Hello, fellow readers! Another chapter for you to read and enjoy! So, what's on my board tonight?

Maelaeran: I would have said devious if it was a prank. He just had a little surprise for them.

TheBeatles211: Thanks. Glad to hear that as I'm excited for this too.

hnh058513: While those are good songs, they aren't what I'm talking about.

Solartiger: Thanks!

With that said, let's get going!

Chapter 1: Song of the Sirens

A few minutes earlier

"Come on, Fluttershy." Rainbow called over, which Morgana simply jumped off her lap as she got up.

"Don't worry, I'll be here." Morgana simply said before walking over to Yu, "Where's Ren?"

"He went to get a tour with Sunset." Yu answered, "She volunteered to be a tour guide for new students."

"Knowing him, he probably wants to know if her reformation is true." Morgana then smirked, "Or to get to know her better."

"...Are you implying something?" Yu raised an eyebrow at the cat.

"Nope, just saying that he can be quite the gentleman." Morgana remembers how he acts around the girls in their group and outside their circle.

Before the two can continue, the Rainbooms started their song for the rehearsal. Listening to their music, they sounded great with their instruments that they have, showing that they know their strengths. However, the song they played had the guitar be the main focus with simple chords for the others to play in the background. Rainbow was also the main singer with the others doing backup vocals. The lyrics were also centered around...

Yu now got the picture as he sees the other girls had more of an annoyed look on their faces as the guitar solo came in. Though, he decided to wait to see if the rest of the song was like this.

"Gee, ego much?" Morgana commented.

"Yeah... even Rise wasn't like this." He knows the pop singer was quite popular, but she didn't have a song that talked about her like this.

Once the song ended, Rainbow smiled as the others sighed a bit. "Yes! I swear, that song gets better each time!"

"Rainbow? You mind if I talk to you for a sec?" Yu called her over.

"Oh. OK." Rainbow was a bit confused at this, but decided to hear him out. Putting down her guitar on the stand, she walks with him outside the door to the room.

Yu closes the door and started talking, "Your band sounds great, but it wouldn't matter if you're not aware of what's happening."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow wasn't getting what he meant.

"Well... it doesn't seem like your friends are behind someone that has themselves as the center of attention." Yu knows that this isn't his band, but he does want to help out with any issues they have.

"You mean the song I wrote? That's just one song. The other ones we have aren't like that." She was getting an idea, but that isn't what he meant.

"Look, just try to... at least see what the others have to say." Yu gave a bit of advice before they heard the bell ring.

"OK, I'll... think about it." Rainbow was still confused at what he was saying.

Going back into the room to get their stuff, Yu put on the slingbag Ren left for Morgana who hopped onto his shoulder as the girls left.

"Did you tell her?" Morgana asked before reverting back to his cat form.

"I didn't want to intrude on something I'm not entirely sure about. I only warned her about what's she doing." Yu answered.

"Better than nothing, I guess." Morgana muttered before going in the slingbag with Yu exiting the room and closed the door behind him.

Present time

As Sunset and Ren enter the cafeteria, they spotted the group at one of the tables and went to sit with them. While the group was eating, Sunset didn't feel like eating as Ren snatched the apple off Yu's tray without him looking.

"So, how was the tour?" Applejack asked.

"...I'm not really sure." Sunset answered, confusing the others.

"The girls we were touring around, there was something off about them." Ren explains to them before taking a bite.

"You mean off like this?" Pinkie puts her puffy hair in front of her to form a long beard, "Or this?" She took off the beard and shoved two long carrots into her mouth, making her look like a walrus. "Ooh! How about-"

"Pinkie, just let them tell us." Rainbow stopped her from going any further as one of the carrots fell out.

"That's the thing, I don't know what to tell you other than that." Sunset puts her head on the table as Ren spoke, "All we know is that whoever these girls are, they have an agenda of their own."

"You mean they're bad news?" Fluttershy guessed.

"That's what it sounds like." Yu then realizes where his apple went, seeing Ren taking another bite. "You could have just asked."

"Habit." Ren casually said for his answer before noticing Yu had the slingbag, "Morgana in there?"

