Sunset and her friends get called to the Principal's Office for a very important reason. One that will have them question whether or not they truly won the day when the Sirens attacked.
The Friendship Games are over, and for the first time in so long, barely anyone cares who the winner was. All that matters is that friendship persevered again! Now, the school of Canterlot High can finally get back to a normal routine.
But when the Rainbooms get called to the Principal's Office to manage the return of 3 specific beauty queens, they have to ask themselves: Did friendship really win the day when the Sirens ran away?
The city of Canterlot may have been well known for the prestigious Crystal Prep academy, but if the world knew the whole story of their rival, the academy would most likely be ignored entirely, as the entire world would gawk at the humbler school. On the surface, Canterlot High seemed to be an ordinary high school. However, delving deep into its walls and rumors told a few different stories. One of spite and redemption, one of adoration and infamy, and, the most recent one, a story of corruption and purification. The purified soul was Twilight Sparkle, who was, at the moment, sitting with her friends at the cafeteria. The friends in question were the Rainbooms, a band that, along with Equestria's version of Twilight, called upon a friendship-based magic to dispel the threats. It was the thought of another Twilight that led the former student of Crystal Prep to ask Sunset Shimmer:
"So, if there's another me in...Equestria, does that mean that everyone else here has an equivalent?"
Sunset nodded while chewing on a sandwich before swallowing to speak.
"Yep. I talked with Princess Twilight and she says that she's seen an Equestrian counterpart for nearly every student here. To be honest, the fact that I haven't seen my counterpart yet is a relief."
"Yeah, I can imagine the confusion. Trying to explain to someone who looks just like you that you're them from another world is a great way to get sent to an asylum."
"...that, and I really don't want to see my old self again. Unless she had her own 'redemption', she would be as horrible as I was, and I really don't want to see that."
Rarity placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, drawing Sunset's attention towards her.
"If you do meet your double, and she is like you once were, we'll be there with you when you tell her how happy friends make you, and we won't need magic to do it."
As comforting as that sounded, it seemed to make Sunset Shimmer look even worse.
"Except we WOULD need magic. When I put on Princess Twilight's crown, I felt every single horrible thing I had ever done to other people cascade upon me. The demon you guys saw was a creature born of my own desires, and I had no control over her. Defeating her made me realize that I could never win, and that I was actually a monster, as much as I denied it."
She looked to her crowd of friends and sighed. All of them looked saddened, which made her next sentence so much harder to get out.
"The old me would hate the idea of 'stooping to your level' so much she would rather not be as happy as I am than be friendly, and magic would be the only thing to change that."
Twilight removed her glasses to wipe her eyes. She hasn't been crying much, but she still didn't want any tears blotting her vision. She looked right at Sunset before talking.
"It's so strange to me to hear how you were back then. You're as friendly as can be, and hearing about this bullying, power hungry girl being you just seems so...unlikely."
It was Applejack's turn to place her hand on Sunset's shoulder.
"Sunset...that may have happened, but yer so much better off fer it, and you've been invaluable to us as a friend, and to the rest of the school as well. Sure, we may have saved it from ya, but ya still helped us save it once, and saved it again all bah yerself!"
Before anyone else could add a comment, Twilight suddenly cleared her throat. All eyes were on her now.
"Wait, wait wait. I heard about what you and other me did, and I would be worried if I didn't know how Sunset stopped me, but I didn't know about a different attack!"
Rainbow looked over with a raised eyebrow at her spectacled friend.
"Seriously? Nobody's told you about the Sirens yet?"
Twilight's eyes went wide with horror. Before she could spout out her concerns, Fluttershy patted her shoulder before speaking up in her usual tone.
"Oh, don't worry. They aren't like the Sirens in Fleek mythology. They didn't eat anyone. Or, um, kill anyone, for that matter."
Twilight let out a loud sigh at that. At least there weren't any casualties. After everything this school went through, losing students would be the icing on the cake.
"I love cake!"
Everyone looked right at Pinkie, waiting for an explanation. There was none. Instead, Sunset got back on topic.
"They were originally from Equestria a thousand years in the past. Starswirled the Bearded, the most well known unicorn in history, sent them through time and space to your world. Their songs made people fight each other and adore them, and the arguing and anger was turned into negative energy that went into these pendants of theirs. They turned the musical showcase we were supposed to have into a battle of the bands, forming their own band called The Dazzlings. We beat them, though, and shattered their pendants."
