3. - Revelations
“So, I guess the next question is what should we do about Principal Celestia?” Baked Bean asked.
“You saw the spell at work, didn’t you?” Luna said, clearly impressed by his perception.
“Yeah. It really creeped me out.” Bean shuffled uneasily. “I saw that flash of green, and it reminded me of…”
Despite his desires to the contrary, his mind betrayed his better judgement and shoved him back to the changeling hive, where his wife’s perfect face had been little more than a mask for that fang-filled nightmare. He shuddered at the memory, and a sharp prick of pure fear stabbed his heart.
He couldn’t let this Celestia suffer as he had. This was a pain no living creature should be forced to carry.
A claw to his shoulder brought him back to Luna and the school, and his sister-in-law drove away his nightmare once more with her simple smile. “It would seem that this Celestia is bewitched, but I do not believe she is that far gone. The sirens are still weak, and this Celestia’s free will reflects that.”
“Do you think we can break the spell?”
Luna tapped her perfectly manicured claw tips against her chin and hummed. “That is a most worthy question, but have faith, Bean. We can defeat them, and we will. For now, it behooves us to keep our noses clean, so to speak, and to not tempt fate. No flower beds for you.”
“Ha, ha. Very funny.” Bean rolled his eyes.
Luna snickered a bit. “Forgive me, but I had to. In all seriousness, if we do not provoke any animosity, we should be well enough off. The sirens do not know we are here, and Principal Celestia will be considerate and kindly, if her personality is even a fraction of what our Celly’s is. Knowing the layout of this school and the surrounding area will provide us with valuable reconnaissance that will help us in our efforts as well.”
“Ever the warrior, aren’t you?” Bean smirked while they moved to the door.
“My Star Struck frequently said the same thing,” she replied with a soft grin. “It is as much a part of me as diplomacy is a part of Celestia, but I am most grateful that my skills go unused in this modern day.”
“Me too,” Bean said while he pulled the door open and exited the room.
“Everything alright?” Applejack asked.
“It is,” Bean replied. “Princess Celestia sends her regards, and she will provide whatever we need to help combat the sirens. If the sirens are here,” he added when Principal Celestia glared at him.
“Which they are not,” Principal Celestia added.
“So! How about that tour?” Bean clapped his claws together and rubbed them, then fought back the urge to giggle with the feedback from the new appendages. “I gotta admit, I’m super curious to learn all about this world. Twilight Sparkle hasn’t had a chance to tell me anything about her time here, and this’ll be good for my writing.”
“Writing?” Applejack asked. “Like, books and novels and such?”
“Yeah.” Bean chuckled. “In fact, that’s how I met Princess Celestia.”
“Huh.” Applejack glanced over to Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and they both smirked. “Our new school dietician fancies himself to be a writer, too.”
“He does?” Bean asked. “Maybe I could ask him for some tips.”
“I don’t think that would be wise,” Principal Celestia replied while the group exited the front office and entered the main foyer of Canterlot High. “Unless meeting yourself will not cause some sort of trans-dimensional singularity to occur.”
“Would that happen, Miss Shimmer?” Princess Luna asked.
Sunset glanced at her shoes. “Imagine every atom of your being exploding away from each other at the speed of light.” Sunset shrugged. “Or maybe nothing. We probably don’t want to risk it.”
“My counterpart works here?” Bean interjected with a small squeal of delight. “What does he do? I mean, does he really want to be a writer too? You gotta tell me all about him!”
“Ah don’t know that there’s much to tell,” Applejack replied. “He works as our dietician, he writes on the side as a hobby, and… well, that’s about all anybody knows about him. He doesn’t talk much to us, except about what he’s cooking up for our lunch menus.”
“There is an unsubstantiated rumor that he has a crush on a certain principal who happens to be in our midst.” Rarity added while glancing at her nails with a smirk.
“All right, that’s enough of that,” Principal Celestia shot back with an annoyed grin. “Rumors do not become us, do they, Miss Rarity?”
“I suppose not,” Rarity smugly replied before Bean staggered a step, then hissed in pain again while rubbing his leg.
“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes filled with concern. “That looks like it hurts quite a bit.”
“It’s nothing, just a bit sore is all,” Bean lied. “I admit my galloping days are probably behind me.” With a wince he bent his leg back and forth, and he groaned with the feeling of his muscles straining and popping in a way that was fast becoming familiar. “It wasn’t so bad when I had three other legs to shift the weight to, but in this form, I’m going to be pretty slow.”
