Adagio, Aria and Sonata find out that matchmaking is not their special talent.
It's been a year for the now ex-Sirens, and it hasn't been a good one. It's time for one last shot at regaining their powers, and this time, they're going straight for the source of their problems.
The Rainbooms defeated them using the Magic of Friendship, surely it can't be that hard to learn. All they need to do is spin a little sob story and they'll be welcomed in with open arms. Probably.
Well, what better way to win the eternal affections (and glorious, glorious magic) of the Pony-Up Pals than to set them all up with their soulmates? Now the only problem is working out who wants who, should be simple, right?
The latest little diner that the three disgraced sirens had found themselves in could be summed up in a word: grey. The paint on the walls was stained by old cigarette smoke, the floors were suspiciously tacky when you stepped on them, and the flattened seat in their booth squeaked in protest as Sonata shifted her weight from one leg to the other repeatedly.
"You hear that D-sharp? I used to be able to sing that D-sharp." The blue-skinned girl slumped forwards abruptly, and whined like a dog who had just been informed of an impending trip to the vet.
"Ugh, will you give it a break already? It's been like, a year and nothing we've done's got our powers back." Aria folded her arms and gave Sonata a baleful glare. A glare that had absolutely no impact because all Sonata could see at that moment was the slightly stained surface of the table.
"Hey, this coffee mark looks like a taco!"
Adagio massaged the bridge of her nose and tried to ignore the waitress at the bar who had been giving the girls the stinkeye for the last half an hour at least. Definitely since Sonata had discovered the 'singing' seat. She turned away from her companions and tried to peer through the window, but it looked as though the glass hadn't been cleaned in years. No good.
Adagio glanced at the waitress, but it looked as though her attention had been pulled away by a canoodling couple in the only other occupied booth who were getting just a little bit too enthusiastic. She spared a small grimace of disgust at the thought. The people here were ruled by their hormones and emotions. It had been so easy to manipulate them. A little brush of the fingers here, a melodic laugh there, a carefully angled flutter of the eyelashes, and she and her sisters would have these foolish mortals eating out of their hands.
Now they couldn't even charm their way into a free meal.
Sure, they could giggle and flutter and brush, but there was no magic to back it up, which meant they had to put in effort. Too much effort.
"Don't lick the table, Sonata! Oh my god."
All of the Sirens' attempts to restore their mind-bending musical magic since their pendants had been smashed had failed. There simply wasn't enough magic in this miserable world to restore their jewels, unless you counted the area around the portal to Equestria. Of course, that place was a no-go zone, considering who else might be around the portal.
"It tastes like soap, burning and... huh. I'm getting notes of dead squirrel."
"So, exactly like a normal taco, then?"
"How dare you."
The seat screeched a slightly sad C as Sonata launched herself at Aria, and the two girls began to pull each other's hair.
Adagio ground her teeth as she thought about those insufferable Rainbooms, and their precious purple pony princess. Those Rainbooms, with their ridiculous sentiments about harmony and togetherness and unity. Those Rainbooms, with their friendship and their hugs and their magic.
"Geddoff me you whiny little taco addict!"
"Make me, you anti-taco heathen!"
"ARIA! SONATA! SHUT YOUR SHARK HOLES!"
Adagio's eyes shot open wide as she glared, and she slammed her fists onto the table. The other two, the overly affectionate couple, and the waitress on the other side of the room all jumped at the loud noise. Adagio flexed her fingers and winced. She leant in across the table towards her sisters.
"Girls," hissed Adagio. "I'm trying to come up with a way to get our powers back and you won't stop talking."
"Oh yeah? Because every other plan has been brilliant so far," Aria raised an eyebrow and began tugging her fingers free of Sonata's ponytail.
"You think so, Ari? I - ow! - thought they were pretty bad," said Sonata, as she pried her own hands out of the tangles she had inflicted.
"Well, go on then," Adagio waved her hand towards her sisters. "Why doesn't one of you make the plan for a change. Ought to be worth a laugh at least."
Aria sat back with folded arms, making sure to elbow Sonata just a little. "We can't use our powers without our jewels, Adagio, and we can't fix our jewels without magic. There's no point coming up with anything else. We should just give up already and try to live like normal humans or something."
"Then let's get some magic to fix our jewels!" Sonata clapped her hands together and beamed. "Wow, plans are easy!"
"Where," sighed Adagio. "Are you going to find the magic?"
"From the-! By the-!" Sonata scratched her head and frowned. "Wow, plans are hard."
"This is why I'm the one who-"
"WAIT!" Sonata screeched, lurching across to table to grab Adagio's hands. "I KNOW WHAT TO DO!"
