The Dazzlings dashed down the damp, dirty alleyway as fast as they could, with the Rainbooms and Equestrians hot on their heels. Sweat trickled down their faces from a combination of fear and adrenaline as their hands trembled, breathing grew heavy and momentum climbing.

Starswirl led the charge, skidding on the balls of his newfound feet as he swung around the corner that his targets had run down. With memories of his battle with them still lingering, he couldn’t afford to take any chances. One way or another, the Dazzlings would fall today.

A quick-thinking Adagio tried to leave debris in her wake, pulling down wooden boards and moving dumpsters into the path, yet each of these obstacles was hastily cleared by her pursuers. Usually, she would have handled things in a calm and reserved scenario but this was far from calm and reserved for her. Now with no magic; no powers she couldn’t afford to be blasted into another world along with her kin.

Starlight, in all the thrill of the chase had been thinking to herself. She had no dealings with the sirens, yet she didn’t see them as a threat to her or to anyone else. And if what Starswirl said about heartstones were true, could she really have seen the Dazzlings as evil? As creatures who fed off of anger and hatred with a sadistic pleasure to boot? Whether or not their testimonies would confirm it, Starlight couldn’t be sure about it yet.

Sunset, on the other hand, was usually able to find the good in everyone; despite how hard it was to see through them and what they had done. When it came to the Dazzlings, however, she could feel nothing but unbridled fury for them. Animosity for them turning CHS into a psychological war-zone. Animosity for taking advantage of everyone with no regard for their safety or wellbeing. Animosity at them in general for their crimes against friendship and harmony. For her, the peaceful approach had gone right out of the window. The Dazzlings needed to be properly stopped before they brought anyone any more harm.

“Give yourselves up and we promise you a merciful judgement.” Starswirl lowered his brows. “Though knowing your behaviours, you will refuse, thinking that feeding is the only way laid down by your own warped laws.”

“Gee, you know?!” Aria deadpanned as she sent more blocking objects into the path.

“Just stop Dazzlings. There’s no point in all of this. You’re not getting away from us.” Sunset burst out of the alleyway after the Dazzlings, bathed in the light of the open town.

“Oh yeah? What makes you so sure about that?” Sonata semi-teased, not even trying to look back at the others.

Sunset nodded to Rainbow Dash, who reached for the geode around her neck, giving it a tight squeeze. With a burst of light, she grew pony ears, wings, and hair extensions. She darted towards the Dazzlings, leaving a rainbow contrail behind her. Rainbow ran rings around the three sirens, trapping them in a vortex of blinding, disorienting, majestic light. She only stopped when they all fell onto their rear ends.

“That’s what makes me so sure,” said Sunset as the others caught up and snared the sitting siren sisters in a circle formation.

“It has been over a thousand years, sirens. Since your banishment, I thought that our worlds would have known peace. However, that is simply not the case.” Starswirl looked down at the sirens with a glare that could pierce the heavens. “With heartstones fuelled by anger, there is no such thing as peace. You bring anger; live off of anger. With you around, any pretence of happiness vanishes.”

“Yeah. We live off of this stuff. If we don't, we die. Sue us, Starswirl the Merciless.” Adagio grumbled, turning away from the bearded aggressor.

“I’d watch your tone if I were you, ladies. We dealt with you once before and we can sure as heck do it again...” Twilight pressed her face against Adagio’s and gave her a death-stare. “Being evil for the sake of evil is never the right thing.”

“And who made you a Lawful Good, may I ask? For all we know, you’re just a ditzy clone of glasses-girl over here.” Aria flicked Twilight’s nose, causing her to take some steps backwards. “Magic or no magic, I’m not going to be lectured on which ways are right or wrong because quite honestly, we think your way of friendship and magic is completely wrong, just like you believe our way or siphoning emotions is wrong.”

“Well, whatever you choose to believe, you still have quite a nasty reputation going for you, given how you attacked my kind back home in Equestria, then continued your heinous actions on the people of this world.” Stygian crossed his arms as well. “Twilight Sparkle might be the Princess of Friendship and the worthy successor to Starswirl the Bearded, but even she has her limits, you three. Don’t push them.”

“What is she going to do? Honestly? We’re trapped here whether or not you like it, our heartstones got destroyed because of her, and there’s no way to get back to Equestria whether or not we wanted to.” Adagio muttered. “And before you mention Tartarus, don’t even bother. I’m pretty sure that place is full with all of the mess your little quote-unquote ‘princess’ has had to clean up with her goody-two-shoes vibes.”

