“Alex? You in there?” Rainbow Dash’s voice followed a loud knock on the door of the classroom as Alex woke up with a start. The doorknob turned easily, and the sporty older teen let out a relieved sigh as she spotted him, sticking her head back out the door. “Found him! Looks like he was asleep in here!”

“Was I asleep?” Alex questioned, rubbing his head. “My head feels kinda... fuzzy...” Sitting up, he wiped a line of drool off his cheek. “I didn’t worry you girls too much, did I?”

“Eh, a little bit. Twilight was all concerned about you going off alone with them after a few minutes, and convinced the rest of us that we should start looking for you once it’d been half an hour.” Rainbow Dash snickered a little, and offered a kleenex to help him wipe his face dry. “Their singing was so bad it put you to sleep huh? Least it didn’t zombify you.”

“We can’t know that for sure, Rainbow.” Twilight rushed in and knelt down next to Alex. “Are you feeling okay? Any sudden aggression or urge to compete like the other students have shown?”

“Psh, yeah, like sudden aggression is abnormal for him.” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“No, I feel fine,” Alex assure, giving her a bright smile. “Sorry if I worried you. I probably should have thought through my plan a bit more than not at all.”

“Wait, what?” Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight spoke in unison at Alex’s response to Rainbow’s taunt.

“Okay, yeah, they got to him I think.” Rainbow stated flatly. “Last time one of us brought it up he flipped out so hard even I thought he was on the rag.”

“Err, right, whatever that means. We need to get going and hope it’s nothing too serious, even if he is acting unusual. He can be our test case for the counterspell.”

“Twilight, I’m fine really.” Alex rose to his feet, brushing his dress off. “You worry too much,” he giggled, moving past her. “Though, I suppose that’s what Mom would want you to do.”

“Okay, now I’m worried. That’s the first time he’s called Fluttershy ‘Mom.’”

“Well, she is my mom now isn’t she?” Alex questioned, brushing his bangs out of his face. “Shouldn’t I call her that?”

“Fluttershy’s your mother?!” Rainbow Dash yelled in surprise, caught completely off-guard by that.

“W-wha, b-but I..I…” Fluttershy stuttered timidly for a few seconds, her face going from yellow to crimson before she slumped against a set of lockers and started to fall over.

Applejack raced forward to catch her. “Consarnit, Rainbow Dash. Say it again, and louder this time. Ah don’t think they heard ya at Crystal Prep!”

“Honestly, Applejack, no one is going to believe Alex is Fluttershy’s child. He’s only a few years younger than her. Anyone who would believe that isn’t that bright,” Rarity spoke, roaring her eyes.

“Y’mean like when Snips an’ Snails convinced yer sister they’d gotten her-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” Rarity was in front of Applejack’s face within moments, but she backed down quickly and took a few breaths. “Sweetie Belle is still upset about that prank, and it’s a sore subject for me as well. Anyways...let’s just all go home so we can head to Pinkie’s for that slumber party she offered us.”

“Never been to a slumber party,” Alex mused quietly, clasping his hands behind his back. “Never even had a sleep over...” he stared off into space for a moment before cringing as if being struck. “Always wanted to though.”

Rarity stared at Alex for a few seconds, then cringed and looked over at Twilight. “Did...did you find him like this? Did those...those things do this to him?”

“I think so,” Twilight said, sighing heavily. “I can only begin to imagine what happened in this room. I don’t think they hurt him physically but, there's no doubt in my mind that they used their song on him.”

“Right, well...we need to try putting our differences aside and get that counterspell done. For Alex as much as for the rest of the school.” She offered Twilight a smile and turned to lead the way out, expecting the rest to follow.

Sunset came up behind Twilight, clearing her throat to avoid startling her. “Hey, um, look, I know this whole situation just got a bit more dire and personal and all, but the girls, there’s been some problems between them lately. Maybe tonight you should try focusing on snapping Alex out of this so there’s one less thing on your mind. A counterspell can’t be that hard if you finished something Starswirl started, right? I’ll try a few things to see if I can get them back together again, that way we can get a strong start tomorrow.”

Twilight frowned, studying Sunset’s face. “What do you mean by ‘problems’? Anything I can help with?”

“Maybe? I’m not entirely sure, but there’s been some infighting regarding the band, Dash’s ego, and the amount of contribution each of them feels like they should be making. Fluttershy’s written some great songs, but Dash refuses to try any of them. Rarity keeps wanting to try new stage costumes so they have a unique look, but Applejack keeps shooting them down just because they aren’t all that practical. Fluttershy and Rarity are both feeling stifled and shut down, and none of this is helped by Dash calling it her band when it was supposed to be a group activity...a fun thing for them to do to make sure they stayed together after you fixed the friendship I shattered.”

Stepping closer, Twilight pulled her into a hug. “Sunset, it’s okay. We’ll fix this together. This slumber party is the perfect opportunity to address these issues. Trust me, I know these things.”

“Alright, if you say so. Just, focus on Alex first, okay?” She took a step back from the hug and slowly looked Twilight up and down. “Let’s make a stop at my place. You and I look like we’re about the same size, so I probably have something that’ll fit you for the sleepover.”

“Ehehehe, right. I keep forgetting about clothes.” Twilight tittered, poking her fingers together.

“It’s fine. It took me a few days to get used to it, and that was living here constantly.” She looked down to Alex and sighed. “He’s being way too quiet, but I’m sure Rarity picked out some sleepwear for him too. Still can’t believe the lot only cost about five bits worth. Let’s go grab his haul from the music room and get going.”

