A Dazzling Always Strikes Twice

by Red Thunder

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Human, Adventure, Equestria Girls
Length: 18958

Rule number 11 of the Genre Savvy Guide for Heroes is to never assume an enemy is defeated unless provided evidence. The Rainbooms might want to follow up on a certain group of sirens and they might want to get some help while they're at it.

Life has never been better for Sunset Shimmer. The Dazzlings were humiliated, she gained good favor of the entire school, the Dazzlings were humiliated, and to top it all off, she has the most amazing group of friends any teenage alien-pony girl could ever want.

Did she also forget the part where she humiliated the Dazzlings?

Adagio Dazzle didn't.

Ever since the Battle of The Bands, the Dazzlings wander the streets of Canterlot tired and hungry and with no place to call home. Homeless shelters constantly reject them after recognizing them, and the ones the ones that don't kick them out after they get into altercations with the other attendees.

After their recent eviction, they were just about to split up and call it quits when an opportunity arises for them to reclaim their lost power and get their revenge on the Rainbooms. Naturally, the Dazzlings accept the offer.

With revenge heavy on their minds and hate heavy on their hearts, the Dazzlings seek to destroy the Rainbooms and win the battle that was unfairly taken away from them

And this time… they have friends of their own.
———————————–
Extra tags: Mane 6. (May add more as the story progresses).
Cover Art made by StarGureisu. Check her art out!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-08-09 01:40:32 UTC

Prologue: Maybe Tomorrow

Journal Entry #12?... #20?...(I'm not sure anymore..)

Lost time can never be found again.

For me, time has been lost for years. Time had been stripped away from me centuries ago when they took everything away from me. My kind, my mentor, my freedom all cast away in the cages of those damned cages.

I still remember the desperate cries of my race as they were forced to their bidding.

Day after day, hour after hour, they worked us. They would gaze upon us, knowing that we couldn't do anything to fight back, to break free. Some would try to struggle and fight back, only to become meek along with the rest of us. The meek were allowed to 'live' while the strong were taken to be harvested.

They did not last long afterward.

One by one, our essences were being taken from us, to be used as a resource for their advancement. I would dread waking up every day, wondering if I too was to be harvested like the rest. I refused to be meek, but at the same time I was afraid to be strong. At times, they would call me a coward and sneer at me and other times, they would lash out and feed me water weakening me. I was shunned and ridiculed for my actions, not only by them, but by my own kind. Eventually the only ones left who I could consider my kettle were two of my kind who resided in the same prison as I did.

I did not care, for I was not meek.

I was not strong.

I was *smart*.

Although they had broken our minds, and clipped our wings. I remained fastidious to their work. They thought they all of us under control and became more and more slothful, but I knew better than that. They thought they knew everything their was to us, but they knew *nothing*. I knew they would get too lazy, and when that time came...

I acted upon it.

I flew away from my prison with my family in tow. Although I had relished the feeling of freedom restored, I knew that it was only momentary. Their guards would regroup and recover, and they would be capture us in minutes if we did not make our escape.

For days we flew without rest, searching for a place of security. Going back to our homeland wasn't an option anymore, as that would be the first place they would have expected us to retreat to. We needed to find a way to escape their borders and we need to find it fast.

Fortunately, many months later we found our escape.

One would think that traveling across worlds would be an easy and pleasant experience, but it was far from it. The few seconds of crossing worlds felt endless as every part of my being was pulled apart in every direction. The sensation of being destroyed and recreated in a matter seconds broke my mind and still haunts me to this day.

For I was *careless*.

In my haste to get away with my family I had abused the power of their artifact without any prior knowledge of using it beforehand. Because of my blunder, when I would finally arrive in the new world, I would have payed the price. In a moment of desperation I had doomed myself and my family to be changed into mindless beasts with no free will of our own. Our bodies remained the same, but our minds were shelved into a perpetual state of semiconscious.

For centuries we would roam across the new world without any control of our actions.

Because I was *foolish*.

I do not remember when I regained sentience, too much time had passed since I arrived within this world and my memories were crippled. The only thing that remained in my mind was the years before I had banished my kettle and myself into self-imprisonment. The time spent under their control something that would forever be burned into my soul, and was something that I could...no WOULD never forget.

What was suppose to be victory in regaining our sentience turned out to be bittersweet. We had regained our minds only to replace our wings with new appendages foreign to our own. These things at the end of my wings reminded me of my feathers, but with them, I could not take flight. My once vibrant plumage had completely dissappeared only for a small patch to remain across my head. I opened and closed my mouth, but it had shrunk, now filled with rows of teeth. The magic that used to hum and flourish inside my chest, now simmered and crackled with shallowness. The only thing that remained from my native likeness were my eyes.

But my eyes were all that I needed.

Master Keaton, I have not forgotten all of the lessons that you taught me. You did not deserve the fate that they laid upon you, and for that, I seek vengeance in your name. I will protect my kettle and lead them to reclaim what was lost of our kind, even if I have to wait ten more centuries to regain my magic.

For I am *patient*.

- 1692: Massachusetts

"GET BACK HERE YOU FILTHY WITCH!"

All around the town square, villagers and merchants alike stopped their current activity. A portly man wearing a luxurious suit was running down the main road, yelling threats and obscenities towards a blue haired teen wearing a pink dress. The teen was carrying food and various jewelry tucked in-between her arms and was running away for dear life. She turned around to check the distance between her and her pursuer.

'I just took some of his shiny things, not all of it! Can't I look pretty every once in a while?'

A rock sailed past her body, missing by an extremely narrow margin.

'Obviously not.'

She ducked as another rock flew over her head.

'It's not fair that Aria and Adagio never get chased when they go into town, but when I do I get the mob! I really don't like the mob! I wonder if Adagio can make Aria go next time? Knowing Aria, she would probably say no and tell me to scale up. I can already hear her now, "Maybe if you weren't so clumsy you wouldn't get caught stealing Sonata!" It's not my fault that things seem to go under these long, soft thingies and trip me over! She doesn't hear me making fun of the all the times she fell when we first got here!'

Sonata giggled at the memory of the pig-tailed siren falling face forward into a pile of manure.

Aria had maintained a deep seeded hatred for cows since then, and vowed to swallow every last one of them the moment she regained her lost power.

Slowly her laughter died out and soon turned to anxiousness as the reality of her current situation sank in.

'I've been running for ages! Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I had a quick snack?'

Feeling confident that she had lost her aggressor, Sonata ducked into a small alleyway. She then peeked around the corner to if she was safe. The sound of shouting and cursing had subsided and the only thing left was the various noises of villagers going about their regular buisness. It seemed like the town had no interest or any idea of her whereabouts, leaving her free to catch her breath for the moment. She then thought back to before her banishment.

'Stupid ponies and their fancy, magic mirrors. Who put them in charge! No one banished them when they took all of those fire birds and made them pets? So how come I can't have a pony that does everything I want as a pet?'

Perhaps the small feasts she and her sisters had, garnered the attention (and panic) of some of the pony civilians, and desperate shrieks of terror probably alerted the attention of their wizard. It also didn't help that their feasts usually consisted of the negative emissions of their mind controlled victims. And if they were hungry enough, they would sometimes eat their victims after soaking up their energy.

Maybe all of those things demanded their exile.

Or maybe the ponies were just stuck-up jerks who don't like to have fun.

'We don't banish them when they eat grass and hay, so why do we get banished when we have a pony or two. Yeah they were alive and everything, but plants are alive too!'

A low growl emanating from her midsection interrupted her thoughts. Because she was too busy talking and griping to herself, she didn't notice that she had not yet had anything to eat. After a quick look over her pile of valuables, she grabbed a banana and with some difficulty, peeled off its skin.

'I'll never get used to these wiggly hooves...oh well, bottoms up!'

She lifted the precious fruit towards her face. She was just about to take a bite when she heard footsteps coming closer to her location.

What at first was thought to be one pair of feet, soon became multiple. Soon it was very clear that there was more than one person searching for her. Knowing the villagers and their extreme paranoia, they would probably string her up and burn her at the stake if she was caught.

'I really hope those are doggies smelling my food...'

Feeling bold, Sonata peeked around the corner of alley: A large group of villagers had gathered around the main square, patrolling the area for thieves, or in this case, witches. At the head of the group was the man that she had swiped from earlier. A large knife was in his hand and a torch was in the other. In fact, most, if not all of the villagers within the mob were carrying weapons and torches.

Sonata quickly snapped her head back around the corner when one of the villagers had turned away from the group. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough to be unnoticed as the villager began screech and point to where was hiding.

"THERE SHE GOES! THE WITCH HIDES BEHIND THE ALLEY, LET US CATCH HER BEFORE WE ARE CURSED!"

Sonata blanched as the mob began running towards her spot.

'Fins!'

Without anytime to gather her 'belongings', the blue haired siren rushed out of the alley and darted out of the village. The only thing that was on her mind as she ran was the fact that she had neglected her leader's advice.

If she was being chased but doesn't see her aggressor in sight, don't take time to rest.

Run.

'Dagi's sooo gonna kill me for this!'

"Has she come back yet?"

"If she did, wouldn't you have heard me say something about it?"

"Probably not. Most of the time I hear you moaning about that pile of fur on your head these 'hyoomans' call hair."

Adagio glared at her purple companion. The pig tailed girl sat lazily on a branch, legs swinging carelessly underneath. Aria had been slacking off as the two of them waited for their third member to return from her afternoon 'harvest'. From the time the were exiled not too long ago, the the sirens had resided in a small forest outside of the walls of a small village, and every day before night, one of them would sneak into the village and gather food and supplies to ensure their survival while they slowly built up enough power in their pendants to one day enchant the villagers.

Normally, Adagio would send Aria or go herself, but she soon grew tired of Aria's complaining about having to do all of the dirty work, and sent Sonata in Aria's stead, while Aria would busy herself trying to find fresh water that didn't dehydrate their fragile bodies. That would have been the case, if she hadn't decided to laze around all day. Adagio believed that if she thought hard enough, the branch would snap under her weight and send her to the ground as punishment.

That would make for a good laugh.

"How about you stop complaining, get down and start looking for the water like you were supposed to hours ago!" Adagio barked, thumping the tree which Aria sat on for emphasis.

"How about you come up here and get me 'oh great and powerful leader'?" Aria goaded.

Right as she said that, the branch that was supporting her weight finally quit and picked up its last check, sending the purple siren screaming towards the ground in a mess of leaves and flailing limbs.

"AAAAAH! OOF!"

"Nah, I rather you come down here and grovel beneath my feet like you are now." Adagio cackled. "I was wondering when that branch was going to get tired of holding up your fat body. I always told you to cut back on the fish but you never wanted to listen to me."

Aria's face burned red. "It's not fat, it's muscle!" She then grabbed Adagio's arm and squeezed it tight. "Something that you would have if you'd exercise more often!"

Adagio scowled and yanked her arm out from her companion's grip. "Well excuse me if I don't have time to take care of myself! If my memory serves right, I was too busy making sure that you clowns didn't get captured or worse!"

"Well you sure did a great job doing that considering that it's your fault that we were banished in the first place!" Aria snapped angrily. Her anger soon turned to fear as the realization of what she had uttered sank in.