“Let’s face facts here, guys and gals. You hate us, we hate you, so let’s just agree to hate each other and call it a day, right?” Sonata shrugged slightly, hands propped against the ground. “There’s an old saying, y’know. Treat others the way you want to be treated. You didn’t really treat us well when we first came to CHS and showed off, so we’re not going to treat you well. Just need to get that out of the way.”

That was the exact sentence that prompted Starlight to look into the situation with a clearer head, just when everyone else seemed to bear their fangs out for the sirens. They weren’t exactly bad people, just dealt a really bad hand and warped by others’ opinions of them for being who they were.

“Ah reckon we should spritz ‘em with the Magic of Friendship one more time. See if they turn to dust or something...” Applejack snarled, punching her fist. “They said it themselves, they hate us because we hate them. Ah see no reason to not knock ‘em upside the head.”

“I normally wouldn’t be one to engage in physical harm to a person, but in the case of these... abhorrent monsters, I’m sure that the world would be much better off.” Rarity made a claw out of her hands. “They enjoyed being evil, whether it was to stay alive or not. I cannot condone that kind of behaviour in any situation.”

The others slowly stomped in on the sirens, while Starlight hung back with Sunburst, Stygian, and Sci-Twi. Eventually, when the others got close enough, Starlight leapt into the fray giving the three Dazzlings a hug before pushing the others away, knocking them all onto their backs.

“That’s far enough, everyone. Step away from the sirens,” she spoke with a voice akin to that of a cold dagger, piercing everyone’s hearts.

“St-Starlight? What are you doing?” Twilight was the first to speak, pushing herself up from the smooth ground.

“Just because these girls had a bad reputation doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t give them a chance. Look, whatever happened in the past is the past. What matters and will always matter is the here and now.” Starlight stood the Dazzlings back up, brushing any dust off of their bodies. “Sure, they fed off of bad vibes, but who’s to say that isn’t a bad thing? You can’t just expect to be all sunshine and rainbows about everything, Princess Twilight who-remembers-clearly-that-I-ran-a-cult-and-wasn’t-too-happy-about-that-at-all Sparkle.”

“A cult leader? You?” Aria’s ears pricked up at the last sentence. “Bet that was an interesting day on the throne, wasn’t it, your majesty?”

“Uh, it’s actually ‘your highness’, Aria. Your majesty refers to a king or queen, but your highness refers to a prince, princess, or anyone else with a high rank in royalty.” Sonata interjected with a raised finger, before sticking her tongue out at Aria.

“Oh sure. Believe the girl who tried to make the biggest taco ever, only to cover the whole kitchen in bean sauce.” Aria rolled her eyes.

“I made one mistake, Aria, ONE!” Sonata threw her arms behind her, launching her face into Aria.

“And one is all you need, really.” Aria pushed Sonata back with two fingers, before returning her gaze to the others.

“ANYWAY. I think you girls gave the Dazzlings a really bad start here. Sure, they weren’t exactly the best of friends to you and your friends here, but ponies are ponies. Not all of them are going to as cheery, sunny, rainbow-magic-worshipping as the rest of you and you need to accept that, not just decide that friendship is law.” Starlight’s arms returned to constrict the Dazzlings. She pulled them in close while giving the others a shifty eye, like an animal protecting its’ harvest. “I’m going to completely admit that evil is never the right thing, but when you did supposedly win, you never even gave them a chance.”

“Because they’re the biggest sociopaths this planet’s ever known, Starlight!” Rainbow Dash spluttered, arms jolting out in multiple directions. “And before anyone questions me, I know what a sociopath is. Yeah, I listen in class. Sometimes.”

“Are you sure you’re not confusing it with psychopath, Dashie?” Pinkie lifted one of her brows.

“Girls. Do you even hear yourselves now? You’re starting to sound less and less like the Twilight Sparkle and her friends of my world with every passing second!” Starlight glared at both Rainbow and Pinkie, causing them both to jump. “Would the Twilight and her friends of Equestria ever say or think that?”

“Technically, they’re not the same as the ponies from our world. If there are a few differences here and there, it’s to be expected, really.” Sunburst stepped in, pushing his glasses closer to his face. “Though, I do have to agree on the factor that they’re starting to stray from what their pony selves are like...”

“It’s nothing to do with us being related to pony doubles of ourselves. It’s because the sirens were so mean and nasty that they didn’t even bother to stick around when their whole plan fell into ruins.” Fluttershy lifted her finger next, then hastily lowered it once all eyes were on her.

