I stepped back through the portal, rather glad to be on four hooves again. A much as I loved being a human once more, I guess I'd gotten to a point where I didn't think about myself as one anymore, which was odd for me, whenever I thought about it. I vaguely wondered again about my destiny, and if I was merely TD or always Princess Antares.

Or whatever. Honestly I'd had a rather long day, what with picking just the right music with which to un-brainwash Principal Celestia. I had to listen to everything that I put her through. Belgh.

I walked into the main room of the library and, interestingly enough, Twilight and Celestia were sharing tea. A few books were open around them and spread over the table, so they must have been studying something. They looked up when I came back in with Blaze and Rapids with a smile.

"Ah, TD, how are you?" Celestia asked, getting to her hooves. "Have the Sirens been dealt with? That was quick."

"Unfortunately no," I said with a shake of my head. "They've drawn a lot of power from feeding off of the students at Canterlot High, so I need something more than my fists if I want to deal with this. Plus two of them strike me as smarter than I'm used to, so it would take a lot of maneuvering to beat them with brains, something I don't think I have time to do." I walked over to Celestia and nuzzled her. "Things going well with the minotaurs and griffins?"

"Everything has been quiet since you left," Celestia said. "The Blade Wings haven't given me any new reports on their actions."

"So I should have a little time, good," I said with a nod. "My plan is pretty simple, but I'll need your help to do it. They're using some kind of musical spell to brainwash and feed off of their victims. I need you to whip me up some gems that will hold the counter-spell while I pop on by the Restricted Section of the Canterlot Library."

"The Restricted Section?" Celestia said, raising her eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, do you need to do there?"

"Now now, that would be telling," I said with a waggle of my hoof. "Just trust me on this. I'm not going to blow up either world."

"Ponies tend not to think that they will until they do," Celestia pointed out.

"Well, that's not even the kind of spell I'll be using," I said. "I have a bit more of a deft touch in mind."

"Do you indeed?" Celestia said. She stared at me for a few moments before sighing. "Very well, I trust you. How many gems will you need?"

"About three, I think," I said, doing the calculations in my head. "I don't think it matters where I put them, just so long as my drumming will trigger them well enough."

"Drumming?" Twilight frowned and tilted her head. "I didn't know you played the drums."

I chuckled and wrapped a wing around Twilight. "I don't. Why else do you think I need to go to the Restricted Section of the library?"

"So, what did you say this spell did, Princess Antares?" Rapids asked, staring uneasily at the bass she held in her arms like it would bite her. "Make us play instruments good?"

"Well, that's an oversimplification, of course, but essentially yes." I poked my tongue through my teeth while I finished installing the last gem on the drum set I'd just bought for the battle. "Basically I 'downloaded' a song into your brain. You'll be able to play it perfectly on your instruments for the entire duration of the spell. We should have more than enough time to play the counter-spell before the one that allows us to play wears off."

"Well that's good, I guess," Blaze said, staring at his guitar. He plucked a few strings and succeeded in getting a decent melody out of it. "And your drums have the counter-spell in them?"

"Yeah, pretty much," I said, standing up. "It's going to take a little bit for them to work, so we'll have to open their minds with the first part of our act before I hit them with the full brunt of my wicked drum skills." I grinned as I took the sticks in my hand. "And of course, I have the plan for their act. I think they won't even be able to hypnotize a rat by the time we're done with them."

"If you're certain," a voice said beside me. I turned and gave a confident grin to Principal Celestia and somebody who looked like Princess Luna, who were approaching us with uneasy looks. "I am especially not sure I like what you're going to install behind the curtain."

I scoffed and walked up to the curtain on the stage in the auditorium of the school. "Oh, trust me. It's going to really ruin their rhythm, which will be key in ensuring that they won't be able to brainwash or feed off of anyone else. I just need to you make sure they don't try to cry foul once I put it into action."

"It's not appropriate to have in a school," Vice-Principal Luna grumbled.

"Neither are a trio of sirens who are going to hurt your students if they get any more powerful," I pointed out. "Once we've dealt with them, we'll take them back to Equestria and you won't have to bother with them anymore."

