Megan smoothed her skirt, although she was still uncomfortable. High school could do that to you, even if you weren’t a student. She’d had to trade her boots for flats and hose. At least she still wore her favorite necklace, a heart-shaped locket kept out of sight inside her blouse.
As the first bell of the day rang, she got up from the desk at the front of the room and introduced herself. “Good morning, everyone. I am Ms. Williams, your substitute teacher for today.”
Teachers came and went, and the students took the news without much reaction. That is, except for five girls that sat together near the back. Megan had seen them before, as friends of the pony version of Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps due to that, they all seemed a little more interested in seeing a new face.
Although Megan had been working with Twilight – the human one – for the last few months, this was one job that required Megan herself. Some version of Twilight Sparkle was already known around this school.
That didn’t mean Twilight couldn’t help. Megan certainly wasn’t old, but she might have been getting a little out of touch with the kids. Even if Twilight couldn’t show her face at Canterlot High, she could help Megan do the research on how to better fit into her substitute teacher role. To figure out what was going on at Canterlot High this time, they might need all the help they could get.
The troubles had started small. Celestia had noticed the students had seemed restless, quick to anger. It was hard to point to any one thing, but something had to be causing it. It was, admittedly, a rather vague assignment, but Megan had gotten into more for less, and a lot farther from home.
After reviewing the lesson plan and assigning busy work, Megan sat down. Her purse was behind the desk, by her foot. The zipper was open, but not enough to expose the large fighting knife inside. Lucky this public school didn’t have the kind of problems that required metal detectors at the doors. But apparently it had a history of magical disturbances.
Megan looked around the room. It figured. The school looked exactly like a place where magical ponies-turned-human would hang out. Styles and fashions had changed since she was a kid.
The saccharine-sweet outfits and styles were apparently only skin-deep, however. The limited information Megan and Twilight had been able to collect indicated that detentions were on an upward trend and more complaints were being reported.
There had been nothing from the five girls that were involved in the Sunset Shimmer incident six months previously. Megan took that as a positive sign. It could mean that their friendship was strong enough to survive a few minor kerfluffles.
In fact, as Megan waited for the class to end, she noticed the five of them passing notes. Whatever it was about, it seemed to be a serious conversation.
Before she could call them out, the bell rang. The students started to get up. The girls in the back were last to leave. The one named Rarity lagged behind, already searching for her phone inside her purse before she was even out of the classroom.
She finally found the phone and hurried to catch up to her friends. Megan saw a chance and took it, dexterously dipping her fingers in the top of the purse and snatching the first piece of paper she felt.
Rarity didn’t notice and kept going. Megan glanced at the paper, seeing a multitude of different handwriting styles on it.
Smoothing the paper out on her desk, she began to read.
Have you guys noticed something strange going on around here lately?
Define strange.
We got three new students! I've got to throw them a party!
They showed up and people started getting meaner at about the same time…
What’s that got to do with it?
Recall what happened the last time we got a new student.
Do you think Twilight has something to do with this?
No, but...maybe we should think about contacting her.
Totally. But after band practice. I’ve got a new riff that you guys will love!
Very interesting. Megan put the note away in her purse as the next class began to arrive.
On lunch break, Megan went to find Twilight. The girl was waiting for Megan in a car in the parking lot, wearing cargo pants and t-shirt. She had her hair tied back and wore utilitarian sunglasses.
Megan had begun to see a lot of herself in Twilight. It was slightly jarring to realize that she had become a role model. Twilight had had a choice, and she’d picked Megan.
The idea of magical ponies living in the universe next door would be an adjustment for anyone, although Megan had been dealing with it since she was a preteen. Twilight had only recently been introduced, and had taken after Megan for guidance.
Megan wasn’t sure that she was ready to be a mentor to anyone, much less a high school girl, but Twilight was a brilliant student, if sometimes prone to occasional bouts of obsession. At least she hadn’t started wearing cowboy boots in an attempt to be more like Megan.
Megan got into the car and handed Twilight the note. “Pony-Twilight’s friends were passing this around. What do you think?”
Twilight studied the paper as Megan reached into the back seat to get a sandwich from a cooler. She took a few bites before Twilight replied. “It sounds like they have some way of communicating with the other world.”
Megan nodded and kept chewing. Twilight put her fingers to her chin. “It leaves me with questions. I wonder how much they know about the current situation. Are they only noticing these things because they hung out with a pony? Who are these new students they mentioned?”