“And did it ever occur to you that you might have wanted to find them again? To see how they had fallen and offer them another way?” Starlight asked. “Could it be that, oh, I don’t know, now that they have no more heartstones they’re no longer a threat?”

“Uh... no?” Fluttershy’s whole body descended on the spot.

“Well, now’s the time to try that whole thing again. They’re not going anywhere, they have no magic, and they’re not evil if what they do was the only way to stay alive. Whatever you perceive as evil is really just a matter of opinion, kinda like everything else in a way.” Starlight released her hold on the Dazzlings, yet still stood close by them. “While you think what they did is evil, they think that what they did was the only way to move forward. What they might see as good, you might see as not so good. Opinions do not make people who they are. What people do is what make them who they are. You girls tried to let your opinions paint the bleakest of pictures for the sirens, not even taking into account their own thoughts and feelings on the situation.”

The Rainbooms tried to find some kind of counter-argument to make against Starlight, but whatever they thought of had already been addressed and anything new that came to mind they were unsure of, as they thought she would shoot it down with her own words the moment they presented it. Unable to fight back verbally, they all ended up slumping their shoulders and letting their heads hang, eyes dropping to the ground.

“Look. It isn’t too late to change all of this. And I’m talking to both you and to the Dazzlings.” Starlight turned back to Adagio, Aria, and Sonata. “What you’ve said and done, it doesn’t have to be everything that defines who you are or what you do. And, on the subject of feeding off of emotions, I think it’s fine within reason. If there’s some way that we can control that and make it so you don’t fly off of the handle, then I’m sure that we can find a place for you.”

“Question. How much did Twilight drill the idea of the Magic of Friendship into your head? Not asking to tease her, just morbidly curious.” Adagio pointed her middle finger skyward.

“Oh, let’s just say that the student has become the master. Heck, more often than not, I’m having to wrangle Twilight into making the right decisions.” Starlight smirked, making duck lips toward Princess Twilight. She could immediately see Twilight scrunching her face up in response.

The Dazzlings took some time to let the words sink in, most of all Adagio. She thought especially hard about her powers and whether or not she had been born down a dark path with a bad series of events. Her heartstone and the stones of her sisters could take in negative energy, but was it her place to truly be evil just because she could only take bad feelings from people? And what of Aria and Sonata? Had they been raised incorrectly as well, or influenced by her own selfish and heartless actions? Were they corrupted because they were led blindly by her? Adagio tried to find answers in these, never noticing Starlight push the Rainbooms next to her.

“All that it takes are two words. I’m sorry. That’s all you need to say to each other in order to start building a bond. Sure, you don’t need to be the best of friends, but you can at least bury the hatchet with each other.” Starlight took the Rainbooms’ hands and locked them into the Dazzlings’ hands so quickly that none of the others could intervene or stop her.

Both the Rainbooms and Dazzlings couldn't bring themselves to say anything for moments on end. With how Starlight had set them up and with everything already said and done in the past, would a simple apology be enough to bridge the colossal gap between them all. Given how much of a contrast between them there was, it was clear that a real friendship either wouldn't work or would take a really long time to properly forge. Aria and Applejack could only blush while the others just gave Starlight a few glares.

"I... must admit, Starlight. You are quite... impulsive in this kind of matter," Sunburst remarked as Starlight walked back over to his side. "Given how wide the divide was between these ponies—uh, people, I feel that you might have set them up with some rather sudden parameters."

"Well... you can't really blame me for trying now, can you?" Starlight just wrapped her arm around Sunburst's shoulders, pulling him in close. "That, and, given the whole situation, I think both the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms got a bit off the handle. The Dazzlings for letting themselves get carried away with their magic, and the Rainbooms for not treating them with kindness rather than cruelty."

"Starlight, I don't think that I need to tell you again that the sirens nearly ended up destroying all of Equestria as we know it. Befriending them is a task that would take monumental amounts of time, effort, and maybe even spell power if such a thing was necessary." Starswirl stomped over to Starlight, laying a hand on her shoulder with more weight on it than normal. "If those three go back to their evil and callous ways, do not say that we didn't warn you."

"True that, Starswirl. However, I can't help but think about this whole thing myself. If it is true that the sirens were who they were because they had no choice, then we can't really hold that they're evil to them and declare it as the truth. What would you do if you had nothing but magic that could cause other ponies harm, but still had your wise, more mature mindset?" Stygian put his hands together, pushing the fingers back and forth as he waited for the outcome of Starlight's social experiment. "Would you, having all of your powers use that to hurt others or would you use it to do what you must to have survived?"

