Faded Dazzlings
Canterlot High was, on most days, a fairly busy place, and given recent events, it had been even busier than most would have expected. But now, those events had passed, and things were finally getting back to normal for the students. And so here they were, in the school cafeteria, all occupying themselves with their usual activities, eating their lunches, hanging out with their friends and generally just enjoying the peace of the day.
But there were those among them that were not so happy. For there, sitting in a somewhat neglected corner of the cafeteria, was a trio of girls, all sitting solemnly around the same table. These girls had, until recently, been known as the Dazzlings, a group that had participated in the recent "battle of the bands" that the school had played host to. But that event had merely been a cover for the girls' true plans, for these three were no mere students, and more importantly, they were not even truly human.
These three, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, were, in truth, the Sirens, a group of creatures from the world of Equestria, banished here many centuries ago to keep them from doing harm. But harm they had caused, for through their power they had divided the students and gained immeasurable strength, all with the goal of ruling over this world just as they had planned to do to Equestria in ages past. Thankfully for the students, those plans had been undermined by the timely arrival of Princess Twilight Sparkle, who, with the aid of her friends, had defeated the Dazzlings and brought peace to the school once more.
And so, here they were. The Dazzlings, who had come so close to achieving the victory they'd longed for, now merely sat there, defeated and without the power that had once made them so dangerous. Sonata was looking down at a meagre lunch, playing with it and barely paying much attention to it. Aria had her arms folded and was just slumped into her chair. And as for Adagio, she was eyeing many of the surrounding students of the cafeteria, with a look that could only be described as contempt. After having sat there together in silence, it was finally broken by Aria, who let out an audible moan.
"This sucks! I can't believe we tripped at the finish line like that!"
Adagio turned to face her companion, with a disdainful look on her face.
"There's no point whining about it, Aria. We lost. They won. And that's the end of it. Just be thankful they haven't cast us intro the streets or something."
Aria grimaced at her leader's words, wanting deep down to try and give some kind of comeback, but none came. For she knew Adagio was right. So, the two merely resumed their respective angry brooding, knowing that bickering amongst themselves was only going to make their lot worse at this point. Not that they felt they could feel worse than they already did of course. They had come within a hair's breadth of gaining everything they'd always hoped of gaining, and within a moment, it had all been taken from them.
It was an unpleasant thought for any person, and frankly it was the last thing any of them really wanted to be dwelling on right now. However, it was here that Adagio and Aria's attention was diverted to something else. For through all the collective chatter and bustle of the students around them, another sound could be heard. They knew it immediately as the sound of someone signing. Craning their necks, the two girls tried to see where it was coming from, but realisation soon dawned on them as they turned their heads, seeing that the singing was coming from none other than Sonata.
The blue-haired girl was still staring down at her lunch plate as she sang, though in truth it wasn't really a song but more like a hum, albeit loud enough for them to notice. It was a pleasant enough sound to be sure, but hardly anything astounding. Regardless, this behaviour from their comrade, who had been completely quiet until this point, provoked a raised eyebrow from Adagio.
"You're singing? Why? Why would you waste your time with that now?"
Sonata looked up at her, and while she had never been known as the sharpest tool in the shed, she understood well enough what Adagio was referring to. In the past, the Dazzlings had access to a trio of magical amulets, which not only enabled them to feed of the magic produced by hate and strife, but also enhanced their singing considerably. But in the battle with Twilight, those amulets had been shattered, stripping them of their ability to harmonize their voices as before. So, knowing this, Sonata just looked down at her plate, her expression one of sadness, before giving her companions the only answer she could think of.
"I just...miss our singing."
In this one moment, things changed for Adagio. She looked upon Sonata, and knew that she spoke the truth. For such a long time, she had seen their singing as a means to an end, a way to feast off the energies of conflict, and gain power and influence over others. Their voices, together with the power of the amulets, had been among the most beautiful sounds anyone could hear, able to entrance both ponies and humans alike. But now, as she looked upon her saddened compatriot, she knew that their singing was so much more than that, at least to Sonata. It was, in many ways, the only thing they had of their real lives, their origins back in Equestria. Nopoy there would have seen it's effects as anything good, but it was theirs, and it was precious to them.
Now, that too was lost to them, and in this moment, Something changed in Adagio's mind. It was a thought she'd never even considered until now, but there it was. In this world, in this place, with them defeated and stripped of all that had once been theirs, all they had was each other. The Sirens had each other, and they knew they had to cling to that. So, in an act that would have seemed completely out of character for her mere days ago, Adagio let out a sigh before gently placing a hand upon Sonata's.
This gained the girl's attention immediately, and she looked up at her, seeing her leader wear a smile upon her face. Not a forced smile or one of mischievousness, as she was so often used to wearing, but one of genuine warmth. Seeing this, Sonata couldn't help but break into a smile of her own, one which widened even further as she saw that a second hand had been placed on hers, that of Aria. The usually dour and cynical girl received quizzical glances from her companions, to which she merely shrugged and gave a small smirk. After looking at each other, they afforded themselves a genuine chuckle, the first they'd had in far too long a time.
However, those smiles soon vanished as they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Turning, Adagio's expression became one of contempt once more as she looked upon who was standing there. For but a few feet away from them were the very girls that had been responsible for their defeat. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer. Adagio, Sonata and Aria removed their hands from one another, and instead focused all of their attention on the six girls that had approached them.
