Legacies

A week had passed since the events of Moonlight's terrifying encounters with Sombra; but the hype of the whole situation was yet to end. Videos on social media had gained millions of views, pictures of the legacies and their parents facing Sombra were on the cover of every newspaper, and multiple ponies had requested interviews with Moonlight.

Moonlight didn't have a chance to visit the library and look for the book. There were way too many suspicious ponies around. She decided to wait till all the hype died down. She didn't see Sombra in any more of her dreams either, and Violet was competing in a famous bat-pony competition so Moonlight didn't want to disturb her.

The first week was simple: teachers introduced them to the subjects, and some required testing into. Moonlight was in the highest level for every class. She checked her phone: 7:45. She might as well start making her way to homeroom. The student who was arriving late (for unknown reasons) was coming today.

Moonlight slipped into her seat, taking out another spell book to read before homeroom started. 10 minutes later, the new student arrived. Her coat was a pale turquoise and a silver treble clef with bursts of magic surrounding was her cutie mark. Her mane was curly, with a few braids in it, and was the color of the sea. The young mare's eyes were a beautiful silver, matching a streak of her hair. Moonlight then spotted a pendant around her neck, a red sparkling jewel. She was a siren. Or at least half siren, Moonlight thought to herself when spotting the girl's unicorn horn.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" Their homeroom teacher Onyx Arrow asked her.

As soon as the young mare opened her mouth to speak, everyone fell under her spell.

Marella Star looked at the sea of students nervously. She was worried that they would't accept her for being half-siren. It was a blessing and a curse. When she sang, or even spoke, ponies would be more inclined to hang out with her, or want to be her friend. But she knew they only wanted to because she possessed that power. No one truly loved her for who she was, except for her parents and sister. She reminded herself to not put any power into her voice.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" Onyx Arrow asked her.

"Um....." Don't let fear control you, she told herself. "Ok. My name is Marella Star," already, most of the students were captivated. "I moved to Applewood when I was 6, and have lived there since. I have a younger sister. I'm really into singing and musical theater, but I also enjoy school. My favorite subjects are science and magic."

The majority of students seemed very interested, and already looked like they wanted to hang out with her. An empty desk in the middle front row was hers. A few students tsked disdainfully when they saw who was seated on either side of her. To her left was a dark grey young stallion with red eyes. Marella had seen pictures of him on Equestria Today. He was the son of King Sombra. Marella gulped.

To her right was a beautiful bat-pony alicorn. Marella was pretty sure her name was Moonlight. She was the young mare who had thrown a knife at a student. Moonlight's cold, calculating eyes fixed on her, analyzing her. Those teal eyes seemed to see right through her. They didn't have the mildly glazed over, dreamy look. Which meant....she was powerful. And neither did the boy on her left, either. Looking at the rest of the students, Marella had a feeling she was sitting right in between the most unpopular students in the school.

"Hi, I'm Moonlight Dusk," Moonlight said, and extended her hoof. Marella shook it.

Soon enough, the quick class was over, and they went to their first period. On their way, an orange young mare with red frizzy hair bounded up to her. "Hi! I'm Apple Twister! It's nice to meet you. You're so pretty, by the way. I know I'm talking a lot but I hope you don't mind. I know everything about everybody! Is there anyone you would like to know about?"

Marella was slightly stunned. At least Apple Twister was trying to reach out. Marella took this chance. "Uh, can you tell me about those two ponies?" Marella gestured to Moonlight Dusk and the grey pony next to her. Marella noticed that the crowd visibly parted around them.

"Of course! The one on the left is Shadow Obsidian. He's the son of King Sombra, which you probably already know. He's really good at magic, and some ponies say he uses dark magic. He can grow those creepy black crystals. He was one of the few students that brought weapons into the school. He brought a spear and crossbow. Shadow spends all his free time in the library reading. He also really likes Moonlight. Don't hang out with him! It will destroy your reputation, and he's dangerous," Apple Twister said.

"Thanks. What about Moonlight?" Marella inquired.

"Moonlight Dusk. She's one of the legacies, who are Equestria's next generation of royalty. She is half bat-pony, half alicorn. Some people say she sucks blood and sleeps in a coffin, though that's only a rumor. She's amazing at magic, and her knife-throwing skills are deadly. She threw a knife at another student a week ago. She's also really flexible and does martial arts. She can turn anything into a weapon. But she's also a good speechwriter, if you watch her speeches on PonyTube. She can sway a crowd with her words. She is a force to be reckoned with," Apple Twister then turned right, looking back at Marella. "Bye!"

