A red ball of energy appeared in the middle of a Maneorcan plaza shortly after The Dazzlings and The Rainbooms had departed for it. Just like the orbs The Blasters created when they travelled, this one was letting off energy. Only this time, it was entirely red, since there were only Furens using this power.

It wasn't long before the energy quickly evaporated, launching The Rainbooms out of the orb with quite a fast velocity. The ten girls appeared almost instantly and saw that they could finally see Maneorca after that trip through the vortex.

The only ones who landed on their feet were The Dazzlings, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. They watched as Twilight, Fluttershy, Sunset, Rarity and Applejack landed either on their faces, or rolled into nearby structures whilst letting out groans of pain.

"Velocity always gets the better of you when you ride that vortex," said Adagio as she, Aria, Sonata, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash walked over to the other girls and pulled them to their feet. "You'll get used to it, after a while."

The other girls all got to their feet and quickly shook off the dizziness of their impact before rejoining with the girls who had landed on their feet. They were all quickly taken in with the wonderful sighs of Maneorca, with such pristine alleys and walkways that it would have made anyone give impressed looks. The buildings all had regal golden pillars at each corner, a clear sight that this was a very favourable tourist attraction.

While The Rainbooms were quite taken with the wonderful sights of Maneorca, The Dazzlings were still focusing on Trixie and Hierarxe. They knew that if Hierarxe wasn't released from Trixie's body within the time they were here, then things would only get worse for all of them.

"So, does anyone here know where Trixie, Fuchsia and Lavender are?" Adagio asked the group once they'd finished seeing all the sights in the current vicinity.

"They'll probably be at a rather large venue, since the audience we saw did look rather big..." Twilight said, giving The Dazzlings their answer. "We should probably use the GPS functions on our phones to find them easier, right, Sunset?"

"Oh yeah... I'd forgotten about that," Sunset quickly pulled out her phone, opened up the contacts page once again, and tapped what looked like the word "Triangulate" underneath the picture. Within seconds, the location of Fuchsia Blush and Lavender Lace appeared on what looked like a sudden map. "All this new technology's really starting to make all the old stuff obsolete, huh?"

"At least I can rest easy with the fact that we still have books..." Twilight looked at the library in the plaza for a brief instance before using the triangulate feature on her phone as well. Within seconds, Twilight had the exact same map and directions on her phone as Sunset Shimmer's phone. "Hey, Sunset? Once this is over, do you think we could get some books from the library?"

"Probably, Twilight. Given the chance, I wouldn't mind coming back here to read with you someday..." said Sunset, showing sisterly feelings for Twilight. Since all the madness with The Dazzlings twelve years ago, Sunset could have easily mistaken Twilight for a sister that she'd loved so long ago, but had to leave for unknown reasons.

"First things first, Sunset, we have to save Trixie from Hierarxe." Twilight's serious expression returned as she gazed down on the map on her phone.

It wasn't long before all of the girls were following her and Sunset on their venture to find Trixie, Fuchsia and Lavender. The ten of them passed by rather marvellous sights on their way, including a variety of rather lovely sculptures and fountains here and there. However, they didn't stay at a sight for too long, since they knew about Trixie's current state and wanted to make sure she was saved at all costs.

The phones eventually led Twilight, Sunset, The Dazzlings and the Humane Five over to a nearby theatre with all kinds of advertisements for Trixie's show. The adverts all showered Trixie with praise, and even showed five-star reviews from some very important people who'd already seen the show, along with some quotes that the reviewers said about Trixie's show.

"So this is where Trixie performs?" Adagio asked, looking at the rather large theatre with looks of interest. "She's really made a living for herself since that Battle of the Bands twelve years ago..."

"Fuchsia and Lavender said that her show's moving out to another city in three days, so we need to do this fast..." Aria reminded Adagio of that one important fact as they approached a secret entrance behind the theatre which had a rather tough guy guarding it. "Although security shouldn't be a problem..."

Adagio, Aria and Sonata walked over to the tough guy and stood some distance from him. It seemed like he was keeping a vigilant watch on the girls, trying to stop them from getting in to see Trixie, Fuchsia and Lavender.

"May I help you?" he said, speaking in a rather cocky tone of voice as he addressed the girls.

Within seconds, The Dazzlings began singing their chorus, quickly marking the security guard as he succumbed to their beguiling symphony of voices. They seemed to be breaking through to the guard, since they could already see his eyes turning red and his jaw begin to droop open with how awestruck he was.

Once the chorus was over, Adagio walked over to the guard and said, "Ten backstage passes, please." before immediately seeing the guard reach for a nearby box with dozens of backstage passes in it. She watched as the guard uttered no words whilst handing each of the girls a backstage pass and allowing them entry.

"Thank you, sir," Aria said as the ten girls walked right past him and went through the door to the backstage confines of the theatre. "Have a nice day..."

The girls quickly found themselves walking down what looked like rather fluffy carpets as they passed by other backstage pass holders and members of staff. The whole sight was enough to make anyone feel jealous if there was footage of it, but the girls could plainly see that there were pictures that denied them from using their cameras backstage.

