adagio said as she began circling the two heroes. "We recognize you. It wasn't hard figuring out that cowgirl who ran out of the bathroom and the masked mare who tied us up a few minutes later were one in the same."

"Same coat color, same eyes, same mane," Aria said as she joined her sister in the circling, "not to mention those lame glasses don't work."

Applejack took off the glasses and tucked them into her coat. "So whaddya gonna do? Call your brainwashed minions to throw me out? Tell every pony my real identity?"

"No need," Adagio said. "We've already ruined your reputation. What would be the point of spilling your biggest secret?"

"It's not like you can defeat us either way," Aria said.

"Even trying to attack us again will only make the mortals of Maretropolis hate you more."

Applejack crossed her forelegs. "Y'all seem pretty confident about that."

"We're merely stating the facts. You think we're afraid of Demeter's little rope?" Adagio scoffed. "Demeter's not even remotely that powerful."

"Nothing but a flower-picker whose secret weapon is honesty," Aria said in a snarky tone.

"Now, if your patron god were Daddy Poseidon…"

"…or Apollo, who's all about the music…"

"…heck, even Dionysus would be better suited for this situation." Adagio smirked at Applejack. "The Goddess of Plants is nothing against three sea sirens."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "Ya better hope Demeter didn't hear ya say that. Or did ya forget she can literally put ya on ice?"

Adagio laughed. "If any of the gods still had any power in this world, they would've done something about us already."

"Besides," Aria said, "it's you we're fighting, not Demeter."

"Really, Applejack, how can you expect to defeat us when you couldn't even defeat your parents' murderer?"

Applejack's and Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, yes," Adagio said with a dark chuckle. "We know all about your dear old Mummy and Daddy. I'll bet if they were alive," she stuck her face in Applejack's, "they'd be severely disappointed in how poor a hero their daughter turned out to be."

Applejack clenched her hoof. "At least my pa wouldn't be disappointed enough to steal my singin' voice."

Adagio stepped back, surprised at her comeback. She growled at the cowgirl.

"Enjoy the show," she said, turning her back to her. "It might be your last."

Aria followed her sister out of the bathroom. Fluttershy was still hiding behind Applejack. The pegasus looked up at her roommate, whose cheeks were red with fury.

"Applejack, I…" Fluttershy said. "I'm so sorry."

"Why should you be sorry?" Applejack asked, looking down at her.

"Well, those Sirens…what they said to you…it was…just awful."

The earth mare shrugged. "Yeah, well, they can go buck themselves."

Fluttershy blinked. "You're…not upset?"

"Oh, I'm downright furious. But it's gonna take a lot more than that to bring me down. If I can go to the Underworld and back, I can handle a few harsh words."

The pegasus tilted her head. "You've been to the Underworld?"

"Long story," Applejack said, waving her hoof. "Besides, I know they're spoutin' hooey, you know they're spoutin' hooey, Demeter knows they're spoutin' hooey. That's all that matters."

Fluttershy glanced at her reflection in thought. "So…what you're saying is…it doesn't matter what a bunch of strangers think, all that matters is what the ones you care about think…and what you think of yourself?"

Applejack tapped her chin. "Yeah, I guess that's what I'm sayin'."

Fluttershy remembered the words from her dreams: I know that anything that comes out of your mouth will be beautiful.

She blushed. "He may be right."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "He?"

Fluttershy turned to her. She didn't feel like there was any need to keep anything from her roommate, as Applejack already knew the source of her power.

"Y-You know?" Fluttershy said. "When you told me that…my powers from Discord protected me from the Sirens' magic…I…I wasn't surprised. I mean…I already know he wants to protect me. For all I know, that's why he gave me my powers in the first place. After all, when I first saw him, I told him about what had happened at Flight Camp, he may have wanted to give me the opportunity to defend myself and…"

"Sugar, whaddya talkin' about?" Applejack asked in a concerned voice.

Fluttershy gripped the edge of the sink. "I…I've been dreaming of Discord."

Applejack took a step back.