"Yeah." Morgana then poked his head out for a moment to answer before going back in.

Meanwhile, in the halls outside of the cafeteria, the girls they were talking about stood near the doors.

"Alright, girls. Time to get what we came for." Adagio said.

"Lunch!?" Sonata guessed, only for her answer to be a smack upside her head by Aria.

"No, she means the magic here. Though, I doubt that there are any." She corrected.

"Maybe if you bothered to care, you should feel the magic here like I do." Adagio was getting annoyed by her pessimism as she spoke, "With enough negative energy from these students, we'll be able to have enough to make anyone do our bidding. And this time, we won't have any old unicorn to banish us."

"Can we get lunch after?" Sonata's question made Adagio's eye twitch a bit as she saw a poster of tacos, "It's Taco Tuesday!"

Aria sighed in agitation, "Why do you even like those? They're disgusting."

"No, they're not!" Sonata argued, "You just don't like new things!"

"Enough!" Adagio cut in to stop their bickering, "If we could use our own negative energy, we wouldn't even be starving. Now, if you're done being morons, follow my lead."

"How about one of us lead this time?" Aria brought up.

"Who's idea was this in the first place?" Adagio countered, making Aria grumble in annoyance for a response. "Exactly."

Seeing Aria suck in her disdain and Sonata paying attention for once, Adagio grinned as she placed her hands on the doors.

"You sure that's what you heard right?" Rarity asked Ren after he told them what happened on the tour.

"Yeah. Those gems must have something special about them." Sunset thought out loud.

"And this Sonata girl said something about singing to get others to do things they want?" Rainbow clarified.

"It sounds familiar, but I can't recall what it was." Yu had an idea of what she meant.

As they were thinking, the doors to the cafeteria opened to show the girls they were talking about entering with them singing a song in harmony. Their voices had a haunting feel to the group as they were confused as to what was happening right now. The singing caught everyone's attention as they stopped their conversations, watching the girls as they walked down the rows of tables with their song.

[Adagio]
We heard that you want to get together
We heard you want to rock the school
We've thought of something better
Something that changes all the rules

As she walked past some of the students, she brushed her fingers on their heads or shoulders in a seductive manner that got anyone's attention to focus on her. The other two did the same to other students as their song continued.

Why pretend we're all the same
When some of us shine brighter?

[Aria and Sonata]
Shine brighter

[Adagio]
Here's a chance to find your flame
Are you a loser or a fighter?

"What is even going on?" Rainbow whispered, getting no answer from the others as they just watched on.

[All three]
Me and you, you and me
Why don't we see who is better?
We don't have to be one and the same thing
Oh, what's so wrong with a little competition?
Are you afraid of losing the audition?

The group then noticed the other students beginning to leer at each other, seeing that the song was having an effect on them. Yu and Ren saw that it was causing some sort of green mist to appear on the floor as the song continued.

[Adagio]
You're a star and you should know it
Yeah, you rise above the rest

Aria and Sonata then lifted her onto a table and walks down to the other end to get a male student's attention.

It doesn't matter who you hurt
If you're just proving you're the best

[All three]
Ah-ahh-ahh-ahh

Battle! You wanna win it
Let's have a battle, battle of the bands
Let's have a battle, we'll go all in it
Let's have a battle, battle, battle
Battle of the bands

Soon, the students were chanting battle along with the girls while they continued the song, fighting over each other as the girls enjoyed the bickering. The group could only watch as they were just baffled at the scene.

[All three and the students]
Me and you, you and me
Why don't we see who is better?
We don't have to be one and the same thing
Oh, what's so wrong with a little competition?

[Students]
I'm going out and winning the audition

[All three and the students]
Battle! We want to win it
Let's have a battle, battle of the bands
Let's have a battle, we'll go all in it
Let's have a battle, battle, battle
Battle of the bands!

The green mist was now flowing into their gems, gaining more power as the group watch them arguing.

"Oh, that's what you meant." Pinkie said to Sunset, who made a face of 'Yeah, no kidding.'

After lunch ended, the group left the cafeteria to go to the principal's office as they spoke about what happened.

"So they literally sing to get what they want." Ren remembered what he heard.

