Nostalgia was a strange thing to feel for a place that one had spent so many hours dreading the thought of inhabiting, but that was what Adagio found somewhere in her heart as she sat in the original Eezy-Cheezy. She, dressed as Poofy, was there with Gouda Will and Cheese Sandwich, along with a film crew as they watched the latest commercial on a big screen that had been brought in specifically for this where-things-began event.
The commercial was the last they'd shot in Hollywood; Poofy in a witch costume of the Eezy-Cheezy's color scheme as she flew around on a broom, singing a slightly modified line of the lyrics to 'Cheezy Love' as just the kind of jingle to get stuck in people's heads. Her song, in the commercial, turned spoiled and otherwise unappetizing food into items from the Eezy-Cheezy menu, which was absurd, but Adagio hadn't been sure how much she could nudge those in charge without arousing suspicion and "she sings to bewitch people" was going to sound just as ridiculous now as it would have if she'd been allowed to direct the whole commercial herself. If the Rainbooms were planning anything of the sort, she was as sure as reasonably possible that they'd be laughed out of the room for it.
Adagio had actually dared think they might really have decided to just leave her alone now that she was finally within their reach again, but sure enough, she caught sight of security detail moving in the corner of her eye. When the camera wasn't on her, she turned her head as though idly reminiscing about her old stomping grounds. There was nothing out of place in the building itself, closed for the day while they did this, but she only had to look out a window to see a visibly plaintive Rainbow Dash being held up by the arms, Fluttershy apparently pleading with either her or the guard holding her (it was impossible to hear from where Adagio was sitting) and two more unamused-looking men talking to a sheepish Twilight Sparkle(?) and apprehensive Sunset Shimmer, the remaining Rainbooms standing by looking worried.
She didn't know where security took those girls until filming was done, but she did a good job of answering the 'what was it like?' questions and demonstrating her abilities as a waitress for the camera until her part was done.
%%%
Am I still the villain here? I mean, I suppose I kind of have to be, because it's certainly not going to be them no matter what anyone says or does, but this... just doesn't feel the same.
Even so, she was seated at a table before seven girls who were forced to stand (the back room was big enough for all of them, but there were only a few chairs) while three large men essentially hired to do her bidding stood by, one next to her, two behind the Rainbooms. She had seen a few dozen movies in her time here, and the parallels were clear as day. The only thing missing was a cat in her lap.
Apparently, the Rainbooms had come to 'just check on her' (an excuse Adagio had not been happy to hear again) by peeking through the windows while hiding in the bushes outside. Security noticed them, asked them to leave, told them to leave when Rainbow insisted that they get to talk to Adagio, and a window was cracked in the attempt to make them leave. Surprisingly, a stray comment by a member of the security team toward Rarity (evidently centered on her hair) was what led violence. While the Rainbooms were being detained and the police nearly contacted, this world's Twilight had somehow negotiated that they be able to talk with Adagio if she was willing to see them, which, after Adagio assured Gouda Will and the rest that she would take care of this personal matter, was what brought them all to this room.
"...So," began Adagio, "first question..." She pointed to Pinkie Pie, whose hair stood unusually puffy and possibly singed in a few places. "What happened to her?"
Pinkie beamed. "I was tazed! Super painful, but totally fun!" She twitched twice.
A business smile on her face, Adagio chuckled. "Of course." Not looking away from the Rainbooms, she talked out of the corner of her mouth to the nearest security guard; a dark-grey bald man that never took his sunglasses off. "Was that strictly necessary?"
"We told her to hold still," he answered in a deep, baritone voice, "and playin' leapfrog ain't really holdin' still."
"Ah." She cleared her throat, looking at Twilight just on the off-chance that it would annoy Sunset if she treated someone else like they were the leader. "So... You wanted to talk?"
"Uhm, yes," answered Twilight, being exceedingly careful not to make any sudden moves, "or, more accurately, my friends wanted to talk, I don't really know you, personally, but I'm here to support them." Following a brief pause, she showed all of her teeth at once in a very wide, forced smile. "Please don't have us arrested." Nearly destroying the universe was one thing, but she could not afford a stain on her official record if she wanted to get into a respectable college!
If only to let her sweat on the prospect, Adagio didn't reply to that last part. "Very well, friends," she turned to Rainbow, whose smouldering glare promised the best reaction, "something on your mind?"
