It was a calm early morning at the siren's house, and a lone girl by the name of Sweetie Belle walked across the hallways lit by the rising sunlight. She let out a little yawn, trying not to wake up anybody else at the house.
She went to the kitchen and up to the fridge, which she opened with half-open eyes that sprung open at what was present on the lower set: an apple pie, a cut piece ready to be grabbed and eaten.
Sweetie looked around her surroundings before she grabbed a plate, put the piece of pie on it, and closed the fridge before she took a big bite out of it.
"Good morning, Sweetie Belle."
The girl nearly choked on the pie as she turned around and saw, thankfully not Adagio, but Sonata leaning against the doorframe, arms folded behind her back and her face showing an expression of disapproval.
"Care to tell me what are you doing?"
Sweetie Belle looked everywhere until she looked at the plate, and shrugged with a sheepish smile. "Having an early snack?"
"Yeah, and that snack just so happens to be a piece of the apple pie that Applejack and Apple Bloom gave me yesterday!" Sonata snapped as she walked to the girl. "Why would you grab a piece of a pie that's not yours!? I mean seriously, you didn't even ask me if you could grab it!"
Sweetie Belle leaned the pie closer. "Can I?"
Sonata grabbed the plate. "No! Give it back!"
The girls struggled to try overpower each other, until the lights turned on, causing them to stop as they turned to see an exasperated Adagio entering the kitchen. "Again fighting for a piece of apple pie?"
"She started!" Sonata and Sweetie Belle snapped at each other, pointing at each other while not breaking away contact with Adagio.
She, on her part, took a deep breath and walked up to the duo calmly. "Sonata, I know it's upsetting that someone tries to eat your stuff without your permission, but you were the one who got the idea of leaving it right there, unprotected and without being hidden whatsoever; you should've known someone would be tempted to eat it."
Adagio quickly turned to Sweetie Belle, her tone remaining calm. "And Sweetie Belle, we've been through this before; you're living in a house with three other girls, you can't just grab whatever you want, you should ask first. And besides, it's far too early for you to eat something sweet! You should eat breakfast first!"
"We could decide to have the apple pie as breakfast, right?" Sweetie Belle suggested with a sheepish smile.
"That doesn't change the fact you grabbed the piece before giving the suggestion and before figuring out if it belonged to someone else," Adagio folded her arms sternly. "Now, hand that pie back, and apologize."
Sweetie Belle frowned, grumbled and returned the slice of pie, folding her arms as she begrudgingly said, "I'm sorry."
Suddenly, they heard someone clap, in short, downplayed intervals. Sonata saved the slice of pie back in the fridge before joining Adagio and Sweetie Belle in looking at the doorframe, where they saw Aria clapping with a smug expression. So, nothing out of the ordinary for her, really.
"Nice to see you haven't quite forgotten how to put your hoof down, Adagio," Aria replied as she walked towards the group. "Or maybe I should say hand instead? Heh, we've been stuck in this dimension for over a thousand years, and yet I always seem to slip into the Equestrian language once in a while. Crazy, right?!"
"Not at all, Aria," Sonata replied, shaking her head as she went to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "We've been alive for several milleniums, a single millenium in another world isn't going to change the fact we speak Equestrian first and foremost, even if we've managed to quickly adapt to this world's language."
Aria immediately frowned. "You're supposed to respond negatively."
Sonata raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I did?"
"Regardless, you should go brush your teeth, Sweetie Belle," Adagio said, gently pushing Sweetie Belle towards the door. "I'll talk with Aria in the meantime."
"And what do I do?" Sonata asked, pointing at herself.
Adagio sighed. "Go along with Sweetie Belle too? I honestly don't care."
Sonata chirped and Sweetie Belle groaned as the duo left the kitchen, leaving Aria-still smug as ever-to be confronted by the irritated Adagio. "Okay, tell me what's up with you."
"You mean, besides the usual?" Aria scoffed, quitting the smug tone once Adagio silently nodded. "I finally understand what's wrong with you, after being completely lost for the last couple of days! And I have to thank the kid named Scootaloo for it!"
