//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: An Unexpected Meeting // Story: Equestria Girls: Life Goes On // by Blackbird2 //------------------------------// Equestria Girls: Life Goes On Chapter 1: An Unexpected Meeting BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!! Aria woke up with a start at the alarm on her phone shocked her out of her sleep. She instinctually reached over, picked up the phone off the night stand and tapped the screen to make the annoying noise stop. She then let out a tired groan as the rest of her mind woke up and the usual realization of the day hit her: she had to go to work. It had been a little over a year since their defeat at the Battle of the Bands. The immediate aftermath had been the worst part with her and Adagio yelling at each other over whose fault it was and Sonata crying that she didn’t want to die. Thankfully whatever magic the Rainbooms had used on them made it so they could keep themselves alive on actual food instead of emotions. Of course that presented the problem of where they were going to get food! Without their gems they couldn’t persuade people to give them what they wanted anymore. They couldn’t even sing! So how where they supposed to get food?! Or clothes?! Or shelter?! Well the clothes part was easy enough to solve as they snuck back to the school later and picked up their regular outfits. Food and shelter had been solved with an incredible stroke of luck none of them could believe. After they had hopped a bus into the city they found a “Help Wanted” sign in the window of a bakery labeled “Sweets Emporium” that just so happened to need three new employees. Even better the owners had and apartment upstairs to rent that would “comfortably” fit the three of them. Comfortably being a relative word. It was a one room apartment with two beds and of course Adagio claimed one all to herself so that left Aria and Sonata sharing one. Aria did try the couch for the first few weeks but that just wasn’t going to work out. Though sharing a bed with your loudly snoring sister was only slightly better than a lumpy old couch. Least she got up before me today, Aria thought as she stumbled into the bathroom to start her morning routine before going downstairs to work. Least this place came with its own bathroom. That was one small thing to be thankful for. Though, again, having to share it with Adagio and Sonata almost took away from that little convenience. Especially when they were all running late. She lived for mornings like today where she could take her time and have the place to herself for just a little bit. Wow that’s pathetic, she thought as she brushed her teeth. It’s true that this was definitely not the life any of them had thought they’d have, especially when their full power was just within their grasp again. Still, if the choice was to be happy with the little bit of solitude she got and dying she would take the bit of solitude every time. Besides, she found a bit of happiness in this new life of theirs. Once they had collectively saved enough money to buy things other than food, they picked up a second hand laptop and TV as well as a streaming device and Internet. And thankfully they all had their own phones. Through a combination of all those things and being bored, Aria found herself watching a really bad horror movie and wanted to rant to someone about it. Unfortunately, Adagio didn’t care and talking to Sonata was just making her more upset. So eventually she recorded something on her phone and on a whim uploaded it to MyTube. To her great surprise people actually liked it. A lot. And so she did another one after watching another bad movie. And then another. And another. And eventually she got some basic editing software and a stand for her phone so she could make more intricate reviews like she had seen around online. And again people continued to like them. She had to admit she really liked doing them too. It helped her get a lot of her frustration about...everything out so she wouldn’t get into exhausting fights with her sisters or lash out at the customers. You threaten to rip out a guy’s nose ring ONE time! She thought angrily as she walked out of the bathroom and went about putting on her uniform. She grimaced a bit as she picked up the nearly neon pink polo T-shirt with a smiling cupcake on it. Every day she worked she had to fight the urge to rip the horrible thing to shreds before she put it on. Thankfully the black slacks were a little more her style though still a bit uncomfortable. After slipping off her socks and shoes, she tied her hair up into its usual twintail style and grabbed her keys and phone as she headed out. She trudged down the stairs and popped into the side door that led into the bakery’s