"YOU SHOULD-" Getting sharply elbowed in the ribs from both sides, Rainbow wheezed, hunching over as she looked back and forth at Applejack and Rarity in pained betrayal. "...Why?"
Rarity at least looked a little contrite. "Sorry, Darling, I didn't know Applejack had it covered."
"Y'all swore ya just wanted to swing by an' see what they was up to," Applejack whispered with a stern, if regretful look, "an' now look at us. Just this once, wouldja please swallow yer pride an' keep quiet?!"
Rainbow hung her head. "I said I was sorry..."
Delightfully amusing though the scene was, two things occurred to Adagio as the other Rainbooms watched Applejack and Rainbow whisper about trust and foolhardy ideas and such.
First: She had nothing to really gain in seeing these girls broken up and arguing anymore, as evidenced by the lack of a single green whisp in the air around them.
Second: Rainbow's friends apparently served to hold her back from doing stupid, reckless things, and that likely applied mutually for the others.
The two thoughts combined made her realize that, while it might be very satisfying to see how much trouble she could stir up for these girls, maybe get them blaming each other and even trying to sell one or two of their number down the river to save their own skin, it probably wouldn't be smart. Even if she somehow splintered their group, there was no guarantee that their magic would stop working, and an embittered Rainbow Dash with super speed might do a lot of damage before she was locked up for good, to say nothing of the others.
Plus, there was no chance she'd be able to get them permanently jailed for damaging a window, especially if they pleaded that they were just fans looking for her autograph or something. Thinking about it now, she wondered if she ever had a chance to permanently disable them from the start.
That in mind, she gave them a pleasant, but not overly friendly smile. "Yes? I should what?"
"You should not worry too much about what she says," answered Sunset, "and we really do have some questions for you, but, uh..." She glanced backward at the two men awaiting orders to haul them off to the nearest police station or something. "Could we, a-and I know this might be a stretch, but could we talk to you without these guys around?" Adagio's face didn't change, but she detected a distinct air of 'Haha, no,' to which she responded with a pleading smile. "With our solemn promise as good guys to behave?"
Applejack glared out of the corner of her eye. "Somebody already broke a promise t'day."
Looking away, Rainbow scowled. "Wasn't a Pinkie promise."
Applejack elbowed her again.
"Ow!"
"If you're thinking that we'll, uh, attack you, or something," Twilight verbally meandered, "please don't worry, I think all of us get that violence won't get us anywhere," she turned to give Rarity an especially emphatic look, "right?"
Her head down, Rarity silently nodded, the rest of the group waiting in quiet anticipation as Adagio mulled it over, refraining from any outward signs of irritation.
On the surface, she felt like the rational thing to do was to insist that the police be called without another word, put on a hurt, terrified routine to validate getting them locked up for as long as possible, and procure a restraining order against all seven of them. That was what she wanted, and right now, it looked like she could really do it, but with no one hurt and nothing more than a window damaged, it was doubtful they could be put away for more than a week, if that long, even if they didn't just bust out (likely incurring no legal wrath whatsoever, because magic) and Hero their way to a perfect ending for themselves.
Even if the Rainbooms had taken her bait, it wasn't more than a fleeting nibble, and she didn't have what she needed to be rid of them.
Perhaps if I had waited until I was on the way back to make those stupid commercials about them?
Frustrating as it was to have them in her grasp and still be unable to crush them, she knew that they still didn't have solid grounds to go after her, either, same as before. Her fear when she set out was that they would come for her at some point during the tour or when she got back, but if this was the result, maybe she'd been worrying over essentially nothing all along? That in mind, perhaps, as with Cheese Sandwich, the solution was to be as plainly honest as possible, answer their questions, and get everything out in the open? It had to work better than any attempt at threatening them or trying to have them all put away for life.
Still smiling, she turned to the guard at her side. "I suppose we could catch up a little, but...?"
Nodding, the head of Gouda Will's hand-picked security team thumbed over his shoulder for the other two to leave, took a tazer, pepper spray, and a whistle from his belt, placed them on the table in front of Adagio, and walked out.
She waved after him. "Thank you, Lead Weight!"
The door closed. Then it opened again, Lead walking right back in, bending down to whisper into the fluff by Adagio's ear. "Felt's waitin' out there. Says if she don't hear your voice for two minutes, she comin' in."