"You know, I can't help but feel that there is some truth behind what you're saying. But I'm still trying to think about what kind of horrific things that these three did to Canterlot High. I know that it was well before I went there, seeing as how these phenomena only happened here and there..." Sci-Twi turned toward Starswirl and Stygian. "That being said, the Friendship Games brought out the worst in me and in my school, so in a way, you could say that we all do what we do, whether we're driven by curiosity or because it's the only way forward. Or in some cases, both."

The silence hung in the air for the longest time as the Rainbooms tried to muster up an apology to the Dazzlings but still heard the reverberations of their songs rising from the deepest corners of their memories. After all, the Dazzlings had magical singing powers that could influence others. If such a creature like that was to ever find its' way back to the path of evil, would it still be worth trying to turn them to the side of friendship?

The Dazzlings had their own thoughts on the situation. Given how much that they had done and all of the creatures that they had affected with their songs, was it really too late for them to take a walk on the other side? A side where their powers could be used to benefit people rather than cause rifts? And if that were the case, what of their heartstones? Of their hunger? Would they be able to survive without having to eat negativity off of others to do so, or would their hunger pangs catch right back up to them again without their stones?

"Hey, so... I think I should be the one to break up the silence." Adagio stepped forward and took a deep breath, "We both have a lot of beef with each other. You've not really got the best of feelings for us because we've tried to turn your school into a warzone and we didn't really have a lot of kindness to give to you after the way you destroyed our heartstones. But... when you think about it, we're both alike, aren't we?"

"I don't... really know what you mean by that." Sunset cocked a brow, tilting her head.

"Yeah, considering we're all mostly magical human girls with a pony girl from another world and you're a bunch of giant, coloured sea-horsies with the power to sing people into submission." Pinkie tipped her hand. "The species difference is pretty big when you put it like that." She stretched her arms as wide as they would go. "Like, REALLY BIG."

"No, no, no. Nothing like that." Adagio waved her hands so viciously that they were almost like warfans with how much they had blurred with the speed. "What I mean is that none of us are perfect. We've both got something that we've got that's gonna be detrimental to what we believe in. You with how you treated us, yet you advocate for the Magic of Friendship; and us with how we were pretty much... everything without knowing who we really were."

"Adagio... are you sorry for what you've done?" Sunset asked, taking another step closer to the golden-haired siren.

"Well, I am. Whether or not you are is another story. But if you're willing to accept the fact that you've made a mistake in leaving us out there, then we can look over the fact that we're mortals." Adagio pointed a finger to Sunset's heart like a dagger.

Twilight Sparkle took a deep sigh, then stood with Sunset, holding her hand tenderly. Twilight looked into Sunset's eyes, then winked at her, prompting her to wink back in response. "I can't exactly promise that friendship can bring back your powers or mend the damage that we caused to you, but so long as we can both accept the flaws and move on, then I'm sure that we take the first step to a better relationship with each other. If you want to accept us, then we'll accept you."

"What do you think about this, girls?" Adagio asked Sonata and Aria, who were still standing there blinking without having said a word or moved a muscle "Accepting the Magic of Friendship so as to avoid a harsh life on the streets, scrounging for scraps?"

"Adagio, I was hoping that I didn't want to have to just accept a friendship so easily, but at this point, what do we really have to lose?" Aria shrugged, taking steps up towards Twilight and Sunset. "We practically had nothing to begin with, so this is a win-win scenario for us."

"Eh, I didn't care either way. I mean, the hating everything kinda deal is kinda ironic, isn't it? The hatemongers hating everything around them doesn't really work with our backgrounds if you know what I mean. Unless you wanted to convert the Dazzlings into a grungy, underground screamo band with a taste for heavy metal"—As she spoke, Pinkie and Starlight pushed her from her spot next to the other Dazzlings, before taking their own spaces again—"But then we'd have to make Aria the leader since she's got practically every screamo tactic in the book. Then there's the whole process of trying to get Adagio to lower her standards to make her believe that screamo's the best way to go. Am I talking too much? I probably am. But, now that it's all been said and done, I suppose that friendship isn't exactly a bad way to go about this kinda stuff either."

"Well, I guess if they're willing to change, then I guess we can too." Applejack took off her hat for a brief instance, then slipped it back on her head. "Just as long as they don't go causing more trouble. Ah'd hate to have to wrangle 'em up again after such a nice scene like this."

"Same here. As long as they're willing to play nice for a change, then I suppose I can end this feud between us and them as well. Plus, I would hate to have to waste some elegant fabrics by drenching them with sweat in another chase scene like this." Rarity put her elbow on top of her arm, lifting the back of her hand onto her chin.

