The Song Of Friendship

by Lab Matt

First published 29th of April, 2020

Princess Twilight's friends aren't as receptive to the idea of befriending Sunset Shimmer as she hoped. The Dazzlings seize the opportunity.

Forgiveness is complicated. Sometimes you need to distance yourself from the person who harmed you to let things cool down for a minute before you can even think about the idea with a clear head.
Unfortunately that's not something Princess Twilight considered when she asked her human friends to befriend the person who made their lives for the past few years a living hell immediately after her biggest attempt to destroy everything they held dear.
But there's something different, something... magical about this lonely girl hated by the entire school, and Adagio wants to keep her close so she can figure out what it is.

Featured: 29/04/2020

Chapter 1

“I… I’m sorry.” Sunset Shimmer apologized on her hands and knees at the bottom of a crater, tears flowing down her face as she looked around, making sure everybody present knew she was addressing all of them. “I didn’t know there was another way.”

“The magic of friendship doesn’t just exist in Equestria.” Princess Twilight, looking down at the defeated she-demon from the edge of the same crater, explained. She turned around to smile at her five new friends who looked exactly like her best friends back in her homeworld. “It’s everywhere. You can seek it out.” Her smile turned into a sad frown. “Or you can forever be alone. The choice is yours.”

It took a lot of effort, but the amber-skinned high schooler managed to crawl to the edge of the hole she was in. “But… But all I’ve ever done since coming here is drive everyone apart. I don’t know the first thing about friendship.” To her surprise, the Equestrian Princess grabbed her hand and helped her get out of the crater and stand up.

“I bet they can teach you.” She said, waving in the general direction of the five girls.

Rainbow Dash’s wings immediately froze up and she fell to the ground, landing on her butt. Pinkie Pie, who was leaning against Applejack, lost her balance and also fell. Fluttershy’s shyness came back in full force as she cowered behind the apple farmer. Rarity simply played with her hair, looking down at the ground with an awkward smile on her face to avoid their gaze. Applejack placed her closed fists on her waist, cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

“Say what?” She asked.

“Um, girls?” Twilight called, suddenly feeling concerned.

“Whoa whoa whoa, time out!” Rainbow Dash quickly stood up after recovering from the shock. “After everything she said and all the things she’s done, we’re supposed to just forgive her out of the blue like that?”

“I-I know it seems a little… rushed.” Twilight stuttered, their reaction completely taking her by surprise. “But trust me, all she needs it a helping hand and a little guidance. If she has people by her side to show support and lead her down the right path, she’ll be like a completely different person. Can you do that? For me? Please?”

“Well, I…” Applejack put her hand behind her head, scratching her nape. “If it’s for ya, I s’pose we can at least try. Y’all agree?”

Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy agreed with varying degrees of apprehension. Rainbow Dash crossed her arms.

“Do we have to?”

“Dash!” Applejack chastised her. “After all Twilight did for us, the least we can do is try, right?”

Sighing in defeat, the speedster uncrossed her arms. “Fine.”

After Principal Celestia returned to Twilight the crown that was rightfully hers, all the students went back to the gymnasium and continue the dance that had been previously interrupted. Sunset Shimmer stayed behind, hoping for a chance to talk to the five girls Princess Twilight had asked to mentor her in the ways of friendship without the entire school watching them, but they were among the first to go back inside.

Sunset thought about joining them, but she felt it would be highly inappropriate given the circumstances; instead she built a makeshift stool out of the bricks that went flying after she destroyed the school’s façade, sat down and watched the starry night sky by herself.

Meanwhile, miles away from Canterlot High, a trio of ancient beings from Equestria who had been banished to that same world ages ago had felt the unbridled use of Equestrian magic. Hungry for power, they immediately abandoned everything they were doing to chase after its source.

Adagio Dazzle was behind the wheel, driving their minibus/mobile home. Aria Blaze sat beside her on the passenger’s seat, looking outside with her cheek pressed against the window, nowhere as excited about their discovery as her ally.

“I’m telling you, you’re imagining things.” The girl with purple twintails said while rubbing the red gemstone hanging from her neck between her thumb and index finger. “Sonata and I didn’t feel anything.”

“It was very faint, you weren’t paying attention when it happened.” The leader of the trio replied while keeping her eyes on the road.

“You said the same thing in Macedonia, Giza, Shropshire, Wiltshire, Inverness, Tromsø, Zhongdian, Hawai’i Island and Hamilton, and the only magic we found in those places was the magic of wasted time – except for Pripyat, where we found the magic of radiation poisoning, so if I’m being skeptical it’s because I have a reason.”

“It will be different this time, trust me.”

“You said the same thing in—”

“Shut up and keep your eyes on your gemstone!”

“What for?”

“I can’t drive and track the source of the magic at the same time. When yours pick up the trail, I need you to give me directions.”

Aria’s annoyance morphed into rage.

“You know what, no! I am sick and tired of your schemes that lead us straight into dead ends! Stop this bus, I am getting off right here. If you want to chase after something that doesn’t exist until the universe implodes then that’s your choice, but count me—”

Aria’s gem started to glow – it was very faint, but definitely real. Adagio didn’t say anything, she simply smirked as her companion started at the magical artifact at a loss for words.

“Holy crap!” Sonata Dusk shouted as she opened the window connecting the driver cabin with the back of the bus. “Did you girls feel that?”

“I… I did.” Aria replied. “Guess you weren’t imagining things after all, huh?”

“Still want to get off the bus?” Adagio asked, despite already knowing the answer.

“Are you kidding? Step on it, I am starving!” Aria took off her necklace and placed it on the palm of her hand to better read the signals.

Weeks passed after the Fall Formal. Sunset Shimmer was busy most of the time assisting the construction crew with the restoration of the wall she destroyed as punishment. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna didn’t give her any more assignments after that, deciding that she had been punished enough already, but Sunset wanted to prove to herself and others that she had turned over a new leaf, so she volunteered to help with small tasks around the school.

Later that day she was tasked with showing new students around the school, but with a few minutes to spare she decided to first swing by the gymnasium to help around with preparations for the upcoming musical showcase.

Several students were sitting in groups working on handmade posters, mingling with members of cliques they previously wouldn’t associate with – in the past Sunset Shimmer worked hard to destroy that sense of community and togetherness, but that was something her old self did. Her new self was happy to see people coming together and making friends.

The students themselves, however, weren’t very pleased with her presence, either trying to ignore her or giving her angry stares. She felt uncomfortable, but couldn’t fault them for feeling that way – she felt like she deserved the cold treatment after everything she did. The only ones who weren’t frowning when she emerged from the doorway were a trio of freshmen, who were having so much fun working on their poster that they didn’t even notice her arrival. Sunset decided to start with them.

“Want some help?” She offered, placing her hands on her knees and bending down a little so she would be on the same eye level as them.

“Uh…” Apple Bloom looked at her two best friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo – they didn’t say a word, but she could see in their eyes that they were most certainly against the idea. “No thanks. We’re good.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded before focusing on their work once again.

“Oh. Okay.” The unicorn girl walked away, leaving them to draw in peace. The three younger girls sighed in relief in unison after she left.

She kept trying to help groups, but the ones that didn’t dismiss her without a second thought just gave her dirty looks in complete silence. Ignoring the fact that most of the students had stopped working just so they could all glare at her, she finally spotted the five girls Princess Twilight asked to keep an eye on her – because she was busy helping to rebuild the façade they didn’t have many opportunities to interact with each other in the previous weeks, so that felt like the perfect chance to start.

“Hi girls.” She greeted, they didn’t have much of a reaction other than Fluttershy gasping in surprise.

“Hey.” Rainbow Dash replied without taking her eyes off the poster they were working on.

“I-I-I, uh…” Fluttershy stuttered before quickly jumping to her feet. “B-Bathroom!”

“I’ll go with you, darling.” Rarity said, also standing up. She dusted her skirt and wrapped an arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders in an attempt to help her shivering friend calm down.

“Howdy.” Applejack replied, the only one in the group at least trying to act friendly towards the former bully like Twilight asked them to. “Need somethin’?”

“I, uh… Well, was just wondering if you need help with something.” That’s not what she wanted to say, but she could sense that she wasn’t welcome there either. “But, um… I can see you’re done, so I’ll just… See you all later.”

“Sure.” Dash replied again, still looking at the mostly finished poster. Sunset Shimmer lingered for a moment, but eventually left.

Applejack looked around at her friends: Pinkie Pie was dripping vanilla extract from a bottle on the poster while Rainbow Dash just looked down at her feet, squeezing the toe caps of her sneakers with her hands.

“Y’all remember the promise we made to Princess Twilight, right?” The farmer asked. “Y’know, to try an’ befriend Sunset Shimmer?”

“I tried.” The athlete answered. “Just because it didn’t work out doesn’t meant I didn’t.”

“You sure? All I’ve seen ya do is give one-word replies to everythin’ she says.”

“Well, I’m sorry if I find it too hard to socialize with the person who torn us all apart so she could bully all my friends separately!”

“I agree with Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie Pie said, placing down the bottle of vanilla extract on the floor. “I want to be friends with everybody, but whenever she’s nearby I just… remember all those awful things she did way before she turned into a fire demon and tried to kill us all. My head wants to get along with her, but the rest of my body just wants to run away…”

“Why are you even asking us about that in the first place?” Rainbow Dash pointed an accusatory finger at Applejack. “You act all polite when she comes to us, but I don’t see you going out of your way to try and be her best friend.”

Applejack wanted to reply, but she knew her rainbow-haired friend had a point; despite trying to be friendly whenever Sunset Shimmer showed up, she too felt a little apprehensive about approaching the ex-queen bee of Canterlot High without her friends to back her up – friends who didn’t seem that interested in doing the only thing Princess Twilight asked of them in the first place.

Sunset Shimmer, who had been standing near the doorway not far from where the trio was sitting, walked away – she wasn’t going to cry, she was stronger than that, but that didn’t make those things any less painful to hear.

It was almost time to meet with the newcomers, so she decided to stop by the bathroom to wash her face.

“It’s ok, darling, I feel the same way.” Hearing Rarity’s voice coming from within, Sunset Shimmer simply stood there with her hand still on the handle, opening the door a single inch so she could better hear what they were saying.

“I… I don’t know if I can do it.” Fluttershy said. “I know we promised Twilight, but whenever she’s nearby I feel so scared. I can’t just forget years of torment and act like everything is ok! And now I’m having nightmares too; every time I close my eyes I see her like that again – the teeth, the claws, those creepy black eyes… I can’t sleep without my night light on anymore, and now Zephyr Breeze is teasing me about it.”

She closed the door and walked away, not wanting to hear any more of that – listening in on private conversations was something the old her did, and if she truly wanted to be a better person then she would have to stop doing that. She decided to wash her face in a different bathroom.

Sunset Shimmer stared at herself in the mirror as water dripped down her face; how could she blame any of them for not wanting to be friends with her? Yes, she drove them all apart. Yes, she made them all miserable. Yes, she turn everybody in the school against each other, transformed into a horrible monster, mind-controlled them all and tried to kill Twilight and her friends with magic stolen from the crown. All of that was true. If anything, she should be grateful that some of them were even willing to talk to her in the first place, even if the conversations were mostly one-sided.

Looking down at the time on phone, she gasped; she was going to be late for the tour she volunteered to give the new students. Grabbing a bunch of paper towels at once, she rubbed them all on her face to wipe away the dripping water before rushing out of the bathroom. She arrived at the recently rebuild entrance a little later than planned, where three girls were waiting for her.

“Hi.” She greeted them. “Are you the girls I’m supposed to show around?”

“We are.” The one in the middle with a giant mane of curly orange hair said, taking a step forward. The two others followed suit.

“Sorry I’m late; it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Sunset Shimmer.”

“I’m Adagio Dazzle. These are Sonata Dusk” the blue-haired girl with a ponytail waved at her “and Aria Blaze” the purple-haired one with twintails and crossed arms just rolled her eyes.

“Canterlot High is a great school, you’re really gonna love it.” She said as she began to walk away, the three newcomers following not far behind.

“Oh yes, we really sensed there’s something… magical about this place.”

As they walked down the hallway, they noticed students glaring in their general direction – students that Sunset Shimmer tried her best to ignore.

“They don’t seem as pleased as you to meet us.” Aria commented, shooting back an icy glare at a passerby student that made him look away in fear. “What, never seen a new student before, chump? Keep walking!”

“Jeez, who peed in their oatmeal this morning?” Sonata asked, looking in their general direction from the corner of her eye but not turning her head to face them.

Their tour guide sighed. “I’m sorry about that; it’s not you they’re glaring at.”

Adagio raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem like the type that goes around making enemies.”

“It’s… complicated. A-Anyway, that’s the science lab and the computer lab is in there.”

“What’s this?” Sonata asked, pointing at a poster on the wall featuring a guitar and the words Musical Showcase.

“Oh, we’re having a big musical showcase this weekend. The whole school is pretty much rallying around it.”

“A musical showcase?” Adagio asked, a wicked smile beginning to form on her face.

“People interested in participating were supposed to sign up until last Friday, but since you’re new I’m sure Principal Celestia will make an exception if you’re interested.”

“We have been known to sing from time to time.” Aria explained with a smug look on her face.

“We’ll definitely look into it, won’t we, girls?” Adagio asked her companions, who nodded in agreement.

“Are you going to participate?” Sonata asked. “What kind of instruments do you play? Do you sing?”

“Well, I guess I know a thing or two about playing guitar, but I don’t think I will participate.”

“Why not?”

“I wouldn’t be very comfortable up on a stage all by myself.”

“Don’t you have, like, friends that can play with you or whatever?” Aria asked, causing a frown of sadness to appear on Sunset’s face.

“I… don’t know.”

“Oh you poor thing.” Adagio said, approaching Sunset from behind and placing her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “You know, the three of us have been singing a capella for a long time, but I think adding an instrument would most certainly enhance our performance. Tell me, if the Principal allows us to participate in the showcase, would you be interested in performing with us?”

“Y-You really mean it?”

“Of course! Music is such a beautiful way of expressing yourself, no one with a talent for it should be kept from performing.”

“Adagio, what—”Aria began to speak, but Adagio lifted a finger to signal Aria to be quiet, which she begrudgingly did.

“That does sound like fun, but… are you sure this is a good idea? You can tell by the way people were looking at me that I’m not exactly… liked around here. I’ll only drag you down.”

“Nonsense! I can tell there’s something special about you, Sunset Shimmer, and I want to help you show everybody in this school how special you truly are.”

“Well… ok, why not? If you’re sure about it, then we can go talk to her after I’m done showing you around!”

“I can’t wait.”

Aria was a little suspicious, so she grabbed the smiling Sonata by the wrist and pulled her close.

“Ow! What?” She complained.

“Distract the girl, I want to talk to Adagio for a second.”

“You didn’t have to pull me like that.” Quickening her pace until she was walking side by side with Sunset Shimmer, Sonata began asking her questions about Canterlot High, the staff and the students. With their guide successfully distracted, Aria moved to Adagio’s side.

“What do you think you’re doing, inviting her to join us? Are you trying to reveal our identities before we even have the chance to make a move?”

“Can’t you feel it?”

“Feel what?”

Adagio pinched the bridge of her nose as she groaned. “You and Sonata really need to work on your magical perception.” She pointed a finger at Sunset Shimmer. “That girl reeks of Equestrian magic; whatever it was that we felt that day, she definitely has a connection to it. I want her close to me so I can keep an eye on her.”

“But why ask her to join us? Can’t we just follow her around and watch her from a distance?”

“Information is always more reliable when given willingly. Besides, look at her; whatever happened that made the other students dislike her so much left her in a very delicate condition. She is in desperate need of a friend and will do whatever it takes to hang onto that friendship. And if that friend just happens to ask her to hand over whatever Equestrian magic she’s in possession of…”

“Hm. I didn’t think of that. It makes sense, I guess.”

“I know what I’m doing, that is why I am the leader and you’re not.” Adagio placed her hand on Aria’s back and pushed her forward, towards Sonata and Sunset. “Now go make a new friend!”

When Sunset Shimmer and the three newcomers entered Principal Celestia’s office, she was accompanied by Vice-Principal Luna.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were busy.” She quickly apologized.

“That’s ok, Sunset Shimmer, we’re just having a chat. Is there something you need?”

“Well, I—”

“Good morning, Principal Celestia, Vice-Principal Luna!” Adagio, walking past their guide, greeted them.

“Good morning, Miss Dazzle.” Celestia greeted back. “How’s the tour going?”

“Oh, it’s just fantastic! Your school is simply wonderful and Sunset Shimmer has been very good to us the entire time, she’s so smart and polite.” She said, the flattery causing Sunset Shimmer to smile awkwardly and blush.

“That’s good to hear.” Celestia smiled at Sunset, proud of how much she changed in such a short amount of time.

“She mentioned that you have an event planned for the weekend, correct?”

“The CHS Musical Showcase, yes.” Luna spoke up in her usual unintentionally harsh tone. “It’s an event to raise funds in hopes to cover the expenses of certain… unplanned renovations we had to undergo recently.”

Sunset’s looked away, the blush of embarrassment turning into one of shame.

“Well, since we transferred here after the sign-up period was over, I was wondering if there was a way for us to participate. Music is something we are all very passionate about, and we believe it would be a great opportunity for us to meet new people and make more friends.”

“Well, it is a very last-minute addition.” Luna commented.

“Oh, but don’t take our word for it.” Adagio interrupted. “We can show you that our performance will be a valuable addition to the showcase. Girls?”

Sonata and Aria nodded before flanking their leader. Placing their hands on top of their chests, right below their necklaces, they began to sing.

“Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~!”

Sunset Shimmer was stunned; she expected them to be good singers given their genuine interest in a musical event, but what she was hearing blew all of her expectations out of the water. Listening to that beautiful melody made her feel completely at peace, like all the worries in the world were just a distant memory. She felt so light and relaxed that she couldn’t keep her eyes closed.

“Sunset? Hey, Sunset!” Sonata grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, snapping her out of it.

“Huh? Wha… What happened?”

“You feel asleep while we were singing.” Aria explained with a smirk on her lips. “I didn’t know falling asleep while standing was a thing, but there you were.”

“I-I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, but your voices are so beautiful, I just… felt so comfortable. Oh, what about the showcase?”

“We have decided to allow them to participate.” Principal Celestia, still on her seat, explained to her. “You girls are talented beyond your years, it would be a shame to not give you the opportunity to share that talent with the rest of the school.”

“Thank you so much, Principal Celestia.” Adagio said. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, it’s almost lunch time and we are starving.”

“Certainly, girls. Have a good day.” The four students turned to leave. “Sunset Shimmer, can I speak with you for a minute longer?”

She looked at her newfound friends as they walked down the hallway.

“Don’t worry about us, we’ll find our way to the cafeteria.” Adagio said as she walked before waving at her.

Waving back, Sunset went back inside the principal’s office and closed the door.

“I just wanted to thank you for all you’ve done these last few weeks. Most students would just take their punishment then go back to misbehaving, but you took the lesson you were taught to heart and went above and beyond to show the others how much you’ve changed.”

“While you were… resting, your friends told us how welcome you made them feel and how they couldn’t wait to practice with you for the showcase, so we have decided to allow you to play alongside them.” Vice-Principal Luna said.

“Oh, thank you so much!”

“One more thing before you go.” Principal Celestia added. “We had a short discussion, and they came up with a marvelous idea: instead of a musical showcase, we’ll be having a battle of the bands!”

“Really? Isn’t that a little… last minute?”

“Not much will be changed, we’ll just add a competitive element to the event.” Luna explained. “A little competition will be a good motivation for the students to play to the best of their abilities.”

“Besides, people love contests.” Celestia commented. “The news of a Battle of the Bands will definitely attract a bigger audience to our event. It will be structured as a single-elimination tournament with each round taking place in a different day for the rest of the week, starting tomorrow. The finalists will play in the town auditorium for the public.”

“Well, do you want me to inform the rest of the school or…?”

“Don’t worry about that, we already asked the Dazzlings to inform the students at the cafeteria; we’ll make a proper announcement at the party later today, once we have ironed out all the kinks. You just have to worry about practicing for the big event. Good luck!”

Exiting the office with a smile on her face, Sunset Shimmer rushed to the music room to make sure it was in good condition for her first practice with her bandmates, the Dazzlings, after school.

Chapter 2

Author's Notes:

This is the part where I get super anxious because now that my story got featured, people are going to expect something grand, special and meaningful, and that's not what this is. It's just some dumb little rewrite of the movie with Sunset and the Dazzlings sharing screentime, and the pacing is all over the place (with somewhat unrealistic behavior sprinkled on top because I'm an amateur). Apologies in advance if you were expecting high-quality writing, this is not what I have to offer.

When Sunset Shimmer opened her locker, yet another pile of pieces of paper containing angry messages, profanities and crudely drawn caricatures of her came spilling out; she groaned then bent down to pick them up. After gathering a sizeable stack she carried it to the nearest garbage bin and tossed them all inside. When she returned to her locker, someone was there waiting for her.

“Howdy.” Applejack greeted.

“Hey.” She greeted back, her voice drained of all emotion. “Need something?”

“Well, if yer just gonna go straight to the point, then… I uh, I was wonderin’ if you know if there’s a way we can contact Princess Twilight.”

“No, you’ll have to wait for the portal to open and go talk her in person.”

“And when will that happen?”

“From two and a half to three years, depending on the phase of the moon.”

“Years?! We can’t wait that long!”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Yes, well. You know those three new girls?”

“The Dazzlings?”

“Yeah, the singin’ girls. During lunch, they—” She was rudely interrupted by a blue sneaker flying towards her and smacking her on the back of the head. “Ouch!”

Looking at the direction where the footwear came from, Sunset managed to see strands of multicolored hair peeking from a hallway corner.

“Sorry, I can’t tell ya.” She picked up the shoe and tossed it over her shoulder – it landed not far from the corner it came flying from, where a pair of blue hands retrieved it.

“Why not?”

“We think y’all might be workin’ tog—” The same sneaker from before hit her in the exact same spot. “Cosarnit, Rainbow!”

“Ok, fine, I get it, you don’t trust me!” Sunset shouted at the athlete down the corridor. She reached into a box at the bottom of her locker and retrieved a dusty old book – its covered featured the same red and yellow sun design that could be seen on her t-shirt. She thrusted the dust-covered tome into Applejack’s chest. “Here! It’s a magical book, whatever message you write in it will be sent to my mentor back in Equestria. Maybe she can help you get in contact with Twilight.”

Without waiting for a reply Sunset just picked up the guitar case she kept there, slammed her locker shut and angrily walked away, leaving behind a stunned Applejack who was soon joined by her four closest friends. On her way to the music she was approached by the ever so cheerful Sonata Dusk.

“Hey, Sunset! I heard you shouting, is everything ok?”

“Everything’s fine, don’t worry about it. Where’s Aria and Adagio?”

“Already waiting for you. They’re super excited to have you in the group.” She wrapped her arms around Sunset in a sideways hug. “And so am I!”

The gesture managed to wring a smile out of Sunset, lifting her mood. Together they walked to the music room where Adagio and Aria were already waiting, just as Sonata said.

“Took you long enough.” Aria said, earning herself a glare from Adagio.

“Sorry about that.” Placing the case on the floor, she opened it up to reveal an orange and white electric guitar. “So, what are we playing?”

“Sonata, can you walk dear Sunset through ‘Under Our Spell’? I still have something to discuss with Aria; it will take but a moment, we’ll join you in a minute.”

Sonata saluted the lead singer, took Sunset by the hand and led her to the amplifier located in the other side of the room.

“See what I mean?” Adagio whispered. “Our mind control spell affected the vice and the principal so easily but she was only put into a trance; no effect to her psyche whatsoever. Sunset Shimmer definitely has a connection to the Equestrian magic.”

“But is she the only one?” Aria asked, also in a whispering tone. “I definitely saw a group in the cafeteria that seemed unaffected by our ambition spell.”

“What group?”

“I don’t know, we’re new here, remember? The only student we actually know is Sunset Shimmer.”

“We’ll have to look into it later. For now, let’s just stick to the original plan.”

With a nod from Aria, the two of them joined Sonata and Sunset so they could teach the latter the notes of their songs, starting with the first they were going to play during the competition.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie played with a deck of cards while Rarity painted Fluttershy’s nails. Rainbow Dash just sat with her back pressed to the side of the statue’s base, tossing a soccer ball from one hand to the other – after they managed to get a hold of Twilight through Sunset’s enchanted book, she informed them that she had found a way to artificially trigger the opening of the portal and would soon be joining them, so they gathered there to wait. Rainbow Dash sighed.

“I’m starting to think she’s not coming.” She commented. As soon as those words left her mouth, the Princess and her dog flew out of the portal and fell on the grass.

“Twilight!” All five of them called, happy to see their friend once again.

“I’m back!” Princess Twilight said. Rainbow Dash offered a hand to help her up, which she promptly took. The group didn’t waste another second and they all rushed for a group hug. “And I’ve got some bad news about those new girls.” She looked at each and every one of her friends, until she realized someone was missing. “Wait, where’s Sunset Shimmer?” The good mood suddenly vanished and all five girls looked away to avoid eye contact with the Princess of Friendship. “Girls?”

“She’s… hanging out with the new girls.” Fluttershy explained.

“What?! Why?! Are they controlling her too?!”

“To be frank with you, darling, we don’t know.” Rarity replied. “We can tell Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna are acting out-of-character, but we barely know a thing about Sunset’s behavior. She could have been forced or she’s doing it willingly, either is a possibility.”

“You can’t tell if she’s acting off?” Spike the dog asked. “You’ve been friends for a while know, you should know a thing or two about her normal behavior to notice when something isn’t right.”

“Yeeeeeah, about that…” Pinkie Pie said, looking down at the ground while sheepishly rubbing her arm.

The girls led Twilight and her assistant to a nearby café where they usually met after school so they could better discuss the situation in a more comfortable setting, explaining things along the way.

After they were done telling their side of the story, the Princess sighed. “I should have expected this. I mean, I’ve been through something similar when my mentor asked me and my friends to reform the spirit of chaos and disharmony – we were just as unwilling to give him a chance as you were to give her.”

“Spirit of… what?” Fluttershy asked while stroking Spike’s head.

“We wanted to, really.” Applejack explained, taking off her hat. “But some things are just too hard to forgive an’ forget.”

“We just kept pushing her away, even though you asked us to take her in.” Pinkie Pie rested her head on the table, her hair deflating a little. “We’re sorry.”

“No, Pinkie, if anyone has to apologize, it’s me.” Twilight replied. “It was too soon to make a request that big. The reason we didn’t outright denied Princess Celestia’s request was probably because we had time to heal after everything Discord did to us, but I asked you to befriend her immediately after she took over the school and attacked us. I put too much pressure on you girls, and for that I am truly sorry.” She soon regained her composure. “But we can discuss that later, right now our priority is stopping the sirens.”

“One more thing! Something’s been happening that you need to know about.” Rainbow Dash reached into her pocket to retrieve her phone so she could show the unicorn a recording of herself sprouting wings and pony ears just like when they fought the magically transformed Sunset Shimmer.

Later that day in the gymnasium, all the bands that signed up for the musical showcase gathered up for a small celebration. Before Twilight’s arrival, there wasn’t much interaction between different cliques in Canterlot High but the atmosphere was mostly of peaceful coexistence. After the sirens had their way, though, the animosity was so thick one could almost see it with the naked eye. But it was actually the miasma formed by the negativity and distrust taking shape that the sirens were feeding on.

While walking around the gymnasium, taking notice of everything that was happening, Twilight Sparkle once again bumped into the guitarist for the band Flash Drive. Too distracted trying to hold a conversation with Flash Sentry, she didn’t notice when the doors opened and four girls walked in – Rainbow Dash had to get her attention by throwing a piece of chocolate at her.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Sunset Shimmer asked, looking around at all the people arguing – an uncommon sight after Princess Twilight brought the school together before the Fall Formal.

“It’s like there’s some kind of underlying tension that could bubble to the surface at any minute.” Adagio commented, her grin out of Sunset’s line of sight. “Looks like the idea of a competition got them riled up; I guess everybody is willing to do whatever it takes to win the battle of the bands.”

“There isn’t going to be a ‘battle of the bands’!” Twilight shouted as she approached the four girls, her quintet of friends in tow. “We’re gonna make sure of that!”

“Twil—” With a smile on her lips, Sunset Shimmer began to call her first friend’s name. She quickly went silent after Twilight held hands with the other girls, just like when they used the magic of harmony to defeat her.

“Friendship is magic!” Twilight announced.

Sunset Shimmer dropped the blue solo cup she was holding and shielded her face with both arms, expecting the worse. Nothing happened, and she slowly lowered them to assess the situation.

All the students stopped arguing and had formed a circle around the two groups to see what was happening, leaving only an awkward silence as the Rainbooms themselves realized nothing happened.

“Uh, what are they doing?” Sonata whisper-asked Sunset while the other girls whispered amongst themselves.

“And what are you doing?” Aria added in her default position of keeping her arms crossed.

“They, uh… I…” Sunset didn’t know about the true nature of her newfound friends, so she imagined they would think she was crazy if she suddenly started talking about magic.

“Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!” Adagio spoke loud enough for their entire audience to hear. “This group is obviously serious about winning.” She let out a small laughter as she began to pace around, making sure all the students would hear her words loud and clear. “A little cocky, though, aren’t they? Claiming there won’t really be a battle. Seems they think they’re already got this thing all. Locked. Up.”

“Not if the Great and Powerful Trixie has anything to do with it!” Trixie Lulamoon proclaimed.

“Whatever, Trixie. We’re the best band at CHS!” Flash Sentry fired back.

With their ambition and drive to win reignited, the arguments among students started once again, the green miasma growing thicker only to the eyes of those who fed on it.

Sunset yelped, startled by the hand that suddenly grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside, leaving the sirens alone to savor the negativity that fueled their own magic. Once all seven girls were outside of the building, Twilight let go of her wrist.

“We need to talk.” She said.

“Good to see you, too.” Sunset replied.

“What are you doing with those girls?”

“I’m hanging out with my friends. That’s what friends do, they hang out.”

“Your… friends? Oh, no…”

“Is there a problem?”

“There is no easy way to tell you this, so I’m just gonna say it: your ‘friends’ are evil.” Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity all nodded.

“Uh, come again?”

“They are magical creatures from Equestria called sirens that Starswirl The Bearded banished to another world – this world. They enchant people with their beautiful songs, causing disharmony and feeding off the negative energy produced by it.”

“What?”

“They sang a song in the cafeteria that made everybody go crazy and start fighting.” Pinkie Pie explained.

“Everybody ‘cept us.” Applejack added.

“I listened to them singing. More than once, even! How come I’m not affected?” Sunset questioned.

“There’s still some Equestrian magic over this side of the portal; it protected us.” Rarity replied. “It also causes us to transform every time we play our instruments. Maybe there’s some leftover magic protecting you as well.”

“But why is it protecting her?” Fluttershy asked. “We were using good magic, while she was— Eep!” She hid her face behind her hair when she saw Sunset Shimmer looking at her.

“There is no ‘good’ magic or ‘bad’ magic, just magic.” Twilight explained. “If it’s used for good or bad depends entirely on the pony— I mean, person using it.”

“And those three are downright wicked.” Rainbow Dash concluded. “They have to be stopped.”

“You need to distance yourself from them.” Twilight urged her. “No good can come from being ‘friends’ with sirens.”

“Everybody in this school hates me, Twilight! No matter how many times I apologize or how many good things I do to show them I’ve changed, all I get in return are glares in the hallway, glares in class, glares on the street and my locker stuffed with notes from people telling me what they really think of me! Sonata, Aria and Adagio were the only ones willing to give me a chance when everyone else made it clear they didn’t want anything to do with me. They are all I have!” She looked down, a wave of sadness overtaking her body. “Without them I’ll be all alone again. What am I supposed to do then?”

“Well, if you give them another chance, I’m sure—”

“I should give them another chance? Isn’t that what you asked them to do about me?” She interrupted before addressing the others. “I understand that you don’t like me, and I’m ok with that, really. But please, don’t ruin the one good thing that’s happened to me since the Fall Formal.”

“But they’re brainwashing people!” Pinkie Pie reminded her.

“If that’s true, then I’ll talk to them. Maybe if I find out their motives we can compromise and I can get them to stop. Just please, don’t interfere. If it turns out this is all just a big misunderstanding and you end up pushing away the only friends I have, I’ll… Just don’t, ok? And please don’t scare me like that again, I really thought you were going to blast me a second time. I don’t want to go through that again…” With that said, Sunset Shimmer went back inside to rejoin her musical group.

“There you are!” Adagio called, the three Dazzlings waiting for their fourth member in a hallway just outside one of the entrances to the gym. “I was wondering where those girls carried you off to. They weren’t bothering you in any way, were they?”

“No, don’t worry about it.” Truth be told, Sunset was a little bothered by it, but what bothered her most was what they had told her about her new friends; could they really be beings from Equestria, just like her? “So, have any plans for the rest of the afternoon? Maybe squeeze in another practice session before calling it a day?”

“I think we had enough practice for today – we don’t want to overdo it, we still need our voices for the Battle of the Bands, after all.”

“You have a point, I suppose. So, see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? I was hoping you’d join us; since we’re new in town we’re going to familiarize ourselves with the place, check out a few stores, and maybe go on a shopping spree if we find anything we like.”

“That does sound like fun, but… I don’t really have any money to spare.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sunset. You buy whatever you want, let us worry about the costs.”

“Oh no, I can’t accept that. You’ve done so much for me already, I can’t have you also spend your money on me on top of all that.”

“Sunset.” Adagio Dazzle once again placed both her hands on Sunset Shimmer’s shoulders, but this time they were facing each other. “You’re our friend. You act like everything is fine, but I can tell something is bothering you. If you don’t want to tell us what it is then that’s ok. We just want to help you take your mind off things and enjoy yourself, even if it’s just for one afternoon.”

The former unicorn felt something twist inside her chest, but she didn’t feel any pain – it was something else, something that also made her want to cry but, unlike earlier that day when she overheard the girls talking about how they weren’t comfortable socializing with her, this time the tears that wanted to flow were of happiness. Once again she swallowed the tears, but she couldn’t stop her lips from curling into a genuine smile.

“If it means so much to you, then how can I say no to that? Ok, lead the way!”

Sonata held Sunset’s hand and the three girls took her to the parking lot, where their minibus was parked. Aria and Sonata jumped in the back while Sunset joined Adagio in the driver cabin.

“I know a shopping mall downtown with all sorts of specialty stores, you girls are gonna love it!”

Following Sunset Shimmer’s directions, Adagio Dazzle drove into town; Sonata opened the window on the back of the driver cabin so all four of them could chat and get to know Sunset better. It took a little over an hour, but they finally arrived at their destination.

“You girls go on ahead.” Adagio said, parking the minibus on the sidewalk so her three companions could exit the vehicle. “The place looks packed, it may take a while to find a good parking spot.”

Sonata, Aria and Sunset stepped out of the vehicle. Grabbing Sunset’s hand once again, the blue-haired girl rushed into the mall with her in tow. Aria, on the other hand, sat on the passenger seat in the driver cabin and closed the door.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” She asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Adagio replied without looking at her as she drove into the mall’s parking lot.

“I know you better than anybody else, Adagio. I can tell when you’re acting and when you’re being genuine, and at some point in the last hour you stopped acting. You were holding a conversation with somebody that isn’t one of us and you didn’t feign one emotion.”

“You’re getting sloppy, Aria; you really need to work on your perception or you might just go completely blind one of these days. We are playing her so we can steal all the magic in that school and that’s all there is to it. Nothing less and most certainly nothing more!”

“Oh, I know that. Question is, do you?” Adagio’s only reply was a sideway glare. “What’s so special about this girl that makes you blur the line between self-interest and selflessness?”

“The only line I’m about to blur is the one between my hand and your face if you don’t shut up.”

“If you want a pet to buy fancy clothes for and play dress-up with, that’s none of my business.” She opened the door as soon as Adagio parked the bus. “Just don’t get too attached to the point where you’ll have to choose between her and the magic.” She closed the door and pulled her phone out of her pocket to text Sonata, leaving Adagio alone in the bus.

“I’m not enjoying any of this, it’s all an act.” An image flashed in her mind: Sunset Shimmer’s smile after she convinced her to join them in this shopping trip – she’d been living in that world void of magic for hundreds of years, and during that time she had several types of smiles directed at her; smiles of joy, confidence, empathy, desire, relief, but never a smile of pure, genuine happiness. She violently shook her head, banishing the memory from her mind to keep herself focused on her goal.

Adagio stepped out the bus but her thoughts kept wandering, theorizing what kind of experience that girl had to go through so that just being acknowledged as a friend by someone would cause such a strong emotional reaction.

Chapter 3

The first stop in their visit to the mall was a store specialized in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, a mandatory stop for those interested in all things goth, rock or punk. Sunset glanced in Aria’s general direction, hoping to see if she had raised her interest, but she had the same “dead inside” look she maintained since the moment they met.

“Can’t be as bad as all the other places we passed by on the way here.” Aria remarked – it was actually the nicest thing Sunset had heard her say all day, so she took it as a good sign. “What are we doing here?”

“You seem like the kind of person that hates everything mainstream, so I thought you’d be interested in a place like this.”

“I don’t hate everything mainstream. But when everybody is talking about the same thing you eventually get sick of it and just want to hear about anything else.” Aria picked up a pair of long wristbands covered in spikes. “This looks cool, though.”

“I bet you wouldn’t pull me by the wrist if I wore those.” Sonata commented.

“No, then I would pull you by the ear.”

“And I would pull you back by the pigtails.”

“Yeah? Well, then I—”

“Sunset, check this out.” Adagio called, saving the newest Dazzling from having to deal with the bickering of the other two; she was holding a leather vest with golden spikes on the lapels. “This is just your size. Why don’t you try it on?”

“How do you know my size?”

“I have a good eye. Come on, try it!”

Shrugging, Sunset Shimmer did as she was told and handed her jacket to the leader of the group, picking up the vest in return. True to Adagio’s word, that vest fit her like a glove.

“Huh, I kind of like it!”

“Hm…” Adagio squinted while rubbing her chin with the side of her index finger. “No, it doesn’t work. I mean, it looks good on you, but it doesn’t work with the rest of the outfit. Your look will need a total makeover if you want to pull off that vest.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” She took off the vest so she could put her jacket back on.

“I have something in mind, but we most definitely won’t find it here.” She turned to look at the other two, whose argument had died down but they were still glaring at each other with gritted teeth. “Aria!”

“What?”

Adagio approached the other two and placed the vest on Aria’s arm. “We’re buying this.” She reached into a shelf to retrieve a studded leather belt. “This too.” She left them for a moment, returning soon after with a pair of black strapped boots. “And also these.”

“You know my shoe size too?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“Like I said, a very good eye.” Adagio winked at her before also placing the boots on the purple-haired girl’s arms.

“I’m not a shopping cart, you know!” Aria complained.

“Sunset and I are leaving, can you handle the payment?”

Aria added the spiked wristbands to the pile. “Sure, whatever.”

Hooking her arm around the pony girl’s, the orange-haired siren led her out of the store with Sonata right behind them.

“Cash or credit?” The goth girl with black and teal hair standing behind the counter asked as Aria dumped everything in front of her.

Aria grinned. “Neither. Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~!”

Their next stop was a large store that specialized in trendy and colorful clothing. Sonata immediately fell in love with it, rushing inside immediately and out of Adagio’s and Sunset’s sight.

“I thought she would like it.” Sunset Shimmer commented, trying to keep her eye on the bouncing blue ponytail beyond a sea of clothing racks.

“I think we can find what I’m looking for here.” Adagio, still with her arm hooked around Sunset’s, led her deeper inside.

The siren made the pony try on all kinds of tops: tank tops, halter tops, crop tops, one shoulder tops, cape tops, tube tops… They all looked acceptable on her in their own merits, but none of them embodied the look she had envisioned for Sunset when she tried on the leather vest. She was about to call it quits and move on to the next store when Sonata finally came back; on one hand she carried a grey pajama set with small fishes printed all over it – all of them either cyan, magenta or yellow – and on the other hand she carried an orange off-the-shoulders top.

“Adagio, check this out: I found something that is the exact same color as your hair!” Sonata announced, showing Adagio the top.

“Yes, this is perfect!” Adagio grabbed the top and handed it to Sunset, pushing her back into the fitting room.

When Sunset Shimmer stepped back outside, she struck a pose with one hand on her hip and the other behind her head.

“How do I look?”

“Like one of us already.” Adagio crossed her arms and smiled, proud of how well the outfit she had envisioned for their new member was coming together.

After changing back into her simple purple t-shirt and handing the top back to Sonata so she could hold onto it until they were ready to leave, she turned back to her friend with massive hair.

“What next? Jeans? Jeans go with everything.”

“No, and that is exactly why; jeans go with everything, they don’t stand out and it will ruin the new look I’m putting together for you. Luckily, I already came across the final piece of this stunning puzzle.” Adagio retrieved a purple wrap skirt held in place by black straps that she had picked up a few minutes prior and left it on the bench she sat on while waiting for Sunset to change. “Trust me, when you’re wearing the full set you will look absolutely ravishing.”

“Wait, I left my wallet in the bus!” Said Sonata as Adagio handed her the skirt.

“Just text Aria, she’ll take care of it.” She turned to address Sunset. “Come on, there are places to go and not enough time left in the day!”

“So uh, I’ve been thinking…” Sunset said as they left the store. “I noticed that the three of you have matching necklaces. I, um… I think those are pretty, so… Will I get a matching necklace too?”

Adagio lifted the red gemstone hanging from her neck with the palm of her hand to look directly at it. Sunset didn’t notice, but there was a very faint red light pulsating in the center like a beating heart. Adagio looked confused for a second, but her eyes widened once realization struck her. A smile appeared in the corner of her mouth – she knew what that glow meant, and it filled her with delight; she couldn’t wait to see how things would play out in the next few days. Squeezing the gem in her hand, she turned to look back at her companion.

“These necklaces aren’t just accessories, they have a… special meaning. I don’t know if you’re ready to know the story behind them yet.”

“Oh, I… I see. I’m, sorry, I didn’t—”

The siren placed her free hand under the girl’s chin, looking deeply into her eyes.

“I’ve known those two longer than we’ve known you and we’ve been through a lot together, even if we don’t exactly get along all the time. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t as much of a Dazzling as Aria or Sonata. And who knows?” Adagio winked. “Maybe someday you’ll get a necklace of your own, too.”

Sunset Shimmer, feeling reassured, returned the smile.

Mind controlling a large group of people in a massive store required a lot more magical power than they had available in comparison to mind controlling two people in the principal’s office back in Canterlot High, so Aria and Sonata cast the ambition spell to make customers argue with each other over articles of clothing, then using the confusion as a distraction to hypnotize the cashier, allowing them to walk away with their “purchases” without having to fork over a single dime for them. The four of them regrouped in the food court, where they continued to bond over fast food – Aria ate a plain cheeseburger with fries and Sonata bought tacos while Sunset and Adagio had a portion of chicken nuggets each; they paid actual money for the food, first because Sunset was there, second because if they bewitched the entire food court things would escalate pretty quickly and they wouldn’t be able to eat in peace, and third because they learned the hard way that thralls were terrible cooks.

“So, uh…” Sunset started, looking down at her nugget while dipping it in ketchup. “How was your day?”

“You were with us the entire time, you know how it was!” Sonata replied.

“She’s indirectly asking if we enjoyed this trip to the mall she took us in, you nitwit.” Aria scolded her.

“Ohhh, that’s what you meant!” It took a second for the name-calling to sink in. “Hey, who you calling a nitwit?”

“Girls please.” Adagio immediately put a stop to the argument before it got out of control. “I for one think it was delightful. Thank you for showing us around this place, we’ll definitely come around more often.”

“It’s not the worst place I’ve ever been in, I guess.” Aria said.

“Will you join us next time we come here?” Sonata asked.

“If you girls want to bring me along, I’d be happy to.”

“Oh my, look at the time.” Adagio said, looking down at her phone. “We should get going. Don’t want to undersleep on the night before the first round, do we?”

The Dazzlings finished eating before heading down to the parking lot and back to their minibus.

“So where do you live, Sunset? I’ll drop you off.”

Sunset’s blood ran cold; she did not want anyone to know about her living conditions, so she had to come up with an excuse on the fly.

“Oh, um, I… There’s a… termite infestation. Pest control is on the case, but I can’t come back for a while.”

“I see. Where are you staying then?”

“Ummm… That was today, actually. I was going to look for a cheap hotel or something, but it completely slipped my mind. Can I spend the night at your place? Just for tonight?”

“We already are at our place, actually.”

Sunset looked out of the window – they were still in the parking lot. After a moment she finally understood what Adagio meant.

“You live in the minibus?”

“We live on the road, never spending too much time in one place. We’ve been in this city for a couple of weeks now, and that’s the longest stop we’ve made in a long while.”

“Then why are you going to school? Isn’t that the opposite of living freely?”

“We felt… a need.”

Sunset Shimmer looked over her shoulder; the back of the bus had a single bed that was already occupied by Sonata – who had already changed into her new PJs – and a single couch where Aria was lying down while scrolling through her phone.

“And where do you sleep?”

“We take turns; one night I sleep on the bed, the next night I sleep on the couch, and tonight…” Adagio pointed her index finger at the driver’s seat, then moved it to point at the passenger’s seat. “I sleep here.”

“Oh… I guess I’m on the way, huh?”

“We can share if you want. It will be a tight fit, but I’m sure if we hug each other really tight…” Adagio winked at Sunset, causing the newest Dazzling to blush, which in turn caused the siren chuckled. “I’m just kidding. There has to be a hotel around here somewhere.”

Fortunately Adagio was right and they found one in a matter of minutes.

“I’ll go check if they have a room available.” She said after parking. Leaving Sunset and the others in the bus, she entered the building. After receiving confirmation that they had rooms available, she hypnotized the receptionist and made her hand over a key. Returning to the bus, she leaned on Sunset’s window. “Good news is, they still had a room.”

“Dibs!” Aria said.

“Bad news is, they only have two beds. Two of us will have to stay behind.”

“I already called dibs.” Aria said again to make sure she had been heard, reaching for a drawer under the bed where they all kept their pajamas.

No reply came from Sonata, who was already sound asleep.

“It’s ok, I can take the couch.” The unicorn said with a smile.

“Trust me, you don’t want that.” The purple siren advised. “Sleeping on the carpet is better than this bed of nails.”

“I said I was joking before, but the offer still stands.” Adagio spoke in a seductive tone. “We can share.”

Sunset Shimmer’s blush returned.

When she accepted the offer, she expected Adagio to say something flirty before revealing it was all a joke again. What she didn’t expect was for Adagio to let her borrow one of her nightgowns before leading her back to the hotel. The orange-haired girl was the first to use the shower, stepping out wearing her violet-colored nightgown. Aria was second, whose sleepwear was just a cream-colored t-shirt long enough to cover her thighs – she simply jumped in bed with a towel wrapped around her still wet hair.

“I actually want to sleep tonight.” She warned. “So if you two do something funny I’ll start throwing things.”

Sunset couldn’t blush any harder, completely aware of what kind of “something funny” Aria was referring to.

“I… Uh… I’m not… I mean, we’re not…” Without finishing any of the sentences she started, Sunset Shimmer rushed to the bathroom so she could take a shower.

“I actually changed my mind.” Aria said with a mischievous smirk. “I like having her around, she’s fun to tease – she’s like Sonata before she started fighting back.” She turned to look at Adagio, who was staring at the bathroom door with a serious look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Have you checked your gemstone recently?” She asked.

“Nope.” Aria reached into her shirt and pulled out her necklace. “I don’t see any—” She immediately went silent when she saw the same faint pulsating glow inside the gem. “What the…?!”

“Exactly.”

“How is this possible? This hasn’t happened since we left Equestria. Not that we came across many suitable humans, but not even that girl from Switzerland elicited a reaction from them. Why her?”

“Like you said, this hasn’t happened since our banishment.” Adagio tapped her gemstone with the tip of her finger. “Maybe there is more to Sunset Shimmer than meets the eye.”

“You think she’s…?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“Is this why you’re sharing a bed with her? What do you expect to find out?”

“I want to examine the magical energy emanating from her; if it’s just lingering from whatever artifact she had contact with, it will be flowing constantly regardless of state of consciousness. But if her body is the actual source, then her aura will diminish as she sleeps – and if that’s the case, we’ll have our answer.”

“Right, I see it now.” Aria took off the towel wrapped around her still damp hair and tossed in the corner of the room before wrapping the blanket around her body. “I any case, I meant it when I said I want to sleep. Don’t ‘inspect’ her too closely.”

“Oh, if I do in fact decide to ‘inspect’ her, I’ll make it extra loud just to spite you.”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment until Aria sighed in defeat and rested her head on the pillow. “Teasing you is not fun.”

“I taught you everything you know, you can’t use my tricks against me.”

When Sunset Shimmer stepped out of the shower, Adagio was already waiting for her in bed – unlike Aria, neither of them washed their hair that night; they could just go to sleep without any worries.

Sunset lied down with her back turned to Adagio who, in order to keep the façade of a flirty temptress, wrapped her arms around the girl’s midriff and pulled her close. The pony gasped; she had never shared a bed with someone before, not even back when she was dating Flash Sentry, and the closest she had gotten to spooning someone were the times when she was much younger and fell asleep in Princess Celestia’s hooves during their late night study sessions. The embarrassment she felt when Adagio’s body connected with hers was soon overwhelmed by homesickness, but something about the girl behind her helped mitigate the anguish – something about Adagio reminded Sunset of Equestria.

“Adagio?” She called.

“Hm?” Adagio replied, pretending to be on the verge of sleep.

“This was the best day of my life. Thank you.”

It was her turn to be caught by surprise.

“I… You’re welcome.”

It didn’t take long for Sunset to drift off to sleep. Adagio fell asleep soon after, her suspicions confirmed: the girl’s magical aura diminished while she was unconscious – she was definitely the source. But was she the only one? After all, the Rainbooms were just as immune to their magic as she was. Deciding to leave the speculation for the following day, she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

The next morning Sonata was brought into the room so she wouldn’t have to go to school without a shower. After the three original Dazzlings were finished, it was Sunset Shimmer’s turn. Before she could go into the bathroom, however, Adagio handed her a shopping bag from one of the stores they visited the day prior.

“Don’t forget, this is the day you will introduce your new look to the world.” She said.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget.” Sunset replied.

After a quick shower, she stepped out of the bathroom wearing her recently-purchased clothing: the black boots, the purple skirt, the studded belt, the orange top and the leather vest with golden spikes. Sonata gasped in joy, Aria’s eyes widened just a little and Adagio smiled.

“Does it look good on me?” She mimicked the same pose from the day prior, with one hand on her hip and the other behind her head.

Sonata furiously nodded while Aria shrugged before showing a faint smile and giving her a thumbs up.

“You look astonishing, Sunset Shimmer.” Adagio praised, circling the girl to take a better look at the outfit she crafted. “Still the same you, but with a nice twist.”

“Let’s go, let’s go, we have to show her new look to everybody!” Sonata urged them.

“Uh, everybody?” Suddenly the pony girl felt her newfound confidence slowly drain from her body.

“But of course!” Adagio said, once again standing behind her with her hands on her shoulders. “You have to show those people that, no matter how hard they try to knock you down, you’ll get back up again, stronger than before. Like a phoenix!”

“Like a phoenix, huh?” Sunset smiled, feeling reassured once again.

Once all four of them were inside the bus, Adagio drove them back to CHS. Students still glared at Sunset, but she didn’t let it get to her; instead she chose to focus on the ones that looked mesmerized by her new style, showing that no matter how much they wanted her to feel miserable, as long as she had friends to lean on, she wouldn’t stay down for long. She spent the rest of the school day filled with confidence and with a spring in her step. After classes were over for the day, all students that had signed up for the battle of the bands assembled in the gymnasium.

“Welcome to the first ever Canterlot High School Battle of the Bands!” Principal Celestia announced over the microphone, standing on top of a stage with Vice Principal. Students dispersed around the room turned to pay attention. “I believe I speak for everyone when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this school.” That statement was met with cheering from the crowd. “We are so glad our three newest students encouraged us to turn this event into something extra exciting.” She waved her hand in the general direction of the four Dazzlings, who reveled in the attention.

“But, as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner.” Vice Principal Luna added as the microphone was passed on to her. “Who is it going to be?” The cheering died down as members of different bands began to argue with each other. While that was happening, the six members of the Rainbooms finally arrived.

“Today will be focused on the auditions, a.k.a. the first elimination round.” Celestia, once again in possession of the mic, explained. “Sixteen bands will be selected to take place in the first round of battle of the bands, which will be open to the public starting tomorrow.”

“Bring your A-game, because the both of us will be the judges.” Luna warned, taking the microphone from her sister’s hand. “And we will not be merciful.”

Leaving the stage and moving to their spots on the judges’ desk, Luna and Celestia began calling each musical group one by one so they could showcase their talent and hopefully earn a spot in the competition. Most of the presentations ranged from cringeworthy to ear-splitting – the ambition spell cast by the sirens was so effective that even students with no musical talent whatsoever managed to convince the principal to let them participate.

Since the only light sources in the gym were the spotlights focused on the stage, no one could see the Dazzlings feasting on the negative energy flowing freely, not even Sunset who was right next to them.

Due to the low quality of the bands playing, most students decided to leave and roam the hallways; it would take a while for their turn to play and the principal would announce every time a new band took the stage – there was no reason to wait around and get a headache from listening to bad performances.

Nature’s call forced Sunset Shimmer to leave halfway through the performance of her former lackeys, Snips and Snails. After washing her hands she took a moment to adjust her new looks in front of a mirror; she got a little too into it and started doing poses to see which one would better suit her new style, causing her to miss the performance of the Rainbooms and not witness how hard they were being sabotaged not only by other bands – Adagio’s twisting of Twilight’s words the day prior managed to turn the entire school against them in particular – but by each other as well, accidentally as it may have been.

When she finally stepped out of the bathroom she saw the five original band members arguing amongst themselves while the lead guitarist of the Flash Drive band said some very unkind things to Twilight Sparkle. Her bandmates were too distracted fighting each other to see how distressed the princess looked, so Sunset Shimmer decided to intervene.

“Alright, that’s enough.” She said, pushing Flash Sentry against the locker so she could stand between him and Twilight. “You got whatever that was out of your chest, now take a hike.”

“I bet you have no idea what you’re even doing!” He accused as he walked away with his two bandmates.

“I said take a hike!” She turned to look at the other pony girl with compassion in her eyes. “You ok, Twilight?”

She just nodded, drying her tears with the back of her hand. “I thought him and I were friends…”

Sunset wrapped an arm around Twilight’s shoulders, leading her away from the bickering of her friends so they could talk in a quieter place. She opened her locker and retrieved a box of tissues that she offered to the dark-haired girl.

“Th-Thank you.” She muttered while drying the tears in the corner of her eyes.

“Competition brings out the worst in some people, and they just go too far when they want to win.”

“This is all the sirens’ fault!”

“Oh come on Twilight, they—”

“Have you talked to them like you said you would?”

“Well, I was waiting for the right opportunity to—”

“I’m telling you, Sunset, they’re evil. If you truly believe you can get them to stop then you have to do it soon, or else we’ll stop them the same way we stopped you!”

Sunset Shimmer took a step back with a hand on her chest, taken aback by the sudden hostility from the only Rainboom she felt she could trust. Finally realizing what she just said, Twilight quickly backtracked:

“I-I-I’m sorry, Sunset, I didn’t mean to—”

“No, don’t worry about it.” Sunset interrupted. “Your friends are at each other’s throats, the guy you had a crush on just said some nasty things to you… I can see why you’d say that, you’re definitely not in your right mind.” Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted once again. “However I will not act like what you just said wasn’t hurtful. You want me to talk to them about your stupid theory? Fine! But royalty or not, I will not tolerate anyone threatening me or my friends.”

The Rainbooms finally stopped fighting and rushed to Twilight’s aid, standing between the two of them and glaring daggers at her.

“Don’t mess with our friend!” Rainbow Dash said.

“As long as you don’t mess with mine.” She looked over Dash’s shoulder to address Twilight one more time. “I’ll let it slide this time.” Sunset then turned around to walk away. “But if it happens again, I’ll pay you back in kind.”

She walked back to the gymnasium with her hands in the pockets of her leather vests. Her bandmates were waiting for her just outside with Sonata holding Sunset’s guitar in her hands.

“There you are!” Adagio said. “Trixie’s band just took the stage. We’re supposed to go in after them.”

“Thanks.” She said as Sonata handed her the orange and white electric guitar.

“You look a little down.” Aria noted, causing a faint smile to appear in Sunset’s features.

“Aria, you’re worried about me?” She asked. “That’s a little unusual. But I’m happy to know that you care.”

“Wh-Whatever!” She angrily said, crossing her arms and looking away while trying to hide her reddened cheeks behind her bangs, causing Sonata and Sunset to giggle in unison.

“Looks like she’s just as good at teasing as you are.” Adagio pointed out.

The two laughing girls went ahead, leaving the two oldest girls of the group behind.

“All of… that aside, what’s the plan for our performances? Are going to cast any spell?”

“For now, let’s just play along.” Adagio explained. “When we make it to the finals we’ll play before a much bigger crowd, it’s best to save the little magic we have left until then, and then go all out.”

“What about Sunset’s magic? And the Rainblossoms’, for that matter?”

“We’ll deal with the Rainbooms in due time. As for Sunset…” She looked down at her gemstone once again. “…I think there’s been a change of plans.”

“Remember that talk we had about not getting too attached? Because you’re doing the exact opposite of that, in case you didn’t notice.”

“It’s not me, it’s our magic.” She pointed at Aria’s gem. “Just a friendly reminder that yours is doing the same thing.”

“Can’t we just, I don’t know, ignore it?”

“You should know by now that ancient magic can’t be ‘ignored’ – it has a will of its own, we just mold it in ways that best suit our needs. If it’s acting up, there’s a reason for it.”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment until Aria sighed and uncrossed her arms.