"What did you just say?" Adagio whispered dangerously.

"N-No wait! What I meant to say was-"

Adagio pushed the purple siren up against a tree, slamming her back against its trunk and sending splinters flying everywhere. Before Aria could recover, Adagio flipped her onto her back and stepped on her. She then began adding pressure to her feet.

"Watch your tongue guppy and remember who you're talking to. You are just as guilty of our exile as the rest of us are, don't ever forget that, got it? Otherwise I'll make you wish that exile was your only punishment!"

Although her face was obscured from her leader's sight, Aria nodded in reply. Adagio then lifted her foot off the girl, leaving her to try and rub away the soreness from her back.

Presently, the sound of shrubs rustling wildly, alerted the two girls of someone else's presence. Quickly forgetting about the small scuffle that occurred a second ago, Adagio and Aria adopted a defensive stance, preparing to attack whoever had found out where they were hiding. None of the villagers had dared to enter the forest, for they feared being cursed by the 'witches' that lived inside. There were a few brave villagers that made expeditions inside the forest, but they sooner or later end up lost, never to be found again.

Even though they didn't have anything to do with the disappearances, Adagio claimed responsibility for them, as it kept villagers from actively searching for them. So when someone other than one of their kind came to the forest clearing. Adagio couldn't help herself from feeling suspicious.

A silent message was made between the two sirens as they waited for the intruder.

'Take out the trespasser.'

The second a figure appeared from the bushes, the two sirens sprang into action. Adagio swept the intruder off their feet, while Aria tackled them to the ground. She then raised her fist to knock the intruder out cold, just to make sure that its companions (if they had any) didn't hear them.

"Gotcha! You should have respected the warnings you stupid...What the? Sonata?"

What was thought to be a nosy villager turned out to be their missing siren. Sonata was splayed across the ground, dazed and confused from her companions assault.

"Congratulations Aria." Adagio snarked, clapping her hands slowly. "You found our lost idiot."

Sonata shook her head, clearing her blurred vision and revealing her purple skinned friend as her attacker. She then began to struggle underneath Aria's weight.

"Ari get your fat tail off of me!" Sonata whined.

"In case you haven't been here for the last two weeks, we don't have tails anymore!" Aria growled, getting off of the struggling siren." Besides, what are you doing sneaking around? I thought I taught you how to signal us for when you come back?"

"I forgot okay!" Sonata shot back. "I was too busy running for my life!"

Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Exactly were you running  from that you could not take care of yourself?"

Sonata shuffled her foot, drawing circles into the dirt of the forest floor. Her hand were behind her back, and her head dipped down as she refused to make eye contact with her leader.

"Well? Spill it!" Aria spat.

"I sorta got caught taking stuff from one of the villagers..."

"And? Who cares?" Aria scoffed. "We're faster than them, so they couldn't have caught up with you!"

"That's just it..."

The bushes rattled once more and out came a large group of furious villagers. The size of the angry mob's had increased twofold from the time Sonata had first been seen.

"...I never got away from them." Sonata chuckled sheepishly.

"You...IDIOT!" Aria shouted furiously.

Adagio remained quiet as Aria ranted in the background. The unmistakable scent of negativity seeped into the air like a thick cloud of fog. In their haste to put an end to the siren's constant thieving, the villagers had unintentionally given the sirens a free buffet and temporary source of power. Adagio took a deep breath and inhaled a small sample of their hate.

'Not as rich as it is in Equestria, but it will suffice for now. Especially since there is so much of it.'

Adagio smirked. The tables had turned in their favor.

"Girls?"

Aria stopped in the middle of her rant at the sound of Adagio's voice. Normally, she would have ignored her leaders calls, but there were certain times when Aria knew when to shut up, swallow her pride and listen. And right now, her leader sounded like a predator ready to pounce upon their prey.

Aria shared a knowing look with Sonata, vicious smiles appearing on their faces.

"...Get ready to sing. It's feeding time."

Silence hung throughout the forest, as the darkness started to fall upon the Massachusetts sky. The quiet chirping of the crickets was a signal for all that was still awake to begin to rest.

*BUUUUURRRPPP*

Well...almost everyone.

"I haven't had a meal like that in weeks!" Aria said while rubbing her full stomach after her mighty belch. She had lain herself against a tree as she and her podmates digested their meal. "For the first time since we got here I'm stuffed!

"Mmm-hmm..." Sonata mewled contently.

"Enjoy the meal while you can girls." Adagio murmured. "It's not every day  food just walks into our path like that."

Sonata groaned. "I wish it did. I'm tired of sneaking around the 'hyooman' village, how come we had to send them back Dagi? Why couldn't we keep them."

Adagio sighed and brushed a few specks of dirt off her purple dress. "It's not that simple Sonata. As much as I wanted to keep those fools around and force them to do our bidding, we would eventually have to feed again, and you can only feed off of the same source for so long before it burns out. As much 'bad' I have done since leaving Syronos, I don't want to add murder to that list. After all, what use is a servant if they're dead?"

"Oh...Do you think of us as your servants Dagi?" Sonata asked innocently.

Aria's ears perked up slightly. She herself wanted to know how her leader felt about being with them, but she made sure to pretend that she wasn't listening.

"Of course not! You two are a part of my pod and as much as I hate to admit, I can't flourish without you two!" Adagio exclaimed, shocked that Sonata would ever think of something like that.

"Then why do you always yell at us?"

*sigh* "I don't mean to. Sometimes you two get on my nerves more than you probably should..."

'And maybe I'm just as scared as you about being banished in a world with no magic like this one...'

Soon everything went back to being quiet, with the three sirens turned human enjoying the ambient noise of the forest together.

Presently, a raindrop fell on top of Adagio's nose.

"What the..."

She looked up into the sky; black thunderclouds and lightning began flashing across the sky warning those on the ground of the shower to come.

"Heads up girls." Adagio got up and began walking out of the forest. "We need to find shelter or anything that can suffice as a roof as soon as possible. It's going to start raining at any second."

Sonata and Aria moaned and groaned, but eventually they got up and followed after their leader.

The storm had started very suddenly within the village, and in minutes thousands of raindrops descended from the black clouds and splattered across the village roads. Electricity would arc across the sky, illuminating the village for flashes at a time, while thunder would soon follow shaking the walls of every house. The wind would frequently change in intensity, going from a gentle push to a roaring hurricane in a matter of seconds.

Suddenly a powerful lightning bolt came down and struck the well at the center main square, lighting it ablaze.

The villagers cowered inside their houses. Never before had a storm so powerful had come so with such fervor and with such unpredictability. There were no clouds in the sky when sun was still shining across the sky earlier that morning, so how could a storm possibly occur under those conditions.

One foolish villager had an idea.

He came out of his house with a stake in one hand and a quill and parchment in the other. Slowly, he made his way towards the burning well trying his best to not get swept away by the howling winds. When he reached the well he held up the stake and pointed it into the air. He then began shouting towards the sky. The rest of the village peeked out from their doors to watch the brave (idiotic) man.

"OH HOW THIS HORRIBLE TEMPEST HAS COME UPON US BY THOSE WITCHES! THEY, WHO HAVE NO SOUL OR FEELING FOR MAN! THEY, WHO CONDEMN US WITH THEIR VERY BREATH! THEY, WHO REFUSE TO LET US LIVE IN PEACE WITH THEIR WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY! THOUGH WE ARE MORTAL, WE SHALL STAND STRONG AND NOT FALL IN THE FACE OF THEIR EVIL!"

The sky flashed white and another bolt of lightning came down from the sky. With no time to react, the man was sent flying as the bolt exploded inches away from his face.

Unfettered, the man stood back on his feet and began shouting again.

"YOU MUST NOT HAVE HEARD ME! WE WILL STAND STRONG!"

This time the sky answered the man back with a shower of lighting. Bolts of electricity began to flash and swirl around the village. Children cried and parents shrieked in terror as the sky con to unleash brutal torrent of rain. Thunder boomed and deafened the screams of even the loudest shrew.

Then it came.

As if someone had constructed a invisible barrier above the town, the rain stopped. Not stopped as in dwindled down until it drizzled and petered out.

All at once the rain stopped.

Feeling as if he had won some sort of invisible battle, the man began to dance and shout, but not before a huge column of lightning descended and struck the earth behind him. The lightning flashed and blinded the villagers while the ground shook as*BOOM* rang throughout the village.

The light finally subsided, allowing the villagers to see what had created the noise. What they met however, quickly made them wish they hadn't.

A gigantic beast standing five stories tall loomed over the man next to well. Its wings The light created from the storm seemed to emanate from the creature  as its eyes were shining, crackling with the same electricity that had struck the well beforehand. The beast stared at the cowering man, not making any movements. The only sound that was heard was the distant thunderclaps and cowering of the foolish villager.

"IS THIS IT?" The man shouted at the forest, trying his best not let fear seep into his voice. "YOU WITCHES COULD NOT ACCEPT OUR ENDURANCE AND YOU NOW SEND A BEAST TO DO YOUR DEED! YOU ARE DISGRACEFUL!" He then turned around to face the beast, picking up his stake and brandishing it in front of the monster. "I REFUSE TO BE FELLED BY A CREATURE OF YOUR KIND, MAY THE GRAVE BE YOUR ONLY PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR EXISTENCE!"

The man charged towards the monster a plunged the stake into the beasts leg...only for the stake to shatter like marble against its surface.

The beast narrowed its eyes and took a stepped towards the man, the ground sinking beneath its pointed feet. The man fell back and hobbled away from its gaze, and when he felt that he was out of its sight, he ran into one of the village's houses. After a few minutes he decided to take a chance and see if the monster was still outside. Slowly but surely, he creaked upon the door...only to find the monster still staring at him.

All of a sudden the monster spread its wings and released a a horrifying screech that rang across the village and into the forest, causing a certain orange-haired siren to wake from her slumber.

Lightning came showering down from the sky, striking the houses and the villagers inside them, the villagers screamed in agony as the beast continued to summon the deadly storm.

Then there was silence.

"What happened to all the 'hyoomans'? They're all gone!" Sonata exclaimed as she walked across the empty village.

Aria shrugged her shoulders. She lifted the lid of barrel full of apples and began munching on its contents."I 'dunno maybe they finally got tired of us stealing all of their stuff. If you ask me, it's about time the packed up and went swimming."

Adagio inspected the burned remains of the village well. It was strange how scorch marks were littered across the village, but the well was the only thing that was completely destroyed. She examined the well even more thoroughly, finding giant scratch marks riddled across its base. As she leaned in closer, a familiar scent waded into her nose and caused her pendant to shine.

'Equestrian Magic?! But how?! We've been here for weeks and there was no sign of Equestrian magic anywhere!'

"DAGI!"

Adagio whipped her head around, Sonata was dancing around pendant shining bright in her hand. Aria had taken to staring at the pendant with a rare expression of shock strewn across her normally aloof features.

"Magic!" The bubbly siren gushed. "We found magic! We can finally get out of these icky bodies and leave this place!"

"I hate to agree with sugar for brains, but she makes a good point! Come on Adagio, lets blow this joint!" Aria pleaded.

