The sun had long since been setting on the town of Canterlot, and all around there were signs of people closing up shop and getting ready to head on home. Students were saying goodbye to their friends, Sugar Cube Corner was closing up, and the streets were becoming more and more empty as time went on. There was, in all of this, one place where any real kind of activity was going on, and that was the main library of Canterlot High. There, Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, was hard at work, going over the many notes she'd written since arriving in this world. She had an important task ahead of her, and knew she could not afford any distractions right now. Her friends, the five humans who had so closely resembled her pony friends from back home, had, with the help of her one-time rival Sunset Shimmer, called upon her to help them. A trio of girls, known as the Dazzlings, were spreading strife all throughout the school, and it was her duty to try and stop them. Twilight, knowing full well the true identity of the girls in question, had wasted no time, and was hard at word trying to find a spell to defeat them. So focused was she that all of her friends, even Spike, had left her for the time being, giving her all the space she needed to get on with her research. Given the stressed look on her face, however, it didn't seem like everything was going according to plan.
"Ugh! I've got to focus! The girls are depending on me and I can't let them down!"
She buckled down, writing note after note of magical theory upon the sheets of paper before her. Over the course of her life, she had learned many important things about magic, having accomplished more than most would in their entire lifetimes. And yet, this one task, thinking up a new spell to counter that of the Sirens, seemed more troublesome than all of it. Needless to say, the difficulty of the matter was getting to her, as evidenced by the sweat pouring down her brow. Unfortunately, her situation was about to get worse, as she then felt a tapping on her shoulder. Although she let out a brief gasp of shock, she soon calmed down when she turned and saw none other than this world's Cheerilee, who was looking to her with a somewhat sympathetic look.
"Sorry to spook you, dear."
Gathering her notes back into order, Twilight let out a nervous chuckle at that.
"Oh! It's nothing, Miss Cheerilee. Just...you caught me by surprise."
The young teacher nodded at that before looking a bit uneasy about something.
"I hate to have to say this to you, Twilight, but..."
She didn't finish, but instead turned and looked up to a nearby clock on the wall. Twilight joined her in staring at the thing, and only now did she realise what the time was. It immediately dawned on her that it was probably time for the library to close, and Cheerilee probably wasn't going to be able to leave until the place was devoid of students and properly locked up. Realising this, Twilight gave an understanding smile before gathering her notes in her hands and getting up from her desk.
"Say no more. I should actually have left by now anyway."
Cheerilee smiled and nodded at that, waiting patiently as Twilight finished getting her things together before giving a final nod to her, after which she began to make her way out of the library. Once out, she looked over her shoulder as Cheerilee locked the place up, sighing in the knowledge that she'd have to find someplace else to carry on with her research. So, she simply began to walk down the hallways, heading straight for the direction of the main door out of the school. The light was becoming somewhat orange with the setting of the sun, and Twilight upped her pace so she could get to her friends before it became truly dark. However, as she was making her way down the last stretch of the halls, she stopped as a familiar voice began to call out to her.
"Twilight!"
Immediately, the young princess stopped, and spun around as she looked down the hall she came form with a confused look upon her face.
"...Pinkie?"
There was a silence for a while before the voice called out again.
"Twilight! You gotta come over here!"
Naturally, Twilight began to walk off in the direction of the voice, wanting to meet up with her human friend a great deal. However, as she walked along, there was nobody there. What was going on? Was Pinkie playing some sort of hide-and-seek game with her? If so, it was a poor time to be doing it. Even so, the voice continued to call to her.
"This way! On your left!"
Sure enough, there was a turning on her left as she walked onwards, and as she turned into it, she eventually came upon a smaller inlet of the hall, which led to a single door, which at this time was already slightly ajar. As the young girl approached it, she began to feel something in the pit of her stomach. It was a worrying feeling, like the kind of foreboding fear one gets when they know they're approaching the edge of a cliff, about to fall. But there was no reason for this, was there? After all, this was Pinkie she was going to. Her friend. And if her friend wanted her to come to her, then Twilight would do just that. So, she walked up to the door, reaching up and opening it with her hand. Inside, there was nothing but darkness, causing her to squint her eyes a little.
"Pinkie? Are you in there?" she called.
"Yeah! You've gotta come in here! There's something really important I need to tell you!"
Twilight raised her eyebrow at that, feeling that worrisome sensation again, but even so, continued to walk through the door in earnest. She continued to squint her eyes, trying hard to see her friend in the gloom. But, as she reached outwards, she found, to her surprise, that all she could feel was what was unmistakeably a wall on the other side, showing just how small this room must have been. She turned, thinking to herself that she might have passed Pinkie on the way in. And it was here that a look of terror crossed her face. For in the darkness of this room, she saw something; a small red glow. And then another one flared up nearby, and then finally, a third, right in-between the first two. Realisation dawned on the young princess as she realised what was going on, which deepened further when, all of a sudden, the lights came on. After raising her hand to shield her eyes from this sudden onset of light, Twilight's eyes widened with fear as she saw, just as she'd suspected, that they were here. The Dazzlings. Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. The Sirens of ancient Equestria, and the enemies of her and her friends. Adagio was standing beside the door, her hand gently pushing against it until it until it closed shut, with her face bearing a devilish smirk.
"So glad you could join us, Princess."
Immediately, Twilight rushed forward, trying to get to the door again, but it was too late, for Aria and Sonata then sprung into action, with the former grabbing onto her left arm while the latter grabbed her right. With an almighty push, they forced her against the wall, and no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't get out of their grip. At first, she considered screaming for help, but that plan soon faded from her mind when she realised, to her fear, that at this time on day there would be nobody left in the school. Nevertheless, she kept trying to break free, and through her attempts, she glared angrily at Adagio.