The rest of the classes were a daze. Magic, which she had with Moonlight and Shadow. Science, which she had with one of the legacies named Diamond. Math, with another legacy who's name was Illusion. And then came music.

Every student was required to choose an art class. Marella chose singing. Even though she disliked the fact that students would be mesmerized by her voice, she still wouldn't deny herself the pleasure of singing. They were already preparing for the Winter Choral Concert. After learning the songs, they still had time left over.

Ms. Arietta Blossom, the music teacher, asked Marella "I heard you have the voice of an angel. Can you sing for us?" Marella knew she had no choice. So she took a deep breath, and sang a well-known siren song. The music flowed from her, and she and the melody were one. As she ended the song, everyone burst into applause. As she made her way to lunch, a dozen ponies came up to her, all wanting to sit with her at lunch. Even Illusion, who wasn't in the singing class, winked at her. She blushed, winking back.

Marella then realized that she had made herself the most popular girl in the school. There would be a few people who would truly want to be her friend. There were 80 students after all. But then she saw an aqua-colored pony glaring at her. She remembered that her name was Aqua Marina. Aqua Marina was flanked by three other ponies named Cinnamon Twirl, Yukio Ice, and Aspen Ice. They backed Marella up against the wall. "This is my school. You think you're better than the rest of us, don't you-" Aqua started.

"She kind of is," Illusion muttered.

"SHUT UP!" Aqua shrieked and slapped him across the face. Illusion didn't want to hit her back. It took a lot to get him out of control, and when he did, he caused chaos. "You think that you can just come in and take whatever you want, that you're entitled, that you can cheat your way to the top. Well, I am at the top. Don't forget your place, siren," Aqua sneered, spitting the last word out like it was trash.

"I don't want any of this! I wasn't going to even-" Marella yelled, her voice coming out much higher and much timider than she intended it to.

"Don't try to use your siren powers on me, you liar," Aqua retorted and shot a spell at her. Marella didn't have the chance to dodge as she was cornered, and she screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, her forehoof crunching under her in a sickening crunch. A weak cry escaped her mouth, and tears blurred her vision. Cinnamon and Aspen smirked. Yukio ran off.

"Aqua, what are you doing?! Stop this now! Just leave her alone!" Diamond Rose gasped, confronting Aqua.

Meanwhile, Illusion was checking Marella's foreleg. "It's going to be ok, sea goddess. Can I call you that? Hey, you'll be alright. It's broken, but not too badly. Just chill, I'm here for you," Marella tried not to blush. Illusion was so funny, so nice, was now coming to her aid. He was a perfect prince charming.

"What are you gonna do if I disobey you, princess?" Aqua said mockingly, challenging Diamond Rose. Aqua knew Diamond was too kindhearted to kill a fly.

By now, Moonlight and Shadow were approaching. Moonlight exchanged looks with Diamond. Diamond knew she didn't have the guts to fight Aqua if she had to, and couldn't hurt a soul. Get the teachers now! Moonlight mouthed to her, and stepped in.

"Your mother, belongs in Tartarus. You do too. But we showed her mercy. So I'll do the same. Get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness," Aqua kicked her. Illusion had never seen someone so cruel. Yes, his cousin was bloodthristy and a savage, and could go ballistic, but still had good intentions. Everybody he met was crazy!

"Already making bets on who'll end up in Tartarus first, are you? Quite pathetic, if I do say so myself. Such a waste of potential, Aqua Marina. If we had met under different circumstances, and if you had not been brainwashed by society, I'm sure we would've been good friends," Moonlight hissed, and Marella squeaked as she saw her fangs. Illusion wasn't sure whether he should help, or if he should stay out of it. As much as he hated what Aqua was doing, he didn't want to end up causing even more trouble. If he got out of control, he could do some serious damage.

"You gonna play hero? Well, tartarus spawn-" Aqua continued, and shot a huge blast of magic at Moonlight.

Moonlight had three faces. Moonlight, Crazy Moonlight, and Crazier Moonlight. Moonlight was replaced by Crazier Moonlight. She flew/leaped at Aqua.

"Moonlight! Chill! Stay out of this! Please!" Illusion strained, using his magic to restrain Moonlight temporarily so her reason would come back, and so she didn't actually slit Aqua's throat. Moonlight hissed and thrashed for 3 seconds, before regaining her reason and composure.

"Illusion! Let go of me! LET GO OF ME! I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO GET HURT! We have to stop Aqua!" Moonlight screamed, and Illusion saw how desperate she was. She was also afraid. Maybe fear really was more powerful than love. Illusion held on. He knew if he let go, she would go back to Crazier Moonlight.

