//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seven 
// Story: An Equestrian Girls Comedy of Errors 
// by Godzilla313 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 7



 


A couple of days had passed, and on the other side of town, things were becoming an interesting sight.  By this point, not only had things at work gotten better for the Dazzlings at work, all the shops around now were giving things away for free, and the shop owners were more than glad to help them.  The landlord now was not charging them and letting them live there for free, as well as making the place much better for living in.  Adagio decided to be patient before asking for the best apartment in the place.  Aria, however, was becoming impatient, and finally approached her about it, saying, “Look, when are we going to get on this thing?  All we’re doing is leeching off the neighborhood.”

“Will you quit complaining!” snarled Adagio, “There is more I want to see before we jump into this.”

“What is there to see?” Aria snapped back in frustration, “We sing, they become our lap dogs.  What else is there to know?”

“There is something I noticed in all this,” she answered, “The more we work it, it seems the weaker our…new friends…become.  I need to see just how weak they do become.  If they start to become emaciated, we’ll have to control the amount we sing.  It’s hard to have a world of slaves if we turn them into skeletons.”

Aria was ready to react, but she stopped, having to admit that Adagio was right; this was something she never liked to admit.  All they had to be was patient.  Adagio did not want to become overconfident as before.  She was so certain nothing could stop them that they never thought that Equestrian magic could be brought to bear to stop them, and worse, shatter the gems they had before.  Once they knew how strong things were, they would then spy out their doubles and learn all their mannerisms.  “Get ready,” she mused, “You three are going to have a miserable time!  There’s only room in this world for one group of Dazzlings, and that is going to be us!”



Monday rolled around, and Midsummer Dream decided to meet at Sunset’s shop again and get a studio in which to practice, now looking to enfold Starlight into their band.  During the party, she watched Sunset play, and because she knew the chords, she watched the fingering and started to figure things out.  After that, she practiced hard the whole weekend to the point where she made her fingers sore.  Sunset assured her that this was normal because she would have to build callouses on her fingertips in the human world to play for long periods of time.  “With all these…what did you call these…ah, yes!  Digits,” she said to Sunset, “Anyway, with all these digits, you would think things would be easier.  Well, I mean, they are, but being used to having toughness born in with hoofs makes it feel weird with fleshy limb ends”

“Trust me,” said Sunset, “It was a tough time for me to adjust, and I even grew a bit sad, knowing I could never go back.”

“Why don’t you come back?” asked Starlight, “I mean, Celestia would more than forgive you, and I am sure that she would love to hear all about this world.”

“Well, I pondered it once, but, when I helped Quill and Downy Feathers adjust to their new home in Equestria, I began to remember all the bad things I did, and different places around the palace acted as a constant remembrance of things I want to leave behind, and I just felt like it was being rubbed in my face, though no one was trying to do that.  To get on with my life, I just had to accept that visiting is fine, but I really can’t live there anymore.”

That hit Starlight.  She had her own sorted past, and indeed, the first time she went back to the old village just as a guest to a festival, it was hard for her.  Everypony was treating her as if she had never done anything wrong to them, and just the village itself reminding her of that past contrasted to how willing they were to have her make some decisions about this or that at the festival.  She didn’t want to be making any decisions, because, at the time, she felt she didn’t have the right, and so she freaked out.  It had been a while since then, but she still had times where she had regrets, and wanted to become introverted at those moments as she had fairly badly as an adolescent.  She began to sulk a bit, and Sunset noticed this.  She had been filled in by Twilight about her past, and she asked Starlight, “Looking at scars?”

Starlight had been lost in thought and she snapped back, surprised at the question.  She was about to speak, but Sunset jumped in and said, “Trust me, I have them too, and I can’t help but notice them from time to time.”

“How do you not let it bother you?” asked Starlight in return.

“Who said it doesn’t?” Sunset countered, “But I had to learn how to turn it into something else.  First, that’s my past, and that is not now.  Second, when you have friends like what we have, you can talk to them about it and you can learn to use the scars as something to give you strength; you can let it help you have resolve never to do what gave you those scars in the first place again.”

She had to admit, talking to Trixie about it helped some, but she also knew her arrogance would never see her act as if she had regrets, that is, if she did have them, she never showed it.  Thus, it was hard to feel like she had any sympathy for her issues.  Therefore, she never really talked about it.  She was now lost in thought, but Sunset then said, “You can always talk to us about it, but only when you’re ready.  I know it’s not easy to talk about it, but you’ll be able to in time.”

She rubbed Starlight’s back, knowing that Princess Twilight must have known that this trip was going to be therapeutic for Starlight.  She could learn to live her life better than before.



