Crystal Prepatory Academy. The longsworn rival to Canterlot Highschool, and in their eyes, their superiors in all fields. Here, only the gifted are allowed entry, wether that is by actual capability or the gift of being born rich and influental is rather irrelevant to the school. The standards are high, the staff well-paid, the equipement top-notch and the students the worst. If Canterlot High is a cage filled with hormonal monkeys, then Crystal Prep is a gold-plated tank with narcissistic sharks.

Aria knew that they were looking at her, she just didn’t care. She allowed herself to bask in the attention the students were giving her. Only some were irritated at the presence of someone who obviously didn’t belong on these grounds, but more were curious, surprised to the utmost to see her standing in front of the prestigious school, feet already on official school grounds.

She could not have looked more out of place here, with students exclusively in purple school uniform around her, gawking their eyes out. Her old grey trenchcoat was keeping her warm against the cold weather, but it was opened to allow all to see fiery orange jacket with yellow and red lining underneath. It was combined with matching pants that turned from red to white downwards. It had the result she had specifically bought them for: make her stand out in the dark purple this academy seemed to favor so much.

They also reminded her of Dawn, which was just one more reason to buy and keep them.

Every single member of this school cares for only one thing. That is, themselves. Weaknesses of others are to be exploited. Status is all, and everything is allowed so long as you can get away with it.

Nobody dared to stop her as she entered through the front doors, the students parting for her as if she was royalty. She could see all the expressions on their faces; she could hear all the whispers, asking who she was and why she was here. Some speculated she was a new student or the total opposite, an old graduate returning for a visit.

But they are only squabbling children, each trying to be the most popular and well-liked amongst its kindred. Compared to me, they are nothing. Shark pups, who do not realize that there are more important things in the sea than fame. And that there are things much nastier than them.

She stopped right in the middle of the foyer, turning in a circle once to let her eyes wander. As so much had changed, so much had stayed the same Aria thought as she closed her eyes. She had been here with her sisters, three or four decades ago. The biggest difference, aside from the now more advanced technology, had been the school’s attitude and with that the students. Of course, they had always been elitist and arrogant, which had made it such a lovely spot to be and feed. But nowadays, the student’s petty superiority complex and status obsession was focused much more inwards to their collegues.

Aria breathed in deeply once, then her mouth opened partway. All that were watching her only got confused by this strange display, it was because they could not hear like she could. She channeled the ancient magic deep in her, her crimson gem glowing brightly under multiple layers of fabric. It all was released through her vocal cords and out of her mouth, too high-pitched for anyone to pick up on, as ultrasonic waves into the corridors of the school building. Looking for someone.

It was a pointless effort to search for a specific person in crowd with this method, unless one knew what and who to look for. And even though she had only known her for a really short time, Aria was more then enough familiar with Twilight to identify her.

Opening her eyes, she started to walk down one of the corridors. Magical abilities aside, she had also gotten her hands on Twilights weekly timetable, so she knew what lesson the young scientist should have and what room she should thusly be in. Of course, actually finding her was still no catwalk since she had to find the correct room without missing her target. Unfortunately, the general layout of the school building was not something Aria had memorized. Even then, thirty plus years was a lot of time for reconstructing and this school certainly did not lack the money to do so regularly; so magical tracking had to fill the gaps.

It was with this combination of memorial fragments, supernatural echo-location, and blind guessing that the siren made her way through the halls. Sure, she could have just asked someone, but that would defeat the point. She meant to be mysterious, to come across as something different, something higher; if she were to ask then it would contradict the image she was trying to form here and she needed this image for her purposes.

Also, she could finally flex her abilities, even though none here would ever truly appreciate them. With the exception of one particular girl, although with her it would depend on how things with her would progress.