“Whatever. You’re the boss, unfortunately.” Placing her hands on her hips, she followed the other two into the gymnasium. “But if this comes back to bite us, it’s all on you.”

“It won’t. Trust me.”

With that discussion over, the four of them walked on stage as soon as Trixie and her bandmates left. With the three sirens singing together on the center stage and Sunset a little to the side playing her guitar, their first performance started.

“Oh whoa oh~! Oh whoa oh~! You didn’t know that you fell~! Oh whoa oh~! Oh whoa oh~!”

“Now that you’re under our spell.”

Chapter 4

Sixteen musical acts were chosen to proceed to the first round of the battle of the bands; The Dazzlings, The Rainbooms, Flash Drive, Trixie and the Illusions, the Canterlot Music Club, the cellist Octavia Melody, the violinist Bulk Biceps, the pianist couple Bon Bon and Lyra Heartstrings, the experimental music band formed by Derpy Muffins, among other groups.

With the auditions over, all participants were free to go home; the first round would take place the following day after classes were over, and non-students would be allowed entrance for a small fee.

On their way out, the Dazzlings crossed path with the Rainbooms; the Rainbooms glared at the Dazzlings, who just looked at them with smug smiles on their faces. The only exceptions were Sunset, who looked at Twilight with a raised eyebrow, and Twilight herself who had a pleading look in her eyes.

In the parking lot, all the girls climbed into the van so they could discuss what songs would be played and in what order so Sunset could be properly walked through them all.

“Before that, can we talk?” Sunset asked.

“Sure, about what?” Adagio asked back.

“Well… I just wanted to know… does the word ‘Equestria’ mean anything to you?”

The sirens went quiet for a moment, exchanging glances with each other.

“Why do you ask?” Aria questioned.

“I… I was told that you girls are actually sirens. I don’t actually believe it, but if asking you will get them to leave us alone, then so—”

“It’s true.” Adagio answered, causing Aria and Sonata to look at her in surprise. Sunset herself was rendered speechless, just staring at them with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

“Why are you telling her?!” Sonata asked, dumbfounded.

“Because if she already knows it, there’s no point in lying; all that would accomplish is the loss of her trust.”

“B-B-But… If that’s true, then…” Sunset didn’t know what to say, all she knew was that she wanted to say something.

“Then why we cause chaos, conflict, commotion and unrest wherever we go?” Still unsure what to say, Sunset just nodded. “Before we get to that, I want to ask you something: have you ever killed someone?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Would you kill someone if you had the opportunity?”

“No!”

“What if you saw someone about to be killed? Would you interfere in any way? Not necessarily stop the killer yourself, but maybe just shout a warning to the victim. Would you do that?”

“Yes.”

“You just assumed I was talking about humans, right? But what if the killer was actually a lion and the victim a gazelle? Would you make some noise to startle the gazelle and save its life?”

“I, uh… I guess?”

“But what about the lion? You just robbed it of a meal. Without the meat of the gazelle, the lion has no sustenance. Is it right to let the lion starve just to save the gazelle?”

“When you put it like that…”

“But the gazelle won’t starve anytime soon because it has plenty of grass to eat. If the lion changed its diet and started eating grass as well it wouldn’t suffer from starvation, but the lion insists on eating meat. Why is that?”

“Because plants don’t provide all the nutrients a lion needs to survive.”

“So, with that knowledge in mind, if you saw a lion about to pounce on an unsuspecting gazelle, would you try and save the gazelle?”

“I-I suppose not.”

“And that takes us back to my second question; you wouldn’t kill someone if you had the opportunity, but you were thinking about killing someone directly, doing the deed yourself with your own hands. But that lion whose hunt you ruined who died of starvation, it was technically killed by nature itself, but wouldn’t you say that you played a big part in the causation of its death?”

“It looks like it, yes.”

“Now let’s change a few labels: think of the gazelle as the humans, the lion as us sirens and the killing as causing strife. If the sirens don’t make the humans fight, they won’t have strong emotions like anger or hate that produce the energy sirens feed on. Without sustenance, the sirens will…?”

“…die.”

Adagio nodded. “Killing is a horrible thing, but if a lion doesn’t kill, it dies. If we don’t cause conflict we, too, will soon perish.”

“B-But you just said the energy comes from strong emotions like anger or hate! Can’t you feed on any other emotion? A positive one?”

“Yes, we can.”

“Then why don’t you—”

“Because it doesn’t work!” Aria shouted, answering the question before she was finished asking it. “You think we haven’t tried that? We can’t feed on happiness because it’s such a fickle and fleeting thing! Imagine a person is about to die from starvation and the only thing they have is a living rabbit and a handful of apple seeds. Would the person plant the seeds, wait for the tree to grow then eat the apples from the tree just to spare the rabbit? No, because they would have died halfway through the process!

“We tried to feed off love as well, but not only was it was just as difficult, it was even worse because Queen Pheromosa of the Changeling Hive declared war on us. Why do you think there are only three sirens left? Sirens don’t reproduce as fast as changelings do, for every changeling that fell in battle, ten to twelve more hatched!

“Fear was another flop: our targets always seek comfort and, even if they don’t recover completely, the output of energy slow down to a crawl. Anger, on the other hand, lingers and festers; they just can’t help it, people always chase after things that make them angry, and that produces enough energy to sustain us in this world. If we try and feed off emotions that give off positive energy, we’ll starve before the year is out.”

“But I’ve seen you girls eating food.” Sunset pointed out. “Can’t you gain sustenance from that?”

“That’s mostly because it tastes good.” It was Sonata’s turn to explain their motives. “Sirens trying to live off regular food is like a human trying to live off one grape a day – and I’m not talking a whole cluster of grapes, I mean one single grape.”

“If there was any other way to survive, we would have done it.” Adagio continued. “Causing disharmony is too dangerous – last time we got caught we were sentenced to death for witchcraft, but luckily Sonata escaped and managed to enchant our jailor. We wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“This wasn’t a problem back in Equestria.” Aria crossed her arms. “Raw emotional energy can only sustain us for days at best, but emotional energy soaked in magic could keep us going from weeks to months. We could just lay low for a while, come out to feed then go back into hiding.” She clenched her fist. “But those meddling Pillars just had to intervene! It would have been more merciful to kill us then and there instead of dooming us to living off scraps like this.”

“It’s the reason we came to Canterlot High in the first place.” Adagio explained. “We felt Equestrian magic coming from here and just had to investigate. As it turns out, the source was you.” She smiled. “You’re just as alien to this world as we are, aren’t you, Sunset Shimmer?”

“How did you know?”

“There were signs – signs that no creature other than a siren would pick up on. No human, no dragon, no griffon, no pony.”

“Which one are you, by the way?” Sonata inquired. “Earth pony, unicorn, pegasus…?”

“Just a regular unicorn born and raised in Canterlot.”

“Woo, we’re species sisters!” She cheered.

“Species sisters? What do you mean? I thought you were sirens.”

“We are.” Adagio said. “But we haven’t always been.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Maybe another day. We still need to discuss what songs we’ll be playing on the days to come and teach you how they go so you can play them on your guitar. That is, if you still want to play with us after everything we just told you.”

Sunset Shimmer’s gaze travelled from Adagio to Sonata and finally to Aria before returning to Adagio. She then sighed.

“After everything you three did for me, it would be quite inconsiderate of me to just turn my back on you girls. We started this battle of the bands together, so let’s end it together as well!”

“Woo-hoo!” Sonata raised her fist in celebration. Adagio and Aria smiled, even though the latter tried to hide hers.

The girls spent the night in the same hotel as the day prior, the receptionist still under their spell – Aria, refusing to share a bed with anyone, spent the night in the van. Sonata was more than willing to share hers with her “species sister”, a term that had yet to be explained to Sunset.

Time passed quickly the next morning and, before they knew it, it was already time for the first official round of the battle of the bands. Looking over the crowd, they spotted unfamiliar faces on the bleachers – just as the principal said, anyone willing to pay the entry fee was allowed to spectate.

Some of the battles were easier to judge than others, after all not every single one of the sixteen musical acts were as talented as the others, but they were the “least worst” of all candidates that performed the day prior.

Trixie and the Illusions won the first battle. Winners of the second battle were the pianists Lyra and Bon Bon. Victor of the third battle was Bulk Biceps with his violin. The fourth battle was the first to be between two talented competitors, but in the end Octavia the cellist fell and the Rainbooms came out on top. Victory of the sixth battle belonged to the Dazzlings. Flash Drive came out victorious on the seventh battle. Eighth and final battle went to the Canterlot Music Club – Derpy’s experimental music band tried to use even more unusual “instruments”, but the results were catastrophic.

The audience looked pleased with the performances; hopefully they would tell their friends and family about how exciting the first round was and bring more people to the second round of the battle of the bands – Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna would definitely appreciate the funds raised.

“Flash Drive is using the music room for now.” Sunset announced as she sat on the couch in the back of the bus with her legs crossed. “We have some time before they clear out, so I think now would be the perfect time to pick up from where we left off yesterday.”

“If you really want to know…” Adagio sat to her right with her hands on her knees. “I believe we stopped at ‘species sister’, correct?” Sunset nodded.

“I used to be a unicorn just like you!” Sonata, who was sitting on the steps of the minibus, explained.

“But, how?”

“Let me tell you a secret about sirens: we weren’t birthed by Mother Nature like ponies, buffalos, yaks or zebras; the very first siren was the creation of a very ambitious wizard whose name was lost to time, as well as his motive.” Adagio said. “Did he want to be immortal? To have control over all living things? To be a good singer? Have a girlfriend? Whatever it was, he took it to the grave with him. He did experiments on all sorts of living creatures, but the only ones to succeed were female ponies.”

“But not just any female pony.” Aria continued. “She has to be strong-willed, determined, ambitious, but most of all, she has to be willing.”

“Whatever magic he used to craft the first gemstone, it was definitely ancient magic.” Adagio took off her necklace to hold it in front of her face. “It has a will of its own, and it decides who would be a suitable candidate to be a siren. If the chosen mare accepts to bear this curse, she becomes one of us. Sirens don’t have a functoning reproductive system, we aren’t born, we are handpicked.”

“That’s why Queen Pheromosa won the war, she threw bodies at us and dealt the finishing blow when we were too tired from digging our way out.” Aria added.

“How did you three… y’know…”

“Two, actually.” Aria corrected. “That was before Sonata’s time.”

“Our sire, Elegy Gloom, tricked us.” Adagio answered Sunset’s question. “She knew the changeling army was on the move, but she sent us on a ‘scouting mission’ in the opposite direction of where they were coming from. By the time we returned, they… She…” Adagio gripped her knees tightly, almost tearing holes in her light purple leggings with her nails. She relaxed when both Aria and Sunset placed a hand on each of her shoulders. With a faint smile, she wiped away the tears that were threatening to flow. “Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “After our race was… we fled and hid in a cave by the ocean near a pony village.”

“I lived in that village!” Sonata said. “I saw them fly into the cave and ran after them out of curiosity. They were cautious at first, but we became friends eventually. It’s not like I had any in the village anyways…”

“That was before the Founders of Equestria united the three races.” Aria explained. “Sonata was a unicorn living in an earth pony village, she wasn’t exactly the most popular mare. Our gems saw the potential in her, so when we offered to make her one of us she accepted in a heartbeat.”

Sonata jumped on the couch, in the spot between the two sirens, and wrapped her arms around both. “We’ve been the best of friends since then!” She turned to Aria and gave her a sly look. “Even if we don’t exactly get along all the time.”

“You are the worst.” Aria replied, looking away to hide her smile.

The notification sound rang from Sunset’s phone, announcing that she had received a text message from Flash Sentry – she rolled her eyes after opening it and seeing it was just a middle finger emoji.

“Good news, Flash’s band is done with the music room.” She announced to the others.

“Alright, enough of this.” Adagio stood up, adjusting her jacket with a smile. “We have a song to practice and a battle of the bands to win.”

She exited the bus, soon followed by Aria, Sunset and Sonata.

Thursday morning went by in a flash. More new faces than the day prior were present in the gymnasium that afternoon, eager to watch round 2 of the competition.

Trixie and the Illusions blew Lyra and Bon Bon away in the first battle. In the second battle, the Rainbooms eliminated Bulk Biceps. The Dazzlings defeated the winners of the previous day’s fifth battle and Flash Drive outdid the Canterlot Music Club. The audience’s cheer was louder than the previous day – a good sign for Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, since it meant they would most likely spread the word; the finals on Saturday night would definitely be the talk of the town.

With Trixie and the Illusions practicing in the music room, the Dazzlings once again had to wait for them to be done so they could practice. All four girls climbed on top of the minibus to lie down and look at the clouds together.

“So how does the siring of a siren work?” Sunset asked.

“It’s not complicated; when our gems find a suitable candidate and she consents, we sing a special song and a new gem is created just for her.” Adagio replied.

“How many sirens are required to do this… ritual?”

“It’s not like breeding, where you need a male and a female to create a new being. If a single siren has enough magic to spare, she can do it all by herself. Why do you ask?”

“No reason, just curiosity. I was a bit of a bookworm back in Equestria, I loved learning new things before I… Well, is there some kind of bond between the sirer and the sired?”

“More or less. All sirens are ‘connected’ in a manner of speaking, the sirens themselves choose whether to make the sirer/sired relationship mean something or not. For example, the three of us are just partners in crime, we don’t make a big deal out of the fact that we sired Sonata. Elegy, on the other hand, was like a mother to Aria and I because we chose to view her as a motherly figure.”

“In the end, that relationship is what saved our lives; Elegy was like a mother to us, and in turn she treated us like her daughters.” Aria commented. “I guess she couldn’t bear the thought of us falling in battle, so she sent us away so we would be spared.”

“Sonata used to be a unicorn, but what about you two? What’s your story?”

“I used to be an earth pony.” Adagio explained. “Sole survivor of a boat crash caused by some other siren. Elegy found me in the wreckage and I guess she took pity on me, so she carried me back to shore. I was raised by an elderly couple who never had foals of their own, but Elegy would come back once or twice a year to check on me; one of those years she asked if I wanted to leave with her, I said yes and she sired me.”

“I was a pegasus.” Aria said. “A very proud, very stubborn pegasus who loved to race others just to prove I could beat them, boast and show off. I guess they eventually got sick of my braggart self, so they rigged a trap for me: another pony snuck a thunder cloud over the track while we were racing and shocked me.

“I don’t know if it was just a prank gone wrong or if they actually meant to get rid of me permanently that day, but I lost consciousness and fell into the ocean, breaking my left wing in the process. Probably would have drowned if Adagio and mom– I mean Elegy weren’t in the area and saw me falling. I don’t know how much Equestrian medicine has advanced since those days, but back then one broken wing meant you were grounded forever.

“Elegy nursed me back to health for some reason, she never told me why she didn’t just leave me for dead. Point is, her gem chose me and I became a siren. You know the rest.”

“Sounds like this Elegy was a great siren!” Sunset said with a sad smile. “It’s a shame that she’s gone.”

“It really is.” Adagio agreed, looking up at the clouds. “All sirens are nasty by nature, but she was definitely the best of us.”

“You’re not nasty, you’re just… misunderstood.”

Aria chuckled. “If only.”

Friday afternoon, semifinals of the battle of the bands. The gymnasium was packed with people excited to see who would get to play in the town auditorium in the grand finale Saturday night.

Rainbow Dash got a little too into it when playing for the public, to the point where her bandmates had to forcefully stop her from ponying up in front of an audience, bringing the performance to a premature halt. Unfortunately for them that interruption cost them the competition, so Trixie and the Illusions won.

The Dazzlings easily defeated Flash Drive in the semifinals and Flash Sentry walked away angrily after the winner was announced, leaving the sirens and their guitar player to celebrate with a group high five. Peeking backstage, they spotted five of the Rainbooms loudly arguing amongst themselves while Princess Twilight furiously scribbled something on a notepad, completely ignoring what was happening just a few feet away from her.

“It’s almost done.” Adagio muttered. “They will crack very soon, making them vulnerable to our spell. When that happens, their Equestrian magic will be ours and we won’t have to worry about feeding off scraps for a while.”

“Especially the purple one.” Aria pointed at Princess Twilight. “She has more magic than the other five combined. She’s definitely from Equestria as well, but she’s more than a regular pony.”

“Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn princess.” Sunset explained.

“Wait, what?!” Sonata nearly screamed; Aria and Adagio covered her mouth with both hands and fled the scene before the Rainbooms discovered them. “I thought there were only two alicorn princesses, where did Twinkle Sprinkle come from?”

“There are four, actually. There’s Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who was crowned not long before I came here, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, who was crowned long after I left.”

“Wow, a lot happened in so little time!”

“It doesn’t matter if there are two, four or one hundred princesses.” Adagio interrupted. “This is our chance to have not only a proper meal, but a feast!”

“You’re not gonna hurt them, are you?” Sunset asked; she didn’t care much about the Rainbooms, but she didn’t want her friends to go to jail.

“Why would we ever do that, Sunset, dear?” Adagio patted the pony girl on the head. “If you want to eat a fruit you pick it from the tree, you don’t cut the whole thing down. We’ll take their magic but leave enough in them so that they can recharge over time, and when the time is right we’ll feed off them once more, leaving some magic behind again, then repeat the cycle as many times as possible; hurting them would go against our interests – if anything, we should protect them from harm!” Adagio looked down at her gem, which had ceased to pulsate and was just emanating a faint but constant glow. She smirked. “It’s time!”

“Time for what?”

Adagio led the other three back to the parking lot, where they formed a semicircle around Sunset Shimmer behind their minibus.

“I’ll be honest with you, Sunset: we were using you.” Adagio revealed.

“Wh-What do you—” Adagio lifted a finger, signaling that she wasn’t done talking, so Sunset stopped talking.

“When we first befriended you, the plan was to pretend to be your friend so we could steal your magic then have you help us steal the magic of the Rainbooms. But as we got to know you better, we realized that those feelings we just pretended to have turned out to be the real deal. We really do like you, Sunset Shimmer, you are the only person we have met in the last few centuries whose company we actually enjoy. But there’s more to it than that. Take a look at this.”

Adagio lifted her necklace to show it Sunset. Aria and Sonata followed suit.

“Your necklaces, they’re… glowing.”

“You know what that means?”

“You were chosen!” Sonata squealed, pulling Sunset into a tight hug.

“Chosen? You… You mean, I… I can be… just like you?”

“Yes, Sunset, you can. BUT I have to remind you that this isn’t a gift or a blessing, it’s a curse. Back in Equestria the downside was at least somewhat bearable because there was magic everywhere, but over here in the human world we have to scrape by. Canterlot High aside, this world lack any source of magic – believe me when I say this: we tried.”

“Greece, England, Scotland, Norway, China, Hawaii, the Bermuda Triangle…” Aria listed. “All places with ancient legends of gods, magical beasts and enchanted places, and they were all dead ends.”

“And Pripyat!” Sonata added.

“What were you doing in Pripyat?” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Adagio wanted to check if magic and nuclear radiation were compatible.” She shot their leader a dirty look. “We were vomiting for a while after that.”

“I admit I may have made a few bad calls here and there” Adagio interrupted “but that just goes to show how desperate we were; we were willing to expose ourselves to deadly amounts of radiation just to see if it could be used as an alternate source of energy for us to feed on.”

“We were willing? Speak for yourself, Adagio.”

“What I’m saying is, being a siren is rough. Sure we have immortality, mind control powers and beautiful singing voices, but it all comes at a steep price. A price not just anybody is willing to pay. Our magic compels us to make you the offer, but whether you accept it or not is entirely up to you.”

Sunset Shimmer’s eyes traveled from Sonata’s gem to Aria’s and finally to Adagio’s. She was being asked to make the biggest decision of her entire life. On one hand, she was about to leave her true self behind and would never be the same ever again. But on the other hand, she would be with the only people who were willing to call her a friend for the rest of her immortal life.

“Can… Can I think about it?”

“Of course you can.” Adagio assured her as she put her necklace back on. Aria and Sonata did the same. “As long as you have an answer before the finals – I have a plan to steal the magic from the Rainbooms, but if you choose to become one of us after the fact you’ll miss the opportunity and feel the hunger pains while we’ll be able to sustain ourselves with the stolen magic, and that would break my heart.”

“Sure. I understand. It won’t take long, I promise.”

“Until then, I need to speak to you about my plan. The role you’ll play will be vital, so I need your help now more than ever.”

Chapter 5

“I’m telling you all, this is a mistake!” Rainbow Dash warned, standing in the middle of the empty town auditorium with her arms crossed – it was still early in the afternoon, people wouldn’t be arriving until much later. “She picked a side. Whatever she wants to meet us here for, it can’t be good.”

“Well, I agree with Twilight.” Applejack replied, looking down at the text message in her phone sent to them by Sunset Shimmer, asking to meet all of them right there. “After the way we treated her even though all she wanted was to be our friend, we should at least give ‘er the benefit o’ the doubt.”

“What if it she was just pretending to be one of them so she could spy on them, and now she’s coming to tell us everything she learned about the sirens?” Pinkie theorized.

“What if she’s just pretending that she was pretending to be spying on them, and this is all a trap?” Fluttershy looked around with fear in her eyes.

“Trap for what? We already lost the battle of the bands.” Applejack pointed out. “If they wanted us out of the competition, they already got what they wanted!”

“But what if that’s not what they wanted? What if they wanted something else?” Rarity asked.

“Like what?” Applejack placed her hands on her hips.

“Hi, hi! Sorry I’m late.” Sunset Shimmer apologized as she joined them on stage. “We were shopping for a dress for me to wear during the grand finale and completely lost track of time.”

“It’s ok, don’t worry about it.” Twilight said. “What did you want to talk to us about?”

“It’s about the Dazzlings. You were right all along, they really are the sirens from Equestria.”

“I’m glad you can finally see it. Now that you know the truth, maybe you can help us defeat—”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not what I’m here for.” Sunset interrupted. “In fact, I’m here for the exact opposite reason.”

“Wh-What do you mean?”

“I’m here to ask – no, to beg you: don’t fight the Dazzlings. They’re not doing what they’re doing because they think it’s funny, it’s because they need it!”

“So you’re asking us to roll over and let them step all over us?” Rainbow Dash’s glare couldn’t be any icier.

“No, I’m just asking you to… step aside. I can’t go into too much detail because it’s a very sensitive matter that they’re not comfortable sharing with just anybody, but if it wasn’t important I wouldn’t be here telling you about it.”

“Telling us about what? You’re just being strangely vague and cryptic.” Rarity accused.

“It’s just… Look, would you blame a lion for eating a gazelle?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked.

“Are they going to eat us?!” Fluttershy fearfully asked.

“No, they’re not— Ugh, Adagio explained it so much better!”

“Enough games, Sunset Shimmer!” Rainbow Dash pointed an accusing finger at her. “I don’t know what kind of jiggery-pokery you’re up to, but it’s not going to work. We’ll stop the Dazzlings and save CHS from them and from you. Again!”

Sunset sighed in defeat. “I was hoping we could solve this peacefully, but Adagio was right about you. Plan B was a bust, back to plan A.”

“What plan—”

Before that sentence could be finished, a trapdoor was opened beneath their feet and they fell in the storage room underneath the stage, all six of them screaming on their way down. Sunset Shimmer turned around to look at Sonata, who still had her hands on the lever that opened the trapdoor. With a smile on her face, she gave Sunset a thumbs up – Sunset returned the gesture with a considerably weaker smile.

The blue-haired siren pushed the lever and the trapdoor was closed. While the siren and the pony were distracted, Spike the purple dog snuck away to look for help.

“You better believe I’ve got tricks up my sleeve~! And I captivate ‘cause I’m powerful and great~!”

While Trixie and her bandmates performed on stage in front of a large crowd that was most definitely in the three digits, the four Dazzlings had a meeting backstage, all of them already wearing the fancy clothing they were going to perform on – Sunset even styled her hair differently. Adagio, Sonata and Aria stood in a triangular formation, all three of them holding their own gemstones on the palm of their hands, with the fourth member standing right in the middle.

“Are you sure about this, Sunset?” Adagio asked. “This is your last chance to back down; becoming a siren is a permanent commitment.”

“You three are the best friends I’ve ever had, I can’t bear the thought that I’ll grow old and die, left behind while you three move on. Sure, from what you told me being a siren is very scary, but as long as I have you girls with me, I’m sure everything is gonna be ok.”

Adagio looked at Aria, who nodded. She then looked at Sonata, who nodded as well.

“If that’s what you truly want…”

“Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~!”

The faint glow of the gems grew brighter until it looked like each siren was holding a burning fire in their hands, but Sunset felt no heat. A beam of red light shot out of Adagio’s gemstone, connecting with Sonata’s. Sonata’s gemstone did the same, but connecting with Aria’s instead. Finally, Aria’s gemstone shot a beam of light as well, connecting it with Adagio’s gemstone.

Sunset felt her throat growing warmer; it was neither painful not pleasant, just alien. The warmth was replaced by the sensation that something was wrapped around her neck; she couldn’t see it, but a black choker magically materialized itself in the area that slowly grew looser until it looked like one of the necklaces the other Dazzlings wore, except without the gem.

Sonata’s and Aria’s gems lost their glow and they stopped singing. The beam of red light connecting them to Adagio’s and each other’s also faded, leaving Adagio that last siren singing and her gem glowing brighter than ever. Suddenly a stronger beam of light shot out of the gem, hitting Sunset Shimmer right where the black necklace was located. The impact was so powerful that she was knocked to the ground.

Adagio’s gem finally stopped glowing, and she started panting from exhaustion.

“Go… help her up…” She said between gasps for air.

Aria and Sonata each grabbed one of Sunset’s arms and helped her stand. Hanging from her neck was a brand new siren gemstone, the first thing she focused on once her head stopped spinning.

“It.. It worked, I… I’m one of you!” She said, also between gasps for air.

“Congratulations, now we’re double species sisters!” Sonata celebrated with another hug.

“How do you feel?” Aria asked.

“Very… hungry.”

Aria patted her on the back. “Get used to it, it won’t go away anytime soon.”

“I know, but that was my choice. I don’t regret it one bit!”

The purple-haired siren smiled. It was the first genuine smile that she didn’t try to hide from everybody else.

“We should get ready.” Adagio reminded them. “Trixie won’t sing forever.”

“See me dominate ‘cause I’m powerful and greeeeee-yea-yeaaat~!”

A burst of fireworks signaled the end of Trixie’s performance, and the crowd cheered and clapped as they exited the stage.

“Try to top that.” Trixie challenged as she walked past the Dazzlings with her bandmates.

“Oh gosh, I don’t know if we can.” Adagio mockingly said with fake distress in her voice before all Dazzlings shared a laugh.

Sunset looked at the stage, finally able to see the green mist of negative energy that served as nourishment for sirens. Unlike the regular smoke of energy that only had a faint glimmer to it, this one sparkled thanks to the magic mixed into it, not to mention it was much larger.

“Looks like they’re having a heated argument down there.” Adagio pointed out. “Oh well, the more, the better!”

Sunset was the first to walk on stage, standing right in the middle as she proceeded to play her guitar. After playing a few notes, the other Dazzlings walked on stage as well and began to sing.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah~! Aaah~ aaah~ aaaaaaaaaaaaaah~!”

The four gemstones began glowing as they sucked the sparkling mist into themselves, finally sating the centuries long hunger the sirens wearing them felt. The cloud vanished in a matter of seconds, leaving only the four sirens on stage, but even then the glow of the gems didn’t fade. Filled to the brim with energy for the first time since they were banished to the human world, the Dazzlings were singing and dancing while Sunset played.

“Welcome to the show~! We’re here to let you know~! Our time is now~! Your time is running out~!”

Nodding at each other, they finally cast the spell they had been saving up since the moment the CHS Musical Showcased morphed into the CHS Battle of the Bands; it was a spell that required a ridiculous amount of magic to cast, but it was worth it.

The bodies of the four sirens in human form were wrapped in magical energy, a fact that went unnoticed by the audience that was completely entranced by their mind control spell, which the Dazzlings would later unleash into the town to cause as much chaos and disorder, generating massive amounts of negative energy for them to feed on.

Under the magical cocoons, their bodies began to mutate; their hair became longer to simulate an Equestrian tail, equine ears grew on top of their heads and translucent, fin-like wings sprouted from their backs – Aria, as a former pegasus, was very happy about that change in particular.

“Now you need us~! Come and heed us~! Nothing can stop us noooooow~!”

Their performance was interrupted by the sound of drums. Looking around for its source, Aria pointed at the hill behind the benches where the Rainbooms played their instruments, amplified by the sound system of a very high-tech car manned by a seventh girl.

“Oh whoa oh whoa~! I’ve got the music in me~! Oh whoa oh whoa~!” They sang.

“How did they get out?!” Adagio asked, but the others were just as in the dark as she was.

The Dazzlings’ grasp on the crowd began to weaken, as the song played by the Rainbooms served as a counter-spell that slowly freed them from the mind control.

Just like the sirens, the human girls were surrounded by magical energy that proceeded to change their bodies; they also received hair extensions that imitated pony tails and the same pair of pony ears. Only half of them received wings, but for some reason they also received colorful additions to some locks of hair.

“Find the music in your heart~! Let the music make you start~! To set yourself apart~!”