Sonata let go of her sister and scrambled back to stand up on the creaky booth seat in a triumphant pose.
"Sonata, what the ever living-"
"We should ask the Rainbooms for the Magic of Friendship!" Sonata sat down abruptly, a huge smile plastered onto her face. "Isn't it the best idea ever?"
"No," said Aria.
Sonata stuck her tongue out at the purple ex-Siren. "I'm serious, guys, with their magic our jewels would be fixed in minutes!"
Adagio closed her eyes and counted to ten. "Do you expect to just walk up to them and just... ask for magic?"
"Uh, no? We're like, their complete, uh, antidissertation and they'd probably throw the big shiny alicorn at us again." Sonata's smile still hadn't wavered.
Aria's raised eyebrow returned, this time directed towards the girl sitting beside her. "Did you mean antithesis?"
Sonata shrugged. "Who cares! Look, girls, I think it's time we turned to the side of good. We've struggled hard over this past year and had a lot of time to think about what we've done, and now? We're oh-so-very sorry! We were wrong and we want to turn over a new leaf! Won't you Rainbooms give us just a teensy-weensy itty-bitty chance to show you we can be friends?"
Adagio opened her mouth. "What th-"
"Then they'll say yes and accept us and we will earn their trust and they'll teach us how to use their weird Friendship Magic to fix our jewels, and then we can take them for everything they've got! Or just leave and not get hit by the Pony-up Pals and their giant sparklesona again."
Adagio hadn't closed her mouth, and now it hung open with mild awe. "You know... that's... not a terrible plan."
"Are you kidding me, Dagi that's a horrible plan. That's the worst plan! You're the worst Siren, Sonata!"
"I am so not a the worst!" Sonata dissolved into giggles. "It's so not a bad plan!"
Aria groaned, but Adagio's mind was racing.
"It could work, but we don't know if they'll buy it no matter how good our acting skills are. They'll never stop being suspicious if we can't find a way to prove our good intentions. Any ideas?" She looked across the table at the other two.
"How about: don't go near the people who tried to ruin our lives, for one?"
"Aw, come on Ari, don't be such a flatfish. Ooh, we should buy tacos!"
"For the Rainbooms?" The purple girl looked unconvinced.
"Uh, no? For me? Why would we give them any tacos?"
Adagio turned her attention away from her companions and cast around the diner for some sort of inspiration. Sure, they could get their rivals a meal or two as a peace offering, but it didn't have the right sort of impact.
Her eyes fell upon the couple who had finally abandoned each other's faces in favour of some slightly soggy-looking pancakes. Not exactly the best trade-off for them, the ex-siren thought as her mouth curved into a predatory grin.
The morning sun was pleasantly warm on Sunset Shimmer's skin as she walked in towards the school. A light breeze ruffled her hair, and she paused for a few minutes to appreciate the wide blue sky and splotches of fluffy white cloud that quietly glided accross it.
It had amazed her, at first, to learn that the weather here wasn't managed by a team of trained professionals. It was entirely self-governed and ever-perpetuating. To have no definitive forecast of the weeks and months ahead was a little disconcerting at first, but Sunset had come to enjoy the unpredictability it brought. Figuring out when to take an umbrella with her had been an interesting and slightly damp experience, but the once unicorn had learnt a lot about how to read the signs of incoming precipitation.
Today, though, was just the sort of day that would have had the weatherponies in Canterlot slaving over for hours in the dark of the morning, trying to get just the right breeze to flow through the streets, to have just the right amount of clouds dotting the sky.
Sunset felt a satifying feeling of optimism well up in her chest. If the world could make such a lovely day happen all by itself, then anything could happen.
"Hey, Sunset Shimmer, right?"
The feeling of optimism shriveled, dropping like a stone to tug coldly on Sunset's gut.
Sunset turned, slowly, unable to control her widening eyes. Three girls stood before her, one yellow, one blue, and one pink. Three girls who Sunset hadn't particularly wanted to meet ever again. She tensed her shoulders and her hands balled into fists, but the Dazzlings were lacking in their typical smug smirks. If anything, their smiles were nervous.
Sunset said nothing, but her eyes darted between the three as she waited for them to reveal why they were there.
There was a long pause. A student named Sound Clip who was walking by on the other side of the road named coughed loudly, which made all four girls flinch.
Sunset took a deep breath. "Okay, what do you three want?"
Adagio glanced at her companions, Aria on the right, Sonata on the left. She stepped forwards at their nods.
"We want- ah, that is to say, we would like... to become friends."
