A/N: Hello, everypony! Welcome to my new story! It's an old idea with a new twist. Hope you like it!

If you're wondering what the two main characters' appearances are, Guitar Riff is a red unicorn with a black-and-blue mane and tail, and her Cutie Mark is a black guitar pick. Singing Writer is blue with a red-and-black mane and tail and a crossed eighth note and a pencil as her Cutie Mark. They both have matching purple eyes.

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Singing Writer

Guitar Riff and I are best friends, but we're also twin sisters. Our mother and father, named Serene Silence and Sandy Grass are both earth ponies, while Guitar Riff and I are unicorns. We have three younger siblings, all earth ponies, named Tall Silo, Hay Bale and Turtleneck. We both have a lot going on, and it's very complicated. Right now we are the students of the Princess of Friendship.

But enough about that now. Let's start at the beginning. This is our story.

Guitar Riff

It all started one night when Singing Writer and I were practicing in a silo for our small performance that we were planning. Our mother barged in and yelled out, "What in Equestria is making all this racket?!"

I was super annoyed at her comment, but I put down the instruments I held and went down to the level where Serene was standing, and Singing followed me.

"We were just practicing for our next performance, mom! Why do you always barge in on us like this? You promised that you'd leave us alone while we go in here!" I practically shouted at her (we were a safe distance from the house, so I had no problem with it).

Her cream-and-light pink mane seemed to tingle with anger, her green eyes squinted, and her usually calm swirl of a Cutie Mark seemed to match her mood as she shouted even louder at both of us, "You two unicorns sicken me! I have done so much for you, and you only have disappointed me!"

She then brought out something that terrified my sister and I from birth: her special whip which had tips made from dragon teeth, which she kept sharp. She began to crack it at us, and her aim easily found our weakest points, causing us to fall down on the ground in pain. Her whipping did not stop for about an hour, and we started bleeding all over. She left us, then walked back to the house.

After a few minutes, I said to Singing, "I don't know about you, but I can't take this anymore. Nopony should be treated like this every night. I'm going to run away. If you come with, that would help me and save you too. If not, it's okay. It's your decision. I'm packing my instruments."

"I'm coming with you," Singing replied, putting her hoof on my shoulder. "I'm not taking this anymore, either. Where would we go, though? We have never been outside our small village or our farm."

"We'll find a way. We'll just travel under Princess Luna's lovely nighttime moon," I reassured her, knowing that Luna would easily guide us.

We got our instruments and nothing more, and we grabbed a wagon that our father used to sell our crops all across Equestria. We easily found a small path in the back of the farm and traveled under cover of moonlight.

Singing Writer and Guitar Riff

We both wondered whether we could ever find a way to escape the life we lived at home, but knew that we would stop at nothing to achieve that goal.

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I know it's a little sudden, but I'll do my best to help you ponies out during the story.

Please review!

Hello, everypony! So glad I was able to get this chapter up! I hope you like it! I decided to expand on their childhoods a little more this chapter than the last.

Singing Writer

Guitar and I were traveling for about a week when, in the dead of night, we came across a little village with a big castle on one end. We decided to stop and rest our hooves, as we had hardly been sleeping throughout the week in fear that Serene might find us and make our lives worse. Suddenly, the moon glowed slightly brighter, and the figure of an Alicorn flew down towards us. I recognized her from the nightmares that she stopped: Princess Luna.

Princess Luna stopped in front of us and asked, "Why do you not rest in the night, my ponies? Nighttime is a time for rest and renewal, not for fearful activity."

Guitar and I bowed, and I answered, "We couldn't take what our mother is doing to us anymore. If we let it continue, our lives could be in danger. We ran away, traveling under cover of darkness to hide ourselves from her."

Luna smiled and nodded in understanding, saying, "Well, how about I help you two to sleep? You will need your rest for your big day tomorrow."

"Why is it a big day tomorrow, Princess Luna?" Guitar asked.

"You have arrived in Ponyville, the home to the Princess of Friendship and her friends," Luna answered. "Coming from personal experience, I know that they will be able to help you two hide from your mother, and maybe you will finally have the friends that you two always wished for. They can help you in ways that I cannot even begin to say. Now go to sleep and renew yourselves, my little ponies."

We felt a lull come over us, and Guitar and I both lay down under a nearby tree and fell asleep.

... TIME SKIP ...

When we woke up the next morning, Celestia's sun was rising just above the horizon. Guitar and I hitched each other to the wagon and walked into town, where the ponies were waking up and starting their days. We decided, with Princess Luna's advice, that we would go first to the castle on the other side of town.

On our way there, a pink pony with darker pink hair and cyan eyes hopped in front of us, saying, "Hey there! I'm Pinkie Pie, and welcome to Ponyville! What brings you here? Are you here to see Twilight?" She spoke incredibly fast, but we were able to keep up with her.

"Hello. I'm Singing Writer, and this is my twin sister, Guitar Riff. We actually did come to see Princess Twilight. We were hoping that she could help us," I explained to Pinkie, after a moment to get up the courage to talk to the stranger pony.

She nodded and said, "I can help you out! I'm one of Twilight's besties! Follow me!"

We followed the overly-energetic pink pony to the castle, and I noticed all the loving families that we passed by on our way to the castle. It seemed so much different from the attitudes in the village where Guitar and I grew up, where adults hated kids and abused them for all it was worth. We always wondered but never knew about the happy celebrations of other ponies in Equestria. All we knew was sorrow and pain. The adults constantly lied to us through their teeth, proved themselves traitors, caused sorrow where joy would usually be warranted, were selfish, were far from kind, and those who were unicorns used their magic in horrendous ways against us and their neighbors. To us, this was all a very happy but foreign sight for us.

When we got to the castle, Pinkie opened the door and called out, "Twilight! You have visitors!"

A voice that rang like bells called back, "I'm in the library! Bring them here!"

We followed Pinkie, still pulling our wagon, down the halls of the beautiful crystalline castle, and marveled at the work the ponies of this village must have put in to make this castle so beautiful.

Pinkie asked us, "You like the castle? It wasn't made by pony hooves! It was made by magic from the Tree of Harmony, but I'm sure that Twilight can help you understand that concept better than me!"