"And you?" Luna asked hopefully.

I shrugged. "I don't know what else Starswirl dumped here. This could be the last time we see each other, or this could merely be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I just hope you know that I'm trying to keep your school intact here. I'm not going to burn it down trying to get rid of some infestation. That's something a government-appointed official would do, and I'm not part of your world's government."

Luna let out a long-suffering sigh and turned her attention to the curtain on the stage. "And you're certain that it's necessary?"

"Very. It'll break the hold the Sirens have on your students, or, at the very least, it'll prevent them from tightening their grip." I paused, then added, "at the very very least, it'll be funny."

"We don't want 'funny', we want the Sirens out of here," Celestia said sternly.

"And if I can be funny while doing that, all the better," I said with a nod. "At any rate..." I stood up and dusted myself off. "The drum set is ready to go. All that's left is the actual battle tonight. You two just need to make sure that my antics don't stop the battle, and that once I get on stage, nothing stops my act. After that, we should be good."

"If you say so," Luna muttered. "If you say so."

"I do!" I said with a grin. "If everything goes according to plan, you can have a real Battle of the Bands that doesn't involve a crazy trio of emotion eaters fighting a pony god from another dimension. You can go back to students fighting in the hallways or senior pranks as the biggest issues you have to deal with."

"I cannot wait," Celestia admitted. "Are you sure you won't have any trouble bringing them back to your world?"

"Shouldn't," I said. "Once they're powerless, they're just three scrawny teenage girls." I tapped my jaw in thought. "If they are a big problem, I can always send Blaze or Rapids back through the portal to get more soldiers."

"No!" Celestia and Luna shouted at the same time.

"I mean..." Celestia took a deep breath. "I'm sure you three will be fine."

"Eh, me too." I twirled the drum sticks in my hand before tapping out a simple tune on the drums. "If I had to guess, they won't know what hit them."

"The Sirens or our students?"

I chuckled and sped up my playing. "Both."

"Okay, so are you two ready?" I said, looking through one of the side curtains to see the stage. Currently the Rainbooms were setting up their instruments for their act of the battle. I considered asking them for help, but, heh, after the reception I'd received from Sunset, I figured that wasn't the best idea. Besides, I didn't even think I needed their help. I'm certain that if I needed it that they'd all jump in at once, and I kept that in mind just in case something went wrong, but for now, Blaze, Rapids and I had things pretty well in hand. I exchanged a quick glance with Celestia and Luna, both of whom were sitting at a table in front of the stage. Presumably as judges, or something.

I watched the group begin tuning their instruments for their act with mild interest. Pinkie Pie seemed to be on the drums, so maybe the two of us could have a drum-off before my spell wore off. I'd be interested to see what she'd be able to do. For the most part I...

Wait.

Hold the phone.

I narrowed my eyes and looked to the catwalks above the Rainbooms. It seemed that some other students weren't quite so interested in making this a fair fight. Sigh. And we already had to deal with emotion eating sirens. I nudged Blaze with my elbow and pointed to the catwalks.

"Whaddya think: special effects crew or saboteurs?"

Blaze shrugged. "Could be both."

"Uh-huh." I looked through the curtain again and grimaced. "Well, they're going to be starting any minute now, so we don't have too much time. You two wait here: I'll deal with the cheaters."

"Roger that, Princess Antares," Rapids said, looking up at the students as well. "You need anything?"

"I shouldn't." I grinned and began walking away. "This won't take too long."

Now, it looked like there were two groups up there: Photo Finish and her groupies, and Snips and Snails. An easy fix. I went into a storage room I noticed earlier which seemed to be used to store props and costumes for the school's theater productions. It would suit my purposes nicely. I went over to a corkboard, on which several masks hung. I picked up a silver one with a grinning face that wouldn't look out of place in The Purge. Perfect. Content that I was sufficiently disguised, I went over to the ladder leading up to the catwalks and went up.

