//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Great Service // Story: A Shattered Rainbow Rock // by FourShadow //------------------------------// With the guilt still plentiful in her noggin, Adagio sat down in the middle of a booth, while the rest of the girls sat around her, all huddled together. The waiter came by and passed them menus, allowing them to look back and see what the restaurant had to offer. Adagio took this time to reflect on her previous actions. How could she have done that? Why did she do that? Anything could have worked to stop them all from fighting yet she chose to use her magic. This was horrible, this was untrustworthy, she'd never get over what she did. And for that matter, what if they found out that they were hypnotized? What if they found out that she put them under a spell for a few seconds? And for that matter, would they lock on and realize that something isn't right with all three of them? This was a power all three shared, and it would be incredibly suspicious! "Adagio?" Adagio snapped out of her train of thought to see a concerned Trixie. "You've been sitting like that for a few minutes. Are you okay?" Trixie asked. Adagio took a deep breathe to inhale... and exhale. "I'm fine. Sorry, I was lost in thought." Trixie blinked but shrugged. "Okay, so, what we were talking about?" Bon Bon asked. Adagio wondered what she was referring to, but quickly caught on. "Oh, right! I remember now. I called you girls here because we have something important to discuss." "And that is?" "Well here's the thing. Look, I know we've only met for a few days... well I've met half of you, I haven't met you or Lyra and I certainly haven't met..." Adagio looked at Amethyst star's neon blue shoulder pads and jacket that stood out like a sore thumb. "... Miss Shoulder Pads." "Its Amethyst." "Amethyst, right. Anyways, the point is, we need to discuss what's been going on with all of you right here, and right now." Collectively, all of the girls groaned. "Are you serious right now luv?" Octavia asked. "I really rather not discuss this..." Amethyst said, looking away. "Girls, come on, you can't just ignore this issue." Sonata added. "We've seen enough of you girls getting mad over this, and its time we found out." Adagio said. "Adagio, why are you so interested in us anyway?" Lyra asked. "Because I cannot let something like this slide. This is something that needs to be discussed, and talked about like rational adults." "Well I'm sorry Adagio, this just isn't happening." Octavia crossed her arms. "Why, because you won't stick around to hear what she has to say?" Vinyl sneered. "Only cause a certain violinist smashed my $2,000 guitar." Octavia sneered back. "You never once bothered to say, 'Hey, sorry, I don't like your music, I can't come'. Typical of you!" "Do you really think I hate your music?" "Well you never--OW OW OW!!!" Both Octavia and Vinyl were screeching a bit from the pain of having their hair being tugged. Both of them were yanked up by none other than Adagio Dazzle who stared down at both of them like a disapproving mother. "Both of you, listen up and listen up good. I am sick and tired of hearing you two fight, and while I don't know what happened between you two, we're finding out right now and for the record, its no reason to turn others against each other. So we're going to sit down to discuss this rational adults, or so help me, I will drag you both out of here myself! Got it?" Both Octavia and Vinyl gulped in fear. "U-Understood," they said in unison. Adagio let go of their hair, and they sat back down while everyone else looked at Adagio awkwardly. "Nicely handled. How'd you do that?" Bon Bon asked. "When you have to take care of two younger siblings by yourself, you pick up a few motherly instincts." Adagio replied, sitting back down calmly. Eventually the waiter dropped by and gave them their drinks. After that, he left to go and take care of their food leaving them to talk once again. "Okay, so from what I understand there appears to be a big chain of hatred that's connecting to all of you. Sonata, can you connect all the dots here?" "Yep!" Sonata pulled out a few sheets of drawing paper, and she pulled out a pencil to scribble. As she talked, she started to connect several dots and lines together creating circuits that connected all the girls together, who's visuals were down on the paper in the form of some of the graphics they wore on their clothes. "Okay so Vinyl and Octavia don't like each other anymore, yet they're both friends with Trixie. Trixie is not liked by Amethyst, Lyra, and Bon Bon, but is liked by Octavia and Vinyl. Amethyst in the bunch is only liked by Octavia, hated by Lyra, Bon Bon, and Vinyl but Trixie has no conflicting opinions. Lyra and Bon Bon like each other, and they're liked by Vinyl, but they hate Trixie, Octavia, and Amethyst. Octavia is liked by Amethyst and Trixie, but hated by everyone else. Vinyl likes Trixie, Lyra, and Bon Bon but hates Amethyst and Octavia. So from all of my calculations..." Sonata raised up a picture. "All of the hate here, is stemmed from Octavia and Vinyl." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're telling me its because of these two they all hate each other?" Aria asked. "Yes. I mean think about it, these two get into an argument, they make new friends, they warn their new friends of each other, creating a nonsensical vision of hate." Vinyl and Octavia blinked as Sonata explained everything, confused by her overall explanation. "Surely that's not the case, is it?" Vinyl asked. "Only one way to know. Vinyl, what exactly did you tell Lyra, Bon Bon, and Trixie about Octavia?" Vinyl looked back at Octavia with a guilty look, receiving a sneer from Octavia. She sighed in defeat. She might as well come clean now. "I said Octavia couldn't have been trusted as she made promises for me that she couldn't keep." Vinyl sighed. "You dirty little monster..." Octavia sneered. "Well I guarantee its better than what you probably will say!" "Octavia." Adagio interrupted, silencing everyone. "What did you tell Amethyst and Trixie?" "Alright, alright. I said Vinyl never had my back when I needed her and you should never trust her for someone who will always make sure you stay alive." Vinyl gritted her teeth and straightened her hair. "You're lucky I'm not one to take my anger out on human beings..." "You're just saying that because you're a coward." "You want me to start today, because I sure will!" "Both of you! Knock it off!" Adagio snapped. Both of them stopped talking and sat back down, quivering in fear. Adagio's voice was calming and soothing to hear, but when she was mad? Her voice turned from the sound of an angel, to a voice of a chainsaw. Adagio was never afraid to use that voice as it helped her many times in the pass when she had to be the mature parent for Aria and Sonata. "Okay, now that we know, I like to know this." Adagio looked to the side, looking at Trixie. "Alright, so you're friends with both of them, right?" "Yes." "Why is it that you're friends with both of them, yet they give you two different versions of what happened in their falling out?" Trixie gulped. "Oh, well, um..." "Trixie, its okay. We're not going to judge you." Sonata said with a warm smile. "This is a safe group, we'll listen." "Well, I... I'm not sure if I should say anything..." Trixie rubbed her arm. "Trixie, just tell us." Amethyst groaned. Trixie took a deep breath, and sighed. "I know both of them really well, and I know they're different, but they took me in. They opened themselves up to me, and it's because of both of them that I didn't feel alone anymore. Sure, they're both different, but aren't we all?" Everyone exchanged glances and a few nods in agreement. "But there's one other thing we're forgetting here." Sonata interrupted. "Vinyl was gonna send a text to Octavia, but she got a nasty one in return from her saying she never wanted to see her again." "Wait, what?" Octavia asked. "No, that can't be right... I never did that." "Octavia, don't try to lie, I know you did." "Vinyl, I swear I didn't send a text to you. Besides, I got a text from you with a whole bunch of profanity. Not very posh of you, now is it?" Octavia barked. "I didn't send you any profanity of the sort. Besides, how'd you explain this?" Vinyl opened up her phone and showed Octavia the text that was still kept away in her files. Octavia squinted her eyes, looking at the text and groaned. "Okay, first of all Vinyl, since when do I have a profile picture of a whale falling through several clouds in the air? Secondly, at least when I type, I know how to use proper grammar." Vinyl looked back at her phone and looked at the text she swore was from Octavia. Then she went back, looking at her contacts and her eyes widened. She found the profile picture that Octavia always kept; the same purple treble clef. "Wait... something's not right here, look." Vinyl showed her phone to the girls, revealing two different contact numbers. Both of them reading as Octavia. "Wait, hold on, Octavia's picture is that of the treble clef, I never saw her using a whale profile." Trixie said, squinting her eyes through her glasses. "Me neither!" Amethyst said. "And I know for a fact that Vinyl hates chickens." Octavia said, showing another contact from her own phone, reading as Vinyl. "You know girls... I think its fairly obvious as to what's going on here." Adagio said. "I think a blind guy with a blindfold could figure this out faster than these girls!" Aria groaned, slamming her head against the table. "How blind are you girls!?" "Um..." Vinyl said. "Lets do the math here. You two wanted to apologize to each other and make amends, yet you received contacts from someone who posed as you both. Who would want to destroy your friendship so badly they'd pose as you two?" "I... I don't know. I know these girls here were all new so I doubt they ever found out." Vinyl replied. "And I know none of them are spiteful enough to destroy what we had." "But what about those Rainbooms?" Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Adagio, I sincerely doubt it. Yes, we don't like their behavior, yes we find their attempts at 'humor' and control to be more than unnecessary, but do you really think they would waste their time with us?" "Why not? They dedicated time to taunt us when we arrived. And they taunted you two when you stood up for us back at school." Sonata said. "What's the last thing you remember doing with the Rainbooms? Any form of social interaction, or fights of any kind?" Adagio asked. "Well... I remember one time, Octavia and I participated in a music face-off. We combined our music against the Rainbooms, but I don't think that'd be it." "Wait, Vinyl, hold on..." Octavia raised a hand. "I think I remember something. Remember those contests we entered back when we were in 9th grade?" "You mean contests that you never ONCE told us about?" Aria asked, holding a hand onto her bored face. "No, hold on... Vinyl and I had entered many music based contests when we were younger. We participated at Canterlot's big talent show, we won more people over in a musical showcase, and we beat them in Tournament of the Melody! And if I remember correctly, they were near when we snapped at each other right at school! " Octavia said. "You're not saying..." Vinyl shook her head with a worried look. "That's what I'm saying..." "I don't even know what's going on anymore!" Aria whined, covering her face in her arms. "I'm so confused!" "I... I can't believe this..." Vinyl cupped her face, slowly sliding down on the table. She slowly slumped down, until all of her weight just collapsed onto her end of their booth table. Octavia looked down at Vinyl, for once, having a sad face looking at Vinyl. "Vinyl? Y-You alright luv?" Vinyl whimpered into her hands. "No..." Octavia frowned. "Vinyl?" Octavia moved from her side and moved beside her. Everyone just looked with equal frowns and sad looks. "Vinyl?" Octavia asked again. She listened carefully, and she heard quiet sobs coming from her palms. "I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry Octavia..." "No, Vinyl, come here..." Octavia grabbed Vinyl and pulled her in close, giving her a big hug. "Shh... its okay..." "No, its not!" Vinyl removed her hands from her face, looking at Octavia. Her cheeks were red, her eyes were tear heavy and bloodshot, with water marks down her eyes. Octavia pulled her close and gave her a big hug, allowing Vinyl to rest her chin on her shoulder. Octavia patted her back, and rubbed her back too. "Vinyl, its okay... Its not your fault. Its mine. I should have been a better friend to you, or else none of this would have happened..." Vinyl sniffled. "No... its not yours... I should have been a better friend..." Octavia and Vinyl held each other for a few more minutes as Vinyl calmed herself down. And what Adagio could see was a small smile on the corner of Octavia's mouth as she comforted her. She actually looked a little happy to be with Vinyl right now. Even if it was during a bad time, she still looked glad to be with Vinyl. After Vinyl calmed herself down, she looked to see Amethyst offering a tissue to wipe her face. She accepted it and cleared her eyes from tear heavy stains. "Octavia, I--" "Vinyl, may I say something?" Octavia asked. Vinyl nodded. "Look, I... I promised to go to your shows, and I broke them. I have no excuse for not going. I wanted to go desperately, but I didn't know how to tell you, I was overloaded with all of those assignments, I... I guess I should have worked on time management." "But why didn't you come to me if you needed help?" Vinyl asked. "Because I was afraid I was going to receive another long-winded lecture on responsibility and time management. I know you're trying to help me, but some of your ways of helping aren't always helpful. Especially if you criticize every little thing I do..." Octavia's voice sounded a little hurt. "Octavia, I... I'm so sorry, I didn't know." Octavia took a deep breath to inhale and exhaled. "Girls." Both of them looked at Adagio who offered a sympathetic look. "I know some things have happened with you two, but as far as I know, all of this is in the past now. Perhaps you two can work out your differences and maybe become friends again?" Vinyl and Octavia looked back at each other and both gave nervous smiles. "I... I suppose we could try again." "Y-Yeah, I agree." Vinyl nodded. "Friends?" Octavia smiled back. "Friends." She pulled Vinyl in for another hug, both of them finally relaxing and calmed down. They felt as if the world had been lifted off from their shoulders, and the anger of the past was relieving itself away. Long gone was the rage, but entering in was the warm feeling of their friendship. "And as long as we're talking, I think I should be honest too." Amethyst said. "Trixie, Lyra, Bon Bon? I'm sorry for misjudging you, I shouldn't had jumped