I decided to do this to explain the involvement of Serena Dusk and the obvious ship between Sonata (one of the Dazzlings) and Red the Hedgehog. I hope I can do this properly.
"Enjoy everyone!"
And of course he'd show up for his own story...
"Whoa, whatever is going on here in school?" a student who's hair were coming in front of his eyes asked sarcastically. "First a psychopath witch, and now this!?"
This student was one of many who had come to see what all the commotion was about. What they found was an anthropomorphic red hedgehog walking about the school. Occasionally, he would stop and ask for someone, then continue on towards the cafeteria. He was only about three-and-a-half feet tall, but he somehow managed to play that off and deflect attention away from that whenever someone made fun of him for it, like earlier with another student bully.
"Watch it, wise guy!" the hedgehog glared at the student who had spoken. "That 'psychopath' is my friend, and she was misguided at the time."
"Hmph," the boy huffed and went on his way. "Whatever, needle head."
The hedgehog continued walking until he met a student who seemed much nicer.
"Pardon me ma'am, but do you know where Sunset Shimmer is?" he asked the student kindly. "I'm a friend of hers."
"Sunset?" She asked with a slight frown. "She might be in class, or somewhere."
"Thank you," he answered. "My name's Red, by the way. Nice to have met ya!"
Red continued on towards the cafeteria, where he was met by the same general surprise seen in the halls by whatever students or staff were in the area.
"Oh relax!" he called to them. "It's not like I'm a ghost or anything."
Meanwhile in the halls...
"A new student?" Principle Celestia inquired in surprise as a student told her about Red. "And he looks like a bipedal hedgehog?" The student nodded. Principal Celestia put a hand under her chin. "Okay, I'll see him personally."
Red waited in the cafeteria until he saw the principal approaching. He gave her a sheepish smile.
"Probably not the most subtle of entrances, but it's something," Red admitted. "Sorry if I disturbed everyone too much."
"So... are you the new student?" Principal Celestia asked.
"I guess so?" Red said, unsure himself. "Honestly, I just came here because a friend of mine told me there was trouble. Her name's Sunset Shimmer. Do you know when would be a good time for me to meet her?"
"Sunset?" She remarked, a little surprised. "I guess you can see her now, if you want; she's usually with her friends."
"Cool! Thanks Tia!" he called, walking out again. He then seemed to realize something. "Uh... but I don't know the way..."
"Don't worry," Celestia smiled as she led him out of the cafeteria. "They might be practicing for the song. You can check in that room."
The Principal pointed towards the room in question, a few yards away from them.
"Song?" Red said to himself in thought as he walked into the room to find the girls he was looking for doing exactly as Celestia had said; rehearsing. He smirked and then to get their attention, he called out, "Oh... I've been working on the railroad! All the live long day!"
"Red," Sunset noticed him first. "You're here!"
"In the flesh and at your service!" the hedgehog replied with a bow. He then looked up and got a serious expression. "What's going on?"
"The Sirens have returned," Sunset said straight-forwardly. "And to make matters worse, they had someone who has fixed their magical jewels, and restored their powers."
"In short," Rainbow added, "Double trouble."
As she said this, Pinkie beat the drums dramatically.
"Nice drum roll!" he cheered, then looked thoughtful. "So, why not call Twilight or TD? Even they'd be more capable at this than me, last I checked."
"It's just that," Sunset said. "We've lost every single connection to Equestria, so we couldn't call TD or Twilight here."
Suddenly a trombone was played in dramatic horror manner by Pinkie.
"Okay, that's getting old Pinkie," Red told her. "Stop before someone takes those things from you." He sighed. "Well, looks like it's up to me then. Question though... where would I find these Dazzlings?"
Right when he spoke, soft singing was heard from three voices some ways away from them.
"Me and my big mouth," he muttered.
Sunset nodded. "Looks like they're really close."
"No kidding," Applejack remarked as the three Sirens in question appeared into view. Red could tell immediately that the first two meant trouble, and he needed only to look at them to tell, but he also decided to secretly probe their minds with his mind-reading abilities. The one in the center, Adagio, was the type that craved power and control; the purple one, Aria, was one who enjoyed torturing others and relished in the pain of others. But the third one, Sonata... Red felt there was something about her that separated her from the others. Normally, she would just be in it for the fun, but he could tell that inwardly she did not think any of this was fun. On top of that, she was feeling guilty, sorry for what she had done in the past to hurt others. However, she was conflicted, torn between staying loyal to her sisters or going out on her own path that didn't involve the harming of others.