“I have that information.” Megan held her sandwich with one hand and reached into her purse with the other. She found a notebook and flipped to the page where she had written down the names. “Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk.”
“Hmm. Ponies, do you think?” Twilight asked.
“Possible,” Megan replied. “I’d hate to think that more of them came here after we made a demonstration out of Sunset Shimmer and sealed up the statue in front of the school.”
Twilight frowned, remembering how the pony-turned-girl-turned-demon had looked after a rifle bullet to the face. She changed the subject. “How could they even get here? I thought they had some sort of magic mirror that was somehow linked with the statue.”
“The keyword there is ‘magic.’”
They both sat silently for a moment. Megan finished her sandwich.
Twilight asked, “How aggressive should I be on this? As of now, we haven’t detected a serious threat.”
Megan considered it before replying. “It’s nice to be nice, but everyone would rather see the home team win. Use your judgement, but remember that proportionality is not always something we can afford.”
Megan’s look told Twilight the weight of the authority she was being saddled with. It took an extreme circumstance to justify the use of force. Taking a life was a terrible thing to do, but magically enslaving a high school as the first step to taking over the world was worse. And so the threat posed by Sunset Shimmer had been ended.
Megan checked the time and opened the door. “I’ll work on my end. See if there’s anything you can dig up.”
Twilight nodded and watched Megan return to the school for afternoon classes. She slumped behind the steering wheel and pulled out her phone.
The names Megan had given her only returned the barest results on the internet. Twilight looked at their social media profiles, but none of them seemed to go back more than six months. Interesting. That was about when the last incident at the school had occurred.
Convinced she was onto something, Twilight kept mashing buttons all afternoon. Hacking from the tiny keyboard of a phone was not easy, not to mention the moral conundrums Twilight kept having from breaking into people’s accounts. She did, however, become convinced that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were more than a little suspicious.
When her phone actually rang, it startled her to realize that it was already time for school to be out. Well, Canterlot High was out for the day, at any rate. Principal Celestia was giving Twilight a pass for today from her other school where Twilight actually attended. Although it seemed like she was getting more of an education outside of class these days.
Twilight answered the phone. It was Megan.
“I have a lead on the new students,” she said. “Probably related, things really kicked up a notch after lunch. I heard something happened in the cafeteria. You keep eyes on those five girls and make sure they don’t do anything stupid.”
“Like what?” Twilight asked.
“Like summoning a pony princess from another universe,” Megan said with only a small trace of humor.
Twilight wondered what the ritual would involve. Probably not a pentagram and a blood sacrifice. As she understood it, that wasn’t how pony magic worked.
They finished the call. Twilight saw her marks exiting the building. She started her car and got moving.
Trailing their cars at a safe distance, Twilight followed them to a house with “Pie” on the mailbox. She parked a short distance down the street. The bright afternoon sun wouldn’t help her pass unnoticed, but the house was fortunately surrounded by bushes.
Twilight managed to get into position beside the garage, crouching beneath a window. She didn’t think that she had been seen. She could hear the low mutter of voices through the wall, and occasionally an instrument being tuned. It sounded like a band getting ready to play.
Waiting patiently, Twilight was eventually rewarded with a song. It was quite good for a high school band, and she found herself tapping her fingers on the side of the house as she knelt with her ear pressed to the wall.
The music took a step up in quality as they kept playing, and Twilight saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. She glanced upward at the window. Raising her head slightly, she peeped one eye over the sill. The garage was in disarray, but a space had been cleared for instruments. A handmade banner hung on the wall declaring The Rainbooms.
The band was rocking, and they had pony ears and tails that sparkled with magic.
Twilight could barely suppress a gasp. She didn’t know what a spell to summon a pony princess looked like, but it wouldn’t be too surprising if she was looking at one right now.
Ducking back from the window, Twilight grabbed her phone and dialed. Megan answered, sounding brusque. “What?”
“I think they might be doing some sort of magic,” Twilight said.
“Deal with it.” Megan hung up.
Twilight stared at her phone. That was so unlike Megan. A spike of fear went through her. Megan was investigating the new students. Had something happened to her?
From inside the garage, the band launched into the finale. There was a bigger flash of rainbow light than before, nearly blinding despite the sunny day. The drums crashed one final time, and then everything went silent.
