by Perdita Finn
“We’re getting there,” said Rainbow Dash, her brow furrowed with worry. “Rarity’s still coming in late on the second verse, and Applejack’s bass solo could use a little work.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. That was simply not true. Rarity looked stunned by her friend’s remarks. They all helped one another improve, of course, but it was different to be critical in front of someone else, especially a boy.
As if sensing she’d gone too far, Rainbow Dash corrected herself. “They’ll get it together in time for the showcase,” she said.
Flash Sentry glanced around the room and coughed. “I don’t suppose any of our friends from, uh, ‘out of town’ might come? It being a special charity event and all.”
Applejack knew exactly who he was talking about, and she felt sorry for him. They all missed Twilight Sparkle, but the portal was gone and she was never coming back. And she couldn’t tell Flash Sentry about the magic. “Sorry, Flash,” was all she said. “I don’t think Twilight’s gonna be back at Canterlot High anytime soon.”
He sighed with deep disappointment. “Oh. Yeah. Okay. Just, you know, thought I’d ask.” He kicked at the linoleum tiles with his shoe, then shook away his very obvious heartbreak. “Keep on rockin’ it,” he said to the girls as he left the room.
“Well, someone is still quite the smitten kitten,” said Rarity. But then she realized Sunset was in the room. Before Twilight Sparkle had come to Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry had been a couple. “Oh, sorry!” added Rarity. “I always forget you and Flash used to be an item.”
Sunset Shimmer shrugged. “It’s okay. Flash is a great guy and all, but I never really liked him liked him. I was just using him to become more popular.”
Fluttershy gave a little gasp of surprise, and all the girls looked horrified at this.
Sunset Shimmer grimaced. “The old me really was just awful, wasn’t I?”
Rarity apologized again for her insensitivity, and Rainbow Dash let Sunset know just how much the girls liked her now.
“The important thing is that you’ve turned yourself around,” said Applejack. And that was the truth. The girls had forgiven her, but Sunset Shimmer had also learned a lesson. She had changed.
“Thanks, Applejack,” she said. “But I’m not sure everyone else at Canterlot High feels the same way.”
The intercom started crackling. Someone in the office was about to make an announcement. It was Vice Principal Luna. “Sunset Shimmer, please report to the office.”
“Gotta run,” said Sunset Shimmer, jumping up.
The girls’ faces expressed concern. Was Sunset in trouble?
“I volunteered to show some new students around the school,” she explained. She grabbed her backpack. “Thought it’d be good for them to get to know the new me before they heard all the stuff about the old me.”
As soon as the door shut behind her, Rainbow Dash turned back to her bandmates. “We still have a few minutes before lunch starts. Whattaya say we do ‘Awesome as I Wanna Be’?” She picked up her guitar and stepped toward the microphone.
Nervously, Fluttershy pulled a notebook out of her pocket. “Um,” she said softly, trying to get the attention of her friends. “Um, I was wondering if we could maybe play the song I wrote.” She opened the notebook and held it up. It was covered in lightly written words and notes.
“We’ll get to it,” said Rainbow Dash, barely looking at it. She began strumming the beginning notes of the song she had suggested they practice.
“Oh. Okay,” said Fluttershy, disappointed. She put the notebook back in her bag and picked up her tambourine. But she didn’t shake it with much enthusiasm.
Rarity, too, was not playing with her usual commitment. What could possibly have happened to interfere with the girls’ easy harmony?
Out of Sync
Sunset Shimmer practically skipped down the hallway to the office. She was eager to meet the new girls. Maybe they would become her best friends. She loved the Equestria Girls, of course. It was amazing they were so friendly to her given everything that had happened. Still, she wasn’t really part of their group. She wasn’t in the band.
She burst into the office with a big smile on her face. Three very pretty girls were standing by the secretary’s desk. “Hi, are you the girls I’m supposed to show around?” she asked brightly.