Pinkie Pie scoffed. “Why didn’t you just say you need another leg? I’ll be right back!”
Bean watched on in fascination when the perky pink person zipped away, but he leaned towards Fluttershy. “Should I be worried?”
“Oh, no.” Fluttershy patted his shoulder gently and gave him a warm smile. “I bet Pinkie is going to come back with a cane, or something helpful like that.”
“So, why did you marry Princess Celestia, Your Highness?” Sunset asked Bean. “I didn’t think she’d ever be in a relationship.”
“That’s a funny story, actually,” Bean replied with a sheepish chuckle. “It started out in the sunflower patch of the Royal Gardens…”
* * ✹ * *
“So, you’re telling me you had to marry Princess Celestia because you booped her nose with yours?” Sunset folded her arms tightly and scoffed. “That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. And I watch television.”
“I’d be concerned if you didn’t find it suspicious, to be honest,” Baked Bean replied. “I’d jump on the doubtful bandwagon myself if it hadn’t happened to me. My own parents doubted my story at first, and I had Princess Celestia in the room with me at the time, to boot.”
“But why would Princess Celestia write such a crazy law?”
“It’s another long story,” Bean replied with a wistful smile, and Luna chuckled. “The short answer is she wrote it to get out of a bad marriage proposal when she and Princess Luna founded Equestria. Luna can tell you more about it than I can, since she was there and everything.”
“Perhaps another time,” Luna added. “We have more pressing concerns at the moment. However, I believe the story of the Marriage Clause would be best heard straight from the pony who wrote it, would it not?”
Sunset glanced to the floor with a deep frown. “I don’t know if I can ever go back. When I left, I burned the bridge, ripped out the remaining supports, and made the chasm a thousand feet wider than it had been before. I’m sure Princess Celestia hates me.”
“But you brought the book,” Bean replied while he handed her journal back to her. “The list of things that Celestia hates is very short, and I’m sure you’re not on it. In fact, when she first told me about you, she blamed herself for what had happened.”
“She did?” Sunset glanced at the journal she held in her hands. “Why doesn’t she hate me?”
“I’m sure she would love to answer that herself, once all of this is over,” Bean said. “The real question, I think, is are you afraid of her, or afraid of the answer?”
“Here we go!” Pinkie Pie reappeared, and just as Fluttershy had predicted, she presented a cane to the injured Prince. “This should help you out!”
“Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” Bean replied with a quick glance over the matte black surface, and he let out a large sigh of relief as he tried a few steps with it. “That’s much better.”
Pinkie Pie smiled and let out a small squee of delight. “Shall we get on with the tour?”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Princess Luna replied. “Please lead on, Principal Celestia.”
Celestia nodded, and she motioned towards a hallway. “Let us start with our auditorium, Your Highnesses. Canterlot High has a long and rich history with the arts and music, and several of our students have gone on to prestigious appointments in the world’s greatest symphonies and orchestras.”
“There’s still not enough places to practice,” Rainbow Dash added. “All the good spots are booked up solid, so The Rainbooms have to keep moving around to work on our new songs. If we had any,” she grudgingly admitted.
“I have a song we can play,” Fluttershy quietly interjected, but her suggestion went unheeded by the rest of the band.
“...and I dunna know how you could be so daft!”
Luna paused, and her eyes went wide while a flood of memories rushed her senses. That voice, that delightfully deep brogue …
“Ah don’t wanna hear it! If ya plan on being a dobber, you can awa’ and bile yer head!”
“It can’t be!” Luna whispered while her feet moved down an intersecting hallway and towards the familiar voice. “It’s impossible! He passed away more than a thousand years ago!”
Luna skidded to a stop, and glanced up and down the nondescript hallway. She had to find the owner of that voice or she would go insane. It was exactly the same tone, the same inflections and the same warmth as the voice of the one whom she had never stopped loving.
“Look, I gotta win the Battle of the Bands!” a younger voice shot angrily. “You just don’t get it!”
“Aye, but there’s a great many things about teenagers that I don’t get,” the voice replied, and Luna stopped at a corner to listen despite her pounding heart and her wild gasps for air. “For example, I dunna understand why you’d risk criminal charges just to keep another band from competin’, Cog. Now clear outta here before you do somethin’ you regret.”