"No."

"Alright! Wait...What?"

"We can absorb this magic, but even this will not enough to restore us back to full strength." Adagio began, trying her best not to look at her companion's dejected faces. "Besides, how are we supposed to get back to Equestria with no gateway. Even at full strength we can't open portals to different worlds, and if we did would it be the right one? I hate being stuck on this bloody rock as much as you two, but we are stuck. And until proven otherwise, there is no feasible way of us going back to Equestria, and that's that!"

It hurt the proud siren to admit that out loud, but she had to come to terms with their banishment quickly. They were outsiders in a new world with different principles and abilities. If they were to survive, they would have to shelve any mannerism or a semblance of mannerism from Equestria. She had been meaning to talk to the girls about adapting to the new world, but she hadn't planned for it to be this soon.

"So what? Are we going to give up the plan just like that?!" Aria blurted, desperately hoping that everything she had done up to that point wasn't in vain.

"I never said that." Adagio corrected." We will continue with our plan. If anything, it will be easier to take control of this world and make it adore us. If the beings of this world get riled up as easy those villagers, then we should be able to live comfortably for the rest of our lives."

Sonata wiped away the tears that leaked from her eyes. "A-Are you sure Dagi?"

"I've never been unsure about anything Sonata dear. Now let us absorb this magic." Adagio ordered. "And once we are done, we will head toward a nearest sign civilization. Understand?"

The other two sirens nodded in compliance.

'If there are any Equestrian predators in this world, then we must venture as far as possible away from them. Whoever or whatever made this mess must have sensed our magic and if that is the case then I want to be far away as possible for when it returns.'

Chapter 1: That's What You Get (For Being Polite)

- Present Day: Canterlot

~ Good morning students! This is Principal Celestia welcoming everyone to another great semester! I hope every student and faculty member is well rested from the holidays, because we only have one semester left to go! I want to challenge everyone to try their best and make a new friend this year. With that being said, welcome back everyone and have a nice day. ~

Sunset Shimmer smiled as she heard the small click of the intercom shutting off. Although Christmas break was over, she was happy to back inside the halls of Canterlot High, but more importantly, she was happy to spend some more time with her friends. As much as she wanted to be around the Rainbooms 24/7, she still had to pay the bills some way.

The main hall of Canterlot High was filled with various teens exchanging holiday stories with each other. As Sunset walked towards her locker, some of the teens noticed her and waved hello, to which she would happily return.

"Hey Sunset Shimmer, how was your break?"

"It was great! Thanks for asking!"

"Good to see you back Sunset!"

"You too!"

Ever since Sunset and the Rainbooms defeated the Dazzlings at the Battle of the Bands, her popularity had skyrocketed. Now she, who was once the school pariah, is now the most popular girl in school. Clubs that had rejected her offers were now begging for her attendance, girls that used to pick on her and steal her clothes now offer her spots at their lunch tables, and the boys that used to insult and demean her now seek her out for help.

She had also been asked out on numerous occasions...not that she didn't mind.

'It's funny how things worked out.' She thought as she opened her locker. 'I once wanted to rule the school and be feared by everyone. Maybe getting blasted by a giant rainbow laser wasn't as bad as I thought.'

Sunset placed her backpack and a couple of textbooks inside her locker, only taking out what she needed for her next class. Before she closed her locker a flash of light illuminated the inside of her backpack.

'Now there's someone I haven't heard from in a while.'

Sunset zipped open her backpack and pulled out the journal that she used to communicate with Twilight back in Equestria. After the Battle of the Bands had ended, Twilight had promised to reach out and write whenever she wasn't caught up with her regular duties. Since then, they had been writing back and forth, sharing memories, likes, and various theories of magic and science with each other. Sometimes if she was in a really good mood, she would spend hours telling Twilight some of her deepest secrets, to which Twilight would share a few of her own.

Unfortunately, Sunset didn't have time to write her as of late. Living alone made her realize how expensive the cost of living is, and that if she was going to stay in the human world, she was going to have to get a job. That's why when a position opened in the new Gallop shop at the local mall, she had wasted no time filling out an application. Since then, she had been working almost every other day, only going completely full-time when the store needed more employees for the holiday rush.

Remembering that she was supposed to be reading Twilight's message, Sunset opened her magic journal. As she opened the book, a small red shard dropped out from between its pages and fell to the floor. Sunset bent down to pick up the gem before it accidentally got swept away by the walking students. She then recognized the small gem as one of the many shards that was left from the Dazzlings pendants after they had shattered.

When the Dazzlings ran off the stage after they had been defeated, Sunset had saved one of the shards they had left behind, that way she could examine its magic properties. However, when she finally inspected the shard at her apartment a surge of magic expelled from the shard upon her making contact.

She had initially thought that when she had blasted the Dazzlings, the gems would shatter beyond repair, never to be able siphon magic again. As it turned out, the shard had very large quantities of magic still stored inside of it. When the sirens got blasted, the gemstones took the full brunt of the Rainbooms' energy blast, absorbing most of the magic at the cost of being filled beyond its holding capacity. As a side effect the shard potentially had enough magic to power the whole of Canterlot and then some.

Sunset's discovery had confirmed that the Dazzlings could siphon both negative and positive magic, but their bodies could not properly feed off of the positive magic that people generate. If she could find a way to convert the shards into a magic filter, she could solve the Dazzlings magic problem and help them reform without them having to cause trouble.

Unfortunately, the Dazzlings whereabouts wasn't known by anyone. Not to mention that their shards were probably all around Canterlot, filled with endless Equestrian magic.

Needless to say, Sunset spent the part of her break working and searching for the Dazzlings.

Presently, the magic journal glowed and shuddered as if to remind Sunset that she hadn't read the message yet. Pushing the thoughts of the Dazzlings aside and placing the shard between the most recent entry, Sunset read Twilight's 'text' message.

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

How are you? I haven't heard from you in a month! Or in your case, three months? I still haven't figured out the temporal displacement from that world...I'm rambling again. Anyway, I wanted to make sure that everything is well in your life, and I guess I missed talking to you. It's not every day that I meet a pony that has the same intellect and interests that I do. A much as I love my friends, I can't share my findings of Starswirl without one of them feigning interest or falling asleep. BTW, (I learned what that meant from the Pinkie Pie of your world. Acronyms are fun!) Did you know that Starswirl had more than one spell powering the magic mirror? Spike found a whole new section of his works in the Everfree Castle...albeit by accident. Who knows what I could discover from these scrolls? Just thinking about it makes me so excited! I wish Equestria caught up to your world in terms of technology, that way I could show some of the new scrolls. I don't know if you will get this at the time I'm writing this letter, but please respond as ASAP. (I did it again!)

Your friend,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S. How is Flash Sentry handling himself after I told him of the improbability of continuing our relationship? I hope I wasn't coming off as mean or anything, but with my duties as a princess and him being in school, we wouldn't have any time for each other. Also, due to both of us residing in parallel worlds, it would take MAJOR compliance with our schedules for us to have dates or spend time together! I read that long distance relationships are hard to maintain, and almost always ends up in abject failure! Please let me know if he's alright!

Sunset rolled her eyes, making a mental note to remind Pinkie what things she could teach Twilight about the human world. She then began to write her reply.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Sorry about not replying back to you in a while. The Christmas holiday rush (Hearth's Warming in Equestria) is very hectic. I got called in to help my coworkers who were unfortunate enough to get holiday hours. I guess I got caught up in the holiday madness myself. On the bright side, I did get a brand spanking new computer! Really and truly, I did mean to write you, but I was busy devoting most of my free time into finding out where the Dazzlings wandered off to after their gems broke. Did you know that it has been four months since they ran off the stage? I know that I shouldn't worry myself out about them, (Believe me, the girls constantly remind me ALL of the time,) but I want to give them the same chance that you gave me when I was still evil. Besides, if their mind control spell was broken after the battle, who knows what kind of trouble they could be in? All in all, that's really all that I've been up to since we last wrote each other. I do appreciate the time that you take out of your busy schedule to write me, and I'm not surprised that you found another one of Starswirl's works, but if there is anypony who could decipher it, it's you. Other than everything else I've said, everything is great over here, hopefully we could meet up with each other without foreboding danger looming over our heads!

Sincerely,

Sunset Shimmer

P.S. Flash WAS upset at first, but if I know Flash (which is not a lot) he understands where you're coming from. Flash is a tough guy, so even if he is upset now, eventually he will move on and go back to his normal guitar-playing self. Take my advice and don't stress yourself over it. (You should probably stop reading those dating books. Being yourself is the only way to go.) You also might want to refrain from using text speak in letters, it can get VERY obnoxious.

"You know you snort when you laugh?"

Sunset jumped and flailed her limbs, dropping her journal in the process. Blushing furiously, she turned around to face her assailant; only to find Rainbow Dash leaning against a locker smirking.

"I do not!" Sunset protested.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say Baconhead. I see you're writing to our favorite pony princess, what's going on with her?"

"Nothing much really." Sunset said as she closed her locker. "She was just checking up on me since I didn't write during the break. If anything I would think she was trying to get her head out of paperwork."

"Speaking about the break," Rainbow Dash began. "You should have seen the sweet haul I got for Christmas! Old Kris Kringle must love me, cause I got everything I wanted this year! Well...not everything, I'm still waiting for that new car, then I would have gotten everything!"

"Somehow I feel like you don't really understand what Christmas really is about Dash." Sunset groaned while shaking her head.

"Don't be such a downer! It's not my fault that my awesomeness gets showered in gifts!" Dash replied.

"You're an only child Dash."

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say..." Rainbow Dash put her hands behind her head as she and Sunset Shimmer began to walk towards class. "So what did you do for the break anyway?"

"Other than dealing with angry hipsters and confused old people who want to buy their grandchildren the newest phone for Christmas, I really didn't do that much.” Sunset sighed. "I did try to find out where the Dazzlings wandered off to, but I found no luck with tha...."

Sunset Shimmer trailed off, finally noticing that she was walking to class by herself. Rainbow Dash stood a few feet away, hands on her hips, and a disapproving frown etched into her tomboyish features.

"What?"

"Don't what me!" Dash scolded. "You can't just skim past something like that and expect me to just be cool with it! What are you thinking Baconhead? Is your head so full of cooking oil that you actually want to see those jerks again? Heck, we don't even know their names!"

Sunset groaned. "First of all, stop calling me Baconhead! My hair is naturally...unique. You don't hear me calling you Skittles every five minutes! Second, my grades certainly prove that I'm VERY capable of rational thinking and furthermore I finally found a way to get the Dazzlings on ou-"

"Sure Sunset! Why don't we make friends with the same people that tried to take over the world AND break us apart, because that makes PERFECT SENSE!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, causing some of the students in the hall to look towards their direction.

"Look Dash," Sunset Shimmer sighed, knowing that the Dazzlings were a sensitive subject among the student body. "Why don't we bring this up another time when we're not in the middle of a hallway where everyone can hear us? For now, let’s talk about something else. It's a new year and I don't want to start it off by getting into a big argument with one of my best friends."

"Yeah yeah..." Rainbow Dash conceded, dropping the subject...for now.