The poor thing, Red thought to himself. I feel sorry for her. I wish there was a way I could help...
By now, they had gotten within a few yards of Red's friends, apparently not noticing him yet, and they smirked as Adagio spoke to Sunset.
"Who's this new guy?" She said "Any new friend of yours?"
"Sounds like he's an odd one," Aria added.
"I don't know. He sounds cute to me," Sonata stated, earning some looks from her sisters.
"Well, I wouldn't say I'm that cute," Red spoke up, causing them to look in his direction. "But I did win first-place in a contest of who was the most adorable on my block once. Maybe because of this..."
Red's eyes suddenly got comically large and they looked like puppy eyes, which is to say very cute.
"Aww! He really is cute!" Sonata cooed, obviously excited that he could do such a thing.
"Oh, that's enough Sonata." Adagio gave her a glare, that she quickly understood. "And as for you," she looked towards Red. "What do you think you are?"
"Glad you asked," Red replied, his eyes returning to normal and doing his signature greeting as if they were new people he wanted to meet.
"Hello! Red the Hedgehog, at your service. Otherwise known as Experiment 201 by my creators, Infinite by a few friends when I take a certain form, and the first artificial lifeform ever to be created without the need to sleep, eat, or breathe."
The way he spoke made it almost sound as if it should be common knowledge, but as it really wasn't even his friends were surprised to hear about the majority of what he had just said. His friends gasped to hear this.
"A what?!" Pinkie's mouth dropped
Adagio made a frown. "Whatever," She said and looked towards Sonata and Aria. "Girls, let's show this creature his place."
"Ooo! Is this a brawl?" Red asked, then put his hands up like he was boxing and even put on a mock "boxing" voice.
"Put 'em up, suckers!" he said, doing a few fake jabs. To Red's surprise, they began to humming in a melodious tone, and eventually their voice became louder and more, captivating. Red let his guard down as they continued their melodious tune, and even swayed in time with them. His friends at first were afraid that he too had been hypnotized and that they had just lost their only form of help. Their fears were washed away and the Dazzlings' surprise reignited when he clapped his hands.
"Beautiful!" he complimented. "How you three haven't made it back into the series yet is beyond me."
"Wha- what?!" Adagio exclaimed with surprise. "Why- How are you not hypnotized yet?!"
"Oh, did I mention that I have Siren DNA in me?" Red remarked. "My creators apparently thought it might be a problem one day, so they did their best to make me immune. I also happen to be a great singer myself if I choose to be." He looked up at Adagio. "And for the record, I'm a bit of a mind reader, so I know all of your desires. You want power, you..." he pointed at Aria, "...are in it for the love of torturing others (an unhealthy habit you should change immediately). And you..."
Red stopped on Sonata and was silent for a moment.
"I'm so sorry you have to go through this," she suddenly heard in her mind as he gave her subtle sympathetic expression.
"You my dear are usually in it for the fun, but something about it recently has taken away the fun," he finished. Adagio gave him a piosonous glare, before huffing in anger.
"Let's go girls, we'll handle him... afterwards."
"Before you go, I should give you a warning," Red told her, catching her attention again. He then gave her a poisonous glare of his own, and despite his size he also seemed rather intimidating.
"Harm any of my friends or the students here, and I promise you that I will personally see to it that you regret that choice for the rest of your life," he warned. "And remember, that's not a threat; that's a promise." His face then turned cheerful again and the intimidation disappeared. "Glad we had this talk! I'll cya cuties later!"
They didn't pay much attention to him and went on their way; only Sonata passed a cute smile to Red before going along with them.
"Umm... see you later."
Red smiled back and watched them go, then turned back to his friends.
"Well, once again, it seems I'll have to kill two birds with one stone," he remarked.
"Two birds?" Sunset said in confusion.
"Never mind," Red shrugged it off. "So, what's this about a song I'm hearing?"
Sonata was still awake, lost in her thoughts while she was leaning towards her bed. Her sisters have been slept a while ago, but for some reason she didn't feel like going to sleep at all.
"That Red guy, what does he think he is?" She asked herself as a smile appeared on her face. "I know he's kind of nice to me, but..."
