Chapter 2
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.
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I really hope you don't make the Rainbooms into the villains.
10209098
No, I don't see that happening, least hope not.
This is great so far, pacing is getting better and the story itself is pretty cool! Don't be yourself down like that, this is great so far.
Watch out Dagi. It looks like you're getting attached.
Is friendship going to save the day??
Maybe a lil' smooching too?
10209098
They would be antagonists to sunset because there goal's don't match up.
Alright, I don't think I've seen this particular take before. You got my attention.
Hmmm, Don't sell yourself short on what you think others opinions are going to be about the story. Like i keep telling people, 'write what you want and if they like it they like it. Don't try to live up to expectations as it's not going to happen. Some people will like what you write, others will not. Thus far even if it is a simple change you've set up a very interesting premise. Keep going with it.
So far so good!
I'm expecially intrigued by the Trixie and Shadowbolts tag.
I'm liking this so far, and as a previous poster said, don't sell yourself short. Your writing so far is hardly the worst thing I've read on here. Dialogue has been on point and the characterization is quite good. Looking forward to what you're going to do with this next.
Excellent fic! Hope to see more soon.
Hey, just a reminder: You don't need to, or aren't even supposed to, use the human tag in EqG fics.
These are words one would say when they want to end a conversation, because they know they don’t really have solid arguments.
In other words, she is lying to herself.
Hmm... you seem to be laboring under the delusion that your writing is bad because you are not very experienced. While isn't the absolute best I've ever seen, it's also far from the worst; I don't see grammatical errors, and things are easy to follow.
Keep up your efforts as it shows in your writing.
Me: starts sobbing because friendship is magic and that i pray that sunset can show em that and they'll all get a happy ending. They deserved better.
Not cool Rainbow 😠
I think Adagio is actually starting to have feelings for sunset even at this point in time interesting