to conclusions." "Its not your fault silly!" Lyra smiled, ruffling Amethyst's hair. "Agreed." "That would be ours." Octavia said. Vinyl and Octavia looked back. "Girls, its all on us. Look, whatever we told you four about each other, I want you to forget it. That's not who we are. We're bigger than that." Vinyl said. Adagio smiled, and so did her sisters. For once, these girls were happy. No bitterness, no rage, no hate, they were completely calm, rational, and they were talking to each other like adults! But the three of them quickly turned uncomfortable when the six of them locked all of their colorful pupils onto them. "...Why are you all looking at us like that?" Sonata quivered. "Give me a word, and I'll get us out of here." Aria swallowed. "No, girls. Adagio, Aria, Sonata..." Vinyl huddled close and pulled them all close together in a giant group hug with perhaps the most adorable smile they ever saw from her. "T-Thank you friends..." They could hear her let out a few giggles and sniffles of joy. "I-Its no problem, really..." "This is much more than that girls!" Vinyl cried out as she held them. "Group hug!" Lyra joined in for the hug, and everyone else began to follow too. Soon, everyone was all huddled together for one giant group hug. Adagio for the most part, felt happy. Not only were these new girls rid of their disputes, but they were now friends again. Their social circle had become even bigger than before, and they were happier than ever. And not only that, but at that moment, the waiter came by and gave them the food they ordered. Once they disbanded from the hug, everyone was in collective grins and smiles. "So... can we all agree from this point forward to be friends?" Adagio asked. "Yeah!" "Excellent. It makes me glad to see you're all happy again." "I'm just glad no one's fighting again," Aria snarked, receiving a light punch from Sonata. "But you know, there's still one problem here..." Bon Bon said, sounding a little mad. "The Rainbooms. They're the reason they even started this attack in the first place." Amethyst who was deep in thought, snapped her fingers. "Wait, that just reminded me. Girls, I think I might have stumbled upon something you might want to know. I heard just the most interesting piece of information." "What? What'd you hear?" Sonata asked. "Well, I--" Amethyst never did finish her sentence at that table. For at that moment, Aria's face was met with a burger that splattered into pieces. She sat still for a brief moment, and she slowly turned her head looking in front of her, gazing at the table across from her. There was a woman who looked at her with the most worried look. "I am so sorry, you see, I was aiming at him, and I--" "That's it lady!" Aria grabbed her food, and chucked it straight at her which missed and hit the man across from her. The man slowly turned around with a look so mad he could burst into flames. Aria gulped and she pointed to the booth that was right next to her with an almost dead cold look. That man was so mad, he could have been spitting flames from his nostrils. The man at the booth across then launched food at the other booth, until everyone gasped when they saw the impact. Everyone had seen the attack, and now others were starting to get up from their chairs with food ready to be used as weapons. From a corner, a man yelled out a cry like a wild gorilla. "FOOD FIGHT!!!" In seconds the calm and polite patrons turned into children, and started to engage in the food fight; even the adults! One minute they were eating in peace, and now it was like they entered into a war zone. "Oh that does it, I want in!" Aria jumped over the table and entered into the food fight. "Oh I want in!" Octavia stepped into the fight, following right by her. Amethyst followed too. "Ooh, me too! I've got your back girls!" Lyra squeed, going into the fight. "Brilliant Lyra! Come, grab yourself a table, guard yourself!" Octavia yelled over the cries of the angry patrons. "Wait, Lyra, I--" Bon Bon groaned, watching Lyra participate in the food fight. She slapped her hand on her forehead. Awkward silence fell onto the rest of the girls as they still sat on the booth, food and glass plates flying all around them. Adagio even had to duck as a glass cup shattered right above her head. "You know, when I said I wanted to discuss this like rational adults, I didn't mean for any of us to get into a food fight." Adagio moaned, watching Aria behave like a child. "Come on, you girls are teenagers. We all are, we can't help ourselves." "And yet, I have to be the responsible one..." Adagio held a hand on her face, looking bored. In the middle of the food fight, they saw a waitress duck and cover from the commotion, managing to pass down the last bit of food to the booth, which Bon Bon accepted. "Huh. What about that!" "What?" Trixie asked, ducking from another food pellet. Bon Bon giggled as she took a bite of her uncontaminated food. "The service here is great even during a fight!"