"Do tell," Adagio lowered her eyelids. "What's wrong with me, exactly?"
"At first I thought you were growing soft; that living on this ordinary dimension, in an ordinary city, filled with ordinary people, where the extraordinary phenomena only happens once in a while, and even then only to a group of people, had finally broken you," Aria responded, walking around Adagio as she continued. "But then, one thing she told me gave me all the pieces required to complete the puzzle."
Adagio raised an eyebrow. "And that piece was?"
Aria snapped at Adagio with a sadistic smirk. "Guilt."
Adagio flinched and looked away. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you do: ever since convincing her to end her friendship with her friends, you've been feeling guilty about it, and that guilt has caused you to do everything in your power to try and fix things," Aria accused as she walked to Adagio's side. "In doing so, you began treating Sweetie Belle differently, and you chose to work with those two girls you met at the museum to fix her friendship with her friends, when you could've just as easily walked away!"
"Speaking of those girls, they told me they were grounded by their parents thanks to "implicitly" getting Scootaloo to collapse on the street," Adagio threw a stern look at Aria. "They helped you recently, didn't they?"
Aria waved her hand. "That's besides the point."
"Actually it's pretty much part of the point," Adagio folded her arms. "Those two were my main helpers in making a plan to try and get Sweetie Belle and her friends back together-"
"And have you even wondered, for even a second, why should Sweetie Belle and her friends get back together, outside of because it'll help curb your guilt?" Aria pointed out, trying to regain her momentum. "They already got her into trouble once, and I'm saying this assuming Sweetie Belle wasn't up to it at first. Why should they get back together?"
"Apple Bloom has already taken a few steps to convince Sweetie Belle to forgive her, and while Scootaloo will take a little longer to show up, I can see she's also trying to convince Sweetie Belle to forgive her!" Adagio responded sternly, pointing at Aria as she moved forward, making Aria back away until she hit a wall. "There's also the matter that as long as this bad blood between them remains, they will never move on from the Anon-A-Miss fiasco, which means we will never forget about that fiasco either, and nobody will. move. on!"
"Alright, I get it, I get it!" Aria gently put Adagio's finger down. "How about I convince you that keeping them apart might be for the best, then? Does Sonata know the phone number of Apple Bloom's house? I think she's been hanging out with her recently, right?"
Adagio narrowed her eyes. "They have, but after what happened between you and Scootaloo, I'm not willing to trust you with Apple Bloom!"
"You have no proof that I had anything to do with Scootaloo collapsing!" Adagio raised an eyebrow, immediately piercing Aria's defenses. "Okay, so she did collapse while I was teaching her a lesson, but it was an accident! The two girls were the ones who got the idea to drive her to exhaustion!" Aria took a deep breath. "Listen, just give me a chance to show you that the little apple pie Apple Bloom gave Sweetie Belle wasn't enough to convince her to forgive her!"
Adagio sighed and looked elsewhere. "Now that you mention it, Sweetie Belle hasn't mentioned Apple Bloom or talked with her since then. But she could still be thinking about whether to forgive Apple Bloom or not!"
"Over a week after the fact? I mean come on, Adagio, even your slow burning mind should be able to catch on that there's something more to this!" Aria snapped. "If she hasn't mentioned Apple Bloom since then, how can you be so sure she's been thinking about her?! Let me bring her here so they can see each other again, and help Sweetie Belle decide what to do already!"
After she thought about the idea for a couple of seconds, Adagio took a deep breath and walked over to the phone in the kitchen. She wordlessly marked a number, and leaned the phone closer to Aria as it rang.
Just as Aria reached for it, however, Adagio pulled it back. "If you don't honestly believe you can help Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle, don't bother picking it up."
Aria lowered her hand, and Adagio offered the ringing phone to Aria once more, the sirens exchanged stern glares at each other as they waited for something to happen, the ringing noise further aggravating the duo.
Eventually, Aria grabbed the phone, and answered the call.
