The ensuing battle had finally come to a close. By now, the entire land had grown silent and quiet. Nothing but quiet all up in the atmosphere. Any sounds of fighting had come to a drop, slammed shut.
The students and staff all began to come out from the school, proceeding with caution. At any given moment, the fight could start up again, or something! But in the clear area, there was no fight to be seen. It barely looked like there was any fight at all. Well, outside of the giant gaping hole in the front of their school, and some walls torn away.
Scattered around the courtyard were the nine girls, all were knocked out from the ensuing battle. The pony ears and tails were still visible on the girls, especially the wings on Trixie's back.
Moaning with agony, Adagio pulled herself up on her knees, taking a knee out to try and get the blood back running. She held onto her right eye again, feeling the pain. It wasn't well enough to keep it open. Looking up, she saw a blue hand offered to her. Trixie had gotten up on her feet before she did.
With a smile, Adagio accepted her hand and slowly got back up. And at that moment, she could hear the other girls start to get up as well. Aria was hoisted up by Octavia and Amethyst who observed the big scratches on her arms. In addition, Vinyl moved under a side of Sonata and helped her get up, mostly due to her foot feeling more pain than she should.
"So... did we win?" Adagio asked.
"I... I think we did!" Trixie smiled, with her arms raised up.
"Whoo-hoo! Victory is ours!" Amethyst cheered, jumping up and down.
"I did something!" Lyra cheered as well.
The staff and students walked out some more, in awe of the girls showing to still be alive. They had finally beaten those girls. After two years of suffering and torture, they had finally been stopped!
"You're okay!"
"Way to go, girls!"
"Ya did it!"
Adagio looked at all of her friends and her sisters. Everyone was okay and alive. They won. After all they had been through... they had finally come out on top!
But a little part of Adagio's brain interrupted her. A little part that reminded her of something else that seemed vital. Where was Sunset Shimmer? And for that matter, what had become of the five Rainbooms?
Everyone froze when they saw a giant flash of light hit behind them. Turning around, they found all five Rainbooms were all on the ground, knocked out cold. No more was the Hydra. And beside each one of them were the singular dark pendents that each one of them had worn before. Like the speed of lightning, Lyra rushed to each one and quickly clutched the pendents before any of them could wake up and take them again.
"Got em!" Lyra said, smiling as she held them.
"And what about the crown?"
"Got that too!" Trixie yelled.
Their heads turned back to see Trixie holding the crown in her clutches.
"Okay, well, where's Sunset then?"
Trixie nudged her head, urging them to come close. Everyone was confused, but the giant steam caught their eyes. Trixie was standing in front of a giant crater that had been dug into the ground. Laying deep inside with her clothes partially ripped and covered in bruises and scratches, was no one other than Sunset Shimmer.
Bon Bon sniffed the smoke and stuck her tongue out in disgust.
"Ugh, nasty."
"Eh, she just needs some barbecue sauce. Either way, we're eating tonight!" Octavia joked.
Everyone looked at Octavia with a disturbing face.
"Do you honestly believe I want to cook her? She's burnt enough as it is. We Brits aren't known for literally roasting someone."
Adagio blankly stared at her. "Just wanted to make sure..."
Down in the crater, everyone could hear moaning. Dragging her body up, she let out a snarl and looked high above her, looking at the Dazzlings sitting at the top of the pit.
"You... you ruined everything..." Sunset huffed, her voice shaking heavily.
"What do you mean, we ruined everything?" Adagio said, raising a brow.
"If there's anyone who tried to ruin anything, its you!" Aria pointed.
"Yeah!" The students clamored.
"She and those friends of hers tried to ruin our lives, constantly!"
"They made us live in fear!"
"I had to go to the hospital three times in one week!"
"Everyone, please, stop!" Adagio yelled, getting them to stop. "Thank you."
Adagio looked back down at Sunset. Sunset waited patiently, waiting for her to do something to end her, or hurt her. But it never happened. Adagio's hand opened up, and she held it open, extended above the hole.
Aria and Sonata looked back at her and they both shared a scowl.
"Oh you have to be kidding me..." Aria complained.
"You can't be serious right now." Sonata added.
"Sunset--"
"She's doing it, isn't she?" Sonata held her head.
"She can't be--"
"--This isn't the way."