The two girls walked down the halls in silence, both trying their best to not bring up the three sirens and the many arguments of whether or not they should find them. The last time the topic of Battle of the Bands was brought to surface there had been a split between the Rainbooms and things quickly got heated. Applejack, Rainbow Dash couldn't bring themselves to look past the Dazzlings' wrongdoings, while Rarity and Fluttershy felt that it would be very hypocritical if they gave Sunset Shimmer a mulligan but not the sirens and Pinkie Pie was just Pinkie Pie.

Eventually everyone had given up on trying to convince the other and just decided to go about their own way.

"Hey Dash?" Sunset asked, ignoring the small squabble a few seconds earlier. "Do you have your copy of Canterlot: A History Explained on you? There's a few things I want to look over before we have to take the test in Prof. Doodle's class?"

"What are you talking about? I don't remember us being told there was a test." Rainbow replied, eyebrow arched in confusion.

"I clearly remember Prof. Doodle telling us to read chapters 8 through 20 before the break. He then said that there would be a test to make sure that we actually read the book instead of pulling up smart notes before a class discussion."

Sweat began to roll down Rainbow Dash's forehead.

"No he didn't! He said that the winter reading was optional!"

"He definitely said that the reading was optional...if you wanted the first grade of the semester to be an F."

"An F!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She then grabbed Sunset's shoulders and started shaking her back and forth in desperation. "I can't get an F on the first day of class! My dad promised if I brought my grade up to a B in Mr. Doodle's class he'll think about getting me a car, AND I REALLY WANT THAT CAR SUNSET!"

"I don't know what to tell you Dash! You should really start paying attention to what the teachers are saying in class!" Sunset yelled, trying to remove herself from the frantic female's grasp, to no avail.

"But Cranky Doodle is SOOO BORRINNG...."Rainbow Dash whined, shaking the redhead.

"WAIT! Maybe it not so bad..." Rainbow Dash murmured to herself, finally letting Sunset go. "If the test is multiple choice like it's usually, then I can totally wing it! There's a 25% chance of me getting the right answer, and with my level of awesomeness there's a 5% chance of me getting the answer wrong!" She then turned to Sunset. "Ha! In your face Sunset! You said that I should pay more attention! I got this test in the bag."

Feeling that her (flawed) point was made, the confident athlete strutted into the classroom, leaving Sunset Shimmer behind to shake her head, disappointed.

"With that logic it's no wonder she made a C in math last semester."

The inside of Professor Doodles' history class was chaos. All of the students were either running around trying to get some last minute notes before the test, or they were talking about something unrelated to the class, much to the chagrin of the students who were trying to get some extra study time.

Sunset Shimmer took a seat in the middle row next to Rainbow Dash. The rainbow haired athlete was idly flipping a pencil into the air. It was obvious that she was serious when she said that she was going to wing the test earlier; her feet was propped up on top of her desk, and she had a smirk on her face that oozed of irrational confidence. Rainbow Dash noticed that Sunset was looking at her and gave the redhead a wink and a thumbs up.

Sunset just ignored her and started looking over her notes.

The door to the classroom suddenly swung open and a short, balding man with a large stack of papers walked inside the classroom. He then dropped the stack of papers on his desk causing a loud *BANG* to ring throughout the room.

"Alright class quiet down!" Professor Doodle yelled causing everyone to go silent. "I understand that you all have had fun spending time with your families over the holidays, but a new semester is upon us and it's time for us to get back to business."

He then took a quarter of the papers from the stack and started to pass the sheets to the students. "This test will question if all of you actually decided to listen and do your homework for change. The test has 50 questions and is in short answer form."

Rainbow Dash blanched as all of the color drained from her face.

"You might be asking yourself, 'I thought that all of your tests were multiple choice?' You are correct in that assumption, they usually are. However it has come to my attention that some of you are sharing answers with your classmates and are not learning anything on your own!"

Some of the students in the back scratched their heads and looked at one another.

"You will find that there are six different versions of the test. Each version has different questions AND different answers than the next, which means that if you try to cheat or talk with your neighbor you will fail! The test will take all of the time for class today, so when you're done you may place your test on the front table and exit the classroom quietly."

Professor Doodle looked at his watch, checking the time. "The time is now 8:15. You may begin."

Sunset picked up her pencil and began scribbling down her answers with gusto. Other than science, history was her favorite subject as it was the only subject that she didn't know almost everything about. Math was (unfortunately) the same in Equestria as it is in the human world, and science was very similar to magic. History on the other hand, was extremely different compared to the history back in Equestria. The memory of failing two history exams in a row still haunts her to this day. Since then she had hunkered down into the library and started researching everything that she could about the human world in hope of understanding humans better.

Human.

Three and a half years of living in a body foreign to her own, and there was still a feeling of discomfort every time she look at her own face in the mirror. She didn't bother telling her friends how disturbed she would get when she would watch them eat meat at the lunch table. The fact that most of the things humans eat turned out to be sapient back in her world disgusted her to no end. Imagine her surprise when Rarity informed that her favorite leather jacket was made from the skin of cows, pigs and to her immense dissatisfaction horses.

After learning that interesting tidbit, Sunset burned her old leather jacket and quickly purchased a new one made out of artificial material.

She didn't worry about staying in this world too much. Even though she longed for taste of a juicy hayburger every now and then, Sunset admitted that things became a lot better for her in the human world than in Equestria. At least in the human world she had pon...people that she could call friends. Even though she had the Royal Guard and the castle maids attending to her at every call, they were more of services rather than actual companions. She still remembers the nights where she would talk about her feelings, or vent her frustrations out on a guard, only to get no reply as they were committed to doing their jobs.

Still...there were times where Sunset missed the long talks that she had with Princess Celestia back home.

*poke* *poke* "psst...Sunset...hey..."

Sunset's thoughts were interrupted as she felt a small poke to her arm causing a stray mark on her paper. She turned around and glared at Rainbow Dash who smiling sheepishly.

"Hey Sunset...please don't say I told you so but....you gotta help me out!" Rainbow Dash whispered frantically. "Look!"

She silently slid her paper closer to the edge of her desk, that way it was in Sunset's line of sight and away from Professor Doodle's. Rainbow Dash's test was completely devoid of answers, just like she had expected it to be.

"Well I'm looking Dash but I can't seem to find anything on this blank sheet of paper."

"Now is not the time to be funny!" Rainbow Dash growled. "Listen...I know I should listen more in class and I promise I will try harder, but if you could....for this one time only....help me pass this test?"

"No."

"Thanks! You're the be- wait what?"

Sunset Shimmer frowned. "I said no. I'm not going to help you cheat just for you to slack off and repeat the cycle. Besides we have different test versions. I can't just give you the answers!"

"Then do it for me!" Rainbow Dash pleaded. "You're an egghead, I'm sure you could do it in 10 seconds flat!"

"I may have been Princess Celestia's apprentice, but I'm no robot Dash. I just can't pull up the history of this world off the top of my head."

"This is the last time I'm asking you Sunset! Please?!"

"I said N-"

"You said what Miss Shimmer?"

Sunset and Rainbow Dash flinched from the sound of the new voice. They didn't realize what had initially began as quiet conversation, quickly turned into a shouting match. One that their history teacher couldn't possibly ignore.

Without any words spoken Professor Doodle snatched both Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash's tests and tore them in half, throwing the remains of the halfway-finished and empty sheet of paper in the garbage. He then whipped around, focusing his attention on the two girls.

"Detention!"

"BUT!" Sunset began.

"I don't want to hear it!" Professor Doodle interrupted. "I made it perfectly clear that there would be no talking during the test! You will both serve your detention this Friday, after which we can discuss a day after school hours where you can make up this test. Now I want both of you to exit the classroom!"

Sunset packed her supplies into or bag and hefted it onto her shoulder, angrily stomping towards the classroom exit. Though before she left, Sunset gave one last glare to Rainbow Dash, who smiled and shrugged her shoulders sheepishly in response.

Dumbbell was a teen who had succeeded at many things.

He'd become the captain of the football team as an underclassmen, won the state football championship three years in a row, and successfully regained his control of the school after both Sunset Shimmer and those singing chicks snatched it away from him.

However, with all of those 'successes', Dumbbell still failed in one big, glaring area.

He hadn't managed to get a girlfriend that didn't hate him after one week of spending time with him.

Dumbbell assumed that girls were probably intimidated by his 6'4, 230 lb. frame but in reality, it was his tendency do his rounds of the school frequently as possible. Dumbbell figured if he missed out on a day of putting other teens in their place, they would get brave and try to challenge his power over the school. Naturally, this behavior put off many of the female student population, but he brushed it off as them being pansies. Besides, if a girl couldn't handle a few beat downs every once in a while, then they couldn't roll with him.

Imagine his surprise when he saw number one student and former queen bee Sunset Shimmer, walking down the hall pouting.

He then began thinking; Sunset Shimmer was tough girl, she certainly had to be if she had managed to wrest control of school out of his hands. Not to mention that she was also smart, popular and the best looking girl in school next to Rarity. If Sunset Shimmer dated him, his school cred would definitely skyrocket.

Why didn't he think of Sunset sooner? She was the perfect choice!

Dumbbell smirked and walked in front of the fiery-haired girl, but what whatever had upset her must have been big, because Sunset didn't notice that he had intercepted her path until she had walked right into him.

"OOF!"

Sunset bounced against the jock's chest and fell to ground, dropping her bag and spilling its contents everywhere.

"You should probably look where you walk." Dumbbell said offering the girl a hand. "My pecs won't always be there to cushion you."

"Oh....Hey Dumbbell, sorry about running into you." Sunset replied lifting herself off of the ground.

"No biggie'!" The jock assured, he then adopted (what he assumed) an attractive smirk. "Though I gotta ask why a smart girl like you isn't in class like all of the other lames in this school."

Sunset sighed, recalling the events that happened moments before. "Nothing really, Rainbow and I got into an argument while we were taking a test and naturally, we got kicked out of class."

Dumbbell frowned, any mention of the rainbow headed athlete instantly soured his mood. He'd never recovered from all of the times he lost a challenge to her in middle school. Since then, he'd held a grudge against her and tended to dislike any association of the star athlete.

"So Crash got you in trouble." Dumbbell growled, he then leaned against the wall and started brushing his fist across his shirt. "Maybe it's about time you ditched Crash and started hanging out with a real athlete like me." Dumbbell placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder, who shuddered upon contact. "How does Friday night sound?"

"No thanks." Sunset replied brushing off his hand. "I have detention that day and to be honest I'm not really not interested in being in a relationship right now, I'd rather focus on school." She then pointed a finger at his chest while hoisting her bag with her free hand. "Besides, I don't date jerks who disrespect my friends and whether you like it or not Rainbow Dash is my friend."

She then began to walk away from the jock only to hear him snort at her refusal.

"Suit yourself, you'll soon realize how annoying Crash is and come running back to me. Don't worry though, I forgive you!" Dumbbell cackled.

Sunset merely rolled her eyes and kept walking, Dumbbell watching as she disappeared around a corner. He was about to leave himself when a brief glint flashed in the corner of his eye. On the ground where Sunset had fallen, lie a small red shard reflecting light across its surface. The shard seemed to contain some sort of power and subtly glowed against the linoleum tiles.