Somebody knocked the door three times, and Sweetie Belle walked up to and opened it, meeting the surprising sight of Apple Bloom and Applejack standing outside.
"Heya!" Apple Bloom chirped.
Sweetie Belle took a step back. "W-W-What are you doing here?!"
Apple Bloom, oblivious to Sweetie Belle's discomfort, chirped once more. "Ah came 'ere for a sleepover!"
"Aria over there gave us ta invitation, sayin' it would help Apple Bloom learn 'er lesson," Applejack brushed Apple Bloom's hair. "An' considerin' 'er jealousy began 'cause ah didn't invite 'er to Sunset's sleepover, ah think it's just fitting."
Apple Bloom giggled and Sweetie Belle briefly narrowed her eyes before Sonata's sudden arrival caught her off-guard. "Applejack! Apple Bloom! What are you doing here?!"
"They're here for a sleepover," Sweetie Belle muttered under her breath, throwing a furious look at a strolling Aria. "They were invited by Aria over there."
"Is somethin' ta matter, Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom inquired, getting her attention. "Ya look a bit angry."
"Of course I'm a little bit angry! Not at you, but at Aria!" Sweetie Belle folded her arms and looked away. "She knows I'm trying to hide from everyone until the situation cools down, and yet she invited people here without telling me first!"
"Yeah, Aria's kind of a odd like that; she likes to do things that seemingly make no sense, only for them to be part of some grand plan," Sonata replied, scratching the back of her head. "I think it's supposed to be a coping mechanism, but she always dodges the question when I ask her why she does it."
"Anyway, I guess it's too late to tell you to go back home," Sweetie Belle sighed. "So, yeah, let's have a sleepover."
Apple Bloom chirped and ran into the house, while Applejack crouched down and brushed Sweetie Belle's hair, promising her "we'll make it worth it, and nobody will find out where you are right now" before she followed Sonata inside.
With that done, Apple Bloom was gestured to come towards Aria, and with Applejack's hesitant permission, she walked towards the siren and complained, "Ya told me Sweetie Belle was okay with ta sleepover, but she said ya didn't tell 'er anythin' 'bout it!"
"Maybe I forgot to tell her, maybe I meant to say something else, a simple mistake like that," Aria replied with a half-hearted shrug. "You can't expect me to be as smart as Adagio, or even be smart once in a while like Sonata: I got a few screws loose, that should be obvious by now."
"But-"
Aria put a finger on Apple Bloom's mouth. "But ta idea is ta same; ya wanted t' go t' a sleepover when Applejack made one for Sunset, and now ya get t' go t' a sleepover with Sweetie Belle!"
Apple Bloom took off the finger and scratched her chin. "Ya know, that wasn't a bad impression of mah accent. Maybe if ya spent some time with us, ya could perfect it-"
"You're not supposed to be impressed by it!" Aria snapped, quickly calming down before she lost control. "Anyway, now that you're here, there's one more thing I want to tell you, which is very important: have fun no matter what."
Apple Bloom blinked twice. "Ah think dat's pretty obvious-"
"At face value, it is, but what I mean, is have fun no matter what other people think," Aria explained, putting a hand on Apple Bloom's shoulder. "Even if Adagio gets angry, even if someone gets upset you're taking their spotlight, and even if Sweetie Belle looks uncomfortable with what's happening, just focus on having fun yourself."
"But-"
Aria leaned closer to Apple Bloom. "You wanted to go to a sleepover to have fun, right? Now's your chance to do just that. Don't get cold feet right now just because you're worried about the consequences; you didn't think about that when Sunset had her sleepover, why think about it now?"
Apple Bloom's eyes widened, but before she could ask what the siren meant, Aria turned her around and pushed her towards the group as she stated, with a malicious smile:
"Now go have fun!"
The first game played was a simple karaoke sing-along. For obvious reasons, the sirens remained behind and watched as the Apple sisters and Sweetie Belle sang some songs together. In particular, when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sang together, the latter focused exclusively on the words without giving a glance at Apple Bloom, who quickly noticed this.
But as Aria said, she just focused on having fun.