"Yep! She's doing it!" Aria's hands slapped her sides and groaned to the sky.
"Join me. It doesn't have to be like this. You don't have to live your life like this." Adagio said, with the most calm and soothing voice she replied.
Sunset panted and heaved, only scowling back at her.
"I'd rather rot... then ever be friends with the likes of a monster like you."
Everyone gasped. Their faces turned to look back at Adagio. Adagio didn't react. Nor did she shed any tears. She closed her eyes, and put her hand away.
"If that's how it'll be Sunset, then it's how it'll be."
"Uh, Adagio?" Trixie asked, tapping her shoulder.
Limping and moving towards the crater, were the five Rainbooms. Their makeup was staining, and their hair was heavily disheveled. Clothes were hanging, looking shredded up and messy.
They walked towards the hole as best as they could, and stared down at Sunset with heavy deathly glares.
"You know something Sunset? You deserve it." Applejack spat.
"You never wanted to be our friend. You just wanted slaves to follow your whiny philosophy." Rarity huffed.
"You kicked my animals, so now, that means I'm going to kick you!" Fluttershy ranted.
"Talk about some friend."
"And she didn't even think her plan out, I mean seriously, did she even think it out? Or for that matter, did she even consult with us on our thoughts of this plan, I mean its just so..."
The rest of the staff and students were now glaring at the five of them. If the students faces could kill, they would. But they didn't. Instead, right out of nowhere actually, food and weird items magically came into the palms out of their hands.
"Oh no." Pinkie drooped her lips.
Everyone started to yell and boo at them. In addition, they started to throw tomatoes at the five of them, pelting them repeatedly. Adagio and her friends however couldn't intervene. Not if they wanted to get pelted. Especially since they were throwing a lot of weird items at them. First it seemed just to be food like tomatoes, fruits, and little cakes. But as they kept throwing, more weird items got thrown. Cardboard boxes, frozen turkeys, dust, their own cellphones, shoes, dented license plates, bricks, and other weird items that no one would usually see on a high school ground.
The Dazzlings just blankly watched the students pelt them heavily. It was like they had entered back into the wars in the older days again.
"Should we do something to stop this?" Sonata asked.
"Eh, I say let them." Aria said, munching on popcorn.
Adagio looked at Aria, who appeared to be sitting in a lawn chair, and holding a bag of popcorn.
"Aria, what are you doing?" Adagio sarcastically asked.
"What? They're giving us a show, I figured I'd enjoy it! Besides, it feels good." Aria snickered, watching everyone attack them.
"This is really immature of you, you know."
"Says the girl who stole a dirty picture from Sunset's diary," Sonata smugly replied, winking. Adagio's cheeks heated up.
"Can we please drop that?"
"Nope!" Sonata laughed. "You are never living that down!"
Adagio's hand collided with her face.
"Oy..."
While everyone's attention was on the five Rainbooms who continued to receive the public attack, Sunset Shimmer took her opportunity to try and escape. Climbing out of the hole, she pulled herself back up on the concrete. But as she tried to step away, she didn't see the small pebble from the debris. One step, and everyone's heads turned to look at her trying to flee.
"Where do you think you're going?" Adagio asked.
"Getting out of here and away from you freaks!"
But as she tried to flee, she bumped into something. Not something, but someone. In front of her was Amethyst Star who was giving her the biggest 'I'm going to kill you' glare she could give her. Grabbing her by the shoulder, she yanked her with her and pulled her towards the crowd.
"Hey, let me go! Let, go, now!"
"Shut up!" Amethyst snapped.
She held her tightly, and pushed her a bit, trying to put more emphasis and attention on her.
"As far as I'm concerned, Sunset isn't going anywhere." Amethyst grit her teeth.
"Easy up on the grip there, Rubik hands." Sunset huffed.
"Shut up!" Amethyst said, gripping her arm even tighter. "What do we do to her?"
"I say we do everything to them that they did to us." Octavia snarled.
Some of the students were talking over top of each other, speaking in agreement.
"How about we string 'em up?"
"I say we humiliate them."
"Smite them."
"Paint the streets with their blood."
Everyone turned their head at the student who made that statement.
"Dude. That got dark in a millisecond!" Amethyst gasped.
"Oh, right, right. Not that then. How about we give them the Dark Delilah treatment?"
Everyone gasped.