"Not nightmares, no! In fact…he shows up whenever I'm dreaming of something scary and he makes it all better." She smiled softly. "It's…comforting, actually, knowing that someone's looking out for me." She looked at Applejack. "That's what inspired me to write the song. If not for Discord, I wouldn't be what I am today. I…I wouldn't feel stronger, greater, like…like I can do anything." She put her hoof to her heart. "It's like having my own guardian angel."

This revelation induced fear in Applejack. She had thought Fluttershy had been completely unaware of her connection with Discord, but it seemed…he had already reached out to her. Discord was the most dangerous entity to ever exist, the one who had cursed Fluttershy in the first place, and she was speaking of him as if he were a guardian angel.

What other lies had Discord told her?

Applejack wanted to remind her of why Discord had been imprisoned in the first place, to give her Demeter's warning that if Fluttershy wasn't careful, she could unleash hell upon the world.

Then the earth mare saw the expression on her roommate's face. It was so hopeful, so confident. As evil as he was, Discord had induced that confidence in her. Applejack couldn't take that away, not when she needed Fluttershy to go out there and face her fears.

Taking a deep breath, Applejack said, "I…feel the same way about Demeter. But…in all honesty," she laid her hooves on Fluttershy's shoulders, "all she did was give me a rope. She wasn't the one who told me to defend the world. She wasn't the one who sent me to Maretropolis. She wasn't the one who had me join the Power Ponies. That was all me."

She gently lifted Fluttershy's chin. "Havin' faith in a higher power sure can help sometimes, but ya also gotta have faith in your own abilities. Discord may have set ya on the path, but you were the one who took yourself the rest of the way. That's why I believe you can do this."

Grinning, Fluttershy nodded in determination. "You're right, Applejack. I can do this. Now let's go…whoop those Sirens' butts!"

She marched bravely towards the bathroom door. Applejack smiled at her confidence, but then frowned when she remembered where it was coming from.

"Fluttershy."

The pegasus turned. Applejack bit her lip as she struggled to find the right words.

"Promise…that no matter how confident ya are in yourself…you won't do anything stupid, will ya?"

"Don't worry, Applejack," Fluttershy said. "I don't think anything could make me that confident. Not even a god."

As they exited the bathroom, Applejack murmured, "I sure hope so."

The door to the sound booth was opened by a white unicorn mare with electric blue hair. Covering her eyes were tinted purple sunglasses and on her head was a set of headphones. She grinned when she saw Rainbow Dash.

"Come on in, Crash," she said, opening the door further.

Rainbow laughed awkwardly. "Please don't use my old college nickname, Scratch."

"Hey, Vinyl!" the mare at the lighting board called. "We're not supposed to have visitors!"

Vinyl put her hoof around Dash. "Rainbow Crash here is an intern from Maretropolis U, majoring in Sound Design. I said she could come here and learn a thing or two."

The other crew members shrugged and returned to their work.

"But if you wanna make yourself useful," Vinyl whispered to Rainbow, "you can go grab some extension cords from the supply closet. They're long and…"

"I know what extension cords look like," Rainbow said, brushing her off.

She went over to the supply closet and opened the door. What she saw made her eyes bulge out of their sockets. Sonata and Pinkie Pie turned to the pegasus in the doorway. The two of them were locked in a tight embrace, their lower legs entwined, Pinkie's glasses hanging from Sonata's tangled ponytail.

"Hi!" they piped, apparently undisturbed by Rainbow's interruption.

"Urg…" Rainbow uttered.

"Whoopsies!" Sonata said with a giggle. "I think we might've mentally scarred her for life!"

"Did ya need something, Dashie?" Pinkie asked.

"Uh…uh…"

Vinyl poked her head in. "Extension cords."

Without untangling from Sonata, Pinkie reached for the shelf behind her and grabbed a roll of extension cord.

"Here you go!" she said, handing it to Rainbow.

Rainbow was still too shocked to move, so Vinyl took the roll.

"Sorry, but you two are gonna have to leave," the unicorn said. "The show's gonna start soon and we can't afford any…distractions."

"Oh, yeah?" Sonata said.

She opened her mouth but Pinkie quickly covered it. "Come on, Sonny Doo. Let 'em do their job. Besides, you're gonna have to rest your adorable voice for the show. This is your chance to take over the world, remember?"

