The city of Canterlot may have been well known for the prestigious Crystal Prep academy, but if the world knew the whole story of their rival, the academy would most likely be ignored entirely, as the entire world would gawk at the humbler school. On the surface, Canterlot High seemed to be an ordinary high school. However, delving deep into its walls and rumors told a few different stories. One of spite and redemption, one of adoration and infamy, and, the most recent one, a story of corruption and purification. The purified soul was Twilight Sparkle, who was, at the moment, sitting with her friends at the cafeteria. The friends in question were the Rainbooms, a band that, along with Equestria's version of Twilight, called upon a friendship-based magic to dispel the threats. It was the thought of another Twilight that led the former student of Crystal Prep to ask Sunset Shimmer:
"So, if there's another me in...Equestria, does that mean that everyone else here has an equivalent?"
Sunset nodded while chewing on a sandwich before swallowing to speak.
"Yep. I talked with Princess Twilight and she says that she's seen an Equestrian counterpart for nearly every student here. To be honest, the fact that I haven't seen my counterpart yet is a relief."
"Yeah, I can imagine the confusion. Trying to explain to someone who looks just like you that you're them from another world is a great way to get sent to an asylum."
"...that, and I really don't want to see my old self again. Unless she had her own 'redemption', she would be as horrible as I was, and I really don't want to see that."
Rarity placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, drawing Sunset's attention towards her.
"If you do meet your double, and she is like you once were, we'll be there with you when you tell her how happy friends make you, and we won't need magic to do it."
As comforting as that sounded, it seemed to make Sunset Shimmer look even worse.
"Except we WOULD need magic. When I put on Princess Twilight's crown, I felt every single horrible thing I had ever done to other people cascade upon me. The demon you guys saw was a creature born of my own desires, and I had no control over her. Defeating her made me realize that I could never win, and that I was actually a monster, as much as I denied it."
She looked to her crowd of friends and sighed. All of them looked saddened, which made her next sentence so much harder to get out.
"The old me would hate the idea of 'stooping to your level' so much she would rather not be as happy as I am than be friendly, and magic would be the only thing to change that."
Twilight removed her glasses to wipe her eyes. She hasn't been crying much, but she still didn't want any tears blotting her vision. She looked right at Sunset before talking.
"It's so strange to me to hear how you were back then. You're as friendly as can be, and hearing about this bullying, power hungry girl being you just seems so...unlikely."
It was Applejack's turn to place her hand on Sunset's shoulder.
"Sunset...that may have happened, but yer so much better off fer it, and you've been invaluable to us as a friend, and to the rest of the school as well. Sure, we may have saved it from ya, but ya still helped us save it once, and saved it again all bah yerself!"
Before anyone else could add a comment, Twilight suddenly cleared her throat. All eyes were on her now.
"Wait, wait wait. I heard about what you and other me did, and I would be worried if I didn't know how Sunset stopped me, but I didn't know about a different attack!"
Rainbow looked over with a raised eyebrow at her spectacled friend.
"Seriously? Nobody's told you about the Sirens yet?"
Twilight's eyes went wide with horror. Before she could spout out her concerns, Fluttershy patted her shoulder before speaking up in her usual tone.
"Oh, don't worry. They aren't like the Sirens in Fleek mythology. They didn't eat anyone. Or, um, kill anyone, for that matter."
Twilight let out a loud sigh at that. At least there weren't any casualties. After everything this school went through, losing students would be the icing on the cake.
"I love cake!"
Everyone looked right at Pinkie, waiting for an explanation. There was none. Instead, Sunset got back on topic.
"They were originally from Equestria a thousand years in the past. Starswirled the Bearded, the most well known unicorn in history, sent them through time and space to your world. Their songs made people fight each other and adore them, and the arguing and anger was turned into negative energy that went into these pendants of theirs. They turned the musical showcase we were supposed to have into a battle of the bands, forming their own band called The Dazzlings. We beat them, though, and shattered their pendants."