"Okay, okay, no! No, I am putting my foot down right now, we're not doing that! We're not going to paint the streets in their blood, we're not going to give them any... disturbing treatments that shouldn't be talked about on school grounds, and we're not going to hang them either!"
A few students groaned in disappointment.
"Why shouldn't we?"
"They tortured us!"
"Everyone, please!" Adagio pleaded. "You're all better than this. Don't stoop to their level. I'm not going to deny that what they did was wrong, I'm not saying that. But what I am saying is, we're better than this."
Everyone took food for thought. Perhaps Adagio was right. Sure they were awful, but maybe they--
"Nope! We're not better than this." Aria said, chucking her popcorn away. She slowly stomped towards the Rainbooms who were now covered in all of the strange substances. Thankfully each one of them were held by some jocks who kept them from escaping. Aria glared deep into Rainbow Dash's magenta eyes, sneering. "And I'm no stranger to torture methods. You think the stuff that's happening now is bad?"
Rainbow gulped and slowly nodded.
"You haven't seen anything that me and my sisters have gone through. Back in the old days before you or anyone else here existed, there were much more darker methods of punishment for your sins." Aria scoffed. "You're lucky that you and your friends were born in the 21st century."
"What, so we're not going to finally do something to them?" Amethyst groaned. "Do you not forget these are the same girls who got me expelled!?"
It was Amethyst's turn to be the one with everyone staring at. She felt her heart sank, looking at everyone around her.
"Wait a minute." An older voice said.
Pushing through the crowd was no one other than Principal Luna who looked at her in shock.
"Amethyst Star?"
There was no denying it was her. Even with the horse ears and ponytail it was obvious. Defeated, she sighed.
"Yeah. Its me."
"Last I recall, you were expelled for several school violations; all of which involved supposedly harassing other students and trashing the auditorium."
Amethyst didn't say a word.
"But... to be quite frank, I never believed for a second that could have been you."
Amethyst's head jolted up and looked at the principal. "Wait... what?"
"I said I--"
"No, no, no, I heard you. If you didn't believe that I did it... THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU DO JACK--"
"--Amy! No swearing!" Adagio piped up.
"--D... DIDDLY-SQUAT ABOUT IT!?"
Principal Luna was unfazed by Amethyst's yelling. But she understood completely.
"Believe me Amethyst, I understand your anger completely. And you have every right to be. But the staff believed the evidence that was given to them vaguely, rather than speaking to you about it. I know none of this is an excuse for what has happened to you, but after seeing what you've done tonight... we want you to come back to school."
Amethyst didn't know what to say. Going back to school sounded great, especially having not been going to any for a long time. But at the same time, this was a school who never listened to anything on her side of the story.
"Give me one good reason I should come back here after you all blindly accepted the lies from Sunset here." Amethyst sneered. "You may not know this, but she along with those friends of hers, ruined my life. I had to run away from my home and live in a dump because of these girls. And now you're asking me to come back here?"
Principal Luna was about to speak up when she felt some bright lights hit her eyes. Turning her head, everyone started to gasp and look in shock. Men in blue police outfits were storming up to the front of the school, and parked were a few squad cars.
"Excuse me. Is everyone here okay?"
Everyone nodded.
"Okay. May I speak to the person in charge?" The police officer asked.
Principal Luna stepped up. "That would be me. My name is Principal Luna, and you are?"
"Ma'am. Name's Officer Streetwise, and this is Officer Groove. We've received several reports about some 'monster' stomping through town, and coming straight to your school. Do you know anything about this?"
The students and staff looked at each other. The Dazzlings' secret could be blown right here in front of this officer. But they couldn't tell them!
"Sir, I'm afraid I do not know. Honest." Principal Luna replied, straightforwardly.
"I see. Well I'm not really believing it either, but as part of my job, I had to respond. But seeing how we are here, there is another matter to attend to."
"And that is?"
The two police officers looked behind the principal. Principal Luna turned around and looked at Sunset Shimmer who struggled under Amethyst's grip.
"Wait, that's her. That's the one we've been getting calls about."
"Huh?"
"Sirs, may I ask what you've been talking about?" Adagio asked, raising her hand.
"We've been hearing several reports about items from malls around her being stolen, adding grand assault, reckless driving, and most recent we've been told about; she sent three of the students here in the hospital, in comas."