Twilight looked genuinely puzzled.
"How come I haven't seen them around here? Haven't you befriended them?"
All of the Rainbooms looked down at the table. Rarity looked at Twilight and sighed.
"They ran away from an angry crowd as soon as they tried to sing without their pendants. To put it nicely, it wasn't really a performance I would pay to see. We looked for them, but we couldn't find hide nor hair."
Rainbow Dash snickered a bit before getting out what was on her mind.
"And trust me, that hair would stand out anywhere you can think of. Especially that one with the Cheeto hair. What was her name again?"
Sunset facepalmed. Tact wasn't always the prismatic athlete's strong suit.
"Adagio Dazzle. She was the leader of the group, and boy, did the room drop like ten degrees with her in it. She didn't even have to hypnotize you to catch your eye, and not in the way you're thinking. Yes, she and the others had physical appeal, but she commanded your attention and respect just by looking at you. And her evil smirk and laugh were bone chilling, to say the least."
Twilight looked intrigued. Well, she did look intrigued before, but now that she got to hear more details, she wanted to know even more.
"And what about the other two? What were they like?"
Sunset didn't even hesitate in describing them. The three were stuck firmly in her mind due to the role they played in the school accepting that she changed.
"The second in command was probably Aria Blaze. Two giant pigtails with star hairbands, a ripped jacket, and an attitude that commanded more fear than anything else. The look on her face when she sang the song that turned the school against itself was one of sheer malice. Adagio might have had the authority, but Aria had the glare that could send people running scared. A very aggressive girl, to say the least.
And then there was Sonata Dusk. She seemed so out of place among them. She looked, quite frankly, adorable. Though, she wasn't very bright, and got into a argument with Aria barely a minute after I met her. She looked so harmless, yet was as sinister as the other two. The fact that someone who looked so sweet could be so sour was definitely a shock to everyone, after they got after the whole 'dark magic' shock, of course."
"Sour Sweet wasn't there, silly!"
Once again, everyone looked to Pinkie. Before anyone could say anything, Rainbow Dash slammed her fist on the table.
"Man! Talking about them like this...it's just plain wrong! We need to find those three so we can stop just...I don't know, talking about them like they're stuck in the past like this!"
One of AJ's eyebrows went up.
"But we already looked everywhere they'd probably be! How in tarnation are we gonna find those girls?"
Twilight cleared her throat again, and with all eyes on her, she said "Well, I'm here. An extra pair of watchful eyes can't hurt, and I'm sure that some of the kids back at Crystal Prep will help us. If those girls are out there, we'll find them."
Sunset smiled and nodded at her new friend.
"Then it's settled. We'll keep on looking for the Dazzlings, and hopefully show them how great friendship is."
Fluttershy looked around nervously. She muttered something under her breath, attracting Rarity's attention.
"What was that, darling?"
"W-well, um, what if they left the city? It might explain why we haven't found them yet..."
The other girls said nothing. Fluttershy was right. The Dazzlings could have skipped town after they bolted, and that was a while ago, so who knows how far they could have gotten? However, Pinkie, seeing the lack of smiles, chirped: "Oh, c'mon, guys! We can't give up just because of some 'possibilities'! If we did that, how would we get anything done?"
Before anyone could reply, the intercom suddenly let out Principal Celestia's voice.
"Sunset Shimmer, please bring your friends with you to my office."
While the girls didn't hesitate in rising, they were undoubtedly confused. They walked through the halls and reached the office, only to stop when Sunset halted in front of the now open door.
"...um, girls? I don't think we have to worry about looking for the Dazzlings."
She moved out of the way to reveal three dirty, somber looking girls that were all too familiar to the Rainbooms. The three Sirens stood before them, and none of them looked particularly happy. As the others stood their gawking, Adagio Dazzle spoke with a voice dripping with contempt.
The rest of the girls slowly entered the room, closing the door behind them. Principal Celestia simply sat at her desk, arms crossed, while Twilight looked at the unfamiliar girls before her. From Sunset's descriptions, she could tell that the icy-tongued one with orange hair was Adagio, and the girl whose fist was clenched and twitching must have been Aria, leaving Sonata as the blue-haired girl cowering behind Adagio. The leader of the Sirens locked eyes with her, causing Twilight to step back a bit. She was every bit as intimidating as Sunset described. Adagio spoke, never once looking away from Twilight's shrinking pupils.
"You're from this world, aren't you?"
The meek geek was speechless, so opted to nod instead.