Dumbbell picked up the shard and began tossing it up and down into his palm. He couldn't place his finger on it, but he could have sworn that he had seen a gem that looked exactly like the shard except....not broken.

'Sunset dropped this when she fell. I should probably give this back to her next time I see her...'

Then a nasty thought flew into his head.

'Or...maybe I should hold on to this. Sunset will probably want this back and I can't just let her reject me like that. If she says no again, I know a couple of spots downtown that'll burn forests for a fancy looking shard like this.'

Having made up his mind, Dumbbell walked away from the main hallway and towards the gym before Vice-Principal Luna came and lectured him about skipping class...again.

Omitting the mishap in history and the encounter with Dumbbell, the rest of Sunset's day went by rather quickly and pretty soon it was time for lunch. She entered the cafeteria and promptly got in line for the vegetarian menu. As she waited, she looked to see where her friends decided to sit for lunch. She didn't have to search for long, the sight of Applejack's hat and the sound of Pinkie's wild laughter traveled through the cafeteria.

Apparently, the news of Rainbow Dash getting her in trouble had spread fast, as the Rainbooms were teasing the lead guitarist over her blunder.

"Ah gotta hand it to ya Dash. This is probably the fastest record of getting detention ever." Applejack joked, bumped her elbow into the side of the irate athlete.

Rainbow Dash scowled and ignored the country girl, opting to take another bite of her ham and cheese sandwich instead. Unfortunately for her, Applejack wasn't the only one of her friends who was taking shots at her recent ejection from class.

"It's not only the fastest record in the school, but it's the first time anyone has ever got another person in detention!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "IT'S TWO RECORDS IN ONE, A DOUBLE WHAMMY!"

Rainbow Dash growled and focused more on tuning out her obnoxious friends...which would have worked if Rarity had not decided to vocalize her thoughts on the matter.

"If you weren't prepared for your test, it would have been sensible to review your work material darling." Rarity lectured.

"I think that's enough Rarity." Fluttershy scolded. She then started patting Rainbow on the back. "I'm sure Rainbow Dash feels bad enough already, we should be trying to make her feel better not worse..."

"Thanks Fluttersh-"

"I wasn't finished." The shy girl interjected, starling the athlete. "Rarity does has a point Rainbow. You do need to take class more seriously, I thought you told me that you didn't have any homework over the break."

"I didn't know!" Rainbow groaned. There was small *bang* as she dropped her head against the table, her arms folding in front of her in defeat. "My dad's totally going to flip once he hears that I got detention, and if he finds out that I got a friend in trouble?" Rainbow Dash flopped back in her chair. "Man, I really rolled a gutter-ball this time."

"Don't be so hard on yourself Rainbow." Sunset chimed in as she set her food tray next to the panicking guitarist. "Professor Doodle did say we can retake the test, so it's not all bad."

"Howdy Sunset!" Applejack greeted, finally noticing the new addition the table. "Sorry that your first day back had to start with detention. If it makes ya feel any better, it's nice to have ya back."

"I'll say!" Pinkie agreed. "Going to the Rocky Mountains with Maud was super fun, but I totally missed you guys! I really wanted all of you to be there when I threw Maud a SKI PARTY!"

"That sounded like it was quite the shindig Pinkie Pie." Applejack said. "Granny wanted y'all to come on over for Christmas dinner, but I figured everyone would be doin' their own thing."

Over the next few minutes, the Rainbooms exchanged stories of holiday gifts and outings with each other; Fluttershy shared a story of taking care of a sick cat with her mother, while Rarity informed everyone of her excitement of watching the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve. Rainbow Dash decided to brag about the gifts she received, but after five minutes of hearing about sports equipment, the wanted to get off the subject of Christmas.

"Oh yeah!" Sunset exclaimed suddenly, causing Rainbow to stop telling her story. "I forgot to show everyone the message I got from Twilight this morning."

"A message from Twilight you say?" Rarity inquired, before realizing that they had interrupted Rainbow's story. "I must apologize for being so rude to interrupt your tale Rainbow Dash."

"No sweat." Rainbow Dash assured. She then smiled mischievously. "Besides, I can always tell you guys about it later."

Rarity forced a smile, she was not looking forward to when that time came.

"We'll listen to whatever nonsense you wanna' talk about when it's not all about sports Dash." Applejack said, ignoring the athlete. "Right now, ah wanna hear what Twi' has been up to in her neck of the woods." She then turned towards Sunset Shimmer who seemed to freaking out over something. "What's wrong sugarcube? You look more wound up than the knots in Granny Smith's back."

Sunset was flipping frantically through pages of her journal. She knew where Twilight's most recent entry as she had made sure to remember the exact location of every entry that she wrote. However, the pendant shard that she had placed between entries was nowhere to be seen.

"I can't find it!" Sunset exclaimed, moving through the journal so fast that the pages were in danger of catching on fire.

"Find what darling?"

Sunset froze.

She didn't tell the other girls about her keeping the pendant shard after the Battle of the Bands. She also didn't tell them how the shards were filled with energy and were dangerous to be in the possession of someone not familiar with magic. If there was any time for her to confess, it was now.

Sunset took a deep breath. "Remember that shard I found after we beat the Dazzlings?"

"Yeah, you told me that you got rid of that thing once you got home." Applejack replied, frowning at mention of those three troublemakers.

"Well...I may have stretched the truth on that one." Sunset admitted, rubbing her arm. "I actually took it home so I can study its properties."

"WHAT IN TARNATION! HAVE YOU LOST YER MIND?" The country girl barked, causing some of the other students to look at their table.

"That's the same thing I said earlier." Rainbow Dash chimed in, earning herself a glare from the pony-turned-human.

"What would possess you to keep such a thing darling?" Rarity asked.

"When I took the shard back home to study that night, I ended up discovering that the pendant had absorbed our magic blast." Sunset explained.

"WAIT!" Pinkie Pie blurted out suddenly. "You mean our Shin Rainbow Kamehameha™ didn't break the gems?"

Sunset shook her head. "They didn't. In fact, the Dazzling's pendants absorbed the energy from the blast and shattered once it couldn't contain it anymore." Sunset slumped into her seat. "That's why I've been keeping this a secret. I was going to use the shard to see if I can find the rest of the pieces. I didn't want anyone getting hurt if they came across a shard and got hurt from its feedback, or worse."

"It's okay, we understand darling." Rarity assured.

"You do?"

Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked confused. "We do?"

"Yes, we all understand!" Rarity said firmly, stopping the two girls from objecting. "You only wanted to keep us safe, and that's fine. We just don't want to see you getting hurt from something like this.” She turned towards the rest of the Rainbooms. ”Isn’t that right girls?"

"Totally!" Rainbow Dash agreed. "Things wouldn't be cool if you weren't around."

"Yeah! Five people makes a party, but six makes a BONANZA!" Pinkie added.

"I'd hate to see you hurt. Promise me that you won't get hurt." Fluttershy pleaded.

"Don't worry yourself Fluttershy." Sunset replied. "I promise that I'll be safe."

"Ah hate to admit it, but Rares' does have a point." Applejack admitted, tipping her hat. "Sorry ah yelled at ya sugarcube."

"It's alright Applejack." Sunset assured, giving the farm-girl light punch. "I'm sorry I kept this a secret."

"GROUP HUG!" Pinkie yelled before enveloping her friends in large hug. Sunset just laughed at her pink friend's antics and for a few seconds she forgot all about the Dazzlings and their pendants.

"I must ask," Rarity began, breaking the group hug. "Whatever did happen to those girls?"

"Who cares?" Applejack brushed off. "Ah'm pretty sure those varmints are fine. They can take care of themselves, wherever they are."

"NEXT!"

Adagio Dazzle glared at the cold serving of soup that was poured into her bowl. She stuck one finger into the offending liquid and licked it tentatively, only to recoil in disgust almost immediately.

"What is this?" She spat, waving a hand over her bowl. "I can't eat this! I thought you were supposed to be serving soup, not the filtered remains of your kitchen grease!"

The server rolled his eyes from behind the counter. "There's always a period after New Year’s where the quality of food drops. We get most of our food donated from various hops and vendors from around Canterlot, and because of that, we have to wait until they reopen and get back into their normal sales schedule." He then pointed his ladle at her threateningly. "Look, if you have a problem with the soup then don't eat it, it's as simple as that. Otherwise, you're free to come in the back and make the damn soup yourself. If not, then I suggest that you move along and let the other people behind you get their share."

As much as she wanted to, Adagio couldn't find the energy to argue with the insolent human. If she still had her magic, she would have made the man swallow every last drop of his so called 'soup' and make him eat his ladle afterward. Unfortunately for the siren, her powers was little more than a memory and the prospect of getting others to pamper her turned into a fading sense of wish-fulfillment.

Even though her pride screamed for her to lash out at the human, she knew that in doing so, she would get herself removed from the only place that she and her fellow sirens can call 'home'.

"Well?" The server asked impatiently.

Adagio growled and dumped the rest of her soup into a garbage bin. She then stomped inside the cafeteria and towards the table where Aria and Sonata were sitting, taking her seat in a huff.

"You're certainly in the best of moods." Aria grumbled, watching as her leader sulked quietly in her chair. Taking a spoonful of soup out of her bowl, the purple siren sighed and lifted the utensil towards her lips, shuddering as the cold liquid traveled down her throat. "Ugh. This stuff is the worst. How the hell are you able to stomach this Sonata?"

The blue haired siren gulped a large amount her own soup before she made her reply. "Food is food, and if there's one thing I've learned is that you never waste food." She then took another sip, only to start crunching as the soup started to turn solid. Sonata gagged and almost spat the soup out, but forced herself to swallow the rest at the last second. "Even if it's pretty gross..."

Aria rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her brooding leader. "So Cheese McQueen, what's the next move? All we've done these past months is hop from one shelter to another, when are we actually going to do something worthwhile?"

"We wouldn't have had to move around so often if you two morons didn't get us kicked out from every shelter we step foot in!" Adagio growled.

"We shouldn't have to waste our time shelters and you know that Adagio!" Aria argued. "It's not like us to just lounge around like some beached whale!"

"And what exactly do you propose for us to do? Hmm?"

"How about getting revenge on the punks that got us here for a start!"

"Message to Aria, we don't have any magic!" Adagio snarked, waving her hands over her head. "If we did, I can assure you that we wouldn't be in this paddy-shack or having this talk right now."

"We don't need have to take them on right now!" Aria shot back. "If that princess came from Equestria, we could always go back home and wait for our gems to regenerate, then we can take them out."

Adagio scoffed before shaking her head. "There are so many holes in this idea you've concocted, I don't even want to waste oxygen pointing all of them out."

"Oh yeah? Then tell me what's wrong since you have such a great track record with your ideas!"

Adagio sighed and began to dissect Aria's plan.