I ran into Photo Finish first. Apparently Rarity was wearing a costume with a lot of metal on it, so Photo Finish had brought magnets to trip her up that way. She was whispering to her flunkies about their plan, I guess, when I came up behind them and grabbed one of them, covering her mouth with my hand. Photo Finish and the other one popped up, their eyes wide.

"Make a single sound and we'll see what happens when you cross me," I said in my best demonic voice. "You're encroaching on my territory. This is my turf." I let the girl go and stepped aside. "Leave this place. Tell the others that The Phantom of Canterlot High will not tolerate saboteurs."

I could tell they desperately wanted to scream, but my warning seemed to work. They bolted past me as fast as their legs could carry them, terror evident on their faces. I grinned behind my mask and moved on over to Snips and Snails, who looked like they were messing with a spotlight over Fluttershy. I reached them just as the Rainbooms began performing. I grabbed Snips and held him by the collar, pushing him near the edge of the catwalk to the point where he felt like he might fall off.

"I have a stake in this performance. The Phantom of Canterlot High will not be denied." I waggled my finger at him. "I will send you the way of Joseph Buquet should you interfere." I released him and stepped aside so that Snips and Snails could run away. "Remember to keep your hand at the level of your eyes!"

The two ran from me, their hands at head level, before scurrying down the ladder so quickly it was a wonder they didn't leave a trail of fire behind them. I giggled and looked down on the Rainbooms from my position. Things seemed to be going well enough for them. Good. Content that my job was done, I went to re-join my guards.

I approached them while holding the mask I'd been wearing. The each raised an eyebrow at me. "You have fun, Princess Antares?"

"Oh lots," I said gleefully. "I foresee some interesting rumors circulating around the school for a long time." I looked down fondly at the mask I had. "I think I'll buy this from Celestia. Or ask where she got it so that I can get one for myself. I like it."

"Not bad," Blaze agreed. "Looks creepy enough."

I stored the mask in my backpack for the moment before looking back to the stage. The Rainbooms had finished which meant that it was go time.

"Okay, you two know what to do. Just stay frosty and we'll be okay. Do just what we practiced." The two saluted me and we ran back behind the curtain, just as the Sirens stepped onstage. We grabbed our trump card from its storage spot and quickly installed it behind the curtain. We'd gotten pretty good at that after a day or two of practice. The whole thing went down without a hitch. Once we finished that, Blaze and Rapids took their positions on either side of the stage, leaving me to listen for the cue.

"Remember, girls, we want to save the good stuff for when our full power has been restored," I heard Adagio say. I grinned and grabbed the curtain rope, ready to pull it open as soon as we were ready.

The Sirens did not disappoint. Their song was just as seductive as I hoped it would be. A quick peek through the curtain let me know they were even swaying their hips in a seductive manner. Perfect. Just perfect.

I pulled the curtain open revealing my trump card: a stripper pole. The Sirens didn't stop singing until I began bouncing around the stage, whooping and wolf whistling like a lunatic.

"Oh take it off!" I cried. "Take it off!" I did a few twirls around the pole before running up to the Sirens, who were looking at me like I'd absolutely lost my mind. "No, no, keep swaying your hips! You're so seductive!" I pulled out a wad of dollar bills and began "making it rain" all over the Sirens. By this point Adagio seemed to figure out what was going on and, well, if looks could kill, she'd have struck me dead on the spot, alicorn powers or no. She stomped up to me and pushed me back.

"What do you think you are doing?!" she screeched.

"Just adding to your act," I said with as much innocence as I could muster. "Why? Don't you appreciate that? You brainwashed me, remember?"

"Get off the bucking stage!" she snarled.

"Ahem," Principal Celestia said into the microphone she held. "Are you three finished with your act?"

"No we are not!" Adagio snarled. "This buffoon has interfered with our performance!"

"I find that hard to believe, seeing as how you stated you'd have four members in your group." Celestia said, looking down at a sheet in front of her. "Did something go wrong?"

"I said three, not four!" Adagio cried while Sonata and Aria shrugged at each other.