Speaking of… there she was. Aria put on a wide smirk and started to slightly quicken her pace, periodically sending out new waves to keep her mark on the girl. Before her, the students stepped out of the way of her long strides. Many were completely put off, shaken away from their elitist façade they all put on, reduced to nothing more then gaping idiots. And still, none dared to oppose her, even though there would be enough reasons for her to not be allowed in Crystal Prep. But as she had long since learned and perfected, if you act confidently enough, like you are supposed to be here, then most people won’t stop you.

She was getting closer and closer. Thusly, Aria adjusted her sonic waves to concentrate on Twilight’s echo instead of casting them out like a wide net. As she neared the last corner to be rounded, she slowed down; multiple echos were approaching Twilight quickly. Leaning against the corner, Aria stopped her echoing and instead started a deep hum. In a matter of seconds, the students who had been gawking at her all blinked and then carried on with their buisiness as she more or less disappeared from their perception. It was really just a simple trick, all one had to do was to tell a mind that you were not there.

This allowed her to listen in on the girl she had been tracking down and the newly joined students.

“Perfect record, Sparkle! I had a perfect record until you blew it!” One of the students yelled straigtht into the young scientist’s face. “Now the teacher is up my ass!”

“I-I am sor-ry.” She whimpered back. They did not seem to like that answer, one of the students seized her shoulders and pushed her roughly against the wall between lockers.

They all crowded around her, almost blocking her from Aria’s sight. There were few other students walking by the exchange, those that did either genuinely ignored the exchange or simply smirked arrogantly as they passed them.

“I l-lost my equipe-m-ent, I-“ Twilight was shut off when one of her tormentors brutishly grabbed her bun and yanked her head backwards to stare down to her. She yelped from the pain yet made no effort to resist, simply staring back fearfully.

“I don’t give two flying pigs about whatever excuse you have! You do as your betters tell you, or do you not think so anymore? Are you that stupid?” He snarled into her face, close enough to be literally breathing down her throat. Another of the students grabbed after Twilight’s back.

“You fail to do your job and you get punished for it. So, let us have a look in your back, shall we?” The others loudly voiced their approval; as she reached for the young scientist’s bag however it was pulled away from her hand, even though Twilight was still held at her hair by another she clutched her possessions close to herself.

“Oh! Little snail wants to play big girl?” The assaultant snapped invidiously. Immediately she stepped closer and dug her nails into Twilight’s chin to forceably make her look at her. “I think we should inspect your little hidey hole that you got. What do you guys think?”

Again, she was met with loud approval. Twilight was yanked forward, one brief wrestle she had no chance to win, and her schoolbag was seperated from her. She wanted to flee them, flee the entire school, only for a strong hand to hold her at her neck and guide her towards her personal lab. She did not even dare to whimper, tears rolling silently down her cheeks.

Then she heard it, and they heard it as well.

Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

Aria approached them with an almost casual gait, letting her combat boots fall strong with every step, anouncing her arrival to everyone. She had a smile that most might call friendly, yet her eyes were piercing and cold, staring down at each of them like an accuser. And it was so satisfying to her, seeing them back down and shrink under her gaze. They parted before her, letting her through to the young and pained girl.

Twilight almost stumbled as suddenly her tormentors all took a step back from her, leaving her enough space with Aria. She could not properly react to this sudden change in her bullies’ behavior.

“Twiliight.” Aria purred, reaching out and drawing her into a deep hug before placing a kiss on her forehead. “So glad that I finally found you, this school is still quite a maze, but I knew you were here somewhere.”

“A-ar-ia?” was all that the scared girl could manage. It took all her mental will to not break down in the arms of the woman who had hunted her not two days ago, yet now acted like she genuinely cared about her. Seperating their heads from the hug momentarily, Aria gave the young schoolgirl a quick and faked lookover. She had of course seen all she had to long already. But she was here to put on a show.

“Oh no, oh my poor sweat sister. Does it still hurt you so much?” She proclaimed; way too exagerated and dramatic in her opinion, but all around her could only hold it for genuine worry and sorrow. Such was her skill and the effect on weak mortalings. And to simply underline her work, she again embraced Twilight in a close and comforting sisterly hug. “Don’t worry, I am here for you now.”