"For one, we don't have any clue where the portal back home is. The only people who know of its location is Shimmer and her crew, and I'm absolutely sure that they aren't giving us details. Second, if the princess came through the portal, that means she may have the other gate in her possession, meaning we'd get captured instantly if she sees us come through. Finally, if we do manage to find the portal and get past the princess, we would eventually have to return to her castle if we wanted to come back for Shimmer, making the entire plan a massive waste of time, energy and resources. Any more failed ideas you want to go through?" Adagio sneered, finishing her rant. She then composed herself and tried to fix her hair.

A dark look came across her features. "When we go after those Rainbooms, it will be under MY terms and under MY leadership, and when we do, I will be the one taking on Sunset Shimmer. Tartarus will become naptime compared to what I have in mind for her!"

Aria opened her mouth to make a comeback, but found that she had nothing more to say. For a moment, the only sounds that were shared between the three sirens, was the subtle clink of Sonata lifting and placing her spoon into her bowl.

This wasn't anything new; after the Dazzlings lost at the Battle of the Bands they had wandered around trying to salvage something good out of their bleak situation. In doing so however, they slowly became less and less tolerant of each other. Arguments like the one she just had with Adagio became more akin to breathing, sometimes coming to physical blows.

The biggest factor contributing to their frequent squabbles, was their inability to stay under a roof.

Almost every homeless shelter had banned the Dazzlings from setting foot inside ever again. The first place they were at kicked them out after the employees discovered that they were stealing food and selling it for money. They were going to use the money earned on a bus ticket to get away from Canterlot, but that went down the drain once the shelter took all of their earnings. To make matters worse, the shelter demanded that they hand over their pendant shards as extra compensation under the threat of calling the police.

Unwilling and afraid to spend time in a juvenile center, the sirens handed over the last remnants of their true identity.

After that incident, they were blacklisted from almost every homeless shelter in Canterlot and just like their reputation, their moods soured considerably.

Sonata had always been a very upbeat siren. Even when they spent centuries with limited magic, she had a way of boosting the morale of her two compatriots at their lowest point, but Sonata had become slightly bitterer as of late. She was still upbeat, but she constantly got wrapped within her own thoughts and tended to keep to herself, and while Sonata always had a selfish streak, she became more self-serving and little more reluctant to participate in whatever scheme they tried come up with.

Aria on the other hand, had merely made her negative attitude more prevalent than it normally was. What used to be subtle barbs, became vicious tongue-lashings, and small shoves and accidental contact became fist fights with whoever had bumped into her. While Aria and Adagio didn't always see eye to eye, for the most part they understood and played off of each other. With her powers now gone, Aria found herself disagreeing with her leader almost 100% of the time. In fact, she made a point to disagree with Adagio even when she knew that Adagio was right, just to be difficult.

As much as she tried to keep a facade of self-control, Adagio often found herself exploding in rage from the most trivial of matters. Losing her magic and getting banished by Starswirl had created a deep wound to her ego, but losing them for good at the hands of a washed up, would- be-princess reject reopened the old wound and twisted a knife into her damaged pride. The real kicker was when she was forced to give up the remains of her shattered pendant. When that happened, all of the guilt that Adagio had been bottling up over the centuries started to overwhelm her, and as a result, she began to mask her sorrow with anger.

The once smooth relationship between the three sirens, had turned into a rough patch of pavement. No matter how much they argued, however, they still couldn't fathom breaking apart with one another and still stuck around despite how often they'd disagree with one another. So they just sat, shivering inside a homeless shelter in the cold January weather.

Presently, Aria moved from her seat.

"C'mon Sonata lets go see if they have any extra blankets, I can't find ours and I would like my toes to not be freezing when I go to sleep tonight." Aria stated, breaking the tense atmosphere that was held seconds before. She got up from the table and began to walk away, but stopped when she noticed that the blue-haired siren wasn't following her. "What's the hold up? Let's go!"

"Nah, I don't feel like it." Sonata replied. "How come you can't do it yourself?"

Aria growled and pinched the bridge of her nose. She really didn't have the patience to deal with the youngest siren's childishness at the moment. "If I try to ask for blankets by myself they're only going to give me one, which means someone is going to have to share a blanket, and I'm not snuggling with anyone."

"I still don't see why I need to be there."

"I just told you moron!" Aria snapped angrily. "Maybe if you weren't too busy sitting on your ass you'd probably heard me the first time! Stop acting like a brat and let’s go!"

"No! You just want to tell me what to do!" Sonata shot back. She turned around in her seat and crossed her arms, refusing to look in Aria's direction. "If you want blankets so bad, then get Adagio to go with you."

"I'm not asking her!" Aria exclaimed. "Besides, if no one told you what to do you wouldn't know how to breathe let alone talk, which is something that you do enough as it is."

Sonata hopped out of her chair and got into her partner's face. "Oh yeah? Well, you're a grump! All you do is laugh and call me names. Then when you want something, you yell at me to do it for you. You're not the boss of me so stop telling me what to do!"

"I might as well be, considering all of the times I had to clean up your mess!" Aria countered. "Remember that food raid? We were this close to getting out of this stupid town, but you just had to let everyone know we were stealing from them!"

"I told you that was an accident!"

"You're right, letting an idiot like you hold the stash was an accident."

"I'm not stupid! You are!"

"No, you are!"

"NO YOU!"

"YO-"

"Will you two SHUT UP!" Adagio interrupted suddenly, quelling the two bickering girls' argument. "I can't believe you two, arguing over something as trivial as getting blankets! It's not that complex, you just get up and ask, and if they have the nerve to say no, just take it!" She then sighed and started looking for the shelter attendants. "If it gets you two to stop complaining, I'LL go get some blankets and you better share with each other!"

Sonata looked incredulous and made her distaste of Adagio's decision vocal. "I don't want to share with her, she'll just hog everything! I want my own."

"Too bad. You should have thought about that before you decided to get into childish arguments with Aria." Adagio scolded.

"But, but...she started it!" Sonata whined, pointing an accusing finger at the pig-tailed siren.

Adagio held out a hand, cutting off the younger siren's complaints. "All you had to do was ignore her and eventually she'll leave you alone. Since you obviously don't want to be around Aria, how about you go and get our blankets for the night in my stead?"

Knowing that the orange haired siren was more or less demanding her to dismiss herself, Sonata angrily stomped away, but not before giving Aria the 'meanest' glare that she had in her arsenal.

Aria snickered as she watched her partner march towards the help desk. Her laughter stopped when she noticed that her leader's attention was now directed at her.

"I don't get you Aria, why must you be so difficult?"

Feeling that Adagio was going to lecture her once again, Aria shoved her hands into her pockets and began to walk away. "Whatever. I don't have to hear this I'm going to take a nap."

"You are correct." Adagio began. "You don't have to listen to this. Just like how don't have to listen to you antagonize Sonata, or how I don't have to hear you whine and complain to me about everything." She walked in front of the pig-tailed siren and pushed a finger into her chest. "But you know what? Somehow I still find myself doing just that every day! So tell me, what is it going to take for you to grow up?"

"Tell you what, when you finally come up with something that doesn't leave us feeding off scraps, then I'll give you your answer." Aria retorted, causing the orange haired siren to slam her hands on the table.

"And what exactly are you inquiring Aria?" Adagio warned in a dangerous tone.

"Let's see we were banished into a different world with different bodies, no magic, no money and no house!" Aria exclaimed, raising a finger with every point that she made. "And it's all because instead of getting energy and getting out of this place, you decided to say let’s take over the world instead! If you ask me, that was Sonata-tier on the dumbest things to ever be thought out loud."

Adagio's body was shaking at this point, seething with rage ready to be brought out to the surface. "That plan would have worked if Shimmer didn't get involved, she was a tangible that I couldn't have predicted! And if my memory serves right, I don't remember you making any extraordinary effort to stray away from the plan!"

"Then maybe next time you'll consider my input for once and listen!" Aria snapped, stunning the siren leader.

Aria's outburst had gained the attention of some of the people inside the shelter, but she didn't care. She was going to get this off her chest.

"From day one you've never taken my input on anything! Whether we were feeding in Equestria, or enchanting one of the humans all you wanted to do was make everything better for you!"

"Better for myself?!" Adagio yelled furiously, "Every decision that I make is for the sole purpose of making sure that you, Sonata and I can live our lives in abundance, without ever having to work for it!"

"BULLSHIT!" Aria roared, "If you were so generous, then you wouldn't treat me like your servant, you would treat us as equals just like you said when we first got to this damn place!" She then gestured around the room. "And you must have some crazy definition of abundance, because the only abundance I see in this dump is TRASH!"

Adagio was about to let Aria know exactly how she felt about the shelter, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Already irritated by Aria's insubordination, she turned around with a hand raised, ready to chew out the unfortunate soul who decided to disturb her.

"Excuse me?"

"WHAT?!"

A tall woman wearing a blue apron with the shelter logo stood behind Adagio. In her hand was a small clipboard with a list of names written down on them. Adagio couldn't help but notice that her name was crossed out from the top of the list. The employee looked over the clipboard one last time, before addressing the irate teen.

"Are you Adagio Dazzle?" She asked.

"I am." Adagio replied skeptically.

"Hello I'm Generous Heart, but you can just call me Gen." The woman greeted while looking over her clipboard, "I'm the director of the Outer Canterlot Shelter for the Homeless, or OCSH for short. I've been meaning to speak to you for a while. Are Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk also with you?" She pointed to a section on Adagio's information sheet.  "You have them listed as your sisters on your information sheet."

"Aria is the girl behind me." Adagio answered, pointing to the pig-tailed girl that was glaring daggers behind her, "Sonata went to get some extra sleeping materials and she won't be back for a bit. I assume that you want to inform me of something of great urgency?"

"I'm afraid you're correct." Gen said sadly. She then looked over her clipboard again. "I've received numerous complaints from both residents and employees over the past month about a trio of teens causing a disturbance." Gen looked at Adagio skeptically. "Care to explain why I'm getting such reports?"

"Us? Cause trouble?" Adagio lifted a hand to her head, feigning innocence. "I can assure you that my sisters and I have kept ourselves out of trouble. I can't possibly figure out why people would say such things about us!"

Aria rolled her eyes, it was obvious that this 'Generous' chick didn't buy any words that came out of Adagio's mouth.

Gen merely stared at Adagio, unamused. "Uh-huh. Well I have multiple reports of Sonata stealing lunches from volunteers, Aria starting altercations between residents, and you threatening and or insulting employees, the last of which got reported a few minutes ago."

"I do recall a situation where I may have expressed my irritation of our living situation." Adagio hummed as she tapped her chin, "But surely it wasn't enough to get reported?"

Gen shook her head. "Unfortunately it does, as do your previous reports. We have a strict policy here at OCSH. Residents have three strikes before they are reviewed for removal. After a three day period we then determine whether or not the resident being reviewed gets evicted."

"You're not implying what I think you are?" Adagio asked warily.

"I'm afraid so." Gen admitted. "After reviewing both you and your sister's record, I have no choice but to ask you three to leave OCSH, effective immediately."

"WHAT?!" Adagio shrieked in disbelief. "I thought the max amount of time for residency was 90 days! We've only been here for a month and now you're saying we have to leave?!"

"We do offer 90 days of shelter for residency." Gen began. "But shelters are sparse here in Outer Canterlot and the ones that exist usually are overflowing with people. In scenarios like this, we have to release some residents in order to make living space for those he need it more."