kitchen. The first thing she spotted was a very angry looking Adagio in the dish pit with many hairnets on scrubbing away on some of the dirty sheet trays. Aria flashed her an overly large smile and wave as she passed which cause Adagio to growl and scrub the tray harder. That was another good thing about this life. She continued to walk through the kitchen until she came upon the small office tucked into the corner. She popped her head inside to find her favorite of the two owners sitting behind the desk. Like herself, Glinda had a sharp tongue and little patience for idiots. Or really anyone. Except for Aria that is. And much to her own surprise, the feeling was mutual. “Hey boss, where do you need me to be?” she asked, fully stepping inside the office. “Register,” the short haired brunette replied without looking up from the computer screen. Any good mood Aria just had completely left her body and her shoulders slumped as she let out an annoyed sigh. “Again? But I hate dealing with the public!” she whined. “So do I,” Glinda remarked with a smirk. “Which is why I’m making you do it! Unless of course you’d rather help Sonata cook again.” Aria’s eyes widened in horror. “No way! Not again! I almost lost my eyebrows last time!” she shouted. “Seriously why do you even let her around her oven?!” “Because we need the help and for some reason Cupcake trusts her,” the older woman explained as she pulled a small back out from the cabinet behind her. “Now take that snarky attitude of yours and put it towards the customers!” She then tossed the bag to Aria who caught it with surprising ease. She let out another annoyed grunt before she turned and walked towards the front of the store. She quickly went about setting up the register, turning on the display cases and setting up the few dine-in tables they had. It had all become routine at this point and she could probably do it in her sleep. Though she’d prefer to just sleep in her sleep and it’d be best if she could be doing that right now. Instead she gave one final check and watched as Sonata, Glinda, and the other owner Cupcake set up the display items and gave her the go ahead to open. She flicked the lock, turned over the “Open” sign then went back behind the counter and waited for the first customer to come in. Which much to her chagrin didn’t take very long. She watched as a balding, middle aged man who looked like he had been to the bakery about too much waddled up to the counter. He looked up at the menu board behind her and then down at the display case that made up the bulk of the counter. “Are the donuts fresh?” he asked, staring intently at them. “Sir it’s seven in the morning, everything is fresh,” Aria droned out with more than a little sarcasm in her voice. “Well then I think I’ll have three chocolate donuts, two strawberry ones, a bear claw and a large coffee with light cream.” “Yeah ‘cause that’ll help,” she muttered her breath as she punched the order in. “What was that?” he asked in an offended tone. “Will that be for here or to go,” Aria said loudly with a wide, fake smile plastered over her face. “To go,” the customer said, still a bit annoyed. “Your total is $12.75,” she told him. The man slipped his card into the reader in front of him while Aria went about putting his order together. Within a few seconds she handed him a bag of donuts, a cup of coffee and his receipt. All with a forced smile on her face. He muttered something as he turned and walked away. As soon as he was out the door she groaned, her smile faded and her shoulders slumped. “And so the day begins,” she muttered as she rested her chin on her palm. Indeed, the day did go as so many others had done before. Customers came and went and most of them were unremarkable but there were those annoying few she wished she could just throttle! Like the frizzy pink haired girl who had just left and seemed to only be able to communicate in blowing raspberries. Every time Aria asked her what she wanted she could just stick her tongue and get spit everywhere. Or just gasp while pointing wildly to the menu. Oh how she wished she still had her powers so she could tell this annoying girl to go jump off a bridge. Or at least make her slam her head into the display case. Instead she simply had to force a smile until she finally figured out what the annoying girl wanted so she could finally make her go away. When it was over she was the one who laid her head down on the cool, smooth glass of the case and let out a long, sorrowful groan. “Um, excuse me?” a voice broke through her brief respite. “WHAAAAAT?!” she growled irritably as she slowly lifted her head. “Yeah I’d like a-HOLY crap it’s you!!!” the guy in front of her suddenly shouted. Aria shot straight up and her eyes widened. How