Everyone gasped.
"You are a monster," A student off the side muttered.
"Now, I received a call from a student about the last incident. Can anyone confirm?"
The two officers looked around, until a voice interrupted.
"I can."
The officers turned their eyes to a disordered looking Applejack who looked at them with a straight face.
"Sunset Shimmer sent ma' little sister in the hospital, on life support. I wanted to tell someone, but she blackmailed me into not tellin' a soul."
"Me too!" Rainbow Dash snorted.
"And that goes for me too!" Rarity huffed.
"Wait a minute." Officer Groove said. "I remember you girls. You five were seen with her multiple times, and you aided her in some of her crimes."
Now it was their turn to have their hearts sink.
"Oh, uh..."
"I should have all six of you arrested for several crimes that I can't even begin to list." Officer Streetwise barked.
"Wait!"
Adagio zipped in front of the five Rainbooms, holding her hands up. "They should be taken to court."
"And makes you say that kid?"
Adagio looked back at the Rainbooms, all of which were deep in fear and worry. Was this going to be their end? All of their life going to be gone in a flash?
"Because I know there's some good in them. These girls have been blackmailed for sure, and yes they have done some bad things, but I think they should be given a chance to redeem themselves." Adagio spoke.
The two officers looked at each other, shrugging.
"How about this sweetheart. We'll let the judge take it up. He'll straighten this all out, and he can decide their fates. But if you really want to speak on their behalf; by all means, go ahead."
Adagio nodded.
"But as for you, Miss Shimmer..." Officer Streetwise huffed, walking to her and grabbing her free wrist. "You are under arrest for grand theft, larceny, vandalism, student assaults, reckless driving, and any more crimes we can name under the sun."
Amethyst still gripped her shoulder, keeping her from escaping. The other officer grabbed her other wrist, and holding her still, they cuffed her hands behind her back.
"You can let go now."
Amethyst let go of Sunset, allowing the officers to escort her to the police car.
"Now, I don't know what's been happening out here folks, but I suggest you get ahold of your parents and you go home. We'll be discussing this matter in court."
"Let me go! They're the ones you need to arrest!" Sunset struggled, growling like an animal.
"You can tell it to the judge."
The officer pushed her into the car, slamming the door shut on her. The rest of the cops got back in their cars, and so did Streetwise and Groove. They turned on the engine, and slowly pulled out of the school's street. Groove for a brief second, stared at Adagio and her friends who's pony ears and tails were still visible.
"Hey Street? You think those girls are cosplaying, or..."
"Nah, you haven't had enough coffee Groove. That or you need to take the day-shift."
The police cars all turned on their sirens, and left the school yard. As they got further and further away, the sirens began to become quieter and quieter.
"So. Amy." Adagio said, getting Amethyst's attention. "You going to come back here?"
Amethyst hung her head, holding her own arm. "I don't know..."
"Come on Amy!" Octavia hung her arm over her shoulder pad. "We miss you! You don't know how many people here have missed you."
"I don't know..."
"Please, Amethyst. Won't you come back?"
Amethyst looked around her. All of her friends had the most pleading faces ever. If their eyes could get anymore innocent looking, they would. And the rest of the students looked just as innocent.
"Well... I suppose I could come back."
Everyone cheered, all at once, sending her almost backwards on her back.
"Geez, okay, no need to get excited." Amethyst said, raising her hands up. "I'll come back on one, okay, not one, TWO. TWO conditions. Actually, scratch that, three, make that three!"
"I'm listening." Principal Luna said.
"One; I can wear the dated clothing. There's nothing in the school's code that says that you can't wear dated clothing. Two; if there's a problem that I'm having, or if someone's trying to make me look like the bad guy in a one-sided statement, hear what I have to say. Three..." She turned her head at the Rainbooms. "If they mess with me or my friends again, we're going to have some problems."
Principal Luna gave it some thought, tapping her foot as she processed her conditions.
"Counter proposal. I will let you keep the dated fashion wear, and I will hear your side of a story if someone is speaking negatively on your behalf. But you are not going to resort to the level that Sunset Shimmer has done tonight. I know you are smarter than this."
Amethyst paused this time.
"Fine. But one last condition."
"What is that?"
Amethyst looked at the Dazzlings, all of which looked confused when Amethyst looked at them. The retro-girl gave them an adorable smile.