Luna said nothing while a copper-haired student stormed past her, fuming and muttering unintelligible threats under his breath. She remained still while she tried to calm her own surge of emotions and to plot out her next move. If this was not who she thought it was, she could inadvertently cause a major interdimensional incident, but she had no idea what she would do if it was.
“Ah, Lass,” the voice softly caressed her ears with an added heavy sigh. “Ah worry, sometimes, about the students in your school.”
Luna rounded on the voice, and the words escaped before she could help herself. “Star Struck?!”
The person before her chuckled in that dark rumble that had never failed to tickle and tease her whole body into a blissful joy. “Aye, Lass. Didya miss me?”
The answer to that question could not be expressed with all of the words that existed, nor with all of the time in the universe to give it. Luna simply gawked at this human who looked so much like her long lost love, and her brain refused to do anything intelligent. Were he on four hooves and pony shaped, this uniformed officer who stood before her would be her treasured husband, in every way.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Star said, and then he smiled that smile that had melted her heart a million times over. “A poodle skirt? Ah did’na realize you were into the classic retro look.”
Luna dumbly nodded.
“It’s a right tidy look, don’t get me wrong,” Star continued. “But not quite you, ah’d say. Still, yer welcome to wear whatcha like. You always look stunning, even when yer not tryin’.”
“Thank you?” Luna gently whispered.
“So, what’s this ah hear about you changing the showcase into a battle of the bands? Ah thought it was to be more like a talent show, from the way ya described it to me.”
“Um, that… uh…” Luna’s tongue refused to cooperate, but there wasn’t much for it to cooperate with.
“Ah, listen to me. You do the showcase however you wanna, Lass. Little competition never hurts anythin’, and ah suppose it’ll keep the little hooligans busy singin’ instead of tryin’ to come up with new ways to break the law around town.”
Luna could only nod slightly in agreement, though the action was mostly an automatic response.
“Well, ah best be gettin’ on with my beat,” Star said. “Been a lot of minor disturbance calls lately; and a right many involve them students o’ yours. It’s almost like they’ve all been bewitched. Maybe it’s somethin’ in the water, eh?”
“It could be,” Luna murmured.
“Why don’t we go get somethin’ to eat after you get done with your party tonight? Yer lookin a bit peely-wally, but ah bet a bit o’ scran would do you wonders. You never do eat right when you’re stressed.”
Star then leaned in and gave Luna a soft kiss, and a lifetime of similar kisses surged out of her memories and drowned her in ancient feelings of love and devotion. There were thousands of those memories stored within her, each connected with a touch of endearment and tender warmth that she could never forget, no matter how many years separated her from them. There was the soft pecks snuck in between their observation of her stars, the caresses and nuzzles that came as they would lie down after a hard evening of work. There was the passionate kisses they willingly passed when the flames of desire burned hotter than Celestia’s sun, and the smooth, lingering smooches that came after their intimate encounters.
And, kiss by kiss, Star Struck and Luna had become that much more. When he had died, half of her had died with him.
And now he was here, back from the dead and turning her entire world upside down once more.
When Luna came back to the present, she found herself leaning against the wall, her fingers on her lips and her eyes greedily drinking in the silhouette of Star Struck’s retreating form. Once he rounded the corner, Luna began to backtrack towards Baked Bean and the others. This was a most peculiar twist in her journey, and she needed to distance herself from the specter of her human husband before she did something rash.
* * ✹ * *
Principal Celestia drew in a long, deep breath while she made a final sweep of the hallways. Having dealt with the unexpected royal visitors, and having shown them that they could observe the party from behind the drawn curtain on the stage in the gymnasium, Celestia wanted to ensure that there were no other stray students in the school. The last thing she needed was for someone to get locked in after the band party.
She would also be relieved when the visitors finally concluded that there was no dark magic at work and went home. Perhaps they would take the troublesome Sunset Shimmer with them, and things could get back to the non-magical standard.
Celestia shook her head with the thought. Sunset was not the first problematic student she had dealt with, and in all honesty, she wasn’t the worst one either. There had been at least a dozen other raging she-demons in Celestia’s professional career—though Sunset was the first literal case. In the end, Sunset had been nothing more than a scared little girl who hid her disappointment and frustrations behind a mask of bravado, arrogant stubbornness, and pride. The world owed her, and she had attempted to collect on her perceived debt in her own unique way.