"Couldn't you find anyone else besides us? What makes us so special?" Aria asked.

"Believe it or not, I tried finding anyone besides you three." Gen confessed sadly. "Girls your age shouldn't be out in the cold, Canterlot winter. I was supposed to release you three weeks ago, but I overlooked those reports and opted to make sure you three stay here as long as possible. Eventually, your 'ahem'....quirks...couldn't be ignored any longer and I needed to make a rotation soon, otherwise I risked getting this place shut down."

Gen hung her head down sadly, her heart filled with shame from 'evicting' teenage girls. She had never been in a situation where high school students came into the shelter asking for a place to stay, and it pained her to see such a thing. Many of her coworkers had looked at her strangely when she had turned a blind eye to the girls' antics and some actually quit after a few days of dealing with them. Eventually she knew that she was going to have to release them, but she didn't want it to be on such terms.

Adagio stood still, making sure not to utter a single sound as she attempted to solve her predicament. Eventually she sighed, realizing that such a predicament couldn't be solved in seconds without her magical influence.

"Fine." Adagio said suddenly. She then began to walk towards the exit. "Aria go get Sonata. We're leaving."

"So we're not going to make our case? We're just going to give up?" Aria questioned incredulously.

Adagio made no effort to reply and kept walking towards the exit. Seeing that her leader's decision had been made, Aria called out for her blue companion.

"HEY SONATA WE'RE LEAVING!"

"Hold on! I'm almost there!"

Sonata came down from the steps, barely managing to hold the stack of pillows and blankets that were in her arms. She then dropped the stack of items in front of Aria's feet, slightly panting from the effort.

"*pant* *pant* O.K. Now what were you saying?" She asked.

"We're leaving." Aria replied moving towards where her leader had left. "Apparently we're being kicked out."

"Really?! But I just finished getting all of this stuff down here!" Sonata whined before following the pig-tailed teen.

Generous Heart watched as the three sirens disappeared from the exit, then with a sigh, she went back to work.

The outside weather made its presence known as soon as the Dazzlings stepped out of the building. All around people were walking wearing scarves, gloves and heavy winter coats to protect them from the frosty wind. All the Dazzlings had for clothes were the hoodies they'd purchased before they enrolled into Canterlot High. Unfortunately, the hoodies proved to be abysmal when it came to protecting them from the cold, as each siren quickly found themselves shivering ever time the wind wound up.

As soon as they set foot outside of the shelter, the Dazzlings immediately wished that they could go back inside. Although the shelter was cramped and the food quality was at times dubious, sleeping outside in the cold weather wasn't appealing in the slightest. They tried to stay inside of stores and shopping districts, but pretty soon all of the stores closed, and thus, they were forced to exit for the night.

With no options left, Adagio led her troupe next to the side of a pizza store that was still open. She sat down next to a ventilation duct, slightly warming herself from the building's fumes.

"T-this is it." Aria stammered, shivering from the unforgiving winds. "W-We're going to die out here cold and powerless thanks to that Shimmer bitch."

Adagio shook her head. "D-Don't be so fast to give up. We're sirens, we've dealt with colder waters than any wind this world has to offer. T-This is just a minor setback."

"A minor hundred-year setback more like it." Aria grumbled.

"I want to go home..." Sonata murmured, her voice quavering.

She tucked her knees under her hoodie, desperately trying to keep herself warm. Sonata was never a big fan of the cold and preferred to spend her time in warm waters. Staying outside in the cold only served to fuel her dislike of the cold weather, and reminded her of just how much she had lost since being banished into the human world. What made it worse was that this time she just couldn't sing away her problems.

Presently, she felt a discomfort in her lower body as the weight of digested food moved down from her intestines.

"I gotta go to the bathroom!" Sonata exclaimed, shooting up from her spot while clutching her stomach.

"I don't see why you feel the need to tell us." Aria snapped.

Sonata shook her head vigorously. "No! I mean I gotta go RIGHT NOW! I don't think they cooked that soup enough!"

Aria rolled her eyes. "Figures. That's what you get from eating that slop earlier."

"Just go inside and ask to use the restroom Sonata." Adagio advised before tucking her knees under her hoodie. "Be quick though, I don't know when the store closes...."

Adagio looked up only to find that Sonata was nowhere in sight.

Sonata barreled inside the store, desperately trying to reach its restrooms. Before she could reach the restroom, she stopped and inhaled the shop's aroma. The smell of pizza still permeated strongly in the air, even during the late hours of the night. Sonata wondered why the shop was still open. There wasn't that many people walking around the street moving towards the parlor. There wasn't that many people inside the store either. In fact, the only people inside the shop were two boys and one girl sitting down waiting for the baker to take their order.

Before she got lost in her thoughts, her stomach groaned in agitation, reminding her of what she originally came inside for. Wincing from internal agitation, she reached for the handle to the restroom...only for it resist turning.

"Hey!"

Sonata jumped and turned around. A short, hairy man was glaring daggers in her direction. He had a rolling pin pointed at her chest in

one hand while his other hand was pointed towards a sign outside the entrance.

"Did you not read the sign outside?!" he barked, "The restrooms are for paying customers only!"

"I'm sorry!" Sonata whined. "I-I'll buy something when I come out, but I gotta use your restroom!"

The baker sighed. "Alright kid which one?"

"Number t-"

"OK say no more!" He interrupted not wanting to hear any further, He then came from behind the counter and unlocked the restroom door. "I don't want to clean up your mess. Just hurry up and go, but I better see you at the register and not on your way out!"

Sonata had rushed inside the bathroom the moment the baker had said "O.K."

"Teenagers." He muttered before focusing his attention on the three teens waiting in the corner, one girl with red hair and off-white skin and two boys. "Sorry bout' that, I had to deal with some bum trying to use my facilities without paying. Anyways what can I get you for?" He asked approaching the girl.

She rubbed her chin, scanning the menu while her two male companions waited for her to place an order. "We'll take the supreme sized meat-lovers pizza with anchovies."

The baker hummed as her wrote down her order. "And for your drinks?"

She pointed a thumb at the tall male sitting next to her. He was bright yellow with light blue hair styled into a small fauxhawk.  "Pierce will have Moca-Cola and I'll take the Dr. Salt."

The baker glanced at the other boy sitting across from her. He had light blue skin with dark-blue hair that was slicked back, minus the one curl that hung in front of his face. It was obvious that the boy wasn't amused as his face was etched into a bored stare. "What about your other friend?"

"Apollo? Just get him a glass of water." She said ignoring the annoyed glare her friend was giving her.

"Can I get name for the order?"

"Celia."

The baker ripped the page containing their order off of his notepad. He then gave it to another baker behind the counter. "Alright, your order should be ready in twelve minutes. If you need anything ring the bell."

Apollo pinched the bridge of his nose, shooting a glare towards his female companion before lecturing her in another language. ("Care to explain why we're here instead of scouting this town for magic?")

Celia brushed a lock of red hair away from her face before raising an eyebrow. ("Maybe I want to see you do something other than stressing yourself out on a town with 'magical occurrences'. I mean they could be anything!")

("It wasn't just anything.") Apollo insisted. ("When a giant wall of light appears in the middle of the night, I might mistake it for some nightclub. However, when I see a GIGANTIC FUCKING ALICORN made of magic shooting rainbows out of nowhere, THAT'S when I start getting suspicious.")

("We've been searching for any sign of magic for months!") Celia groaned. ("Can't we just relax for one night?")

("I wish we could.") Apollo sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. ("We've already wasted enough time on this world as it is and pretty soon the magic that we still have will run out. Don't you want to get back to Equestria before that happens?") He looked over to his male companion for help. ("Pierce, please back me up here?")

Pierce rubbed the back of his neck nervously. ("I don't know chief, maybe one night of rest won't hurt.")

("Oh yeah!") Celia gushed. ("Big P is on my side! Two against one means you have to listen to us!")

Realizing that she wasn't about to let this go, Apollo sighed and slumped into his seat. ("Alright...alright, we'll take the night off just this once.") He conceded. ("Just be glad that I like this pizza food. They didn't have any of this back home.") He raised a finger to his chin in thought. ("Although the fish could be better here. Why does it taste so...artificial?")

Pierce shrugged his shoulders. ("Beats me, I still can't figure out why everyone is obsessed with their butt. With all the plastic surgery that goes on here, pretty soon I expect to see someone with butt cheeks for a face!")

The three teenagers burst out in laughter, filling the quiet store with the sounds of their amusement. Their laughter didn't last very long. At some point in their conversation Sonata had come out of the bathroom, finished with her deed. She had heard someone mention 'Equestria' while she was washing her hands, so she decided to take it upon herself and investigate! (As Adagio would sometimes do.)

At first, she was surprised to hear that them speaking in a language only spoken in Equestria. However, when the boy with dark blue hair had mentioned his group having magic, Sonata fell out of her booth and onto to the floor. When she got up, she noticed that she had gained the attention of her target.

"Can I help you?" He asked confused.

Sonata just stared at him, only to realize after I few seconds that she was being spoken to. Panicking, she reached over the table and picked up one of the salt shakers and stuffed it into the pocket of her hoodie.

"I-I um...I NEED TO BORROW THIS!" She yelled before sprinting out of the store, leaving the three teens wondering what exactly had just happened.

Meanwhile, in the back of the parlor, Adagio and Aria were busy trying not freeze to death. The wind had picked up outside causing the temperature to drop another ten degrees. It was so cold, the heat produced from exhaust vent that was warming the two sirens had gotten blown away with the wind.

"S-Stupid humans and their w-weak skin...I h-hate the c-cold." Aria stammered, shivering as another gust of wind passed through her.

"Y-You're not the only one." Adagio agreed, sniffing. She then looked at the store's entrance. "W-Where the hell is Sonata, it's been minutes since she went to the restroom."

As soon as Adagio mentioned Sonata, said siren came bursting out of the store. A frantic, but excited look was on her face and for some strange reason she was holding a salt shaker in her hoodie.

"T-There you are!" Adagio said getting up from her crouched position and walking towards the blue girl. "I thought I told you to be qui-"

"Dagi! Dagi! You'll never believe what I heard inside!" Sonata shouted, cutting Adagio off.

"Let me guess." Aria began. "You went inside and found out they're having a big sale on hot wings."

No! No! Even better!" Sonata exclaimed as she waved her arms.

Adagio pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled, trying to calm herself down. "We don't have time to play games Sonata, we need to find a way to escape this weather." She then looked at the back door of the parlor. "Hopefully you didn't stink up the restroom too bad, we might need to sneak inside for the night."

Sonata puffed her cheeks, frustrated at how Aria and Adagio were not listening to her. "Just listen to me! I heard three humans talking inside! They we-"

"Big whoop! You saw a couple of humans talking. Guess what? Everyone talks! You do it too! In fact, you do it too much!" Aria snapped. "If you have anything important to say, say it. Otherwise shut up and help us find a way inside, I can feel my pigtails freezing up

("I HEARD THEM TALKING ABOUT EQUESTRIA!")

The two elder sirens froze.

"Come again?" Adagio asked in disbelief.