Twilight looked genuinely puzzled.
"How come I haven't seen them around here? Haven't you befriended them?"
All of the Rainbooms looked down at the table. Rarity looked at Twilight and sighed.
"They ran away from an angry crowd as soon as they tried to sing without their pendants. To put it nicely, it wasn't really a performance I would pay to see. We looked for them, but we couldn't find hide nor hair."
Rainbow Dash snickered a bit before getting out what was on her mind.
"And trust me, that hair would stand out anywhere you can think of. Especially that one with the Cheeto hair. What was her name again?"
Sunset facepalmed. Tact wasn't always the prismatic athlete's strong suit.
"Adagio Dazzle. She was the leader of the group, and boy, did the room drop like ten degrees with her in it. She didn't even have to hypnotize you to catch your eye, and not in the way you're thinking. Yes, she and the others had physical appeal, but she commanded your attention and respect just by looking at you. And her evil smirk and laugh were bone chilling, to say the least."
Twilight looked intrigued. Well, she did look intrigued before, but now that she got to hear more details, she wanted to know even more.
"And what about the other two? What were they like?"
Sunset didn't even hesitate in describing them. The three were stuck firmly in her mind due to the role they played in the school accepting that she changed.
"The second in command was probably Aria Blaze. Two giant pigtails with star hairbands, a ripped jacket, and an attitude that commanded more fear than anything else. The look on her face when she sang the song that turned the school against itself was one of sheer malice. Adagio might have had the authority, but Aria had the glare that could send people running scared. A very aggressive girl, to say the least.
And then there was Sonata Dusk. She seemed so out of place among them. She looked, quite frankly, adorable. Though, she wasn't very bright, and got into a argument with Aria barely a minute after I met her. She looked so harmless, yet was as sinister as the other two. The fact that someone who looked so sweet could be so sour was definitely a shock to everyone, after they got after the whole 'dark magic' shock, of course."
"Sour Sweet wasn't there, silly!"
Once again, everyone looked to Pinkie. Before anyone could say anything, Rainbow Dash slammed her fist on the table.
"Man! Talking about them like this...it's just plain wrong! We need to find those three so we can stop just...I don't know, talking about them like they're stuck in the past like this!"
One of AJ's eyebrows went up.
"But we already looked everywhere they'd probably be! How in tarnation are we gonna find those girls?"
Twilight cleared her throat again, and with all eyes on her, she said "Well, I'm here. An extra pair of watchful eyes can't hurt, and I'm sure that some of the kids back at Crystal Prep will help us. If those girls are out there, we'll find them."
Sunset smiled and nodded at her new friend.
"Then it's settled. We'll keep on looking for the Dazzlings, and hopefully show them how great friendship is."
Fluttershy looked around nervously. She muttered something under her breath, attracting Rarity's attention.
"What was that, darling?"
"W-well, um, what if they left the city? It might explain why we haven't found them yet..."
The other girls said nothing. Fluttershy was right. The Dazzlings could have skipped town after they bolted, and that was a while ago, so who knows how far they could have gotten? However, Pinkie, seeing the lack of smiles, chirped: "Oh, c'mon, guys! We can't give up just because of some 'possibilities'! If we did that, how would we get anything done?"
Before anyone could reply, the intercom suddenly let out Principal Celestia's voice.
"Sunset Shimmer, please bring your friends with you to my office."
While the girls didn't hesitate in rising, they were undoubtedly confused. They walked through the halls and reached the office, only to stop when Sunset halted in front of the now open door.
"...um, girls? I don't think we have to worry about looking for the Dazzlings."
She moved out of the way to reveal three dirty, somber looking girls that were all too familiar to the Rainbooms. The three Sirens stood before them, and none of them looked particularly happy. As the others stood their gawking, Adagio Dazzle spoke with a voice dripping with contempt.
"So, you wanted to look for us, huh?"