The redhead frowned. "Look, I haven't been evil for nearly two years, I'm not interested in 'teaming up to take over the world' or anything like that. Whatever rumours you've heard about the evil demon horse girl blasting the statue Canterlot High statue apart or opening portals into other dimensions, it wasn't me."
Adagio blinked. "Evil... portals... what? That's, uh, nice but not what I meant. We actually want to want to be friends. With you and the other Rainbooms."
"What. Are you serious?"
"We have been reexamining our lives recently, and realised that our actions were maybe not the best moral pathway to have chosen. As paragons of the virtues of Harmony, we were hoping that you and your friends to teach us how to be good people."
Sonata nodded somberly. "World domination isn't financially viable for us at the moment, anyway."
"That's... not really reassuring." Sunset raised her eyebrows at the ex-Sirens.
"Oh, oh please?" The three were giving Sunset the best puppy-dog eyes they could muster, which for Aria meant a slightly bored Alsatian. Sonata and Adagio were doing a much better job of it, and Sunset felt her composure start to weaken. She bit her lip.
"Look, I have to get to the school soon and I'll talk to the others at lu-"
"Oh don't worry, Sunset! We already sent an e-mail to Principal Celestia about re-enrollment and reformation and she said we're in your class!" Adagio beamed, sweeping Sunset into an enthusiastic hug.
"Ack, no!" Sunset pushed the girl away. "No hugs! I haven't agreed to this yet so at the moment we are not friends, got it?"
"Oh, sorry. I was just so eager to... to learn..." Adagio sniffled. Sunset squinted at her.
"Let's just get to class."
Sunset tried to resist the urge to slam her head on the cafeteria table.
All throughout class, there had been whispers. From the moment Sunset had walked in with the trio of singers who had hypnotised the school with their voices, the whispers had started flying about. Especially whenever she had looked to the side and seen them waving wildly at her. Adagio and Aria had claimed a desk between them, but Sonata had been left to find a seat next to one of the other classmates. The blue girl had been chattering incessantly at her deskmate whenever the teacher went quiet, but clearly whatever she had been saying had been alarming, because Stock Footage had grown paler and paler. Then she had begun to colour up again. In green.
Now, Sunset was hoping that when her friends arrived for lunch, they wouldn't freak out too much.
Or maybe she was hoping that they would freak out and get rid of the Dazzlings. She hadn't even agreed to help them yet and it already felt like she was babysitting three psychotic toddlers.
Sonata and Aria were bickering over their food, while Adagio was letting her gaze take in the whole cafeteria with a serene and malevolent air.
The normal hubbub of the cafeteria was subdued, in part because of the Dazzlings, but also because Sunset's class had been let out early when Stock Footage had run screaming for the toilets.
"So," Adagio leant forwards and rested her chin on her hands. "When are the others arriving? I want to get started on this friendship thing as soon as possible."
"It'll be whenever their classes let out. I don- oh hey, there's Rarity and Fluttershy!"
All of the girls turned to see the animal-lover stiffen in shock as she saw them. It took Rarity a moment to notice her friend's state, and followed her line of vision to where the three ex-Sirens were sitting. Rarity narrowed her eyes, but tugged Fluttershy to the table as Sunset waved them over.
"I'll explain when the others get here," Sunset murmured as the two hovered behind her. "Just go grab your food and we'll wait for them."
Rainbow Dash was next. She took one look at the situation and immediately squared her shoulders. Sunset watched her with concern when the guitarist balled her fists as she approached, but Rainbow didn't turn it into a fist-fight immediately. She sat down next to Fluttershy and glared across the table, then leaned back to raise an eyebrow at Sunset. Sunset waved a hand and shook her head. Rainbow folded her arms and wore a thunderous expression, but still remained quiet.
Twilight Sparkle, of course, didn't recognise Adagio, Aria nor Sonata. However, the air of tension around the table was palpable, so she cast them a rather worried look as she sat down next to Sunset.
"What's going on?" The near-sighted girl whispered.
"We need to wait for AJ and Pinkie, and then they're gonna explain themselves."
"O... kay, but who-"
"I don't mean to alarm y'all, but y'know yer sittin' next to them, right?" Applejack set her tray down with a loud clunk and eyed the Dazzlings suspiciously. Her question was met with four nods, one confused lavender expression, and a burst of confetti as Pinkie Pie appeared from... somewhere.
"Oh good, everyone's here," Sunset tapped on the table to get the attention of the three ex-Sirens. "Hey, now tell them what you told me this morning."
Adagio cleared her throat. "We realised that what we did was wrong, and we've been thinking about it a lot recently. We want you to teach us about... friendship."