Sonata moaned. "Fine!" She grunted as she pried her legs free from Pinkie's. "But we're continuing this after the show."

"Okie dokie lokie!"

Sonata pushed Rainbow and Vinyl aside while Pinkie bounced after her. Once they were out of the sound booth, Vinyl turned to Rainbow.

"Sorry, had no idea they were in there. I can barely hear anything with these babies on." Rainbow said nothing. "Dash?" She waved her hoof over the pegasus' wide eyes. "Dash?"

Tapping her chin, Vinyl came up with an idea. Reluctantly, she took off her headphones and placed them over Rainbow's ears. Dash cried out as loud dubstep music blared in her ears! She hastened the headphones off her head.

"How do you listen to that stuff all the time?!"

Vinyl shrugged as she picked up her headphones and put them back on. "Saved me from being brainwashed, didn't it?"

There was a knock at the hallway door. Vinyl opened it to find Applejack and Fluttershy standing there.

"Hi, we're friends of Rainbow Dash?" Applejack said.

"Of course," Vinyl said. "She's right here, though…" She chuckled. "Not all here."

"Did I just see Pinkie Pie with one of the Sirens?"

Rainbow nodded dumbly.

"What was Pinkie doing with her?" Fluttershy asked.

"Trust me," Rainbow said, shaking her head and holding up her hoof. "You don't wanna know."

While the competition was in the middle of its third act, Vinyl Scratch helped the three heroes set up their act on a catwalk facing the stage. Vinyl had hooked up a pair of speakers to the sound booth with the roll of extension cord. She had plugged in three microphones for the heroes, who were now dressed in their costumes and holding those mics.

"Ya sure ya can trust this mare not to reveal our secret identities?" Mare-velous whispered to Zapp.

"Oh, sure," Zapp said. "We sealed our secret with the Zeta Nu Sigma secret hoofshake. She's bound by the sacred bonds of Zeta Sisterhood not to say anything."

Mare-velous snorted. "You were part of a sorority?!"

Zapp rolled her eyes. "I'll have ya know that Zeta Nu Sigma's the more chill kinda sorority. We don't waste time gussying up like most sororities." She tilted her head towards the unicorn. "Vinyl was a year ahead of me. When I realized that she was part of the sound crew and protected by her headphones, I knew our college ties would come in handy."

Mare-velous grinned at Zapp. "I've figured it out."

She turned to her. "Figured out what?"

The earth mare set down her mic. "Why Zeus hasn't given ya any guidance yet."

Zapp's eyes wandered as she tried to think of what she meant. "I'm a sorority girl?"

Chuckling, Mare-velous shook her head. "I don't think he needs ta."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Zapp," Mare-velous said, pointing to herself. "When Demeter first spoke to me, I'd just lost my parents. While I still had my granny and siblings and all, I had no pony to tell me how to control these new powers of mine. Demeter came to me because I was a lost filly who needed help."

She placed her hoof on Zapp's shoulder. "When you first became Zapp, I was there to help ya control the storm. Even after that, ya had Matter-Horn, Daring Do, lots of ponies who have been teachin' ya how to be a hero and how to use your powers. I didn't have all that.

"Ya say ya need Zeus to tell ya what to do, but look at all the stuff ya've been able to do without his help! Ya've faced bad guys, took down the Shadow King, heck," she said, gesturing towards Vinyl, "you were the one who got us into this place without a hitch! Don't ya see? Zeus hasn't offered his help yet, because he knows ya don't need it, because," she gave Zapp's shoulder a gentle squeeze, "he's proud of what ya can do on your own."

Zapp stared at Mare-velous in wonder. Then her lips slowly curled into a smile.

"T-Thanks, MM." She wiped away a tear before any pony could see it. "I…I didn't realize…how much I need to hear that."

"But who knows?" the earth mare said, retracting her hoof. "Maybe someday you'll mess up so bad, the big guy'll have to show up."

"Hey!"

Mare-velous laughed, earning a light punch in the shoulder from Zapp, who was also laughing. Saddle Rager grinned, amazed at how much their relationship had changed in a matter of a few minutes.