A fraction of a second passed and then there was a quick exclamation from inside. Excited voices talked quickly. Twilight managed to pick out one word from the muted cacophony: her own name.
She eased back to the window. Inside the garage, she spotted a girl that looked exactly like her, seeming slightly dazed but happy to be in a group hug with the other five.
The newcomer wore a color coordinated blouse and tie over a skirt. There seemed to be a familiar-looking dog with her.
Indecision gripped Twilight. What was she supposed to do about the appearance of herself from another world? Going to Megan for advice was out. She didn’t think pony-turned-human Twilight was a threat to Earth, but she couldn’t just do nothing about it.
Twilight wavered. The group of girls knew something was going on at the school. Perhaps that was why they’d brought their princess friend in once more. They didn’t seem hostile.
Swallowing hard, she got up, went to the door, and knocked.
After Twilight’s knock on the door, there was a pressing silence for one long second, and then the sound of half a dozen bodies scrambling around the room. Frantic whispering was followed by a few doors opening and shutting.
Twilight took a half step back, rethinking her plan and suddenly panicking that she’d taken the wrong course of action. She was caught, though, when the door squeaked opened a crack. One blue eye and a curl of pink hair poked out. “Oh, hey Twilight.”
Twilight froze in place, doing her best to appear less anxious than she felt. She nodded. “Hello. We haven’t been introduced - formally, that is. M-may I come in? It’s very important.”
“Well sure,” Pinkie said, throwing the door wide open. “We wouldn’t let you in if we had something to hide. Nope, nothing here.” The others facepalmed.
Emboldened by progress, Twilight said, “Please drop the act. I know who you’re hiding, and I need to talk business.”
Reluctantly, the other Twilight emerged from the closet where she had been stuffed. She was quickly back to her curious self, however. “How did you find me? Oh my gosh, we should compare likes and interests to see how well the two universes match up. Unless that would cause some sort of paradox by the two of us existing simultaneously-”
Twilight held up a hand, interrupting the other. “We might be able to discuss it later, but right now we have a problem on our hands. Something terrible is happening at the school.”
The other Twilight nodded. “Oh yes. The girls told me about it. Based on my research, I think they’re sirens. They feed on negative energy and have some mood control powers. That would explain why everypony isn’t getting along right now.”
“Do you know how they got here?” Twilight asked.
Her counterpart said, “A book I read indicated that Starswirl the Bearded banished them from Equestria to another world.”
Twilight looked at her sharply. “You sent them here?”
“Well, I didn’t, but I can see your concern.” The pony-Twilight flushed. “Sorry.”
Nervousness at meeting her alternate-universe self forgotten, Twilight demanded, “Do you at least know how to stop them?”
There was a long silence. As it dragged out, Twilight stared at her double harder and harder until she finally admitted, “Not really. B-but I'm working on it!”
Twilight sighed and put her hands to her face. “When I see Principal Celestia again, I’m going to ask her to tell her pony equivalent to stop using Earth as a dump. This is twice in six months we’ve had to deal with your problems.”
“Hey, you can’t talk to her like that!” said the small dog Twilight had noticed earlier. “She’s a princess.”
Twilight stared at him. He looked remarkably like her own puppy. Making an assumption, she said, “Spike?”
“That’s me!” he replied.
“Wait,” alt-Twilight broke in, “did you say six months ago? That was when Sunset Shimmer…” She trailed off and her eyes went wide at the memory of that night, getting a personal look at Sunset’s brains. “Did you kill her?”
“Well, I didn’t, but I can see your concern,” Twilight said flatly. “You sent your problems to us, so why do you care how we handle them?”
“Um,” broke in Rainbow Dash, “I hate to say it, but that makes a lot of sense.”
The other girls reluctantly nodded in agreement. Applejack put in, “Not saying killing is right, but a lot of people have been shot for doin’ a lot less than tryin’ to zombify a high school with mind control.”
“But we could have reformed her!” the princess argued. “We had the Element of Magic, my tiara, and-”
“Which you don’t have now,” Twilight pointed out. “So what’s your plan? Can you do anything that doesn’t revolve around magic?”
She hadn’t meant to put such a hard edge in her voice, but that didn’t change the fact that the visitor from the other universe didn’t have an answer. That is, until she stuttered, “Well, it was the magic of friendship that brought me here.”
Twilight raised her eyebrows and looked at the other girls.
“It happens sometimes when we play,” Rarity explained.