It was so amusing to her. Not five minutes ago, these students had acted like they were royalty and thusly entitled to do everything they wished, even acting like petty bullies. Now, they were standing around uselessly, not knowing what to do the moment something outside their pathetic power range approached. The greatest joke to Aria was that they did not, could not ever, understand how weak they all really were against her, like sheep against a dragon.

“And these finely people, are they your friends?” She asked in a voice drenched sugarly sweet. Aria had to suppress herself smirking as she saw many of them flinch away from her, her hidden message not lost on them.

Twilight only mumbled something that was too unclear to understand, most likely she had not even intended to say something. The siren nevertheless pick up on it as if she had heard every word clear as rain.

“Oh, that is so nice of them, looking out for you after that horrible person assaulted you. I don’t even know what I would have done if I found out you were hurt, my little shooting star! You barely made it with just this bruise, if I even start to imagine what could have happened to you… I am so glad nobody tried to seriously hurt you. Come on now, you wanted to show me that privat lab of yours.” It was too easy to guide Twilight forwards, the girl did not move one muscle to resist her. Though, to Aria’s satisfaction, the younger girl let herself lean onto her shoulders to seek some comfort. As they walked from between the tormenting students, Aria grabbed Twilight’s bag from the student that had took it. There was only a minimum of resistance that lasted until she turned her head to look straight into their eyes. “Thank you.” She said, sweet voice hiding her biting voice and the threat she had silently spoken to all of them.

All of them looked after her; none dared to oppose her as no single person in this school had done. She knew they had gotten the message. I know, she had told them underneath her honied voice and kind words, I know, and I dare you to do that again.

For those who dared to enter, Twilight Sparkle’s private lab would at first look like nothing more than a small space packed to the brim with tables and all sorts of equipement lacking any functional system of ‘what is where’. However, the mess of electronics to one side and scientific tools and necesseties to the other was in fact established by Twilight herself through a long and ardeous process to find the most effective place for each of them.

Which was to say it was her mess, much like a typical teenager’s bedroom, and she was more than capable to navigate it to find what she needed with the minimum of effort.

One addition that was both somewhat new and standing out between all the equipement was a cushion in one of the corners, placed in such relation to the furniture that the spot was barely visible when entering through the door. On this cushion was a similarly out of place and similarly soft dog plushie. The use of these items were more then clear to Aria as she stood in front of Twilight, who was sitting on the cushion hugging the dog tightly, looking like she wanted to make herself as small as possible.

Aria was standing in front of her, leaning against one of the tables with her arms crossed. She regarded the curled up girl in front of her patiently, waiting for her to initiate their conversation.

Twilight however was more then reluctant to do so, prefering to gently rock back and forth on her cushion with her eyes almost completely closed. In her head, just behind her eyes, she could still see the face of the creature, she who had hunted her relentlessly with crimson eyes that screamed for blood, she who had protected her like the sister she had let herself appear as.

Twilight feared the woman that was standing before her, even more then all the bullies and tormentors at this school, even more then the Principal herself. This was a being from outside of this reality, a being that would switch from cruel to friendly at her own leisure.

And yet, Twilight also wanted to stay close to her. She wished the being that looked just like a normal person would care for her, protect her like she had before, be to her like a genuine sister. That fleeting moment, though her darkest thoughts reprimanded her and accused it all to be just another play, she still yearned for more. She hated it, hated herself for these feelings; she absolutely despised how much she wanted the lie to be a simple truth.

Desperately she tried to crush it all, to bury her emotions in cold rationality and pragmatism. It was successful, enough atleast for her to gently straighten herself and put her emotional support plushy away. Still, she could not look at her out fear she would once again be entranced by the faulse sense of sisterly comfort and protection, so she stared out of the window.