"Get off of her!" Illusion grunted as he felt the weight of a muscular young stallion on him, and released his grip just a bit on her. Oh no. He had failed.

Shadow may have had ulterior motives for being Moonlight's friend at the beginning, but had grown to like her. And, he hated seeing her in pain. So he did what he had to do. He had to help her. Shadow lunged on Illusion, who let go of Moonlight. Illusion then scowled at him, and he scowled back. As a reaction to his extreme emotions, black crystals sprang from the ground, separating the fighters from the bystanders. He, Illusion, Moonlight, Marella, Aqua, Cinnamon and Aspen were all trapped in a crystal cage.

Illusion shot gold magic at him, but he dodged, sending a blast over to Illusion. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Moonlight taking on Aqua and her minions. Marella, who's foreleg was wounded, was aiding Moonlight from the corner. Her silver blast of magic temporarily distracted Cinnamon, so Moonlight threw a shard of broken glass (acting as a knife) at Cinnamon, which surprisingly worked and pinned her to the wall by her uniform collar. Cinnamon shot a spell at Moonlight, but she whipped out a compact mirror and reflected the spell. Paired with all of Moonlight's adrenaline, the spell hit Cinnamon twice as hard and she hung limply from the wall, coughing up blood.

Next, Moonlight and Marella took on Aspen (while fighting Aqua Marina). She aided from the sidelines, shooting spells at Aspen and Aqua, while Moonlight faced them. But, Aspen decided to shoot a spell at Marella, who passed out. Shadow decided to come over and aid Moonlight, while Illusion went back to put up a shield around Marella so she didn't get hurt.

Shadow and Moonlight acted as one. Shadow had never seen someone so good at working with him. They dodged here and ran there, both agreeing to tire them out. Why weren't the teachers here yet? Then, while he pinned down Aqua, Moonlight took Aspen, determined to end this. She did some shadowbending, which didn't go as she planned. Luckily, she managed to make the shadows surround Aspen and blind him, while she shot a stun spell at him.

Marella had woken up with the help of Illusion. She noticed that there were a few students helping Aqua through the crystal bars, so she and Illusion put up a shield together. Marella was saving her energy for the Siren's Shriek, just in case she had to use it.

Meanwhile, Moonlight walked over to Aqua Marina, bloodied and beaten on the marble floor. "Aqua Marina," Moonlight hissed with vengeance, "Your head would look great on a spike, do you realized that? So, it's about time someone finished the job. We can't have a racist bigot infecting the rest of Equestria. And you know what I'm going to say. I WILL NOT STOP TILL I HAVE YOUR BLOOD ON MY HOOVES!" Moonlight lunged on to Aqua, who screamed, and they fought. Moonlight's bat-pony instincts came back completely, and she clawed at Aqua's neck, determined to get her blood. Just as she bit into her neck, Illusion dragged her off using magic. She hissed at him, enraged. Illusion and Shadow looked at each other, and Shadow reluctantly helped Illusion pull her off.

"Moonlight, stop! Remember who you are!" Illusion tried to yell, but it wasn't working. Aqua was bleeding out, and no one saw the teachers standing behind the bars.

Marella knew there was only one way to break this up. She screamed the Siren's Shriek full volume. Everyone covered their ears in pain, but Moonlight was still crazy. Marella took it up another octave, and a few students went deaf from the noise. Moonlight's reason came back, and she embraced Illusion and Shadow at the same time, tears streaming down her face. She used the pain as an alerter, and managed to gather the shadows to tap Marella on the shoulder, telling her through the shadows that was enough. She didn't want there to be anymore wounded ponies. But Marella didn't think that's what she meant.

Dean Sapphire stepped in, shooting a heavily powerful spell across the room, the force sending everyone crashing to the ground. She looked at Marella, Shadow, Moonlight and Illusion. "All of you will be severely punished." The spell had knocked almost everyone out, and weakened everyone. A few teachers used magic to send students back to their rooms, while others hurriedly sent emails to the parents. The school nurses took Cinnamon, Aspen, and Aqua.

They were all carried/dragged away by security in different directions. Moonlight didn't have the energy to even struggle a tiny bit. She was horrified at what she had tried to do. She couldn't let her bat-pony side take over again. She, Illusion, Shadow, and Marella met eyes. They all knew that whatever they had to go through, they would be in it together. The hypnotic stare of the silver-eyed siren was the last thing Moonlight saw before passing out....