"It's good to see that the two of you are friends now," Saddle Rager said. "Now I'm really confident this song is going to…"

She squealed as she was suddenly knocked over by a pink blur. Zapp dropped her mic as she and Mare-velous turned to the left side of the catwalk. Radiance stood there, and Fili-Second zipped up to her side. They were glaring at Zapp, Mare-velous and Saddle Rager angrily.

"Fili, what's the big idea?" Zapp said.

"I'll tell you what the big idea is."

Upon hearing the Matter-Horn's voice, Mare-velous and Zapp turned to their right. Humdrum was waddling up to them, pounding a fist into his claw. The Masked Matter-Horn hovered above him.

"The big idea," the Matter-Horn said, "is that I made it explicitly clear that I didn't want you disrupting this event, Mare-velous. But now I see that you've turned two more of our team members against me."

"Twilight, stop," Mare-velous said, reaching for a horseshoe. "You're not yourself."

"Takes one to know one!" Fili-Second cried.

"We hate to have to do this, girls," the Matter-Horn said, "but it's our job to protect the city from evildoers."

Spike cried out in fury as he leapt at Zapp. She easily dodged him by stepping to the side. Even so, it gave Radiance and Fili-Second reason to charge. Fili, of course, got to the clear-headed heroes sooner. Zapp quickly flew upward, but Saddle Rager was knocked over again.

"We're not seriously gonna have to fight our own teammates, are we?" Zapp asked.

"We just gotta incapacitate 'em long enough to sing!" Mare-velous said. "I got Matter-Horn!"

She launched a horseshoe towards the Matter-Horn. She melted it down with a heat ray.

"Hey!" Mare-velous shouted as a golden blob dropped onto the catwalk. "Ya owe me a new horseshoe!"

She yelped as the alicorn shot an ice beam at her hoof. Mare-velous retreated as the Matter-Horn chased after her. Meanwhile, Radiance was closing in on Saddle Rager.

"I half expected this sort of behavior from Mistress Mare-velous and Zapp," the unicorn said, scowling, "but you Saddle Rager! It's like you're that awful monster all the time now!"

Saddle Rager was crouched on the floor, her hooves over her head. "Please don't make me get mad at you!"

Radiance used her bracelets to summon a net. Before she could snare Saddle Rager, however, Humdrum jumped at the pegasus and got caught in the net instead.

"Humdrum!" Radiance shouted.

"Oops," the dragon said, smiling awkwardly.

The unicorn facehoofed herself. "Must you always get in the way?!"

Fili-Second was zooming circles around Zapp, making her quite dizzy.

"Fili, stop it!" Zapp shouted. "The Sirens—ow!" She cried out as Fili-Second slapped her every time she went round. "Are…not…what…they…seem!"

"Liar!" Fili-Second said, pinning her to the ground. "You just want my Sonny Doo all to yourself!"

Using her hips, Zapp bucked the pink mare off. She flipped over so she could pin Fili-Second down.

"She's using you, Pinkie!" Zapp yelled. "She doesn't really love you!"

"Yeah, she does!" Fili-Second said, zipping out from under Zapp's hold. Then she started rapidly punching Zapp in the face. "She loves me and tacos!"

Mare-velous found it hard to concentrate on her lasso with the Matter-Horn zapping at her every few seconds.

"You would start a schism, Smith!" the alicorn shouted with another ice beam. "You always wanted to be the leader!"

"I won't deny that the thought may have crossed my mind at one point!" Mare-velous called over her shoulder.

It was clearly the wrong thing to say. The Matter-Horn charged at her, tackling her to the floor.

As the fight went on, all six Power Ponies, plus Humdrum, started glowing green. Mist emitted from their bodies and floated over towards the stage. The Dazzlings were watching the scene from backstage.

"What I tell you, girls?" Adagio said, grinning in satisfaction. "Turning those heroes against each other was genius. Soon we'll absorb their powers, including Demeter's!" She turned to her youngest sister. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but…good job, Sonata, for getting that information out of your girlfriend."

"I just hope my Pinkie Poo doesn't get hurt," Sonata said, sounding genuinely worried.

"She'll be fine," Aria said, rolling her eyes. "She's super-fast, remember?"

Adagio inhaled deeply as the green mist transferred into her amulet. Aria and Sonata did the same.