“What was that?” Twilight’s voice came out as barely more than a whisper, yet the woman standing before her had not even the smallest of troubles understanding her.

And again, she let a smile grace her lips, though she did not let it become one of her trademark smirks. Instead, she made it appear friendly.

“Well, consider it a courtesy. Just a little bit of help, you know? Those idiots wouldn’t have backed off of you otherwise. They need to learn a lesson.” She spoke. Then, however, her face morphed into a cold, harsh visage that stared provokingly at the schoolgirl.

“Can’t really really blame them for that, though. You are just the perfect bully-target, no muscle, no gut, no confidence at all and not even a single connection to cover your hide. It’s really pathetic.” Her boots made loud clacking sounds as she closed the gap between them, her fingers poking like spear tips at Twilight.

“W-what do you want?” The girl snapped back with enough anger as she could muster, which proved to be none at all. Too shaken was she from the encounter with her fellow students who had almost hurt her more than they ever had.

It was not made better by the fact that Aria was so close to her again. And this time her voice carried no warmth, only sharp words.

“See?! That’s what I’m talking about! You can’t stand up for yourself, you have nothing to hit back with!” The siren stabbed her finger one more time into the purple girl’s shoulder. Then, however, she switched her tone, sitting down before her and leaning close. “We will change that, but all in due time. Right now, I need a favor from you.” She said conspiratively.

“And… what is that?” Twilight asked back.

“Oh, nothing special, just a little task for you to do.” Aria told her, though her attitude said enough for Twilight to understand that this was more than a little non-special thing. “Just something I need to help a friend of mine.”

”I cannot understand why you insist on this, Aria!” Dawn sharply turned away from her, crossing her arms defiantly. “I already explained why I don’t want this. It should be enough for you to let it drop.”

“Oh, you did alright. But you can’t hide from me how hurt you still are from what they did, deep down in your heart. All I am offering is a chance to soothe the pain, of all the shit you were put through from them. They cared no two actual shits about you!” Aria fought back with equal sharpness in her voice.

“Why did you come to me-“ Twilight asked, though she was cut off by the siren closing in to her again. This time however, Aria grabbed her by the shoulders and let excitement bleed into her voice.

“Because you fit all the requirements. You are smart, you can work fast. And you will not tell anyone about this. You’ll gain something from this too! There is a lot that I have to offer you, so much that I can do for you.” She spoke animatedly. At the last words, her hands caressed Twilight’s shoulders just as her voice gained an almost sensual undertone.

The schoolgirl could not resist shuddering at the sensation, her mind automatically playing out the obscurely implied things that Aria had just offered.

Yet she still tried, and succeeded, in battling these images away to regain her focus. She had to all but force herself to remain wary of Aria, mentally conjuring up the memories of being hunted like a rabbit through the house. She could not trust Aria, or so she told herself.

“This isn’t illegal, is it?” She asked as detached as she could, though her face still twitched as it tried to remain as solid as possible.

Aria caught the red girl’s shoulder and held her back strongly, though without any actual force. “The only reason you don’t want to hurt them is because of your past ‘friendship’. They took pity on you! You-“

“I don’t CARE!” Dawn interrupted her heatedly, whirling to face her again. “And I don’t care about THEM! I want nothing to do with them anymore, not for a long, long while. You will respect that, Aria Blaze! And you will leave them alone, do we understand eachother!?”

Her intensity did not faze the ancient creature in the slightest. They stared into eachothers eyes, both daring the other to be the first one to throw the towel. It was Aria who backed down, albeit only figuratively. “Fine.” She said, drawing the word out with as much vocal venom as she could bring, and she had a lot.

“Nooo, it’s not.” Aria responded. Her demeanor made a sudden change, going from almost flirtatiously to a casual aloofness. One of her fuchsia arms snaked around Twilight’s neck while the other presented itself before the Siren’s eyes as if she was checking her nails. “You are just gonna go online and track a few things for me.”