“So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real battle of the bands?” Adagio asked as she fiddled with her glowing gemstone. “Then let’s battle.”

“What we have in store~! All we want and more~!”

As they sung, the crowd was once again entranced by their magical voices.

“We will break on through~! Now it’s time to finish you~!”

Sunset Shimmer witnessed as their eyes glowed red and their necklaces were connected by a string of magic. The gems glowed brighter than ever before, covering the entire stage in a blinding red light.

A sinister wave of energy emerged from the gems before taking shape; the dark energy assumed the true form of their wielders: three massive sea monster/equine hybrids with the same gemstone sticking from their chests and showing their many sharp teeth. They were only astral projections, mere imitations of the real deal, but the fact that they were semi-transparent didn’t make them look any less intimidating.

Sunset, believing she could do the same, began to concentrate in an attempt to summon her own astral projection, but she felt something; it was like Adagio’s feelings were being directly transferred to her soul, and she was telling her to not push herself too much so soon. The new siren girl thought about what Adagio told her a couple of days prior, how she explained that all sirens were ‘connected’ – understanding that Adagio was literally communicating with her through that channel unique to sirens, she nodded and stepped back.

The purple, yellow and blue magically-generated sirens flew towards the Rainbooms, circling them menacingly – they weren’t physical creatures after all, so they couldn’t really do anything to them other than serve as a distraction.

The Rainbooms were unfazed, however, as they kept using the power of their music to challenge the magic of the sirens. The astral projections, clearly at a disadvantage, began to dissipate.

“Oh whoa oh whoa whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa~!” Twilight Sparkle sang, sending a wave of magic that would serve as the final blow against the projections.

Adagio, equally determined, fought back; channeling her voice through her own astral projection, she hit a high note that stopped the wave of magical energy dead on its tracks, before changing its direction and using the princess’s own power against her.

Sonata and Aria joined in, also channeling their voices through their projections, assaulting the Rainbooms with wave after wave of magic until the sextet couldn’t bear it anymore and were tossed backwards like discarded dolls.

All that was left was silence. The Rainbooms were down, the Dazzlings were standing, and the crowd was completely under their spell. But before the sirens could celebrate their victory, a singing voice broke the silence.

“You’re never gonna bring me down~! You’re never gonna break this part of me~!”

They were surprised when they looked at the hill once again: Vinyl Scratch, a.k.a. DJ Pon-3, known for never opening her mouth unless absolutely necessary, was holding the microphone and singing into it – not just regular singing, but very good singing.

“My friends are here to bring me around~!” Vinyl offered her hand to help Twilight up. “Not singing just for popularity~!”

Offering the mic back to the princess, she quickly returned to her car/DJ booth. With the band’s spirits lifted once again, they started singing and playing one more time.

“We’re here to let you know~! That we won’t let it go~! Our music is a bomb and it’s about to blow~!”

The Dazzlings tried to use their projections to distract the Rainbooms one more time, but a wave of rainbow energy prevented them from getting too close. That same wave continued to grow, freeing all humans from the mind control spell and causing the flying sirens to be knocked back a few inches.

A multicolored aura of energy began emanating from the six girls until it shot up into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. In just a few seconds a pillar of white energy began emerging from behind said clouds, which revealed itself to be the horn of a massive alicorn construct made of pure magic. Its mane was flying the same colors that flew into the night sky just a moment prior, and the tip of its horn began glowing.

Sunset Shimmer could feel sparks in the air, and her eyes grew wider; she felt the same way during the Fall Formal, seconds before she was blown away by a beam of pure energy.

“Here to sing our song out loud~! Get you dancing with the crowd~! As the music of our friendship survives~!”

“Survives~!”

“Surviiiiiiiiiives~!”

The construct pointed its giant horn at the stage, and Sunset Shimmer’s heart skipped a beat as she felt her blood freeze.

“NO!” She screamed before the alicorn shot a beam of harmony magic at the stage, causing all the spectators to shield their eyes to avoid the risk of going blind.

With a smiles on their faces, the Rainbooms looked at the stage, waiting for the glow to fade so they could spot the defeated forms of the Dazzlings. The smiles were replaced by a look of confusion when, instead of four people on stage, they could only see one.

The three original Dazzlings had been pushed off the stage and were lying on the grass, shielded by a fourth, orange-colored astral projection. Sunset Shimmer was still standing, steam coming out of her body as she glared at the Rainbooms with a defiant look in her eyes.

“I warned you… not to mess… with my…” The gemstone hanging from her neck was already cracked, but it finally shattered while she was trying to talk – she lost consciousness and fell before she could finish the sentence, her astral projection fading into nothingness.

“SUNSET!” The three sirens shouted as they climbed back on stage to check on their friend.

“Sunset, are you ok? Talk to me!” Sonata begged, holding the girl’s hands.

“She can’t talk, she’s out cold!” Aria replied, kneeling on the stage and resting Sunset’s head on her thighs.

All Adagio could do was try and gather all the pieces of the gemstone she could find – she had no idea if it would serve any purpose but she didn’t know what else to do, they never had to deal with a siren losing her gem before.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked with the other Rainbooms in tow, all of them visibly worried.

“GET AWAY FROM US!” Sonata screamed, pulling Sunset’s unconscious body into a protective hug.

“It’s all my fault…” Adagio muttered while picking up the pieces. “I should have been more convincing. Should have scared her so badly that she never would have said ‘yes’. I should have… I-I should have…”

People in the crowd also began to realize how serious the situation was, so Luna and Celestia began urging everybody to evacuate the premises in an orderly fashion with help from the rest of the staff.

“Is… Is she gonna be ok?” Trixie of all people asked on her way out, but no one had a clear answer; she was just lying there, still breathing but motionless.

“I-I don’t u-understand.” Fluttershy stuttered. “Last time we just purged the magic from her body and she turned back to normal. Why is she… Why is she…”

“Because she wasn’t under the influence of any external magic, all she had was internal – all of it part of her very being!” Aria angrily explained. “Without magic in her body, her gem became unstable and shattered. Our gems is where we store the energy we consume. Without that energy, she is going to die!”

All the Rainbooms gasped in unison.

“B-But she isn’t a siren!” Twilight pointed out.

“She wasn’t a siren. She wanted to be one of us and we gave her what she wanted, but now… now she…”

“Is… Is there anythin’ we can do for ‘er?” Applejack asked, taking off her hat and holding it against her chest.

“You’ve done enough already.” Aria glared at them before turning to look at Adagio. “Did you find all the pieces?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I DON’T KNOW! I’M LOOKING FOR THEM BUT THE PIECES ARE TOO SMALL!”

“If you find all the pieces, will you be able to save her?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“We never had to deal with anything like this before, we’re just doing whatever comes to mind and hoping something will happen!” Aria placed her hand on Sunset’s forehead. “She’s burning up, I don’t know how much time she has left.”

Twilight Sparkle tried to climb on the stage, but Sonata quickly stood up and pushed her off – her friends managed to grab her before she fell on the grass.

“I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY!” She screamed, tears streaking down her face.

“I-I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done in the human world.” Twilight explained. “But if we take her back to Equestria, maybe something can be done.”

“You’re not taking her from us again.” Aria squeezed Sunset tightly against her body.

“Would you rather let her die?” Twilight fired back. “Even if it’s just for now, please trust me.”

Aria and Princess Twilight stared at each other for a few seconds, but to the others it felt like centuries passed; the tension was so thick it could be felt in the air.

“We’re coming with.” Aria said, standing up and carrying Sunset’s unconscious form. “Our real bodies are very big, I doubt you’ll be able to carry her anywhere fast enough by yourself.”

Aria and Sonata led Princess Twilight back to their minibus. Adagio soon ran after them, carrying as many shards as she could find.

The extra hair and body parts of the humans who stayed behind finally disappeared.

“Is it just me, or does this victory not really feel like one after all?” Rarity asked. The four crestfallen Rainbooms shook their heads.

The extra parts Princess Twilight and the Dazzlings were magically given also dissipated. Aria placed Sunset on the bed while Sonata and Twilight sat on the couch. Adagio tried to start the engine, but her hands were shaking so much that she couldn’t even fit the key in the ignition.

“You’re in no condition to drive.” Aria said while tugging at her arm. “Let me.”

Adagio didn’t say anything, she just nodded and handed her the key before hurrying to the back of the bus and sitting on the bed beside Sunset while stroking her head.

Aria started the minibus and drove back to CHS as fast but as carefully as she could.

Author's Notes:

Yes, I know that's not what happens when sirens get a taste of the rainbow, but that's why that Alt. Universe tag is there. The world is in my hands.

Also the original cover I made was slightly different, but then I remembered that I changed her outfit pretty early on, so I had to start over. I don't want all that work to go to waste, so here it is:

Chapter 6

The sirens finally returned to their home, the magical land of Equestria, after over one thousand years. Were it under better circumstances they would have been thrilled, but for the time being all they could do was anxiously fly above Canterlot while Princess Twilight Sparkle had a discussion with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Sunset Shimmer was left to rest in a guest bedroom inside the castle.

The pony population around town was understandably afraid of the unknown creatures in the sky, but the royal guards had been instructed to inform the population that they meant no harm, and so they carried on with their lives – even if they couldn’t help themselves and look up from time to time to make sure the flying trio wasn’t about to try anything.

Princess Twilight stepped outside on the balcony and waved at the sirens, who immediately flew towards her. She levitated a piece of parchment in her magic and showing it to Adagio.

“After studying the properties of siren spellcasting and comparing it to modern unicorn magic, I was able to jury-rig a healing spell into song form that a siren can use.”

“Will it be able to save her?” Adagio asked with hope in her eyes.

“No, unfortunately.” Twilight flattened her ears. “But it will help stable her condition by transferring some of the energy you have stored directly into her. It will buy us time, and hopefully it will be enough to figure out who created the first siren and track down his research.”

“Do you need all three of us, or will only one be enough?”

“It’s best to take turns, that way if you get too tired another siren can take your place.”

Adagio looked over the spell on the parchment on more time. “Then there’s no time to lose.” Squeezing her massive body through the door frame, she landed in front of the large bed Sunset Shimmer was resting on and began to sing.

“Are you certain you don’t have a name?” Twilight asked the remaining sirens. “It would help narrow down the search.”

“If there was such a thing as a siren who knew his name, she was killed in the war with Queen Pheromosa.” Aria answered.

“Queen Pheromosa? I’m not familiar with the name…”

“Queen Pheromosa of the Changeling Hive.” Princess Celestia spoke as she joined them on the balcony. “She was a threat long before history started being written. She would kidnap ponies in the middle of the night and leave changeling drones behind to take their place, where they would collect all the love and bring it back to her lair so she could feed. She hardly ever dealt with small things herself and the drones that were found out and captured were so loyal that we never got a drop of information out of them. Had it not been for Clover The Clever’s resourcefulness, we never would have found out where she was hidden.”

“Thanks for the history lesson, but how does that help Sunset?” Sonata asked.

“Queen Pheromosa was fond of collecting ‘souvenirs’ from foes she conquered in battle.” Celestia continued. “It’s very likely that she kept a few things after defeating the sirens. Things that could help us find out the name of this unknown wizard who created the first siren.”

“That’s great news!” Twilight said, suddenly perking up. “How can we find those things we stole?”

“After Clover and I dealt with Pheromosa, we signed a treaty with the remaining changelings: we let them live as long as they promised to never start another war – they were just following orders, they weren’t to be blamed for the madness of their ruler. Either Queen Chrysalis wasn’t aware of the treaty or chose to ignore it when she decided to invade Canterlot, but the point is, everything that Queen Pheromosa stole remained in possession of the changelings, so I’d wager that they still have it all stored away somewhere in their hive.”

Twilight Sparkle’s optimism was quickly drained.

“Th-Th-The changeling hive?!” She started pacing back and forth. “So the only chance we have to save Sunset Shimmer is to steal something from a hive filled with shapeshifting bug monsters who have clearly demonstrated that their ruler is an unhinged maniac who is not afraid to start a war?!”

“Normally I wouldn’t encourage infiltration and theft but, after their incursion during your brother’s and Cadance’s wedding and their subsequent defeat, I highly doubt they are willing to negotiate.”

“Oh my, Princess Celestia herself endorsing the invasion of a foreign nation with the goal of stealing a national treasure?” An unknown but clearly male voice spoke. “The tabloids are going to love that!”

They all turned their heads to look at the source of the voice, which was coming from Sonata’s general direction.

“It wasn’t me!” She said with a shrug before feeling a pair of feet landing on her head. Feet that belonged to the one and only known draconequus holding a pencial and notepad while wearing a press hat.

“Hello, my dear!” Discord said as he bent down to look Sonata in the eyes.

Sonata screamed and rushed to hide behind Aria while he remained floating in place.

“I-I-I-It’s D-D-Discord!” Aria stuttered, clearly as afraid as the younger siren. “Discord is free! Why is he free? How is he free?”

“It’s, um… a long story.” Twilight said. “There’s nothing fear, he has no bad intentions. Most of the time, at least.”

“I was in the area when I entirely by accident overheard someone talking about sneaking into the changeling hive.” He snapped his fingers, causing the pencil, notepad and hat disappear and a pair of glasses and a very thick book to materialize out of thin air. He put on the glasses and began leafing through the pages. “I thought that was my cue, but it looks like I’ve arrived two seasons too early. I guess your interdimensional hoppings must have caused a displacement beyond the veil, meaning that the script I ‘borrowed’ and have been peeking at from time to time is now completely outdated.” Snapping his fingers once again, all the pages of the book turned into colorful butterflies that flew away in different directions. Discord then took off his glasses and threw them over his shoulder. “Now I’m flying blind like the rest of you.”

“Is he always like that?” Sonata whispered to Twilight.

“He is usually more unhinged, this is downright tame in comparison.” Twilight replied. “What do you want, Discord? After that stunt you pulled with Tirek, you should still be doing community service.”

“Tirek? The bratty son of King Vorak?” Aria asked. “Isn’t he in Tartarus?”

“Again, long story.”

“How much crazy stuff has happened since our banishment?”

“You haven’t even scratched the surface.”

“Like I said, I overheard you talking about invading the changeling hive.” Discord answered. “And being the kind and generous – not to mention handsome – soul that I am, decided to offer my services as a way to pay you back for my poor judgment of character that almost led to the downfall of Equestria.”

“Well you could just go there yourself, grab whatever we need and come back without any changeling realizes you were even there!”

“And rob you of the chance to be the big hero who gets to save the day? Oh, I couldn’t! The help I offer is more tactical in nature. Not to mention that I actually can’t go there myself – I have absolutely no interest in going anywhere that I can’t snap myself into.”

“What do you mean?”

Discord pulled up a plasma screen TV and a remote control. He pressed a button that turned on the TV, showing an image of a very menacing-looking throne-shaped rock in a large room filled with an eerie green glow.

“This, ladies and… ladies, is the Changeling Throne, which was carved from an ancient dark stone that soaks up outside magic the same way changelings soak up love; as long as it remains intact, nothing other than equally ancient magic works anywhere near it.”

“Then how come you can’t go?” Sonata asked. “You are older than all of us!”

“Oh you poor, misinformed air shark.” Discord patted her snout, but teleported away just in time to avoid being bitten. “‘Ancient’ magic isn’t called that just because it’s old.”

“He is right.” Celestia spoke. “Unicorn magic, alicorn magic, chaos magic, they are all things that have evolved over time and became more refined as the creatures that wield it modified it to have better results with lesser side effects, whilst ancient magic is something that remained unchanged since its inception; it is just as rough, erratic, double-edged and dangerous today as it was in the days long before you were born.”

“So what you’re saying is” Aria lifted her hoof to tap the gem sticking from her chest “sirens are immune to the effects of the throne.”

The image of the throne on the TV was replaced by a green check mark before vanishing entirely.

“Correct you are, my little seafood dinner!” Discord said. “The rest is up to you now. Fluttershy invited me to a tea party and it would be very impolite to be late. TTFN!” With another snap of his finger, he was gone.

“That was… surprisingly helpful!” Sonata said with a smile.

“So what’s the plan?” Aria lowered her face so she was looking at Twilight straight in the eye. “We may be immune to the magic-sucking rock, but after what the changelings did to us I am not about to deliver myself to their front door unprepared so they can finish the job. I want– We need a plan of action!”

“I’ll work on it, but I need to check a few things first!” Twilight rushed back inside.

Sonata and Aria looked inside the room, where Adagio was still singing the song of healing that kept Sunset Shimmer’s condition from worsening.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to save her.” Princess Celestia assured them. “You have my word.”

“Why are you helping us?” Aria finally asked. “Sirens have always been a danger to your kind. If anything, you should be glad that our numbers are being reduced.”

“Before she was a siren, Sunset Shimmer was my beloved protégée.” Celestia explained. “She may have grown too ambitious for her own good and we may not have parted ways on the best of terms after she abandoned her studies, but I will not just stand idly by and let her perish while I myself still draw breath!”

The princess of the sun spread her wings and took off to the skies, leaving behind two stunned sirens.

“Starswirl sucked, but his student is actually kinda cool!” Sonata noted. Aria nodded.

Twilight flew south to the Badlands, carrying a saddlebag and followed by the yellow siren Adagio Dazzle. Aria stayed behind so she could keep on casting the healing spell, with Sonata on standby in case Aria got tired and needed to rest her voice – both of them wanted to go as well but Adagio, as the oldest and most experienced in combat, convinced them that that strategy was their best shot at saving Sunset Shimmer’s life.

Once they were close enough to the Badlands, Twilight landed and walked on foot in order to avoid being spotted from a distance. Adagio, however, had no legs to walk on, so she had to fly as close to the ground as possible.

After getting past the mountain range, they finally spotted the changeling hive in the distance – it was just as large, eerie, and grotesque as Twilight expected it to be. They could see several dark spots flying around the spike towers, most likely changelings on the lookout for any incoming threats.

Looking down the cliff they were on top of, then slowly moving her gaze across the valley separating it from the hive in the distance, Adagio turned to look at the pony princess.

“You’ll be spotted from miles away.” Adagio warned. “The color of your hair stands out too much.”

“I thought as much.” Twilight said as she reached into the saddlebag. “That’s why I brought this!” She pulled out a hooded cloak from her bag, which was the same color as the land before them. “I knew it would be impossible to get there without magic and not be detected, so I asked my friend Rarity to make this for me. Unless they are also patrolling the ground,” she pulled binoculars from her saddlebag to spy on the hive “and it doesn’t look like they are, everything will be fine. Want me to go over the plan one more time, just to make sure?”

“You’ll send me a signal when you’re close enough, I wreak havoc, and in the middle of the chaos you’ll make your way to the throne room and destroy the throne so that the cavalry can come to the rescue and back me up while you search for the treasure room.” Adagio spoke. “You went over the plan a hundred times on the way over, Twilight Sparkle, I know what we’re doing.”

“Sure, right, yeah.” Twilight put on the cloak and stood on the very edge of the cliff. “Good luck.”

“I can fend off a bunch of grunts.” She assured the young alicorn. “It’s the Queen I’m on the lookout for – Queen Pheromosa killed more sirens by getting her own hooves dirty than she did by throwing drones at us, I don’t expect this Queen Chrysalis to be any different.”

“Well, I guess I should…” She looked down, getting ready to jump down and continue her journey.

“Twilight?” Adagio called. The princess looked at her. “I know we don’t like each other, but… against my better judgement, I’ve grown fond of Sunset Shimmer. She’s a good friend and, whether you believe me or not, I care about her. So please, be careful in there; if something happens to you, any chance we may have of saving her will be gone forever.”

Twilight smiled. “I care about Sunset, too. All I wanted was for her to make friends and, even if you weren’t my first choice, you three stood by her side when no one else would. I don’t like that you go around causing chaos and disorder, but I suppose you do what you must to survive.”

With a wave of goodbye, Twilight jumped off the cliff, spread her wings and gently glided down until her four hooves touched solid ground. For the next hour or so she trekked across the valley, unable to use any kind of magic. Her pace was slow to make sure no changeling would spot a sudden movement and see through her disguise.

The base of the hive was full of holes that were contracting and expanding; some as small as a breezie, others as big as a bugbear. Reaching into her saddlebag again, she pulled out a box of matches and a single firework rocket which she stuck on the ground and aimed at the changelings flying around the towers above her, hoping to daze a few of them for a moment. After successfully lighting the fuse, Twilight jumped into one of the bigger holes that had begun to close itself.

The rocket flew high in the air and, just as Twilight planned, it exploded into a shower of red sparks that startled and confused a lot of changelings. While they were busy trying to understand what just happened and where that rocket came from, one of them shouted:

“INCOMING!”

One changeling turned around just in time to see a beam of red energy being shot out of the mouth of a massive flying yellow creature.

Twilight, still travelling through the ever-changing tunnels near the base, couldn’t hear or feel the rumble of something powerful connecting with the side of their hive coming from above, but other changelings sure could; they sent out warning to others and flew to investigate, leaving the lower levels of the hive mostly empty and giving Twilight the opportunity to stretch her wings and look for the throne room at a more acceptable pace.

She grew worried with every minute that passed; surely Adagio Dazzle couldn’t fend off an entire hive by herself, especially considering how rusty she must have been after over one thousand years stuck in human form without access to most of her powers. After almost half an hour had passed, Twilight was on the verge of a panic attack. Luck was on her side, however, as she finally spotted a large green barrier shaped like the wing cases of a bug being guarded by a pair of changelings; if they were ordered to stand their ground even while they were under attack, that doorway most definitely led to a very important place.

The monotony of guard duty was broken when a sphere with a lit fuse landed right between the two. The ball exploded before they had the chance to properly react, creating a cloud of blue dust that turned out to be sleep powder, knocking both of them out instantly.

With a cloth wrapped around her muzzle to protect her from the powder, Twilight Sparkle approached the double doors and pushed them open with little effort.

Swatting a swarm of changelings away with her tail, Adagio fired another beam of energy at the side of the hive, blowing yet another hole that once again mended itself in a matter of seconds. She was sweating, her body was growing weaker and she could feel her magic being drained at an alarming with each beam fired, but she had to keep fighting for her friend’s sake.

“That’s enough!” A firm, commanding voice shouted, bringing all the changelings to a halt. They all turned to look at the hive, where the source of the voice presented itself: one changeling thrice as big as the drones Adagio had been fighting, with a massive, twisted horn, green eyes and plates instead of the average blue, and long, dark greenish blue hair with a black crown sitting atop her head. “What gives you the right to invade my territory, assault my changelings and attack my hive?”

“Your race did the same thing to mine, I’m just returning the favor.”

“Your race?” Queen Chrysalis asked, squinting her eyes. After realization struck her, she smiled. “I see. You’re one of those ‘sirens’, are you not? I was under the impression that that weakling Pheromosa had dealt with you ages ago. Permanently.”

“Well, she did a poor job. I was hoping to deal with her permanently, but I guess you’ll suffice.”

Chrysalis laughed. “Your entire race fell before the might of the changeling hive, what makes you think one siren all by herself stands a ghost of a chance?”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t, it doesn’t matter to me. I came here with a goal in mind, and whether I live to tell the tale or not, as long as my mission is accomplished, I can join my brethren in the great-beyond without any regrets.”

“And what, pray tell, is this ‘mission’ of yours?”

“Let’s start with ‘taking you down’!” Opening her mouth, Adagio fired another beam of red energy, this time directed at the Queen herself, who was spared thanks to a pair of changeling who pushed her out of the way, taking the full force of the attack instead of her.

“You will pay for that, siren!”

Queen Chrysalis fired a beam of green changeling magic at the siren, who fired back with another red beam, the two of them clashing in the middle and causing an explosion that sent many changelings flying but barely affected the Queen and Adagio. Baring their fangs, the two of them flew towards each other.

Twilight finally located a chamber much more spacious than all others after getting lost in even more tunnels for a few more minutes, and she spotted the throne Discord showed them right in the middle.

“No time to lose!” She said to herself as she quickly galloped to the throne that was much bigger than she expected.

Said throne had holes granting access to a large gap in its base, making Twilight’s job much easier; crawling into one of the bigger holes, she once again reached into her saddlebag and pulled a roll of tape and sticks of dynamite. Using the tape, the princess stuck the dynamite in strategic spots around the gap before tying the extra long fuses together so she would only have to light up one before running for her life – which is exactly what she did once the fuses were lit.

Adagio slammed her back on the hive, thankfully managing to avoid the many sharp protrusions sticking out of the walls. Gasping for air, too tired to take off or fight back, she could only watch as the Queen hovered before her, laughing.

“You were a fool, thinking you could take on the almighty queen of the changelings on your own. I don’t even need my minions to help me put you in your place. In fact, I think coming out here myself may have been a waste of time, my minions probably would have taken care of you themselves, sooner or later.”

Adagio opened her mouth and screamed, sending a sound wave that probably would have sent Chrysalis flying if she weren’t exhausted and her magic reserves nearly depleted. Instead, the changeling simply lost her balance for a moment before righting herself.

“How deplorable. To think I was excited to finish the job my ancestor started, but it just feels like I’m taking out the trash.” She slammed her hoof on Adagio’s gem, causing her to yelp in pain. “Oh well, I’ll just have to contend myself with the knowledge that I put an end a most annoying race of glorified flying fishes.” She raised her hoof again, ready to bring it down on the gemstone once more, when she heard a distant explosion and felt her hive shake again. “What was that?” Adagio smiled, enraging Queen Chrysalis. “You were just a diversion, weren’t you?!”

Her horn began glowing green as she charged another beam of magical energy, but was interrupted by a blinding flash of light that forced her to fly back. It took a second, but the Queen’s vision returned to her and she could see the Princess of the Sun herself flying between her and the siren.

“You!”

“We have unfinished business, Queen Chrysalis.” She said, her voice just as stern as when the changelings crashed Princess Cadance’s wedding. “Last time we fought we were surrounded by my little ponies. I had to restrain myself for fear of hurting my subjects, leading to a most humiliating but necessary defeat. Out here in the Badlands, however…” Celestia’s flowing, ethereal mane and tail began gradually changing colors from cerulean, turquoise, blue and pink to several shades of orange. Her eyes, too, once a friendly shade of pink turned into orbs of yellow light burning as bright as the sun itself. “What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose.”

Princess Celestia’s horn began to shine a fierce orange that replaced the usual warm yellow that glowed when she would cast a spell. Predicting what was about to happen, a number of changeling drones moved between them and morphed into stones, forming a barrier to protect their monarch. The wall wasn’t able to withstand the blast and shattered when Princess Celestia fired her beam, each individual stone turning back into a changeling as they fell; they were, however, able to buy Queen Chrysalis enough time to erect a barrier around her body, protecting her from the brunt of the spell.

While the shield was strong enough to withstand the blast, it required a great deal of effort, concentration and magical energy to protect her from a spell that powerful, leaving her exhausted and breathing heavily after casting it just once. Before she had the chance to catch her breath, Celestia flew in her direction at an impossibly fast speed, slamming her back on the bug creature’s chest and sending her flying.

“This one’s for Cadance!”

She teleported herself several meters up in the air, directly in the path of the changeling. Turning around and preparing her hind legs, she kicked Chrysalis back down as soon as she was within range.

“This one’s for Twilight!”

The Sun Princess teleported herself one more time, going back the ground where she began to charge another spell as the Queen fell towards her.

“And this one’s for making me look weak in front of my subjects.” Queen Chrysalis’ scream was silenced when she was engulfed in the bright orange pillar of light that was Princess Celestia’s magic beam.

No trace of the queen of the changelings remained.

With a shake of her head, the princess’s mane and tail slowly returned to their original colors and the steam rising from her horn vanished. Spreading her wings one more time, she took off and gently flew to the top of her hive, where all changelings had gathered.

“Who is the next in line to be in charge of this hive?” She demanded to know with the Royal Canterlot Voice she so rarely used.

“We, um… we don’t have one, ma’am.” A single changeling spoke, fearfully approaching the princess so she could be heard. “Q-Queen Chrysalis never crowned a p-princess. Sh-She didn’t think she would ever need a… replacement.”

“What is your name, little one?” She asked, once again in her regular, soft, warm, friendly and inviting tone that others were so used to.

“It’s, um… O-Ocellus. Ocellus, ma’am.”

“Tell me, Ocellus: was Queen Chrysalis aware of the treaty that had been signed after the fall of Queen Pheromosa, dictating that there would be no further aggressions between ponies and changelings?”

“I-I-I don’t know, ma’am, b-but we were told stories t-that she… discarded every teacher she had while she was still a princess, s-so she may have never had the opportunity to l-learn about any treaty.”

Princess Celestia lifted her hoof, causing the young bug to flinch, then placed it under the changeling’s chin and lifted her head so she could look her in the eye.

“Then please, Ocellus, I’d like you to deliver this message to the rest of your race: due to your former queen’s foolishness and ignorance, I am willing to forgive the invasion of Canterlot. However,” she lowered her head so that her face was mere inches away from Ocellus; her tone suddenly shifted into a more threatening one and her neutral expression turned into one of anger “I will not tolerate a second violation. If that happens for any reason whatsoever, there will be no changeling left alive to orchestrate a third. Do I make myself clear?”

With her voice caught in her throat, there was nothing Ocellus could do other than nod. Celestia moved her hoof and patted the bug’s head.