Ah, someone must have called her when they heard.
"I see, thank you."
"She got boxin' gloves."
"I suppose that's an improvement over the axe."
Feeling pretty secure, Adagio smiled in earnest when she was alone with her arch enemies. She refocused on Sunset, who took her cue to speak.
"Okay, so... Might as well just ask; has anything weird been happening with you? Anything magical?"
"No."
"Yea, I fig-" she blinked, "-wait, 'no'? You haven't seen random bursts of colorful energy shooting across the sky, haven't found any suddenly-enchanted objects, nothing?"
"Why would you assume I had?"
Sunset narrowed her eyes. "How are you singing again?"
"Believe it or not, ponies aren't the only creatures in existence to have magic of their own."
Sunset grit her teeth. "I know that, but-" She was stopped by a slightly shaky Twilight putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm, Sunset, calm, they might still press charges!"
Lightly pushing her away, Sunset rolled her eyes. "You're telling us that it's just your own magic you've got now? Nothing like before? You've gotta understand where we're coming from in asking."
Adagio snorted, amused. "Yes, yes I can." She hadn't intended to win a smile out of anyone, but Sunset looked genuinely glad to hear it. "And since we're being direct with this, am I going to need a restraining order against you girls, or will future windows be safe?" Not that she had much faith that the law alone would keep them away from her forever.
Though keeping her indoor voice this time, Rainbow practically snarled. "Oh, don't act like you're all innocent! You made those stupid commercials just to badmouth us!"
"I made commercials to make money, it's kind of in my job description."
"You know which ones." Only because Fluttershy was present did she not say the rest of what she wanted to say.
Adagio chuckled. "I do. On that note, please, be honest: Are you mad at me because you think I've done something wrong, like I did at the Battle, or because I hurt your fragile ego?"
Rainbow didn't look any less angry as her cheeks colored. "You wouldn't even have this job if not for us, or any of the money and fame that came with it!"
"If not for you, I might be ruling over my own personal army of adoring thralls with much more power than this job -which I got on my own, mind you- could ever grant me." She did love stunned silence, but it was quickly ruined by Rainbow's sputtering.
"Y-you were...!" She felt her face flush hotter at the sight of Adagio's smug, eyebrow-raising face, as if to say 'Yes? Go on.' "...Screw you!"
Adagio giggled. "Afraid I don't swing that way, even if you do look like a boy."
Rainbow's face was cherry-red now, but she scoffed and folded her arms. "Like I've never heard that one before."
She knew, from multiple conversations with her friends, that she shouldn't really care, that their friendship meant more than all the fame and riches in the world, but she didn't want to have to go home without some kind of win over the bitch who spit on that same friendship and humiliated all of them.
"So this is just gonna be your life now? Bein' a corporate whore until you're too old to do anything fun anymore?"
Adagio was still smiling. "Interesting in your choice of words. 'Corporate whore.' Ignoring the fact that 'Poofy' isn't my creation to begin with and no artistry is being sacrificed on my part in depicting her, do you mean to say that it's wrong or shameful to make money doing something you like because big companies are involved?" It annoyed her a little that only a few of the girls across from her seemed to understand the question, and none were the girl who prompted it. "I very much enjoy my performances, enjoy playing the part I was given, and while I feel that they could stand to let me sing other songs for a live audience a little more often, I like my work overall. I may not be keen on everything I'm asked to do, but please, enlighten me; what occupation in this world entails only doing what one wants to do?"
Predictably, there were no answers, only shocked, silent faces. Well, other than Fluttershy, who looked back at her with...
Um... That's, an interesting smile... That look in her eyes, she kind of reminds me of some of the, er, bolder fans Security have had to drag away from me.
Felt Feather was waiting outside the room, but that knowledge didn't shake the sense of building, permeating unease that continued to seep into her soul as she found herself unable to look away from Fluttershy's eyes. There were self-defense measures right there on the table in front of her, but reaching for any would be a definite sign of weakness. She did have good reason to be afraid of these girls, perhaps, but showing it openly wasn't something she wanted to-
Adagio jumped with a start when she heard a sudden hiss, but found the source to be Rarity, who seemed to be suffering some embarrassment-by-proxy.
