The Phantom of Canterlot High

by Lucky Seven

When the Levee Breaks (Battle of the Bands IV)

Lunch time. Danny’s favorite time of the day, bar none. Taking his place in line behind the other students, he let his mind drift back to the prior night. Sunset wasn’t just a good host; she had also been very personable. It wasn’t often that Danny had extended conversations with people he had just met, but something about Sunset felt comforting to him. Still, there was plenty about her that felt mysterious. Much like Danny himself, she hadn’t been very open about where she came from.

That was small fry though, and ultimately wasn’t what was important. What was important was finding out as much as he could about the Dazzlings, and putting a stop to their plan before it had the chance to be set in motion. As the line moved forward and he disappeared into the cafeteria’s kitchen, he grabbed a tray. It wouldn’t be long before he had his daily intake of greasy food and carbonated drinks, and then he could really do some thinking. For now, he was content to just get his meal and sit down with Sunset and the others for lunch.

The line was constantly moving forward, and it wasn’t long before Danny reached the front. His eyes met the lunch lady’s, and he relayed his order.

“Uh, I’ll have the cheeseburger with a side of tater tots and mac n’ cheese.”

The woman across from him gathered up the food he had requested and placed it onto his tray. “And to drink?”

Danny thought for a moment. Would this place even have the sodas he was used to? From what he had seen, the girls only ever drank juice. Eh, it was worth a shot. “Do you have any soda?”

“Diet or regular?”

“Definitely regular,” Danny answered.

With the exchange done, and the soda in his possession, Danny finally made his way over to where Sunset and the other girls were seated. Plopping down next to the girl in question, he set his food tray down and quickly cracked open that soda. Taking a small sip, he listened in on the ongoing conversation.

“I’m telling you, she definitely stole that make-up!”

Ah. So nothing important. Taking hold of the fork he had been given, Danny picked up a scoop of his macaroni and took a bite. It was actually… good? That was a shocker. The food at Casper High had always looked and tasted like mush. This had flavor.

His thoughts were ripped away from food when he felt a tap on his arm from Sunset. “What about you, Danny?”

Taking another bite of his macaroni, Danny spoke around his food. “What about me?”

“Ugh,” Sunset groaned. Her friends giggled, causing Danny’s eyebrow to raise. “I said, what do you think we should do about Adagio and her friends?”

“Oh!” Danny exclaimed. “Yeah. What did you guys call them? The Dazzlings?”

“Well, that’s what they call themselves,” Rarity answered. “I suppose it’s the name of their band?”

“Regardless of what their name is,” Twilight said, “they’re definitely bad news. I tried to talk to Vice Principal Luna about them earlier this morning, and she basically laughed me out of the room.”

“So you think she’s under their spell?” Danny asked. “I suppose that would make sense. If you’re going to attempt a hostile takeover, it’s best to start at the top.”

“That’s true,” Sunset said. “If we assume they’re not at their full power, then it would be in their best interest to eliminate any chance for their opponents to have them disqualified from the competition.”

“Yeah, this is definitely their best chance to get people to listen to their music,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “So if we want to put a stop to them, we’re gonna have to put on one rad show.”

Danny thought for a moment about their prospects of winning said competition. In his experience, it was pretty much impossible to out-duel a siren. But three of them? With odds like those, you’d be better off buying a lottery ticket. Of course, there was always another option. One that he hadn’t even considered. Glancing down at the thermos strapped to his waistband, his thoughts shifted to his old foe, Ember McLain.

Defeating her had taken everything out of him. If not for Tucker’s horrible singing, it was possible she would be ruling Earth at this very moment with her zombie-like fanbase. It couldn’t come to that, though. Not yet.

Finally deciding on what to say, Danny re-entered the conversation, which had kept going without his input. “I don’t think you can beat them.”

That certainly grabbed everyone’s attention back, and they gave him a collectively incredulous look. “So you think they’re just destined to win?” Twilight asked.

“No,” Danny replied with a shake of his head.

“Then what?” Applejack said.