Twilight nodded, sighing a little. “Fluttershy would never forgive me if anything happened to him.” She followed after Sunset, her eyes and thoughts on Alex. She had to fix this. She had to stop the sirens.

Rarity, somehow, paled as Alex stepped out of Pinkie’s bathroom in the pink nightgown covered in lace and flower patterns that she’d picked out for one of his ‘secret indulgences.” “O-oh dear. It looks like the clothes I picked out for Sweetie Belle must have gotten mixed in with the ones I helped Alex pick out. I-err, It looks good on you?”

“Okay, just so I have this straight, on the other side of the mirror you’re in your mid-twenties, and so are all of us, and your Fluttershy adopted Alex to save him from being studied and violated for science? Go Fluttershy.” Dash hugged the human Fluttershy, who had recovered relatively quickly, but demanded answers.

“Thanks, Rarity.” Alex twirled, all bright smiles and giggles. “I like it a lot!”

“Well, you can keep it if you like it. It wasn’t cheap, but I’m not so strapped for cash I can’t spare a gift or two.” She pulls him into a hug, but looked at the others with a strained expression on her face.

Twilight cleared her throat, and clapped her hands. “So! Uh, how about we do something... fun? How’s that sound to everyone?”

“I brought a video game we can play! It’s only two at a time though, but it’ll still be fun.” Rainbow Dash offered, unzipping the duffel bag she’d brought with her. “Pinkie, you have a TV in your room, right?”

“Of course I do! How else could I watch all those stand up specials?” Pinkie giggled, poking Dash’s nose. “What a silly question, Dashie.”

Alex cringed, bringing a hand to his head. “W-what kind of game is it?”

“Bloody Roar 6! It’s a fighting game about people who have the power to turn into animals!”

“Trust you to bring a competitive game to a relaxing slumber party.”

“Uh, Rarity, all games are competitive, unless they’re the kind that don’t need to have a winner. Alex is...a bit young for those, and we’re all girls here.”

“Dash has a point, an’ Ah guess Ah could go a round or two on that game with ya.”

“Y-yeah... it’s too much for me...” Alex agreed, stepping back from Rarity. “I-I think I’ll just fiddle with my tablet.”

Sunset gently nudged Twilight. “I have an idea. Why don’t we let Dash and Applejack play the game, so we can see if anyone else is interested. In the meantime, Rarity can help the rest of us with some makeup tips we might not know, but she could have picked up from some models? That way we have a fun thing for everyone, even if it’s not the same thing for everyone at the same time.”

“That’s an excellent idea, Sunset.” Twilight nodded vigorously. “Alex, you and I can talk a bit, if that’s alright with you. I have a few questions you might be able to answer for me.”

“Hmmm?” Alex looked up at Twilight. “I’m not sure I really can, but I’ll try if that’s what you think would be best.” He smiled as he brushed his bangs to the side. “What are they about? You know I’m not that far in your schools yet. I only started yesterday.”

Pinkie popped up between them, wrapping her arms around them. “You two can use the back balcony! It’s a pretty warm night and the stars are looking really pretty!”

Twilight couldn’t completely silence her surprised shout as she took a step back from Pinkie. “I will never understand how you can still do that without magic, Pinkie... but thank you. The privacy will help, and so will the fresh air.”

“Down the hall and to the left,” Pinkie instructed, pushing them towards the direction of their destination. “And silly, Twilight. I know one day you’ll understand my ways.”

Twilight shivered and put an arm around Alex’s shoulder and began to guide him by following Pinkie’s directions. “Okay, I need you to tell me everything you can about keyblades. Apparently yours used to belong to Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna has one too.”

“Really? That’s surprising.” Alex blinked, though considered a moment. “I guess that does make sense, Aubade is sunrise themed.”

“It does look like it has half a sun attached to the tip.” Twilight smiled as she opened the balcony door and took a deep breath. “Luna said the name of her blade is Missing Ache, and it looked like lt had a bunch of stars on it. I should be able to summon it after the ceremony she performed, but I don’t quite know how to do it.”

Alex tilted his head. “Twilight, that’s not how that works. If you had the ceremony performed on you, you’d manifest your own. You wouldn’t be able to summon Luna’s unless she passed it down to you.”

“Oh? I must have misunderstood what she said then. That’s not surprising, really. Celestia has always had difficulty being direct about things, and Luna was being a bit mysterious as well about the whole thing.” She closed her eyes and chuckled softly. “She did praise me for having the same objections she did as a filly to the names of the Nobodies and the Heartless.”

Giggling, Alex took a seat at the small table on the balcony. “Well, you better take notes, because this is kind of a long story.”

“Actually, I really want to mostly know about the keyblades themselves. What can they do, how do you summon one yourself, that kind of thing. Could I, say, use one to get rid of the writer’s block I have for the counterspell?” She giggled nervously, and poked her fingers together after placing a notebook and pen on the same table.

“Well no, but you could use one to unlock anything.” Leaning back, Alex looked up at the sky. “But, if I’m going to tell you about them, I have to tell you about their history and connection to Kingdom Hearts.”

“Alright, that’s fair enough I supposed, since I ‘condemned’ you to learning Equestrian history.” She teased, but not in a mean way. “How was your... nevermind. We can talk about less important things later.”