Celestia paused when she heard a banging sound from the kitchen area, and she huffed out a playful groan. There was only one person who would be back there at this late hour, and she moved to the source of the sound to confirm her suspicions.
She found Mister Bean after a brief search in the storeroom, happily humming a tune while he inventoried the food on the shelves against the list in his hand. Bean was a very dedicated and erstwhile employee, but he did have problems with multitasking and finishing his projects. It was not uncommon to find the dutiful dietician returning to the school after leaving due to incomplete assignments, but the methodology that fueled his madness was working, at the least. Canterlot High had finally come into compliance with the district’s dietary guidelines under Mister Bean’s strict controls and varied menus, and the students were actually eating what he prepared.
Celestia was more than pleased to have his expertise at the school’s disposal, and he was cute when scrunched up his nose during his counts, though she tried to suppress the thought as soon as it came barging into her brain.
“Walk outside and you see the sunshine, something’s in the air today,” Mister Bean sang softly while his pen tapped each can of peaches on the shelf. “Sky is clear and you’re feeling so fine, everything’s going to be a-okay.”
Celestia shook her head, then rubbed her temples. A dull headache had been pushing at the base of her skull ever since the Dazzlings had stopped by to sign up for the showcase, but now the pain had jumped forward and was pushing into her sinuses. Mister Bean’s singing was pleasant enough, so what had brought on this sudden surge?
“If you listen carefully, on every corner there’s a rhythm playing,” Bean continued, and Celestia winced as the pain began to stab at the back of her eyes. “Then it happens suddenly, the music takes you over and you’ll find you’ve got the music, got the music in you!”
Celestia grunted, but then gasped when her headache suddenly dissipated and was replaced with a slight dizzy spell. What had brought that on?
“Oh! Principal Celestia, ma’am!” Mister Bean blushed, and his clipboard moved up to hide that fact. “I didn’t see you there.”
“And I thought you had gone home,” she retorted with a playful smile.
“I’ve been wondering if I should just move in here. It would save me a fortune in car repairs,” he said with a rueful shake of his head. “I don’t know why I have such a problem with organization.”
“At least you have a chipper tune to help you along,” she said with a smirk.
“Oh, yeah.” Bean chuckled sheepishly. “I don’t think I’ll be quitting my day job anytime soon.”
“It was hard enough to get a dietician here, so I would like to keep you around. How much of the inventory is left?”
“Just the perishables after I get the canned goods counted. Should just take me a few more minutes, and then I’ll really, really be done for the day.” His smile abruptly faded, and he added, “And I’ve lost count again, blast it.”
“Would you care for some assistance?”
“I wouldn’t mind, but don’t you have that band party thing going on?”
“That can wait for a moment. With the lack of Sunset Shimmer’s manipulations, the students here have been exemplary. I doubt there would be any issues in such a short pace of time.”
* * ✹ * *
“Are you sure you’re okay, Luna?” Baked Bean asked while they crossed the empty stage.
“Hmm?” Luna blinked rapidly, then offered a forced smile. “I am well enough, Bean. We must remain focused on finding the sirens.”
“You’re not just saying that to deflect the question, are you?”
“Bean, please,” Luna admonished with a small huff. “Don’t use my words against me. This is important.”
“Okay, but you will tell me later, right? You’ve been really distant ever since you caught back up with us.”
“I will, Bean. I will.”
Baked Bean then pulled back the curtain a fraction, and he drew in a long breath after a moment of surveying. “This is a lively party, isn’t it?”
“Not quite the words I would choose for it,” Luna replied. “Clearly, this is the work of the sirens.”
Bean glanced over the simmering pot of angry students, and he shook his head. He could feel no peace, no harmony within this group, only anger, resentment and pride. “Is this what they do?”
“The sirens’ magic works on hate, Bean. They consume it and gain power from it, in a manner similar to how changelings gain power from emotion. The more discontent they can cause, the stronger they become. The insidious part is that they can use their magic to force ponies to anger. It becomes a self-feeding cycle, until they become unstoppable.”
“That’s why Starswirl had to banish them here, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Several attempts had been made before to stop them in Equestria, but all had failed. Celly and I offered to challenge them, but it was ultimately decided that the risk was too great. If the sirens could have forced the Princesses of Equestria to wrath, nothing could have stopped them. The Pillars risked much to send them here, and we owe it to them to finish what they started.”