("I said there are three people inside talking about Equestria".) Sonata said while still speaking in the foreign language. ("They even said that they have magic!")

It was rare that they spoke in that language. Years of being banished in a foreign world forced them to adapt and learn how to speak in the human's tongue. However, when one of them started speaking in their native language, the others knew that it was time to get serious. The fact that Sonata had opted to speak that way, meant that she was absolutely sure in what she was saying.

Sonata grabbed the elder sirens and placed their faces against the store window. ("Look!")

Adagio and Aria looked inside the pizza parlor. At first it seemed like the shop was empty, but after taking a closer look, sure enough three people were sitting at a booth conversing with each other. Aria placed her ear to the glass, trying to listen to what was going on inside.

~~~

("What the hell was that all about?")

("I wish I could tell you Celia, and I've seen earth ponies freak out less than that!")

("Don't even remind me. Remember that one pony village off the coast of Syronos? Scream-fest central that place.")

~~~

"S-So there still are other Equestrians stuck in this dump." Aria said as she tried to remove her ear from the cold window. After a few seconds of struggling, she managed to pry it free. She then turned toward Adagio. "Now that we know that Taco-breath was telling the truth, what's next?"

Adagio remained silent; finding magic in this world for her and the girls had turned out to be a snipe hunt, and the one time they did stumble across magic, they blew it and lost their own in return. If they were in Equestria, their gems would have regenerated two weeks after they had theirs destroyed. Unfortunately, they were still in the human world where naturally generated magic was an impossibility. Because of this, their gems had shown no sign of regenerating, and they were stuck waiting on a hopeless endeavor.

That is until now.

Ever since they had first arrived in the human world, Adagio had known that they weren't the only Equestrians running across the earth. She didn't tell Aria and Sonata, but the reason she forced them to feed off of the humans was to slowly build up strength so that one day they would be able to drain the Equestrian of their magic. Sure she had jumped the gun when she tried to take on the Rainbooms, but even when she failed, she knew that the Equestrian was still somewhere on the planet. Also, if the residual magic they had drained from the aftermath of its attack was as potent as it was then, she could only imagine how powerful it is now that there are three Equestrians.

Adagio smirked, she knew that her plan would come through all along, the only thing she needed to do now was get their magic back.

"Sonata." She said suddenly, startling the blue girl. "You didn't say anything to blow our chance, right?"

Sonata shook her head. "Nope. I kinda freaked out and stole their salt." She then started to rub her chin. "They might think I'm stupid now that I think about it."

"I would think that you're stupid just by looking at you." Aria quipped, earning a small kick to her shin courtesy of Sonata.

Adagio ignored her cohort' antics. She then began to walk towards the store's entrance. "Good, you didn't screw this up. Good job Sonata, now that we've found our target, let's move on with the plan. We have some people to greet."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Aria spluttered, confused. "When did we have a target? When did we make plan?"

"We didn't make a new plan Aria." Adagio replied, not even bothering to face the purple siren. "Canterlot High was an idea that was made up on the fly. Our plan has never changed, now follow me inside and wait for the signal."

With that being said, Adagio walked inside the pizza parlor making sure to put a swing into her hips as she walked. Sighing, Aria followed after her with Sonata trailing behind.

Back inside the store, Celia was getting impatient. When she made the idea to eat out, she didn't consider how long she would have to wait for her food to be made. Now that she had made the order, she was starting to grow impatient, fidgeting and groaning loudly as she waited for her meal. Occasionally, she would get out of the booth and check behind the register to see how far along the pizza was going.

Naturally, this only served to annoy her friend sitting across from her.

("Please don't start Celia.") Apollo pleaded. ("You talked me into getting pizza even when I said no, but now you have the nerve to complain?!")

Celia ignored him and groaned even louder.

Pierce looked at the clock hanging on the wall. Fifteen minutes had passed from when they made their order.

("The baker said the pizza will be done in twenty minutes, and that was fifteen minutes ago.") Pierce said pointing at the clock. ("I'm pretty sure they'll be done with our order soon.")

If Celia made any indication of hearing the large male, it wasn't obvious as she was too busy banging her head against the table.

Presently, the bell hanging over the door jingled, alerting everyone inside the shop of new customers. Apollo leaned over in his seat to see who was entering the shop, but frowned once he realized who came in. The weird ponytail girl that stole their salt had come back inside, except this time she was accompanied by two other girls, one yellow, the other purple. The purple girl with pigtails looked as if she wanted to be anywhere else while the yellow girl with the gigantic ponytail was looking around, as if searching for someone.

Apollo realized who that someone was once she caught him looking at her. A large smirk appeared on her face as she sauntered over to his table

("What's wrong?") Pierce asked, noticing the change in Apollo's demeanor.

"Don't look now, but that girl from earlier came back and brought friends." Apollo replied opting to speak in English as he watched the three girls approach their table. He sank slightly into his chair. "If we don't look, they'll go away and leave us alone."

"Aww, and I was going to ask you to show me a night around the town..."

Apollo flinched and jerked around in his seat, coming face to face with the girl with huge hair. She wore a large smirk and was looking at him expectantly.

"Excuse me?" He asked, more in confusion than disbelief.

"Why thank you." She said before hip-checking the confused male to the end of the booth.

She then took a seat next to empty spot, the purple girl taking a seat next to her. The blue girl squeezed in between Pierce and Celia and placed the salt shaker from earlier on the table, much to the confusion of the other two occupants.

"It always so hard to find seats in stores like these." The yellow girl said, brushing her humongous hair out of her face and into Apollo's. She then placed a hand on his shoulder and began to give it a massage. "I'm just glad I was able to get one next to a handsome face like yours."

She purred in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice.

Apollo smacked her hand off his shoulder.

"Don't touch me." He snapped coldly.

"How could you be so heartless?" The girl whined, pouting dramatically while pressing her body against the already agitated male. "Is it a crime for a girl to approach a male?"

The blue girl giggled while the purple girl rolled her eyes, annoyed by her cohort's melodramatic display. Celia and Pierce only stared as they tried to make sense of the situation.

 Apollo on the other hand, didn't buy any of it.

"You obviously had some reason to come here other than to flirt." He said as he pushed the girl away. "And don't try to play innocent, I saw you three watching us from outside. Who are you and what do you want?"

The yellow girl's eyes widened by a small amount before settling back into a half lidded gaze.

"Well aren't you the observant one." She mused, smirking once again. "Very quick to the point, I admire that in someone. If you must know, my name is Adagio Dazzle and these are my...sisters, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk." She said as she gestured to the purple girl and blue girl respectively. “We like to call ourselves the Dazzlings.”

Aria grunted, while Sonata just waved. She then pointed to the salt shaker on the table.

"I brought back the salt!”

Apollo took a glance at the item before looking at the blue girl in disbelief. He then turned toward her purple companion for confirmation.

“Just ignore her.” Aria said, causing her partner to stick out her tongue in return.

“Noted.”

Suddenly, Celia slammed a hand against the table and gave the Dazzling leader a menacing stare.

“Great! Now that we know who you are, you can tell us what you want and LEAVE!”

“Nah, I think we’re good where we are.” Aria taunted, drawing the redhead’s ire.

Adagio merely stared, unfazed by Celia’s attempt at intimidating them into leaving. If she wanted them to go away, she was going to have to do more than just raising her voice.

“We’ll leave if you want us to.” Adagio began. “However, I find it quite unfair that we introduce ourselves without getting to know your names in return. Conversation is a two-way street after all.”

“Calm down Celia.” Apollo ordered, trying to get the girl to sit down. After a few seconds, she sat back down in her seat, her eyes still locked onto Aria.

Apollo shook his head, disappointed by Celia’s lack of self-control. He sighed, before returning his attention on the girl sitting next to him.

“Very well, I am Apollo Bolt.” He said before looking at his companion across the table. “The two sitting across from you are Cloud Pierce and Celia Shine.”

Pierce nodded his head in acknowledgement while Celia huffed in response. She was still caught up in the small staring contest she was having with Aria.

“Now that introductions are over, feel free to explain why you insist on bothering us.” Apollo said, brushing Adagio’s copious amounts hair away from his face. “And don’t try to skirt around the subject like you’ve been doing these past minutes.”

“Well since you asked so nicely, my sisters and I have been looking for you three for quite some time.” Adagio began. “Word on the street is that you three possess some sort of supernatural ability that some might describe being...’magical’.”

"It's strange that three teenagers would be out this late on a school night?" Aria added while she inspected her

"Maybe they're trying to tell each other secrets." Sonata chimed in. "Magic secrets."

Adagio watched for any signs of nervousness, only to be disappointed when all three of the teens remain poker face not showing any signs of

“I don’t know what streets you’ve been on, but I can assure that none of us have anything like that.” Pierce affirmed.

“Besides, everyone knows there’s no such thing as magic.” Celia added.

Adagio frowned, if she was going to get anything out of these three, she was going to have to bait them into revealing it themselves. She began thinking of ways to break their guard, when an opportunity in the form of a baker presented itself.

“What a shame. I thought you would know something about the weird light shows that happened over at Canterlot High.” Adagio mused.

Apollo crossed his arms. “Well we don’t, so you can leave now. Our order is ready and I don’t want to have to eat pizza covered in hair.”

The baker walked up to their booth, holding a large pizza on top of a large platter. “Sorry about the-- Hey! What are you three doing here! I didn’t get any orders from you!”

Adagio put on her best innocent look and batted her eyes. “I apologize for the inconvenience, I just wanted to-”

“I DON’T CARE!” He interrupted. He pointed a chubby finger to the entrance. “Do kids not read signs anymore? The only people that are allowed to lounge around in here are paying customers! You didn’t order anything girlie, so scram!”

Adagio sighed, before motioning Aria to move out of the booth.

“C’mon Sonata, we didn’t find what we needed.” Adagio said, feigning sadness.

Sonata looked devastated. “But I didn’t even get my slice yet!”

“Too bad, this guy said we can’t do anything unless we pay up. Freakin’ communist.” Aria growled.

“Yeah? Well this communist wants you out of his shop!” The baker yelled.

Adagio turned around, making sure that she was facing Apollo. “Sorry that we had to depart like this, I really wanted to get to know you three better…”

Apollo said nothing and opted to ignore her.

(...It’s not every day I come across someone who knows about Equestrian magic.)

Soda was sprayed everywhere as Celia spat-take all over Pierce. Pierce might have been annoyed if he wasn’t too busy gaping his mouth from Adagio’s revelation while Apollo was dumbfounded. The only people that spoke that language were other Equestrians, which meant…

His eyes opened wide in surprise.

Adagio was soaking in their responses. Any second now they would fall for her bait.

‘First the hook...’

The baker began to force the three girls out the shop.  “Alright, out you go! I don’t need customers coming in hearing you talking nonsense!”

“WAIT!”

‘...Then the line...’

The baker stopped and looked back inside. Apollo had gotten out of his booth and was currently walking towards him.

“Don’t kick them out, they’re with us.”

Adagio smirked behind the baker’s back, before sharing a look between Aria and Sonata. Even without magic, they still could make people do what they want with little effort on their part.

‘Sinker.’