Alex nodded, taking a breath before beginning. “A long time ago, all the worlds were one and that world was bathed in light. The source of that light was Kingdom Hearts; a heart shaped moon that all hearts spawn from. Acting as both its key and protector, the X-blade was the only thing that could summon it.”

“Okay, first question: if this moon was the source of all light, why would it go away and need to be summoned, oh, and could any keyblade summon it?” Twilight asked sincerely, then looked up. “Or would you prefer I write down things I have questions about so you can answer when we’re done?”

“Oh, right, reality doesn’t have subtitles...” Alex giggled. “No, Twilight, only one thing could summon Kingdom Hearts.” Taking the pen from her, he wrote out two words: ‘X-blade’ and ‘Keyblade’. “‘X’ is actually the Greek letter ‘chi’ and as you can hear, they’re pronounced the same. The X-blade was the first, the keyblades are all produced artificially in its image.”

Twilight idly rubbed at her temples for a moment. “That kind of naming scheme opens the door to so much confusion. And you said this is all from a game in your world?”

“A game series, a very popular one at that. But, continuing on, the first wielder was the Master of Masters. He studied the X-blade and learned how to draw keyblades from people’s hearts. One day he vanished and left the world to his apprentices. However, he planted seeds of doubt in them and eventually, they rallied their followers and engaged in a keyblade war. The world fell, swallowed by darkness. The X-blade was destroyed and Kingdom Hearts was trapped in its realm.”

“Its realm? So the one world which all worlds spring from fell to darkness, and the moon of light went somewhere else?”

“That’s the story anyway. I can’t give you a clear answer of where it went, I didn’t get to play the end of the saga before coming here. The legend goes that the light survived in the hearts of children and their light rebuilt the world into many smaller ones, separated by the lanes between. The keyblade wielders that survived the war took it upon themselves to protect those worlds.”

“From the heartless, right? Those are the creatures that seek the darkness in the hearts of others...or, wait, no, people whose hearts fall to darkness become heart...less. Huh. I wonder if Luna becoming Nightmare Moon was a heartless transformation?”

“From any threat really,” Alex clarified. “They would turn their keyblades into vehicles called gliders that allowed them to travel from world to world. Hell, they could turn them into all kinds of crazy things.”

“Okay, so all keyblades are drawn from the heart of the wielder, and they are functionally copies of the original design, called the X-blade.” She made sure to put a space in there mentally before saying it, actually trying to make sure she got it right. “Each one is tied to an individual, then, and can only be passed down in special circumstances? I wouldn’t draw the same keyblade as Luna, even though she used hers to awaken the ability in me, unless she specifically passed it down to me. You also said keyblades can open all kinds of locks, but not metaphorical ones, like something inhibiting the creative process. What about enchantments? Could a keyblade ‘unlock’ an enchantment?”

“Well, I could use Aubade to unlock or extract your heart, but neither of those things is a good idea.”

“Okay, now I assume by that you mean my spiritual heart, not the one that’s pumping blood through my body, right? Celestia and Luna explained that those were different things.”

“Yes, I mean your spiritual one,” Alex confirmed with a nod.

“Okay, what about an enchantment? Let’s say I thought that Pinkie was being mind-controlled by a crazy old zebra and I wanted to snap her out of it. Would a keyblade be able to do that?” Twilight’s face fell as she realized how that might sound. “Oh sweet Celestia, no, I’m not thinking of attacking everyone in the school to break the sirens’ hold. That would take forever, and I would feel horrible hurting everyone to help them.”

“Uh, maybe?” Alex responded with a shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t remember it ever coming up in the games. Can’t help you there.”

“Darn. Okay, so I’ve got the basic history of the keyblades, and Luna performed a ceremony that she said would allow me to draw upon my own in time. How do I do that? I’ve held one in my magic, so I know what that feels like, but would I be able to use one here? You drew yours earlier, so, shouldn’t I be able to?”

“Well, when I first summoned Aubade, I thought I was in danger. Now, I just reach out and grab it.”

“So, if I were to hold my hand out and think of needing to defend myself, or my friends, that would work for figuring out how to use it the first time, or is it different for everypony?”

Alex shrugged again. “I wish I had more to go on, but I really don’t. Sorry Twilight.”

“Alright, so there’s just not enough information for you to be able to tell me everything I need to know, and I guess the same was true for whoever Celestia and Luna’s old master was, because they were even more vague than you were. Well, there is one last thing I’d like to do, since it seems I’ll have to figure some things out on my own. Could you draw Aubade for me? I want to apologise to it.”

“Uh... okay.” Alex held his arm out, his hand shaking. He trembled, eye twitching for a moment. ‘I-I dont know i-if I should.”

Twilight smiled, and placed her own hand on top of his shaking one. “It’s okay, Alex. Nothing bad will happen if you do it now. You’ve been so calm and, and I shouldn’t have let the girls keep bugging you about the statue either. Who knows, maybe seeing it happen here, in a world without background magic, will help he figure my own out?”

“O-okay.” Continuing to shake, a thin line of blood trickled down from his nose. His head jerked as Aubade appeared in his hand, knocking both him and the chair over. The blade tumbled away, clattering to the floor next to him..

“Alex?!” Twilight stood up quickly and rushed around the table to his side. “Oh no, no no no I didn’t expect anything like this to happen.” She reached out to feel at his neck for a pulse, and lowered her ear near his head to listen for breathing. “Fluttershy is going to kill me for this… both of them!”