Then, everybody engaged in a pillow fight, which the sirens again skipped because they thought the girls and Applejack deserved to have some fun. And besides, they would obviously win that fight.
While swinging her pillow all over the place, Apple Bloom hesitated when she saw Sweetie Belle flinch and cover herself with her own pillow, prompting Apple Bloom to hesitate as well, and give Applejack the chance to hit them both.
Again, Apple Bloom focused on having fun.
Finally, the last game for the sleepover came: truth or dare. Rather durimentary by the sirens' redundant standards, but it could work in the lesson's favor regardless, especially once Aria's turn came to spin the bottle.
It landed right on Adagio.
"Okay, Adagio," Aria smirked. "Truth or Dare?"
Adagio glanced at Sweetie Belle, then answered confidently, "Dare."
"I dare you to tell everybody the real reason you started working on getting Sweetie Belle and her friends back together."
Adagio flinched as Sweetie Belle added, "Now that she says it, I have been curious about that too: I could maybe understand why Sonata would try fix our friendship, but you gave me the idea to end it in the first place."
"Yeah, it's quite perplexing, don't you think?" Aria tilted her head. "So, Adagio, what's the reason?"
"...It's guilt," Adagio rubbed her arm and lowered her head. "When I pushed Scootaloo to go see you and Apple Bloom, I stayed behind in order to see if things would fix themselves. They didn't, and then the feeling of guilt hit me like a truck."
"So ever since then, you've been feeling guilty about it?" Sweetie Belle asked, frowning as she leaned closer to Adagio. "Is that the reason why you've been so kind to me since then? Why you let me stay here with you?"
Aria slightly lowered her eyelids as she read Sweetie Belle's movements... and failed to see any. Sure, Scootaloo told her she was a good actress, but even a the best of actors couldn't escape a siren's keen eye for trickery and dishonesty.
And yet Aria couldn't sense anything like that.
"Yeah, that's the reason," Adagio answered as she rubbed her forehead. "Anyway, who's turn is it now?"
Apple Bloom raised her arm, and promptly spun the bottle... which stopped at Sweetie Belle. "Okay, Sweetie Belle, Truth or Dare?"
Sweetie Belle leaned back a little. "Um, truth?"
Apple Bloom took a deep breath, and clasping her hands, she asked, "Have ya finally decided whether t' forgive me and Scootaloo for Anon-A-Miss?"
A chill went down Sweetie Belle spine, prompting her to stand up and walk away. "I, uh, need to go do something. Come with me, Aria."
Sensing concern from the girl, Aria nodded and followed Sweetie Belle deeper into the house, leaving everybody to continue the game without them, after agreeing to let Apple Bloom continue her turn once Sweetie came back of course.
"I did not expect Apple Bloom to go there!" Sweetie Belle snapped, walking back and forth in her room. "I did think the questions would go a bit further than usual, but not like that!"
"Well what did you expect, kid? That she wouldn't bring it up ever again?" Aria shook her head. "If you haven't forgiven your friends yet, of course they're going to want to know if you forgive them now! Since she got her turn and you picked truth, it was only logical that she was going to pop the question!"
That statement caught Sweetie belle's attention, prompting her to stop, scratch her chin and hum. "Aria, by any chance, did you set up a sleepover between me and the Apple sisters because you wanted me to talk with Apple Bloom?"
Aria nodded without hesitation. "Yeah, the point of the sleepover is to get you and Apple Bloom to talk things out. Sonata told me you haven't spoken with each other since she gave you the pie, and you didn't forgive her then either. Now's the chance to tell her."
"But I need more time-!"
Aria crouched down and forced Sweetie Belle to look at her strictly face-to-face. "It's been over a week since she handed you the pie, you've had nothing but time to think about whether to forgive her or not. Now, you either forgive her right now, or you don't. There's no middle ground or third option you can use to escape this situation."
Aria released Sweetie Belle's chin and stood up before she walked out of the room, gesturing the girl to follow her back to the living room to continue the sleepover. And, now knowing the point of the sleepover, Sweetie Belle was a bit less hesitant to follow Aria.