“Things?” Twilight asked carefully. Aria’s shift into a more friendly and buddy-like tone was setting her even more on edge.

“Yep. Well, people really.” She said, as if discussing her new neighbours. The girl in her arm however reacted rather loudly to this little revelation.

“What?! Why?!”

“What do you know about Canterlot High School?” Aria said, walking a few steps away and towards some of the room’s computer hardware. Her voice lost all the friendliness it had held before, speaking the name of Crystal Prep’s rival school as if it had personally offended her.

Twilight’s words stumbled out of her mouth before she could reaffirm herself. The sudden shift had thrown her off again. “A-a lot. I… did some research on the school for…”

“Was it when you were tracking the energy signatures?” After a moment’s hesitation, Aria simply ended her sentence for her, as she swiftly turned around to let their eyes meet again.

“Yes.” Twilight simply replied with a nod, pulling back slightly. It was more of a subconscious move; she had immediately felt slightly ashamed at the mention of the whole thing, mostly because of the stupid decision she had made because of it, a couple of days ago.

Again, Aria seemed to have completely read her thoughts. “Oh, don’t worry. Everything is fine, now, where was I? What do you know about events that happened at CHS, let us say, last december?” She told the young scientist with a small smile.

“Do you mean the bridge-accident?” Twilight asked. Aria just shook her head.

“Not really, just right before that.”

Twilight made a pause before that, ruffling through her mental notes to find whatever Aria was alluding to. It came to her quickly enough, her mind bringing forth memories of a dinner, her brother telling her the short version of what had happened.

“That would be the Cybermobbing disaster. Anon-A-Miss, correct?” She guessed.

“And what about Anon-A-Miss? They are still the ones responsible for not only your pain, but for the pain of a lot of other students.” Aria asked. She did not need to say what she suggested they’d do, they both knew what she ment. It had not the effect that the siren desired however, as Dawn’s scowl only worsened.

“Don’t even think about it, Blaze! Leave the entire thing alone, I do not want or need your help because this matter will be resolved here and now!” She all but snarled at her friend. “There will be no revenge! We will let that stupid school be and focus on our own shit!”

“Indeed.” Aria clapped her hands together. “So, my favor, that I want you to carry out, is to go and find where these posts were coming from. I want to know who did this, I want the person behind all this.”

“And can I ask why?”

“You can.” Aria told her bluntly. If Twilight had expected anything to follow that statement however, she was greatly disappointed. The fuchsia girl just looked her straight in the eyes with a mask as stiff as a statue, not letting anything slip past. Then eventually she gave the schoolgirl a strange look before speaking more silently. “You’re not expecting me to tell you everything, do you? Honestly, it is better if you don’t know anything more. For your own safety. Keep you clean. Keep you innocent of it all.”

Twilight began to feel actual dread crawl up her back. Her mind was severely conflicted, not knowing if Aria was just trying to freak her out or if she was really planing on hurting someone. Maybe even more importantly, Twilight didn’t know if she should accept or not.

Having been subjected to a hunt run by Aria she was more then cautious of casting this fate on anyone else, fully knowing that the fuchsia girl could probably run down anybody in some way, additionally to the suspicion that this time she would not refrain herself.

However, this person might just deserve this. From what she had read and heard, this Anon-A-Miss was responsible for countless destroyed friendships and relations, inciting hate and mockery across an entire school. She knew how it felt to be picked upon by everyone.

All this did not escape the Siren’s notice, of course. She smiled, barring her teeth slightly, and delivered the final move on her side. Initiating it with an energetic clap of her hands.

“So! What would you like in return?” She asked with her voice dripping with faked excitement. “I could help you train, y’know get a little bit of meat on these arms. I mean really…”

Twilight attempt to pull her arm away from the siren came far too late. Aria had snatched her right hand, pulling the scientist closer, and shook it a few times to let the appendage wobble.