"I wanted the girls responsible for our defeat, not some substitute that looks like she's going to run away at any moment. Your counterpart was so much more...confident."
Sunset stepped between the two, much to Twilight's relief.
"Twilight here has been in a very similar situation as you and me. She deserves to be here as much as the rest of us do."
The Rainbooms nodded at that, causing Adagio to smirk.
"Really? That delicate little tumbleweed was responsible for the magic we felt? It was like the world was being torn apart...rather ambitious, aren't you, my dear?"
Sunset's eyes narrowed, but still somehow didn't seem too fierce.
"She may deserve to be here, but that doesn't mean that your fight is with her. Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you three."
Aria stepped forward, her eyes looking like they could fit her last name at any given moment.
"Oh, yeah? To what, gloat? Oh, no, wait! You wanted to teach us all about the magic of friendship and peace and ALL OF YOUR OTHER GARBAGE!"
Before any of the shocked girls could say anything, Adagio raised a hand to silence her sister.
"Now, now, Aria. We've seen for ourselves how powerful their bond is, and the strength it gives them." She proceeded to mutter under her breath, though not very subtly, "No matter how ridiculous it is."
The orange Siren's eyes locked themselves with Applejack's this time, and the farm girl tried her best to not have her knees give out under the sudden weight she suddenly felt on top of her.
"So, Little Miss Honesty, was my sister right? We're you attempting to spread your arms out to us and welcome us to your circle?"
AJ thought carefully and calmly before she responded.
"Well, uh, yes. But we also wanted ta make sure that y'all were all right. We felt bad that ya had to lose yer singing voices with yer powers, and we also didn't think that ya deserved to feel so alone and scared or sumthin'. We wanted to help you."
Aria looked again as if she was about to snap, but Adagio once again raised her hand in silent protest against her rage.
"Aw, how thoughtful of you! And why exactly didn't you find us? Where did you look? What sights were there to see? I simply MUST know!"
Applejack pondered for a bit, and voiced out all of the places they checked that she could remember. Twilight noticed that all of them tended to be rather classy areas of the city, which would most certainly not have the three girls before her end up in such a state. After the farmer finished, the orange-haired Siren's smirk dwarfing the one she made before.
"Such prestigious places! Surely ones fit for girls such as ourselves, right, sisters?" Aria rolled her eyes and nodded, but Sonata, who had been very quiet the whole time, didn't answer, instead peeking out farther behind Adagio's locks. The owner of said locks continued. "But, I have one question. How did you expect us to gain access to these luxurious houses and the like without our magic?"
Rarity scoffed, as if the answer was painfully obvious. And, truthfully, it was. "Well, you aren't exactly lacking in charm and looks, you know. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you think you had to rely on magic for adoration."
But the smirk on the Siren's face never left.
"Oh, yes! How could I forget? Our greatest power of all is to sway our hips a bit and hope that whatever place we're staying is owned by someone with good intentions! Surely the richer people in this city aren't plagued by the corruptions of the middle class."
Twilight immediately sensed her sarcasm and cleared her throat a bit. She shrank back from the excess of eyes pointing in her direction, but quickly composed herself before speaking.
"Well, my mother is Twilight Velvet. Maybe you've heard of her? She's an award winning adventure book author, and I know that if she saw you, she would take you in until you could get on your own feet."
Aria ignored Adagio's hand this time, clearly having a lot to say.
"Live with a girl who looks just like one of our enemies!? Sure, THAT wouldn't be awkward! Besides, we don't care how 'sweet and loving and famous' your mother is. We'd be happier on our own in the cold than having to rely on your pity!"
There was so much venom in her tone that it practically dripped on the floor. Everyone she was addressing took a step back, as if Aria was an actual snake that could lunge for the kill at any given moment. Adagio seemed unfazed by this, however, and ignored the feeling of Sonata practically diving into her once puffy hair.
"While my sister could have been more...delicate, she's right. You took away all but our pride, and even THAT was hanging by a thread. We will NOT allow that to slip away from us, no matter what it takes."
Sunset looked on in disbelief. Sentences upon sentences formed in her head, yet stubbornly refused to exit to the physical world. All that the girl could say was:
"Why?"
Adagio didn't have to ask to know what she meant by that. After all, the Dazzlings came back to Canterlot High for one purpose, and one purpose only.
"To show you that despite your best efforts, we won. You girls could only consider our little battle a true victory if you befriended us and got the rest of the school to love us by your presence alone. But us? We have looser definitions of victory. You lost, and by our standards, no matter what happens to us, as long as we have our pride..."