did he know who she was?! Was he someone from CHS they enchanted?! Or one of the many people over the years they enchanted? He had grey skin with violet eyes and slightly long black hair and goatee. He was wearing a black dress shirt and pants with a white vest, red tie and white fedora. So far none of this was helping her remember him. Course it’s not like she would have remembered him anyway but it would be nice to have some idea where he knew her from so she could know how to react. “I mean, you’re her right?! From Blazing Reviews?!” he gushed excited. Okay that she wasn’t prepared for at all! This was the first time she had ever been recognized for her reviews. Especially here at work. “Um...yeah,” she replied, relaxing a bit. “That’s me. Enjoy my videos, huh?” “Hell yeah I do! I LOVE them!” he shouted enthusiastically. “This is amazing! I can’t believe you work here!” “You and me both,” she sighed, her sour mood returning a bit. He noticed this shift in attitude and his elated smile turned into a sheepish one. “Sorry, didn’t mean to bring you down,” he apologized. “Nah it’s fine,” she waved off. “This job is just...pffffft!” she stuck out her tongue as she gave a thumbs down motion. “I can relate. I work over in the Stables & Royals while also trying to do my own videos,” he explained. Aria gave him a side glance. “You do videos too, huh?” she asked with slight interest. “Yep! Blackbird Reviews!” he exclaimed, puffing out his chest proudly. “Never hear of you,” Aria replied bluntly. Blackbird’s shoulders slumped and his expression fell. “Yeah I’m not surprised. I’ve been doing this for two years and I just now got 300 subscribers.” “I’ve got over a thousand already,” she replied, this time puffing her chest up in pride. Or at least bragging right. “Of course you do,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “But you do deserve, your stuff is amazing! And hilarious!” “Obviously,” Aria smirked again. “But really all I do is say what I actually think of the movie.” “Me too!” Blackbird exclaimed again. He then scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Hey, um, since I’m here would it be too much for me to ask if maybe...you’d like to go a collab sometime?” She tilted her head a bit. “A collab?” “Yeah! You know, work together on a review of a movie,” he explained. “Ummm...maybe,” she replied hesitantly. “I mean I don’t even know your stuff.” “Oh right! Uh...” he paused as he looked around for something to write on. He quickly grabbed one of the comment cards from the box on the counter as well as the offered pen then wrote something on it before sliding it to her. She picked it up and glanced at it before raising an eyebrow and looking at him. “My MyTube channel, Tweeter account and...um...my phone number so you can text or call me,” he explained, blushing a bit at that last one. “Is this some kind of scheme to get me to go out on a date with you?” she asked in an annoyed tone. “No! No not at all!” he exclaimed, waving his hands wildly. “I really just want to do a video with you cause you’re one of my favorite reviewers and it’d be awesome to review something together.” He then grinned sheepishly again. “And...it might help me get some more subs.” Aria rolled her eyes. “Okay, yeah, now I see what’s going on here. Not that I can blame you though, it would be cool to work with me.” “Yeah it would,” he agreed. “Can you at least think about it?” “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she muttered as she shoved the card into her pocket. “Hey!” another voice suddenly screamed. Aria looked over her shoulder to see Glinda poking her head out from around the corner of the doorway that led to the kitchen. “Work now, flirt later!” she ordered, shaking a wooden spoon at the girl. “I wasn’t-!” Aria stated to say but Glinda just disappeared back into the kitchen. So instead she turned an angry eye to her admirer. “Ya see what you made me do?!” “Sorry! Sorry!” he apologized profusely. “Don’t be sorry, order something!” “Right! Whole reason I came here,” he remarked then looked up at the menu again. “I’ll have two chocolate shakes, a triple chocolate muffin, a blueberry scone and a white chocolate cookie.” “Alright then,” Aria muttered as she punched in the order. “$14.75.” He swiped his debit card then waited a bit anxiously as she got the order ready. It was a combination of meeting one his Internet ideals as well as her shooting a few annoyed looks his way. For her part Aria just wanted to get his order done and get back to being bored out of her mind. At the very least she didn’t want to receive any more weird accusations from Glinda. Flirting. Yeah, as if THAT would happen, she thought irritably. She finished up the order with the two milkshakes and then