"Ah," Adagio breathed. "Yes. Just the boost we needed. Who knew we'd end up getting a little Olympian magic out of this?"

Suddenly, she stiffened.

"What is it?" Aria asked.

Adagio touched her pendant. "Something's…off."

Sonata looked down at her own pendant. "I don't feel anything weird. Except maybe a little gas."

"No, that's not it." Her hooves tightened around the gem. "Some of that magic's Gracian, but it's not…Olympian. It almost feels…"

She trailed off when the audience applauded for the singing group onstage. Adagio shook her head.

"Never mind." She put her hooves around the other two. "This is our moment, sisters. Soon the whole mortal world will be under our control, and then dear old Daddy will be sorry that he ever ignored us."

"Think he'll come next Winter Solstice?" Sonata asked excitedly.

Aria groaned. "They don't celebrate Winter Solstice anymore, Sonata. They celebrate Hearth's Warming now."

Sonata huffed. "Still. Think he'll come?"

"After today," Adagio said as she led them onstage, "he'll come whenever we want him to."

The music started and the Dazzlings walked out onstage. As they sang, they bathed in the green mist coming from the battle on the catwalk. The audience was transfixed.

Upon hearing the Sirens' singing, Saddle Rager looked around at her teammates as she dodged Radiance's pink mallet. Only now did she notice the green mist.

"Zapp, Mare-velous!" Saddle Rager said, jumping out of Radiance's blow. "We have to stop fighting them! The Sirens are feeding off the negative energy we're all creating!"

"What?" Zapp said, looking down at herself while Fili punched her again. "Ow!"

"But we're not," Mare-velous said, sliding away from the Matter-Horn's ice beam, "under their spell!"

"I don't think it matters," Saddle Rager shouted as she attempted to shake Humdrum off her leg, "as long as we're fighting around them!"

"But we can't—ow!" Zapp said. "Stop 'em!"

"I have an idea," Mare-velous said, psychically spinning her lasso into the air. "Try and get 'em all in one place!"

Having successfully thrown Humdrum off her leg, Saddle Rager broke into a run towards where Mare-velous and Matter-Horn were battling. "Bet you can't catch me!"

Radiance and Humdrum angrily ran after her.

"Hey, Fili!" Zapp shouted, pointing to the stage. "Your Sonny Doo's on!"

Fili squealed as she zipped to the catwalk's rail to watch. "Go Sonata! Go, go—wah!"

Demeter's Lasso snapped around her, then caught Radiance and Humdrum. Saddle Rager ducked before the rope could snag her. The rope's other end tied itself around the Matter-Horn, bringing her down. The rope swung around the three brainwashed mares and dragon, tying them together. They struggled against their bounds.

"My magic!" the Matter-Horn cried, looking up at her horn. "It's not working!"

"Did I mention Bessie renders all magic and powers useless?" Mare-velous said, kneeling down to her. "Guess we know who'll win in a fight now."

"Uh, Mare-velous?" Zapp said. "Hate to burst your gloating bubble, but the battle's not over yet!"

She pointed to the stage where the Dazzlings were still vocalizing. The three heroes hastened over to their mics.

"Welcome to the show," Adagio sang, spreading her hooves out towards the audience.
"We're here to let you know.
Our time is now."

They sang together while pointing, "Your time is running out."

"Their voices," Mare-velous said.

"They sound…" Zapp said.

"Good," Saddle Rager finished.

Indeed, their voices were haunting. The backing vocals were so strong, it was almost as if more than three voices were singing.

"That taste they got of our powers must've made 'em sound good even to us," Mare-velous said. "We gotta sing now!"

She looked over to Saddle Rager, who was frozen with fear as she looked down at the crowd of ponies. Mare-velous gently took her hoof while Zapp laid hers on her shoulder. Saddle Rager looked between them and smiled. It made her feel better knowing her friends were with her in this.

As the Dazzlings sang their next verse, enormous red sound waves pulsed from the stage.

"Feel the wave of sound," they sang, reaching their hooves up and then towards the audience, "As it crashes down."

The red waves spread across the stadium. Every pony's expressions, including the tied up Power Ponies', went blank and their pupils shrunk.

"You can't turn away," the Dazzlings sang. "We'll make you wanna stay-ay."