“So, what do we do?” Bean asked while he watched a student reel back, then swipe a nearby cup from a table to deflect the punch he clearly felt like throwing into the face of a smaller and rounder friend.
“We need to find the sirens, and we need to find out how they are using their magic. Once we know that, we can use the same means to access our Equestrian magic to defeat them.”
Baked Bean glanced back to the crowd, but the opening of a nearby door caught his attention. Once he got a good look at the new arrivals, he motioned for Luna to investigate, and she snorted once she got a good look at them.
Given Luna’s reaction, he was pretty extra sure these three girls were the now-human sirens. They were smug, self-assured, and they looked over the proceedings with a barely hidden degree of glee. It was the same look Chrysalis had given to him when she had laid out her master plan to eliminate his wife, and even Tirek had exuded the same contemptuous pride before he had sent Bean flying.
It was especially obvious in the mannerisms of the orange-haired leader. She glanced around at the proceedings with wicked aplomb, and with her two cronies in tow, she strolled across the floor like a chimera honing in on a kill.
“Bean, watch them very carefully,” Luna whispered. “The slightest of movements could be important.”
He did so, but despite their subdued delight, they didn’t seem to be doing anything particularly magical. Bean did wish he was closer when they started talking to each other, but oddly enough, the purple-haired one began to bicker with the girl with the blue hair and the somewhat vacant expression.
“Why are they fighting over fruit punch?” Luna murmured.
“You can hear them?”
“I’m reading their lips. The orange leader is making snarky remarks about the underlying tension, the blue one believes her punch is the problem, and the purple girl is berating her over it. Orange is—wait. Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?”
“There isn’t going to be a battle of the bands!” Rainbow announced. “We’re going to make sure of that!”
Bean groaned with Luna while Rainbow’s friends drew in close to their ringleader and stood confidently before the sirens. This was not going to end well.
“Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!” Orange proclaimed. “This group is obviously serious about winning. A little cocky, though, aren’t they? Claiming there won’t really be a battle. Seems they think they already have this thing all locked up.”
“Rainbow Dash just had to be as brash as her Equestrian counterpart,” Luna grumbled.
“Not if the Great and Powerful Tr-r-rixie has anything to do with it!”
“I like her better as a secretary,” Bean added to Luna’s observations.
“Whatever, Trixie! We’re the best band at CHS!”
“No! The Crusaders are going to win!”
And that was all it took. The simmering broke out into a full boil, and the arguments about who was going to win spiraled out of control. Bean watched on in disappointment while the students began to shout and hurl insults at each other, but then he blinked a few times. “Luna, please tell me I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing.”
“A green cloud of negative energy, produced by the attendees and feeding into the gemstones of the sirens?”
“Yep, that’s it. That just bites the bark, doesn’t it? All they have to do is wait, and the students will give them all the energy they need.”
“I don’t think it’s quite that easy.” Luna rubbed her chin while Bean released the curtain and they both retreated. “They didn’t use any magic just now. I believe they’ve already cast a spell over the students here, and what we saw were the aftereffects. They are drawing strength, yes, but they need more. They would not bother with this ‘battle of the bands’ unless they absolutely had to.”
“So we can still stop them. We just need to break their spell.”
“That is easier said than done. Come, let us speak to Sunset and the others. It is possible they saw what spell was cast without realizing it.”
* * ✹ * *
“Look, I said I’m sorry already!” Rainbow protested. “I didn’t realize they’d twist it around like that!”
“Now they’re even more powerful than before!” Applejack threw up her arms in frustration while the group sat on the stairs leading to the school. “How in tarnation are we supposed to beat the Dazzlings if you keep shooting your mouth off?”
Rainbow Dash kicked at a pebble, and it bounced across the grass twice before being stopped by the pedestal of the portal. “I know, but I couldn’t just let them get away with saying stuff like that! There’s no way we’re going to let them take over the school! We’re going to stop them, just like we stopped Sunset!”
Sunset Shimmer responded to that by pulling her knees in close and wrapping her arms around them with a heavy sigh.
“Indeed we will, Miss Dash,” Princess Luna announced while she and Prince Bean exited the building. “However, we must choose our plan of action most carefully. These sirens are cautious, and to blindly attack them will spell certain catastrophe.”
“So, does that mean you have a plan?” Pinkie Pie asked with a small squeal of delight.