"Fluttershy," she loud-whispered, "Fluttershy, Darling, stop staring, it's most unbecoming! And besides that, I believe you're freaking her out!"
Adagio felt herself redden, but before she could spit out a half-baked denial (thankfully), Pinkie giggled.
"Hey," she loud-whispered back, "she's not the one who flipped out and broke a window today."
Rarity tensed, growing even rosier as she gave Adagio a sheepish smile. "Err... Haha, have I mentioned that your, ehm, outfit is, very unique?" Her eyes flickered downward. "How far up do the holes in those stockings go?"
At this, Adagio's eyes widened in surprise, immediately narrowing again as she tightly closed her legs.
Quickly connecting what that sounded like, Rarity flushed almost as bright as Rainbow had, holding up both hands in defense. "N-no, no, that, I-I wasn't, th-that hadn't even crossed my- I asked for purely fashion-forward reasons!!"
Firmly holding her skirt down with one hand, Adagio was sorely tempted to reach for the pepper spray. "Likely story."
She was showing weakness right now, that they had gotten to her, but they knew she was essentially powerless anyway, right?
Sunset tentatively raised her hand. "It, um, is a likely story, Adagio, she works with clothes pretty much all day." Adagio barely turning her head to glare at Sunset out of the corner of her eye was an unnerving sight, to which she responded with what she hoped was a disarming smile. "S-scout's honor?"
Rainbow tilted her head. "Like you're a scout?"
"Shh!!"
Adagio silently conceded that yes, the tailor of their group probably would ask a question like that for chaste reasons. Slowly retaking a regular sitting position, she sighed irritably. "Is there anything else you girls wanted?" Pinkie Pie raised her hand, which Adagio answered with an inquisitive eyebrow, which was met with a smile.
"Hi! Um... Well, I guess I'm kinda-sorta wondering; what are you planning to do? I mean, I remember your thing was all 'We! Will! Be adored~!' before, and I know you've got tons and tons and funs of fans now, but, if they're under your spell oh-woah-oh," she was tickled that this won a tiny, if very begrudging smile out of Adagio, "as Poofy, then doesn't that mean they don't actually like you?"
Adagio shrugged, her face passive. "They don't. What of it?" Sunset actually looked like she felt sorry for her.
"Wouldn't it mean, uh, that they don't actually like you for who you are, that you can't be loved for being yourself, making it all kind of pointless?"
She chuckled, a deliberately condescending smile on her face. "Right, because ignoring that I outright brainwashed people into liking me before, everyone has just been all over the real me with love and affection since then, haven't they?" As anticipated, there were just more looks of surprise. "I have never been adored for who I am, personally, because it's never been my personality that drew a crowd. 'Poofy' is a lie, but 'being myself' around most people brings me nothing but grief," she directed a hand vaguely in their direction, "present company especially, so being loved by a crowd for 'being myself' was impossible to begin with."
Even all the way back in her home sea, those listening to her songs didn't like or know her personally, they liked her work, same as now. And that was before she tasted power.
The Rainbooms continued to surprise her today, because she had anticipated a much more vocal reaction than the mix of surprised, saddened, and disapproving stares (even Fluttershy had snapped out of her unnerving fangirl trance) she got instead. She smirked.
"Go on, say it. I know you want to. It's on the tip of your tongue."
None did, but her grin remained.
"It's alright, you want to say that it's because I'm such an awful person in the first place, right? I'm not contesting that, go right ahead."
Rainbow folded her arms. "Well you are a total bitch."
That some of the other Rainbooms looked at Rainbow in admonishment drew a chuckle from Adagio, but she didn't comment on it. "I see. And what would you have me do?"
Even if not all at once, the girls across from her seemed to realize that she was leading them into a verbal trap, but probably not that it was one of their own making. Just the same, Applejack spoke up, idly scratching the back of her head.
"Well, ya could stand to be a little nicer, Ah reckon."
"To change my behavior, you mean? To not be my regular self? Because I'd say that's exactly what I'm doing with Poofy."
Brow furrowed, Sunset crossed her arms. "There's a big difference between putting on an act and really changing yourself."
"And what difference does it make if you can't 'be yourself' either way?" Seeing Sunset flinch, she allowed her smirk to spread further. "You in particular should know; which is more important? Being true to yourself, or having people love and accept you? To maintain your personal integrity, or to appeal to those around you? For the rest of these girls, it's probably easy, being "good" and unthreatening as they are, but look me in the eye and say you haven't compromised any part of yourself since the Fall Formal."