Once back at the living room, Sweetie Belle sat down between Applejack and Apple Bloom, taking a deep breath as she put her hands down. "Okay, so, what were we doing again?"
"Ma turn came, and ah picked ya for truth or dare," Apple Bloom explained, scratching the back of her head. "And ah picked truth, and asked ya... if ya were willin' t' forgive me for the Anon-A-Miss incident."
"In hindsight, dat probably wasn't ta best thing t' use for truth," Applejack remarked. "We talked with ta sirens for a bit, and they'll allow ya to pick somethin' else if that question's too much for ya-"
"No, I picked truth, and it's about time I be honest with you," Sweetie Belle stated as she sat next to Adagio. "With Apple Bloom more than anything. And..."
Sweetie Belle paused as she thought about what to say, and how to get the message perfectly across. A single look at Apple Bloom's expecting face convinced Sweetie Belle to say what came first:
"I'm scared... I'm scared of what'll happen if I don't give you an answer, of what'll happen if I do forgive you, and what'll happen if I don't forgive you. No matter what I think, I end up paralyzed by fear before I can figure out just what to do."
Apple Bloom frowned. "But, why are ya afraid t' make a choice?"
"Because I don't know what's the right choice!" Sweetie Belle twiddled her fingers. "If I do forgive you, there's always the chance we'll end up stuck in this situation all over again. If I don't forgive you, I end up losing the best friends I've ever had in my life. And I don't ever give you an answer... I don't think I'd be able to sleep if that were to happen..."
Sweetie Belle clutched her chest. "Apple Bloom, I miss you, and Scootaloo too, I miss you both. The things we used to do, the fun we used to have, I miss all of that stuff... but I can't become friends with you again until I become absolutely sure that what happened before, won't happen again."
Apple Bloom lowered her head, and with her bow drooping down, she asked, "So dat's a no?"
"No," Sweetie Belle shook her head. "I'm not saying I won't forgive you and Scootaloo for the Anon-A-Miss fiasco-"
"You're not saying you'll forgive us either, so," Apple Bloom slightly lifted her head. "What is it?"
Both girls wind up silent moments later, and the game continued between Applejack and the sirens, with neither Sweetie Belle nor Apple Bloom getting another turn.
Then again, they probably preferred it that anyway.
The sleepover was over before anybody knew it, and the Apple sisters were back outside, saying goodbye to Sonata and Aria.
"Well, that was certainly an... interesting sleepover," Sonata remarked, scratching the back of her head. "I'm sorry if the ending of it soured your enjoyment of it."
"It was necessary, especially ta part with truth or dare," Applejack looked down to her sister. "Isn't dat right, Apple Bloom?"
With all eyes on her person, Apple Bloom slowly lowered her head and confessed: "Ta event dat made me jealous enough t' create Anon-A-Miss was because Applejack wasn't paying attention t' me. Ta breaking point was when she didn't invite me to a sleepover, which was meant for Sunset. After dat was done, ah wanted t' make Sunset pay for taking Applejack away from me, and ah gathered ma friends t' create Anon-A-Miss and... well, ya know what happened next."
"Who, me? Nah, you're sorely mistaken, I know nothing about it," Aria shook her head. "I mean, hearing about what happened over a dozen times, from the mouth of Sweetie Belle even, didn't quite get the message across to me. Could you tell me once more what happened?"
Sonata nudged Aria in the shoulder, throwing a disapproving look at her as she rubbed her shoulder and responded with a stern glare.
"Anyway, now dat ah've been to a sleepover dat meant for me, ah can understand why Applejack didn't invite me," Apple Bloom turned her head. "This sleepover was meant t' let Sweetie Belle, me, and Applejack have fun, but everythin' felt awkward instead."
"Especially for Sweetie Belle," Applejack added with a nod. "She looked like she wanted t' get outta there as fast as possible."
"But even if she had enjoyed ta sleepover, ta fact it happened while we were still in bad terms due t' her breakin' our friendship was... well, uncomfortable," Apple Bloom folded her arms. "It felt like, whether it was she or me, it was too soon for us to try and have the normal fun we used to have."