Danny sighed, his eyes scanning around the cafeteria for a brief moment. Once he was assured Adagio and her cohorts were nowhere to be seen, he elaborated. “It’s not always about beating your opponent outright. Sometimes just forcing a draw is enough to crush someone’s spirit. The Dazzlings think the battle is won already and it hasn’t even begun.”

“Are you suggesting some sort of mutually assured destruction?” Sunset asked. “Because Twilight and the girls can stop them, I truly believe that,” she said, eliciting smiles from the group.

“What I’m suggesting is that you guys just focus on putting on a good show. Something tells me that they aren’t exactly used to competitions. They strike me as the kind that would throw a fit if the going got tough.”

“Now that I can believe,” Rainbow Dash said, chuckling. “Would you be down to help us out if we need it, Danny?”

Danny smirked. “You know it.”

---

“That stupid boy is going to throw a wrench in our plans.” Adagio found herself pacing around an empty classroom, something that was growing to be a rather concerning pattern. If her comrades were concerned, they certainly weren’t letting it show. Aria was sitting on a nearby desk, her legs waving back and forth idly as she listened to their de facto leader. “I don’t like it. Not one bit.”

Aria groaned, finally deciding to speak up. “I really don’t think this is as big of a deal as you’re making it.”

“Not a big deal? Not a big deal?” Adagio growled through her teeth, turning to glare at Aria. “Do you not realize what’s going on here?”

Aria sighed, looking back at Sonata, who seemed content to simply stare at the lab equipment on the other side of the classroom with a series of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’. Turning her attention back to Adagio, Aria rolled her eyes. “Alright, try me. What’s going on?”

“That boy is not just a boy,” Adagio said, her glare slowly diminishing in strength. Leaning back, she continued. “I’m confident that he is our mystery ghost.”

Aria’s eyebrow rose at that proclamation. “Hold on. You think that kid Danny is a ghost?”

“Not think,” Adagio corrected her, turning heel to face the blackboard. “Know.”

“But how could a living creature possibly be a ghost!?” Sonata shouted from her spot at the back of the room. “I mean, that, like, totally doesn’t make any sense!”

“Noted.” It was Adagio’s turn to let out a sigh. Grabbing a bit of chalk, she drew up a rather crude looking explanation. “Look,” she said, pointing to the chalk Danny’s hair, then to the ghost’s. “It’s the same. Not to mention the jawline, nose, and even his eyes.”

“Alright, so… what do you expect us to do?” Aria asked. “It’s not like he’s a threat anyways.”

“… I don’t know,” the poofy-haired leader admitted. “But if they have someone with those sorts of powers on their side, who knows what could happen?”

“I think I could wager a guess,” came a voice from above. “Although I don’t think you’d like the answer very much.”

The sirens all shot their gazes at the ceiling, springing into action as they watched Danny float through the ceiling and into view.

“My, my,” Adagio said with a smile. “Look who’s back. Are you here to get another beating at the hands of Aria?”

“Not gonna happen, Carrot Top,” Danny quipped, earning a snicker from Aria. A quick glare from Adagio shut that down, and Danny continued. “I’m here to talk.”

This was a long shot, Danny knew that. But it was also his best chance to learn how these sirens operated. Much to his surprise, Adagio seemed surprised herself.

That look of surprise didn’t last long, and her expression smoothed out. “And what, pray tell, do you want to talk about?”

“I want some info. In exchange…” he sighed. It was now or never. “I’ll give you some info about myself.”

“Hm…” Adagio put her hand to her chin in thought. “You’re proposing a trade?”

Danny nodded. “That’s right. If you answer my questions, I’ll answer some of yours.”

The leader of the Dazzlings seemed to be lost in thought, giving Danny the chance to finally get a good look at the group. The blue girl, Sonata, appeared to be the meekest of the three. While Aria and Adagio had taken the chance to surround Danny, she had remained at the back of the room twiddling her thumbs around her ponytail. Aria, meanwhile, was about as close he was comfortable with. She was staring daggers, so he got the feeling she was the brute of the group. Adagio was certainly the leader of the trio, and she showed a level of confidence that he actually found slightly intimidating. Altogether, they were definitely going to be a formidable foe.