“Run along now, little one. Don’t forget to deliver my message to every changeling in your hive.”

With a nod, Ocellus flew back towards the swarm. After a moment to recover from the shock, she did as she was told and they all rushed to get back inside.

“So even the pretty pony princess can bare her fangs when she needs to, huh?” Adagio Dazzle, too tired and hurt to fly, just rested atop one of the hive’s towers. “I can respect that.”

“I’d rather extend a helping hoof” she admitted as she landed next to the wounded siren “but sometimes you need to put said hoof down. I’ll look into sending an ambassador over here at a later date, maybe we can work something out – I really don’t like the idea of exterminating them, but leaving them unchecked again is a mistake I am not willing to repeat.”

Twilight popped into existence above the two of them.

“Oh, there you are!” She said as she landed as well before noticing the state the siren was in. “Are you ok, Adagio? You don’t look too good.”

“Psh, Chrysalis was above average at best, I fought Pheromosa’s Elite Guards and they were much stronger than her. I’ll be fine, just need some rest.”

“Did you find out what the name of the wizard was?” Celestia asked.

“Even better!” Using her magic, she levitated books and scrolls from her saddlebag. “I found his journal, his research and several of his notes!”

“Can you use it to save Sunset Shimmer?”

“Yes, but that’s not all: I didn’t get the chance to thoroughly check everything – it’s all in Old Ponish, I can’t translate much from memory – but if he further explains the little I could read, I’ll be able to do much more than that. Not just for Sunset, but for Adagio and the others as well!”

“Help us with what, exactly?” Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m not 100% sure yet, that’s why I need to make a proper and accurate translation ASAP, but I can almost guarantee it will probably be a good thing.”

Sonata panicked when Adagio came back covered in bruises while Aria tried to act cool, but they could tell she was just as worried. They offered to sing her the same healing song they were using to keep Sunset alive, but she dismissed them; her wounds would recover naturally over time, a luxury that the fourth siren couldn’t afford, so she ordered them to focus their efforts on her.

Twilight Sparkle didn’t sleep that night, instead choosing to stay up working on that translation with the help of Princess Luna, who was much more fluent in Old Ponish than Princess Celestia. She eventually passed out from exhaustion after such a long day, so Luna summoned a blanket and pillow for her while she kept working on translating the texts into the Common Language. Twilight woke up hours later in a panic, rambling about how saving Sunset Shimmer’s life was more important than sleep, so the princess of the night shut her up by tossing her the complete translation of the wizard’s works she had just finished.

For the rest of that morning and a good portion of the afternoon, Princess Twilight studied the translated works of the ancient wizard with the assistance of Princess Celestia and several tomes from the Canterlot Library. Once she was satisfied with the results of her research, she returned to the chamber where Sunset Shimmer rested.

“Good news, every—” She cheerfully said as she opened the door, but then she caught the expression on Sonata’s face. “Is everything ok?”

Sonata kept on singing, glancing in Twilight’s general direction; she had bags under her eyes, her scales lost some of its shine, her gem’s glow was fading and she looked deathly pale. Going outside to the balcony, she could see that the other sirens were in similar states, looking like they would lose consciousness at any moment and drop from the sky.

“We’re running out of magic.” Adagio warned in a weak voice, her wounds somehow looking worse than they did on the day prior. “We don’t have much time and, without us, neither does Sunset.”

“Princess Celestia and I worked hard these last few hours, and I can say with 100% confidence that we’ll be able to create a new siren gemstone.”

“Then what are you doing, wasting time out here?” Aria scolded her. “Go back inside and save Sunset!”

“Actually, I was hoping to get your permission for something else first.”

“Permission for what?”

“This is a very advanced spell that also requires very complex runes and a little bit of alchemy with extremely rare materials, so while Princess Celestia worked on that I was working on a side-project that, if it goes as expected, it could lessen the negative effects that come with being a siren. I don’t feel very comfortable using others as test subjects, but there is no other way to test its effects that does not require extensive research that would take absurd amounts of time that we don’t have.

“Seeing as how Sunset Shimmer is no longer a pony, only another siren can speak for her while she is unable to do it herself. Adagio Dazzle, as the de facto leader of the siren race, I ask for your permission to use this experimental spell on Sunset Shimmer. Of course, if you are as uncomfortable with the idea of casting an untested spell on another living being as I am, we can just use the same spell that created the first siren.”

“What do you mean by ‘lessen the negative effects of being a siren’?” Adagio asked, her neutral expression unreadable.

“If my theory is correct, this would completely neuter your necessity to feed off emotional energy. You would still require magical energy to survive, though, but without the need for emotional energy you can just feed off magic directly. I mean, you can’t just walk up to a unicorn and steal their magic like a centaur does, but you can absorb the natural energy flowing through Equestria. Of course, since the portal was opened that same energy can be found throughout Canterlot High and it will keep on steadily flowing that way as long as it stays open, so you can keep on feeding even on that side.”

“What about our powers? Will they be affected?” Aria questioned.

“Well, your ability to charm, influence and mind control others will be gone for good. But you will keep your singing voices!”

“What about our longevity? Will that make us mortal again?”

“Not really. Your bodies are physically unable to age, that’s just as permanent as your transformation; your immortality comes with the package, regardless of what modifications are done to the spell.”

Adagio went silent for a moment, considering the pros and cons of what Princess Twilight Sparkle had just explained to her, but came to a decision before properly evaluating her options when she felt Sonata faltering – they were running out of time.

“We don’t have time to overthink this.” She concluded. “You have my permission, just please save her already.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll cast the spell in no time!” Twilight ran back inside.

“‘No time’ is exactly what we have…” Aria muttered as she landed on the balcony, too tired to stay aloft.

With the help of Raven Inkwell, Princess Celestia’s personal aide, the purple pony set a table by the foot of the bed with a wooden bowl, utensils and several different ingredients on it. Twilight started by drawing runes on the floor around the bed with a piece of white chalk, then proceeded to cut, mash, shred, squeeze or grate the ingredients before mixing them in the bowl, but instead of a spoon she used her own magic to stir the dark purple liquid within in, causing it to turn a shade of pink the more she stirred.

After taking a deep breath, the young alicorn cast a fire spell that set the wooden bowl on fire, turning its content into a pink mist that started wrapping around her horn like cotton candy once she began charging a spell. Trotting to the side of the bed, she lowered her head until her horn was just an inch away from the hole in Sunset Shimmer’s chest where a siren’s gemstone was supposed to be located. A string of pink detached itself from the swirling cloud and began to fill the hole until a new, semi-transparent pink gem was formed. Twilight fired one last spell at the gemstone, causing it to gradually turn red.

After Twilight stepped away, the gem began to glow; it was very soft, but noticeable for anyone who was paying attention to it. The light disappeared after a few seconds, and Sunset Shimmer finally opened her eyes.

“W… Where…” She muttered before coughing due to her dry throat. “Water…”

Raven Inkwell levitated a jug of water sitting on the bedside table and slowly helped the siren drink it.

“Sunset.” Twilight called. “How do you feel?”

“Dizzy. Tired. Not hungry, though. Did something happen while I was out cold?”

Twilight sighed in relief. “It worked! I can’t believe it worked! Well, I guess I can believe it, it’s happening right now, but still…” She smiled. “Welcome back, Sunset Shimmer!”

Sonata finally stopped singing and dropped to the ground, happy but exhausted. Adagio and Aria sighed in relief, too drained to celebrate the fact that their friend was alive, but glad nonetheless.

Twilight stood by the door to the balcony, unable to leave due to Aria’s massive body blocking the path. “Princess Celestia went out to get more ingredients.” She explained. “When she comes back, I’ll be able to do the same for you three. But only if you want to, of course.”

“You know what? I think I’ll take you up on that offer.” Adagio replied.

“Me too.” Aria agreed, raising one hoof.

“Me thr…” Sonata passed out from exhaustion before finishing that sentence.

The denizens of Canterlot had gotten used to the sight of sirens floating above them over the past couple of days, so watching four of them flying around the towers of the castle was nothing to be alarmed about.

“This is so cool!” Sunset Shimmer said. “Last time I was able to fly I was mad with power and trying to take over CHS, so I didn’t get the opportunity to really enjoy it!”

“And without the hunger slowing us down, we can really make full use of this ability.” Aria said, enjoying the freedom she didn’t have since the day she was banished to the human world.

“Race ya to the top of the mountain!” Sonata challenged as she flew past Aria like a missile.

“Oh, you are so on!” Aria sped up after the second youngest siren.

“So, did you ever figure out the identity of the wizard who created the first siren?” Sunset asked.

“Not really.” The eldest siren replied. “He wrote his name on the cover of his journal, but it was so worn down due to its age that it’s unreadable.”

“What about his motive? Was it for immortality like you theorized?”

“Yes, it was. But not for him.”

“Then who?”

“His wife. She was sick, some disease Princess Twilight told me they found a cure for centuries ago. He did all he could, but in the end the only thing that could save her was transfiguration. The reason we needed to feed off emotional energy was because changeling blood was a key ingredient, but since Twilight’s new recipe discarded that” she tapped her own gemstone with a hoof “we don’t have to anymore.

“Ironically, his desire to have his wife live by his side wound up costing him his life; she was starving by the time the transformation was over, and he was overflowing with love for her. She sucked him dry, and he used the final moments he had to write one final entry in his journal.”

“Well, that sucks.” Her eyes widened and she facehoofed. “That was a pun, I’m sorry…”

Adagio chuckled. “Do you want to know what the name of the first siren was?”

“It will be a welcome addition to the history books.”

“Elegy Gloom.”

“Elegy Gl– Wait, isn’t that your…?”

“My sire, yes. Do you think that’s why she took pity on Aria and I? She regretted killing the pony she loved the most, so she decided to save those in need as a form of atonement? Or am I just reading too deeply into this?”

“You said it yourself: she was the best of all sirens. Does that sound like something the best of all sirens would do?”

She shrugged. “I guess we’ll never know.”

“Are you sure about this?” Twilight, feeling slightly worried, asked.

“As much as I love being back here in Equestria, I can’t stay after what I discovered.” Sunset replied, her massive body hovering in front of the mirror portal that was currently being kept open by a contraption constructed by Twilight and Celestia using the magical journal to maintain a connection with the other side. “At first I thought I was the only being from Equestria that lived in that side of the portal, but meeting the Dazzlings made me think.” She touched the mirror with the tip of her hoof, causing ripples on its surface. “If I was there and they were there, it’s very possible that there could be other wayward Equestrian beings living among humans, maybe even magical artifacts hidden somewhere. Someone needs to keep an eye out, to make sure they don’t cause any trouble when they surface.”

“It is a very noble task, Sunset Shimmer, but I must echo Twilight’s feelings.” Princess Celestia spoke up. “From what your friends told me, the natives aren’t very fond of you. Is it wise to live in a place that offers you nothing but hostility?”

“It doesn’t matter if they like me or not, there is a world filled with innocent people on the other side; I don’t think it’s fair to let them fend off for themselves when they’re not properly equipped to deal with magical threats. I mean, what do you think would have happened if Princess Twilight wasn’t there to stop me?”

Celestia wrapped a hoof around Sunset Shimmer’s neck and pressed the sides of their faces together. “I’m really proud of how much you matured, my student.”

“What about you three?” Twilight turned to address the original trio. “Are you staying?”

“We’ve had a discussion.” Their leader replied. “Being back in Equestria is a dream come true, but we’ll have to pass. For now, at least.”

“Sunset is still new to this whole ‘being a siren’ thing, and leaving her to learn and understand all the things her body is capable of all by herself is kind of irresponsible.” Aria added.

“That’s her way of saying she’s worried about Sunny and doesn’t want to let her out of her sight just yet.” Sonata explained with a wink. “She’s just a very concerned mama who doesn’t want her baby to grow up too fast!”

The blushing Siren smacked Sonata on the back of her head.

“The point is, we’re not in a hurry.” Adagio concluded. “Sunset is our friend. If she wants to spend a little more time in the human world as its guardian or whatever, we’ll be there to support her along the way – we’re sirens after all, it’s not like we’ll be growing older anytime soon. We know where the portal is and we are welcome to come back whenever we feel like it, we can afford to delay our comeback tour.” She grew concerned for a moment. “Uh, we are welcome back here, right?”

Princess Celestia nodded. “Of course you are. Ever since your return you’ve been nothing but cooperative, respectful and showed care and compassion that I don’t think my old mentor Starswirl would believe you to be capable of.”

“Not to mention we’ve been stripped of our mind control powers, so it’s not like we can do the same kind of damage we used to.” Sonata added, earning another smack on the back of the head. “Stop it!”

“Only if you stop saying dumb things.” Aria retorted.

After one last round of heartfelt goodbyes, the quartet crossed the portal back to Canterlot High.

“So where do we go from here?” Adagio asked while stretching her human limbs.

“Princess Purple Smart said we’ll be able to feed as long as we don’t go too far from the school.” Aria pointed out, looking down at her pendant that still looked exactly the same as before, despite being completely different.

“At least we don’t have to feed on anything other than magic.” Sonata patted her stomach. “I was afraid we would have to eat regular food out of necessity, so I’m glad that’s not the case; eating food just for the heck of it is so much better!”

“Also you don’t have to worry about calories. Speaking of which, who wants to go to the Sweet Shoppe?” Sunset invited. “My treat!”

“Now you’re talking!” Sonata grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away, with Adagio and Aria soon following them.

They waited for a bus to drive by before crossing the street. That same bus parked in front of CHS and someone stepped out of it, wearing a light blue hoodie and holding a device that they held up as they approached the statue that also moonlighted as the portal back to Equestria.

“There’s definitely something strange going on in this school…” The person muttered while adjusting their glasses as the device they were holding detected an unknown type of radiation.

Author's Notes:

If it's not clear by now, one of the things I really hoped from the original show was for Princess Sunbutt to have her ultra badass moment in which she goes ever further beyond, turns Super Pony 3 and blows some big bad villain away.
Unfortunately that never happened, so I thought "fine, I'll do it myself".

Anyway, here's more of my art:

Chapter 7

“As I am sure you all know” Principal Celestia, once again standing on top of a stage in the gymnasium, spoke in a microphone to the students sitting on the bleachers and folding chairs “tomorrow, Canterlot High School will be hosting our fellow students from Crystal Prep Academy as we join together in the spirit of excellence, sportsmanship and fidelity to compete in the Friendship Games.”

All four Dazzlings, sitting on the topmost seats of the bleachers, watched as the students gave half-hearted cheers and clapped without any enthusiasm.

“They don’t sound too thrilled about that event.” Adagio said.

“Since the games only happen every four years I’m sure you’re all curious what goes on.” Celestia continued.

“No, not really.” Aria muttered while checking her nails.

“You mean other than us losing?” Flash Sentry, located just a few seats below theirs, shouted as he stood up; the principal chose to ignore that comment.

“And that is exactly why I’ve asked Rainbow Dash to come up and give you all a little, um… context.”

“Thank you, Principal Celestia!” The rainbow-haired girl said as she grabbed the microphone from its stand before clearing her throat.

“Oh my Hathor, here we go…” Aria complained, resting on her elbows and lifting her head to look at the roof. Sonata shushed her, curious about what was about to happen.

“I know a lot of you might think there’s no way we can beat a fancy school like Crystal Prep at anything.”

Pinkie Pie shouted something at the girl on stage. Aria didn’t bother to pay attention to what she said.

“Do we have to be here? At this point I’d rather be back in Salem. And I’m talking 1600s Salem.”

“Where’s your spirit of excellence, sportsmanship and fidelity?” Adagio mockingly asked.

“I dropped it along with all the damns I don’t give about these whatever games.”

“Well, I think it sounds like fun.” Sonata said. “You girls want to compete?”

“Give me one good reason why I should care about anything that goes on at this school.”

“CHS hasn’t been able to defeat Crystal Prep in many years.” Sunset Shimmer explained. “If you manage to lead our school to victory you’ll be able to rub it in their faces and have bragging rights until graduation day.”

Aria sat up straight. “You have my curiosity.”

While they were chatting amongst themselves, Rainbow Dash and the marching band began singing a song meant to motivate the other students.

“We fought magic more than once~!” She sang. “And come out on top~!”

“Uh, pretty sure that’s inaccurate!” Adagio shouted, but her protest fell on deaf ears; all students were focused on Rainbow Dash and her song.

Dash continued to sing as she marched towards two groups of nine students holding up signs that together formed the letter C styled like a horseshoe that served as the logo of CHS’s sports team, the Wondercolts.

“We overcame the obstacles we faced~!”

The first group of nine students flipped over their signs, forming a depiction of Sunset Shimmer from when she transformed into a she-demon during the Fall Formal. The girl in question crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

“Ok, that’s just rude.” She stood up and shouted: “I’m right here, you know!”

The other group of nine students flipped over their signs as well, revealing a painting of the three sirens in their true forms.

“Booooo!” Sonata jeered.

“Our fangs do not look like that!” Aria complained. “We’re not vampires.”

“I don’t remember being asked permission to use our likenesses.” Adagio shouted. “And again, you did not ‘overcome’ us!”

Members of the marching band began tossing hairbands with pony ears and pony tails with a clasp so that it could be attached to the back of their pants or skirts; most students put them on, but the sirens ignored them.

“I will not wear any of those things until I am given a proper apology.” Adagio looked away with her arms crossed.

“And we know at the end of the day it is we who survive~!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aria asked. “Do people die in the Friendship Games? Are they like the games the Romans used to play in the Colosseum? Those things were hardcore, I’m getting kind of excited now!”

As the students began to clap and sing along, Sunset Shimmer noticed that Rainbow Dash had started to pony up, an unusual occurrence since that was something that only happened when the Rainbooms played their musical instruments; she sprouted wings, pony ears appeared on the top of her head and her hair grew in order to simulate a tail. When the song came to an end and the students began to cheer, the athlete was flying several feet up in the air.

“Well, that’s unusual.” Sunset mumbled.

“You know what? I wasn’t interested before, but now I’m motivated to participate.” Aria said as the Dazzlings exited the gymnasium with the other students. “I’ll win those stupid games, get a stupid medal, wear it around my stupid neck for the rest of the stupid year and make sure to rub it in their stupid faces every time we cross paths. And then we will parade around this stupid school carrying stupid signs with their stupid faces on them!”

“Ohhh, can I draw them?” Sonata asked.

“Sonata, your drawings are terrible.” Aria replied. “You’re more than welcome to.”

“You’re unusually quiet.” Adagio pointed out, addressing Sunset.

“I’m just thinking.” Sunset said. “I thought the Rainbooms were only able to pony up when playing music, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t playing her guitar.”

“Maybe any musical number counts?” Sonata suggested.

“It’s a possibility, but I’ll keep an eye on those five. Princess Twilight trusts them enough to let them keep their magic, but if it gets out of control I’ll have to step in.”

“You may have to step in one way or another.” Sunset Shimmer jumped when the voice coming from behind her suddenly spoke up. She turned around and spotted Princess Luna looking down at her.

“Where did she come from?” Sonata whispered to Aria, who just shrugged.

“Principal Celestia and I would like to keep magic as far away from the Friendship Games as possible; it may not look like it, but they are serious business and we don’t want any more magic-related surprises interfering with yet another event at CHS. Princess Twilight Sparkle briefed my sister and I on your mission in this world, and if Crystal Prep finds out about this they will make zero effort to keep the existence of magic under wraps like we do.

“It will be bad for us, it will be bad for you and it will be bad for your homeworld. I’ll talk to the Rainbooms, see if I can get them to tone down the magical transformations in public, but if things escalate I would like you four to find a way to prevent things from getting worse. Can I count on you?”

Sonata saluted her. “Aye-aye, sir, ma’am, sir!”

“We’ll do our best.” Sunset replied.

“And I’ll be forever grateful.” Luna walked away, searching for the five girls.

“Guess I better sign up.” Aria said. “It’s a little last minute, but if the principal can let it slide once then she can let it slide twice.”

“Don’t worry about it, I already signed all of us up days ago!” Sonata cheerfully informed her. “And we’re all part of the twelve selected to participate.”

Adagio raised an eyebrow. “And when, exactly, were you planning on telling us?”

“I’m telling you right now!”

“Then why did you ask if we were going to participate if you had already signed us up?” Aria asked.

“But none of you participated in the tryouts.” Sunset Shimmer pointed out before Sonata answered. “How come you’ve all been selected?”

“I told Principal Celestia it was urgent magic-related business and that we had to investigate closely, so she just gave us spots on the team!”

“So you lied.”

“Yep!”

Aria facepalmed with a sigh of frustration and defeat. “I guess we’re doing this now, then. You better hope some magical shenanigans happen in this thing, because if the Principal comes a-knocking demanding an explanation I’ll tell her it was all you.”

With school over for the day, they returned to their minibus and Adagio drove them back to the apartment above the Sweet Shoppe where they lived so they could get ready for work – without mind control magic to get them free lodging or free clothes, they either had to live in the bus forever, which would run out of gas eventually, or find part-time jobs so they could afford a place to live in.

Aria Blaze worked as a cashier in the same counterculture store where they “bought” the spiked wristbands she had taken a liking to, side by side with the teal-haired girl she had hypnotized; they weren’t exactly friends, but they had enough in common to tolerate each other’s presence.

Adagio Dazzle worked at a pawn shop that belonged to a very shady pair of brothers named Flim and Flam; at first they tried to make her wear a banana costume and sing in front of the store to attract customers, but after showing them that she had a way with words by making an unsuspecting client pay a lot of money for something that was barely worth half of what he paid, the brothers gave her a job behind the counter.

Sonata Dusk worked as a waitress at the Sweet Shoppe, the bakery that belonged to their landlords Mr. and Mrs. Cake; after finding out that the girls lived in a minibus and had no home to call their own, the generous couple offered the vacant apartment located above their place of business.

Sunset Shimmer didn’t have a proper job, but she babysat Pound and Pumpkin Cake, the twin kids of the Cake couple, during working hours in exchange for a discount on their rent.

The next morning, the four girls saw black buses park in front of the school and Principal Celestia approach them to greet the only person who stepped out of the first bus, an older lady who was most likely the principal of Crystal Prep, while Vice Principal Luna gave the second person a hug.

“It’s always such a pleasure to see you, Dean Cadance.” The vice principal said.

While the two of them had a conversation, the Dazzlings watched as students in uniform came pouring out of the buses, each looking just as bored and uninterested as the previous one. Sunset tried to greet them warmly by waving at them with a big smile, but all she got in return were cold glares that Adagio and Aria were more than happy to return in kind while Sonata stuck her tongue out.

Another person they saw coming out of the bus was Twilight Sparkle herself, but with minor differences like her clothes, her hairstyle and the fact that she wore glasses, which caused a little bit of confusion until the sirens came to the conclusion that she was Princess Twilight Sparkle’s human counterpart. Before she had the chance to place her foot on the pavement, another girl also stepping out of the vehicle pushed her aside, causing her to fall on top of a Crystal Prep student.

“Seriously?” The girl chastised her as she got up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Human Twilight apologized, looking down at the ground to avoid eye contact as the girl walked away. When she got up, she blocked the path of yet another girl from her school. “Oh, sorry!” She stepped out of the way. “Why don’t you go ahead?”

“You are such a sweetie!” She said with a smile before her expression turned into a mixture of anger and annoyance. “I am watching you.”

Aria rolled her eyes as she walked towards the not-Princess of Friendship.

“You are kind of being a doormat right now.” Both Aria and a girl from Crystal Prep who also styled her hair in twintails told Twilight at the same time.

They locked eyes, Aria looking just as pissed off as ever while the new girl had a calm and neutral expression. Aria crossed her arms and looked away while the CPA student adjusted her glasses and joined the others.

Twilight had some kind of device hanging around her neck, which began to blink. Holding it on her hands for closer inspection, she noticed that the blinking light, which worked like the needle of a compass, was pointing at the CHS girl who just talked to her. She tried walking around the girl, but the light of the gadget kept pointing at her – whatever strange energy she was tracking, that girl either was the source, had said source on her person, or had interacted with it recently and some of the energy had clung to her body.

“What are you doing?” Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You wouldn’t happen to…” She froze when she noticed the expression of her face – people who were familiar with Aria would recognize that as an expression of curiosity, but to everyone else she just looked angry. “N-N-Nevermind! I’m sorry!” She ran to join the other students from Crystal Prep and nearly collided with them.

“Good morning, girls.” Principal Celestia greeted the four of them. “Since you’re already here, could you please escort our friends from Crystal Prep Academy to the gymnasium?”

“Sure, we’ve got nothing better to do.” Aria replied as she approached the large group of students. “Alright losers, listen up: I can tell that you want to be here about as much as I do, so why don’t we get this over with and—” Adagio interrupted her speech by slapping her hand on the younger siren’s mouth, effectively shutting her up.

“What she meant to say is that we are very thrilled to have you all in our humble school and we hope that you enjoy participating in the Friendship Games just as much as we enjoy hosting them.” Adagio spoke up before giving Aria a sideway glare. “Now, I’m sure you’re tired from the trip, so why don’t you follow us to the gym so we can have a little interschool celebration before the games start?”

“You shouldn’t toss words like ‘loser’ around when it’s your school that’s never been able to beat ours in the Friendship Games.” A girl with blue hair and goggles sitting on top of her head warned.

Adagio chose to ignore that comment as the Dazzlings escorted the Crystal Prep students into the building. Sunset glanced at Twilight from time to time, curious about that apparatus and the reason why it was pointing at Aria.

The gymnasium had very basic decorations such as banners, flags, streamers and balloons, and the food available at the tables was considered barely passable at best – neither CHS nor CPA students were very impressed. None of them had any interest in interacting with people from another school, choosing to communicate only through glares and rude hand gestures.

“You know, if we were still able to feed off negative energy this place would be a five course meal.” Adagio pointed out. “And we didn’t even do anything.”

“Oof!” Twilight, who wasn’t looking where she was going, collided with Aria and fell down. “Sorry! I’m sorry!”

Sunset offered a hand to help her up, which she took before dusting her skirt.

“Are you stalking me?” Aria asked, raising her fist. “I swear, if you don’t leave me alone I’m gonna—”

“Ganging up on one of ours now?” The Crystal Prep student with blue hair and goggles asked, pushing Twilight aside so she could stand in front of Aria. “Are you that desperate to win?”

“No, but I care about my personal space and invasion thereof.”

“It was just a misunderstanding, there’s no need to start a fight over it.” Sunset Shimmer placed her hands on the shoulders of both girls, trying to defuse the situation. “Let’s save all that energy for when the Games start, ok?”

“If these Friendship Games turn out to be just like all previous ones, we’ll win without wasting any.” The same student Aria had a staring contest with not long prior said before adjusting her glasses. “We could run a few laps around the field before the competition and still have enough energy to beat you.”

“Pride cometh before the fall.” Adagio spoke with her hands on her hips and a smug smile on her face. “But please, do keep clinging to the accomplishments of your predecessors like they are your own; that will only make your defeat taste much bitterer.”

“We from Crystal Prep Academy are born and raised to be the best.” Another student, this one with ear-length purple hair, replied. “Unlike you slackers from Canterlot High we always give 110% of what we got, no matter what we’re doing.”

“Except math! You can’t go higher than 100%, dummy.” Sonata pointed out, causing Aria to groan and facepalm while Adagio rolled her eyes. “What?”

“It’s a figure of speech, Sonata.” Sunset explained.

“With competition like that, I don’t know why even bother with the Games.” The goggles girl said to the others. “They may as well just give us the medals now and avoid the embarrassment.”

All Crystal Prep students within earshot laughed, giving Twilight the opportunity to sneak away unnoticed.

“Hello, everyone.” Principal Celestia, standing on stage with Dean Cadance, said in a microphone – while she spoke, the CPA and CHS students that were arguing went their separate ways. “I’d like to take this opportunity to greet all of our visitors from Crystal Prep Academy and welcome them to CHS.” She then passed the mic to the dean from Crystal Prep.

“Would all twenty-four students that will be representing their respective schools in the Friendship Games please come on stage so that you can be properly introduced?” Dean Cadance requested.

They all followed the principal’s instruction and their names were finally revealed: the Crystal Prep students that would be competing were Sugarcoat, the girl with twintails that Aria met by the bus, Indigo Zap, the blue-haired girl with goggles, Sunny Flare, the girl with ear-length purple hair, Sour Sweet, the bipolar girl with a pink ponytail, Lemon Zest, who hadn’t taken off her headphones since stepping out of the bus and had to be dragged on stage by her classmates, Twilight Sparkle, Suri Polomare, Upper Crust, Jet Set, Pokey Pierce, Trenderhoof and Neon Lights.

The students representing Canterlot High School were Sunset Shimmer, Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, Aria Blaze, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Derpy Muffins, Trixie Lulamoon and Flash Sentry.

“Um, where’s Pinkie Pie?” Principal Celestia called, looking around the gymnasium for the 12th student representing her school.

“Over here!” The girl in question called, waving her arm before pulling a lever that turned off the lights. She then turned on spotlights that were pointed at a disco ball that wasn’t there before.

The silence was broken by the school DJ, Vinyl Scratch, who played an upbeat song as students from both schools realized that the cheap snacks on the tables had been replaced with delicious baked goods. Pinkie ran to the two cannons she brought into the gymnasium and pulled their cords, releasing a rain of streamers and confetti.