“It has to be awesome music, though,” Rainbow clarified.
Turning back to the princess, Twilight said, “I’ve done a little reading about your world. Starswirl the Bearded was one of your best magicians, right? If he only managed to kick the sirens out of your universe, what do you think five amateurs with a band are going to do? What kind of planning and setup is it going to take to get them into position and playing while three supernaturally powerful beings are trying to stop them? Whose universe would we be kicking the sirens to if they succeed? It would be astronomically easier to solve the problem the human way.”
“K...kill them?”
Twilight stared at her. “Do you have a better, nicer, permanant solution ready to go?”
“But they don’t deserve such a severe punishment!” the princess argued. “They haven’t threatened anypony’s life!”
Twilight stared at her. “If they had, would you then say killing them was justified? Like with Sunset Shimmer?”
The princess stuttered. Twilight looked away. “Ponies are compassionate, I get it. But almost none of you ever make hard decisions or take responsibility. Celestia, I admire. It took courage for her to send her sister to the moon for a thousand years. I haven’t seen another example even close to that.”
“My friends and I reformed Princess Luna when she returned and stripped the darkness of Nightmare Moon from her!” the princess said. “Magic can work, you just have to give it a chance!”
Twilight stared at her. “My friend Megan has something called the Rainbow of Light. It’s magic, the most powerful force for good in this world. She’s used it to kill people who had it coming. People like Tirek, from another universe. I understand your world fought him twice, and then merely locked him up, waiting to escape again. Clearly that reforming magic isn’t as good as you make it out to be.”
The princess stuttered, but had no reply.
It wasn’t easy for Twilight to hold her poise for long, however. She dropped her eyes from the demoralized face of her counterpart. “I should get going.”
She turned for the door, but paused. “Thank you for the information about the sirens.”
Twilight was almost out the door when Rainbow called, “Hey, wait! We want to help!”
Twilight looked back, studying them. They knew more about magic than just about anyone else in town. They wouldn’t need to be brought up to speed on the situation. But they weren’t prepared. Megan had shown Twilight the realities of the world, and for months Twilight had been conditioning her mind for what she might have to do. She didn’t think it was possible that these girls could share her mindset, not easily.
“Just...stay out of the way.” Twilight continued out the door.
She returned to her car and got in, sitting for a moment to take stock. Megan might be compromised. It made sense that Twilight should go to Principal Celestia. If she hurried, Twilight might catch her still at the school.
Getting back to Canterlot High, Twilight went in the front door. She paused in the foyer, a strange novelty in visiting a school not her own. Maybe this was what Twilight Sparkle the pony had felt, although probably stronger at visiting a world not her own.
It was easy to find Principal Celestia’s office. Twilight knocked on the door and immediately tried the knob, finding it open.
Celestia wasn’t there. Twilight paused, but decided to enter the room anyway. There was a flyer on the desk for the first annual Canterlot High Battle of the Bands. Twilight noted that a pre-competition party was being held in the gym that very afternoon. It was certainly possible that Celestia was there.
Twilight left the office and hurried for the gym. A lot of students were already present, and Twilight spotted Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk, recognizing them from their profile pictures. To her horror, they were chatting happily with Megan and Principal Celestia.
She backed out the door to conceal herself in the hallway, mind racing. Who could she go to for help now?
Twilight gulped. “Okay, it’s good that I don’t have any friends, because by now I should have learned how to operate all by myself. I hope.”
Twilight was still quietly pep-talking herself when someone laid a hand on her shoulder. She spun, finding herself facing a guy with blue hair. “Who are you?”
His distractingly fluffy eyebrows went up. “You don’t remember? I’m Flash Sentry. We met about six months ago?”
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Twilight said, although she realized what he was getting at. “You might have me confused with someone else.”
That seemed to satisfy him, although he looked disappointed as he walked back to his band. Twilight’s eyes followed him, until she was once again interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. This time, it was the Rainbooms.
“What are you doing here?” Twilight hissed.
“We didn’t know you were going to be here,” Rarity replied.
“And anyway, this is a meetup for all the battle of the bands participants,” said Rainbow. “That’s us.”
Twilight glanced around. “Where’s...other Twilight?”
“She went to the library,” Applejack said. “Somethin’ about research.”
That sounded like a great idea, although Twilight was pretty sure there was no book to help with the predicament she’d found herself in. She glanced again at the crowd in the gym. Megan was so close, yet might be so far out of her reach.