Adagio Dazzle slowly turned toward her, the slightest sneer on her face. “We are,” she said, without much emotion in her voice.
Sunset didn’t seem to notice her disdain. “Canterlot High is a great school. You’re really going to love it.”
Aria Blaze snickered, and Sonata Dusk raised a single arched eyebrow.
“Oh yes,” drawled Adagio Dazzle. “We really sense there’s something magical about this place.”
The three girls exchanged knowing glances that instantly made Sunset Shimmer feel left out. Maybe these new girls weren’t going to be her best friends after all, but Sunset tried not to think about that too much as she led them on a tour through the busy hallways of Canterlot. The girls followed behind her, giggling and whispering.
Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath and tried to be as friendly as she could. “That’s the science lab,” she said, gesturing at a door. She pointed across the hall. “The computer lab is in there.”
The poster advertising the musical showcase Rarity had made in the gym was hanging on a nearby wall. “Oh, we’re having a big musical showcase this weekend,” explained Sunset Shimmer when she noticed the girls looking at it. “The whole school is pretty much rallying around it.”
A dark and devious smile appeared on Adagio’s deep red lips. “A musical showcase?”
Sunset did her best to be helpful. “I’m sure since you’re new, Principal Celestia would still let you sign up if you’re interested.”
Aria’s eyes flashed. “We have been known to sing from time to time,” she said as casually as she could. Adagio grinned at her.
Sonata immediately understood the plan. “We sing, like, all the time. It’s how we get people to do what we want!”
Adagio shot her an alarmed look. She looked like she was about to clap her hand over Sonata’s mouth.
“What did I just say?” gasped Sonata Dusk.
“What you meant to say,” interrupted Adagio Dazzle smoothly, “was that being in a musical showcase sounds like a great way to meet other students.”
“Oh yeah,” said Sonata, trying to recover. “I meant to say what she said. That’s what I meant. To say.”
Aria gave a disgusted sniff. “And what you would have said if you weren’t. The. Worst.”
Adagio Dazzle glared at both girls.
“You are. The. Worst.” Sonata was glaring at Aria.
“Remember when I asked you for your opinion? Yeah. Me neither,” answered Aria.
Noticing the alarmed expression on Sunset Shimmer’s face, Adagio laughed lightly. “You’ll have to excuse them. They’re idiots.”
Aria crossed her arms and pouted. Sonata stamped her foot and turned away.
Sunset Shimmer wasn’t used to this much fighting. These days most of the kids at Canterlot High knew how to express their feelings kindly. She barely knew what to say. Trying to smooth things over, she complimented the girls on their matching necklaces. “Those are pretty,” she said, reaching out her hand to the scarlet pendant dangling from around Adagio’s neck. “Where did you all—”
Adagio Dazzle pulled away quickly, her wide eyes full of anger. And yet, her voice was sickeningly sweet when she spoke. “Sorry. These pendants mean an awful lot to us. We’d just hate for anything to happen to them.”
Sunset immediately dropped the subject and hurried the girls to the cafeteria to finish the tour. Maybe once they were at Canterlot for a while, they would relax and learn how to be friendly. What was the matter with them? She hated to admit it to herself, but they reminded her a lot of what she had been like when she first arrived in the human realm from Equestria, in the days when popular
ity and power were all she had wanted.
Devilish Divas
There were no cliques in the cafeteria at Canterlot High. It wasn’t like the jocks only sat with the jocks and the brains with the brains. There were no kids sitting by themselves, unhappily chewing on their dry sandwiches. Everyone was easygoing and friendly. It was a happy place.
Sunset Shimmer was deep in thought while she waited in line for her lunch. She took a tray from Granny Smith and headed over to the table where the Rainbooms were sitting. Something was troubling her, and maybe the girls could help her figure out what it was. She sat down next to Applejack.
“How was the tour?” asked Applejack.
“I don’t know. I mean, these girls, they were… there was something off about them.”