“Why are your hands all up on me...?” Alex groaned, stirring slightly. “Fuck, my head... Jesus, I have a headache...”:

“Oh good, you’re not dead.” Twilight sat back up and sighed in relief. “Okay, note to self; don’t do that to Alex again.” She stood up and brushed her knees off before reaching down to offer Alex some help up. “You’re safe, we’re okay. We’re at Pinkie’s for a slumber party. Do you... remember anything?”

“I remember how screwed I was when I realized they saw through my bluff.” Taking Twilight’s hand, he stood up and promptly sat back down. “Can I get... I dunno. Just be by myself for a while?”

“Of course you can, Alex.” She reached down without even thinking about it, and handed Aubade back to him before taking her notebook and opening the balcony door to head back in. “Oh, Sunset and I made sure to bring a couple extra things for you in case we were able to snap you out of it... just in case you want to change.”

“Y-yeah, sure. I guess I should change out of this dress I’ve been wearing all d... oh fuck my life.”

Alex bolted upright, a scream dying in his throat. Blind panic soon bled out into clarity, revealing that he was still in Pinkie’s room. A quick glance around soothed any fears he had of waking the girls up with any shouted nightmare talking.

All but one of the girls was clearly sound asleep around him, and the only one that wasn’t was standing in the doorway with a sleep mask hanging around her throat and one hand held up to her mouth to stifle a yawn. As soon as that ended, she whispered to him, “Bad dreams, Alex?”

“Yeah... just a bad dream is all,” he dismissed, frowning. “Did I wake you up? Sorry, I uh, don’t usually sleep around other people.”

“No, not at all.” Rarity looked around and waved him over to the door. “Come on, let’s go get a quick drink and talk where we won’t disturb the others.”

Rising to his feet, he moved over to the door. “I could use a beer but I promised I wouldn’t drink while under age.”

“All for the best, really.” Rarity led the way down to the kitchen, and opened up the refrigerator on the right wall rather than the one on the left wall to pull out a gallon of milk. “So, you had a day that I believe Rainbow would call a ‘real cleat-sucker,’ or just a kick in the teeth, I suppose. First it was the dress you ended up in, and lashing out because you were confused about how that made you feel, then admitting that to me, which was brave for someone like you.” She smiled as she poured the milk into two glasses, obviously having been to Pinkie’s house before with how familiar she was with the layout. “But then...then you ran right into them, and they did something to you...and I know that must have hurt you deeply inside.”

Alex mumbled a thank you, grabbing one of the glasses and pulling it close to him. “”I don’t even remember it. Now I just got a lot of things going through my head I thought I had under lock and key.”

“Yes, well, I rather expected something along those lines, but I have dealt with this before.” Rarity slipped the milk back into the fridge and closed the door before picking up her own cold glass. “I’m guessing you had a rough childhood, with at least one parent who hated every single thing you did?”

Staring down at his glass, it took him a moment to speak. “A drunk one. Who often showed his displeasure with his hands.”

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry for you. I’m afraid I know the type...still, you’re safe from him here, and now, even if you never truly were before. You’re free to explore yourself and your feelings, to find out who you really are. You’re free to wear the clothes that make you feel comfortable, or the ones that just feel nice. You can take all the good that’s inside and make it beautiful, or at least take what’s on the inside out once in a while. Experiment now that you’re free of the ruffian that wanted you to conform to his exact desires, and once you start doing your own thing you’ll make everyone around you smile a bit more.” She took a sip of her own glass and thought for a few seconds. “If the version of Fluttershy on the other side is anything like our Fluttershy here, I’m sure she has a beautiful smile.”

Alex couldn’t help but laugh, a pure, delightful laugh. “I-I’m sorry, you just sound like an after school special.” He kept laughing, having to lean back to avoid knocking his drink over. It took him a few minutes to calm down, but he was wearing a genuine smile.

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle a bit as she thought back on what she’d just said. “Well, I suppose that’s inevitable when trying to cheer a friend up while also urging them to let go of the load weighing them down and preventing them from being themselves.” Rarity looked off into the distance silently for a few seconds. “Don’t be afraid to talk about your problems, Alex. I’m sure Fluttershy will listen.”

“You know her, I tell her all about this stuff and she’ll never stop hugging me,” Alex said, taking a long drink. “I don’t know how common stuff like this is back in ponyland. I’d rather not be more coddled then I already am.”

“Maybe there’s someone else you can talk to then? Does your mother have a husband, or a boyfriend?”

“She’s got a boyfriend, he’s pretty cool,” Alex admitted, meeting her eyes. “I’m just... so confused. Guess I had a lot of parts of myself I never knew I had.”

Rarity smirked before draining her own glass of milk, and there was a glint in her eyes as she waited a few more seconds before saying anything. “I’m going to forego the easy joke there, but only because it’s late and we need to get back to sleep.”

Finishing his glass, Alex wiped his mouth on his arm. “Yeah. Want me to grab some cucumber slices from the fridge? Wouldn't want you to miss out on your beauty requirements.”

“Oh, no thank you. I’m pretty sure the Pies don’t have any cucumbers, and I don’t really need those on my eyes every night anyways.” Rarity reached up to tug at the sleep mask around her neck. “This works just fine for what I need tonight.”

“Works for me.” Taking Rarity’s glass, he placed them in the sink and rinsed them off. “Alright, let’s head back to bed before anyone else starts to worry.”

The two of them returned to Pinkie’s room and managed to avoid waking anyone else up. Alex had little trouble getting back to sleep, and his dreams ended up being far more peaceful than usual.

