AKB~!
0048~!
Her young eyes shot open in great surprise at the sound of loud, unfamiliar music against her ears, finding herself no longer in her room where she was sleeping in.
Advance forward! (Got it!)
Don't you dare to halt! (Got it!)
Our aim is that place where the sun rise!
Walk on the path of hope!
Instead of her room, she could see she's in a dance studio where a group of ponies practice their dance. They were the ones singing this song.
What blocked this path is River! River! River!
A stretched-out River!
The fated River! River! River!
An ordeal River!
The filly notice that these ponies were not really noticing her. It's as if she was invisible, or they're very focused on what they're doing. Maybe even both.
Throw away all your doubts!
Show your willpower!
Don't hesitate!
Immediately
One step forward!
Believe yourself!
All these ponies looked different and yet they danced in almost perfect union. What surprised the filly was that only one of them have a cutie mark even though most of them were older than the filly herself.
Forward forward!
Go straight ahead!
Cross the river
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Why do they continue to dance? They seem to already master dancing, so why continue this when it's obvious they're not going to have a cutie mark in it?
A dream is always
Looked so far away
Feels like it's distance could not be reached
Pick up that stone
Under your foot
And with all your might
Throw it away!
Also, the singing. The filly could tell that they're very good at it, but they don't have a cutie mark in that either.
Just before your very eyes
A river is flowing
Broadly, such a great river
Darkly, deeply, even so
The current is fast, even so
Do not be scared, OK?
Do not wander off
That's right, the opposite side is there
So more, believe in yourself
She wondered what makes them so determined to continue this. Is there something better than cutie marks for them?
Inside the darkness
Just keep swimming!
Don't turn your head!
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Her eyes could see colorful lights around this group of ponies. These lights were almost equal, maybe even rival, to the stars in the night sky.
When you extend your hand, there
Future exists, you see
Don't give up on the thing you can not reach!
The stone that you toss
Is the dream granter
Somehow its falling sound could not be heard
These ponies seems to even more determined than she and and her friends could ever be. Whatever their goal might be, she hopes they get it soon.
Inside your heart too
A river is flowing
So painful, a river of trial
Maybe it doesn't go smoothly, even so
Sometimes you're almost drown, even so
It's okay to repeat again
Do not give it up
The bank exists just there
Someday your struggle will bring you to it
She could see the floating lights glowed bright enough to nearly blind her, not noticing the changes that's happening around her.
Get over it!
River!
Once the lights dim down, the filly could see she's no longer in the dance studio from before or in her room, but in a large crowd of other ponies who repeatedly cheered, "AKB0048!"
AH-AH-AH-AH-
Stop telling excuse to yourself
AH-AH-AH-AH-
Can't do nothing but keep on going
AH-AH-AH-AH-
Gotta keep moving forward.
The stage she was staring was unlike anything she seen. Mostly because this stage was flying in the air as the ponies from the dance studio were dancing on that very stage as the light float around them like a beautiful aura.
Keep going keep going keep going
Keep walking on
The path you've decided!
The more she looks at these lights around them, the more they seem to be alive.
Just before your very eyes
A river is flowing
Broadly, such a great river
Darkly, deeply, even so
The current is fast, even so
Do not be scared, OK?
Do not wander off
That's right, the opposite side is there
So more, believe in yourself
These ponies that performed on the flying stage looked like any other ponies she've always seen, but at the same time, they look so different. Was is just because she've never seen them before in her life. Then why is she having this dream?
Inside your heart too
A river is flowing
It is, a river of sweat and tears!
Even if you make a failure
Even if it makes you cry
It is OK to start over
Don't say any complaint
Cling onto your dream, yeah
Until the day where your wish come true
She wondered if this dream is some way of telling her something, but she never heard of a flying stage unless it's from Cloudsdale. Then again, the stage didn't look like it was made of clouds, more like metal, and not all the ponies on the stage were pegasi. What could it mean?
Cross the river!
You can do it!
There was a bright flash and the filly soon find herself in space of nothing. What supported her were elegant blue stair steps that spiral up to beyond her eyesight. Each time she walk up a step, she felt like she's being slowed down by an unknown force.
As she run up the steps, she could see other ponies running up steps like her. Some were slower than her, others fell down into the darkness because their stairs collapsed with no good reason to.
Where am I? What kind of fate is this? The filly thought.
Soon, she started to see a heavenly glow from above. Before she could reach see what it is. Everything went black.