There was an incredibly uncomfortable silence between the two groups, and even as most students around them just carried on with their own business, some, who had managed to catch a glimpse at this gathering, decided wisely to simply walk in an opposing direction. Among the six girls that had gathered, Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity all had looks of anger, Pinkie just seemed nonplussed about the whole thing, Fluttershy was acting just as worried as ever, and as for Sunset, she had an expression that was rather hard to read.
Eventually, Adagio decided to break the silence.
"Well? Come to gloat, have you?"
Rainbow narrowed her eyes at this before stepping forward.
"Oh, believe me, I'd like nothing better!"
With this vocal act of aggression, all three of the Dazzlings stood up, and for a moment, it looked as though some kind of fight might break out between the girls. However, Rainbow's expression lost some of it's anger as a hand was placed on her shoulder. Turning, she saw that it was Sunset's hand, who gave her a somewhat stern expression, leading to the rainbow-haired girl letting out a sigh before taking a step back. Sunset, having calmed her friend, stepped forward and addressed the Dazzlings.
"We're not here to gloat. We're not her to make fun of you or insult you. And we certainly aren't here to try and make you leave, as you probably suspect we are."
The mood still tense, Aria let out a scoffing sound before replying to that.
"Yeah right! Why else would you six be here?"
Upon hearing that question, Sunset's expression changed to one that made it look as though she had great difficulty in bringing out her next words. And after some silence on her part, she spoke, and it became quite clear why she had such difficulty.
"We're here...to ask if you'd like to have lunch with us."
That, needless to say, was not something the Dazzlings were expecting, as they looked at each other with looks of either shock or confusion. Adagio turned her attention back to Sunset before speaking, her scepticism quite clear from her tone.
"Excuse me? Is this some kind of joke?"
Sunset shook her head before answering.
"Far from it."
Adagio kept her gaze fixed on Sunset and the other girls, trying to put the pieces together in her mind. After a few moments of pondering, she spoke.
"Oh, I get it. You beat us, and now you want to keep us around as some kind of victory trophies, right?"
Sunset groaned at that statement, not knowing that behind her, Rainbow Dash had a smirk on her face that showed she was clearly thinking that suggestion over with great favour, until she was stopped from doing so by a quick jab to the ribs from Rarity's elbow. Meanwhile, Sunset looked upon Adagio and the other two, her expression now softening, and took another step forward.
"No, Adagio. This isn't about us beating you. This is about...giving you a chance."
Adagio scoffed at that statement.
"A chance? Are you serious? You expect us to believe that you'd just let us into your little group? Just like that?"
Sunset's eyes became more stern as she answered the girl.
"Nothing is that simple, Adagio. What you three did was terrible, and I doubt anyone here at this school is going to be willing to forget or forgive you anytime soon, us least of all."
Adagio glanced at the rest of the group, seeing a general murmur of agreement at Sunset's words. However, she soon looked at the latter once more as she sighed.
"But we're willing to at least let you try and make up for the things you did."
Adagio looked over to her companions, who were looking just as confused as she was, before turning back to Sunset.
"Why?"
Sunset looked away from her, and to Adagio's surprise, her expression was a pained one, which was also reflected in her tone as she gave her answer.
"Because if I can change...so can you."
Sunset's dour tone caused the girls around her to look at her with comforting glances, which did much to return her smile to her. Adagio considered this carefully. She'd almost forgotten that, not so long ago, Sunset had tried to achieve dominance and power in much the same way that she, Aria and Sonata had done. She too had gone through a time when she had been brought low and hated by the people around her. And yet, here she was, accepted as one of them as though nothing had happened. Adagio didn't really know what to make of this, and so turned to look at her two allies, hoping they'd have some insight.
To her surprise however, she saw that Sonata had already started to move away from the table and towards Sunset and the others. She stopped just short of reaching their group. The blue-haired girl turned and looked to her leader, her eyes almost pleading with her. No words were said, but none were needed, for Adagio and Aria both knew Sonata well enough to know what this meant. If they stayed their course, then survival in this world would be even more difficult and unbearable than it was before, and that was saying something.
But, if they accepted this offer, then they at least had a chance of making some kind of life for themselves. Not a happy one perhaps, at least not right away, but it was something. It would take a long time, certainly, but given that these three had lived for many centuries before these Rainbooms had even been born, patience was not something they struggled with. Ever prideful though, Adagio let out a groan before speaking her begrudging words.
"Well...I suppose it couldn't hurt to accept your offer."
She looked Sunset square in the eye, her expression far less aggressive than it had been, before continuing.
"Thanks...I guess."
Sunset smiled a little before turning to her friends, all of whom seemed to have mixed feelings about all this. Eventually though, the awkward silence was broken by Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, well...you're welcome...I guess."
With that "sort of" acceptance established, the Dazzlings joined the group that they'd once called outright enemies and, apprehensively, joined them in walking over to their regular lunch table. With every step they took, they would catch the eye of a few of the other students, all of whom were simply astounded that these girls would want to be anywhere near each other. In truth, even the girls couldn't quiet believe it, and knew deep down that this was going to be difficult at best. And so, as they kept on walking together, Aria expressed this sentiment.
"We still hate you, you know."
A sentiment that was then responded to by Applejack.
"The feelin's mutual."
Sunset, hearing all of this, simply took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Baby steps, Sunset. Baby steps."