Predictably, Sunset looked away with a sad, uncertain expression, and while the rest of the group clearly took offense with Adagio for this, that not one of them had anything to say in response sounded like confirmation to her. "Case in point," she said while gesturing to Fluttershy, who was startled by the sudden attention, "would I be mistaken in saying that you're an Eezy-Cheezy fan?"
"Uhm, w-well, no, I am, but..."
Adagio smiled patiently. "But?"
"...But I like the songs, some of the menu, and-" she smiled sheepishly for just an instant, "-your cute little outfit."
"And thus," continued Adagio, not the least bit surprised, "not a fan of mine, your fondness for the brand has nothing to do with me, personally."
"Well... No, I guess not." She smiled hopefully. "But, if y-you were to, um, be nicer some day, maybe I'd be a fan of yours too?"
"Mmhm. And what difference would it make from where I'm standing?"
Thinking about it, Fluttershy frowned. "Um... n-none, I guess..."
Adagio nodded, grinning cheerfully. "So we have it that, with regard to my public persona, I don't need to do this your way to be happy. Isn't that right?"
And that's ignoring that I can still 'be myself' all I like off-camera.
Again, there was a long, uncertain, somewhat resentful pause, broken by a hesitant Twilight. "Well, yes, I, it sounds like you can, but does it feel like a stretch to say it might be even better with our way? That, even if your public persona goes unchanged, you could have an easier time making friends off-camera?"
"Which brings us back to the question of whether or not it's important to be 'true to oneself.' Should I put up a facade? Should I really force myself to change for the approval of others? Or, can I just accept myself as I am?"
"Ah," she muttered dejectedly, "right."
Adagio giggled, standing up. "So, if there are no further questions...?" Silence. Sweet, resentful, defeated silence. "Good. So long, girls, and may we never meet again."
She didn't spare them another look as she gathered up Lead Weight's self-defense measures and walked out the door. They definitely still hated her, but as she hadn't begged their forgiveness, perhaps that was inevitable. She'd probably have to make sure any future security that worked for her knew these girls' faces and go ahead with the restraining orders just so she'd have something to punish them with if they got close, but she'd need to look up exactly how all that worked first.
Out in the hall, she found Felt Feather, doing what Adagio could only call a boxer impression as she hopped in place, punching the air with a look of fierce determination on her face. It would have been comical if she wasn't sure that the padded boxing gloves Felt was wearing were the only thing that would keep her from breaking bones. Regardless, she smiled.
"Are you winning?"
Felt stopped, turning to face Adagio with her arms at her sides. "I did not have an opponent."
"Good, then you can join me at home. Shall we?"
Felt nodded, following just a little behind her.
"Are you certain you do not wish to be driven home?"
Adagio giggled. "Feeling a little nostalgic, to be honest. The new house is almost ready, so I thought I'd make this walk one last time."
It was a good thing Adagio would be leaving this town for good soon, because she didn't want to have to explain to anyone why she was walking around with a maid wearing boxing gloves in the early evening.
%%%
Back in the room Adagio had just left, the Rainbooms remained in uncomfortable silence for a moment.
"So," Rainbow eventually offered, "she's totally wrong. Right? About everything?" No response. She crossed her arms and frowned. "C'mon, guys, I know we don't rehearse this stuff, but this is the part where we're supposed to say something friendship-y and feel better about ourselves."
"From a practical standpoint," Twilight thought aloud, "I guess there's not much reason for a celebrity to try to connect with all of their fans on a personal level. She wants praise from them, they want Poofy from her, so it works."
"Well," Rarity thought aloud, "the downside of donning a mask to wear at all times comes from not liking the mask, no? To force oneself to conform to a more agreeable outlook even when one doesn't wish to? But she likes the Poofy mask, and probably takes it off when she's drinking imported spring water in her trailer."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Imported spring water?"
Rarity shrugged. "What would you be drinking?"
"Apple juice!"
"Of course, how silly of me."
"I definitely changed a lot after the Fall Formal," admitted a downbeat Sunset, "because 'who I really was' back then was an awful, selfish, egomaniacal bully. Thing is, I don't regret the ways I've changed, because I know I'm a lot happier now than I would have been had I decided 'be true to yourself' was the lesson that mattered most. I mean, people change through life anyway, don't they? I know Fluttershy has gotten at least a little bolder since I first showed up."