“Like off like this?” Pinkie giggled. She grabbed an apple and put the whole thing in her mouth and stuck a carrot stick into either side of her hair. She spat out the apple, laughing. “Or off like this?” She grabbed two pudding cups and turned them into glasses and balanced a carrot stick like a mustache above her top lip. “Or off like…” She was grabbing for a bag of chips when Rainbow Dash stopped her.
“Maybe we just let her tell us.”
Sunset shook her head and sighed. “That’s just it. I can’t put my finger on it. They just acted sort of strange around me…” Her voice trailed off. A terrible thought had just occurred to her. “Maybe someone had already talked to them. Told them about what I did.” She sighed. “So much for making a good first impression.”
Fluttershy reached out and touched her arm reassuringly. “That’s probably not it.” But she didn’t sound very convincing.
Just then, the three new girls appeared at the cafeteria entrance. They gazed around at the happy-go-lucky students chatting and enjoying their meals.
Adagio Dazzle tossed her head. “This is it, girls. The moment we’ve been waiting for.”
“Lunch!” said Sonata Dusk with confidence.
Adagio sneered. “The chance to get our true Equestrian magic back.”
“Oh. Right.”
“Our voices are just strong enough to make them want something so badly they’ll fight to get it,” hissed Adagio.
“So we’re just going to do what we always do?” questioned Aria, her voice dripping with boredom. “Stir up some trouble and then feed off the negative energy? Some plan, Adagio.”
“It won’t be the same as the times before,” said Adagio Dazzle fiercely. “There is Equestrian magic here. Their negative energy will give us the power we need to get this entire world to do our bidding.”
Sonata bit her lip as she tried to understand. “But we can get lunch after, though, right? It’s Taco Tuesday.”
Adagio let out an irritated groan. “Just follow my lead!”
“Or my lead!” announced Aria.
“My lead,” said Adagio firmly.
Aria pouted as Adagio pursed her lips and began to hum. At first, it was quiet, but slowly her voice became louder, her tune more intoxicating. Aria began to harmonize with her, and eventually Sonata stopped sulking and also joined in.
Kids began to turn toward the music. When all eyes were on them, the girls burst into full song. Their a cappella number was riveting. “Never wanted anything more!” they serenaded the school. The Canterlot High students were captivated by these new girls. They were extraordinary.
Applause echoed through the cafeteria as the girls took their bows. Adagio used this moment center stage to make an announcement. Smiling sweetly, she let everyone know how thrilled she was to participate in the showcase, but wouldn’t it be so much more fun if, instead of a showcase, it was a competition?
“Wouldn’t this be a wonderful… opportunity,” she enthused, “to determine who is the very best band at Canterlot High? What this school needs is a Battle of the Bands!”
Adagio raised her arms over her head triumphantly, like she was expecting more applause. But the room was strangely silent. Kids were shaking their heads, conferring with one another, and deciding they didn’t like the idea at all. Not one bit.
But Adagio Dazzle and her friends began singing again, and as their entrancing music filled the room, their scarlet pendants began to glow. The girls spread out, weaving from table to table through the cafeteria, and slowly the protests dwindled as the students were swept up in the enchantment of the song.
Soon, kids were announcing that they’d always wanted a Battle of the Bands at Canterlot High. One group of kids decided they were going to do whatever it took to win the competition.
“We’re going to be the best band,” announced some girls at a table.
“No, we are,” said some boys from across the room.
Everyone was arguing now, determined to win the upcoming battle. Everyone, that is, except the Sonic Rainbooms and Sunset Shimmer. They sat at their table in a state of stunned silence. What was happening to the harmony of Canterlot High? Where had it gone?
Pinkie remembered what Sunset had said about the girls. Now she got it. “Oooh,” she exclaimed. “Those girls are that kind of ‘off.’”
Facing the Music
Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack hurried down the hall toward the principal’s office. They had to talk to her right away!