This new atmosphere changed everybody’s mood; they all began mingling and interacting with students from different schools, chatting, dancing and generally having a good time. Sunset Shimmer noticed that Pinkie Pie’s magic began acting up, giving her pony ears and extending her hair, but before she had the chance to do something about it the other girl simply returned to normal, looking uncharacteristically exhausted. She spotted Twilight not far from her, busying herself with her device.

Just as all students were beginning to have fun and enjoy themselves, the lights were turned back on, the music stopped and the feedback from the microphone forced all of them to cover their ears. Standing on the stage behind the microphone stand was Crystal Prep’s very own principal.

“I’d like to thank Principal Celestia for her unconventional welcome.” She said in the mic as she used a handkerchief to clean the lenses of her half moon glasses. “For those who do not know me, I am Principal Abacus Cinch of the Crystal Prep Academy. It’s been four years since the last Friendship Games but it feels as though nothing has changed.

“Canterlot High continues to pick its competitors in a popularity contest and Crystal Prep continues to field its top 12 students. It is a comfort to know that, even after so many years of losses, your school remains committed to its ideals, however misguided they may be. I wish you all the best of luck, regardless of the inevitable outcome.”

By the time her speech was over, the rivalry between the schools that had been momentarily set aside returned stronger than before and students that were smiling at each other just moments prior were glaring once more.

“Guess we know who their role model is.” Aria pointed her thumb at the Crystal Prep students they were previously arguing with.

“She sucked the happiness out of the room in a matter of seconds. I bet you two cupcakes that her Equestrian counterpart is a changeling.” Sonata said, frowning before taking a bite out of one of the cupcakes she was holding. “One and a half.”

After the welcome party was over, the gym was emptied so that the participants could get ready for the Friendship Games.

Author's Notes:

What, you think it was over just because the last chapter was extra long? I didn't change it from "incomplete" to "complete" for a reason! Besides, the Trixie and Shadowbolts tag have been there since chapter 1.

Chapter 8

Both CHS and CPA students gathered on the school entrance hall, with the twenty-four of them who were going to participate in the Friendship Games standing by Principal Celestia, Principal Cinch, Vice-Principal Luna and Dean Cadance.

“Welcome to the first event: the academic decathlon!” Cadance announced. “You’ll be scored on chemistry, home-ec and everything in between, but remember: only the six students from each team with the most points will move on to event number two. Good luck!”

The first round of the event took place in the chemistry lab, where the competitors were given a list of chemical reactions they were supposed to create; some were easier but worth fewer points, while the more difficult ones earned them extra points. Although Derpy almost set the room on fire, the round was over without complications.

The next round was a mixture of home-ec and art class, where the students were separated in pairs and had to both bake and decorate a cake. Sonata learned how to bake delicious cakes at her job and Aria had a sense of aesthetic that surprised even her closest friends, so after they were paired together they baked a masterpiece in both design and taste. Baking wasn’t Flash Sentry’s strongest suit, but by following Sunset Shimmer’s instructions they managed to make something acceptable together.

Round three was woodworking, in which the pairs had to build a birdhouse that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Trixie, who crafted her own props for her magic shows, felt comfortable with a circular saw on her hand and worked miracles with it, making up for Adagio’s lack of experience.

All the pairs were dissolved before round four, a spelling bee contest taking place in the school auditorium. Sonata and Derpy did poorly right off the bat. Aria and Trixie were a little better, but still below average. Adagio and Flash did ok, but nothing spectacular. Sunset did great, but even she was capable of making mistakes.

The final round of the first event was a series of mathematical problems, with each student being tasked with solving one of them. Every CPA student answered correctly, but a few CHS students made mistakes along the way that caused them to give the wrong answers.

After calculating the results of the participants in each round, Vice-Principal Luna made the announcement:

“The winner of the Friendship Games first event, scoring a total of 472 points, is Crystal Prep. Canterlot High scored a total of 312 points, better luck on the next round.”

The crowd clapped without much enthusiasm, already knowing that this would be the result before the Games even began.

“After a careful tally of the points, we’d like to announce the students moving on to the Friendship Games second event.” Dean Cadance said. “From Crystal Prep, I’d like to call Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare and Twilight Sparkle to join us up here.”

The students whose names were called climbed on stage, all of them looking just as bored as the audience with the exception of Twilight who wasn’t comfortable being the center of attention.

“And from Canterlot High, the students moving on to the second event are Adagio Dazzle, Applejack, Aria Blaze, Flash Sentry, Sunset Shimmer and Trixie Lulamoon.”

“Aw, shoot.” Sonata muttered sadly, looking down at her feet. Derpy Muffins, looking equally disappointed with the results, walked up to her and patted her on the back. Sonata pulled her into a sad hug.

“That’s thanks to you, Sunset.” Flash told her as they walked up on stage. “If you hadn’t carried me throughout the first event, I doubt I would be standing here.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Flash. You understood all the instructions I was giving you, even when I myself wasn’t sure if what I was saying made any sense.”

Flash Sentry waved Twilight, but she just looked confused before turning around to face her teammates. He used the hand he was waving to scratch the back of his head.

“What is up with Twilight? I thought she came here to help us win the Friendship Games, but not only is she playing for the other team, she’s acting like I’m a total stranger. Is it because of the things I said during the Battle of the Bands? I don’t think I ever apologized for that, now that I think about it…”

“That’s not Twilight, Flash.” Sunset explained as they were directed by Principal Celestia to exit the stage. “Well, I mean, she is Twilight, but not our Twilight; she’s a student from Crystal Prep and, as far as I can tell, she’s always been. Our Twilight is a princess, she’s got duties and responsibilities, I don’t think a high school competition is very high up on her list of priorities to make her drop everything and come here to help us.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Well, thanks for telling me before I said anything that would make things awkward.”

“Even more awkward, you mean. She definitely thinks you’re a weirdo at this point.”

Flash Sentry laughed nervously. “Do you know if our Twilight will come visit us anytime soon? I, uh… we miss her. And I really need to apologize.”

“Hiding it won’t do you any good, Flash, we all know you have a thing for her. But like I said, she has duties and responsibilities back in Equestria, and that’s where she’s gonna spend most of her time. I don’t want to sound mean, but you should get over her.”

“Ouch. Your attitude may have changed, but you’re just as blunt as you were when we… y’know…”

“Dude, you already made things awkward with one girl today. If you want a two-for-one discount that badly, ask Adagio about The Flim Flam Brothers’ Everything Under The Sun Emporium.”

“Yeah, my bad. It’s just… Twilight and I were really getting along, I was just hoping we’d become… something more.”

“That’s why you need to get over her, otherwise you’ll be stuck thinking about what could have been for the rest of your life and won’t be able to move on. Of all the people that comes to mind when I think ‘lonely 30-year-old basement-dwelling bachelor pining for his high school sweetheart’, you’re not one of them. Get out there, find a human girl that you like, go out with her and be happy because the pony girl is not coming back anytime soon.”

“When you put it like that… Well, thanks for the tough love, at least. Some people still say you haven’t changed at all, but you’re definitely a better person now than you were before the Fall Formal.”

She rolled her eyes at the mention of that cursed event. “Anytime.”

“So, uh… any plans for the weekend?”

“I said human girl, Flash.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Sunset received a text message saying that they were meeting up at the cafeteria since it was empty, so that’s where they went; Aria, Adagio, Trixie and Applejack were already there.

“Hey there, Applejack!” Sunset Shimmer greeted with a wave. “We haven’t talked in forever. How are the girls? Done anything interesting since, y’know, almost killing me?”

Applejack tried to hold it in, but she had enough: slamming her fists on the table, she stood up and pointed an accusatory finger at her. “We already said we’re sorry many times over, how long are you goin’ to hang that over our heads? Especially since, far as I can remember, you tried to kill us long before the Battle o’ the Bands even happened.”

“That was different, the magic corrupted me and I lost control!”

“And we didn’t know that tryin’ to stop y’all would almost kill ya, shouldn’t we be even now?”

“Excuse me, but are we going to discuss a way to beat Crystal Prep or did you just invite me here to watch you bicker?” Trixie interrupted. “Because as amusing as that sounds, I’d rather do literally anything else right now.”

“I didn’t invite any of you.” Adagio explained. “Sonata went behind my back again and texted everybody that made it to the second event so we could ‘work on our synergy’, and now here we are.”

“I’m surprised Sonata even knows what the word ‘synergy’ means.” Aria commented.

“Well, I got nothing better to do.” Trixie propped her feet on the table. “So, are we going to tell childhood stories or what?”

“Trixie, people eat here!” Sunset chastised her.

“So what? Somebody’s gonna clean it after school, no big deal.”

“If I find foot fungus in my salad I’m cutting your legs off!”

“Alright ladies, put a cork in the lovers spat.” Adagio requested, clapping to get their attention. “I know this sounds crazy, but Sonata has a point: if we want to win the Friendship Games – which is the cheesiest name ever, by the way – we need to work well together, and to work well together we need to know each other better. Let’s start with you, farmer girl, what kind of person are you when you’re not trying to murder the last survivors of a functionally extinct race?”

Applejack exhaled in frustration before sitting back down; arguing with them wasn’t going anywhere, so she decided to be the bigger person and let it go. “There ain’t much to tell; I grew up on an apple farm just outside o’ town with my big brother an’ my lil’ sis where we also work, and we were all raised by my Granny Smith, the lunch lady.”

“What about your par—” Before Flash Sentry could finish that sentence, Trixie covered his mouth with her hand.

“Don’t even go there, Mr. Sentry!” Trixie said. “I’m no fan of the Rainbooms, but even I know that bringing that up is a rude thing to do. Just drop it, ok?”

“That’s surprisingly considerate coming from ya, Trixie.” Applejack said with a smile, glad that the subject had been dropped before it even started.

“I didn’t do it for you.” She looked away with her arms crossed. “This day has been painful enough already, watching the toughest girl in school cry would only make it worse.”

“Well, uh… thanks anyway.”

“Sorry about that.” Flash Sentry looked down in shame, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m not exactly on top of my game today.”

“Can’t blame ya sugarcube, Big Mac said it’s always like that when Crystal Prep’s around; morale goes way down while we’re gettin’ our butts kicked an’ everybody starts actin’ a bit funny.”

“Well, we have to turn things around on the second event and then crush them on the third.” Aria punched the palm of her hand to illustrate her point. “Any guesses on what it could be?”

“Uh, you don’t know?” Flash asked. “Principal Celestia explained to everyone who qualified, it’s an event called Tri-Cross Relay where pairs from both schools will compete in archery, roller skating and motocross. She asked us to not tell anybody to keep it a surprise.”

“That’s why those construction workers came earlier this week and put a fence around the field while workin’ on it.” Applejack explained. “Dash wasn’t happy about that, but said it was gonna be worth the wait once she got the chance to participate in the Relay.” She chuckled. “Hoo boy, she was fumin’ once we learned that Trixie made it to the second event and she didn’t – she was trainin’ all week for the motocross part.”

“Just goes to show that brawn isn’t everything.” Trixie replied with a smug smile. “I won the Battle of the Bands after all, I have a close relationship with victory.”

Applejack just rolled her eyes. “Lucky me, round one was full o’ things I know a thing or two about. Chemistry and grammar ain’t my thing, but cookin’ and carpentry are right up my alley!”

“Also you’re one of the few of us who answered the math problem correctly.” Adagio pointed out. “You don’t strike me as the mathematician type. How’d you do it?”

“My brother’s been tutorin’ me since grade school, he says it’s good to know our way ‘round numbers to make sure we don’t get swindled by some crooked businessman like those no-good brothers, Flim and Flam. Y’all know ‘em? They own a pawn shop downtown, everythin’ they sell is awfully overpriced.”

“I do, unfortunately.” Adagio said between gritted teeth; they were her bosses and signed her paychecks, but that didn’t mean she had to like them.

“Your brother wouldn’t happen to offer tutoring to non-family members, would he?” Trixie asked. “I could use a… refresher. N-Not that I’m dire need or anything, it’s just good to be prepared.”

They spent the rest of the interval between events bonding, discussing the activities they would be participating in and, against all odds, they were having a good time doing it. Even Sunset Shimmer managed to tolerate Applejack’s presence – the fact that the farmer girl was the only Rainboom who acted somewhat civil towards her after the Fall Formal and before the Battle of the Bands certainly helped her look past the fact that she was one of the girls who almost got her killed.

“There you all are.” Principal Celestia said as she entered the cafeteria. “I was about to call your names on the P.A., but seeing how you’re all here… I just wanted to tell you that the Friendship Games will resume soon, we’ll be waiting by the sports field.”

When the temporary fences erected around the field were removed, it was revealed that the sports field received a complete makeover: there was a short obstacle course and an archery range with moving targets in the center, an oval race track built around it and a bigger track with large mounds of dirt surrounding the smaller track.

“Welcome, everyone, to the Friendship Games Tri-Cross Relay!” Dean Cadance announced from the commentator booth overlooking the track alongside Principal Cinch, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna. “In this event our qualifying competitors will face off in archery, speed skating, and finally motocross. So, if the competitors are ready…” She blew an air horn, signaling the start of the second event.

Trixie and Sour Sweet dashed off, grabbing their quivers before jumping over bales of hay and swinging over a mud pit on a rope.

“Each competitor must hit a bullseye before their teammates can start the next leg of the relay.”

Trixie vaulted over the bales effortlessly, but her grip on the rope wasn’t strong enough; she fell in the mud pit, amusing both Canterlot High and Crystal Prep students.

Sour Sweet finished the obstacle course without problems, picked up the bow at the end of the course and fired an arrow at one of the moving target, hitting a bullseye on her first try. It took a second for Twilight to register what just happened, but she eventually snapped back to reality, grabbed her equipment and ran as well.

Trixie felt very embarrassed, but she wiped the mud off her face and climbed on the platform where her bow awaited.

Twilight Sparkle had difficulties along the way but she managed to reach the platform before Trixie hit a bullseye, although it didn’t take long for the CHS student to score a point. Applejack grabbed her quiver and ran, finishing the obstacle course just as easily as Sour Sweet. It took a couple of tries, but she hit a bullseye fairly quickly compared to her teammate. Once the arrow hit the target, Adagio and Flash skated away.

Twilight was doing worse than Trixie, missing every single arrow she shot and not coming even close to hitting a bullseye. She broke down in tears when she realized there was a single arrow left in her quiver.

“You’re really bad at this.” Aria and Sugarcoat, who were waiting for their turns on their dirt bikes, shouted at the same time. Aria glared at her again, but Sugarcoat just rolled her eyes.

“We’re the ones who are supposed to taunt and demean your teammate.” Trixie said with a smile. “You’re doing our job for us.”

“Enjoying the mud mask, hair bleach?” Indigo Zap fired back. “It’s good for that oily skin of yours, you really need it!”

“Why, you—”

Applejack groaned. “I can’t take anymore!” She handed her bow to Trixie and walked over to CPA’s platform, standing beside Twilight. “Ya have to stop aimin’ at the target.”

“Oh, that makes perfect sense!” Sour Sweet said in her obnoxiously high pitched voice. “Don’t aim at the target. Thanks so much.”

Applejack ignored the sarcastic comment. “Ya have to stop aimin’ at where the target is and aim at where the target’s gonna be.”

“Yeah, definitely take advice from the person YOU’RE COMPETING AGAINST!”

“Do you wanna hit the bullseye or not?” Twilight nodded, wiping her tears on her forearm. “Then trust me. Take a deep breath…” The Crystal Prep girl did as she was told. “And let the arrow go… riiiiight… now!” Just as Applejack promised, the arrow hit the target right in the center. Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare did not waste any time, chasing after Flash and Adagio immediately.

“Oh come on, Applejack!” It was Sunset Shimmer’s turn to shout. “Are you trying to make us lose the Friendship Games?”

But the farm girl didn’t pay attention; she was comforting Twilight, who had just hugged her.

“See? I was tellin’ ya the truth!”

A pair of pony ears appeared on top of Applejack’s head and her ponytail grew longer to simulate an actual pony tail; Sunset Shimmer’s anger was replaced by panic.

“No no no no no!”

Before anyone in the audience had the chance to notice, however, the device Twilight Sparkle carried around on her neck opened itself up and began sucking the magic out of Applejack.

“What… are… you… doin’?” Applejack asked, trying to hold on to the magic being stolen from her, but losing the battle.

“I don’t know!” Twilight replied, trying to force the gadget shut. Applejack’s pony ears disappeared along with her ponytail extension, leaving her exhausted. Twilight finally managed to close it, but Applejack’s magic had already been completely drained by then.

Sunset Shimmer, who had witnessed everything, tightened her grip on the handlebars of her dirt bike as her anger returned.

“Canterlot only has two laps to go, but it looks like Crystal Prep is making up for lost time!” Cadance announced.

Adagio offered her hand to Flash Sentry, who took it as they skated side by side, effectively blocking Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare.

The CPA girls eventually figured out a way to get around the blockade, but it made them lose speed and cost them precious seconds; by the time CHS finished the race, they still had half of a lap left to go. When Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap were finally allowed to start, the Canterlot High girls were already two thirds of a lap ahead of them.

Sunset’s attention moved away from Twilight Sparkle and back to the race, so she didn’t notice when Twilight tripped and fell, dropping the apparatus in the process and causing it to open portals throughout the track from where Equestrian sentient vines began to emerge. Twilight tried to pick it up and close it, an act that would seal the portals once again, but one of the vines grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her away from her gadget.

Large vines appeared throughout the track and began attacking the four racers. Indigo Zap managed to dodge it, but Sugarcoat wasn’t as lucky and her dirt bike was caught on the monstrous plant’s deadly grip. The sirens were also assaulted, and Sunset fell off her bike trying to avoid a collision with the giant vine.

Sugarcoat was beginning to lose her grip on the bike that had been raised several feet up in the air by the vine. Rainbow Dash, who was sitting on the bleachers, jumped off and transformed in mid-air. The CPA girl finally lost her grip, but thankfully Rainbow Dash managed to grab her just in time. The plant’s grip tightened, crushing the bike as if it was made of aluminum foil. Sunset Shimmer tried to get back on her bike, but another vine landed on top of it, crushing it as well.

Aria won the race. Indigo Zap tried to get past her, but her late start combined with the unforeseen obstacle made it impossible.

“Attention, students!” Dean Cadance urged them. “Please proceed to the gym!”

While the track was being evacuated, Twilight managed to free herself from the vine and grab her device. It took some effort, but once she managed to close it the vines were sucked back into the portals they came from, and they closed immediately afterwards.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked, landing next to Sunset Shimmer and finally putting Sugarcoat down, who ran away immediately. “Are you sirens up to no good again?”

“We had nothing to do with this!” Adagio replied as she skated towards them, pointing an accusatory finger at the winged girl. “Unlike a certain blockhead, we’re not trying to show our magic for the whole world to see!”

“What was I supposed to do, let her fall and die?”

“Um, excuse me.” A new, quieter voice joined the discussion, and it belonged to Twilight Sparkle. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I just wanted to learn about the strange energy coming from your school. I didn’t know that it was magic or how it works!”

“That’s ok.” Rainbow Dash assured her as she walked towards her. “Neither do we!”

“Oh no!” Twilight said as her gadget opened itself up one more time. “No no no, not again!” Once the apparatus was open, it began sucking Rainbow Dash’s magic right out of her body. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” She struggled to close it, but it was even more difficult than last time. Sunset Shimmer stepped in and they finally managed to close it together.

“What the hell was that?” Sunset asked without letting go of the device, the anger in her voice evident.

“I built this to find the source of the strange energy around your school.” Twilight explained. “But then it just started absorbing energy on its own, and I’m not sure how!”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re just messing around with things you don’t understand, the people who get hurt in the process be damned, right?”

“But I want to understand!”

“But you don’t! Some of us need this energy to live, and I’m not letting you anywhere near my friends with this.” Sunset Shimmer gave the gadget a hard tug, causing the string that Twilight used to hang it around her neck to snap.

“Hey, that’s mine!” She tried to take it from Sunset’s hands, but the siren gave her a push strong enough for her to fall on her butt.

“You’re like a child playing with her parent’s loaded gun, except this can be one thousand times more destructive if mishandled, which is exactly what you’re doing.”

Aria and Adagio joined Sunset Shimmer as she walked away with Twilight’s device. Applejack stayed behind to help Twilight up and make sure that fatigue was all Rainbow Dash had.

“I would like an explanation as to what just happened out there.” Vice-Principal Luna, who had intercepted the three Dazzlings in a hallway, demanded. “I thought I was very clear when I said I didn’t want magical interference in the Friendship Games.”

“We had absolutely nothing to do with that!” Aria fired back.

“That Twilight from Crystal Prep was messing around with magic using this thing.” Sunset Shimmer presented the device. “She’s the one who caused that catastrophe.”

“So what happens now?” Adagio asked. “Are the Games going to be postponed or something?”

“Celestia tried to have the games cancelled” Luna explained as she picked up the apparatus to inspect it closely “but Principal Cinch refused; apparently she values victory over the safety of not only our students, but her own as well.”

“What are we going to do about this thing?” Sunset asked, pointing at the device.

“I know what you should do with it.” A new voice joined the conversation, one that belonged to Principal Abacus Cinch who slowly walked towards them with her chin held high and her hands behind her back. “That device belongs to a student from Crystal Prep Academy, and I would like to have it returned.” She adjusted her glasses with the tip of her index finger. “Unless you want me to press charges, that is. Your student assaulted mine and stole it in broad daylight in front of witnesses. I don’t want to get law enforcement involved, given how interested you seem on keeping this incident under wraps, but I will have to if you don’t return it.” Cinch extended her hand. “What will it be?”

“Give it back? That thing is a menace to everybody here! We should get rid of it before it kills someone.” Sunset explained.

“If your claims are true, I will personally contact the proper authorities to handle its disposal and punish the student who built it. Now give it back.”

Vice-Principal Luna sighed. “I’m sorry girls, but I know she’s not bluffing.” Luna deposited the device on Principal Cinch’s open hand, who wrapped her long spingly fingers around it like a venus flytrap consuming its prey.

“You are smarter than your sister, Vice-Principal Luna.” Cinch said as she looked down at the gadget before turning around and walking away. “Maybe her position should be yours after all.”

Chapter 9

Since the cafeteria was full, the six competitors gathered around the statue that moonlighted as a portal to Equestria.

“What in the name of all that is great and powerful was that, Applejack?” Trixie asked. “Why would you help someone from the enemy team?”

“The poor thing was in tears, and nobody from her own team even cared.” Applejack defended herself. “I had to help ‘er before she had an anxiety attack or somethin’!”

“And she was so grateful that she thanked you by stealing your magic.” Aria pointed out.

“It wasn’t her fault, she had no control over the darn thing.”

“Another reason why she shouldn’t have it in the first place!” Sunset fired back. “That Principal Atticus Finch is up to something, I just know it.”

“You think she’s gonna do something with the magic Twilight stole?” Adagio asked Sunset.

“I overheard her talking to— well, yelling at Principal Celestia.” Flash spoke up. “She sounded pretty pissed about the ‘students with wings’, so she might want to get even.”

Adagio pulled out her phone and began typing a text message. “I’ll tell Sonata to keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“The ditz?” Trixie asked. “Are you sure she’s even capable of that? She’ll probably give herself away in five minutes or less.”

“After today’s performance, I don’t think you’re in position to call somebody else a ditz.” Aria said. “By the way, I know of a very good spa in town, I’m sure their mud masks are more effective than that crap you rubbed all over yourself.”

“Why, you—”

“Cut. It. Out!” Sunset stood between the two and pushed them away from each other. “Look, there’s nothing else we can do for now, so let’s just focus on winning the Friendship Games. Sonata may not act like it, but she’s reliable; she does things her own way, sure, but in the end she gets results.”

Trixie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “This is the closest we’ve ever come to beating Crystal Prep in the history of Canterlot High and I get the chance to be the one that breaks the cycle, I don’t want any magical crap to mess with it and ruin my chance to make history.”

The sky had already darkened when the students from both schools gathered in front of CHS, getting ready for the final event of the day.

“Since the score is tied, the final event will determine the winner of the Friendship Games.” Dean Cadance explained before passing the microphone to Vice-Principal Luna.

“Somewhere on campus a pennant from each school has been hidden.” She raised two pennants that looked identical to the hidden ones. “The first team to find their school’s flag and bring it back wins.”

“Isn’t that kind of unfair?” Flash Sentry asked. “They don’t know the layout of the school as well as we do.”

Trixie shrugged. “Mayhaps, but that only makes it easier for us. If we don’t nail this I’ll eat my wizard hat.”

Meanwhile, on Crystal Prep’s side, Principal Cinch was giving her students yet another speech.

“Canterlot High has shown that their students are capable of things that no regular human being should be able to. We have no way of knowing if they have been manipulating the Friendship Games from the start, though given what happened during the second event, I’d say that’s more than likely. Maybe not all of them are capable of growing wings and soaring through the skies, some may have more… subtle abilities.”

“I refuse to believe that the hick correctly answered a math question that advanced without cheating.” Sour Sweet commented.

“And that is exactly why we must even the playing field.” Cinch walked towards Twilight and stood in front of her, holding the gadget by its string. “I’ve seen what your device can do Twilight. Containing magical energy is fine, but have you considered releasing it?”

“But I don’t even understand how it works.” Twilight replied.

“But you’d like to. And since our opponents have already shown that they are capable of superhuman feats, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to as well.” Cinch grabbed Twilight’s hand and placed the device on it. “Unless of course you have no interest in Everton. Though honestly, I think there’s more knowledge packed in that little device than any independent study program could offer.” Cinch placed a hand on her student’s shoulder. “Imagine all you’ll learn by setting it free.”

Twilight placed her other hand on top of the device, ready to open it, but before she had the chance a blue blur whizzed past them, taking the device with it.

“Yoink!” Sonata said before she ran, holding the device above her head. “Woop woop woop woop woop!”

“Stop her!” Principal Abacus Cinch ordered, pointing a finger in the direction Sonata ran to.

A number of students gave chase, but the principal stopped the five competitors from going.

“The last event of the Friendship Games is about to begin.” Luna announced. “If both teams are ready…”

Cinch removed her glasses and angrily wiped the lenses with her handkerchief. “Looks like we’ll have to do things the old fashioned way.” She put the glasses back on. “Do not disappoint me out there. Our school will clinch the win and my legacy will endure.” She turned her head to look at Twilight one more time. “It’s up to you to not fail this time.”

“The last event of the Friendship games begins…” Dean Cadance said.

“Now!” Luna and Cadance announced at the same time.

All twelve students ran, each looking for their school’s pennant in a different area on campus; Adagio investigated the library, Flash checked the cafeteria, Applejack searched the gymnasium, Aria looked through the field where the previous event took place, Sunset inspected every classroom on the first floor and Trixie was in charge of the classrooms on the second floor.

“Ok, this is getting ridiculous.” Aria said as she turned around to face the same girl with twintails she had accidentally shared sentences with more than once. “Here I was thinking that finding out I have a stalker was the lowest point of my day, but wouldn’t you know it, I actually have two.”

“We are both competitors in an event that requires carefully searching for an item within school boundaries, it was more than likely that we would cross paths at some point, it does not mean I am stalking you.” Sugarcoat replied in her usual fast but blunt manner of speech. “Had I arrived here before you, would it be fair for me to call you a stalker in that situation?”

“But you didn’t, so you’re the stalker.”

“The thought process of Canterlot High students never ceases to astound me.”

“And I think Crystal Prep students are a bunch of uptight snobs, but you don’t see me complaining about it, do you?”

“You are complaining right now.”

“And you are getting on my nerves. Why are you still bothering me? You can look for your stupid flag in silence.”

“I’m trying to figure out what kind of magical powers you have and if you could have used it to cheat without being found out.”

“No use hiding it anymore, huh?” Aria rubbed her temples. “Rainbow Dash should have let you fall… Yes, I have magical powers, but no, I can’t use them to cheat. And even if I could, I wouldn’t; I want to beat you fair and square to show how much of a punk you really are.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Show me your powers.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~ aaah~! Aaaaaah~ aaah~!” For a brief moment, Sugarcoat’s neutral expression faltered and she showed a look of surprise. Halfway through the song she even uncrossed her arms, her mouth hanging slightly open. “So, think I can use that to cheat?”

The CPA girl shook her head, her expression turning neutral once again, but with a hint of wonder that she was unable to mask. “That’s it? Your superpower is… being a good singer?”

“I can also scream really loud, but if I show you that, at best your ears will ring for a week, and at worst you’ll go deaf permanently.”

“I’ll pass. And I guess you power is too lame to cheat, so you’re off the hook. For now.”

“I know it’s filthy rich coming from me, but you need to lighten up a bit. Jeez.”

“We don’t ‘lighten up’ at Crystal Prep. If you don’t have the drive to be the best then someone else will step up and be happy to take your place.” Sugarcoat hugged herself, looking down at her feet. “It’s why the Friendship Games are so important to us. We have more to lose than just a medal, we’ll lose respect, opportunities, we’ll taint Principal Cinch’s quote-unquote ‘legacy’ and there’s no telling what she’ll do to us behind the scenes if that happens.” Sugarcoat looked up and noticed Aria looking at her. She quickly stood upright, placed her hands behind her back and cleared her throat. “Not that it’s any of your business. Clearly there’s nothing to be found here, so I’ll look for our pennant somewhere else.”