"Harmony?" Guitar asked, as neither she nor I had ever heard of such a concept.

Our village was constantly battered by snowstorms, and as we had no pegasi who stayed for long, we blamed the unicorns. They blamed us because the constant snow would destroy most of our crops. It was a sight to see as we went through what parts of Equestria we saw on the run when we saw that it wasn't the same way in other places. In any case, there was no such thing as harmony in our village, which was dubbed by the grownups as "The Village of Ungrateful Fillies", rather unfairly in my opinion.

"You know, when everypony's happy and joyful and friendly and..." she stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face us in the middle of the hall. "You don't know anything about what I'm saying, do you?"

"Not really, Pinkie. I'm sorry," I apologized to the lovable pink pony, with whom I was already starting to become warmed up to because of her warm welcome and personality, which was nothing like the ponies I knew back home. "Our home village was never happy, or joyful, or the least bit friendly. I've heard of those things, and I might know a little about some of them, but other than that I've got nothing."

Pinkie's puffy hair even seemed to droop as she said, "Oh, I didn't know that. I'm sorry, guys."

"It's okay, Pinkie," I reassured her, putting my hoof on her shoulder. "We didn't tell you, so you wouldn't know."

Pinkie perked up a little, saying, "Thanks, Singing."

Guitar offered Pinkie a hug, and the pink pony gladly accepted it. Pinkie then continued leading us to a gigantic library where, at a table in the middle, was a purple Alicorn with a dark purple mane and tail with two lighter stripes in it and a light purple unicorn with a dark purple mane and tale with two different shades of green stripes in them. The purple Alicorn turned around and smiled at us as we walked in.

"Welcome, visitors!" she greeted kindly. "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and this is my student, Starlight Glimmer."

The other pony, Starlight, turned around and said, "It's nice to meet you two. Who are you?"

"My name is Singing Writer, and this is my twin sister, Guitar Riff," I replied. "We're here because Princess Luna said you could help us with our dilemma."

"A dilemma? What kind of dilemma?" the princess asked. "Is it a friendship problem? I specialize in those!"

"Not exactly," Pinkie replied just as I opened my mouth. "They have never even heard about harmony! HARMONY!"

Needless to say, the pink pony just jittered in disbelief as I cleared my throat to explain, "In our village, every adult abuses the fillies, especially their own children. There is no such thing as honesty or loyalty, not to mention happiness and joy. My sister and I couldn't take it anymore, so we packed our homemade instruments and ran away."

"Does your village happen to have lots of snow and ice?" Twilight asked us with all seriousness on her face.

"Actually, yes. I was a little surprised that it isn't like that in the rest of Equestria," Guitar replied.

"As was I, sister," I reminded her. "It was lovely to know that the sun shone for longer than just a few days at a time here, and that it isn't always cold here."

"I think I know what was happening to your village," Twilight said. "Have you ever heard the story of Hearth's Warming Eve?"

"No, we haven't," Guitar replied, curious. "Does it involve burning fillies?"

She and I both shivered at an early memory of our mother doing that to us in so many places I cannot recount them all here without missing a place or two due to lack of knowledge of that area's name.

"No, it doesn't," the Princess of Friendship (again, a concept almost completely foreign to us). "It's about how the different tribes of Equestria came together in friendship to defeat the Windigos."

"What are Windigos?" I asked.

"Creatures that fed off of hatred and distrust that freeze everypony around them to match the coldness of their hearts," Twilight explained.

"What's the story?" Guitar asked eagerly.

It was the first time since we had gotten our Cutie Marks that I had heard her say anything in that tone of voice, and it made me feel a strange warm fuzzy thing in my heart. I have learned since then that that feeling was of love and happiness.

"Once, long long ago, three separate tribes lived in a place not too far from Equestria: the Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies. The Earth Ponies farmed the land, the Pegasi controlled the clouds, and the Unicorns raised the sun and moon. Of course, this was before the reign of Princesses Celestia and Luna, who now do the raising and lowering of the sun and moon. Anyways, the three tribes always fought and were cruel to each other, and their land became ravaged by snowstorms. The three tribes then went in search of a new home. They found what is modern-day Equestria, but then it was a land of opportunity. Unfortunately, they all found it at once, and they fought over who got to keep it. The storms came again, but much faster this time. The tribes were forced to take shelter in a nearby cave. Even then, their hatred got the better of most of them. Many became frozen solid into a block of ice. A few Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies were left. Then a unicorn who had been Starswirl the Bearded's student recognized the creatures that brought the snow and ice to wherever they went: Windigos. She was able to tell the remaining ponies of the tribes, and they all found ways to become friends. They told jokes and stories, and their songs became the Hearth's Warming carols that we sing today. The growing love between these ponies began to drive away the Windigos, and it slowly unfroze everypony else, too. When everypony realized what was happening, they all joined in, and eventually the Windigos were driven away. After they were freed from the cave, they came together and founded a new land called Equestria. Now every year on that special day and the night before we celebrate that momentous occasion with songs, decorations, and lovely traditions to keep the Windigos from ever returning," Twilight said, using her magic (and Starlight assisting) to visualize the story for us.

Guitar and I were amazed at this story that we had never heard of before in our lives. All our lives we had heard of awful ponies like Nightmare Moon, King Sombra, and Dischord who would come for us at night and destroy whatever hope we ever had. Never had we heard of a story that encouraged happiness and hope.

"That's a wonderful story," I told Twilight.

"I thought everypony knew that story," Starlight remarked with a worried tone to her voice, "although Pinkie did say that they have never heard of harmony before either, so I guess that's a moot point."

"Thank you for remembering the feelings of others, Starlight," Twilight told her student. She then turned to us and asked, "What kinds of stories did you ponies hear as young fillies?"

"I don't think you want to know, Princess," I said in embarrassment and shame.

Guitar elbowed my leg and said, "We might as well tell her. The only other pony outside our village who knows about it is Princess Luna."

"Princess Luna knows about this?" Twilight asked. "What's so bad about it?"