Her smirk grew to what must have been as large as the dimensions of her face allowed it to.
"We can rest easy, knowing that WE were the true winners in the end."
The onlooking girls were shocked. The Sirens, the only threat that they couldn't befriend, the only threat to be worse off from their attack on the school, the only threat that the Rainbooms never saw again until today...came back to brag about their poverty and solitude. And the worst part was that they were right.
Well, not if Sunset had anything to say about it. As the three girls were about to walk out of the office, Sunset asked the one question that needed to be asked at that moment more than any other question.
"How can you consider this a victory?"
Adagio leered at the girl disapprovingly. She just told them why they considered it a victory, and was just about to explain it again until Sunset interrupted.
"And no, you haven't given me a good reason. All you've told me is that you'd rather be homeless and filthy than rely on someone else. That isn't pride, it's being a sore loser who thinks that they'll win if they say it the right way. Well, you haven't, and speaking of saying things..."
She glanced at Sonata, who was still behind Adagio's messy mane of a hairdo.
"Why hasn't Sonata said a word here yet?"
Aria stamped her foot down, apparently so filled with rage that just shouting wasn't going to release it all.
"MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE SHE'S SCARED OF THE MORONS THAT TOOK HER LIFE AWAY!"
Sunset shook her head, unfazed by the extreme display the girl before her was issuing.
"Then why is it when I called attention to her, she stayed in our views, yet when you flipped out, she hid even more than she already was?"
Aria scoffed, and looked over at Sonata to verify that what the flame haired girl said wasn't the case. But her eyes widened as sure enough, Sonata was cowering inside Adagio's hair. The owner of said hair finally registered the movements and put her hand behind her, feeling another hand clench down on it in fear. Adagio, turned to face Sonata, who was visibly trembling.
"S-Sonata, I knew that you and Aria argue a lot, but did something happen?"
At saying those last words, she shot a glare at Aria, who raised her hands up defensively. She was clearly as in shock as Adagio was. And Sonata, after all this time, nodded and finally spoke.
"...we came here."
Her words confused the Siren. Why would being here make her afraid of Aria when being afraid of her enemies would be a more logical response? She questioned the blue girl on this, not sure what she could expect the response to be.
"...Aria and I fight a lot, but we never really get too mad at each other. And I'm scared at how she'll act when she hears...that..."
Sonata released her grip, covering both of her eyes with her hands as she openly wept into them, barely choking out her following words.
"I can't take it any more, Dagi! You and Aria always go on about your pride and your persevre...perserva...whatever you call it, and you talk about it like it's all you care about! But I just don't care about that stuff! I want to smile and have fun and eat tacos that don't come from dumpsters and I don't want to be dirty all the time! I just wanna have FRIENDS, DAGI, AND I'M TOO SCARED TO HAVE ANY BECAUSE OF YOU AND ARIA!"
The silence was so prevalent, you could almost see it filling the room. Everyone else in the room was slack jawed at this revelation, but only Adagio could close her mouth up to continue speaking again.
"But...then...why? Why hide behind ME if you're afraid of me, too?"
Sonata sniffed up as much of the snot now running down her face as she could before answering.
"You weren't yelling...if you were, then I would hide behind Ari..."
This hit Adagio like a brick to the face. The poor girl was looking for protection from the people she feared most, and she could only be guarded by the one who wasn't angry at the moment. Adagio always thought of herself as her sisters' caretaker, the one person looking out for the both of them. How could she let her most fragile sister feel afraid to be happy? And then Adagio, looking at both Sonata and Aria, saw what they really were. They weren't proud and mighty Sirens who laughed at their naive and feeble enemies. They were hungry homeless girls covered in grime and dust.
"I-I...I..."
Adagio enveloped Sonata in the first hug the latter had ever felt in a very long time.
"I am so...SO sorry."
Sonata clenched onto Adagio like she was going to drift away at any moment.
"It's okay, Dagi. I forgive both of you..."
The Rainbooms and Twilight said nothing. This was a personal moment, one that no one had the right to interrupt at the time. All they did was wait until Adagio slowly let go of Sonata and asked her:
"These girls...would you be friends with them?"
Everyone's eyes widened at that until Adagio elaborated.
"They took in Sunset the instant after her defeat, and they'll do the same for you. That's why they were looking for us in the first place."