“I know we asked earlier, but we’d like to do anything we can to help,” Fluttershy offered.
Twilight wrestled with the decision for a few seconds. “There is one thing.”
“Name it,” said Applejack.
Nodding towards the gym, Twilight said, “I need to speak to Ms. Williams. If there’s some way you could get her to come out here, I would appreciate it.”
Pinkie grinned and pulled a can of whipped cream out from behind her back. “Consider it done!”
Twilight was waiting in the restroom a few minutes later when Megan came storming in to wash whipped cream off her face and clothes.
“I thought you were supposed to be watching those five,” she spat as she turned on the sink.
“You seem irritable,” Twilight said carefully. “Is something going on?”
“I got sprayed in the face by a pink psych patient,” Megan grumbled.
“When I called you earlier, they were in the middle of the spell. Twilight from the other world must have given it to them before she left. She’s here now.”
Megan looked up. “Where is she? We need to find her.”
“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “But she told me that we’re probably dealing with sirens. Apparently they feed on negative energy and have some way of inducing that in people.”
Out with it, Twilight decided. “And I’ve noticed that you’re being very negative today.”
Megan had begun to dry her face, but stopped. She stared at Twilight. “I had to go back to high school for the first time in years, to pretend to be a teacher, during the chaos of organizing a band competition. And I just got attacked by a dessert topping. Yeah, I’m pretty negative.”
That hadn’t occurred to Twilight. But if their roles were reversed, Megan would want proof. “I just wanted some reassurance that you weren’t being swayed by the sirens.”
“Twilight, I think I can handle myself.”
“It wouldn’t take much for me to be sure.”
Megan gave her a look. “What do you want me to do? Did you have some kind of test in mind?”
Twilight tipped her hand up. “Maybe the Rainbow of Light?”
Megan’s fingers subconsciously went to her blouse, under which the Rainbow of Light hung inside its locket. “You don’t just bring this thing out on a whim. It’s got the power to destroy buildings and pull lightning from the sky. I wouldn’t want to unleash it in a bathroom.”
“Then how am I supposed to know that you haven’t been affected?” Twilight argued.
“Well, I could tell you what I’ve learned while stalking the sirens today,” Megan offered. “How they’ve been spreading anger and aggression among the student body. How they plan to use the Battle of the Bands to their advantage. How those red gems all three of them wear on pendants are apparently used to draw in negative energy.”
Realization dawned on Twilight. She flushed. “Sorry. I guess I should have just asked that question to start with. You probably wouldn’t tell me what you’d learned about the sirens if you were under their spell. I feel stupid that I doubted you.”
“There’s nothing wrong with caring about someone,” Megan said.
“That sounds like something a pony would say,” Twilight observed.
“Just because humans are more pragmatic doesn’t mean we can’t have our moments.” Megan glanced in the mirror and finished fixing her appearance. “All right. I’m going back in to see if I can learn anything else.”
The two of them exited the bathroom together and Twilight walked with Megan to the entrance of the gym. However, she could tell at a glance that the sirens weren’t there. It may have been her imagination, but the party seemed a little more upbeat since their departure.
“I was hoping I could get them alone so I could have a frank discussion about their intentions,” Megan said. “It would be a lot easier to let them know ahead of time that any hostile actions would have consequences, so they would think twice.”
“That will placate Twilight,” Twilight said. “She’s very anti-violence.”
Megan looked at her. “Since when have we cared what ponies think?”
Twilight shrugged.
Megan looked back into the gym. “I think I’ll go have a chat with the Rainbooms. They might know something interesting.”
“I suppose it’s fortunate that they have a band name. It’s easier than continuing to call them ‘those girls,’” Twilight giggled.
Megan smiled. “The sirens call their band the Dazzlings, by the way. Their songwriting isn’t very good, but they do seem to harmonize well.” With a nod to Twilight, she went into the gym.
Twilight headed for the library. Sure enough, she found the princess there with a pile of books. Most of them were textbooks, covering things like history, geography, and sports.
Twilight touched a basketball book. “I didn’t know the two of us liked competitive activities.”
“Well, we don’t,” explained the princess. “I was just making a comparative list of things between our two worlds. With the difference in body structure between pony and human players of sports, some of the rules would have to change. I wanted to see if there were any other changes besides those.”