Thus, they were in the studio that Monday, and the five of them were discussing a repertoire and what kind of an act they wanted to put on.  They wanted to be more than a cover band and have different personalities like Sha-Na-Na had had.  Starlight was spending more time listening, not being familiar with the human culture, and certainly not familiar with the era of which they spoke.  They would turn to her to see if she liked what she heard, and did ask some questions about the punk culture.  Yet, she stayed quiet most of the time, and it was more that, even if she had any knowledge of the things of which they spoke, she really didn’t’ want to make decisions on anything.  She feared where that might lead.  They knew they would have to learn a lot of songs, and decided to learn a certain amount a day.  When it came time for a break, the band came out just as Principal Celestia came in with her sister, Vice Principal Luna, with a stack of posters.  “Oh hello, Sunset,” Celestia said warmly,

“Hi,” she chirped back happily, “What’s all the posters about?”

She answered by handing Sunset one of them and said, “So, who are your friends?”

Sunset looked at the band and said, “Oh, they’re going to be in classes with us next fall.”

Luna looked them over and asked, “Why do some of you look familiar.”

Sunset caught this and said, “They do look a lot like the Dazzlings, but they are different girls, believe me.”

“I’m Ad…Andante.”

“I’m Cantata.”

“I’m Cabaletta.”

“I’m Vice Principal Luna,” she answered, “And this is my sister, Principal Celestia.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” responded Andante, extending her hand to the both of them.

“Well, I can already tell you are not the same girls,” answered Celestia, shaking her hand, “You are certainly more pleasant a person.”

Sunset then said, “And this is Starlight Glimmer.  She’s just visiting for the summer.”

“Well, it’s good to have you in town,” said Luna, shaking her hand.

Sunset looked at the poster, and it was advertising a festival in the local park for early July.  It featured a parade, games and concessions, and various forms of entertainment throughout the day.  Celestia then said, “Sunset, Rainbow Dash has a band you’re a member of; you girls can try out if you want.”

“We have a band as well,” offered Jack, “Oh, sorry…Jack Zircon.”

He stuck his hand out and shook theirs, saying, “Well, we’ve formed a band recently,” and began to explain the concept.  “That would make for an interesting act,” said Luna, “Music and some comedy.  You’re welcome to try out as well.  We only have a number of slots, so you really need to show your stuff.”

The five looked at one another, muttering back and forth as to if they wanted to do it, and they then began to nod, and Andante said, “We’d love to do it!”

“Great!” Celestia said happily, “I think you stand a good chance of performing, though, as we are going to have many acts.”

“Then we’ve got work to do,” said Jack, “We’ll start to structure a show and start to work learning those songs this afternoon.  In fact, this feels great, because at least we’ll have some kind of a goal for which to aim.  I mean, there’s one thing in learning a bunch of songs willy nilly.  This way, we can have some specific list of songs that match what we want to do and keep to that.  We can learn songs whenever we need to, depending on what kind of a show we want to do.”

The group was all abuzz now, chattering back and forth about where they wanted to go with things.  Celestia gave of a slight laugh and said, “Well, I see your anxious to get started, so we’ll move on and do what we’ve set out to do.  The tryouts are in two weeks, so we’ll look forward to seeing you.”

They said their good-byes and headed out the door.  The band went back into the studio and began to discuss their song list and what they wanted to do between numbers.



After some lunch, they started to hash out some of the songs, trying to learn them and get the arrangements right.  However, Starlight was still chewing on all that she heard about the past and letting it go.  Could she let it go?  Yet, after about an hour or so ago, she was chewing on it more, and it began to be noticed, especially when she started to flub easy progressions and miss cues.  Yes, she took the position of rhythm guitar, but that was a very important position, considering that, though, everyone was married to the rhythm, the rhythm guitar filled in sound gaps and helped everything flow.  This was beginning to cause some frustration, but Jack saw the signs and said, “What are you stewing on, Star?”

This brought her back to earth, so to speak, and she said, “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Can’t understand anything if you don’t talk about it,” reasoned Jack, “Besides, we’re bandmates now.  We can’t have secrets if we’re going to play as a unit.”

Starlight really didn’t want to talk about it, and she said, “It’s not a secret, it’s just…  I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” he said with a shrug, “Your choice, but keeping it in is no good.  You don’t get it out, it’s going to eat you up sooner or later.”

She wanted to say something, but she was a box.  This was so in the past now, but why could she not let it go?  Andante then said, “Hey, we’re all friends here.  I think it’s best to get everything on the table so we can do this thing.”

She sat down next to Starlight as Cantata plopped down on the other side, all bubbly, saying, “You complete us.  You’re important.”

One thing Starlight really didn’t like was people digging around in her past and she began to get a bit upset.  “Look, just drop it, okay?  You have no clue as to just how bad I was!”