She turned to Aria, who was silently watching her sister show a softer side of her that she would never show before.
"But I want you to watch over her. So you need to at least TRY to be friends with them."
Before Aria could even stammer at that, Adagio's gaze traveled to Principal Celestia, who had said nothing for the entire time, knowing that any situation that could have arisen would have been out of her control.
"I want you to sign these two up for classes here. They deserve a future, even if I don't."
"And who said that?"
Aria leered at her sister, but oddly enough, she didn't seem as malevolent as she could have been.
"I bought into the whole 'we won because we didn't be their friends' thing, too. What makes me so deserving of 'having a future' than you?"
"I am your leader. I decided what we did since we got here, and continued to decide since we lost the battle. If I wasn't so stubborn, I could have done this so much sooner! I have to look out for you two, and it's high time I did it right!"
Sonata jerked on Adagio's hand, attempting to pull her towards the Rainbooms. She didn't manage more than an inch, though, due to malnutrition and lack of muscle in the first place.
"Nnng...not...going...without...you! Come...ON!"
Adagio yanked her hand away, staring at Sonata like she made the worst mistake in her life.
"Didn't you hear what I said? I don't deserve friends! I don't deserve anything! I failed you as your leader-"
Applejack and Rarity both cleared their throats simultaneously. While both were startled at this, they nodded at each other, as they knew exactly what to say. Applejack started them off.
"Look, Adagio, Ah dunno why ya keep sayin' that. Ah mean, why would you just say that yer the leader when yer just like yer sisters?"
Rarity walked forwards, looking at the former diva square in the eyes.
"You act like you're supposed to be responsible for everything any of you ever do, but did you ever think that you three never needed a leader in the first place?"
"Yer sisters dun need a leader."
"They need you to be what you've always been: their sister, never more or less than they are."
Adagio said nothing. This was a bombshell that she could not have prepared for. She knew that the fashionista and the farmer were speaking from experience, so she couldn't deny that they knew what they were talking about, but she started to wonder if she knew what SHE was talking about, or doing at all, for that matter. It was an secret that she loved the feeling of being in charge. It gave her the power to make others do everything she wanted, and she didn't need magic to use it. But was her own selfish desire to command really overriding her desire to protect her sisters?
And more importantly, did she really need to protect them? They may have bickered, but in the end, Aria and Sonata always proved that they could handle themselves as well as Adagio could. They looked out for each other as much as she looked out for them, but she never really cared or noticed. It took absolute defeat to make her realize this, and all it did was make her feel more and more like she deserved to rot in an alleyway. But before she could say that, Aria wrapped her arm around Adagio's shoulder.
"Hey, Principal. If you want to enroll us, you need the whole set. Someone has to look after this walking Cheeto."
Sonata grabbed Adagio in a hug again, this time smiling brightly.
"Hehe! Cheesy Dagi!"
Sunset placed her hand on Adagio's shoulder, ignoring the muck on it.
"I know how you feel, so I also know that there's no point in letting that feeling control you. You have two sisters that care about you very much, and, if you want, friends. We'd want you to feel accepted here on your own, of course, so we'd have to keep it a secret for a bit, but we'd always have our doors open for you. Speaking of which...any of you girls have room for these three?"
Applejack smirked and nodded.
"We have a guest room at the farm. Granted, it only has room fer one and they'd have to help with farm work, but these three would probably make it work."
Rainbow Dash stepped forward as well.
"Well, I have a guest room at my place, too. I don't think that you girls should be separated, but I don't see a problem with living in different houses if you're free to visit any time."
Twilight smiled and adjusted her glasses.
"Mom and Dad always talked about renting out our guest room...I think can afford they can hold off on charging anything until whoever stays there can afford to pay. That is, if you three are even open to this idea."
Aria and Sonata looked at each other and nodded. As long as they could visit one another, they would be fine. But when they turned to Adagio to get her input, she fell to her knees and started to cry. As her sisters knelt down into comfort her, she sputtered out the only thing that could come to her mind.
"H-how can I ever repay you? How can I ever sh-show you all how much this m-m-means to me?"
Sunset knelt down, too. Her smile was as warm as her name, and her words certainly were, too.
"If you really think that you need to say anything more than 'thank you', then all any if us want is for you to live your lives. Take singing lessons, make more friends, find new hobbies. We want you to thrive, Adagio, and see just how good this world can be."
And, for the first time in so very, very long, Adagio Dazzle had a genuine, heartfelt smile on her face.