Alex couldn’t begin to describe the content feeling a pair of jeans that actually fit brought him. It made him snort, the thought of being a jeans supremacist running through his mind. With a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with the stylized band logo typical of heavy metal where one could just barely make out the word
,’ he felt confident about whatever the day brought. Now if only the extra garment under his shirt would stop bothering him.

Rarity leaned over after seeing him make his third adjustment in the last hour. “You know, I could help you tighten the straps so they slip a bit less. I know you’re not big on touching and such, but this is something you’ll need to know for a while.”

Groaning, Alex nodded. “We can duck out for a few minutes. Can’t argue with your logic, ain’t gonna be no one back home to help.”

The two of them stepped out of the barn and into the mid-morning air, where Rarity had Alex lift the back of his shirt over his head, then carefully guided his hands so he could learn how to comfortably reach back and properly adjust the length of the straps in back rather than having to pull them back up onto his shoulder every time they slipped down. “And once you’ve mastered this you should even be able to do it either through the shirt, or by pulling your arms in and reaching around underneath it. Sometimes they do slip, but Custom Fit uses good materials.”

“I might just have to stop by her place again.” Alex pulled his shirt back down and smoothed it out. “She had a bitchin’ mohawk so she’s good in my book.”

“Well, she knows you now, and she knows you know me, so she’ll help you out no matter what if I’m not there.” Rarity turned to head back inside, only to freeze as she noticed they had an observer. “Oh, Sunset. I thought you’d still be inside, cheering your princess on.”

“Yeah, well, there’s only so much I can take of Dash arguing with her about instrument balance and the song just needing to be ‘cooler’ before I need to take a break. I really hope this all works out in the end, but it’s a rough start.”

“Rarity, we’re ready to start the next set! Need yer keytar more than ya need to fix yer makeup!”

“Oh honestly, it’s not always about me, Applejack!” Rarity huffed as she walked back into the barn.

“Not going so well with them, huh?” Alex questioned, looking into the barn. “Guess it takes more than a slumber party to fix that.”

“Rarity and Applejack have had a clash of personalities as long as I’ve known the five of them, and they’re easily the loosest of friends among the group because they see things so differently.” Sunset sighed as she sunk down into a seated position with her back against the side of the barn and her legs held against her chest. “I know it’s not my fault this time, but I can’t help feeling bad about it. I also really need to get that first version out of my head, but I can’t do music therapy in there while they’re practicing.”

“Music therapy?” Alex questioned, sitting down next to her. “What’s that about?”

“You’ve never heard the term before? It’s listening to something you really like, or playing something random on an instrument you know to help you forget about something that’s bothering you...or to get rid of a song you don’t want stuck in your head. Like, say you’ve got an annoying child’s song stuck repeating in your head and you want it gone, so you listen to some parodies by Cheese Sandwich.”

“Who’s Cheese Sandwich?”

“Oh, right, different worlds. Let me see if I have something recent on my phone here…” Sunset pulled her phone out and began to flip through the songs she had for a few minutes. “Okay, that’s not a good one without the visuals. I think I have just a good enough signal here to get a connection.” A few more quick pokes and a couple seconds of loading later a familiar song began to play as Sunset’s phone blared out the opening to ‘Word Crimes’ as she held it out to him.

Alex stared at the phone, his face contorting into a look of utter shock which then morphed into a rather disturbed look. “That’s just Weird Al Yankovic. That’s fucking Weird Al Yankovic!” Placing his head in his hands, he groaned. “Please turn it off. I got enough existential problems as it is.”

Sunset cringed and quickly paused the video. “Okay, okay, sorry. Ugh. I’m fucking everything up lately. I just wish I could do something that actually helps.”

Reaching over, he socked her in the arm. “Stop with your pity party. Not your fault the multiverse is screwy. And hey, you’re not the only one who’s majorly fucked up in their life.”

“Yeah, yeah good point. I will admit, I kinda wish I was in there helping the girls play the song better, but I wasn’t invited into the band so I’d feel like I was butting in.”

Tapping his chin, Alex hummed. “How about we join in on our own? Doesn’t have to be to beat the Dazzlings, just us getting some built up emotions out.”

“Well, I can play guitar. What can you play? I’m pretty sure we could find a third person who isn’t involved somewhere…”

“Uh... I can sing?” Alex offered with a weak smile. “I;m pretty sure my new voice is more suited to it than my old one.”

“Guitar, singer, need a drummer. Someone on bass would be nice if we’re going to do certain songs…” Sunset’s face fell. “Crap, songs. Even if we were able to do a last-minute signup, what would we even play?”

“I got a few songs,” Alex offered, holding up his tablet. “We’ll just have to rush practice and what not.”

“Well, I can play by ear if I can hear the songs, but I don’t know anybody else that can myself.” The sound of the practice inside almost literally grinding to a stop reached them, and Sunset just winced. “Let me send Pinkie a text, see if she knows anyone who’d be willing to lend a hand to you and I.” Sunset called up her contacts list and fired off a message almost as quickly as she’d made the suggestion. “If she does know anyone, we’ll have only a couple hours to practice before the competition starts.”

“Alright, so we have one last minute entry of Sunset Shimmer, Maud and Limestone Pie, and Alex Lionheart. Does your band have a name or are you going up with no name like Snips and Snails, and...oh, nevermind, that other group is called The Derps.”