"So... where's Trixie?" Pinkie asked as the group eventually made it to the near-end of a hallway and stopped.

"She'll probably be somewhere in her dressing room, relaxing after such a show she pulled off..." Sonata said, quickly looking at each of the doors for Trixie's dressing room. "Look for a door with a star, that should narrow the choices down a little..."

"Hey, now that I think about it, we should all try getting a dressing room someday when we return to music!" Pinkie said, seeing the girls look at her with confused looks on their faces. "Twilight's would be covered with scripts, since she seems like a thespian. Rarity's dressing room would be overflowing with dresses, since she does have a secret dream to break the world record for 'Most Dresses in a Dressing Room' someday. Then, Applejack's would be full of-"

"We get the picture, Pinkie." Sunset said, covering Pinkie's mouth with her hand.

"Well, there's the star..." Rarity said as she looked at a rather shiny gold star on the front of a door, and used sign language to get the other girls to walk towards it. What they then saw was rather interesting indeed...

The door itself was rather structurally intact, but the writing on the star seemed rather different altogether. The regular golden plating still had Trixie's name cared into it, but there was writing that looked like it had been carved by some blue kind of energy that read "The Great and Powerful" next to Trixie's name.

"Well, here goes nothing... or everything..." Twilight said as she knocked on the door, hoping that it would open up relatively quickly. Once she'd finished rapping her knuckles against the door, she took a few steps back and waited with the girls for Trixie to answer it.

"Unless Trixie sees backstage passes or staff cards, she's not letting you in to her private dressing room!" Trixie's voice came from the other side of the door, albeit a bit muffled.

"Uh, hi, O Great and Powerful one!" Twilight said, trying to fake a smile as she still cringed at Trixie's pessimistic behaviour. "We're just ten backstage pass holders, hoping to get access to your almighty confines of amazement and wonder!"

"Oh, well then why didn't you just say so?" the door flew open slowly, so that the girls could see Trixie once more. "Step through the door and witness the backstage beauty only known as the Great and Powerfu-" she immediately looked rather surprised to see who it was, but then kept her composure as she remembered her fellow high-school classmates. "Oh, it's you. Come to grovel at my feet have we?"

"Not exactly, Trixie," said Adagio as the whole group walked into the rather expansive dressing room to see Trixie sitting on a prop throne with jewels and gold lacing the sides of it. "We're here because of rather confidential matters. Something that only you and your managers need to hear."

"Well then, simply ask away," Trixie said, drumming her fingers against the armrests of the throne as she leisurely put her feet up, showing rather expensive and flashy looking golden boots. "What is so important that makes it something that only the three of us need to hear?"

"It's about your magic, Trixie..." Twilight said, getting Trixie to immediately shoot up and look rather apprehensive once more.

"Come to barter with the Great and Powerful Trixie so she'll give away her spells and tricks? Fat chance of that happening," Trixie said, shooting rather unamused looks at her ten guests. "Her spells and tricks are rather confidential, and Trixie's opposition would pay anything to get their hands on the techniques in pulling them off. Well let me make this as clear as day for the ten of you; Trixie's spells are NOT for sale, and they never will be for sale."

"We're not here to buy any of your spells, Trixie." Sunset said, getting Trixie to immediately change her tune into a rather smug one.

"Oh! So you're here for Trixie to tutor the ten of you into being her apprentices?" Trixie still seemed rather arrogant and cocky as usual. "I'll just warn you right now that it might get a little unbearable, and that most of Trixie's other apprentices usually quit after the first week with how much work she gave them."

"Trixie, if you'd just let us explain—"

"Trixie's next show's tomorrow, but I guess she can teach you the most basic trick in the book; the Linking Rings!" Trixie magically conjured up what looked like one metal ring, but quickly made a link of five of the metal rings with the simple flick of her wrist. "Learn this by tomorrow, and Trixie will see what she can do for-"

"YOU'VE BEEN CURSED!" The Dazzlings all yelled so loud that Trixie's hat flew right off of her hair, making it smash against the wall.

"W-What?" Trixie looked rather taken aback by that statement.

"If you don't believe us, then just look at the blue energy radiating from your hand!" Adagio showed Trixie's hand to her, seeing as it was glowing a rather bright shade of blue.

"Oh, that? That's just Trixie's Blue Brilliance skin lights, she got those installed recently after she rose to magical supremacy—"

"Alright, that's it!" Adagio grabbed Trixie by the neck, put her mouth right next to Trixie's right ear and yelled, "HIERARXE, WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! COME ON OUT AND FIGHT THE THREE OF US LIKE A TRUE LYRICAN WOULD!" making Trixie's head vibrate with how loud it was.

"Very well, Dazzlings. It seems you finally found me after all these years..." said a voice when Trixie opened her mouth to speak. It was as if Hierarxe was actually manipulating Trixie's mouth to make it sound like she was speaking to the group.