Aria smirked.

“What’s so funny?”

“You remind me of myself from a long time ago, as much as I hate to admit it; always working hard to be the best, afraid that if I falter for one second someone else will just use me as a stepping stone and take first place away from me. I don’t know if that makes me want to punch you or make out with you.”

“You… what?” A confused blush appeared on Sugarcoat’s cheeks.

“Well, why are you still here? You said it yourself, there are no flags here. Now move along, twintails.”

“You have twintails too, you know.”

“But does it look like I spend one hour in front of the mirror every morning to make sure they look good?”

“Hmph!” Sugarcoat turned her head, but didn’t deny it. Aria’s smirk just grew bigger. “So, uh… what changed? That made you lose your drive to be the best, I mean.”

“Being number one only means you have a bigger target on your back. Jealous people sometimes get desperate enough to do whatever it takes to stand at the top, and the only one who loses is you. So now I just do the things I feel like doing, and I do them my way; it means I don’t have to constantly look over my shoulder to make no one is about to be stab me in the back.”

“I… see.”

Sugarcoat finally left, walking towards the main building. Aria kept looking around for the hidden pennant.

“So uh, come here often?” Flash Sentry asked as he checked under the tables before slapping himself in the forehead.

“This is literally the first time I’ve set foot in this place.” Sunny Flare replied while checking behind the counter.

“Yeah, I realized that after I said it. Today’s been strange, my brain is a little… scrambled.”

“You’re from CHS, that’s par for the course.”

“I should have seen that coming, but still, ouch.”

“What, that’s it? ‘Ouch’? You look like one of those popular dude-bros who can dish it out but can’t take it. I was hoping for a nice back and forth while you get progressively more flustered, so thanks for ruining my fun.”

“That may be how things are in Crystal Prep, but here at CHS we are don’t have that kind of hostility. I wouldn’t say we’re all friends, but there’s no animosity towards each other.”

“Cut the crap! Every high school is like that, no exception. You are a bad liar, mister… What’s your name again?”

“Flash Sentry.”

“Sunny Flare, charmed. As I was saying, animosity is part of the high school experience, there’s no such thing as unity. At least not on the level that you’re describing, it’s impossible.”

“Well, things weren’t always like that. But then this girl came over, showed us that we all had more things in common than differences and we’ve kind of been getting along since then.”

“One girl did that?”

“Yup.”

“What’s she like?”

A dreamy look appeared in Flash’s eyes. “Oh, her eyes are this beautiful shade of purple, she’s super nice to everybody she meets, she does this adorable little thing with her hair where she uses her finger to—” He stopped talking, then took a deep breath. “Get over her, Flash. Get over her.”

“Get over her? What happened?”

“She went back home not long after. She’s from… out of town. Won’t be back anytime soon.”

“Yeah, you’re right, you should get over her.”

“You’re not pulling any punches, are you? Reminds me of someone else I know.”

“Not really my style. Besides, look at you! You’ll find someone else in no time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play coy, Flash Sentry. You’re two things I didn’t expect to find in CHS: a nice guy and super cute. You’ll bump into another girl in no time.”

“Well, uh…” He scratched the back of his head, blushing. “Th-Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself.”

Sunny Flare sighed with a sad smile on her face. “Yeah, right. Tell that to the people in my school.”

“What, people aren’t showering you with compliments back in Crystal Prep?”

“The only shower I get is the one after P.E., people don’t even notice I’m there. The only reason I’m competing in the Friendship Games is because I am constantly pulling all-nighters to make sure my grades are up to Principal Cinch’s standards, and even then people barely notice me. I’m just ‘the chick with the gizmos on her wrists’.

“Sour Sweet gets praise for being good with a bow, Indigo Zap gets praise for being good at every sport, Twilight Sparkle gets praise for being good at everything but sports, Sugarcoat gets praise because she can build a bird house and Lemon Zest gets praise because she can bake a stupid cake. Me, I get yelled at because I wasn’t good enough at roller skating!” Sunny Flare slammed her fist on the table before taking a deep breath. “We should get back to the Friendship Games. Thanks for letting me vent, I didn’t know how much I needed that. You’re a good listener.”

“Glad I could help.”

With that conversation over, they left the cafeteria and went their separate ways to continue their search for the pennants.

Sunset crossed paths with Trixie as she walked up the stairs, who was walking down that same set of stairs at the same time, both of them tired from running around.

“Any luck?” Trixie asked.

“Do I look like I have a flag on my person?” Sunset fired back, raising both of her empty hands.

“Attention, all competitors.” Dean Cadance announced through the PA system. “Applejack has found the Canterlot High School pennant that was hidden in the gymnasium, it looks like— But what’s this? Indigo Zap has found the Crystal Prep Academy pennant hidden in the library as well, what great timing! Applejack is closer, but Indigo Zap is faster. It’s a race to the finish, who will make it here first?”

Trixie and Sunset watched as Indigo ran past the bottom of the stairs.

“Can’t you use your magic to slow her down or something?” Trixie suggested.

“Aria wants us to win this fair and square so we can rub it in everyone’s faces.” She explained. “Besides, I’ve been running nonstop since this event started, if you want me to give chase you’ll have to carry me. I accept piggyback rides.”

“Pass.”

With speed that could only be achieved by someone who dedicated every single day of their lives to their fitness, Indigo Zap cruised through the hallways of CHS, almost crashing on Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet on the way, but a quick maneuver spared all three of them. Bursting through the front door by slamming her shoulder on it, she spotted Applejack mere feet away from Dean Cadance, who had extended her hand to receive the pennant, an act that would decide the winner.

Pushing her body to the limit, she jumped over the steps and ran as fast as her body could handle. With one last burst of strength she body slammed Applejack before Cadance could touch the pennant. The audience cheered as the two of them wrestled on the ground while trying to handle their pennants to CPA’s dean. They eventually managed to untangle their limbs and deposit both pennants on Cadance’s hand.

“Oh. Oh my.” She said, looking down at her hands.

“So?” Indigo asked between gasps for air. “Who won?”

“It’s a tie!” Cadance announced as she raised both pennants. The audience didn’t celebrate or object, they mostly whispered amongst themselves in confusion. The other competitors returned, just as confused by the outcome.

“That’s preposterous!” Principal Cinch interjected. “This is a competition, not a team-building activity where everybody wins.”

“I’m sorry, Principal Cinch, but Indigo Zap and Applejack gave me the pennants at the same time. Like it or not, it was a tie.”

“Why are you siding with Canterlot High?”

“I’m not ‘siding’ with anybody, they both won and that’s a fact.”

“I demand a rematch.”

“Look at the time, Principal Cinch.” Celestia raised her hand and motioned at the dark sky. “We can’t keep our students here all night. We should end the games now and declare a tie.”

“Was this your strategy all along? To force us into accepting you as equals? I think not!”

“We should decide this democratically.” Luna suggested. “Raise your hand if you think we should have a rematch.” Principal Cinch was the only one to do it. She glared at Cadance, but the dean didn’t budge. “Now raise your hand if you think we should declare a tie.” Luna, Celestia and Cadance raised their hands. “A tie it is, then.”

“No. I refuse to accept it!”

“Principal Abacus Cinch, we—”

The principal from Crystal Prep reached into the inner pocket of her suit and retrieved Twilight Sparkle’s device that her students managed to take back from Sonata.

“I will not stand idly by while the prestigious name of Crystal Prep Academy gets dragged through the mud!”

Sunset Shimmer ran towards the woman as she realized what was about to happen, but the CPA principal opened the gadget before she had the chance to stop her.

A wave of energy pushed them back, causing Luna, Cadance, Celestia and Sunset to fall down. A sphere of magical energy emerged from the device as the principal began to levitate. She dropped the apparatus on the ground as the sphere grew larger, absorbing the body of the principal within itself, who smiled the whole time. Once the sphere had consumed Abacus Cinch entirely, it exploded into a blinding flash of white light.

The light eventually disappeared, and they all could see what had happened: Principal Abacus Cinch went through a metamorphosis and looked completely different – her skin was a much darker shade of blue, her hair flowed upwards like the flames of a bonfire, her business attire was replaced by a very revealing dress with thigh high boots and elbow gloves, a large pair of wings sprouted from her back and a glowing horn of pure energy grew from her forehead.

The transformed Cinch didn’t say anything, she simply looked down at the tiny sparks of energy circling her fingers. Clenching her fist, she moved her arm to the side and opened her hand, causing a beam of energy to shoot out of it and hit the horse statue standing proud in front of the school, which exploded upon impact. A portal emerged from where the statue once stood, showing the homeworld of the Dazzlings on the other side. Cinch smiled.

As cracks began appearing on the ground under the students, Cinch shot a magic beam at the concrete below, creating another portal to Equestria. The fabric of reality itself began to waver as more cracks and portals appeared throughout the school, be it on the ground, the walls or in midair.

“Cinch, stop this at once!” Dean Cadance demanded.

“I will not allow my legacy to be tainted by this third-rate school.” The monstrous principal’s voice had an otherworldly echo to it. “Its very own existence is a menace to the educational system, it’s best for all of us if it just… disappeared.” Joining both hands together, she fired another beam at the ground beneath her dean, creating a portal larger than all others and so high up on the other side that it was located above the clouds.

Dean Cadance screamed as she fell. Her body transformed the moment it crossed the portal and she morphed into a pink pegasus.

Sunny Flare almost fell into the portal when the ground beneath her feet crumbled, but Flash Sentry acted quickly and wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulling her towards him and hugging her protectively. With a smile on her lips and a blush on her cheeks, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest.

Sunset Shimmer jumped into the portal, turning into her siren form. She flew down as fast as she could and placed herself underneath the falling pegasus, saving Dean Cadance’s life.

“Don’t let go!” Applejack said as she held the hand of another student who almost fell into the portal.

Crystal Prep students and Canterlot High students alike helped people from both schools without discrimination. Adagio and Aria shared a look before nodding at each other; they both jumped into the large portal, turning back into sirens, before flying up. Once they crossed the portal back to the human world they turned back into human girls, the momentum carrying them upward until they were on the same level as Abacus Cinch. The two of them wrapped their arms around her flapping wings, hampering her ability to stay aloft.

“What is the meaning of this? Let go of me at once!” She tried to shake them off, but to no avail. The three of them fell into the hole and their arms turned back into hooves, making them lose their grip and allowing Cinch, who had transformed into an alicorn, to free herself.

“So we are doing this, huh?” Aria asked rhetorically.

After returning Dean Cadance to the human world, Sunset joined them. Sonata, who managed to escape from the CPA students holding her hostage, also jumped in.

“The four of you against me doesn’t seem fair.” The alicorn cracked her neck by bending her head left and right. “You should have brought more.”

“Lady, please!” Sonata taunted. “When it comes to magic, we have much more experience than you. You don’t stand a chance!”

Cinch fired magic from her horn at Sonata, who fired back a beam of red energy from her mouth. Cinch’s magic tore through Sonata’s with ease, who dodged with a yelp on the last second.

“I didn’t factor in the raw power, though.”

“You Canterlot High students are all pests. Begone!” She fired another beam, this time at Adagio, but she also dodged.

Aria flew towards Cinch with her jaw wide open, but the alicorn dodged the bite by flying to the side. Sunset fired a red beam at her while she was distracted, but it was deflected by the bubble shield Abacus Cinch created around herself.

“This is gonna be tough…” Adagio mumbled.

The Dazzlings kept firing energy beams at Cinch, but none of them could even crack her shield. She also fired beams back at them, but the four sirens dodged them all. There was nothing the students from CHS or CPA could do but watch from the hole in the sky above them as the fight went on.

Sunset got distracted for one second while checking if all her friends were still unharmed, a distraction that did not go unnoticed by Abacus Cinch, who fired a beam at her.

“LOOK OUT!” Sonata shouted, but there was not enough time for the siren to move out of the way. She braced for impact, but it never came. Upon opening her eyes, she saw a shimmering magical barrier standing between herself and the alicorn.

A second alicorn joined the fray, this one an even darker shade of blue with an ethereal mane that gently swayed in the wind. She had dark spots on her flank with a crescent moon on top of it.

“Princess Luna!” Sunset Shimmer said. “What are you doing here?”

“There are portals to another world appearing all over Equestria, I was investigating the cause behind them when I felt a great concentration of energy coming from here.” Luna looked at the large portal above them, locking eyes with her human counterpart for a brief moment before looking at Cinch. “I assume this one is responsible.”

“She damaged the portal that leads back to the mirror.” She explained. “Now a bunch of portals to Equestria are appearing all over the courtyard.”

Cinch fired at Luna, but the barrier was still up and it blocked the beam with ease.

“It would appear that a civilized discussion is out of the question.”

“She went absolutely bonkers after absorbing a bunch of stolen magic!” Sonata explained. “Not that she wasn’t a little funny in the head to begin with, but now she’s lost it completely.”

Princess Luna nodded. “I can feel a lot of power within her, almost enough to rival the Elements of Harmony themselves.” Cinch constantly assaulted the barrier with magic beams, to the point where cracks began to appear on its surface. “We have to deal with her before she causes irreversible damage.”

Luna circled Cinch, firing at her shield; the moon alicorn was strong enough to damage it, but before she had the chance to pierce it, the Crystal Prep principal repaired it.

“Enough of this silly game.” Cinch fired at Luna, who fired back at Cinch. The two beams clashed, but since Luna was much stronger than the sirens, Cinch wasn’t able to immediately overwhelm her.

The Dazzlings joined in, firing their mouth beams at Cinch’s magical beam; their magic merged with Luna’s, powering it up. Together the five of them overpowered Cinch.

“No. I refuse to lose. I refuse!” Cinch protested as their combined magic slowly but surely approached her. Unable to fight back against the five of them, Abacus Cinch lost the beam struggle. An explosion happened when the attack connected with her horn, leaving it charred and cracked. Cinch tried to channel magic through her damaged horn, but only weak sparks came out.

“Over here!” Twilight Sparkle called from the portal above them, waving the magic-stealing device she built above her head. She then tossed it at Princess Luna, who grasped it in her magic.

“What is this artifact?” Luna asked as she inspected it closely.

“Point it at Principal Cinch and open it!” Sunset instructed. “It will take back all the magic she stole!”

Luna fiddled with it for a second until she figured out how to do it. Once the device was open, it began draining the magic out of Abacus Cinch’s body.

“No! Stop it! I demand that you stop!” Cinch’s coat turned a lighter shade of blue and her wings vanished into thin air. Unable to remain conscious any longer, she fainted. Luna picked the beaten unicorn up using her magic and floated her closer to herself. She then held the pony on her hooves before flying up and crossing the portal, where they both turned into humans.

Princess Luna looked exactly like Vice-Principal Luna, except she wore a long, dark purple dress with white dots mimicking stars in the Equestrian night sky, and a black crown sat atop her head. She placed the unconscious principal on the ground and held Twilight’s device on her hands before looking around at all the portals leading to Equestria and the ponies looking at her through them.

“Somepony needs to clean up this mess, I suppose.” Luna opened up the device, but instead of a sudden burst of energy like when Cinch did it, the magic simply flowed from the gadget and into the princess’s body as if the two belonged together. Princess Luna’s human hair gained the same ethereal look that her pony mane had, gently flowing in the wind that was not blowing. She extended her hands and shot magical beams out of them, closing all the portals one by one except for the largest on the floor. “This magic, who it belongs to?”

“It’s, uh… It’s ours, I guess. Yer Majesty.” A very bashful Applejack replied as she approached the princess with the other Rainbooms in tow, all of them slightly intimidated by the mighty royal woman standing before them. She looked away when Luna looked directly at her.

“There is no need to fear me, Applejack.”

“You… know my name?”

“Yes, I do. As well as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy” she turned her head to the side “and Twilight Sparkle. Your counterparts in my homeworld have saved the day many times over. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.”

“That’s so awesome…” Rainbow Dash whispered.

“Be more careful with this magic from now on, I may not be available to step in if a similar event occurs in the future.” Luna extended both hands – the magic she took from Twilight’s device flowed out of her and back into the bodies of its rightful owners. Her hair stopped moving once all the magic had been drained.

Vice-Principal Luna simply stared at her twin from another dimension with her eyes wide and mouth hanging open, unable to say anything. Princess Luna walked towards her.

“I don’t have a mirror in my possession, but I assume this is what I look like right now?” The vice-principal nodded. “Why do you wear a belt around you shirt?”

Without waiting for an answer, Princess Luna returned to Equestria through the large portal on the ground, turning back into an alicorn and closing it with her own magic.

“I’ll carry her back to the bus.” Dean Cadance said as she draped one of the unconscious principal’s arms around her shoulders.

“Let me help you.” Principal Celestia said, doing the same with Cinch’s other arm.

“Thank you for, y’know, not letting me fall through that portal.” Sunny Flare said while holding both of Flash Sentry’s hands. “I mean, that chick who turned into a dragon probably would have saved me like she did Dean Cadance, but she didn’t have to because you were there.”

“There’s no way I would have let you fall.” He replied.

“You’re a sweetheart. Can I borrow your phone for a second?”

“Sure!” Flash handed Sunny Flare his phone, who saved her number in his contacts.

“Give me a call one of these days, I’d like to get to know you better.” She said as she handed the phone back to him.

“I’d like that.”

Sunny Flare gave him a kiss on the cheek before running back to the buses with the other Crystal Prep students.

Not far from there, Twilight Sparkle walked up to Sunset Shimmer.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused.” Twilight said, holding the device she built. “I just wanted to understand.”

“Well, I hope you learned your lesson.” Sunset replied. “Don’t mess with things you don’t understand when you’re not fully prepared to deal with the consequences, especially in places where other people can be harmed.” She then extended her hand.

Twilight placed her device on the palm Sunset's hand. “Do whatever you want with it, it’s brought me nothing but trouble since I built it. For now I’ll focus my efforts on regular human science and work my way up to more… extreme stuff.”

Sunset stuffed the gizmo in her pocket. “I’ll make sure it never causes any trouble again.”

“But I’ll come back when I’m ready, and you will tell me everything you know about magic.”

“Feel free to, as long as you don’t bring any more dangerous stuff near me or my friends.”

Once all Crystal Prep students were accounted for, the buses departed and the Friendship Games were officially over and Canterlot High didn’t win, but neither did Crystal Prep, and that was the closest they’d gotten to victory since the inception of the Friendship Games. Trixie and Aria weren’t pleased, but they eventually accepted it – Trixie was especially thankful that Flash forgot about her promise to eat her wizard hat.

Chapter 10

“You ok there, Sunset?” Trixie asked, standing by the door of the computer room. “You look a little lost.”

“I’m not lost, just… confused.” She replied, looking down at the gem hanging from her neck while scratching her head. “I felt Equestrian magic coming from this room, but as soon as I got here it just vanished.”

The illusionist shrugged. “Maybe it saw you coming and just bolted.”

“No, I would have felt it if source was on the move. It disappeared as soon as I got here.”

“It could have teleported away.”

“That’s a possibility. I just hope it doesn’t do that often, playing hide-and-seek with unknown magical energy is not how I want to spend my afternoon.”

“Well, I’m free this afternoon. Maaayyybeee if you give me magic powers I can search for it while you go do whatever it is you want to do.”

“Nice try, Trixie, but that’s not how it works. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t know how it works either; new sirens were chosen by the ancient magic that gave us power, but now that that’s out of the picture, how are new sirens going to be created?”

“If you’re looking for a volunteer, I—”

“I said no, Trixie.”

“That’s not fair! You have magical powers, Adagio and the others have magical powers, even the Rainbooms have magical powers! Why am I, the only person in this school who’s had an interest in magic since long before the Fall Formal debacle, being denied?”

“Because unlike us, you have a family that cares about you. Is that what you want? To watch every person you ever loved grow old and die while you stay young forever, haunted by their memories until the end of time?”

Trixie sighed. “Fine, you can keep your toys. But if you find some cool magic thingie that does not require the rejection of my humanity, I call dibs.”

The red gemstone hanging from Sunset’s neck started pulsating.

“There it is again.” Sunset exited the computer room and followed the guiding gemstone. Trixie turned off the lights and locked the door.

“Any luck on your search?” Trixie asked during lunch the next day while the two of them waited in line.

“I got nothing. My gem took me to the chemistry lab, but when I got there it stopped again. I’m starting to think it might be malfunctioning.”

“How can a magic artifact that literally gives you life malfunction?”

“I don’t know, this is not the same kind of magic Adagio, Aria and Sonata were used to; some things are different and we’re still trying to understand them.”

“Well, what about that other girl? Did she see anything?”

“What other girl?”

“The one that was in the chemistry lab with you.”

“Wait, were you spying on me?”

“I most certainly wasn’t! I was just… on standby in case you needed backup.”

“Backup for what? Whatever, the point is, there was no other girl.”

“Shaggy green hair, wearing a turtleneck, clutching her backpack like her life depended on it… Are you sure it doesn’t ring any bells?”

“No, I… I don’t think it does, at least.”

“Sounds mysterious enough to be related to the runaway magic. I suggest you start there.”

After filling her trail with food, Sunset Shimmer scanned all the cafeteria tables looking girls with green hair. She spotted a few, but none of them fit Trixie’s description. She finally saw the girl on the other end of the cafeteria, sitting by herself while holding a book in one hand and eating with the other.

“Hi there!” Sunset Shimmer greeted. “Mind if I seat here?”

“No, I guess.” She replied.

“I don’t think we’ve met.” She extended her hand after sitting down. “I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

“We have, actually.” The girl replied without moving to shake Sunset’s hand. “9th grade English.”

“Oh, um…” The siren retracted her hand. “Then we haven’t been formally introduced. What’s your name?”

“Do you need something from me?”

“Well, I just… I saw you sitting here by yourself and thought you could use some company.”

“Unless you and your friends had an argument, I see no reason why you’d rather hang out with a ‘stranger’ instead of them. Is that what’s going on?”

“No, of course not, I… Well, the number of friends I have is rather limited so I wanted to get out there and meet new people. You looked a little lonely back here all by yourself, so I thought…”

“You thought I had no friends and would be desperate enough to hang out with anybody, no questions asked?” Sunset covered her mouth with one hand and giggled. “What’s so funny?”

“That’s a 100% accurate description of why I started hanging out with Aria, Sonata and Adagio. I had no friends, the girls Princess Twilight asked to keep an eye on me did not like me at all, everyone in school hated my guts… Then here comes those three, strutting down the hallway like they own the place, we hang out, they invite me to their musical group, we brainwash the school together, I risk my life to save theirs, they risk their lives to save mine, and now we’re the best of friends.”

“You said it yourself, you four brainwashed the entire school. What makes you think I even want to hang out with you?”

“Just once. Well, two for me, but all of us together just once. Besides, we saved the entire world from a power mad Principal Cinch, haven’t we earned at least the benefit of the doubt?”

“No, that other woman who looked like Vice-Principal Luna saved the world, you just took credit. You know, you’re starting to sound a little too desperate, so why don’t you cut the crap and tell me what you actually want from me?”

Sunset took a deep breath. “Fine. I’ve been chasing some magical signature around the school, but every time I get there it just vanishes, so I wanted to ask if you know anything about it.”

“How did it go with the green-haired chick, Sunset?” Trixie asked from her spot on the couch in the Dazzlings’ minibus where she was playing blackjack with Sonata.

“What green-haired chick?” Sonata and Sunset, who was sitting on the passenger seat beside Adagio, asked at the same.

“Are you kidding me?” She turned around to face the window connecting the driver cabin with the back of the bus – Sonata took that opportunity to peek at the cards Trixie was holding. “I told you during lunch, the chick that came out of the chemistry lab while you were looking for magic in there. Don’t tell me you just ignored me!”

“I don’t remember talking to you during lunch. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t remember having lunch at all.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious? You don’t remember anything?”

Sunset rubbed the side of her head. “No, nothing.”

“Not even when I dared you to kiss Flash Sentry and you frenched him in front of the entire school?”

“I did what?!”

“You didn’t, I just wanted to see your reaction to make sure you weren’t faking it. You really can’t remember anything, huh? Strange…”

“What green-haired chick?” Sonata repeated herself. “Watermelody, Lyra Heartstrings, Cherry Crash, Sweet Leaf, Sandalwood… Wait, Sandalwood is a dude. Hmm, is Tennis Match’s hair green or blue?”

“I don’t even know half of the names you just dropped, but I’m pretty sure it’s none of them; she must be new because I’ve never seen her before in my life. Either that or she was trespassing.”

“Against all odds, Trixie does have a point.” Adagio commented as she stopped the bus when a traffic light turned red – Trixie glared at her through the window. “Siren or human, it’s not normal for anyone to just forget large chunks of time in a matter of hours like that. What does this girl look like?”

“She’s got green hair about waist long that could use either a trim or a combing. Also she was wearing a turtleneck.”

“Nothing else?” Aria, who was sitting on the bed and checking her phone, asked.

“She was far away and I didn’t take a photo. I’m an illusionist, not a clairvoyant, I did not expect her to be relevant down the road. Nothing about her other than the hair screamed ‘memorable’. And the turtleneck, but that’s just because my mom wears one that looks identical.”

“So there’s a girl in school we’ve never seen before, she’s somehow connected to the Equestrian magic Sunset Shimmer was tracking down and it looks like she has the power to erase memories.” Adagio summarized.

“We don’t know her and she can erase memories.” Sonata repeated. “You think those two are connected?”

“Could be.”

“So, how do you want to approach this situation?” Sunset asked.

“We should act separately; if she’s able to erase the memories of multiple people at once and all of us confront her at the same time, we’re done for and she gets away scot-free. Next, we should write down everything that’s relevant to our investigation – if she erases our memories, at least we’ll have our notes to serve as a refresher. And if any of us confront her directly, record the entire conversation just in case.”

“On it!” Sonata said as she began scribbling on a notepad.

“Isn’t that a bit excessive?” Trixie asked. “I mean, we’re not trying to crack a smuggling ring here, it’s just one high school girl.”

“One high school girl with the powers to erase memories.” Aria corrected her. “When you’ve lived as long as we have, you learn that covering all your bases and then some is mandatory.”

“I’ll check in with Princess Twilight tomorrow, maybe there’s something in the Canterlot Library that’ll shed light on this situation.” Sunset said as she finished writing on her magical journal that she used to communicate with the Equestrian princess. “Tomorrow is your day off, right, Sonata? Can you keep an eye on the twins while I’m away?”

“I’ll hold the fort!” Sonata said with a salute.

They dropped Trixie off at her house and drove back to their apartment above the Sweet Shoppe so they could get ready for work.

The next day, after classes were over, all four sirens got on their minibus and left, but Trixie stayed behind to look for the mysterious girl with green hair. Before she even had the opportunity to go back inside, she saw the girl exit the school and walk into the woods located behind the school, across the parking lot.

Trixie gave chase after checking her surroundings to make sure no one was looking, setting her phone to record audio before stuffing it back in the pocket of her hoodie. Going too deep into the woods wasn’t necessary because she soon came upon a clearing surrounded by a trio of rocks and containing many types of very colorful plants and flowers that made the entire area stand out in comparison to the uniform green of the woods it was located in.

“Whoa…” Trixie unknowingly said out loud while admiring the beauty of that place she didn’t even know existed up until that very moment.

“Uh, can I help you?” The girl Trixie was looking for asked, holding a garden trowel close to her chest with both hands.

“What is this place?” Trixie asked while still looking around in awe.

A smiled appeared on the girl’s face as she lowered the trowel. “This is my garden! Well, the school’s garden, technically. I’m the president of the gardening club. I founded it too.” Her tone gradually switched from excited to melancholic. “I’m also the only member and the only one who’s ever been to the garden. Until now, that is.”

“It’s… breathtaking! You did all of that on your own?”

“Mm-hm! I have a lot of free time after school, so I spend most of my afternoons here, tending to the plants.”

“You’re not really into other people, huh?”

The girl looked away, crestfallen, while rubbing her elbow. “It’s not like I really fit in anywhere else…”

“Have you ever tried?”

“Of course I tried!” She raised her voice a little more than she wanted to. “But it never works. I always say something stupid and make things awkward. I’d tell you to ask the people I tried getting close to before, but it’s not like they remember anything I said after I—” The turtleneck girl had to physically shut herself up by covering her mouth with one hand.

Trixie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “After what? You erased their memories?”

Her eyes widened. “How do you know that?”

“A magician never reveals her tricks. Now fess up: why are you doing this?”

“Have you ever said or done something that you wish everyone could just forget? Well, I do! Every single day! The difference is that I can make them forget. Thanks to that, I’m not mocked for being ‘the girl who slipped in the hallway and spilled yogurt everywhere’, or ‘the girl who stepped on the ball instead of kicking it and fell flat on her face’, or ‘the girl who confessed her feelings for that cute drummer and was rejected in front of a crowd’.”

“And how, exactly, can you make people forget?”

“I’d love to tell you, but…” She reached into the backpack that was lying on the grass next to her and pulled out an oval stone with markings and runes on its surface. “…I’d rather show you!”

“Is that a rock?”