"They must be using dark magic to having hypnotic singing powers or something." Sunset concluded from what they saw.

"If that's the case, are they from where Twilight is from?" Yu brought up, which made the rest of the group worry more.

"We better tell Principal Celestia about this right away." Applejack says, "Last thing we need is another event almost being ruined by a power-crazed lunatic."

The boys noticed Sunset winced a bit as Applejack realized what she said, "Uh, no offense." She quickly said to Sunset.

"None taken." Sunset played it off.

Once the group reached the office, they entered to see both principals in there. Thankful that they don't have to repeat the story twice, Sunset approached the desk. "Sorry for the intrusion, but we have to inform you two of something."

"What seems to be the problem?" Luna asked.

"It's about the new girls..." She then explained what happens in the cafeteria earlier, though they don't look like they even believe her despite what has happened before.

"...Well, I apparently find that very hard to believe." Celestia denied, "Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful."

"Perhaps you're just making out someone else to be a bad element." Luna insinuated, making Sunset grimace at her claim.

"W-Well, I can see why you'd think that, but I'm not playing the blame game." Sunset defended with her friends backing her up.

"We saw them in the cafeteria, too." Rainbow said.

"And we saw how them using their magic." Ren added.

"We can see that, but isn't your band performing in the Musical Showcase as well?" Celestia questioned, getting hesitant nods from the girls. "Then I don't see how it's a problem for the Dazzlings to practice as well."

"The Dazzlings?" Yu repeated.

"That's the name of their group." Celestia answered, "They came here to sign up for the showcase, even singing one of their songs for us."

The group gasped in shock at this, seeing the principals' eyes glow green for a moment before going away.

"And we think the idea of a Battle of the Bands instead is a marvelous one." Celestia said, "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, that's all." Sunset simply answered before the group exited the office.

Walking down the halls now, the group sees the other students being separated by being in their own band group.

"This is bad. They already got even the principals under their spell." Fluttershy was getting a bit scared at this.

"And they even made the showcase into a competition." Rainbow added.

"But, how come we're not affected?" Rarity thought out loud.

"Maybe it must be the magic we got from Princess Twilight when we faced Sunset's Shadow." Pinkie recalled before realizing what she said, "No offense."

Sunset rolled her eyes, "None taken."

"If that's the case, why don't we just do what we did last time and summon that Rainbow Beam to take them down?" Rainbow's idea wasn't a bad one.

"Even if we could, our magic only comes out in music now." Applejack brought up.

"True... but we don't know the full extent of what they're capable of." Ren countered.

"And we got no way to get a message to Twilight." Yu added.

Sunset then remembered something, seeing her locker nearby as she opens it. "I think I got something that'll help." She said as she dug through it.

Reaching the bottom of her locker, she had a hard covered book with her sun design on it. "A book?" Rarity questioned.

"Not just a book, this is a journal I was given when I was Princess Celestia's pupil. Even when I ran away, I guess I kept this in case I wanted to come back home." Sunset explained.

She then went through the pages, seeing the lessons she learned and all the new spells she tried out with the princess responding back to her. Nostalgia hit her as she read some of it before seeing the remaining pages that had writing on it. Turns out even when she ran away, the princess was very worried about her and tried to get into contact with her for awhile. After seeing the last page, she almost cried as the words sounded like the princess was coming to terms with her...

She quickly turned to a blank page, making sure she didn't have any stray tears before speaking. "Hope it still works..."

"Then give it a shot!" Rainbow handed her a pen to write with, which she accepted and looked at it for a moment before looking down at the book.

"Oh boy..." She mumbled, "Been a long time since I wrote these words."

She then pressed the tip of the pen against the page before moving it into words.

Dear Princess Celestia

And done! So, with having the Persona trio show up earlier than Twilight, of course some things are changed a bit. However, I don't want to make it an instant problem solver or this story is gonna be shorter than the movie.

Since Yu has been in a band once, he has a bit of experience that a band is like a team. But, he can only give advice to them.

Anyways, the conflict has shown up and they have no clear way to face it. With Sunset's journal from back then, they could only hope for contact with the princess to get a message to Twilight.

Will they get help from the other side? Find out next chapter!