"They're not stories of hope and happiness like yours was," I explained. "They're about how Nightmare Moon will one day return and devour every filly in sight, or how King Sombra will return and destroy or enslave us all, or how Dischord will return and make our lives miserable."

"Now I find that very insulting, seeing as I'm reformed now," a draconoquus said as he slithered out of literally nowhere.

"It-it-it-it-it-it-it-it's DISCHORD! HE'S GOING TO RUIN OUR LIVES! RUN!" I screamed as I tried to run out of the library, but got nowhere as I was still strapped to the wagon.

Guitar only stood in shocked fear, remembering the stories Serene told us.

Dischord clucked his tongue at us and said, "Again, insulting, but I suppose I have to cut a little slack. You two do seem to be out of the loop. Twilight can vouch for me; I'm no harm to you!"

Twilight gave a pointed look to Dischord (probably for the uninvited entrance) before reassuring us, "It's okay. He really is reformed. He poses no more harm to Equestria. He's even my friend!"

Dischord gave a satisfied smile and nod before waving goodbye and disappearing into nowhere again.

"So there's one less story to worry about," Guitar told me with a shaky voice and smile.

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Sorry for the lack of Guitar Riff's POV in this chapter, but I wanted you guys to get to know a little more about our characters while getting our story rolling.

Please review!

Hello, everypony! So glad I was able to get a chapter up so soon! I hope you like it! I've decided to be a little nice to my OCs before the drama begins to unfold and alleviate their fears of Nightmare Moon and Sombra.

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Guitar Riff

I was honestly surprised that Dischord was reformed, and I was genuinely happy that my sister and I were finally finding somewhere where we could be happy instead of fearful and sad.

Twilight said, "Well, I better show you guys where you will be going to stay during your time here. I'm not about to let you guys go somewhere where your parents can find you and make your lives worse!"

Starlight chimed in, "I can help you with your wagon! I've got a bit of magic to help me out, although I now realize that you guys.. do.. too..." She then hung her head and crossed her legs in shame for her boasting.

Twilight put her wing on Starlight, saying, "It's okay, Starlight. You're still learning, and that's okay. I was once, too, and now these two ponies will learn, too."

"What do you mean?" Singing asked.

"I think you two should learn about what everypony in Equestria has learned all their lives: harmony and hope, happiness and light. It seems that you know little of any of that," she explained, and I felt embarrassed that she could practically see right through me.

"Maybe they can also send letters to Princess Celestia about their village so she could help everypony out!" Pinkie chimed in cheerfully.

Suddenly, a book that was seemingly random on the bookshelf began to glow and vibrate, and Twilight took it out using magic and opened it up. She read it and smiled slightly, then looked worried, then went back to normal. Then she got excited and began to jump around gleefully.

Pinkie asked, "Your friends from Canterlot High invite you to something special?"

"Yes! They've invited me to the big concert they are having tomorrow, and they asked me to join them in the concert!" Twilight replied happily.

"Excuse me, but what is Canterlot High?" Singing asked. "I've never heard of such a place in Equestria."

"That's because it's not IN Equestria," Twilight explained. "It's in an alternate world, and I had to go there once because somepony had stolen my crown and Element of Harmony and wanted to use its magic for evil in that world. I was able to stop her, and she is now a long-distance student of mine. I went there another time because some evil Equestrian monsters were causing havoc in that world, and I was called again to help with something that got resolved before I finally got there."

Starlight looked even more embarrassed at the last comment, and I began to wonder what had happened to make Twilight appear there so late. I pushed the thought out of my mind as a messenger pegasus flew in and gave Twilight a letter. She read it and simply nodded, then called out, "Spike!"

A purple baby dragon with green spines and eyes ran in and asked, "What is it, Twilight?"

"Make preparations to go to Canterlot in three days. I have business to attend to before then, but we all need to be there by the end of the week. It's about the Crystal Empire and Flurry Heart," Twilight explained to Spike, who I assumed was the dragon.

I then became even more frightened, as the Crystal Empire existing meant that Sombra was possibly back.

Twilight saw my frightened expression that I shared with Singing, and reassured us, "It's okay, Guitar. Sombra's no more. He's not a danger to Equestria any more. You can rest in peace, pony friends."

Singing visibly relaxed, and I relaxed a little, too, but there was still one pony I worried about more than anypony: Nightmare Moon. What if the thousand years were over soon?

"What about Nightmare Moon?!" I then shouted out of tension and fear, not caring what my tone sounded like.

"Guitar..." Singing whispered carefully, like she would whenever I talked that way to Serene.

"It's all right, girls," Twilight said, her smile warm. "You already know Luna. Nightmare Moon is gone from her."

"Wait a minute," I said, stepping forward, pulling the wagon still hitched to me forward. "Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon?"

"Yes, I was," a familiar voice said sadly, and Singing and I turned our heads towards the door, seeing Princess Luna in all her nightly splendor standing in the doorway. "I still remember it so clearly, and I didn't forgive myself for so long afterwards that, at the time, I was unhappy like you were. I was jealous of the admiration that my sister and her sunlight got, and angry at how the ponies of Equestria would shun me and my beautiful night. I let my jealousy take me over, and I turned into Nightmare Moon. My sister banished me to the moon for a thousand years. I was freed after they were over, and Twilight and her friends all helped me defeat Nightmare Moon using the Elements of Harmony. They also helped me to overcome my shyness and the other ponies to no longer fear me. I became the guardian of nighttime and dreams. I now help everypony in every way that I can."

Starlight finally unhitched Singing and I from the wagon, and we ran to Luna and gave her a huge hug, as we considered her more of a mother than Serene ever was.

I pulled back enough to ask, "So Nightmare Moon really won't come to eat all the fillies? Or Sombra to destroy us all? Or Dischord to ruin our lives?"

"That's correct, my little ponies," Luna said, a smile on her face. "I have spoken to my sister about your escape from your hellish village, and she has called a Princess Summit, including the Elements of Harmony, to discuss how we are to deal with this threat to harmony in Equestria."

"How could one little village change an entire kingdom?" Singing asked.