“Those three are definitely in possession of some kind of dark magic,” said Sunset breathlessly. “How else could you explain what happened back there?”
“Don’t worry, y’all,” said Applejack. “We’ll let Principal Celestia know about this, and those girls’ll be kicked to the curb in no time. Last thing she needs is another Canterlot High event almost ruined by some power-crazed lunatic.”
The girls all stopped, stunned.
“No offense,” said Applejack to Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset Shimmer sighed. “None taken.” Well, she might never live down the catastrophe of the Fall Formal, but at least she could stop another one from happening.
Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna welcomed the girls and invited them to sit down. But they were too agitated. All talking at once, they tried to explain to them what had happened in the cafeteria with the new girls.
“Dark magic?” questioned Principal Celestia. “I find that very hard to believe. Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful.”
Vice Principal Luna agreed and then cleared her throat. She looked very stern as she stared at Sunset. “Perhaps Sunset Shimmer is just eager to make someone else out to be a bad element here at Canterlot High, so her actions at the Fall Formal will become old news.”
Sunset Shimmer felt a cold weight in her stomach. If only everyone would let go of that. “I can see why you might think so,” she said, trying to behave responsibly. “But—”
“That’s not what’s happening now,” interrupted Rainbow Dash. “We saw all of this go down in the cafeteria, too.”
Principal Celestia crossed her arms and looked thoughtful. “Yes, but isn’t your band supposed to be part of the musical showcase?”
“Yes,” said Rainbow Dash, not sure where this was going.
Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna exchanged a knowing glance.
“Perhaps you’re all just worried that the Dazzlings will steal your spotlight,” said Vice Principal Luna gently.
“The Dazzlings?” Applejack burst out.
“It’s the name of their musical group,” explained Principal Celestia. “That’s why they came by my office earlier—to sign up for the showcase. Even sang a little song to Vice Principal Luna and me.” She smiled at the memory of it, but her eyes went a little blank.
The girls noticed it instantly.
“They did?” asked Applejack. She was beginning to notice a pattern.
“Yes,” said Principal Celestia. “And we think having a Battle of the Bands instead of a showcase is a marvelous idea. In fact…”
“We’ve never wanted anything more,” said Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna to
gether, almost robotically, like they’d been programmed to speak that way.
The girls exchanged worried glances. They knew instantly that they were on their own. They excused themselves as quickly as they could and gathered at the Wondercolt statue in front of the school. It felt good to be outside in the fresh air and away from the strange magic that was invisibly permeating their beloved Canterlot High.
Fluttershy looked like she was on the edge of tears. “I can’t believe they got to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, too.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “They’ve gotten to everybody.”
“Not everybody,” announced Pinkie Pie with determination.
Applejack nodded. “Pinkie Pie’s right. We were there when the Dazzlings were singing, and we weren’t affected. It was like we were protected somehow.”
“So let’s take the Dazzlings down!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, her hands on her hips, ready for a fight. “It’s not like we haven’t tangled with dark magic before and totally whopped its sorry butt.” She glanced at Sunset Shimmer. “Uh, no offense.”
Sunset almost laughed. She was getting so used to it. “None taken. Again.”
Fluttershy was looking increasingly concerned. “But that was when Twilight was here. There may be some kind of magic inside us, but it only comes out when we play music. I sure don’t know how to use it to whop anybody’s butt.”
Rarity had been gazing at the statue where so many of last fall’s events had taken place. It had been the magic portal between this world and Equestria, and now it was closed forever. “If only we could get a message to her. Maybe she could tell us how to break the spell the Dazzlings have cast on our friends.”
Rainbow Dash slapped her hand against the solid base of the statue. “Well, that’s not gonna happen. I get the feeling they don’t exactly have cell phones where she’s from.”
But Sunset Shimmer was actually from Equestria, even if her time there felt like a distant dream. Suddenly, she was struck by an idea. “I may have a way we can get in touch with Princess Twilight!”