“It’s not just a rock. It’s a magical rock that makes people forget the things I want them to. And now, I’ll—”

“Wait! Since I’m going to forget this meeting ever happened anyway, can you at least satisfy my curiosity and tell me your name?”

She cocked her head to the side, looking confused. “Are… Are you serious? All this time we’ve been talking and you don’t even remember my name?”

“Have we met? I genuinely thought you were a trespasser.”

“I’ve known you since 3rd grade.”

“Oh, I remember 3rd grade! Not you specifically, but what a grade it—”

Trixie, who was sitting with the original Dazzlings by the portal to Equestria/pedestal where the horse statue destroyed by Principal Cinch used to be, hit pause in the recording. “From this point forward it’s just silence followed by me screaming after realizing that I’m alone in the middle of the woods.”

“Well, at least she’s not trying to take over the world.” Sonata said with a shrug. “She’s just really awkward and self-conscious.”

Adagio stopped writing on her notepad. “So far we know that she is, in fact, a student from CHS and not a trespasser like we theorized, she’s been studying here for a while given that she met Trixie in 3rd grade, she’s the president/founder/only member of the gardening club, she erases memories with an enchanted stone and she doesn’t have nefarious motives, she just doesn’t want to look bad in front of others.”

“And people learning that she can erase memories, like Sunset and Trixie.” Aria added.

“All we need is a name, but she pretty much gave herself away after talking about the gardening club.”

While they talked, the portal to Equestria started glowing and Sunset Shimmer returned to the human world.

“Took you long enough.” Trixie said.

“Sorry, Princess Twilight and I just learned that there’s a restricted section in the Canterlot Library, but since I couldn’t fit through the door I had to wait outside. Thankfully Princess Celestia knows an enlargement spell, so I could at least read and turn pages by myself, but it still took a while. Sometimes I forget how big my true form actually is now, it’s so strange!”

“Did you find anything?” Aria asked.

“It’s an ancient artifact named ‘Memory Stone’, and it belonged to an evil sorceress who was practically invincible; with the Memory Stone she could erase any memory from any creature. Clover The Clever chased her across land and sea, and every time he got close the sorceress would erase his memory and escape, but he kept finding her.”

“Let me guess.” Adagio interrupted. “He wrote everything down so he’d know what happened after she erased his memories.” She tapped her notepad with the eraser on the other end of her pencil.

Sunset nodded. “Like a trail of bread crumbs! He chased her through a portal into this world – most likely this same portal – and defeated her, then took the stone and buried it.”

“Thanks for the history lesson, but did you find any useful information to the current situation?” Aria asked again.

Sunset shrugged. “If the Stone is destroyed, all memories erased in the past three days are returned; any memory loss prior to that is permanent.”

“Losing my memories suck, but I don’t think anything of value was lost.” Trixie said. “I’m not in a hurry.”

“Yeah, same.”

“So this trip was just a giant waste of time. Great.” Aria rolled her eyes.

“At least I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with the baby Cakes.” Sonata said while hugging two imaginary children. “They are just adorable!”

“Babies are gross.”

Sonata aggressively pointed her finger at Aria’s face. “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!”

“Listen to this, Sunset.” Trixie instructed before playing the recorded audio file once again from the beginning.

“We still have a little time before the first bell rings, so I’ll go figure out what her name is.” Adagio left the group, going towards the school building.

“Wallflower Blush.” Sunset Shimmer, who stood behind the green haired girl while she fiddled with something in her locker, called.

She quickly turned around, startled. “You remember my name?”

“I did some thinking, and I guess I understand why you erased my memory. More than once.”

Her blood ran cold. “Y-You remember that too? How do you remember that?”

“The ‘how’ doesn’t matter, but I want to talk to you.”

“I don’t like confrontation. Let’s just” Wallflower reached into her backpack and pulled out the Memory Stone “forget this ever happened!”

The runes on the Stone began glowing teal, but Sunset quickly grabbed Wallflower’s wrist with one hand and the Memory Stone with the other – the girl had a weak grip, so Sunset effortlessly took the artifact from her. With her only line of defense taken from her, the girl cowered.

“You use this to make people forget embarrassing memories of you, I get that. But let me ask you something: when we met in the computer room – and I know we did, so there’s no point in lying – I was tracking magical energy with my gem; did I ask you if you knew anything about it?” Wallflower nodded. “And you erased my memory of that encounter, correct?” She nodded again. “The same happened not long after in the chemistry lab, am I right?” Another nod. “And one more time in the cafeteria the following day.” The girl nodded once more. “This is about what happened in the Friendship Games, isn’t it? Twilight and Cinch were misusing magic and so I took it away from them, so you’re afraid I’ll take the Memory Stone away from you too. Am I right?”

“I… I just wanted people to forget the stupid things I did. I thought that maybe if they looked past my awkwardness we could get along and be friends, but things kept escalating and before I knew it I had erased every memory they had of me. After that I just couldn’t stop, every time I messed something up my first instinct was to use the Stone.” She sighed. “But I guess that’s no longer an option, huh?”

Sunset Shimmer looked down at the enchanted rock she was holding, then at the people around them watching the confrontation.

“Why don’t you mind your own business?” Sunset raised the Stone, pointing it at their audience.

What appeared to be photographic film made of pure energy and showing images of Sunset and Wallflower came out of the heads of every person in their general vicinity before being absorbed by the Stone.

“Look, I’m really sorry about this, but this thing is dangerous. There’s no telling how much damage could be done if it falls in the wrong hands, so unfortunately I’ll have to take it back to Equestria.”

Wallflower nodded again, looking down at her feet in shame, defeat and disappointment. Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder.

“But hey, tomorrow’s a Saturday and my friends and I are going to hang out at the mall, you’re welcome to join us if you want.”

The president of the gardening club looked up at Sunset Shimmer, feeling confused, surprised and a little hopeful. “You… really mean that?”

“Of course I do!” Sunset reached into her pocket, retrieved her phone and handed it to the girl. “I’ll need your number first, of course.”

With a smile on her face, Wallflower Blush began typing her phone number.

Author's Notes:

Stay tuned for the next and final chapter. I have no idea how I made it this far but, if the ever declining quality of my writing is a hint, it's time to wrap things up.

Chapter 11

The Dazzlings plus Trixie had turned Wallflower’s garden into their new hangout spot, thus ending the long-standing feud between them and the Rainbooms over which group would gather around the pedestal of the long gone horse statue that also doubled as a portal to Equestria. Wallflower didn’t mind their presence, after all she could hang out with her friends and care for her plants at the same time, it made the place livelier and they helped her with small things here and there from time to time – they even added a large wooden bench, a gift from Applejack, the only Rainboom they were on slightly good terms with after working together during the Friendship Games.

Wallflower Blush and Sonata Dusk were tending to the plants while Trixie Lulamoon, Sunset Shimmer and Adagio Dazzle did their homework together on the bench. Aria Blaze sat on the grass with her back pressed against one of the three rocks circling the clearing, typing away on her phone.

“You know what sucks about history?” Adagio asked while holding the cap of her pen between her teeth. “We were actually there when some of the things we’re studying happened, but our answers have to match what’s in the history books, even though some of the things presented as facts are not exactly how they happened.”

“Really?” Trixie asked, not letting the opportunity to shift the attention away from the homework for two minutes go to waste. “Like what?”

“Alright, I’m out.” Aria said as she got up, picked up the backpack lying by her side, stuffed her phone in one of her pockets, waved at her friends and walked back towards CHS.

“Anyone else finds that weird?” Sonata asked.

“Define ‘that’.” Sunset replied.

“Aria just leaving us to do her own thing.”

“We’re not conjoined twins, Sonata, she can do whatever she wants.” Adagio replied.

“I know! I’m not saying she shouldn’t, it’s just that she never had any interest in going anywhere on her own before, now she just walks away whenever she feels like it and we just see her after she comes back from work. What if…” Sonata looked sadly at the gardening trowel covered in dirt that she was holding. “What if she’s found someone she likes hanging out with more than us?”

“What, like a boyfriend?” Wallflower asked.

“Psh, yeah!” Adagio said with a smirk. “Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

“I don’t know, have you seen some of the weirdoes that hang out at that place she’s working at?” Trixie asked. “She’s not exactly the most charismatic girl in the world, but some guys are into that. Maybe she’s caught someone’s eye?”

“Oh, plenty of people have shown interest in her over the years, that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s Aria who’s not really into people.”

“Then what is she into?”

“Nothing. Aria Blaze is our very own confirmed bachelorette.”

“And you two aren’t?” Sunset asked.

“We had our… escapades. Especially Sonata.”

“What do you mean especially me?” The slightly annoyed blue-haired siren asked with her hands on her hips.

“Oh, don’t play dumb! We all remember what happened in Baghdad.”

“It’s was just that one time. Besides, what about you and that justice minister from Paris?”

“That was different, I owed those gypsies a favor.”

“Can anybody fill me in on what they’re talking about?” Wallflower asked the other two.

“Honestly, we’re just as in the dark as you are.” Sunset replied with a shrug before closing her book and looking at her phone. “Shoot, look at the time. Excuse me, gotta go!”

“Go? But the Sweet Shoppe is closed today. You still have to babysit the twins?” Trixie asked.

“No, I have to meet with Princess Twilight. The journal I use to communicate with her ran out of pages, so she made a new one and I’m going over there to pick it up.”

“Oh, so you’re going to Equestria? That sounds exciting!”

“Not really, it’s just a visit to my hometown.”

“Well, it would be exciting for someone who’s never been to a different world before.”

Sunset squinted. “Oh, yeah? And who would that someone be?”

“Wallflower, of course!” Trixie grabbed the confused gardener by both shoulders and placed her between the two of them. “She’s new to our little circle, we need to hang out with her more often to make her truly feel like one of us. What do you say, Wall?”

“I’ve never left Canterlot City before in my life.” Wallflower said. “I get to go on a trip for the first time, and the destination is a different dimension? I don’t want to sound too eager, but sign me up!”

Sunset rubbed her chin in thought. “If you want to go, then I guess it’s fine. I’m sure Princess Twilight won’t mind.”

Trixie wrapped an arm around Sunset’s shoulders. “Annnnnd, since you’re already taking Wallflower with you, I don’t suppose there’s room for one more?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Trixie, you can come with us.”

Trixie pumped her fist in the air before grabbing Sunset’s and Wallflower’s hands and dragging them along. “Then there’s no time to lose!”

Sonata and Adagio, who had stopped arguing a while back, watched as their three friends walked away.

“Did we just get ditched?” Sonata asked.

“Looks like it.” Adagio replied as she started gathering everybody’s things. “They even left their backpacks, what if someone steals them?”

“Who would? The six of us are the only people who even know this place exists.”

“Don’t take any chances, Sonata, how many times do I have to tell you this?”

“Remember Baghdad?”

“We were just talking—”

“About that many times.” Adagio stared at Sonata, expressionless. “So, wanna follow Aria and see what she’s up to?”

“How does this thing work?” Wallflower asked as she placed her hand on the surface of the portal. “Do we need a key, a secret phrase…?”

“No, you just go through it!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a little… exposed? Anyone who just wants some shade could accidentally fall through.”

“Yes, but a closed portal means no magic, and no magic means we starve to death, so we have to risk it. Worst case scenario, they have the Memory Stone on standby.”

“If you say so. But are you sure this is safe?”

“Of course! I crossed that portal many times before and only threw up once, you’ll be fine.”

Taking a deep breath, Wallflower Blush pushed her hand into the platform, her entire arm sinking into the portal. The rest of her body soon followed until she disappeared completely.

“Your turn, Trixie!”

“Watch in awe as the Grreat and Powerful Trrixie makes herself disappWHOA!”

Sunset Shimmer pushed her into the portal before she had the chance to finish. The illusionist screamed the whole way as the magical vortex sucked, twisted and reshaped her very being until nothing was left of the old Trixie. She came out on the other side of the portal only a couple of seconds after Wallflower.

The green earth pony mare with dark green mane and tail, freckles and a single potted flower for a cutie mark was the first to stand up – she attempted to stand on her hind legs only to fail miserably, lose her balance and fall on her back. The blue unicorn, learning from the mistake of her companion, stood on all fours.

“Trixie? How did you get in here without me seeing you? And who’s that?” A pink unicorn with purple mane and green highlights asked as she approached the duo. “Did you put another pony in a box for one of your magic tricks and forgot to let her out? Again?”

“AH!” Trixie yelped as she fell on her butt. “A talking horse!”

“Trixie, you are a talking horse.” Wallflower said matter-of-factly as she sat up, looking down at her own forelegs and touching the tip of her muzzle with a hoof. “And so am I, from the looks of things.”

“You are surprisingly chill with all this. Speaking of chill, where are our clothes?”

“I’ve been to the Fall Formal, the Battle of the Bands, the Friendship Games and lived to tell all the tales. At this point I’ve just accepted the weird and unexplained as a part of my day-to-day life. Speaking of which, I think she looks like Aria. Does she look like Aria to you?”

“Will somepony please fill me in on what’s going on?” The other unicorn asked as she waved her hoof in an attempt to get their attention.

Trixie muffled a laugh. “Did she just say somepony? That’s dumb.”

Wallflower finally stood up on all fours with a bit of a wobble. “I don’t know, I think it’s cute.”

The portal started glowing one more time, and out of it came the third and final member of their small group. Trixie and Wallflower hugged each other and screamed.

The siren rolled her eyes. “Girls, it’s me.”

“Oh, right.” Trixie pushed Wallflower away from her. “I don’t know if you know that, but you look much scarier up close.”

“Gee, thanks.” Looking past her two friends, she spotted another unicorn in the room with them. “Hi there! You must be Princess Twilight’s student, right?”

“Yup! The name’s Starlight Glimmer.”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Wallflower Blush.”

“And I’m—”

“The Grreat and Powerful Trrixie!” Starlight Glimmer cheerfully interrupted with a raised hoof before chuckling.

The blue unicorn was a little shocked at first, but she soon flashed a smug smile.

“It would appear that Trixie’s reputation precedes her.” She used a hoof to brush her mane. “Far and wide, even across dimensions, many have heard the amazing feats and accomplishments of the Grreat and Powerful Trrixie!”

“Look what you did.” Wallflower said. “She’s gonna be like that for the rest of the week now.”

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just that there is a Trixie in this world is as well, and we are very good friends.”

“Well, any friend of mine is a friend of… mine, I guess?” Trixie extended her hoof. “Um, Sunset? How do you shake someone’s hand in this world when neither of you have hands to shake?”

“I don’t know what’s this ‘hand’ you speak of, but I’ll assume it’s your world’s equivalent of a hoof. Here, we do it like this!” Starlight connected the bottom of her hoof with Trixie’s and shook it. “Nice to meet you. Again, I suppose.” She then shook Wallflower’s hoof and finally Sunset’s with a little difficulty due to the size difference.

“So where’s Twilight?” The siren asked while looking around at the bookcases in the library they were in.

“Away on business. Apparently the ambassador smoothing things over with the changelings is having problems, so Princess Celestia asked her to make sure he doesn’t start a war.”

“What ambassador?”

“Some royal I never heard of. Prince Trueblood or something like that.”

“Prince… Blueblood?”

“Yes, that’s the one. You know him?”

Sunset visibly shuddered. “We’re… acquaintances. Let’s just say Twilight’s got her work cut out for her. Speaking of which, since she’s not here I’m assuming she left my package with you?”

“Your… package?” Starlight raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, the journal we use to communicate with each other ran out of pages, so she was going to make me a new one and give it to me today.”

“I’m sorry, but Twilight never told me anything about a journal. She was in such a hurry that she just said you were coming through the portal today, I don’t know where it is.”

“Oh well, I guess we’ll have to wait for Princess Twilight to come back, huh? Until then, I guess!” With a bounce on her step, Trixie trotted towards the door.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Sunset asked.

“There is an entire alien world out there waiting to be explored and you expect me to just sit here in a library and wait? I can do that back home, where the library also comes with free Wi-Fi!”

Starlight cocked her head to the side. “Why fine?”

“I agree with Trixie on that one!” The green earth pony mare said, standing side by side with her blue unicorn friend. “As much as I prefer quiet places, this is still an entirely different dimension where we look like ponies! There’s so much to do and so much to see, so what’s wrong with taking to the streets?”

“You’ll never know if you don’t go!” Trixie added with a knowing smirk and a wink.

“Ok, fine, you can go. But I’m coming with!” Sunset turned to face the pink pony. “Is that ok, Starlight?”

“Are you kidding? I’m coming as well, there’s no way in Tartarus I’m missing that! I can’t wait to see how Trixie – my Trixie, that is – is going to react to this!” Pushing the door open with her magic, Starlight exited the library. Wallflower and Sunset Shimmer followed her outside, but Trixie stayed behind for a moment to try and channel magic through her horn like Starlight did, to no avail. She eventually gave up and trotted after them.

“Thanks for the ride, Flash.” Adagio said as she stepped out of the teen’s black car.

“If you tell Aria that I helped you stalk her, I’m denying everything; most people prefer their kneecaps left unbroken, and I happen to identify as ‘most people’.” With that said, Flash Sentry took off.

“Bye, Flash!” Sonata shouted while waving.

“Quiet down!” Adagio said, elbowing the younger siren in the ribs. “You want to give away our position that quickly?”

“Sorry.” She whispered.

While Sonata rubbed her ribs that got hit, they watched as Aria walked into the mall. Making sure there was a reasonable distance between them and her, they followed her in.

“This is the exact opposite direction of her work, so we can cross ‘clocking in early’ off the list.” Adagio thought out loud.

“I think this is the way to the food court.”

“Food court? What for? We just ate.”

Sonata shrugged. Aria made her way to the food court just as Sonata theorized, entered a teahouse and sat at a table by the window.

“Since when does Aria drink tea?” Adagio asked as they sat at a table in the food court from where they could only see the back of Aria’s head – she wouldn’t spot them even by accident from that location.

A waitress approached Aria, but she dismissed her.

“She didn’t order anything and wasn’t kicked out?” Sonata raised an eyebrow. “They always kicked me out of that taco place every time I just wanted to sit there and smell the tacos.”

“She must have said she’s waiting for someone to arrive before ordering anything.”

“Ohh, I’m gonna use that excuse next time.”

“Sonata, this was your idea, now focus!”

“Hey, isn’t that one of the girls from Crystal Prep?”

“I said foc—” Adagio didn’t finish that sentence; the girl from Crystal Prep that Sonata pointed out went in the same teahouse Aria was already in. The CPA girl with twintails and glasses then sat across the siren, and that piqued Adagio’s curiosity. “Well well well, would you look at that.”

The waitress took their orders and returned not long after with two cups of tea. Aria and Sugarcoat talked for a few minutes under the watchful gaze of Adagio and Sonata, who inspected every single muscle twitch in an attempt to infer the purpose of that meeting.

Aria extended her hand on the table and Sugarcoat placed hers on top of it. Sonata gasped.

“She’s holding her hand! I repeat, she. Is. Holding. Her. Hand!”

Aria leaned over the table. Sugarcoat did the same. Adagio placed a hand over her mouth, a blush beginning to form on her cheeks.

“Was that a kiss?!” The euphoric Sonata grabbed the elder siren’s shoulders. “Adagio, was that a kiss?!”

“Looks like our little Aria is all grown up.” Adagio said with a smile.

“When Princess Twilight wrote me letters telling me about Ponyville, I expected things to be a bit more…” Sunset, who was floating above the fountain in the center of town, looked around at the empty streets. “…livelier.”

“Is it some sort of pony holiday?” Wallflower Blush asked.

“Not that I know of.” Starlight Glimmer answered.

“Maybe it’s Sunset’s dragon breath.” Trixie laughed at her own joke, earning herself a slap with Sunset’s tail that sent her flying a few feet forward.

“First of all I’m a siren, not a dragon. Second of all my breath is minty fresh, so shut up.”

“Is it” Wallflower covered her mouth with a hoof “zombies?”

“Uh, not very likely.” Starlight said.

“Not likely… but possible?”

“Hold it right there, evil-doer!” A very familiar voice said before five ponies jumped in front of the group.

“A very smart move, invading while Twilight is out of town.” Rarity said while moving a lock of hair away from her face using her hoof.

“But you ain’t the first big monster who tried to invade Ponyville, and definitely not the first who’ll succeed.” Applejack warned.

“With or without Twilight by our side, we are far from helpless.” Fluttershy spoke up. The bunny riding on her back nodded.

“So try anything funny and we’ll kick your fish butt all the way back to the ocean!” Rainbow Dash threatened, putting her hooves up in a fighting stance.

Pinkie Pie pulled two cupcakes out of her mane. “Hit me with your best shot, bucko!”

“Are those the Rainbooms?” Wallflower whispered to Trixie.

“Sure look like them.” Trixie said, rubbing her chin. “Sound like them too, ugh…”

“Girls, girls, it’s ok!” Starlight stood in front of Sunset Shimmer, waving both hooves in the air to get their attention. “This is Sunset Shimmer, she’s a friend of Twilight’s from across the portal. She’s not invading Ponyville, she just dropped by for a visit.”

The five ponies relaxed, letting out a collective “ohhhhh” of understanding.

“Forgive us for jumping to conclusions, darling.” Rarity stepped forward. “It’s just that, when Twilight told us about you, we imagined someone a bit, um…”

“Smaller?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s ok, I’m still getting used to my new size myself.” Sunset said as she flew in circles to inspect her own body.

“New size?” Applejack asked.

“I used to be a pony too. Long story!”

Starlight Glimmer pointed her hoof at the other two ponies. “These are Wallflower Blush and Trixie – not our Trixie, their Trixie.”

“There’s two Trixies?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Celestia help us all…”

“Got a problem with that, Rainbow Trash?” Trixie asked as she stepped forward.

“How do you—”

“Now, now!” Applejack said as she placed herself between the two blue ponies with both hooves raised in case she needed to push either of them away. “They’re guests in our… dimension, I guess. We already screwed up first impressions, so let’s try not to start a fight while we’re at it, okay?” She turned to face the unicorn. “Let’s try it again. Howdy there, name’s—”

“Applejack, we know.” Trixie interrupted. “Also Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. We’ve met. Technically.”

“Well, Twilight did mention the creatures on the other side of the portal looked an awful lot like us.” Fluttershy recalled.

“Can you spread the word that they mean no harm?” Starlight requested. “Going on a tour is gonna be awkward if Ponyville looks like a ghost town.”

The five mares spread out, each going in a different direction. In a matter of minutes the town of Ponyville was buzzing with activity once again and, other than the occasional glance of curiosity in Sunset’s direction and a curious foal or two asking questions before being pulled away by their apologetic parents, everything went back to normal. Starlight led them to a small wagon sitting atop a hill just outside the town limits before knocking on the door.

“Trixie, come out here, you have to see this!” She then pushed the Trixie from the human world, making her stand in front of the door she had just knocked on.

The person who opened the door was an exact duplicate of Trixie, except she wore a purple cape and wizard hat with stars on them.

“A… mirror?” She asked, her voice also identical to human Trixie’s. “Thanks for the gift, Starlight, but I don’t think… why isn’t the mirror moving when I move? Is it broken?” Pony Trixie raised her hoof and booped human Trixie’s muzzle, causing her to flinch. “That’s not a mirror, is it?”

“Why am I homeless in this universe?” Human Trixie asked.

Trixie screamed and locked herself in her wagon where she kept on screaming until she ran out of air in her lungs. After taking a deep breath, she resumed the screaming.

“Hello, Aria!” Adagio said as she wrapped an arm around the purple-haired siren’s shoulders, who was waiting by a bus stop. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Something tells me this wasn’t a chance meeting.” Aria grumbled.

“We just wanted to congratulate you!” Sonata approached Aria from her other side and wrapped her arms around her waist.

“My birthday is still months from now.”

“It’s not that, dummy.”

“Then what is it?”

“Congratulations on finally getting a girlfriend!” Sonata and Adagio said at the same time.

Aria raised an eyebrow. “A what now?”

“Don’t play dumb, we saw everything.” Adagio replied with a smirk and a wink. “For a while we honestly thought you were aromantic, but I guess we were mistaken.”

“I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The girl from Crystal Prep!” Sonata finally spelled out. “We saw you holding hands and kissing in the teahouse!”

“Girl from… wait, were you stalking me?”

“No, Sonata was stalking you.” Adagio corrected. “I was just making sure she didn’t do anything stupid.”

“While stalking you as well.” Sonata added.

Aria pushed both girls away from her. “You two are unbelievable, you know that?”

“We only do it because we love you and want to make sure you won’t get hurt. This is your first relationship, after all.” Adagio explained.

“This isn’t my first relationship because this isn’t even a relationship to begin with!”

“There’s no need to lie to us, Aria, we’re your—” Sonata started, but was interrupted when the purple siren shoved a piece of paper in her face. “Is this a… poem?”

“Song lyrics.” Aria explained. “Sugarcoat wasn’t ‘holding my hand’, she was giving me this so I can give her feedback.”

“What for?” Adagio asked, looking over Sonata’s shoulder.

“Ever heard of the Canterlot Mall Chance-To-Prance Competition?”

“Isn’t it that song and dance competition with a cash prize?” Sonata asked.

Aria nodded. “They want to have their Spring Dance on a yacht, but Principal Cadance needs funds for that.”

“Principal Cadence? What happened to the other one?”

“Loony bin. The Friendship Games took a toll on her mental health.”

Adagio shrugged. “That’s what happens when you play with magic fire, but we’re getting sidetracked. You were talking about the Canterlot Mall competition?”

“The CPA girls are decent dancers but they can’t write songs even if their lives depended on it, so Sugarcoat came to me for help.”

“Bu-But you two leaned over the table for a kiss! We saw it happen!” Sonata pointed an accusatory finger at her.

“Did you actually see our lips touch?”

“Well, no, but… What else could that be?”

“She wanted to tell me something but didn’t want others to overhear it, so we had to get closer so she could whisper it.”

“Well… mistakes were made, I suppose.” Adagio looked away, playing with her hair.

“Yeah, the first mistake was the two of you not respecting my privacy. Don’t think I’ll let that slide. But whatever, since you’re already here, may as well go back home with you. Where did you park the bus?”

“We, uh… we didn’t. We asked Flash to give us a ride; if you looked out the window and saw our bus, you’d find us out immediately.”

Aria groaned and facepalmed. “For Hathor’s sake…”

“What did Sugarcoat want to tell you that no one else could hear it?” Sonata asked.

“That she’s in love with me and wanted to ask me out on a date.”

“FOR REALZIES?!”

“No. Now leave me alone and mind your own business.”

“Oh…”

Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Wallflower Blush, human Trixie, pony Trixie and the pony counterparts of the Rainbooms had all gathered outside Sugarcube Corner with citizens of Ponyville for an outdoors welcome party for the interdimensional visitors thrown by Pinkie Pie.

Sunset Shimmer was chatting with every pony who wanted her attention, answering any and every question they might have. Wallflower was standing by the side of the building, drinking juice from a wooden mug while chatting with a grey-colored earth pony mare in a blue dress with straight purple mane and tail. Pony Trixie, who had gotten over the initial shock of meeting somepony who looked exactly like her, put on a magic show with the help of her human counterpart – pony Trixie had given one of her garments for her other self to wear, but nopony was paying attention when that happened and they had no idea if human Trixie was the one wearing the hat or the one wearing the cape.

Princess Twilight arrived while the celebrations were in full swing, landing just a few meters away from the crowd in the company of a guest.

“Hey, Twilight!” Starlight Glimmer called as she approached her mentor. “Glad you could make it. Who’s this?”

“This is Ocellus, the changeling ambassador.” The princess introduced.

“Hello.” The light blue bug-like quadruped greeted; she was slightly taller than them and her pink mane and tail swayed in the breeze.

“Changeling? For real? She doesn’t look like the changelings I heard of.”

“Blueblood did a stupid thing, then he did another stupid thing, but then he did a very cool thing that was followed by another stupid thing that I had to fix, then all the changelings went through metamorphosis and now they look more or less like her. It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later.” Twilight waved a hoof dismissively.

“Colorful or not, welcome to Ponyville, Ambassador Ocellus.”

Ocellus nodded. “Thank you, but just Ocellus is fine. It’s good to be here.”

“What’s the occasion?” Twilight asked while looking at the ponies partying. “Is that Sunset Shimmer? What is she— Oh no! I forgot to tell you about the enchanted journal I was supposed to give her today! Has she been waiting for long?”

“Honestly, we were having so much fun hanging out that we didn’t even notice the time passing. Come party with us, we can introduce Ocellus to everypony else!”

“Would that be ok, Ocellus?” Twilight asked the changeling, who nodded once more. The three of them trotted towards the party side by side.

Author's Notes:

Ok, no more juice left in the tank. I tried to do something with Legend of Everfree, but no matter how hard I tried I got stuck halfway. I was going to write a subplot involving Wallflower falling in love with Timber Spruce, so with that in mind make your own conclusions as to how well things would go.

Anyway, here's a drawing I made featuring the entire Dazz Gang:

Thank you for hanging out here, getting to this point and giving my project the time of day(s). It was a fun ride but, unlike other rides, it had to end. You have my somewhat humble and rather pathetic appreciation.

And who knows, maybe one day I'll come back with an adaptation of Legend of Everfree. Only time will tell.