Starlight was the one who answered, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. At my old village, I forced everyone to give up their Cutie Marks and have an equal sign as their Cutie Mark and be the same. Twilight and her friends all saw that what I was doing was wrong, and, although I reviled them at the time for it, they helped me to see the error of my ways. I am now Twilight's student, learning about the Magic of Friendship."

"I believe that, more than anypony else that I know, she can teach you about what you need to know," Luna told us with warmth in her voice. "Now I must go off to rest, myself. I can't protect dreams in my sleep, after all!"

She then flew off towards the north, and Twilight said to us, "You must be hungry from your journey. I'll -"

Pinkie cried out, "SAY NO MORE!" and ran off from the library.

"What's going on?" I asked while Starlight began carefully levitating the wagon and easing it out of the door.

"Pinkie's making you breakfast, although don't be surprised if she makes you cake!" Twilight said with a smile.

I winced, remembering what Serene did whenever she said she'd "make us cake": she'd take us and tell the unicorns to throw us to the sharpest drop in the area, which had a field of jagged rocks at the bottom.

Twilight saw it and said, "Don't worry, it's actual cake! Pinkie would never do anything to harm anypony! Now Starlight will show you your room. I hope that you both find it comfortable!"

We followed Starlight to a bedroom larger than any we'd ever seen in our lives, with two beds with canopies, a balcony, bookshelves, and plenty of room to set up our instruments around the room, with our performance gear on the balcony. I remembered the performance that Singing and I were planning to help the fillies cheer up, and I felt horrible for leaving them without any chance of hope.

Singing saw my guilty expression and said, "I can tell you're feeling guilty about leaving now, Guitar, but don't worry! We're going to see Princess Celestia, and she can help us to save the fillies in our village!"

I smiled, knowing that it would do more good where we are than where we once were.

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I hope that you have some feedback on the chapter! I realized that I had a few grammatical errors in the last chapter or two that I can't fix right now, so I'll wait until the story's complete (however long that takes).

Please review!

Singing Writer

Starlight led us to the dining room after we finished unpacking our instruments. She seemed very interested in the fact that we were music-minded ponies, but understood that we were not quite the same as everypony else in Equestria. We were happy to know that there were other ponies who liked to perform music as well, like Ponyville's own Octavia and DJ Pon-3. We were hoping that ponies would like our style of music that we played, as it probably sounded different, what with our backgrounds and all.

The table was filled with delicious-looking food, which normally would have drawn suspicions about the motives of the cooks, but we had learned by then that the ponies of Ponyville were to be trusted. The food was more delicious than anything that we had had ever. Everything we ate, if we ate, tasted like tree bark and rocks back home, but here everything had a new taste: spicy, moist, salty, sweet, and everything in between! It was such a shock to our taste buds that we couldn't help but let out loud "MMM"s of happiness from tasting such delicious food. Pinkie seemed very proud of herself for making us so happy with the food.

After we couldn't eat anymore, Guitar asked, "What's that feeling when you can't eat any more but you ACTUALLY want to eat more?"

"That's called 'full'!" Pinkie said enthusiastically. "I'm really glad I got to make you two smile! You probably needed it!"

Spike came into the kitchen, saying, "Singing! Guitar! There you are! Twilight's hoping to see you in the library!"

"What's going on?" I asked the baby dragon.

"She's hoping to take you two and Starlight to the human world to visit her friends," Spike replied, although he didn't really clear up for us what a human was. "She's hoping that you'll learn a thing or two about friendship while you're there!"

"We did just finish eating," Guitar mused, "and we can explore Ponyville with Pinkie later..."

"We'll go," I said for both of us. "Lead the way, Spike!"

He led us back to the library, where a contraption thing was on the crystal mirror in an unnoticed corner of the room. Twilight had put the book that she was reading earlier on a podium on the top. The contraption was running, and a magical light shone from the surface of the mirror.

"Girls! I'm so glad you agreed to come!" Twilight greeted us. "I'm going to warn you, things there are a bit different than this world, but I have a feeling that everything's different for you two, given your background. Follow me through, and I'll show you around and introduce you to a few of my friends!"

She then walked through the mirror, and Starlight followed her through. I took a deep breath, nuzzled noses with Guitar, and walked through the portal with her right by my side.

Guitar Riff

When we emerged on the other side of the mirror, we both took a moment before we realized that we had strange things on the ends of our front legs, our back legs were longer, we no longer had our horns, and we were basically different in all but three ways: our hair color, our skin color, and our matching purple eyes. I looked on what I assumed were our clothes, and I saw that our Cutie Marks were both on our clothes in some way. My black guitar pick was on a pin on my shirt and on my jean pockets, and my sister's crossed eighth note and pencil were in the middle of her shirt. We looked at Starlight (at least, we assumed that she was Starlight by her skin and hair colors) and Twilight and saw that they were recovering quickly and already chatting up with some strange creatures that we looked a lot like at that particular moment in time. One with light orange skin, yellow and red curly hair, and light blue eyes held a strange thing on her front right hoof (?) towards us. We hesitated before putting ours on hers, and she pulled us up so that we were standing on our hind legs.

"Hi, you must be the girls Twilight was talking about," the thing said to us. "My name's Sunset Shimmer. I'm a friend of Twilight's."

"I'm Singing Writer, and this is my twin sister, Guitar Riff," my sister introduced us to the thing.

She had always been the more social of us two, and I'm happy for that. I was always the more gutsy one, while Singing was the more careful. After all, I was the one who had almost no qualms about verbally striking our mother back when she physically struck us. I wondered at that point what was happening to our sister and brothers right at that moment, and I grew worried. Singing gave me a comforting look, the look saying that we were doing all we could to help them.

"It's very nice to meet you, Sunset," I said to Sunset.

I suddenly found two of the other creatures familiar: one who looked like Pinkie Pie, and one who looked like Twilight. Everypony looked like they had just gotten back from a trip, as they all had their bags with them.

"Guys, these are my students: Starlight Glimmer, Singing Writer, and Guitar Riff," Princess Twilight was explaining to the others. She then turned to us and said, "Girls, these are my Canterlot High friends, although you will meet their pony selves back in Equestria. This is Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and my human form, SciTwi. At least, that's what we call her."