"And you got to hear, from Sweetie Belle's little mouth, how she's feeling utterly horrible for ending your friendship together, yet is feeling too worried to consider becoming friends with you again," Aria scoffed, her grin growing more smug and condescending as she leaned down to Apple Bloom's height. "I bet that makes you feel even worse about starting the whole Anon-A-Miss schtik, huh?"
"Ya bet," Apple Bloom smiled and lifted her head. "But thanks to ya and dat sleepover, ah now know what ah did wrong, and will try t' never do again!"
Aria flinched and stood up. "Thanks!? You're thanking me!?"
"Of course she's thanking ya; both she and ah, actually," Applejack replied, getting Aria's attention. "Ya helped us spend some time together, get Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle t' talk again after several days of nothin', and also help Apple Bloom learn why ah didn't invite 'er t' Sunset's sleepover. Dat was pretty nice of ya."
"Take that back, you fiend!" Aria snapped, giving Applejack the pointer finger. "How dare you give me a compliment and a thanks at the same time!?"
The Apple sisters laughed at Aria's response, and bid farewell to Sonata before they walked back home, leaving the flabbergasted siren alone with her fellow roommate.
"First Rarity, and now Applejack and her sister," Sonata patted Aria's back with a proud look. "Looks like more and more people are slowly but surely seeing the good in you, Aria."
"Don't say that like it's a good thing!" Aria slapped Sonata's hand away. "I'm supposed to be the kind of jerk that makes people happy when they have the rug pulled under them!"
"But nobody's pulling the rug under you now, right, Aria?" Sonata pointed out with a smile, as if she expected this to be a revealing bit of information. "I mean, I don't think anybody could pull the rug anyway: we don't have one outside here-"
"It's a figure of speech, Sonata!"
Aria walked past Sonata and went inside, the blue siren following her before she closed the door. "Whatever, it seems my suspicions about Sweetie Belle were somewhat wrong after all," Aria scratched her chin and looked at the ground. "She is a good actress, but she wasn't taking advantage. At least, I don't think you can take advantage of something you're not aware of-"
Sonata pulled Aria back before she crashed into a wall. "Aria, if you're going to think about something, at least do it after you've sat down."
Aria groaned and obliged; sitting down the couch with her legs crossed as she continued to talk. "As I was saying: Sweetie Belle's an actress? Yes. Is Adagio guilty for somewhat ending her friendship with her friends? Yes. Was Sweetie Belle taking advantage of said guilt? No, in fact, she wasn't even aware of it."
"And since you've helped both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom at this point, the only member of Anon-A-Miss left to help is Sweetie Belle herself," Sonata pointed out as she sat next to an annoyed Aria. "And since Sweetie Belle has told Apple Bloom how she feels about the situation, and she's also apologized to Adagio for not realizing she was feeling guilty about something sooner, maybe she'll be more willing to talk with you?"
Aria was quick to point out a little flaw in Sonata's logic: "How do those two things correlate with her spending any time together with me, the siren she likes the least?"
"Sweetie Belle doesn't like you the least!" Sonata snapped. "She's annoyed by your antics, yeah, but so's everybody! That doesn't mean she doesn't like you!"
Aria paused. "Anyway: it's good that she told Apple Bloom what she said, and yes, it's also good that she apologized to Adagio for not realizing she was feeling guilty, but that has nothing to do with me! And besides, if I have to help her with he problems, then what am I supposed to do?"
Sonata moved closer to Aria and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, oblivious to Aria's discomfort. "She's this close to becoming willing enough to try talk with her friends and patch things up with them. I'm sure anything you do, as long as it's nothing too outrageous or exasperating, will do just fine."
Aria wanted to tell Sonata how she was so wrong right then and there, but suddenly, an idea sparked inside Aria. An idea that involved a certain girl she hadn't met in a while. And with this idea, a wide smile appeared on Aria's face as she stood up and clenched her fists.
"I think I got it!"