Dazzling Doubles

by icecreammac

1. Razzle-Dazzled

“Well, girls, here we are: Canterlot High School.”

“Wow. And I thought our old school was big.”

“Yeah! This place is, like, extravagant!”

Three teenage girls stood on the sidewalk in front of Canterlot High School, gawking at it and taken aback by its sheer size and opulence. The majestic, three-story building dominated the environment, dwarfing the surrounding suburban neighborhood. A perfectly mowed soccer field and pristine track were attached to one wing of the grand structure, while what looked like a fenced-in resting area sat at the school’s other wing. The school was topped with a beautiful glass dome with a clocktower constructed to emulate a castle’s tower—complete with a flag, even—rising from the middle. Finally, the courtyard—for it could only be called a courtyard—was decorated with a perfectly sculpted, granite statue of a reared-back stallion overlooking the street on a base taller than the girls themselves. A gold-plated, horseshoe-shaped sign to its side proved that this was indeed Canterlot High School.

The trio kept taking in the school’s magnificence, until a cold gust of winter wind forced them back to the present.

“Ugh, it’s freezing out here! Can we go inside, already?”

“Yes, we’ll have plenty of time to sightsee later. Let’s go see the principal.”

With that, the trio began walking toward the front doors of the school. Nearby, a pair of boys—students, most likely—stood chatting with each other outside despite the cold weather. As the girls drew nearer, one of the boys looked in their direction. His eyes immediately widened as his jaw dropped. He nudged his friend and pointed at them, and when his friend turned to see them, his face mirrored the other boy’s expression.

The girl in front flashed them a flirty smile and waggled her fingers in greeting as the trio passed by them into the school. “Nice to know we still turn heads all the way out here, eh, girls?” she said as the doors closed.

Her sisters snickered in response as they entered the titanic atrium, which was decorated with plenty of banners showcasing the school’s sports team: the Wondercolts. Display cases lined the walls, and several staircases led up to a mezzanine overlooking it all.

Putting it all in the back of their mind for the time being, the girls quickly located the school office and walked in, noting that it, too, carried a feeling of eloquence despite maintaining a more professional atmosphere. As they walked up to the large desk, the secretary looked up from her computer, surprise and what seemed like fear flashing across her features as she beheld the girls in front of her.

“Is the principal in?” the leader asked, deciding to ignore the look on the woman’s face.

The secretary shakily put her finger on her intercom button and said, “P-Principal Celestia, you have visitors. I hope you’re sitting down.”

“Send them in. And, yes, I’m sitting,” came a mature voice from the speaker, a hint of laughter at the end.

The secretary pointed wordlessly at the door to her left, avoiding eye contact with the trio. Confused, the girls exchanged glances but decided to just write it off and enter the principal’s office.

The principal’s office was, unlike the rest of the school so far, very much like what one would expect in any other public school. It was a small room simply furnished with a desk, chairs, bookcases, and filing cabinets. Diplomas and a whiteboard decorated the walls, and a tall window let in sunlight. Behind the desk was an older woman with whitish-pink skin and pastel, multi-hued hair. As soon as she laid her heliotrope eyes on the trio, her eyes, like everyone else’s, widened in shock at first, but in a twist, this pair of eyes narrowed after the first second of surprise.

After closing the door behind them, the leader began politely, “Good afternoon, Principal Celestia. My name is Adagio Dazzle, and these are my sisters Aria Blaze and—”

“I know very well who you three are, thank you very much,” Celestia said coldly. As the trio recoiled from her tone and interruption, Celestia pressed a button on her own intercom and said, “Luna, would you step into my office, please.”

In the tense silence that followed, the confused and worried trio heard a door on another side of the waiting room open and shut, and soon, Celestia’s door opened.

“Yes, Celestia? How can I help—You!” Glaring down at the trio was a bluish-grey-skinned woman with opal eyes and wavy hair in two different hues of blue, who looked very much like she could be Celestia's sister despite the contrast in color. “You have quite the nerve showing your faces around here!” she spat as she went around to stand next to Celestia, arms crossed. “Do you think we’ve forgotten what you’ve done?”

The trio sat still, stunned by the hostility of the women. Adagio was the first to recover. “No, I don’t. And, frankly, I’m not surprised that you haven’t," she said, trying to calm the women. "I understand that Aria and Sonata can be a bit of a handful—”

“What!?” Aria protested.

“They started it!” Sonata exclaimed.

“Yeah, they started it!” Aria shouted.

“What have I told you two about retaliation?” Adagio asked calmly, looking back at them.

“Oh, come on, Adagio! We couldn’t just let them walk all over us!” Aria asserted. “And besides, you’re no angel, either!”

“Yeah!” Sonata said. “Remember the time when you—"

“Sonata!” Adagio snapped, glaring at Sonata as a blush exploded across her face, turning her yellow face orange. Regaining her cool, she calmly turned back to the women, absently fiddling with the hem of her purple skirt as she said, “Look, I understand we’re far from model students, but this is a chance for us to start over at a brand-new school in a brand-new city, and we ask that you give us a chance. We want to make this transfer as easy for you as possible, which is why we came after school on a Friday; that way, we wouldn’t disrupt class, and we’d be giving you the weekend to do whatever you need to do.”

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, their anger giving way to confusion. Celestia looked back at the trio. “Transfer?”

Now, it was Adagio’s turn to be surprised. “Um, yes, transfer. We moved here from Manehatten a week ago. You even approved the transfer forms, remember?”