She gestured to a girl (it was obvious by that point that the best thing to call them was girls) that looked like Pinkie, a girl with rainbow hair and light blue skin, a girl with yellow hair in a ponytail and orange skin, a girl with curled purple hair and white skin, a girl with light pink flowy hair and light yellow skin, and a girl who looked almost exactly like Princess Twilight. The girls had sleepover bags with them, and there were many other humans (as I assumed that they were from how Twilight had referenced them back in Equestria) milling around the courtyard as a bus drove off.

"We just got back from Camp Everfree," Sunset explained to Twilight as the girls gathered all their things. "There's so much to discuss, Princess."

"I can tell, Sunset," Twilight replied. "We can talk in private later. You said you wanted to do a gig tonight?"

"Yeah, we got a gig from an alumnus of Camp Everfree that happens to live here in town. We have to go to the venue to get ready, and we are hoping that you can sing with us. SciTwi already sings, too, but I think that some extra voices can't hurt. You also said that Guitar and Singing are also musicians?"

"We are!" I blurted out excitedly.

"Let's see you two perform, then!" Rainbow Dash said, handing me her guitar. Sunset handed Singing hers.

It was a small obstacle to figure out how to get the notes right, but Singing and I both quickly got the hang of it and easily began a riff for one of our songs. We began to glow and float, and we sprouted pony ears and tail extensions as we played. After our riffs were over, we landed softly on our feet and our extensions disappeared.

"How did that happen?" Sunset asked in awe. "I thought it was just us!"

"I don't know, but it must have something to do with the Elements of Harmony," Twilight said.

"You mean these pendants?" SciTwi asked while she held out a purple pendant with Twilight's Cutie Mark on it.

Twilight took a good look at it and said, "Yep. That's it. So you guys have Elements of Harmony in this world, too?"

"It seems so, although you only mentioned 6," Sunset replied, "and there are 7 pendants."

"Say wha?" Twilight asked, baffled.

I cleared my throat and said, "This is all very interesting conversation, but shouldn't we be setting up and practicing for the gig?"

"That's right, the gig!" Rainbow gasped as she put on her blue pendant and quickly grabbed everyone's bags and sped out of sight, faster than anypony I had ever met. She sped back after a second, pulling a trailer with a bunch of instruments. "Let's get to it! Everyone on the trailer!"

"Rainbow has super speed?" Twilight asked.

"It seems that the Elements in this world give each of the girls here abilities of their pony versions in Equestria," Starlight offered, making herself known at last to the others.

"It seems so," Twilight replied.

Everyone then got on the trailer, and Rainbow yelled, "Hang on tight, girls!" before taking off at breakneck speed across town. When we finally stopped, Rainbow physically caught those who fell off from inertia, and SciTwi caught some with magic, one including herself.

We had come in front of a stadium, and Applejack explained, "We're the opening act for a popular singing group who is performing here tonight, so let's just do our best, but not so good that we overpower the main act."

"So 20% less cool," Rainbow remarked as she and AJ both unpacked the trailer.

We headed into the stadium and began to set up our instruments. I noticed that everyone who lived in this world all wore their pendants and were using their magic to help set up in some way. Rainbow used her speed, AJ used her apparent super-strength, Fluttershy enlisted the help of some animals, SciTwi used her telekinesis, Sunset and Starlight organized it, Rarity made gems to hold items that the others were too busy to use (mainly the outfits), and Pinkie threw exploding sprinkles to test the pyrotechnics. I thought it strange that Pinkie had exploding sprinkles, but I decided not to question it. It was Pinkie, after all.

***********TIME SKIP**************

That night before the gig, we were getting ready for the performance, and I saw a red gem pendant on a black necklace with a note attached, saying, "Break a leg! Sirenmaker"

I was so confused, but it looked really cool and even matched my skin tone. I put it on, and it seemed to have a glow of its own. I quickly went onstage with the rest of the girls and began playing and singing with them. I noticed that a green mist, which was not part of the show, begin to envelop the audience, and I started freaking out inside and stopped singing. I noticed that the mist had already done its job, so I went back to singing my part, even though I as terrified at the consequences. After a while, near the end of our set, the mist began to seep its way into my pendant, and I felt something filling me inside: power. And it tasted amazing.

At the same time, I was terrified because I was sure that everyone could see the mist and what was happening to me. I stayed by the stage to see the main act, so as to see what their style was, and three girls with pendants that matched mine with color schemes of gold, purple, and blue come onstage. Their voices were beautiful, and the mist also gathered into their pendants. The whole audience seemed to be under their spell, and they seemed to relish every moment of their performance.

After their performance was over, the gold one walked up to me, saying, "I see we have a fan in the wings here, girls." She then noticed my pendant, and added, "Actually, make that one of us. I'm Adagio Dazzle. The purple one's Aria Blaze, and the blue one's Sonata Dusk. Who are you?"

"G-Guitar Riff," I replied, stuttering in fear. These girls obviously had a lot of power, and I was afraid of what they could do to me.

"It's okay, Guitar," Adagio said, putting her hand (I had learned that the things were called "hands" in this world) under my chin to raise my eyes to her own. "You are a siren, like we are. Or at least, a newly-formed one. When did you get that gem?"

"Before the performance," I replied, getting some of my nerve back. "What was that green mist? What is this? What's going on?"

"All in due time, my dear," Adagio assured me, taking the hand from under my chin and put it on my shoulder to reaffirm her assurance. "In the meantime, shouldn't you be getting home?"

I then remembered the Rainbooms, and said, "When will I see you again?"

"You can come back anytime to us, my dear," Adagio said. "You have the portal, do you not?"

"Why can't you come with me?"

"That pony princess brat won't let us see the end of it if we go back right now. She and we had a run-in in the past. It didn't go very well."

"Oh. Can you at least tell me what that green mist was?"

"Of course, sweetie. It is negative energy, the source of our power. You didn't get to see its effects, as this is your first time doing this, but sirens can make anyone do their bidding when they sing. Our gems absorb that energy, and we use its power. In Equestria, we look different, with the gems embedded into our bodies, but you're only a new siren. You'll see as time goes on."