Fluttershy smiled brightly, knowing that before, she'd have probably blushed and folded in on herself.
Pinkie raised an index finger. "Which means Adagio doing the Poofy thing," and the one on the opposite hand, "while not the same as really being Poofy in her heart," then crossed her arms, "is fine for her because of who she is," she pointed the first hand to one side, "but not fine for making friends," the second hand pointed straight down, "but that's fine for her too because she's not Poofy," both hands pointed up again, "but if she were to change, she'd be happy, we'd be happy, and everyone else would be happy?"
Sunset still wasn't smiling. "It's not exactly as easy as Press Button, Get New Personality, Pinkie."
"You changed a whole lot."
"Over the course of five months, with constant pressure from the entire student body to do so." Not everyone said something out loud, but the looks she got said more than enough. Not that anyone seemed to care how much she changed until she helped save them.
Pinkie looked at Twilight, which the others followed. Twilight blinked, then raised her palms defensively.
"Don't look at me, all I did was quit being a borderline sociopath about getting what I want." She got a few odd looks from the others, drawing a sigh. "I've had a lot of time to think about exactly what I did that day, and placing higher priority on learning about magic than the pain and endangerment I could clearly see I was causing wasn't a very ethical way to conduct my research."
Taking sudden interest in the floor, Applejack adjusted her hat. "'Dagio is like an actor now anyway, right? Gonna be actin' out a bunch'a diff'rent parts if she keeps at it? She probably won't be playin' Poofy forever, so it probably don't matter if she ain't 'Poofy' deep down. Heck, even if she starts not likin' it, acting's her job."
"She's not an actor," Rainbow said with a mild scowl, "she's not in movies or anything!" She huffed, muttering the rest to herself. "We should be the ones in movies." Shaking the thought out of her head (for now!), she looked to the others with a pleading frown. "No, seriously, nothing on the feel-better stuff? It worked great right after we talked to the other two."
Sunset's eyes shot open. "Oh, crap!! Aria and Sonata, I forgot to ask her what's going on with them!!"
Without waiting for a response, she darted out the door, sprinted through the empty restaurant, slowed down to carefully open the glass doors to the exit (there would not be forgiveness next time...), quickly looked around-
Which way did she go, whichwaydidshego?!
-and jogged down the street after the distant, orange puff (and... a maid?!) she saw moving under the streetlights. When she caught up to them next to some dollar store on a random street corner, she could hear Adagio speaking.
"-thought for sure that if they were going to try to ambush me, it would be at the hotel or our house."
The maid nodded. "Even so, I wish to accompany you directly from here on."
"Fair enou-" She turned when she heard rapid footsteps, tensing and reaching for the pepper spray when she saw Sunset.
"Wait, w-wait," gasped Sunset as she came to a stop, "just a couple things I forgot to ask, promise!" To her relief, she was neither reminded what it felt like to be maced nor given a face full of rubbery mitts (she would exclude "What's with the maid outfit?" and "Why is she wearing boxing gloves?" from her short list of questions) as she was allowed to catch her breath. "I wanted to ask, um..."
About Aria and Sonata, but since I'm probably not gonna get another chance at this...
She scratched her head. "Well, uh, that B-Bacon-head commercial, was that supposed to...?" Adagio just raised an uncertain eyebrow at her. "I was kinda wondering if you meant to say something with that one."
"Yes," Adagio said flatly, "I thought it was obvious."
Why is she turning red? Is it possible that she hadn't caught the sentiment of 'I hate you' in that piece?
Sheepishly, Sunset averted her eyes, idly brushing a hand along her neck. "Oh. Well, I'm, um, f-flattered, but, I don't really feel the same." She kind of figured that the sirens of all people wouldn't take rejection well, but hadn't expected Adagio to glare at her as though she were human garbage.
"Sunset Shimmer. Perhaps pony brains are even smaller than I would have guessed, but it was only five minutes ago that I thought it was made abundantly clear that we are not friends."
"I don't know what you were hoping for, but you can't just start with more than that out of nowhere, that only happens in trashy rom-"
Somehow, Adagio looked even more disgusted with her. "'More than that'? We stand at magnitudes less, you idiot! Do you think prolonged talks with anyone automatically put you in their good graces? Is that how your magic works?"