“It feels like I could just break your wrist with one hand. That will not work. It would take time of course but more than doable, would help with your confidence too. You really need that. This school is like a snake pit. Charming place really.” Aria continued to speak, finally letting the purple hand go after tapping it almost condescendadly a few times.

“Of course,” She said, her mouth pulling back to show off her teeth like a predator preparing for its next meal. The similiarity was far to great in Twilight’s opinion. Her fear of the woman in front of her was swiftly returning, not help when Aria spoke again, her voice getting lower and sounding like she was also growling. “I could also take care of this bullies. No problem for me.”

“You… are you threatning to kill them?”

“I am not threatning!” “At most, this is an offer to kill them, and only if you want. I have a lot of things that I could do with them. I have a lot I can do in general. And that is my offer in exchange to you. Say whatever you want. I’ll listen, and I am certain I can fullfill whatever you ask for. You do what I want, and you can choose to have me do something. Do we have a deal?”

“I, I don’t know. Can you… just please don’t harm anyone, okay?”

“Alright, you made yourself more than clear.” Aria raised her hands in a de-escalating gesture. Her voice had instantly losed its edge, becoming noticably calmer and more comforting. “We won’t seek out revenge on either your former shitty band or the bitch that made all this happen.”

Dawn stared at her angrily for a few moments before, with a long-drawn sigh, she also released her anger. Slumping forward she leaned against Aria’s chest, soon feeling the fuchsia girl’s arms wrapp around her carefully.

“I just want to stay away from it all, Aria.” She said quietly. “I don’t want to think about it. This is my fresh start and I… I know where this can lead. I just want figure out how things are now and move on from there.”

Aria nodded and leaned her head on Dawn’s. They staid like this for a good minute before the red girl spoke up again. “Promise me you won’t go against them, ok? Please.”

“Don’t worry, Dawny. I promise.” Aria replied softly.

“Of course, you can trust me.” The silvery voice said, worming its way into her mind like a snake, whispering golden words and honeyed lies.

And yet she willingly accepted these lies. Already her mind was forming possible answers, things she wanted, only to discard them for greater options. Her ambition, paired with her burning need to satiate her curiosity wanted her to use this to learn all she could about everything of Aria’s world, to bring the knowledge of the strange energy and the power it undoubtibly possessed.

However, soon her thoughts became less focused and her mind darkened. The woman in front of her had offered so many things, so many terrible things. Twilight could let her do what she herself would never have been able. She could finally be free from the constant bullying, freed from the suffering she had to endure.

Countless options of what she could demand filled her head, each appealing to her. Greatly varied their severity. Some, she did not dare to think, though they still lingered in her mind, intent on making her morbid wishes known. Try as she might, she could not battle them down, especially not after what had happened today.

Aria, of course, saw the turmoil unfolding in the girl. She relished in it in fact, excited at the prospect of what Twilight was going to demand. With a coy smile gracing her lipps, she stepped closer and only slightly bent her knee so as to bring her eyes just under the conflicted scientist’s. One hand gently brushed over a purple cheek, cupping her chin before pulling back. She dipped forward as if she was bowing, arms extended outwards. Her eyes never broke contact as she smiled widely.

“I am at your service, Twilight Sparkle. So, do tell, what is it you most desire?”

Author's Note

Because why should giving an abused, lonely, genius yet still hormonus teenager the choice to demand anything including, but not limited to, cold murder of her tormenters be a bad idea? I mean when has she ever made a bad decision without thinking about beforehand?

Oh, wait.

For some strange reason, this chapter was both way easier and more fun to write then the last one. No idea why, but I like this one.
Man, Aria is really a manipulative one. Question is if she is a good or bad influence on Twily. Actually no, most likely a bad influence. A really bad one.

Anyway, stay safe out there, the world is only getting crazier. Until next time (uh boy, that next time is gonna be... )