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata all left then, and I hurried back to the dressing rooms, where everyone else was finishing up their packing.

"Where were you?" Singing asked, putting her hands on my shoulders and shaking me hard. "We were worried sick! We were just about to go out and look for you!"

"Chill out, sis!" I said indignantly. "I was just watching the main act. I was in the wings of the stage the entire time."

She calmed down considerably, and warned, "Never do that kind of thing again! I was so worried that somepony did something awful to you. At least you're okay and stayed in one place."

She helped me get ready to go home, and we gave our guitars back to Rainbow and Sunset. Sunset gave hers to Rainbow, saying, "I'm going back to Equestria, at least for a little while. I have some unfinished business that I need to take care of back there right now."

The girls all gave her a big hug, then Rainbow brought us all back to the portal to Equestria. We all hugged the human girls goodbye and walked through the portal to Equestria. I saw that in Equestria, Sunset was a Unicorn, but something seemed different about her (besides the fact that she was a pony, of course). I couldn't figure out how, though.

"Everything's ready, Twilight!" Spike said enthusiastically. "Hi, Sunset! Good to see you again!"

"Hey, Spike," Sunset replied. "It's strange to be on four legs again after living on two for so long. I see you actually are a dragon here like you bragged so much about back in Canterlot High."

"Yeah, I know," Spike reveled in praise.

"Um, Guitar?" Starlight asked me. "What is that gem in your chest?"

I stayed quiet, realizing that the pendant had embedded itself in my chest while I stayed here in Equestria.

What was I becoming?

---

Oh wow, long chapter! Well, next chapter, I will have the summit take place, and I will definitely have Sunset be a surprise guest! Obviously the princesses have much to discuss!

Please review!

A/N: Hello again, everypony, and welcome to a new installment of Twin Pony Tales! Not much to say here but Happy New Year!

Singing Writer

The train took us (meaning Twilight, her five Ponyville friends, Starlight, Sunset, Guitar, and I) straight to Canterlot, and although I noticed the gem inside of Guitar's chest, I said nothing in hopes that nopony else had noticed. The gem matched Guitar's skin tone, after all. I still was filled with worry that she was not a total unicorn anymore. No unicorn in my knowledge had any sort of gem in any part of their bodies.

We arrived in Canterlot by the middle of the day, and Twilight led us all straight to the castle, which shone in the sunlight. I was happy that I got to see such a lovely place in my lifetime. Guitar was a little quieter than the day before, but she stood with a confidence I only knew from when she would protect me from our mother. We arrived in a lovely throne room and met Princess Luna, a big white Alicorn with flowy rainbow hair that I assumed to be Princess Celestia, and a pink Alicorn with tricolored hair and a Crystal Heart with gold swirls as her Cutie Mark. She held with magic a baby Alicorn that was white and had tricolored hair like the other Alicorn.

Twilight introduced the Princesses to Guitar and I, "Guitar Riff, Singing Writer, you've already met Princess Luna. This is Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, and her daughter Flurry Heart. Princesses, these are the ponies that I'm sure Luna has told you about: Guitar Riff and Singing Writer."

"Forgive me for saying, Twilight, but I don't believe that Guitar Riff had a red gem in her chest when I saw her last," Luna pointed out. "Singing, did you notice this at all?"

"I did, but I didn't say anything 'cause I was-" I tried to reply.

"-afraid that other ponies would become afraid of your sister and abuse you like the ponies back in your village did," Luna interrupted me, knowing what I would say. "It's okay, and I understand your concern. We will have much to discuss around you two ponies."

"I had the Royal Guard investigate the village you once lived in," Celestia said, "and what they went through as mere visitors was absolutely atrocious. They also confirmed sightings of Windigoes, kept at bay only by the fillies that secretly banded together to protect themselves."

"So it IS Windigoes!" Twilight exclaimed, happy to know that her hypothesis was correct, but unhappy that Windigoes still lived in Equestria, living in the midst of ponies guilty and innocent alike.

"Indeed it is," Celestia said somberly. "I hope that you have already explained to these ponies what danger their village brings to Equestria."

"I explained to them the story of Hearth's Warming Eve," Twilight replied. "They have only nightmare stories in their village: those of Nightmare Moon, Dischord, Sombra, among others."

"I see," Celestia said thoughtfully. "I believe, however, that these two ponies can tell us of their village better than anypony else here."

"I can tell you one thing, Princess: THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT HARMONY UNTIL THEY CAME TO PONYVILLE!" Pinkie burst out, still not quite over that little fact.

"It's true, Princess Celestia," I said while Guitar and I bowed to the ruler of Equestria. "Our village is a village of nightmares. We lived every day in fear, the adults never showing any signs of the spirits of the Elements of Harmony anywhere in the village. We are constantly ravaged by snowstorms from the Windigoes, and the adults all blame each other. We know little of your sun, Celestia, but we know much of Luna's moon because we, along with other fillies, would sneak out while the adults slept and would gather together to celebrate the softness of the moon, which came out every night. It was always in one of those nights and never the day when we would discover our Cutie Marks and our special talents. We ran away because the night we ran away, our mother decided to bring back out her whip with dragon tooth tips. We ask for your help for the sake of the fillies back home, especially our siblings."

"Please, you have no need to bow to me," Celestia said, much to our surprise, "and thank you for your account of your life in the village. Sunset Shimmer, What a surprise. You have returned."

Sunset came forward shyly and bowed deeply to the princess, saying, "Princess Celestia, I only come back for a visit. I came to apologize for everything I have done: for abandoning your teachings, for stealing Twilight's crown and Element of Harmony, and for attempting to use it to take over the mirror world and Equestria. I have done so much since then, though, and I have discovered that I, myself, am a Spirit of an Element of Harmony, although I don't know which one I am."

Celestia simply held a hoof out in a hug, and Sunset ran into her arms, both of them giving each other a huge embrace. I smiled at the fact that Celestia forgave her old student, and that Sunset could live her life happy of that forgiveness.