Their pendants glowed brightly as they rose slowly into the air.

"We will be adored.
Tell us that you want us."

They sang so fiercely, commanding the ponies to love them. The light from their pendants wrapped around them, encasing them in red cocoons.

"We won't be ignored.
It's time for our reward.
Now you need us."

As their cocoons broke, transparent bat-like wings sprouted from their backs.

"Come and heed us.
Nothing can stop us now!"

They sang too soon, for in the middle of that last long note, three other voices broke out. The Dazzlings flinched and searched for the source of the "ahs." Sonata shrugged, as if she were being blamed.

"There!" Aria cried, pointing up to the catwalk.

Zapp, Saddle Rager and Mare-velous stood on the catwalk, vocalizing into their mics. The harmony was slow and, Adagio had to admit, pitch-perfect. It was enough to make the crowd turn their attention towards them.

"What's going on?" Aria asked.

Adagio growled. "It seems Demeter's lackey wasn't the only one unaffected by our spell."

She and Aria glared at Sonata.

"What?" Sonata asked. "If Pinkie didn't know, how was I to know?"

"Gods of Olympus," the heroes sang,
"Hear our plea,
Help us to set
These mortals free.

"We call upon the spirits
Of those who fought before us
To join us in our humble
Gracian chorus.

"Bless us with your power
Grant us your will,
Give our voices strength,
Make them low, make them shrill."

Golden light engulfed their three bodies as they slowly rose into the air. The audience gawked in amazement.

"We are your soldiers
And so we will fight
For our home, for our friends,
And all that is right."

"What do we do?" Sonata asked in worry.

"They want a real battle of the bands," Adagio said with a sneer, "so let's battle." She returned to singing. "What we have in store."

Her sisters sang backup.

"All we want and more."

The audience turned their attention back to the Sirens.

"We will break on through."

They sang the last line together, "Now it's time to finish you!"

Their eyes suddenly glowed red. Saddle Rager gasped in fright.

"Don't let 'em scare ya!" Mare-velous said. "Keep singin'!"

"Gods of Olympus,
Hear our plea,
Help us to set
These mortals free."

Down below, red beams shot upward out of the Dazzlings' pendants. The heroes gaped as three giant hippocampi were projected into the sky. These were the Sirens' true forms. The giant avatars charged towards the heroes while the Dazzlings floated idly onstage, smiling wickedly as their glowing eyes remained open.

"What now?" Zapp asked.

"We go to the solos!" Mare-velous exclaimed.

"Solos?!" Saddle Rager squeaked.

"Trust me!"

"I'll go first," Zapp said, bringing her mic closer to her mouth.

As she sang her solo, Mare-velous and Saddle Rager vocalized as backup.

"I call upon Zeus,
Lord of the Sky,
Who fashions the storms
And made pegasi fly."

The Sirens' avatars drew back as Zapp glowed brighter and a white beam shot upwards. When Zapp opened her eyes, they were completely white. The beam then took the form of a giant pegasus stallion. In his hoof was a jagged lightning bolt.

"Zeus?!" Aria exclaimed with a jump. "They have Zeus on their side?!"

"Pinkie didn't tell me that either," Sonata said. "Or she may have, but I forgot."

"Doesn't matter!" Adagio shouted. "Keep singing!"

They vocalized as they controlled their avatars. The giant hippocampi swam around the image of Zeus. He threw his lightning bolt at him, striking Aria's avatar and sending her momentarily backward. Mare-velous then sang her solo.

"I call upon Demeter,
Lady of the Fields,
Who nurtures and protects
The crop that she wields."

Gold light surrounded her and then shot up into the sky, taking the form of an earth mare with a lasso. Mare-velous opened her eyes to reveal that they were completely golden. The Demeter avatar whipped her golden lasso towards Sonata's avatar, snagging her tail.

Grunting in annoyance, Adagio sang louder. Red sound waves came out of her avatar's mouth. The avatars of Zeus and Demeter were sent backwards. Aria and Sonata also sang louder, sending red waves through their avatars. Saddle Rager had to cling to her friends to keep them all from moving backwards. Unfortunately, that forced her to drop her mic.