“You have no clue to things I did, either,” said Jack, “I’m from New York, and there are 8 million stories in the naked city.  There are things I’m not proud of, either.  You’d think that with my family privilege I could keep from getting into trouble, but there’ something about that town…  Anyway, you wanna know what I did?  I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

Starlight pounded her fist on the platform on which she sat and said, “Oh really?  Can you comprehend becoming a dictatorial leader, trying to work a whacked-out ideology over innocent ponies over something as having to have a good friend leave you behind?  Sweet Celestia, I was so stupid!”

After some silence, Jack said, “Well, that is…different.  Okay, that does sound harsh, but is that how you are now?”

“Ugh…of course not,” she grumbled, frustrated.

“Okay, so, be who you are now,” added Andante.

“What is it with you pon…people?” asked Starlight, all flustered, “These are things I just wish…”

“…that you never did and hate yourself for it?” asked Cabaletta, finishing her thought.  Before Starlight could respond, Jack was back on it and said, “And I bet you wish you could do more than say, ‘You’re sorry’?  Is that something?”

That hit Starlight like a slap to the face.  That was it on the nose.  She went limp as she sat there and started to cry.  She remembered what Sunset said about scars, and, yes, they were there, and they would not go away because they were scars.  “I…I…want to make it right, and…and…I don’t know how…and…” Starlight tried to get out in one big statement, but there was so much she wanted to say at once and it all wanted to come out, but she couldn’t get it all there.  “Oh, Celestia!  Why was I so stupid, so selfish?  I hurt others!  Why did I do that?  It was so wrong!”

Tears were flowing heavily, and she was trembling.  The other girls wanted to speak and console her, but Jack waved them off, saying, “Let it go.  She needs this.”

“I don’t get it,” commented Cantata.

“She’s confessing,” he answered, “And we’re standing in proxy for the ones to which she wants to say this.  Let her do her thing.”

She was screaming now, angry, sad, regretful, and a ball of emotion all at once.  This was so much that Sunset feared there was something wrong and rushed in.  She saw Starlight and wanted to move, but Jack stopped her and said, “It’s okay.  You ever heard of catharsis?”

“Yes, but I don’t know what that means in this case,” answered Sunset.

“You’re looking at it,” answered Jack, “She’s cleansing herself.”

Sunset closed the door quickly so as not to draw unwanted attention from the rest of the shop or the customers, and after about ten minutes of this, Starlight finally calmed down, spent, but at the same time, feeling lighter.  Sunset had heard most of what she screamed out, but when she was sure Starlight was ready to hear, she said, “Okay, so, let’s look at a few things.  You have scars?”

Starlight just nodded, hugging herself tight as the other girls held her.  “And there is nothing you can do about it, right?”

Again, Starlight nodded, and Sunset said, “And, can you accept that this is in the past and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it to change it?”

“Yeah,” Starlight answered softly.

“We so want to fix stupid moves of our past sometimes, but what’s done is done,” added Sunset, “We have to look it in the face and own it.  We have to say, ‘Yeah, that was me.  I did that.  I’m not proud of it.  I can’t change it.  I can’t take it back, and let the chips fall where they may.  I’m getting on with my life.”

Starlight sat in silence for a bit of time, and then said, “Yes, that was me.  I did that.  I tried to bend minds.  I was selfish, and I was the petty one.  I’m not proud of it.  I can’t fix it, and I can’t take it back.  Whatever I have coming to me, fate, let me have it.”

Andante thought about it, and then said, “But, what if you never ‘get what’s coming to you’?”

“But, I deserve it,” stated Starlight.

“And guess what?” stated Jack, “You got grace instead.  So, use that as a launching pad.  You’re a new person.  That was an old life.  That person is dead.  Bury her and move on.  You can’t change the choices you made in the past up to now.  You can sure change the choices you make here and now.”

“And, there are moments where you’ll feel this a bit again,” added Sunset, “But it will be easier to shake it off because you don’t let it get to you anymore.”

Cabaletta picked up an acoustic and started to strum some notes.  Jack knew the song and picked up on the piano and began to play.  Andante caught on and started to sing a song called “Chiquita”, where it spoke of the singer singing to someone with deep regrets, but that it was okay.  She had a friend to which she could go and understand her and lift her up.  Yet, pain doesn’t last forever, and that with good friends, she’ll be dancing as she had before this and the pain would go away once more.  She could go on.  Starlight started to cry a bit again, but now it was with joy, feeling the love in the room.  She had friends, and it was going to be okay.  She picked up her own axe and started to join in, catching on to the words.  Singing as she did, she felt even better, being able to channel the emotions through the playing and singing.  Jack said over an instrumental section, “I think this song just made the playlist!”

They all laughed and continued to jam, soaring high on the music and good feelings.  Things were going to be great, and this could just be the best summer ever.