As another day at Canterlot High ended, Sunset made her way home and entered her apartment.
She put her keys in the bowl by the door and sat her backpack down next to it before she walked into the living room and was greeted by the usual sight of Aria and Sonata crashing on the couch.
"Welcome home Sunset," said Sonata cheerfully as she sat up and looked at her.
"What up?" asked Aria who continued resting her head on the couch.
"Nothing much," said Sunset before she continued saying, "School was usual, the only real big thing that happened was that, due to some cancellations and coincidences, the CMC will be performing with me and Trixie on Wednesday."
"Oh that's nice, and we'll get to see it too since me and Aria start working their then," said Sonata with a smile.
"Yeah, I just hope they've improved their act since the battle of the band. I mean those mismatched colored outfits and the lyrics that sound like they wrote them in a day, I'm surprised they made it as far as they did," said Aria who still laid her head on the couch.
"Well knowing them they probably did, but don't worry they've matured a lot since then and take things like this way more seriously. You should have seen them at the Canterlot Games opening ceremonies last year," said Sunset with a warm smile. She looked at Sonata who returned the smile, and then at Aria who just gave a thumbs up while still laying down. Sunset decided to finally address this as she asked, "So, what happened with you girls today?"
Aria finally sat up as she said, "We decided to give one of your video games a try and ended up playing for about five hours straight ."
Sunset then started to realize why Aria looked how she did, but decided to keep talking anyway as she said, "That sounds cool, what game did you pick?"
Sonata then sat up excitedly holding the game case as she said, "Dragon Ball FighterZ! It's really fun, though Aria got a head ache after awhile."
That confirmed Sunset's suspicions as she grinned at Aria and said, "Let me guess, while you were playing you didn't feel it too much, but as soon as you turned the game off you felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped on your head?"
"Yup," said Aria before laying back down.
Sunset then chuckled before saying, "Yup, I've been there too. All that electronic stimulation takes some getting used to."
"I tried to warn you, I mean remember when I came home just like this after that marathon DDR session at the arcade," said Sonata.
"Yeah, but that was over twenty years ago. I figured with all the revolutions in video games that people keep talking about that they would have fixed this stuff by now," said Aria.
Sunset giggled slightly before turning Sonata and saying, "So you were really into DDR?"
Sonata stood up excited as she said, "You know it! As soon as they put it in the arcade I got hooked and played every chance I got. I mean the bright light, the catchy music, and the fun dance moves... plus I totally cleared out on the ticket counter. I mean Adagio would always say 'you know you can just sing a song to make the cashier give you any prize you want' but you should have seen the look on her face when I gave her that golden spiked belt with the diamond buckle." Sonata then smiled as a few tears formed in her eyes from both the the joy and sorrow that came from thinking about the good times with Adagio.
Sunset thought about saying something, but wasn't sure given how she was remembering good times even if that did make her a little sad. Those thoughts were quickly interrupted though as Aria spoke up saying, "Oh by the way, I beat the gravity room thing and unlocked Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta for you."
At this Sunset grew serious before teleporting onto the table in front of Aria as she said, "YOU DID WHAT!"
Aria sat up confused at this as she started saying, "I beat the-"
Before she could finish though Sunset said, "I have been trying to beat that for weeks now, and you did it after one day?!"
Aria scratched the back of her head as she said, "Well I guess it was just beginners luck."
Sunset then looked over at Aria before lighting up her horn causing her to suddenly appear on the couch next to Aria and a controller to appear in her magic field and Aria's hands respectively. She then looked at Aria with a death glare as she said, "We're having a match right now to see if you really are better then me and spoiler alert, you're not."
Sunset then stared as the game loaded before she looked over and saw a look of concern on Sonata and Aria's faces as she snapped back to reality and said, "Oh girls, I'm sorry I got a little intense."
"I'd say that was more then just a little," said Aria sarcastically as she seemed to be getting over her headache and returning to normal.
"Yeah, what was that about?" said Sonata who still looked concerned.
"It's just... I've always been competitive when it comes to video games... or carnival games... or pretty much any game that doesn't involve physical activity as I already know that isn't my strong suit," said Sunset as she began blushing with embarrassment.
"Huh, any idea why?" said Aria.
"Well Pinkie thinks that since I took this hobby up after I first started reforming, that I have channeled all my old aggressive tendencies into it without realizing it," said Sunset as she became more embarrassed. She then continued saying, "And as much as I don't like to think that any part of the old me is still in here, I do think she's right."