"What...WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH PINKIE?!"
The Siren leader gave a spine-chilling chuckle at that before raising a single finger and placing it upon the red gem of her pendant. Twilight watched as this caused the thing to start glowing brightly again, after which, Adagio began to speak. And here, Twilight looked on with shock as she discovered that Adagio was not speaking with her own voice, but rather a familiar and high-pitched one that the princess knew all too well.
"Twilight! You gotta come over here! It's super-duper important!"
As Adagio lowered her finger, the other two gave out a dark laugh, all while Twilight shook her head, aghast at what was happening. How could she have been so foolish? She was a fly caught in the web of a spider, and now, her mind raced with all sorts of terrible scenarios for what her enemies might have planned for her. Adagio, meanwhile, cleared her throat a little, getting herself back into her regular voice before giving a sly smile.
"I must say, Princess, I've rarely seen somebody put so much effort into trying to undo us. You should be commended...even if your efforts are going to come to an end."
Twilight, in a bid to not show any fear to her adversary, narrowed her eyes at the Siren leader.
"What do you want?"
But Adagio merely raised an eyebrow at that.
"Isn't it obvious? My sisters and I are fully aware that you pose a...significant obstacle to our goals in this world. Obviously, we can't have that, so..."
Slowly, a smirk reformed on the girl's lips.
"...we've decided to remove you as a threat."
A chill went down Twilights' spine after hearing that, and at long last, she showed a degree of fear in her eyes. Like the predator she was, Adagio caught this immediately, and took a step forward, raising her hand and gently holding onto Twilight's chin.
"Oh, there's no need for fear, little princess. We're not going to hurt you..."
Slowly, the Siren's eyes drifted downwards, and so did her hand, and she took a single finger and placed it on Twilight's chin before gracefully trailing down until it rested upon the girl's bare neck.
"...we're just going to, shall we say...bring you into the fold?"
Upon hearing that, Twilight renewed her efforts to break free, but Aria and Sonata's hold was still too strong for her. Through her efforts, she glared angrily at their leader as she spoke.
"I'll never join you! You think I'll just abandon my friends?! You're crazy if you think I'll ever do that!"
But Adagio did not seem concerned in the slightest, and placed a hand on the side of Twilight's face, caressing it slightly as she spoke to her in a warm tone.
"To be honest, my dear...your willingness isn't really needed here."
Confusion crossed Twilight's face as she heard that, which grew even more when she noticed that Adagio gave a look to both Aria and Sonata, nodding to them, after which they nodded back with smirks of their own. The young princess had no idea what was going on, but sadly for her, she soon got an answer. For moments later, the Dazzlings’ leader reached into her pocket and pulled out a small object, and when Twilight got a good look at it, her eyes widened even more. It was a pendant, exactly like the ones worn by the Sirens. The magical artefact that allowed them to manipulate those around them and feed off the magic that caused. Adagio, holding up the thing in earnest, smiled to herself as she kept her eyes on the pulsating red gem at its centre.
"You have no idea how much negative energy we had to scrounge together to make this, little princess. But after tonight, it'll all be worth it."
Twilight looked at the pendant with horror, now knowing exactly what the Sirens had in mind for her. But, a mere instant later, she turned as Aria let out a brief cackle.
"We've been a trio for a long time. Might be a nice change of pace for us to be a quartet."
After that, Twilight turned as Sonata added her voice to the mix.
"For sure! I mean, you have this whole "nerdy girl" thing going on, but a little time like us and you'll be enchanting others with the best of them!"
Twilight's head snapped in Adagio's direction, watching as she walked forward, with a malicious smile plastered on her face. The young princess drifted her eyes down to the pendant, noticing that it's glow was becoming brighter and brighter, as if sensing it's new host, longing to be a part of her. Twilight struggled further, but she knew now that it was hopeless. She wasn't going anywhere. With her options limited, she looked up to Adagio, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Please! Don't do this! I don't want to turn against my friends! I...I don't want to be like you!"
But Adagio merely looked to her as a predator would look at her prey, and smirked further as she brought the pendant within an inch of Twilight's exposed neck.
"Oh, there's no need to fret, little one. At least...not after the change."
With one final motion, Adagio brought the pendant to Twilight's neck, securing it to her with a single movement of her hands. Now stepping back from her, she watched as the dark magic began to seep into her captive, the red glow of the crustal growing ever brighter as it began to fuse with the girl, becoming part of her body, her soul, her very essence. Twilight struggled and grunted, fighting against the corrupting influence that now spread through her like a virus, though it was a fast-losing battle, and tears flowed down her cheeks as a result. She could feel the changes this thing was causing in her, and they weren't good. She began to feel something strange, something new. It was a hunger, one that went to the very core of her being. A hunger for the strife and conflict between others, and the magic that was born from it. And that brought about new feelings in her. Ambition, and a desire for control over others. This dark magic was changing her very being, and as it did, Aria and Sonata held on tight, keeping her from pulling the amulet off until the change was complete. Adagio, meanwhile, watched her with an almost seductive look, watching her struggle against this great change that was happening to her. In the end, the struggling stopped, and slowly, the young princess raised her head, wherein Adagio saw her eyes, and a familiar green tint to them. Smirking, the Siren leader placed a hand on her hip as she spoke to the girl with confidence.
"Don't worry, Twilight...you'll love being adored. Believe me...I know I do."