“We’re Pyroclasm.” Maud stated flatly while looking Vice Principal Luna directly in the face, as if daring her to argue.

“We’re the Wayfinders,” Alex insisted, giving Maud a look. “Put that one down.”

Sunset smirked and rolled her eyes, but offered no suggestion one way or the other, while Limestone Pie bristled next to her.

“Okay, I take it Alex is the band leader, so Wayfinders it is. I hope you’ve all remembered that this is still a school event, and as such we are requiring that songs have no explicit lyrics?”

“Define ‘explicit’,” Alex said, trying not to stare after realizing Vice Principal Luna had obscenely long legs.

“She means no lyrics about sex, or shooting up schools, things that would get her and her sister in trouble if parents found out about it even if it was just us students who were saying it.” Sunset clarified before Luna could speak up.

“Precisely.” Luna smiled. “Though my personal tastes may play a small part in how each band is scored, my professional obligations to this school must take precedence.”

“Right.” Alex nodded, looking between his bandmates. “Everybody got that? Good.”

“Come on, come on. When do we get to play? I want to thrash our first opponent!” Limestone grumbled as she clenched her hand around the handle of her bass case.

“Well, we had already created the brackets for this, but I could put you up against one of the two bands least likely to move to the next round as our first contestants if you really want to go first?” Principal Celestia offered. “I’ll even flip a coin over which one to eliminate any appearance of bias.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alex agreed, nodding his head. “We call heads.”

“Okay, and which band would that be, then? Heads for Snips and Snails, or heads for The Derps?”

“Uh... the Derps.”

Celestia flipped a coin and caught it as it came down, then revealed her open palm to Alex and the rest of the Wayfinders. “Looks like you’re facing The Derps in a competition runoff. Select your first song and head to the stage for a quick tuning check.”

Luna flipped a switch on a microphone set into the table, causing a crackle from the school PA system. “Due to a last-minute contest entry, we are having a runoff song battle between The Derps, and The Wayfinders. Both bands report to the stage.”

“This is a joke, right? They weren’t really going to compete as a band with a saw, a triangle, and a cowbell, were they?” Limestone sounded legitimately insulted as she ran a cleaning rag along the mirror-smooth finish on her bass.

“I’ve seen weirder bands,” Alex retorted, suppressing the butterflies attempting to escape his throat. “Like Daft Punk, or those guys from Stomp.”

“Which song are we doing first?” Maud inquired as she unpacked her electronic drum set and checked all the settings to make sure she could flip to the presets they’d selected.

“Price of a Mile.” A derisive giggle escaped Alex’s lips. ‘I feel like one of those Japanese metal bands that's fronted by idols. The strange places life takes you to never cease to amaze me.’

“I wonder if I’ll get extra credit for that? The battle of Passiondale is an obscure one from the first Sombric war.” Sunset chuckled. “Well, if we don’t all end up enslaved by demon-fish-music I’ll find out.”

There was the sound of scattered and unenthusiastic applause as the trio on stage stood up and bowed. All three of them glared at their four current rivals as they walked off the stage, and the gray one with the lazy eye stuck her tongue out at them.

“Uh, yo?” Alex greeted, giving a wave. “Uh... Gave us your A game, weird, weird band.”

“Ah, ignore them. Let’s go, I wanna jam and this is the first chance I’ve had in months, not counting practice earlier.” Limestone walked out onstage and plugged her bass into one of the provided amps. “Come on, one minute to tune up before we have to start.”

Maud moved quickly, and the components of her drum set were soon placed on the riser for that while the school set was moved off to the side. Sunset moved to double-check the tuning on her guitar as well while Maud set the sound configuration utility to the fifth preset they made during practice. One green light and a few soft test-taps on each drumhead later; Maud gave Alex a thumbs-up.

“Okay... Just take a breath and start singing.” Taking that breath he stepped up to the microphone. ‘Those three fish-hags brainwashed you, Alex. Brainwashed you. Just show em how much talent you got.’ Pausing, he gestured to Maud to begin the opening narration.

Maud nodded and took one careful breath to steady her own nerves, not that anybody could ever tell when she was nervous except her sisters. “Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight.”

Sunset and Limestone waited a moment before they both began playing the song as they had rehearsed it. Maud joined in with her drums after the correct amount of time, and the three of them played through the song introduction. Sunset allowed the final guitar note to hang slightly while Maud continued to keep proper time with the drums and Limestone produced a few lingering notes of her own to lead into the first verse of lyrics.

The overall effect was quite intense, and the students watching were completely silent as the song continued on for another five minutes without any kind of interruption. Sunset and Limestone added their own voices to the lyrics of the chorus alongside Alex, while he alone sang the primary verses.

Just as they had rehearsed; Sunset, Limestone, and Maud all unplugged or turned off their instruments before the final repetition of the last chorus line so all four of them could sing in unison. “Thousands of feet march to the beat. It’s an army in despair! Knee-deep, in mud. Stuck in a trench with no way out!”

Alex panted, his heart throbbing and lungs aching. So caught up in the moment, he hadn’t even remembered the voice he sang with wasn’t his own. He stared out into the crowd, awaiting their judgement with knots in his stomach.

The students in the crowd all clapped at the very least. One girl with mint-green skin and wearing a pink blouse had a worried expression on her face until the peach-skinned girl next to her leaned in for a quick and subtle kiss. Vice-Principal Luna had a wide smile as she made a few notes on the paper in front of her, and Principal Celestia looked pleasantly surprised.