That made sense. Twilight said, “I’m surprised that the sporting equipment all evolved exactly the same between the two worlds. I would think that it would be more specialized for hooves.”
“Well, we have to make the catchers’ mitts a different shape.”
“Yes, but all the balls are exactly the same.” Twilight frowned. “Well, yours probably aren’t made of leather.”
“That aside, I think you’re correct,” the princess agreed. “I’m fascinated by the multiverse, how two very different cultures could arrive at the same inventions.”
“I wouldn’t think ponies would be very inclined to throw balls, or really much anything, what with hooves, different structure of the shoulder, and the abundance of magic.”
“Hmm, that is interesting. I would almost say that humans are evolutionarily adapted to throwing things.” The princess frowned. “But then, what caused early humans to evolve that way? To learn to throw things?”
“The simplest weapon in the world is a rock,” offered a girl with a monotone voice as she walked past. Neither of them had seen her approach.
When she was gone, Twilight turned back to the table and shrugged. “She’s not wrong.”
The princess looked aghast. “Are you saying that humans evolved to be killing machines?”
Twilight held up her hands. “Hey now, ponies can throw rocks, too. That had to come from somewhere. In fact, doesn’t your military rely on throwing spears?”
The princess blinked slowly, her mouth hanging open. Finally, she managed, “Despite that, the similarities end there. I don’t think I could be human. No magic, millions dead in wars. Your history books read like horror stories.”
Twilight made eye contact. “Do you pity us?”
Her counterpart considered it, but shook her head. “No. I think humanity would take it as an insult. And that is the last thing I want to do.”
The two of them did not have much else to say. The princess went back to her books. Twilight left, heading back to the gym as the Rainbooms arrived to invite their pony friend to spend the night. Twilight managed to catch back up with Megan and they talked about plans going forward. It didn’t seem like they were going to be able to find the Dazzlings again that night.
“We know where they’ll be tomorrow,” Megan said. “The band competition will be right here in the gym, followed by the finale the day after at the hillside amphitheater.”
“I’m not sure which I prefer,” said Twilight. “Being in the gym means less space for us to cover, but being outside could provide better tactical positions and better evacuation routes. Given the choice, I’d prefer outside.”
Megan nodded. “We’ll adjust tactics as necessary. Get some sleep and find yourself some earplugs. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be loud.”
After talking, Twilight and Megan parted ways, leaving the school for the evening. Megan went to take care of a few things. It was getting late, but she had some tasks to accomplish before she slept. Her line of work was successful proportionate to the amount of time she invested. Fortunately, hatred was great for motivation.
She’d mislead Twilight earlier. The Dazzlings’ control had probably gotten to Megan after all. Megan realized that. And it pissed her off.
Before leaving the school, she’d crossed a few wires in the gym’s electrical box. Double the juice would go through the wires when they opened the place up in the morning. Perhaps the lights would blow out in a spectacular bloom of glass. Even if that didn’t happen, the damage would hopefully force the initial day of the band competition to be moved to the outdoor amphitheater. The Dazzlings might have a plan of their own, but they wouldn’t see hers coming.
Sure enough, the next day, Megan was not surprised by the news of the venue change. She spent some time out there in the morning, surveying the ground, picturing how it would change as the day wore on and the crowds filled in. The new schedule would have the bands playing through the afternoon and the finale would occur near sundown.
The crowd and the bands began to arrive, filling into the rows of seating. Megan watched them from the top of the hill. As the beginning of the competition grew near, she finished her business and strode down through the aisles to her seat with the teachers in the front row. At the very least, there might be some decent music. However, as the event got underway, the first bands to be eliminated deserved it. Fortunately, at a few minutes per performance, the competition advanced quickly.
Despite not being on the official roster, the Rainbooms were allowed to perform with a guest lead singer, Princess Twilight Sparkle. A murmur went through the crowd as she took the stage. The last time she’d been present at a Canterlot High function, it had been a night to remember.
However, the crowd had an even bigger response to the Dazzlings. Their magic was spreading. Anger went through Megan as she glowered at them from her seat. They would get what was coming to them.
As the day went on, bands were eliminated. Megan usually agreed with the decisions, but as the competition grew more heated, the eliminated contestants started to protest more and more loudly.
The drama was infectious and the crowd was booing or cheering in turn for their favorite or most detested band. The Dazzlings ate it up - literally. Maybe Megan was imagining it, but she could swear that they were looking progressively more predatory. Her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched as she stared at them waiting for their next set.