“I believe I may have something, but I need to ask you all a few questions first. Did anypony happen to see the sirens work any sort of a spell since they arrived? It would have been at a time when they could have reached the entire student body all at once.”
“They must’ve done it during lunchtime, then,” Applejack replied. “Earlier today, they burst in and started singin’ to everyone about changing the showcase into a battle. That’s when everybody started arguin’ and when we decided to contact y’all about the problem.”
“Acoustic application of a magical matrix. Interesting.” Luna rubbed her chin and stared at the sidewalk while she thought. “I suppose it makes sense in the end; it is how they attacked Equestria.”
“That would also let them get to everypony all at once,” Bean added with a glance to Sunset Shimmer. “But why didn’t it affect you?”
“They must have been protected due to their connection to the Elements of Harmony,” Luna said.
“No, I mean Sunset in particular,” he replied while her eyes came up to meet his. “You’re not a youmun with a pony counterpart, you’re a pony who is presently youmun. There isn’t another one of you in Equestria, and you were never an Element Bearer. Is there something about your true nature that prevents the magic from affecting you?”
“That can’t be it,” said Applejack. “If her bein’ a pony is what’s protecting her, then the rest of us should be under the Dazzling’s spell. Maybe it’s because she was Celestia’s student?”
“Perhaps,” Luna said while she studied the former pony. “Perhaps. Whatever the reason, we shall count it as an advantage.”
“So what?” Rainbow exclaimed in frustration. “So they can’t use their magic on us, big deal! We knew that already. How are we supposed to beat them?”
“We need to access the magic of Equestria first,” Luna said. “Tell me, have any of you had anything magical happen to you since Twilight Sparkle’s last visit and the arrival of these Dazzlings?”
“Now that you mention it, there has been something that could be considered magical.” Rainbow Dash produced her phone, tapped the screen, and then started a video. “Check it out! Every time we play, all five of us gain these sweet pony ears and tails!”
Luna took in the information with subdued interest and a thoughtful hum. “Most interesting. I understand the ears, but how does adding length to your hair assist your magical abilities?”
Baked Bean stared at the phone like Rainbow Dash had just produced a second sun from her pocket. His eyes watched the glowing rectangle without blinking, and he forgot to breathe while he took in the miracle before him.
“What is this wonderful device?” he whispered in dumbstruck awe. “How are you able to store the film for this moving picture into such a small contraption?”
“We’ll give him a minute,” Luna said with a bemused shake of her head while Rainbow handed the phone to him. “Or, maybe a few hours, to be accurate.”
“Whatever you do, don’t drop this!” Rainbow admonished.
“When Twilight defeated me before, she drew on the power in the crown I was wearing,” Sunset mused. “The siren’s magic comes from their music, so maybe we need to use the same kind of magic to defeat them! Or, maybe not,” she added nervously.
“No, I think you’re on to something,” Luna said. “It is when you play music that you transform, correct?”
“Yep.” Applejack nodded. “Ears, tails, the whole shebang.”
“So it would stand to reason that the way to defeat these sirens is to play a musical counterspell, would it not?”
“You mean, like a song?” Fluttershy asked.
“Indeed.”
“And in order to free everyone who has been exposed, we’ll need them all to hear it,” Sunset added.
Rarity gasped, then stood quickly. “The band competition! It’s the next time we can be certain everyone will be in the same place at the same time.”
“So the Rainbooms really are the band to beat,” Applejack added with a determined grin.
“How are you even holding that?!” Rainbow cried out in amazement.
“How did you stuff all of these photographs into this thing?” Bean shot back.
The group on the stairs turned their attention to their band leader and the prince who had somehow turned into a pony again. Bean held Rainbow’s phone in his hooves with a giddy glee that was usually reserved for Hearth’s Warming, and Rainbow gestured to the physical impossibility that was before her with incredulous disbelief painted across her face.
“I should think it would be obvious, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said with a small laugh. “How else would a talking pony prince from another dimension hold a phone?”
Rainbow sputtered a bit, then huffed and stomped a foot in defeat.
“I will begin work on a counterspell immediately,” Luna said with a shake of her head. “I believe I can have something ready by the time the competition starts.”
“What do we do in the meantime?” Applejack asked.
“For now, you should rest and prepare. We shall rendezvous tomorrow morning, and begin our preparations for battle.”
“I like the sound of that,” Applejack said. “C’mon, y’all. Best to do what Princess Luna says.”