Now she was going to have to sing her solo. Without a microphone. All eyes were on her, and it didn't help that twelve of those eyes belonged to three scary red-eyed sirens and their holograms. Saddle Rager shut her eyes, wanting to crawl into a hole and hide.

Then Discord's voice echoed in her head: Even if I'm in stone, I will be with you. They can take my statue to the edge of the world, but my heart and spirit will never leave you. Sing for me, because I know that anything that comes out of your mouth will be beautiful.

Feeling sudden warmth in her heart, Saddle Rager squeezed her friends tighter, opened her mouth, and sang in the sweetest, clearest voice anyone had ever heard.

"I call upon Discord,
Lord of Chaos…"

The Dazzlings all stiffened, their expressions turning from smug to fearful.

"Did she just say…?" Aria said.

"It can't be," Adagio said.

"Hear me," Saddle Rager sang, "I surrender…" She opened her eyes to show that they were as red as the Dazzlings'. "In our singing séance."

As a red beam shot into the sky, the heroes sang the chorus again.

"Gods of Olympus,
Hear our plea,
Help us to set
These mortals free."

As they started their song all over again, the red beam emitting from Saddle Rager transformed into a strange, serpentine being. Adagio recoiled in fright, her eyes returning to normal.

"Discord," she murmured.

The three godly avatars joined hooves—or claw and paw in Discord's case—and raised their appendages into the air. A ball of red, gold and white light swirled above them. Sonata and Aria backed away with their sister.

The ball blasted towards the Sirens' avatars, dispelling their images, and then swept over the Dazzlings. As they were overwhelmed by the divine magic, their pendants cracked and shattered. There was a flash of light that nearly blinded the entire stadium.

When it went away, every pony blinked as they tried to get a sense of their surroundings. The tied up Power Ponies glanced around in confusion.

"Where are we?" the Matter-Horn asked. "And Mare-velous, why did you tie us up?"

Mare-velous, Zapp and Saddle Rager were no longer glowing and were now standing on the catwalk, looking down at the stage. The Dazzlings were on the floor, shaking from the explosion. Opening her eyes, Adagio saw the shards of their amulets. With a horrified gasp, she picked up the shards, looked out at the audience and attempted to sing.

"We will be adored!" Her voice came out as an off-key screech. "Tell us that you…"

The audience booed at her awful singing.

"No," Adagio said, staring at the shards in her hooves. "No, no, no, no!"

"Ha!" Zapp cried, flying down to rub the victory in their faces. "That'll teach ya to mess with the Soldiers of Olympus!" She put her hoof to her chin. "Hey, I like the sound of that. We should make it a club or something! Can ya have a club within a club?"

Saddle Rager also flew down to them. Mare-velous wore a smug expression as she used her lasso to lower herself down, after freeing her comrades, of course.

"Not so hot and confident now, are ya?" she said tauntingly.

"You fools!" Adagio shouted, growling as she stood up. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

"Uh," Zapp said, "I think we just defeated you!"

"We, um," Saddle Rager said, blushing, "whooped your butts."

"You've damned us!" Adagio cried, showing them the shards. "Do you think Circe just gave these to us?! Do you have any idea what we had to trade to get these?!"

There was a loud boom as a swirling vortex suddenly opened up behind the Dazzlings. Sonata cried out as she was sucked into it. She disappeared instantly. Aria tried to run away, but the vortex pulled her in too. Adagio gripped the edge of the stage as she fought against the portal's force. She growled up at the heroes.

"Our souls!" she shouted as she attempted to heave herself forward. "We traded our souls to get those amulets! Now that they're broken, we'll be forced to serve Circe forever on her island!"

Sonata's head poked through the vortex. "Adagio!"

She squeaked as she was sucked back in. Saddle Rager felt the vortex pulling her in too. Mare-velous quickly used her lasso to tether her and her friends to a stage light. Adagio was losing her grip as one hoof slipped out from under her.

"You think you've won?" she said to the heroes. "You have no idea what evil you've just unleashed!"

"Yeah?" Zapp shouted over the swirls of the vortex. "Well if you come back, we'll be ready!"

"I'm not talking about us!" She narrowed her eyes at Saddle Rager. "I'm talking about her!"