"These girls here? They've been chased and attacked by people who tried to kill them just for their differences. Tonight, they may have shown their true looks... but its not what defines them. If there's any photos or videos taken of them, showing who they really are; I want them all BURNED. Gone. Kaput. Erased."
Principal Luna waited for a moment or two. Looking around her, she looked at the other students.
"Did anyone here take any pictures and or videos of them?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"We were too busy panicking and screaming to even do such a thing."
"Do you really think we'd try and do something like this? Even if we did, who would believe us?"
"And in this day and age?"
Principal Luna rolled her eyes. "The point stands. If anyone, and I mean anyone posts something of them without their consent, you'll be speaking with me. Understood?"
"Yes Principal Luna." Everyone said in a monotonous tone.
The principal turned back to Amethyst with a smile. "Are you going to come back then?"
"Hmm... deal."
"What, seriously? That's it? I thought you wanted back at the Rainbooms." Vinyl asked.
"Maybe so. But like Adagio said; we're better than this. Which means we need to start acting like it too."
Principal Luna smiled. "I look forward to seeing you return to school. In the meantime, everyone. If you have cellphones, I want you to call your parents to come and pick you up. If you have your own cars, I want you all to go home now. We'll come back next week."
Everyone began to clear away from the courtyard, the staff included. The Rainbooms were about to move with the others until the two principals glared at them.
"You five. In my office. Now." Principal Luna deadpanned.
Hanging their shoulders, the five of them walked up the stairs and followed the two principals. Inside, they knew their punishment would await them; heavily. Now the only people left in the courtyard were the Dazzlings and their friends.
"Well, now that that's over, we..." Amethyst looked back at the Dazzlings who were standing speechless. And perhaps the most tearful and joyous look on Adagio's face.
"You... you did that for us?" Adagio asked.
"Why wouldn't I? We're friends, aren't we?"
"Yeah but..." Aria began.
Amethyst stopped her by raising her hand.
"Girls. You three are some of the best friends I've ever had in a long time. You just saved us from eternal enslavement. I say you are more than worthy of your freedom."
"Y-You really think so?" Sonata quivered.
"Yes, I do."
Adagio's eyes were watering up, tear-heavy. Not out of sadness, but out of joy.
"I... I don't even know what to say right now..."
No one said anything else. Like timing, something once again, interrupted them. But this was a peculiar sound that interrupted them.
Turning their heads, they tried to find the source. Until Trixie patted their shoulders, urging them to look at the Wondercolt statue. Right at that moment, the saw the square piece of the statue start to glow. It was nothing that they had ever seen before.
And a figure started to come out of the statue. A blue hand no bigger than that of a teenage girl was beginning to pass through, connected to a teenage body. It fell through the statue, landing face first onto the asphalt.
"Ow!"
With caution, the girls walked towards the downed person that had just crawled through. Weirdly, this girl seemed to be moving her body as if she was an animal. She kept her hands clenched as if they were hooves, and she didn't get back on her feet.
"Oh my head..."
Adagio's eyes widened. "What the... Trixie!?"
"Wait, how do you know--"
The mysterious girl looked up, her eyes locking onto all nine of the teenagers in front of her. And in the middle was their own Trixie, who looked mortified. Her jaw was dropping to the ground and her eyes were bulging from its sockets.
Right in front of them, bearing a striking resemblance to her own; was Trixie.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know you--wait a minute. Lyra? Amethyst? Vinyl!?"
"Um..." Lyra bit her lip. "How does she know us?"
"Oh, right! I forgot! My name's Trixie. Uh, Princess Trixie to be more precise!"
"Princess?" Bon Bon said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Its a long story. But right now, I need to get going. I need to find someone named Adagio Dazzle, do you know who or where she is?"
Adagio was shocked. "You... you got my message."
"Well, I got a message. I just saw this book in my library glowing and vibrating, and then that's when I found the message from you. After that, I figured out how to get here and, well, here I am!" Trixie said, trying to wave hands up, falling backwards.
"Oh, sorry!"
Octavia and Vinyl helped her back on her feet.
"I'm sorry. Human bodies are a lot strange, I know." Vinyl said, brushing her off.
"Thanks Vinyl. So, um, is there any chance you girls have the--"
Lyra and Bon Bon showed her the magical pendents and crown.