“Do you know what this means?!” Pinkie shouted while wrapping Applejack up in a bear hug and hoisting her off the ground. “Sleepover at my house!”
“I step out of the room for five minutes. Five minutes!” Principal Celestia grumbled while she slammed the main doors to the school open, then pointed to the sunset. “Everyone out!”
Bean, Luna, and the Rainbooms quickly moved out of the way while Celestia ushered the partygoers out with a stern glare and several repeated admonishments to keep moving. Most of the students were too interested in their own arguments to notice anything else around them, but as Trixie emerged, she stalled and pointed an accusing finger at Rainbow Dash.
“You may think you have won, but mark my words, Rainbooms! This is not over yet! The Great and Powerful Tr-r-rixie will prove she is the greatest in all of Canterlot High!”
“Out!” Celestia ordered.
“I definitely like her better as a secretary,” Bean muttered while the rest of the students filed out and stormed off into the sunset.
“Trixie is a secretary in Equestria?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah. She was a travelling magician, but she had a little incident at Neighagra Falls. Because of that, she’s the assistant secretary to Celestia and me.”
“Five minutes!” Celestia grumbled one last time while she approached. “How did you manage to start a near brawl in five minutes, Miss Dash?”
“I didn’t start anything!” Rainbow protested. “All I said was that there wasn’t going to be a battle of the bands, and then the Dazzlings did the rest!”
“They did?”
“We observed the incident in its entirety,” Luna added with Bean nodding behind her. “These ‘Dazzlings’ were the provokers in this incident.”
Celestia folded her arms and huffed. “Maybe I should just cancel this whole thing. It’s becoming a bigger headache than I want to deal with.”
“No! We need to break their spell,” Sunset said, but then she glanced down. “Principal Celestia, I know you think I’m just trying to make myself look better, but look at the facts. Before the Dazzlings showed up, the showcase was just meant to be a fun way for everyone to show off their talents and to raise money for the after school activities. Everyone was having fun, and there wasn’t all of this pressure to be ‘the best.’
“And now look at it. Everyone is at each other’s throats again, there’s zero fun being had, and all anyone wants to do is prove how much better they are. Something happened, and there’s only one explanation for it. The Dazzlings are the sirens from Equestria. If they weren’t, then Princess Luna and Prince Bean wouldn’t still be here. We’ve got to stop them, and we need to stop their spell. Otherwise, everything will…”
Sunset sighed. “Everything will go back to the way it was when I was in charge. I don’t want that to happen again, and I’m sure no one else wants that, either. The school is so much better now. Let’s keep it that way.”
There was a moment of hesitation, but Celestia was clearly thinking about Sunset’s impassioned words. “Your Highnesses, do you honestly believe that your sirens are here?”
“I have absolutely no doubt about it,” Luna said with no hesitation.
The Principal of Canterlot High nodded and smiled. “Very well, then. What do we need to do to stop all of this?”
* * ✹ * *
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I'm very shocked that the EG version of Luna's husband is still alive in thus chapter.
.. HuBean broke the spell on Principal Celestia with a rainbooms song, didn't he?
9441630
For Luna and Celestia to be human and principal /vice principal, their 'destined partners' need to have been in this time period too
9441640
Pony Tones, actually.
9441649
I misremembered, thankyou!... I wonder what they are called on this side of the mirror
9441674
Hmm. That's a good question.
Oh! Oh, Luna. Irrespective, please don't let Star Struck's presence be simply gratuitous heartbreak.
9441688
It is bound to happen... Just a feeling, you know it, I know it, Irr knows it, and even Princess Luna knows it...
9441640
9441649
I am so glad that happened, and now that Principal Celestia is free, I'm even more eager to see how this story will unfold.
9441644
Fair point.
Make the competition into a polka dance competition! Let see if the sirens can, perform their songs when they are forced to learn a new musical instrument. One that is the second most difficult to master too boot
Nice
Not bad, not bad at all! Of course what I'm hoping for is when the Sirens try and bring Prince Bean under their thrall, the bond with his one true waifu makes their singing sound like someone stepping on a cat. Brainwash me once, shame on you, brainwash me twice, shame on me
The appearance of a counterpart Star Struck is an interesting twist and one I hope leads to some form of closure for poor Luna. Preferably one that DOESN'T involve her jumping him
Oh and I just updated Homer in Equestria, you are more then welcome to leave a comment if you like!