She then started to question her own thoughts and took a deep sigh as she looked towards her sisters who were fast asleep on their beds. She then leaned on the pillow she was placing on her lap. As she lay there, she heard a slight tapping noise on the glass of the bedroom window she and her sisters shared together. Curious, she sat up and looked up just in time to see a small pebble or other solid object hit the window lightly. Sonata walked over to the window and peered outside to see who it was. She didn't see anyone, but she did notice a message written on a cardboard sign that had been left.
"Meet me at school stage," the sign read in large red letters.
"Alright..." She shrugged and quietly left the house they were staying in. Once outside, she went towards the place she was told to go to.
"Hellooo... anyone here?" she called in a whispered shout.
Just then, she heard a soft singing voice in the distance where the stage was located. Because the stage she was going to was outside in the open, she could hear the voice from quite a ways away. Always, it was in a soft and comforting tune, as if beckoning to come closer. Eventually, Sonata found Red standing on the stage all alone, singing a soft song to himself as she approached. She was unsure what the song was, for he seemed to be singing in a language unknown to her, and his voice somehow sounded much different from before. Like... multiple voices singing all at once, like a choir of some kind.
"Umm... Excuse me," she spoke, trying to catch his attention. Red abruptly stopped singing and looked over at her, a smile crossing his face when he saw her.
"Oh good! You came," he said in a kind tone. "I thought for a second that my message would go unnoticed."
"You dropped that message at my window?" She giggled. "Why did you call me here?"
"Do you want the truthful answer or the Christmas answer?" Red asked. "I've always found that the 'Christmas' answer is rather sarcastic."
"Uh, truthful answer?" She said, making a thoughtful expression. Red sighed.
"I wasn't lying about the mind reading," he answered bluntly. "And on top of knowing what motivated you in your sisters' schemes, I also detected something else. You're conflicted inside. Not long after your defeat at the hands- or hooves of Princess Twilight of Equestria, you personally started to feel guilty for what you had done to the other students. You wanted to be nicer to them, something I can relate to." He looked into her eyes, his yellow eyes staring into her purple ones. "But what stops you is your sisters. Sure, they aren't the nicest of siblings, they barely show any affection towards you, and they most certainly don't seem to share your views... but they're the only family you've got. As such, you're torn between remaining loyal to them and pursuing this newfound sense of compassion and kindness in your heart."
"Wow," Sonata replied. "Ahmm... I didn't quite get what you said." She made a thoughtful expression. "If you're trying to say that I'm confused, then yes, I am," she ended with a smile.
"I'd hate to see such potential go to waste, so what I'm going to offer to you, or more specifically ask of you is something that your sisters would not approve of," Red explained. "With your permission, Sonata Dusk, I'd like to help lessen your confusion, and... reform you. If you'll let me. And please don't take that the wrong way."
"Reform?" She said and put a hand on her chin. In a moment she looked back at him. "Okay... what you want me to do?"
"Throughout this month or two, I'll arrange for more sessions just like this one," Red explained to her. "You can come on by, and we'll work some things out. Whether it's me teaching you some moral lessons in life or simply having some fun. Who knows? Maybe I'll even do a few duets with you. I do think your voice is rather lovely to hear."
She smiled and gave him a simple nod. "Alright."
"Good. Now, I'm sure you have many questions to ask me, so for tonight's session I'll make it one where you may ask me questions," he stated. "So, ask away."
"Okay~" she smiled. "So tell me, why do you want to do this for me anyway...? I mean, no offense, but my sisters weren't really nice to your friends."
Red gave her a grin. "I know that. But do I need a reason to help out someone who's conflicted?" His smile faded for a moment. "If you must know, it's because I was once in the same boat, before someone came around and helped me too."
"That's reasonable," she muttered. "So... when do my lessons start exactly? Tomorrow?"
"Same time, same place," the hedgehog agreed. "Sleep well, Sonata Dusk."
"You too," she said in a bit of confusion as she headed back to her residence. Luckily it seemed that her sisters were still asleep. That was a relief. Red watched her go with a sympathetic look.
"This won't be easy," he said to himself. "But that won't stop me. After all, Bill never gave up on me."
He stared after her for only a moment longer, then curled up into a little ball on the stage as he too went to sleep.
To be honest with you guys, the only thing I truly liked about the EQG series was the Dazzlings; I stopped watching after their coming around. So, I'm saying the area they're in is a "pocket dimension" on Earth hidden away from the eyes of mortals (instead of making it a parallel universe or whatnot).
Cya in the next chapter! And thanks Admirer Boy for the help, particularly on the Dazzlings.