“Alright,” she said, pulling his attention back. “I’ll take you up on this offer, on the condition that I get to ask the first question.”

Danny kicked himself mentally for not seeing that one coming. “Okay, shoot.”

“You…” With a smirk, Adagio walked up to Danny and poked him in the chest. “Are a half-breed. Part human, part ghost. We’ve run into your kind before, but never in the living realm. How is it that you’re here?”

Danny sighed. This was going to be difficult to explain, and likely too telling, but he’d have to make that sacrifice in order to get the info that he was looking for.

“I can sense your frustration,” Adagio continued with a smirk. “And it’s wonderful.”

“Alright, fine. Since I doubt I’ll be here much longer, I’ll tell you,” Danny said. “When I was younger, my parents created a portal that led to a place beyond Earth, where ghosts live. It didn’t work, so I went inside to see if I could figure something out. I accidentally pressed the power button and, well, this was the result.”

“No doubt you condensed what happened, but very well, I’ll accept that answer. Now, what do y—”

“Whoa, whoa, wait a second,” Sonata spoke up, finally making her way to the rest of the group. “You parents put the button inside the spooky ghost portal? That doesn’t seem very smart.”

“Huh.” Danny thought for a moment, and couldn’t come up with any reason why Sonata was wrong. “I never actually thought about that.”

“Anyways,” Adagio said, trying to redirect their attention back to the topic at hand, “I believe it’s your turn. What would you like to know?”

“What’s your plan?” Danny asked.

“To take over the school. Or are you too stupid to understand that concept?” Adagio smirked at him.

“Trust me, I know the concept. What I mean is, what’s the point in doing that?” Danny questioned her with a chuckle. “Your plan doesn’t even go past taking over the school? Weak.”

“Shut it, you. Our plan is ever-evolving. This stupid school is just the start,” Adagio said with a scoff. “I believe it’s my turn to ask a question. Why are you living with that bacon haired monstrosity?”

“‘Bacon haired monstrosity’…?”

“She…” Aria sighed. “She means Sunset Shimmer.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t have a place to stay, and she was nice enough to offer.”

It seemed as if Adagio had more to say, but she settled on, “That’s certainly nice of her, especially after what she did not even a year ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard? Shocking,” Adagio said, chuckling. ”You see, Sunset Shimmer stole the crown of the Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria. When the Baconator put it on, she was transformed into a raging she-demon.”

Danny remained quiet for a few moments, trying to process what he’d just heard. Sunset and Twilight were friends, weren’t they? And wasn’t Twilight just a common high school girl?

“I can see that you’re having trouble understanding. Well, allow us to explain through song. After all, that is our specialty,” Adagio said, grinning.

“Ugh.” Aria slowly walked, taking a spot next to Adagio. “Fine, whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

Sonata, on the other hand, seemed all too happy, bounding into place at Adagio’s side.

With a quiet hum, the group collectively raised their arms upwards. As their humming grew in volume, the gems adorning their neck began to glow a dim red. Without even hearing them sing, Danny could tell that their voices were absolutely divine, something the Rainbooms were going to have a tough time competing against. Still, he didn’t see how this was supposed to make things clearer. “I don’t get it, all you’re doing is hu—”

Danny was interrupted not by the Sirens, whose harmony rose in both pitch and sound, but by a feeling of shock coursing through him, as a ripple of a magical glow washed across the room like a cool ocean wave. Once the entire area was cast in an almost heavenly glow, the room itself changed.

No longer were they standing in a typical classroom, with desks and chairs and science equipment. Rather, in the blink of an eye, Danny found himself outside the school in the dark of night. A large group of students crowded by the door, but a few familiar faces stood apart from their terrified classmates. Each and every teenagers’ eyes were all focused on something above, as a heavy gust assaulted the sky.

Danny looked up, and he gasped.

A gargantuan demon towered over the school, a looming shadow over an innocent town. Shark-like teeth glinted in a malicious smile. Dark red leathery wings stretched nearly a mile each, and when they folded, another violent blast of wind sank down against the school. Sharp red claws gripped the roof of the school, leaving deep marks in the stone. This demon looked beyond anything he had ever seen before, blood red eyes scouring the school grounds.