Sunset then sat waiting for them to say something about how she should reign in her competitive behavior or something. What she got though was Sonata saying, "Oh that makes sense."
Aria then shrugged and said, "Yeah, that's cool." She then turned to the TV as she said, "So you want to go a few rounds then?"
Sunset was stunned as she said, "Well yeah, but wait neither or you are gonna ask me to calm down or anything?"
"Not really, I mean if you have a natural tendency to be aggressive it's not like you can just get rid of it. So you gotta get it all out somehow," said Aria. She then continuing saying, "Don't want it to build up so you end up snapping at people or anything."
"Yeah, isn't the point of hobbies like this to burn off excess emotion and help you relax anyway?" said Sonata with a helpful grin.
"Hmm, I guess I never thought of it like that," said Sunset. She then smiled at the two girls as she said, "Sure, let's play a bit and even if my competitive nature isn't necessarily bad I will try and keep it somewhat under control."
"Please, you're gonna need every ounce of that intensity if you want to stand a chance of beating me," said Aria trying to goat Sunset on. She then looked at the TV with a determined grin and began picking her fighters, them being Cell, Frieza, and Buu.
"Oh it is so on," said Sunset with a similar determined grin as she picked her team, it being Beerus, Vegeta Super Saiyan, as she refused to try out Blue until she earned it herself, and Goku Super Saiyan.
"OH, I CALL WINNER!" said Sonata with a grin as the match began.
Meanwhile back at Canterlot High
Bright Lights, a.k.a. Flash Sentry was sitting in the music room as she removed her communication stone from her pocket and placed it on the table as she activated the magical equivalent of speaker phone and sighed saying, "Hey Twi, so what's the word on Zecora's condition?"
The stone then started glowing as the voice of Princess Twilight came from it saying, "Unfortunately, her condition hasn't particularly improved. She is in good spirits though, when me and Fluttershy visited to make her soup she tried to start rhyming again."
Flash then sighed before saying, "Well, at least she's powering through."
"Oh come on it can't be that bad, I mean you said you got the human Pinkie Pie on your side helping you out now," said Twilight.
"Yeah, but that opens up a whole new can of worms. She somehow talked me into wearing a skirt and doing my hair up in pig tails today, which admittedly wasn't that bad. Now though she's talking about getting me to try out make up and who knows what else she might think of. That's why I'm here trying to put off our 'girls night slumber party' for another hour or two," said Flash.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said Twilight as she stifled a laugh as the image of Flash in a skirt with a mascara popped into her head
Soon though the laugh came out as Flash sarcastically said, "Wow, glad that I have a girlfriend like you to get me through these tough times."
Twilight finished laughing as she said, "I'm sorry I'm sorry... hey I know. Didn't you say that singing always helps you relax and that's why you started your band in the first place."
"Well yeah," said Flash.
"Well I'd be happy to hear you sing now. I didn't want to say anything since you were freaking out but your voice sounds really good like this," said Twilight.
"Hmm... I mean there are a few songs that I wanted to try but couldn't since their lead singers are girls," said Flash. She then looked around the music room hoping to see a guitar, since she didn't think to bring her own to school today. Unfortunately there was none but she did notice an ukulele on the table as she picked it up and said, "OK this is a song from a show Sunset got me to watch recently and that I really enjoyed."
"Wow," said Twilight awestruck.
"Wow," replied an equally awestruck Flash at finally hearing just how pleasant her voice was.
"That was AMAZING!" said Twilight.
"Yeah," said Flash before getting a new sense of confidence as she pulled out her phone to open up her karaoke app as she said, "If you think that's good wait until you hear me belt one out from the girl I'm dressed as."
Twilight then chuckled as she said, "Wait I thought the clothes were Pinkie's idea?"
"Well, technically yeah but I did have final say over which skirt, shirt, and hair combo and I picked this based off one of the girls who original sung this song here," said Flash as she pulled up the video and began singing to it.
Soon though Princess Twilight joined in, as apparently no matter if they've heard the song before or even if they speak the language Equestrian's could sing to anything.
Meanwhile in the hallway.
"I don't know Scoots, after last time I'm not sure if singing is a good idea," said Apple Bloom.
"Especially considering that we've made such complex choreography that I'm not sure if we can do it and sing at the same," said Sweetie Belle.
"Oh come on girls, I worked hard on these lyrics and I don't think we should just throw them out," said an exasperated Scootaloo as they all already agreed on choreography and outfits and she was waging a battle of a full lyrical song accompanying it versus the simple instrumental that Apple Bloom and Sweetie were advocating for.