“Well, they didn’t boo at least,” Alex grumbled, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Alex!”

“Sunset!”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash called from the side of the stage at exactly the same time before they rushed out. Twilight swept Alex into a hug while Rainbow Dash glared at Sunset’s guitar.

“Why didn’t you tell me you could play guitar?!”

“Why didn’t you tell me you could write songs? That was way better than anything we’ve tried all day.”

“I uh, didn’t write it.” Alex hugged Twilight back, leaning on her for support. “Just a song I happened to have on my phone.”

“The Derps are eliminated. Please clear the stage, girls.” Principal Celestia’s voice was kind but stern as she spoke clearly and just loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Vice-Principal Luna flipped the PA switch again. “Snips and Snails, and... Fiddlemaster Flex are our next contestants. You have ten minutes to prepare.”

“Fiddlemaster Flex?” Applejack’s voice was full of confusion, but loud enough that everyone could hear it.

“YEAH!” The response came from the bleachers as a massively muscular male student stood up holding a dainty violin case.

“Let’s go somewhere private to talk this out, okay?” Sunset suggested as she packed her guitar back up. Maud and Limestone did the same with their instruments. The group made their way to the back, deciding to hunker down in one of the drama club’s dressing rooms.

“Limestone! Maud! Why didn’t you two tell me you were missing our family jam sessions so much?” Pinkie slipped between her sisters and hugged both of them against her.

“Because two drummers is a bit much sometimes, Pinkie, but this was fun.”

“Yeah, especially winning and getting to do it in front of other people instead of having to stay in the basement.”

“It was a rush...” Alex commented, taking a seat. He looked at his reflection, noting that his hair was plastered to his face from all the sweat. “I’m going to need a shower after this.”

Rainbow Dash reached into a bag she’d brought with her along with her guitar and tossed Alex a bottle of some neon-colored sports drink. “Here, I keep a bunch of spares with me most of the time, and in both lockers...and at home.” She smirked at the sweat rolling off Alex’s head. “You think you have it bad? Be glad your hair’s short. I’ve thought about cutting it, but my parents want me to go for some kind of world record and I’m still a minor, so...yeah.”

“Uh, right. Whatever you say.” Taking the drink, Alex noted the name of Stallion-Aide. Rolling his eyes, he took a long drink. “Anyone see the fish in the audience?”

“I didn’t notice them out there, but there are a few seats with dim lighting where they could have been hiding.” Fluttershy offered.

“Is it a bad thing that I almost hope they met with an unfortunate accident on the way here today? I’m honestly not sure... is it a good thing to wish ill on evil people?”

“Okay, so what song are we going to play when we’re up? The counterspell just... it isn’t ready and we need something or we’ll be eliminated.”

“I say we should do ‘Shake your Tail’ to hold out. We play just well enough to stay alive in this so Twilight can get the counterspell refined. If we can get to the finals we’ll have an extra few hours to rehearse it.”

“Ya really think that song’s gonna to fly with the ‘no explicit lyrics’ rule, Rainbow?”

“AJ, I keep telling you, it’ll be fine. Shake your tail is not the same as ‘get some tail.’”

“How the fuck did we get stuck going up against the Dazzlings?” Alex groaned, rubbing his temples. Just the thought of being next to them on stage made her head hurt. He couldn’t lie to himself, smacking Adagio and Aria around would be the most satisfying thing he could think of. His aggression was tempered however, by the guilt of lying to Sonata.

“Who cares who we got matched up with, we’ll knock em dead!” Limestone shouted confidently, thrusting an fist into the air. “Their crappy pop songs can’t beat our hard rock!”

“So, what will we play this time? We could go with that one with that repeating bass line, what was it, ‘Another One Bites the Dust?’ We could go for broke and see if we can actually knock them out of the competition with a fitting song.” Sunset offered.

“Not hard enough, or rocky. That felt like it had too much blues in it to be hard rock.” Maud’s voice was, as usual, a level-headed counterpoint to Limestone. Her suggestion was prefaced by bass drum kicks spaced exactly one second apart. “I say Dream Warriors.”

“I’m up for some horror rock,” Alex agreed, grinning a bit. “You know, rumor has it, Dokken was coked out of their minds when they filmed the music video. You can kinda tell when you watch it.”

“Who cares, it rocks, let’s go!”

Maud plugged her drums in and poked at the custom sound setting they’d made to balance this song perfectly in practice. Sensing that Limestone wouldn’t give the rest much time to prepare even if she waited, she immediately began the four solitary kicks to lead into the song. Sunset and Limestone both joined in with the soft and almost unsettling notes that served to trick unknowing listeners into thinking this was going to be a calmer song.

Sunset in particular had a wide smile on her face as she performed the transition from calming notes to a hard guitar riff after a few seconds of Maud incorporating the other drums into the song. She was getting into it hard as the drive to make this count gripped her.

Alex poured his emotional turmoil into the song, allowing his body to move to the music. “I lie awake, and dread the lonely nights...”

All four of them fell into the music, pouring everything they could into it and barely paying attention to anything else until Sunset flubbed a note as her guitar jerked in her hand. She recovered quickly, but the perfect synchronization and harmony was dispelled in that moment. She looked over after grinning sheepishly towards the audience, and saw the Rainbooms standing to the side of the stage looking worried. Rainbow Dash held the slack from the amp plug in one hand and shook her head slowly.