Once again, Celestia and Luna exchanged confused glances, until a proverbial light bulb lit up as a gleam of recognition lit their eyes. Celestia walked over to her filing cabinet and dug around for a few seconds before pulling out three forms. Clearing her throat, she sat back down and said, much more calmly, “Yes, I remember now. My apologies for forgetting.”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Adagio said, relieved. “It’s been a few months. We weren’t exactly expecting you to wait for us on bated breath.”

“Of course,” Celestia said with a polite smile, though her eyes were scrutinizing. “Now, before we continue, what does the term ‘battle of the bands’ mean to you?”

Adagio looked curiously at her sisters, then said to the women, “It’s a competition among musical groups. Why?”

“Oh, is one coming up here? We’d love to join! We’re great singers,” Sonata piped up, her sisters nodding in agreement at her claim.

“I don’t doubt it,” Celestia said with a wry smile, “but no, there is no such competition coming up, though we did have one recently last semester.”

“Oh,” Sonata said, shoulders falling. “Darn.”

“Now, does the term ‘Rainbooms’ mean anything to you?” Luna asked.

“’Rainbooms’?” Aria repeated incredulously. “Is that some local slang? Back in Manehatten, we just called them thunderstorms.”

“The Rainbooms are a band formed by some of the students here,” Celestia clarified, “but that’s not important. Luna, would you step out with me for a moment?”

Nodding, Luna followed Celestia out of the room, leaving the trio in silence.

“Way to throw us under the bus, Adagio!” Aria hissed.

“Yeah, what the heck!” Sonata snapped.

“I’m sorry! I panicked!” Adagio whispered. “Did you see the way they were looking at us?”

“Yeesh! And I thought Principal Trenches was tough!” Sonata complained.

“At least they still have our forms,” Aria said. “So, they know we’re legit.”

“Yes, they seem to have calmed down now,” Adagio said. “That doesn’t explain why they were so hostile, though; they knew who we were already, didn’t they?”

“Seriously,” Aria replied. “We weren’t perfect, but we weren’t that bad. I don’t know what Trenches told them, but it couldn’t have been anything good.”

"Even so, why did they ease up only after finding our forms?" Adagio asked.

Suddenly, the door opened, and the trio immediately straightened up. The administrators moved back around the desk, and Celestia took her seat. “Well, girls, everything seems to be in order,” Celestia said calmly, a friendly smile on her face. “I appreciate that you came in when you did. It was very convenient for us. On that note, would you be willing to come in tomorrow to take a few placement exams so I can make your schedules?”

“That sounds wonderful, Principal Celestia,” Adagio said, desperate to keep the surely thin ice from breaking.

“Wonderful,” Celestia said. “I know it must be inconvenient to come in on a Saturday, but given the circumstances, we feel it’s for the best. We’ll give you each a temporary schedule for next week, and hopefully, we’ll have your real schedules by next Friday. Will that suffice?”

“Absolutely,” Adagio said, her sisters nodding quickly with nervous smiles. “We’re very much looking forward to starting over and making some new friends. And it means a lot that you’re working with us on this; it must be difficult to have three new students show up almost a month after the semester starts.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Celestia replied, “and it’s no problem. Now, please be here at eight a.m. for your exams. In the meantime, would you like a tour of the school before you head home?”

“That’s quite alright!” Adagio said hastily. Clearing her throat, she continued, “I’m sure you two are very busy. Would you mind if we took a look around by ourselves?”

The principals exchanged glances again, then Celestia said somewhat nervously, “Perhaps it would be best if you did so after your exams tomorrow. Wouldn’t want to disrupt the school clubs, would we?”

“Um, no, I suppose not,” Adagio said hesitantly. “In that case, if that’s all you need…?”

“Yes, that’s everything, girls,” Celestia said pleasantly. “We’ll give you each a copy of the student handbook to read over the weekend, and we’ll see you in the morning. We’re very much looking forward to giving you the warmest of welcomes here at CHS.”

The trio hastily gave their farewells and left, noticing that the secretary still wouldn’t look them in the eyes. They refrained from saying anything until they were a short distance away from school grounds.

“What the hell was that?” Aria said loudly. “’Warmest of welcomes’, my ass! If looks could kill, we’d be dead twice over!”

“Yeah, totally!” Sonata agreed. “I could practically feel myself turning to ice.”

“It’s alright, girls,” Adagio said, though her heavy breathing betrayed her previous nerves and current relief. “They must have been trying to set an example. They obviously take student conduct very seriously. We must be sure to be on our very, very best behavior. Understand?” she finished, giving her sisters a pointed look.

“Understood,” Aria and Sonata said in unison.

“But that goes for you, too, Adagio,” Aria said.

“I’m well aware,” Adagio said. “Now, let’s take a walk around the neighborhood before heading home. We have a big day tomorrow, and we want to be well-rested. And as for the principals’ behavior, let's look on the bright side: If they take student conduct that seriously, the students there must be the friendliest in the city, right?”

Her sisters couldn’t deny the logic, so, with renewed spirits, the girls set off to get a lay of the land, looking forward to their first day at Canterlot High School.

Comments

[Ri2]

“I’m well aware,” Adagio said. “Now, let’s take a walk around the neighborhood before heading home. We have a big day tomorrow, and we want to be well-rested. And as for the principals’ behavior, let's look on the bright side: If they take student conduct that seriously, the students there must be the friendliest in the city, right?”

Ohhhh this is gonna suck...