"What? No, I'm talking about you fantasizing about me!"
"Fantasizing about what?!"
Still blushing, Sunset scowled. "Oh, come on, 'Bacon and Cheese'? The commercial even ended with me on top of you!"
Connecting the dots to Sunset's interpretation, Adagio blanched, practically gagging as she spit out the words. "Th-that... I. AM. STRAIGHT. The commercial was meant to sell, SELL, that thing commercials do, a product; a bacon and cheese sandwich!"
"But it was your commercial!"
"It was my idea as directed by those in charge of actually making the damn things! Do you think I alone control our entire marketing department?! That they'd have just let me air 'Rainbooms suck, lol' if I'd asked?!"
Her mouth hanging open, Sunset had no reply at the ready, but before she could construct a comprehensible way to say she was straight too, the maid pointed a boxing glove at her.
"Madam, there are more of them." And they made the tactical failure of not sending any of their number around the other side of the store for a pincer attack, she noted.
Sunset whirled around to see her friends' faces peeking out from around a corner, all simultaneously adopting looks that said 'busted!' before disappearing behind the wall.
"Uh... Hi, guys."
Pinkie was the only one to call back to her. Loudly. "SORRY, IS THIS A HEART-FELT CONFESSION OF LOVE? WE CAN COME BACK LATER!"
In Sunset's mind, the call seemed to echo through the streets before she heard Twilight's voice. "She just said, shouted, that she was straight, Pinkie!"
"Yea, but maybe Sunny isn't! Have you seen the way she eyeballs you when-"
"Oh-kay," wheezed a hoarse, neon-red Sunset as she turned back to Adagio, "so..." She managed forced, sheepish smile. "...honest mistake?"
Red in the face herself, Adagio groaned.
A pig! I should have asked them to make Bacon Head a fat, dirty pig with bacon-hair!
Though that probably would have made things a little more disturbing than just the idea of a person with meat growing out of their head. She took a deep breath through her nose before glaring at Sunset as though she had just broken her gem all over again, hissing her question through gritted teeth. "Was there anything else...?"
"Unfortunately..." Sunset cleared her throat, doing her best to hold on to the tattered remains of her dignity. "We've all kind of been wondering; why did you leave while Aria and Sonata stayed here?"
Adagio folded her arms, the "Because they chose to stay."
While she had been horribly mistaken about Adagio's signals with the bacon commercial, Sunset had no misgivings about the look she was getting for that question. Whatever was going on between them, it was clearly a sensitive subject and Adagio was already in a foul mood, so Sunset quietly settled on aborting the conversation by averting her eyes. "Oh."
Unfortunately, Adagio caught this sudden shift, raising an eyebrow. "'Oh'? Just what do-"
Wait, that look on her face... is that... guilt?
Adagio tried to present her searing, hateful stare of moments ago. However, without knowing what had happened between Aria, Sonata, and their greatest enemies (or whether or not she would be able to find any evidence, anything at all she could use to implicate the Rainbooms to the police if the others were hurt), couldn't keep the worry from her eyes or the light tremor from her legs as a treacherous chill ran up her spine.
"What... what did you do to them?"
Again, Sunset clued in to her thinking right away, raising both hands defensively. "Nothing!"
Come on, quit looking at me like I stomped on your puppy, you're making me feel like I'm the bad guy threatening your friends here!
And then she considered this situation from Adagio's viewpoint. To her, it must have looked like her only friends chose to stay behind (because according to Aria, they weren't really a unit anymore) in the same town as the people they probably hated more than anyone rather than go with her, meaning they were having some kind of quarrel. Was it possible that those mocking commercials weren't just to lure Sunset and her friends in for the kill, but an attempt to win back Aria and Sonata's approval? Reaffirming their bond by attacking a common enemy? Was that how the sirens saw her group now? As a monster to be fended off until it could be trapped and killed?
Sunset frowned. "Adagio... are you, afraid of us?"
Adagio clenched her teeth. "Would I have bothered dealing with you if I weren't?!" She didn't know why Sunset (and the other Rainbooms, still peeking around the corner) looked genuinely surprised to hear that, they must have felt some measure of the same thing from her. "Have the lot of you not been worried I would hurt you somehow?"