"I am simply happy that you returned, Sunset Shimmer," Celestia said happily. "I forgive you. You have certainly atoned for your deeds of the past, and you are definitely not the same pony that left your studies all those years ago. I am happy that you have found your place in the mirror world, and although I hoped you would stay in Equestria, the choice is always yours and I will support it all the way."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," Sunset said gratefully.

Guitar Riff

"Now the matter of the gem in Guitar Riff's chest," Luna said, startling me out of my thoughts about what the Sirens had said back in the mirror world.

"Yeah, how did you get that?" Starlight asked, making me nervous around the powerful unicorn.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," I half-lied. "I know that I got a necklace with this gem back at in the mirror world, and I played in the performance with Twilight, Sunset, Singing, and some girls from that world. I kept the necklace on when I went back through the portal, and next thing I know it's embedded in my chest."

"Are you sure that this is all?" Luna asked, always able to see through the half-lies I used to tell her.

I didn't want the rest of the princesses to know about my transformation, so I lied again, "Yes, that's all."

Luna looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but seemed to resign from doing so.

"In any case, such an occurrence has only happened once in Equestria's history, with the rise of the Sirens," Celestia said. When we all looked at her quizzically, she narrated while showing us the story with her magic like Twilight and Starlight once did, "Long ago, before Starswirl the Bearded became the unicorn everypony knows him as, three unicorns with beautiful voices and no Cutie Mark named Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk lived in a village full of tense Unicorns. This was before the three tribes first came to Equestria, so they were still separate. The three unicorns were sad that they didn't have their Cutie Mark and were regarded as useless. One day, an Alicorn male named Sirenmaker met them and gave them three special necklaces with red gems, saying that the gems would give them powers unlike any unicorn in existence. As he was an Alicorn, they trusted him, and they all wore the necklaces with pride. They soon discovered that the gems' power was used whenever they sang, and they began their rise to power. The more negative energy the unicorns absorbed through the necklaces, the more unponylike they became, their tails and hind legs becoming like those of a fish, and their features growing sharper, the necklaces' gems becoming embedded in much the same place Guitar's is now. They lost their horns, but reveled so much in the power that the necklaces gave them that they did not care for it. The wherabouts of the Alicorn known as Sirenmaker is unknown, but we do know that he came from where Luna and I did, and that he was a criminal, banished for dabbling in very dark magic, darker than even Nightmare Moon's magic was. We can only hope that he has passed with the years, and that he can no longer fool ponies into becoming what those poor unicorns became. Starswirl banished the sirens to another world, and they were never seen in Equestria again. Rumor has it that Sirenmaker went with them to their banishment place, and that he and they plot revenge on Equestria, even to this day. I believe Twilight knows the fate of the Sirens?"

"I do," Twilight said, taking over the magic presentation. "I was called back to the mirror world after retrieving my crown, and my friends there told me that three girls were taking over the school with what they believed to be dark magic and singing, and I did some research and discovered that the Sirens were the ones causing trouble. They were doing what they did in Equestria, and nearly stole all power from my friends because they were fighting so much. Sunset Shimmer was the one to get us to work together to defeat the Sirens, and we broke their gems, depriving them of their power. I didn't know that there were more gems."

"As long as Sirenmaker lives, he can produce the gems on his own," Luna stated. "I did extra research and found out that the source of his power to create Sirens comes from a green gem given to him by Dischord back before he was reformed. If the gem is destroyed, so will Sirenmaker and any possible chance of any more sirens be. It seems to me, however, that Guitar has somehow fallen prey to this magic, and that she will need to find a way to destroy the gem before it transforms her into a Siren, as well."

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked reluctantly, not wanting to get rid of the power that I had as a young siren. It was too delicious to give up.

"Never even attempt to use it anymore. It can only be used if you are singing," Luna suggested. "Of course, we will have to find Sirenmaker's gem to get rid of this power forever."

* * * * * TIME SKIP * * * * * *

That night, I took my guitar and snuck outside. I crooned a lullaby to all of Canterlot, relishing in my power that was coming inside of me through the green mist that went into my gem. I felt my body transform, and I realized that I could now fly! I flew straight back to Ponyville to the balcony of my shared room with Singing.

I hesitated a moment before going through the mirror. What about Singing? I thought. I then shook the thought out of my head, only wanting the power of the Sirens for my own. I went through the portal, wanting to join my fellow Sirens and share their power.

A/N: Hey, everypony! Man, I haven't updated in forever! So glad that inspiration finally struck! Well, I hope you like how the story's going! Please review and tell me what you think!

If you wish (and if you're into Star Wars), please read my other stories: Dark Destiny, Lullabye, Star Wars Musical, The Young Adventures of Terra Pax, and Terra Pax's Story (which is really just a bunch of drafts for a book I'm thinking might just stay fanfiction)!

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Singing Writer

I woke up the next morning and looked at the bed that Guitar was sleeping in the previous night and gasped in shock. She was gone! I started searching all over the room for my sister and noticed that her guitar was missing. I looked out the window and noticed that everypony was out of harmony with each other, and it was starting to look like it did back at our old village. I was terrified, and immediately went out of my room and started to search for my new friends. They were all together with the princesses, and they noticed my disheveled look and knew immediately that something was wrong.

"Singing, what's going on?" Twilight asked, trotting over to me.

"Guitar's missing, and she took her guitar with her!" I immediately said, nearly shouting. "Outside, it's starting to look like my old village!" I panted, partially because I was out of breath and partially because of my fear.

The ponies all sitting together looked at each other nervously. Luna was the first to speak.

"Then we must search for Guitar. It is possible that she is starting to test her power, and she could be anywhere in Equestria."

Sunset shook her head. "She knows that the Sirens are in the mirror world. Most likely, she's gone back there. I doubt that she would stay in Equestria with us, where she would not be allowed to test her power. I know what it's like to hold power and only want more, and she will also want to find guidance with those of her own kind."

"You mean that she's gone back to wherever the Sirens are?" Starlight asked nervously.

"I do," Sunset replied grimly. "Our only chance is finding Sirenmaker and destroying his gem, freeing the Sirens of his spell. It will not only save Guitar, but it will keep her and the Sirens from ever returning to power."