"My crown!"
Trixie slowly opened up her hands, carefully grabbing it. Then, carefully, she set it back up on her head. The girls braced themselves, waiting for any impending explosions or sounds. But nothing happened.
"Wait, nothing's happening."
"I said, its my crown." Trixie said with confusion. "Why? Were you expecting something?"
"Well... no." Lyra replied hesitantly.
"Though we did just see someone try to use it to take over the world just a few hours ago." Sonata giggled.
"So that's why it was stolen!" Princess Trixie gasped.
Aria rolled her eyes. The comment she would like to say right now...
"Thank you, thank you girls! I can't thank you enough for this! And uh... where's Sunset Shimmer?"
"Oh she's being... detained, at the moment." Adagio spoke up, trying to clear her eyes from her happy tears. "I have a feeling the law enforcement here are going to be keeping her for a long time."
"Oh. I see." Princess Trixie replied, sighing in disappointment. "Well, if that's the case then... I guess I should probably get going then."
"Aww, what!? You just got here!" Lyra whined. "We don't even know anything about you or where you came from!"
"Girls. I think it'll be okay." Adagio said, putting her hand on Lyra's shoulder. "I think we know enough about Equestria that we could teach you."
"Wait... you three are--"
The Dazzlings' nodded.
"And we'd be more than happy to stay in touch with you should we need to."
Princess Trixie blinked. "Well, uh... okay then. So I guess I'll be returning these back to where they came from. Thanks for keeping them safe by the way."
"Yeah... sort of." Aria muttered.
"Actually before you leave... what are those pendents that we're looking at, actually?"
"Its sort of hard to explain. It'd take me several hours to explain. Besides, I have a very important meeting to attend to back in Equestria, so I've got to go!"
Princess Trixie slowly began to move back to the statue, trying to move with urgency.
"But can't we--"
"Look, if you girls want to come and talk to me, just send me a message or enter through that portal! I may not always be around to help you, just do what you can!"
Before anyone could touch her, she vanished right through the statue, disappearing. And just as she vanished, the pony ears and tails on each of the girls began to vanish and fade away. Even the little wings on their Trixie's back disappeared from existence.
"Aww! I wanted to learn how to fly for a second!" Trixie pouted.
"Don't feel too bad. Maybe she'll come back." Lyra said, patting her shoulder.
With the land quiet again, the girls turned their eyes back at the Dazzlings.
"So... yeah, that happened. But uh, yeah, hopefully nobody will be giving you three any problems now." Amethyst concluded. "Adagio?"
Adagio was in a long pause once again. Her hands were shaking, and it looked like she was going to fall over.
"Adagio?" Trixie asked. "Are you okay?"
Adagio's voice was a bit shaky as she spoke.
"One... thousand... years. We have been chased, hunted, attacked, kidnapped, hurt, and trapped for one... thousand... years." Adagio's voice quaked.
Trixie had no clue what to say right now. What could she say?
"A-Adagio?"
"But now!" Adagio's hands suddenly held onto Trixie's shoulders like if she was going to fall. Trixie was almost scared about what Adagio was going to do next.
She looked at her and everyone else with the most shaken up and joyous look. This warm feeling inside her heart began to burst, like if she had finally been released from her prison, allowed to walk back into the world again. No longer would she have to be afraid. She didn't need to be afraid anymore!
"We're... we're free..." Adagio's voice chuckled in a shaky voice. Tears of joy went down her face as she laughed. "We're free!"
Trixie smiled at Adagio, wiping a tear off her face. Without warning, Adagio pulled her close, holding her in perhaps the biggest hug she was given.
"Thank you friend! Thank you all!"
Everyone was smiling now, and they all closed in, all joining a big group hug.
"We're free!!!"
If Adagio could scream to the heavens, she could. She didn't hold it back anymore, she let out all of this joy that she was feeling. She hadn't felt this happy in years! This was a feeling that was all too new to her, very rare did it ever happen! And now it was happening! This joy, this burst of excitement... this good feeling that was bubbling inside that she released.
The Dazzlings for so many years had been hiding from fear of their own selves. But now they didn't have to anymore. No one was afraid of them now. And it was because of today... they'd never have to be afraid of themselves ever again.
Their lives could not have gotten any better.