"Well," commented Rainbow, who had sped out to stand next to Sunset, "you did sorta make us laughingstocks."
Seeing Adagio's eye twitch, Sunset took a guess. "Uh, Rainbow? Don't you think having magical super powers, ones that no one else in the world really seems to care that we have or attempt to limit use of in any way, shape, or form, is a bit more threatening than indirectly making fun of people on national television? Because I guarantee no one outside our local area has any idea who the 'rainbow sugar patrol' are supposed to be."
Rainbow visibly struggled with the question. "...Nnnoo...?" Sunset's flat look said that was the wrong guess, but that Adagio looked like she was about to duck behind the maid cosplay lady for protection said she really was scared! "You don't, like, really think we'd just...?"
The glare she got back said 'Yes, you would, and I bet you'd enjoy it,' which poked something in her guts.
She frowned. "Is that what it's been like for you? Just, thinking we'd kick down the door and beat you to a pulp any day?"
Pinkie popped up next to her. "You did say you wanted to do that, remember?"
Adagio's eyes widened in fright. "Felt-!"
"Yes, Madam."
The maid stepped in front of Adagio, head down and boxing gloves raised, but Rainbow surprised them both by taking a step back, shaking her head.
"Woah, woah, hang on here! I'm not a bully, we're not bullies, and, yea, I might've kinda-sorta said something like that, but I was just mad about the 'sugar patrol' thing!" She leaned to one side in an attempt to look Adagio in the eye, but the maid leaned along with her, gloves still raised. That, combined with the fact that Adagio standing behind her made it look like the maid was wearing a really fluffy, orange cape, would have looked ridiculous if she weren't focused on what she had to say. "Have you seriously just been living in fear of us ever since the BeeOhTeeBee?"
That she didn't get an answer poked something in her guts with a really cold, pointy stick. Remembering the scared look on Aria's face when she first saw them back in the sewer added a drop of lemon juice to it, and remembering that the first thing the sirens did after losing their powers was to run away added a whole glass.
"Look," she said despite not being able to make eye-contact, "I know we aren't friends, but we're not gonna hurt you, and we haven't done anything to the other two, either. It feels great to win and be the heroes, but that doesn't, we wouldn't just-..."
She remembered life under the old Sunset, how, not that she was afraid or anything, but everyone else just kept their heads down and stayed out of her way, how the only way to get by was to hope she didn't want to start something with you. It sucked, and the thought of doing that to someone else, even on total accident, sucked more.
"I'm sorry, okay? Whether you are or not, for anything you've ever done, I'm sorry you felt like you had to keep looking over your shoulder for so long, and I don't expect you to believe me, but as long as you never do anything big, evil, and magical again, I promise we won't bug you anymore. Okay?"
Slowly, Adagio peeked out from behind Felt, doubt clear in her eyes as she beheld all seven of the Rainbooms now standing together. Almost as if they intended to attack as a unit, a voice in her head reminded her. Despite this, she dared move just a little further from the closest thing she had to a real shield (poor Felt Feather was, she thought, only human, and wouldn't last long against these girls in a direct confrontation) in this situation. "As I said before, I haven't had any contact with whatever's been afflicting this town, have no power beyond what you've seen, and no magic to do any such thing even if I wanted to." Rainbow surprised her by offering a little smile.
"Cool, feel free to pass that on to the other two when they're not busy gold-mining in a sewer." The totally lost look on Adagio's face told her she might have just said the wrong thing.
"Gold-mining in... what?" Seeing the Rainbooms trade worried, uncertain glances flicked on a little warning light in the back of her head, one that said they were pulling some kind of con, trying to trick her somehow, but it was possible that they weren't all very convincing actors and instead were just as confused as she was. She abandoned what little cover Felt could offer to get a better look at their faces. "What are you talking about? Did they pick up jobs as sewer workers, or...?"
"Umm," Twilight began uncertainly, "they didn't, er, tell you what they've been up to? Because we've asked around a little and heard some perplexing things." Sunset had also used her geode without asking a few times, but Adagio and her lawyers didn't need that tid-bit.
She had wondered exactly what they had been doing since her departure, so while maintaining awareness that this was the perfect chance for the Rainbooms to trick her, she allowed herself to ask anyway. "What have you heard...?"