I would like to point out that Celestia is not completely free from the Sirens' influence. It is merely the passive spell they cast on the rest of the school. So it was an underpowered spell that still let the underlying personality show through, and could be defeated by logic.
Remember how the Sirens had to re-cast it on them again in the movie when they wanted to influence direct action.
But I definitely like where this is going.
Do something rash! Do something rash! Drag him back to Equestria with you!
Or somehow work out a timeshare with Vice Principal Luna. :P
9442601
I'm sure Twilight could figure out a way to hack a duplication spell to work on sapient beings...!
I feel bad for Luna.
Waiting for Luna verse Luna, or the team up.
Huh. Guess we get to see Star Struck now. Granted, it's a different version of him, something that will NEED to be addressed, but it's cool.
Yay new story and the changes roll on. Twilight's responding to Sunsets first appearance rather than trapped in the time loop of her second and it's Bean/Luna who respond with physical evidence of interdimensional ponies. Which is going to have more of an impact on this world. Hopefully their lower belief they need to everything themselves will have them pointing the Rainbooms to reconciliation, using Fluttershy's song and Sunset stepping up as the 7th harmony stone. Though that does raise so many questions about the geodes origin and the elements of harmony in Equestria.
I have to say when I read the bit with Bean turning back my first thought was that at some point in this story the human 6 are going to go full pony and transform into the Equestrian versions. As Twilight says in the new trailer "We're ponies!" hmm Applejacks reaction to that would be amusing.
Poor Sunset her view of Princess Celestia is getting hammered right now, I wonder if enough stress will send her storming back through the portal to a reconciliation?
Also are the "Youman" terms in this paragraph a deliberate mispronunciation or spelling errors?
“No, I mean Sunset in particular,” he replied while her eyes came up to meet his. “You’re not a youmun with a pony counterpart, you’re a pony who is presently youmun. There isn’t another one of you in Equestria, and you were never an Element Bearer. Is there something about your true nature that prevents the magic from affecting you?”
9461046
Youmun is deliberate. Bean hasn't heard the word much, nor has there been a reason to write it, so he's giving the pronunciation a little extra emphasis.
As for the rest, you'll just have to wait and see what happens...
some how i missed the posting of this story shame on me.
this is looking to be a awesome story.
9461527
I was gonna ask about that wording. But it was cute enough for him that I ignored it lol. Love the story so far! well done!
Odd that they let Luna run off on her own like that. She nearly compromised their mission! But some amount of plot armor was needed, we guess...
9441674
The Ponytones are called the Wondertones in one of the EQG shorts.
I'm... not too sure about this story anymore.
Okay, I know I'm way behind, but after this it all just seems too... much. Star Struck randomly appears in the human world, despite his pony self having been dead for over a thousand years? Bean randomly turning into a pony... which I can only assume is going to be a plot point where the Dazzlings see him and realize the Equestrians are here which will lead to drama and the "low point" of the story before the rising action. Celestia having little to no reaction to this pony who is married to her counterpart is also the counterpart of the man she has a crush on?
See what I mean? It's... too random and it's predictable. I'll keep with it, since I loved the first two so much, but unless something dramatic happens, this will likely be the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull of the series, if you catch my drift.
9917406
I get your drift, and I understand. Sometimes I hit, and sometimes I miss.
If it does end up being a story you hate, you can put it aside and pretend it didn't happen. Pregnant Noses will get back on the right track.
Well, that's a twist. Luna's long deceased husband is still alive in this world. Better be careful Luna, getting attached may make it harder to go back home.
10164127
It would be pretty sad if he passes away early (in a relative manner to equestria's star struck) as well
Celestia booped Bean not the other way around...
How do one read lips of a race your unfamiliar with
.....maybe
So either you need to build a bridge over a thousand feet long, or just realize that you are terrible at digging holes and just take a short little jump over the small stream keeping you apart
It's a real shame that changelings don't do something similar but love instead of hate, I mean it would be more efficient wouldn't it?
Not to mention if they help spread love and create a symbiotic relationship with those around them, they would get a positive image and probably receive love directly... it would make so much more sense
Are Sirens run extinct by now on I wonder...
11352937
Wouldn't that be what actually had happened to them in show?
It's Pinkie Pie.
You shouldn't be worried, you should be TERRIFIED!