"Guess I'm down for it too. Just if they don't become uncool and evil again." Rainbow Dash simply nodded.

"I suppose if you girls are going to forgive them, then so can I. If the Magic of Friendship really is going to reach them, then they need everyone that they can get to show them the right ways." Fluttershy joined Twilight and Sunset, holding their hands.

"I mean, I was gonna totally throw a party one or two ways. A 'Yay For Catching The Sirens Again' party of a 'Yay For Reforming The Sirens' party. Guess now I know which one to set up." Pinkie eagerly grinned from ear to ear as she completed the group.

"Then I guess it's settled. From this day on, the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms are friends." Sunset held her hand out to Adagio, which she took and shook, as did all of the others until a large clump of ten hands were all joined together in one large, rounded pile.

All that Starswirl and Stygian could do was watch as the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms, having finally settled everything between them started to talk, letting a large, group conversation run its' course. Sunburst stood in awe as Starlight proudly put her hand on her heart, leaving Sci-Twi standing there, letting the wind run through her hair.

"You and your friends never cease to amaze, Twilight Sparkle... I thought for sure that there would be no reasoning with the sirens. But once again, you have proved this old pony wrong." Starswirl chuckled to himself, folding his arms as he watched the ten teenagers talk tirelessly to each other. "I am proud to have planted that Tree of Harmony, to have passed the torch onto you and your fellow Spirits of Harmony."

"See. The whole everything can be solved with a conversation thing goes for any creature, whether it's a pony or a siren." Starlight's voice cut in once Starswirl had finished. "No matter how stubborn they are or whatever past they might have had."

With Starswirl caught by those words, he took a few steps forward, grabbing the attention of all of the girls once more. Their talk fell silent for an instance as he cleared his throat.

"It would seem that I owe all of you some apologies. I fear that I might have acted a bit rash in banishing the three of you here, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk," he said, voice smoothening out as his arms fell. "In my haste to safeguard Equestria from dark magic, I never contemplated the reason why you did it outside of the natural order given to you. Perhaps, if I had known, I would have conversed with the other Pillars and Stygian to find you a place in the world where you could freely feed off of power without having to cause a mess for everything around you."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped, really. I mean, three creatures that aren't ponies causing havoc for your kind. It's only natural really that you'd take every measure needed to keep us out of your hair." Aria rolled her eyes. "So I can see why ya did it, but I'm still a bit peeved that you didn' think about our side of the story."

"A mistake I intend to rectify right here and now. So, with Twilight's permission, I grant you asylum in this world. It is no longer considered a banishment prison, but rather a place that you can choose to freely come and go whenever you please," said Starswirl. "If you wish to return to Equestria, I will take you three to a portal that will allow you passage back home. Or, you can choose to stay here, within the company of the doubles of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. I am sure that they will be able to teach you all that you need to know to redeem yourselves."

"Well, we were going to stay anyway, but now that you mention Equestria..." Adagio put a finger to her chin, but then found it was quickly lowered by Sonata, who just shook her head at her.

"When you think about it, everyone in Equestria's gonna want to hunt us down again if they see we haven't changed. I think it's better to stay here so that we can learn how to behave first, then go home when we've been trained enough." Sonata continued to hold Adagio's hand down as she gazed into her eyes. "Isn't it better to do this first, Dagi?"

"I... well." Adagio's thought of going home was quickly diminished when Sonata made her case. For all of her random babblings, at times, Sonata could be as smart as her or Aria. "I suppose, when you think about it like that, Sonata, you do have a point."

"Wait, she does?" Aria's eyes widened. "Well, that's a new one."

"In answer to your question, Starswirl, we're gonna stay here for a while, learn the Magic of Friendship with these girls. Then, when all's said and done and we all learn how to be as good as they are, then we might want to come back home, depending on whether or not Equestria's changed over the past... however many years it's been since we were thrown out of it."

"Very well then. In that case, I might as well stay for a while myself. After all, I am quite curious to see exactly what this world is, what more it has to offer and to see what you have been doing with yourselves ever since the fateful day when we duelled." He turned to the horizon, looking out as the sun's rays of light grazed him and the town beyond.

"Oh, trust me, Starswirl. There's so much that we need to catch up on, in more ways than one. "Adagio slithered up to him, coiling her fingers around his shoulders. "If you've got some time to space, I'm sure that we can fill in the blanks and give you and all of your friends the grand tour... Just buckle up. Because it's gonna be a LONG DAY."

"Or a long couple of days, depending on how you wanna look at it." Sonata poked the air with her finger.