plopped it all on a tray on the counter. “Here ya go,” she told him. “Cool. Thanks! It was awesome to meet you and please at least consider the collab?” he asked as he took the tray and started walking backward. “Whatever,” she scoffed with another roll of her eyes. She watched as he walked over to one of the tables in the corner to sit across from a blue skinned girl in a purple dress and glasses. While he was keeping his voice low the exaggerated expressions and looks they both shot her way told her he was talking about her. She returned their looks with an annoyed glare that caused him to jump up a bit before sinking down into the table’s chair. She placed her face in her hand and sighed. “Is this day over yet?” she mumbled. ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) It took another five agonizing hours for her day to finally end. She trudged up the stairs and before she could even fish her key out of her pocket the door to the apartment swung open to reveal Adagio standing there in a black jacket, purple shirt and black pants. “Where are you going?” Aria found herself asking. “Out,” Adagio replied as she walked past her. “And don’t bother waiting up.” “Wasn’t planning on it!” she called back as she stepped into their apartment. She closed the door and let out a sigh of relief. With Adagio doing whatever it was she was doing and Sonata still downstairs, this let Aria have a few blissful hours of complete solitude. The first thing she did was kick off her shoes then pulled off her socks. She then hastily, and a bit angrily, took of her polo shirt and slacks. She then instinctually looked around for a second before she shrugged and took off her bra and panties as well. She finished completely undressing by taking out the star shaped clips from her hair to let it cascade down her back. She then strode happily into the bathroom. She closed the door for extra privacy and quickly made her way into the shower. She cranked the hot water and jumped a bit when it came out cold at first but then relaxed when it warmed up. She put on just enough cold water to make it bearable then stood under the stream and then let it wash away all the tension from the day. That is until she heard a splash sound and felt warm water slosh around her feet. She pulled her head back from the water stream and wiped the water from her eyes before she looked towards the drain. She scowled when she saw exactly what she thought she’d find there. With an annoyed grumble she reached beneath the rising water and pulled out a large clump of wet, orange hair. In a rage she pulled back the shower curtain and stuck her head out from the shower. “ADAAAGIOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” she screamed despite knowing it was in vein. She tossed the clump into the nearby trash can then finally went back to enjoying her shower. Which she did until the hot water started to run out. Once it did she reluctantly turned it off, wrapped one towel around her body and another around her hair as best she could. She spent a few minutes drying it to the point where it wouldn’t drip at least before she opened the bathroom door and step out into the main room of the apartment. After unwrapping the towel from her hair and drying it out some more she tossed both towels onto her bed before she moved over to the dresser on her side and pulled out a tank top and gym shorts to wear. As she went to scoop up the towels and throw them in the hamper she noticed something sticking out of the pocket of her work pants. She pulled it out and recognized it as the card that Blackbird guy wrote his information down on. “Oh yeah,” she muttered as she stared at it. For a second she thought of just ripping it up and never giving him a second thought but then she realized she really didn’t have anything better to do tonight. “Eh, what the hell,” she shrugged then walked over to the couch. She fired up the streaming service connected to the TV, opened up the MyTube app and did a quick search for Blackbird’s channel. What she found surprised her. Mostly in the fact that it was actually good. Course she thought her own stuff was better but she did get some genuine entertainment out of the videos she did watch. He had a snarky attitude that could definitely mesh well with hers and some of the movies he watched she didn’t even know about! After finishing another she leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes in thought. She opened them a few seconds later and snatched up the card as she walked back over to the bed. She fished her phone out of her pants’ pocket and quickly punched in his number to add him to her contacts. Once that was done she sent one simple message. -Hey, you still want to do that crossover?- To Be Continued...