"Oh, did you?" Celestia tapped her jaw and continued studying the paper. "Well, it says here that you have four members of your group. Why don't you let the next act go on while we get this all figured out?"

I could hear Adagio's teeth grinding from where I stood. She was planning all sorts of torturous things for Celestia and I, that much was certain, but there wasn't too much she could do at the moment. I'm certain she suspected that something was up, but she couldn't stop it now. As for the students in the audience, they all looked really confused, like they weren't sure if they should be brainwashed or not. Good. It seemed my little stunt had already loosened the hold the Sirens had on them.

Blaze and Rapids closed the curtains while Adagio stomped up to me. She poked me in the chest with her finger and got up close to my face. "You are going to die."

"Not for a long while yet," I said, my grin not wavering.

"I know you're up to something, and I'm just letting you know now that it won't work!" She began backing away menacingly. "I'll get you for this."

"And my little dog, too?"

Adagio made a noise of disgust and stomped off of the stage, Sonata and Aria in tow. I chuckled to myself before going to help Blaze and Rapids set up for our act, which started with uninstalling the stripper pole. Maybe I could find out where the Sirens were staying and mail it to them.

Once we'd gotten the pole off of the stage, we began setting up our instruments. I double checked the gems in all of them, and they seemed to be good to go. Nothing else for it at this point but to go for it and hope for the best. We each took our positions and the curtain opened.

"Are you three ready?" Celestia asked, a slightly worried look on her face. I gave her a confident grin and nod, and she returned it with a sigh. "Very well." She picked up the microphone and turned to her students. "Up next we have the Canadians and their group... Milli and the Vanillis." She turned back to me and nodded. "Whenever you are ready."

I nodded back. "Alrighty, lady and gentleman, let's do this." I tapped my sticks together to get the rhythm going, and on the third tap, Blaze began playing the opening notes to Smells Like Teen Spirit.

I did so love the fact that I still had my music from Earth in Equestria.

I could feel the magic pulsing from the gems on our instruments as I began singing. I tried not to think so much about what I was playing, but rather let the magic of the spell guide my movements. The crowd of students began drawing closer as our counter-spell began working its magic. I glanced to the side of the stage and saw the Sirens arguing with Vice-Principal Luna. They probably wanted me disqualified, or something. Good luck with that.

The counter-spell brought the brainwashing magic inside of each student to the forefront, which caused all of their eyes to begin glowing green. That meant that it was working well enough so far. I began playing with more passion, and the green color began fading in and out, but not disappearing completely. I needed to up my game a little bit if I was going to break the spell completely, but the song had almost ended, and I doubted that Celestia would be able to let me just start up another one. Not that I really had another one to go with.

Not a concrete one, anyway, but the spell did mean that I was good at the drums. Really good. I could use that. The song ended with the eyes of the students still glowing green, but I had one trick left up my sleeve. Blaze and Rapids stopped, but I continued playing, increasing the speed and my beats.

To this day I'm still not entirely sure what I did, but I felt the magic flowing from the gems becoming more powerful the faster I played. I looked out into the audience and saw that some of the students' eyes were returning to normal. Celestial and Luna were looking at me with dropped jaws, and even the Sirens had stopped arguing and were just staring at me in shock. I began sweating as the strain of drumming like I was began to take its toll on my weaker human body. Before the toll started slowing my drumming down, however, I saw that the last of the green eyes had gone out. I grinned and did a few more movements before slamming my sticks down on the cymbals, bringing my epic solo to an end.

The auditorium instantly burst into uproarious applause. They began cheering my name and bouncing up and down like a mosh pit. I gave them a few bows before walking off of the stage past the Sirens.

"Top that," I said with a grin.

"Oh, I think I might be able to," Adagio replied. She had a grin of her own on her face, which surprised me a little bit. I thought she'd be livid. "It seems I found out where that Equestrian magic came from."

Author's Notes:

By the way, this is what I imagine TD did to break the spell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twKsU1Qv4k8&list=LL4ybuJyGb5SYcitj0me828Q&index=5

Also, this is the mask of "The Phantom of Canterlot High"