Saddle Rager blinked. "Me?"

"It took twelve gods to lock that demon away! You think you ponies stand a chance against him?! Even Hades shuddered in his presence! Soon you'll wish we had succeeded! At least under our rule, under our spell, you would've been ignorantly…"

Her other hoof gave way and she fell back into the vortex.

"HAPPYYYYYYYY!"

The portal closed around her and all was still. The three heroes fell to the floor. The Matter-Horn flapped down to help them up.

"Now," she said, "can some pony please explain to me what in Tartarus just happened?!"

One full explanation later, the Power Ponies and Humdrum were sitting in a booth at La Comida. After the craziness of the past couple of days, they felt they needed a breather. Since they were all in costume, no pony questioned them hanging out together. As a bonus, the restaurant owner had offered them dinner on the house as a reward for saving Maretropolis yet again.

"So we were under a spell the entire time?" Radiance asked, blinking in wonderment.

"Guess that explains why I was so angry at all of you for no apparent reason," Fili-Second said as she scarfed down some nachos.

"Uh, Mare-velous," the Matter-Horn said, clearing her throat, "if I said some things while in that trance…"

"Don't worry about it," Mare-velous said, waving her hoof. "What matters is y'all are back to normal." She watched as Fili-Second devoured their bowl of nachos with lightning speed. "Whatever that means."

"And Saddle Rager!" Radiance exclaimed. "I had no idea you could sing like that, darling!"

Saddle Rager blushed. "I was afraid at first, but once I had faith in myself," she clutched Zapp's and Mare-velous' hooves, "and faith in my friends, and faith in…"

She paused when she caught Zapp's and Mare-velous' fearful glances. They shook their heads insistently. It'd been a long night, and the rest of the team just wasn't ready to know about Saddle Rager's divine link.

"That is, I…" She grinned. "I just needed to believe that I could do it, and it made me feel better knowing my friends believed in me too."

"You know something?" Zapp said. "I think I kinda felt Zeus out there. Like…he was inside me for a moment." She frowned. "Not in a weird way, of course."

Mare-velous chuckled. "Ya ain't alone, Zapp."

"So," Fili-Second said, her voice sounding sad for a moment, "are the Sirens really…gone?"

"If I know my Gracian mythology," the Matter-Horn said, "if they had sold their souls to Circe, they should be on her island, Aeanea."

Fili twaddled her hooves together in thought. "Think they have phones in Aeanea?"

Mare-velous raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm just saying it'd be nice if Sonata were able to give me a call."

They all looked at her strangely.

"What?" Fili-Second said with a shrug. "She wasn't that bad a girlfriend. Aside from the whole brainwashing thing, she was kinda fun."

Radiance and Zapp facehoofed themselves while the Matter-Horn shook her head.

"What?" Fili said again.

"There's somethin' wrong with ya," Mare-velous said.

"What? It's not like she made me do anything inappropriate. The whole making out in the sound booth supply closet was my idea."

"Please!" Zapp said, holding up her hoof. "I don't want that image back in my head!"

While Zapp and Fili-Second argued, Saddle Rager glanced sideways at Mare-velous.

"I felt him too."

Mare-velous turned to her.

"What…Adagio said," Saddle Rager said, biting her lip. "I…I don't believe it. I mean…I know he was put in stone for a reason, but…he helped me today, Mare-velous. I know it."

"Hon," Mare-velous said, placing her hoof over hers. "I…I won't lie that I'm…wary about this…connection ya have with…" She heaved a heavy sigh. "Just…remember what ya promised me, okay?"

Saddle Rager nodded. "Okay." She frowned. "But what did Adagio mean when she said…I'd unleashed him?"

"She was probably just talkin' about ya usin' his magic," Mare-velous said quickly. "Probably nothin' to worry about."

Meanwhile, in the sculpture garden of the Maretropolis Museum, a dark light pulsed against the chest of Discord's statue. There was a loud crack as the crack in the statue's chest snaked up to his left shoulder, up his eagle arm, and to the tip of his talon. There was a deep laugh as a voice spoke.

"Well done, my darling." If anyone were looking closely, they would see a speck of yellow on the statue's fingertip. "It won't be long now."