They finished their song to the applause of only Celestia and Luna. “Wonderful, girls. That song felt very much like something we would have heard in our childhoods, even if there was a little mistake.”

“Even the best players might get a hand cramp on a song like that, Celestia. I think she recovered nicely.”

“We do still have to factor it into the score. Please, Wayfinders, clear the stage for The Dazzlings.”

Sunset blushed as she packed up her guitar, but the embarrassment was quickly replaced with anger as she walked offstage and right up to Rainbow Dash. “Alright, what’s the idea with tugging on my cord in the middle of a song? Did you get jealous that someone might be better than you, like when you ejected that game last night on Applejack?”

“You were going to pony up!” Dash hissed, poking Sunset’s shoulder. “You could have given away our plan, way before we were ready!”

“Knock it off!” Limestone grunted, pushing them apart. “I thought you guys were friends, not cats ready to claw each others eyes out!”

“Wait, what?” Sunset backed off easily at the push, and her hands shot up to feel her ears. “But I’ve never done it before. Why would it almost happen now?”

Twilight smiled, pulling both her and Alex into a hug. “I think it’s because you were just enjoying yourself along with your bandmates. You were so in tune with each other, the harmony was starting to show.”

“Literal harmony…” Sunset facepalmed and groaned as they all began to move away from the stage. “So, obviously the same idea of harmonizing would apply to getting rid of them and breaking the spell, right?”

“Well, in theory, yes. The only problem would be finding a song that we can all perform well and that speaks to all of us so we can get just as in tune with it as you did with that one just now.”

“Maybe we could play one of my songs?” Fluttershy spoke, barely above a whisper.

“No way, Fluttershy. We’re up against Trixie in the semifinals if she makes it that far and we have to make sure all our songs kick as much butt as possible.”

“Rainbow Da-”

“Would you mind getting out of our way, Wallflowers and hangers-on? We have a song to perform, in case you forgot, and you’re blocking the backstage door.” The sound of Adagio’s voice sent a chill up Alex’s back.

“Oh, we’re sorry, Dee Snider. Please, go rally your rabid fans to trash the auditorium.” Alex stepped to the side and swept his arms to the stage. “Just make sure you don’t get called before the senate. They’ll probably make you cut your hair.”

“Oh look, the pipsqueak got tired of her pretty dress and is trying to pretend she’s a tomboy.” Aria snarled, her face full of pure anger as she walked past everyone and through the door.

Adagio smirked and walked past the rest as well, but shoved Alex further to the side before heading in, followed closely by Sonata, who didn’t say a word.

“Hey, you touch him again and I’ll get the entire soccer team to step all over your face! You hear me you bitch?!” Rainbow yelled through the door, and then cringed.

The PA system squealed to life. “Rainbow Dash, meet me in the principal’s office after this next song.”

“Fuck.”

Rainbow Dash walked out of the office and faced her friends. “Okay, the good news is I was able to talk my way out of us all being punished for that by explaining that Alex had been shoved by one of the Dazzlings. I got detention next Monday for swearing in school, but we’re still in the competition.”

“Good to know I have friends in high places,” Alex said, giving Dash a smile. “Just uh, don’t get yourself suspended because you feel the need to defend the younger kid’s honor.”

“Defend your honor nothing. I hate bullies....What?” Rainbow Dash asked as everyone either frowned or facepalmed.

“Dash, tellin’ someone yer gonna get the entire soccer team to ‘step on their face’ ain’t exactly bein’ the nice person in the exchange.” Applejack said with a sigh. “Come on, we need ta git ready fer the next set.”

“Limestone and I will just watch the rest of the competition. Playing with you was fun.” Maud waved briefly on her way out the door to bring her drums to the van.

“No hard feelings.” Limestone slapped Sunset on the back, making her stumble. “Hadn’t had that much fun in a while. See ya around, Sunset, Alex, Pinkie’s friends.” Hefting up her bass case, she followed Maud.

“Okay, so apparently I can pony-up as well now, and you guys still need to figure out what song you’re going to end up playing for the finals as well as what songs are going to carry you through there...is there a rule about adding in an extra performer to a band?”

“Performers,” Alex pressed, putting his hands into his pockets. “No reason I can’t keep going. And I have a pretty damn good singing voice.”

“Eh, unfortunately that’s not going to fly unless we get to the finals. We can only substitute someone in if one of us gets injured during the main competition, but we can make a couple changes for the finals, and everyone knows Sunset’s a friend of ours.” Dash smirked. “I’d be happy to invite the two of you into my band, though, as long as we get that far.”

“Our band!” Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and even Fluttershy shouted in unison.

“Right, right.” Rainbow Dash waved her hand dismissively

“Ah, then we’ll just uh, cheer you guys on,” Alex said, sighing a little. “Shame, I was actually having fun. They just had to screw with the Almighty Tallest’s minds, didn’t they?” Turning away, he moved over to a vending machine. “Anyone got two fifty on them?”

“I got this.” Sunset handed Alex a ten-dollar bill. “Anything in there with strawberries?”

“Uh, yeah. Cookies or candy?” he questioned, slipping the bill into the machine. “Anyone else want anything?”

“Cupcakes!” Pinkie called, then went back to arguing with Dash over the length of her drum solos.

“Whichever has a smaller package is fine. I want a bit of flavor...eh, go with the candy. Less chance it’s broken.”

Twilight moved away from the group to sit down on a chair outside the office and look through the notebook once more, as if the magic words to the right song would just leap out at her from the mess of her previous work.