Luna and Celestia both nodded simultaneously. Celestia was the one who spoke: "Then we must hurry and search for Sirenmaker if we are to succeed. Some ponies will go to the mirror world and see if he truly is there with the Sirens. The rest of us will search Equestria for him."

"Guitar got the gem in the mirror world, so it's more likely that Sirenmaker's there," I noted. "Maybe those who have been to the mirror world should go look there, since they've been there before."

Twilight nodded. "Singing, Starlight, Sunset, Spike, and I will all go to the mirror world to look for Guitar. We'll check back when we find anything."

Celestia said, "Then we must quickly act if we are to save Guitar from the spell of the Sirens."

Guitar Riff

I stumbled through the portal and struggled to pick myself up. I was not used to walking on two legs, but knew that I could easily walk once I did. I looked around and found Adagio standing at the other side of the statue, waiting.

"I see you have decided to return sooner than I thought you would," she remarked as she guided me to the tour van. "Come, we have much to discuss."

"Of course," I replied.

When we reached the van, I saw that Aria was sitting splayed in a chair, looking bored, and that Sonata was downing a plate of tacos. I then noticed a green-skinned man with black hair reclining on a comfy chair without arms that was in a circle with two other chairs of the same style. He motioned for us to sit with him, and we both followed suit.

"I see you have decided to join us, Guitar Riff," he remarked. "It's a shame that your sister decided not to."

"She didn't even put on the pendant," I noted. "She doesn't know of the true power in them."

"You don't either, but you will soon learn." He reached a hand out to me. "My name is Sirenmaker. It's a pleasure to meet you face-to-face at last."

I shook the hand presented to me, and he smiled at me. I wasn't sure if it was sinister or something else, but I ignored the nagging in my head. This is my way to power, I reminded myself. I WILL gain it, even if my sister refuses to.

My attention was then turned back to Sirenmaker as he spoke again. "You have already begun to use the pendant's power, I assume."

I nodded, telling him what I did in Canterlot. He cocked his head at the mention of Canterlot, and I explained to him what it was. He understood then, and pressed his fingers together.

"This complicates things," he said after I finished telling him everything, including what I knew of the Elements of Harmony. "Now that we know that it was the powers of the Elements of Harmony that destroyed the Siren Gems in the first place, we know what will be our downfall. We cannot allow for a misstep like at the Canterlot High Battle of the Bands again." By this time, Aria and Sonata began to listen to the conversation, interested in what the man had to say. "Then, we overlooked the power of the Elements without their physical manifestations outside of their spirits. Now that they have them, we will need to be more careful and plan our next move accordingly."

Adagio mentioned, "At the Battle of the Bands, our gems were only destroyed when a seventh element was added to the main six Elements. There were rumors, stories of such Elements of Harmony, back where Sonata, Aria and I used to be fillies, but there were only ever mention of six Elements. The addition of new Elements is something that we must consider."

Sirenmaker nodded his agreement. "We must keep an eye on the Rainbooms, then, as they still live in the area. They were fools to think that they would be safe here while we recovered from the Battle of the Bands last winter. Next time, we will defeat them utterly," he promised.

I smiled, but inside I was wondering if I should have stayed longer to learn more about the Elements of Harmony so I could give the information to the rest of the Sirens. I shook the thought out of my head as I joined Sonata as she finished her tacos. She offered me one, and I accepted and took a bite. I understood now why she liked them so much – they were absolutely delicious! I made a note to myself to try making some sometime later. After downing so many tacos, however, I realized that my stomach wasn't getting any fuller. Something was missing.

Sonata noticed and said, "If you aren't feeling like they're filling you up, it's because only the power of a Siren can fill ya. Ordinary food can't affect your hunger anymore, which is why I love this! I can eat AS MANY TACOS AS I WANT!"

I shivered and refrained from eating another taco. I got up again and searched for a place to sit. Adagio patted the chair by her, which was now so close to her that the two practically made a small couch. I sat down beside her, and she put a hand on mine, leaning in close to me.

"A little scared, sweetie?" she asked me with a smile, and I nodded, looking down and not wanting to look into the Siren's eyes.

She put her hand under my chin like she had at the concert, and forced me to look at her eyes again. They were a beautiful gold that went with her skin and hair, and they were full of power – and the things that came with it. It was a power that I wanted so badly it hurt, and she seemed to notice how I saw the power in her eyes.

"Don't be," she continued. "Believe me, we all were scared at first, but the rush of power is so much that we forgot how scared we were. I will be here to stay with you and guide you through this whole thing. Trust me, you'll be comfortable in no time."

She offered her arms in a hug, and I accepted it, feeling her arms around me like my sister's front legs once were when we were fillies, except that this hug was more intimate than any sisterly hug. My heart went aflutter, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I knew one thing: I was a Siren now, and I trusted Adagio with my life.

Singing Writer

My friends and I went through the portal to find the Rainbooms waiting, having received Twilight's message. We were all helped up, and had to stretch our arms, legs, and hands to get them working properly.

"So what's the plan?" Rainbow asked, not wanting to waste time.

"She's most likely back with the Sirens, and she'll not want to leave them," I told her with a matter-of-factly tone.

"Then we'll have to beat them again," Applejack said as she pumped her fist in the air. "We've done it before; we can do it again."

"It might not be so easy next time," Twilight reminded them. "They will know about the Elements of Harmony, and if Sirenmaker's really with them, he'll find a way to make more Sirens and make it harder for us to defeat them."

"Plus, we have to destroy his green gem to destroy Siren magic forever," Sunset added. "That takes a lot of magic, magic I'm not sure that we can replicate in this world."

"If there's more Elements than the main six that are in the stories, then maybe we simply need to find the rest of the Elements of Harmony that are simply hidden!" Starlight suggested.

"How many are there, though…" SciTwi mused, holding her chin in her hand in thought.

I wasn't sure myself if the plan would work. We needed time – time that wasn't on our side.

---

A/N: Yup, I'm putting an OC shipping in here - Adagio/Guitar Riff. It's my first try at a lesbian ship, but here's to hoping it doesn't go to crap (or an M rating).