The next thing that happened involved Trixie's eyes glowing a rather blinding shade of radiant blue as she was completely covered in a bright blue glow, enabling her to levitate off of the floor with little effort. Within seconds, little blue strings strung down from the ceiling and attached to Trixie's limbs and head.

"How do you like my little puppet, Dazzlings?" Hierarxe gloated as the whole group stood back against the wall and looked rather horrified at the sight they were seeing. "Out of all the boast busting show-offs in all of existence, Miss Lulamoon here has been the most efficient in enhancing my power..."

"What are you doing with Trixie?!" Fuchsia Blush addressed Hierarxe as furiously as she could.

"Relax yourself, Miss Blush, your human performer is safe for now..." Hierarxe spoke to the whole group, making sure that they were all listening well with what he had to say. "However, as long as I continue to absorb her boastful nature as the Great and Powerful Trixie, she will eventually wither out and die when she outlives her usefulness..."

"Such a powerful young vessel Miss Lulamoon is..." he continued, making Trixie dance in the air with his many puppet strings as he spoke. "To think that all of this started when the three corrupted Lyricans filled her head with dreams of victory and dominance..." his puppet stroked the chins of The Dazzlings, getting them to wipe them with their hands and throw their fists behind them in anger. "They'd spoken of the great rewards Miss Lulamoon would receive if she were better than all other opposition, and it had made her into the perfect candidate for my absorption process. With every time she boasts or speaks in the first person, she was oblivious to the fact that I was feasting off of it, getting stronger and stronger with each passing day that went by. Pretty nifty, huh?"

"You're sick!" Twilight shouted to the Trixie puppet.

"No, I am a highly powerful Euphorian Deity," the puppet continued to speak, but this time, its' hands were glowing rather brightly. It was making the whole room shake and rattle with how violent the magical build-up was. "You may have bested the other four, but they were merely infants compared to me. I ensure you, that as long as I continue to feed off of Trixie Lulamoon here, I am nothing like what you fools have fought in the past..."

"W-What's happening?" Fluttershy said as she watched the entire room warp and change its' molecular structure completely as the Trixie puppet continued to wave its' arms and cast magic.

"I am merely scrapping what's left of this miserable stadium of boast busting," Hierarxe spoke as the whole room started to show massive blue cracks of light as the puppet raised its' arms and prepared to throw them out in a manner of directions. "But do not worry yourselves with the destruction of this stadium, for I shall create a more appropriate battleground for The Dazzlings to duel me..."

"And you, my dear, sweet Fuchsia and Lavender..." the puppet spoke, now in Trixie's voice instead of Hierarxe's voice. "You two shall serve the newly resurrected Lyrican Sirens among the ranks of Euphoria for all of eternity!"

"Trixie...?" Lavender watched as the dressing room continued to spawn more and more bright blue cracks of Lyrican energy with each of the swings of the puppets' arms.

"Under the guidance of my almighty and all-powerful Hierarxe, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, shall eradicate all other opposition from this weak and puny world!" Trixie spoke in her normal voice, yet still under Hierarxe's control. "By doing so, Trixie shall utter in a new era of prosperity and peace, where all of the humans of this world will cower before her might!"

"Could someone please tell me what's happenin' here?!" Applejack asked as The Dazzlings ran in front of the whole group and raised their swords for battle.

"Hierarxe's starting a battle with us, and is going to be using Trixie's body to buy himself some time whilst he destroys this theatre and takes all the pieces to Euphoria!" Adagio explained as their swords glowed bright red in resonance with their now glowing bodies. "Get ready to fly, girls!"

The Trixie puppet curled its' arms up and hugged itself, whilst still channelling Blissen energy. The build-up of energy only got bigger and bigger the more that Trixie hugged herself, and within seconds, her hands flew out of her hugging stance, enveloping everyone in the room with a bright flash of light.

The only noises that could be heard over the loud and bright flash of light were the screams of The Rainbooms, Fuchsia Blush and Lavender Lace...

Author's Notes:

Sorry if this took a while, I was busy playing Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix. And let me tell you, it's MILES BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL! Not only is the music all orchestrated (Which I adore with all of my heart), but the new features such as Puzzles, EX Gummi Routes, Absent Silhouettes, they're all just so entertaining and exciting.

Luna: I expected as much, Shadowmane, seeing as the Cutie Mark in your emblem depicts the main weapon of the Kingdom Hearts franchise and all...

Me: Weww, it's a gweat fwanchise, and I tink evewyone shouwd pway it...

Celestia: It all depends on what they think of it, little one... (Levitates me up) Now off to bed with you.

Me: Otay, Ma- Zzzzzzz...

Luna: Oh, and before you leave this chapter and wait for the next one, I advise you to leave some more comments on these stories of Shadowmane's. He pours his heart out in making these and deserves some feedback for all the work he's done.

Discord: Patience, patience, Luna. These readers will comment all in good time... And if they don't,(Glares at reader) I know where they live...

Lauren: What was that about?

Luna: Do not question him, mother. He's just Discord being Discord in the end...