Then he noticed the yellow and red colored hair and tail that rose into the air, billowing like a blazing fire, and the glistening crown with a sparkling gemstone rested over her flaming head. Despite the demon’s unnatural look, Adagio’s words echoed through his mind, and a horrific feeling of recognition dropped like stones in his stomach.

“No… there’s no way!” he exclaimed.

None of the students that were part of the vision, of course, reacted to his revelation. They continued staring at this ‘raging she-demon’, terror flickering in their eyes as the demon released a bloodcurling screech that shook the earth itself. The Dazzlings gave him a knowing look.

“Oh, yes way,” said Adagio, a hand placed at her hip.

Before the vision could progress, as Twilight stepped forward, a determined look in her eyes, another magical glow swallowed the ground. Bright lights nearly blinded him, and he had to look away for a moment. When he opened his eyes, they had returned to the science class. It was now just the four of them once more.

Still reeling from the horrifying images they had presented to him, Danny fumbled with all the questions he wanted to ask. Finally, he settled on, “Was that really true?”

Adagio’s demented grin told him that she took sick pleasure in watching his expression break. “Why do you think the other students are afraid of her?” she said. “They live in constant fear that Sunset Shimmer will take out her rage on them.”

Danny frowned. ‘Great, now I don’t even know if I can trust the girl I live with…’

Before he could press further, he stopped. Seeing as Twilight and Sunset were the most prominent figures in the vision, he figured he might as well have them further elaborate on this. He had too many other questions regarding the Dazzlings, after all. “Why can’t you control me? Or the others?”

With a smile, Adagio replied, “Sirens can’t control beings of immense magical prowess. Did you see what Sunset looked like?”

Danny let out a long sigh. He had gotten the answer he had wanted from the Dazzlings, but they had only served to raise further questions. Was Sunset truly someone he could trust? And what of the others? Were they simply pawns in her game, or was it all a misunderstanding? Deciding these questions would be answered in due time, he focused his energy on making his body incorporeal.

“Well, I’m sure this won’t be the last time we meet, so until then, see ya,” Danny said, sinking into the floor. Once he was finally out of sight, and a few moments had passed, Adagio let out a wild cackle.

“What’s so funny, ‘Dagi?” Sonata asked.

“That foolish boy thinks he can stop us,” she said, her laughter beginning to die down. “But he’s fallen right into our trap.”

“What are you talking about?” Aria groaned before Adagio could ramble on more.

“Our song has given us a power over him, though not in the… conventional sense. The seeds of mistrust have been sown, girls. It’s only a matter of time before we can make our next move.”

“But what if something we said helps him?” Sonata questioned quietly, flinching away from the hot-tempered leader.

“If that were the case, he would have done something just now. There’s nothing he can do to stop us. Not yet. So let’s not worry about him. Let’s worry about what we’re going to do with Sunset Shimmer...”

---

After leaving the sirens and floating through several rooms, Danny made his way to the basement of the school. Lucky for him, it appeared to be empty when he arrived. The last thing he needed was for someone to see what he was about to do.

With a long, drawn out sigh, he looked down at the thermos attached to his belt. After wrapping it in his hand, he used his other to twist the cap off. With his thumb hovering over the button, he let out another sigh.

“So those sirens don’t get along with ghosts, huh? Well let’s see how they handle their own worst nightmare.”

With a quick click, he pressed the button, and the inside of the thermos began to glow a bright blue. In a few seconds, he’d have one of two things on his hands: either a solution, or an even bigger problem than before. The blue glow shot through the air and toward the ground, and the energy created the form of an all too familiar… acquaintance.

“I know you hate me, but you might be this school’s only chance,” Danny spoke slowly. Unsurely. “... Ember.”

Author's Note:

Lucky Seven: So this was a fun one to rewrite. I especially enjoyed how Missy worked with the siren scene :)

MissytheAngle: Do you guys think Sunset's hair actually tastes like bacon? hmmmm

Comments

[Efadd]

It 1000% tastes like bacon.

[redandready45]

Danny and Adagio's interaction was just...pure gold writing.

[Lucky Seven]

11125586
I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you!!