//------------------------------// // A Friendship Falling Apart // Story: A Dazzling Tale // by RoboCheatsyVA TM //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer walked into the practice room where the Rainbooms were rehearsing. "Sunset, don't tell me you were with those girls again," Twilight Sparkle said. "No worries, Twilight. I wasn't," Sunset Shimmer assured her. Sunset had lied, but she couldn't help it; she liked the Dazzlings. "Those girls are dangerous," Twilight said. "You need to stay away from them." "Twilight, they're girls like us now. We need to give them a chance," Sunset said. "No. We can't. If we don't stop them, who knows what they'll do," Twilight said. "Ah have to agree with Twilight; we can't risk puttin' the whole school in danger just for three girls who wouldn't show us any mercy," Applejack said. "You don't understand. You have no idea how they feel," Sunset protested. "They want others to like them for who they are. But no one does, so they have to use their singing manipulation to get people to like them. They may have darker intentions, but that can and will be fixed once they realize there are people who like them for who they are." "We can't take that kind of risk. The Sirens just want people to do their bidding!" Twilight warned. "That's because no one understands them! You don't understand because you don't know what it feels like to have no one who likes you! You're perfect but not everyone else is!" Sunset fired back. "I'm glad you're my friend, Twilight, don't get me wrong. But, think about the old me and then think about these girls! Don't you see the similarities?" "Sunset, I–" Twilight couldn't finish her sentence before Sunset cut her off. "Now, if you'll excuse me; I need to go and find the only three people in this world who understand me." Sunset began heading toward the exit when she stopped in her tracks. "And, Twilight, they're not the Sirens, they're the Dazzlings. Adagio is a Unicorn from Equestria," she said. "She's lying to you Sunset! Can't you see?!" Twilight exclaimed. "I'm going to trust she's telling the truth. Isn't that what friends do? They trust each other even in moments of doubt?" Sunset said, almost to the point of tears. Twilight was upset too. She was the Princess of Friendship and here she was, fighting with someone who didn't want to fight. She felt a twinge of embarrassment; Sunset Shimmer had made a good point. "Sunset, I'm sorry," Twilight said. "Hang out with those girls if you want, but please tell me at least when you're going to be with them. I don't want them to hurt you. But, I'm still going to try to stop them." "Thanks, Twilight. This means a lot to me, that you'll give me a chance to see who they really are for myself. I'm sorry ahead of time of something goes wrong," Sunset said with a weak smile. She turned around and walked back toward Twilight. The two girls hugged. "I'm sorry we almost fought just now," Sunset said. "Me too," Twilight said. "I'll stick around a little longer and help you guys out," Sunset said. "Alright you guys, let's do 'Awesome as I Wanna Be'," Rainbow Dash said. "And let's try not to mess up this time." Rainbow was met with moans and groans amongst bandmates. No one seemed very enthusiastic about having to rehearse the same song for the 500th time. "Rainbow, we've been rehearsing all day," Twilight pointed out. "Maybe we should take a break?" "And then we can use that time to try on some of the costumes I designed!" Rarity said. "For the last time Rarity, we don't have the time for your silly costumes. We've got a whole school we've, gotta save," Applejack said. "My costumes are not silly!" Rarity said. "Girls," Twilight said. The friends stopped at the sound of Twilight's voice. "Hey, guys, we still need to rehearse 'Awesome as I Wanna be' if we're gonna be awesome as I wanna be," Rainbow Dash said. There were more groans of disappointment as the six friends began rehearsing. Each girl came in right on cue, with their "hey's". But something was still wrong. None of the girls seemed very happy to be rehearsing the song. They played great, but they weren't happy. Rainbow Dash took the center of the imaginary stage. She sang her song great. She played her guitar excellently. She was a great lead. But she was far too self-absorbed. Everyone was mad at her for referring to the band as her's. It was pretty much the "Rainbow Dash show". As the girls practiced Sunset was deep in thought. She knew she shouldn't be comparing the Rainbooms to the Dazzlings but she was anyway. She thought about Adagio; Adagio was a great leader, she was a bit self-absorbed, but even she recognized that the band wasn't her's, it belonged to her *and* her friends. The Dazzlings argue amongst each other sometimes but they never seemed to hold it against each other. Sunset stared out the window. She wanted so badly for her friends to stop this ridiculousness; these were her friends, but these weren't the friends she knew. The friends she knew were above this. There was one more thing she wanted. She wanted to be a part of a band too. The Equestria Girls never bothered to ask her if she wanted to join the Rainbooms. She decided that she wouldn't ask them, she would ask the Dazzlings if she could join their group. She knew the Dazzlings didn't have good intentions for now. But she knew even the Dazzlings could change their ways. She had been evil once for a very similar reason to the Dazzlings'. She needed to try and make them realize that there was another way, before it was too late. The Rainbooms finished practicing their song. "Hey, you guys, I'm going to leave for now," Sunset said. "Sunset, before you go, what did you think of my song?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It sure was… something," Sunset said, forcing a small smile. "Awesome!" Rainbow said, oblivious to Sunset's concern. "But it's still *your* band and *your* song?" Sunset asked, concerned. "Yep. It's my band and my song," Rainbow replied. Everyone except for Twilight and Sunset shot an unseen glare at Rainbow Dash. Sunset gave a quick 'goodbye' and then left to go search for the Dazzlings. She'd texted Adagio but hadn't heard back from her yet. Sunset pulled out her phone to text Aria. "Hey, Aria. What's up? I tried texting Adagio, but I haven't heard back from her yet." Sunset pressed 'send'. No reply. She thought she'd text Sonata next. "Hi Sonata! What's up?" Sunset typed and then pressed 'send'. No reply yet again. Sunset pondered what was going on. "Maybe they're at Canterlot Café," Sunset said to no one in particular. She walked out of Canterlot High. She felt lonely, being by herself. She sighed. The Dazzlings were lucky to have each other and the Equestria Girls were lucky to have each other. Sunset didn't really feel as if she belonged with the Equestria Girls though. That was part, but only a small part, of the reason she wanted to befriend the Dazzlings so badly. She understood the Dazzlings and she knew for sure that Adagio understood her. Sunset walked down the silent, rainy street. Canterlot Café wasn't much farther. She heard her phone make a 'ping' sound and took it out of her jacket pocket. She had received a text message from Adagio. "Sunset, I just got your text. Meet us at Canterlot Café; we have something to tell you!" the message read. "What could it be?" Sunset wondered aloud. Could it be that they were inviting her to join their group? Were they going to not be evil anymore? So many questions filled Sunset's mind. Did they want her to join their band? Sunset ran as fast as she could, but occasionally slowed down as if to 'play it cool'. Her heart was racing. She reached the café and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Here goes nothing," she said, opening the doors.