"I agree that you're lyrics are good but you know what happens when we try to sing on stage," said Apple Bloom.
"That's still weird to me how we can sing with each other all the time but as soon as we get on a stage our voices get all weirdly pitched. I mean you can't even say it's stage fright since we sung that song to help Pipsqueak become class president, so it's more like the stage itself somehow affects us," said Sweetie Belle as she drifted into thought.
"Regardless of how it works, we can't sing on stage and all our older sisters and their friends are busy so they can't help. I mean It's not like we are gonna just stumble upon some amazing singer anytime soon," said Apple Bloom.
"Yeah, I guess your-" began Scootaloo before Sweetie Belle shushed her.
She then closed her eyes and asked, "Do you girls hear that?" She then took off towards a class room while the others followed her and soon began hearing what she was talking about as they all pressed their ears against the door to get a good listen at this angelic voice.
Inside the music room.
"Wow... that was," began Twilight.
"Beautiful," finished Flash. She then smiled and said, "So are you still sure we can't get together for a date tomorrow or so, I mean it's not like I'm gonna ask you to kiss me while I'm like this or anything."
"Well... I mean it is still you under there sooo," said Twilight in thought, but before she could finish though the door to the music room slammed open causing the communication stone to fall off the table hitting the "end call button."
Before Flash could protest at this sudden intrusion the CMC where now bearing down on her smiling as Sweetie Belle said, "OH MY GOSH FLASH! THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!"
"YEAH IT WAS! CAN YOU PLEASE HELP US OUT WITH SOMETHING?!" said Apple Bloom.
"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I DON'T WANT MY LYRICS TO GO TO WASTE!" said Scootaloo.
Flash simply backed away confused at this as she said, "Wait what?"
This resulted in the CMC calming down as they started explaining the situation to her.
Back at Sunset's apartment
Sunset, who after losing the first few rounds as a pony turned human again claiming she was better with hands, had sweat on her brow as she stared intently at the screen.
They had both already lost two characters leaving only Cell on Aria's side and Beerus on Sunset's. Cell was on low health but Aria then locked Sunset into a combo that put them on even level. Little did she know though that this was what Sunset wanted as those blows now gave her enough energy to do her favorite move as she soon heard Beerus say, "Hakai," and was greeted with the victory screen.
"YES! I DID IT! That's what happens you challenge the God of Destruction," said Sunset beaming a cocky smile at Aria.
"Yeah, and all it took you was changing into a different species and bumping it up to best 7 out of 13," said Aria with a smug grin of her own.
Before they could exchange further barbs though Sonata jumped on the couch saying, "My turn."
As Aria passed the controller to her and saw her pick the same team, except with Buu as the leader, she smiled to herself as something they failed to mention to Sunset is that while Aria had unlocked one new character for multiplayer Sonata had grinded on max difficulty in story mode to unlock all the characters possible for that. Aria then silently said to herself, "Oh, this will be fun to watch."
Back in the music room
"- and so that's why we need your help Flash," said Apple Bloom.
"So will you please do it?" said Sweetie Belle.
"Look girls I'm flattered, but I'm having a hard enough time walking to school like this. I don't think performing on a stage is a good idea," said Flash.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle began sulking while Scootaloo had a mischievous grin come to her face as she said, "You know that really is a shame. You know what else would be a shame? If someone happened to mention your current situation to Sunset and her friends."
"You wouldn't dare," said Flash.
"And you know I'm not sure how well you thought that outcome through since while sure Sunset might be a little mad about you not listening to her about getting over Princess Twilight and Rainbow will laugh for a bit. But as soon as the easily embarrassed Fluttershy blushes and points out everything you've probably seen in the girls locker room and bathrooms, well I think Rainbow's gonna want to relieve her oldest friends embarrassment by skipping all the way past Star Platinum and going full on The World on you," said Scootaloo as her grin widened slightly.
Upon having that mental picture, and the phantom pain that came with it, Flash sighed and said, "Fine I'll do it."
The girls instantly perked up as Sweetie Belle reached into the bag and handed her a notebook saying, "Great, these are the costumes that we planned on wearing so I'm gonna have to take you to Rarity's to get you fitted for one."
Upon seeing the sketch Flash thought to herself, "I immediately regret this decision."
Meanwhile back at Sunset's
Sonata casually smiled as she said, "Guess I win again."
Meanwhile Sunset was fuming as she said, "BEST 26 OUT OF 51!"