It was no surprise to most that the final two bands were the Rainbooms and the Dazzlings, although the elimination of Trixie and the Illusions nearly sparked a riot. The student body was in a slowly simmering rage by the time the Rainbooms took the stage for the final battle.
Despite not being a strong singer, the princess seemed energetic with her friends. The musical talents and backup vocals of the rest made up for any shortcomings. In fact, one could literally say that it was magic. As the band went into their final verse, sparkles of light began to shine from their bodies. Ears, tails, manes, and in some cases wings sprouted from the six girls.
Astonishment - and due to the Dazzling’s magic, intense jealousy - shot through the crowd. This final showdown was exactly what the Dazzlings had been waiting for. They took the stage.
The Rainbooms were too busy receiving their accolades to notice they had company before it was too late. The Dazzlings had already sprouted ears and tails of their own, as well as batlike wings. Their eyes glowed red as their feet hovered over the stage.
Megan was out of her seat and vaulting the edge of the stage by the time the Rainbooms realized what they were up against. Megan slid to a stop between the two groups in her skirt and modest shoes, still clutching her purse. She didn’t cut an impressive appearance with her outfit, but her glare made up for it.
“Out of our way,” ordered Adagio, sneering at the intrusion.
Fluttershy leaned out from behind Megan. “We were kind of hoping that you’d gotten your fill and would go away.”
Everyone turned to look at her in surprise. Aria scoffed. “Who do you think we are?”
“I think you were just leaving,” said Megan. “Or else.”
“And who are you?” Adagio said. “You don’t even have Equestrian magic that we can take. You’re worthless to us. You should scurry away like a good little cockroach.”
The princess saw Megan’s eyes narrow to slits and tension flow into her shoulders. She quickly put up a cautious hand to the Dazzlings. “You might want to reconsider what you say to Ms. Williams.”
Adagio let out a cackle and floated a little higher off the floor. She leaned forward, hands on her hips. “Why?” What is some human going to do to us?”
“I’m going to do whatever I have to,” Megan said. “This is our home, and we don’t take threats to it lightly.”
Megan flung her purse away, keeping a grip on the blade that had been inside it. She brought her hands up in front of her and ready, legs tensing.
“That’s a knife!” shouted Sonata.
Adagio’s eyes went wide at the threat of violence and at the unhelpfulness of her associate. She threw out a hand. “Stop!”
Megan charged.
The two of them collided before Adagio could get out of the way. Megan got a hand into the siren’s mane and hauled her to the floor. Driving a knee into Adagio’s chest, Megan held the edge of the blade at her throat, torquing her head back with a tight grip on her hair.
The maddened crowd had gone silent, but now roared in approval.
Megan had locked eyes with her captive. She wanted to be absolutely sure that her words would carry over the noise of people calling for blood. “If you move, you die.”
The other two Dazzlings started to advance, but Megan shot them a glare. “That applies to you, too.”
Aria hesitated, but whipped up the microphone she held. Her mouth opened, but before she could amplify any siren spells, there was a report and the microphone shattered in her hands. She jumped back in shock.
Up on the hill, Twilight lay prone, wearing earphones and protective glasses. She jacked another round into her rifle and resumed covering the Dazzlings. Down near the stage, Vinyl Scratch angrily shook her fist at the destruction of expensive audio equipment.
“How is this possible?” Adagio managed to wheeze without moving her throat too much. Megan still stared at her impassively.
“Well,” said the princess in reply, “this is what happens when you make humans even more aggressive and prone to spite than they already were. Your plan worked too well.”
“Humans,” Adagio muttered. She would have hissed it if she’d been able. She glared at Megan. “So what are you going to do? Kill us?”
“For you, a worse punishment than that,” Megan told her. With a quick flick of the knife, she cut off the gemstone necklace that Adagio wore around her neck. It tumbled across the stage.
Applejack looked around, shrugged, and then crushed the gem beneath her boot.
“Ooh, that looks like fun!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Me next!”
“You heard her,” Megan said to the other two Dazzlings. “Drop them.”
Glaring daggers at her but believing completely their fate if they resisted, Aria and Sonata removed their necklaces and surrendered them.
“I can’t believe this,” spat Adagio. “Do you know what you’ve done? You’ve robbed us of our powers, our immortality. We’ve been reduced to merely human!”
“Oh?” said Megan. “What a tragedy.”