There was a surprising lack of reaction from Sunset's friends. Well, that wasn't quite true - they reacted - but the there were none of the outraged shouts or sudden onsets of awkward laughter. Where Sunset had been something imagining loud and dramatic, there was simply shock and suspicion. Rainbow Dash's scowl had deepened, Fluttershy was still glazed over and may not even have noticed the statement, Rarity had her brows pulled slightly together with her mouth skewed to one side, Applejack was using her Eyebrows of Disbelief to their fullest extent, and Pinkie had no expression whatsoever because she seemed to have vanished. Twilight just looked confused, and pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose.
"Is- are you being serious?" Rarity's voice wavered slightly. She lifted one hand slightly, but her arm dropped after a brief moment and she laced the fingers of both hands together.
Adagio nodded slowly. "Until our jewels were shattered, we never even considered there could be another way to live our lives."
"Yeah," snorted Rainbow. "You mean you were happy to use your weird fish-horse magic on anyone until you lost your singing voices."
"Of course we were," Aria sniffed. "It was what we'd been doing for centuries, as 'fish-horses'. It was part of our nature. You know the gems are actually part of our bodies back in Equestria? We use them to eat."
Fluttershy seemed to snap back into consciousness at this, and let out a quiet gasp. She swivelled in her seat to look at Sunset. The redhead nodded with a grimace.
"From what I can remember about Sirens in Equestria, they have their jewels in their throats, where their voiceboxes should be. Their voices are magical, and can compel others to do things, though the more subtle they are about it, the less resistance the target has to their magic. They feed off of emotional auras, so they usually try to provoke their prey into strong feelings. Anger is fairly powerful, and one of the easiest emotions to incite, so they usually create fights and... eat that, I guess. Historically, there have been stories of powerful Sirens who sang so sweetly that they inspired dozens of ship crews to wreck themselves and would consume the despair of the drowning sailors, Sirens who hovered around battlefields and feasted on bloodlust, and some Sirens," Sunset gave the trio a pointed look. "Used their powers of compulsion to give themselves an enslaved army. In modern Equestria, Sirens are few and far between. A lot of them work as performers, and consume the energy from an authentically enthusiastic audience."
"Oh goodness! So we-! And their-! Oh my," Fluttershy squirmed in place. "I'm so sorry, it must have been like declawing a cat! Or defanging a snake! Or removing a skunk's-"
"Pssshaw, it's not that bad," Sonata picked something from between her teeth and flicked it away in Aria's direction. "We were detached from our jewels when we were sent through the mirror anyway, and had to, like, learn to eat food food. And food food means tacos. But our jewels still worked, kinda. They just stored up the energy instead of feeding it to us."
Applejack took a sip from her juice-box and looked down the line of her friends. Then she squinted at the ex-Sirens. "So, who thinks these gals are legit? 'Cause I'm not sure I trust 'em at all."
Twilight shrugged. "I don't know who they-"
"They are totally up to something," Rainbow Dash growled. "They're just being sneaky about it."
Adagio gave her a flat look. "We literally have less magic than you right now."
"That's exactly what a sneak would say."
There was a tense pause in the conversation, as Rainbow Dash tried to match the glares from Adagio and Aria. It was just reaching the point where Sunset felt she might have to tackle Rainbow out of a brawl when a cloud of confetti burst from somewhere near the ceiling and began to fall onto them like colourful snowflakes.
Pinkie Pie was suddenly leaning over the table next to Applejack, wearing a fake moustache, an impeccably neat suit, and a serious expression.
"Voulez-vous faire la fête? Ou vais-je, la fantastique Pie-rot, découvrir vos plans diaboliques?"* Pinkie pointed a finger at the Dazzlings.
Everyone jolted in surprise.
"Pinkie, are you speaking Prench?" Rarity was the first to react.
"Non! C'est belge!"** Pinkie exclaimed, with an affronted look. She pulled a handkerchief from a pocket on her suit and wiped the bench seat before sitting. "Now then, does it matter if they're still evil or not?"
"Darling, of cou-"
"The answer is no! Because if they are, then keeping an eye on them here is gonna be our best bet for keeping them in line, right? And if they aren't evil, it means more friends." Pinkie wagged her whole hand at the fashionista.
"Pinkie," the growl in Rainbow's voice was back. "You know they tried to hypnotise the students last year, right?"
Twilight Sparkle started. "They wha-?"
"So did I," Sunset pointed out. "And they did get hit by the Rainbow of Harmony... like I did."
"Rainbow of-?" Twilight was cut off again
"We're not evil, I can assure you," Adagio interjected. "We really do want to be friends, and we have an idea about how to prove that to you."
The seven friends all focused on Adagio, waiting for her to reveal her plan.
