Time had passed, and all eight of the talking babies were outside in the sunlight, letting the rays beat down upon them as they idly toddled through the grass; small blades tickling their hands with every motion they made. They would have laughed if not for the pacifiers still bobbing in their mouths. Of everything they had been given in their extended infancy, these were the one things that they did not want to let go of the most; especially in Sour Sweet’s case, even when she had Mr Cuddlebutt with her.
I don’t understand it. I’m pretty sure that babyhood said nothing about trying to make friends along the way... Adagio thought to herself as she crawled towards a bush, following a small ladybug that she had been chasing after. After all, the concept seems so far out of the ordinary that it feels almost impossible to grasp. I mean, do babies even have friendships? They can barely talk, let alone think! Perhaps it’s because we’ve got better minds than the others. Yeah. Maybe that’s it... No, come on, Adagio. You’re better than this. You were born young, you’ll stay young, and you’ll think young too. I refuse to let any complex thoughts get to me...
“H-hey! Stop it! I’m ticklish!” Came the gleeful cries of a young Indigo Zap, who swung her arms and legs out in all directions as Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest used their fingers to tickle her armpits. The noise was enough to attract Adagio’s attention away from the shrubbery and make her a witness to the game between the three Shadowbolts.
“Come on, Lemon. Laughter’s the best medicine. And Doctor Indigo says that you need at least 2 minutes of laughter to be the healthiest little baby in daycare.” Sugarcoat smiled at her as she extracted another round of uncontrolled laughs from her ‘patient’.
“Yeah, Lemon. Listen to Doctor Indigo and Nurse Sugar. They just wanna make sure every baby’s as happy as they can be...” With a sadistic grin, she thrust her hand deeper into the armpit and let another wave of tickles ring out on Lemon’s tiny body.
Aria and Sonata had been watching all the while and couldn’t help but let some chuckles come out. It had been a while since they had seen slapstick like this. Their rapidly tuning infantile minds were a benefactor to their happiness as they came over to the helpless Lemon Zest and joined her tickle treatment as well, holding her arms and legs so that the others could properly get at her ticklish parts.
Aria and Sonata seem to be smitten by it, so... maybe I could—Adagio got closer to the game, but then promptly smacked herself on the face. Get it together, Adagio. You’re a big baby. You’re supposed to be the one who keeps a level head. We might be young, but friendship is something we don’t need. We never needed friendship before to be happy like this, so why now are they trying to hammer it in for us? Just try and empty your mind and play with the first thing you see, alright?
She pulled herself away from the game and looked around, still letting the sound of laughter fill her ears as she tried to think of something else to do. She saw one of the bikes by the shed and went for it. Adagio stood herself up, gripped onto the frame, lifted one of her stubby little legs as high as she could, trying to plant it on the frame. A series of slips, stumbles, and slides severed the siren’s seating chances. After one final attempt, she fell onto her diapered butt once more, the cushion-like padding keeping her safe from any real harm.
Alright then. Guess we’re not having that kind of fun today... Adagio moaned internally. Aria? Sonata? When are you going to see me and realise that I need help? We’re supposed to be a trio, right?
Aria and Sonata didn’t notice, though. They were now sitting with all five of the Shadowbolts in a ring. They were all patting each others’ hands and clapping their own. A seven-way game of patty-cake, with not a single one of them letting words slip. With their rhythmic hits, they lost themselves to the beat, letting it go on as much as they could. The seven babies went on with their round until they all laughed, then went back to the door inside together, leaving Adagio alone at the bike.
Oh, don’t you dare do this to me. Friendship’s already ruined one thing for us, it’s not going to ruin this too... Adagio lowered her brows, crawled over towards the door, went inside and pursued after the other babies, only to find that when she got back inside, the others were being picked up by the Embrace sisters and carried away.
Adagio gave chase to the babies, crawling as fast as she could with a small scowl on her face. Her chase was a rather pitiful one at that, as the others were already leagues in front of her. It didn’t take long for them to stop, however, as they were lowered down towards a small chest that Adagio sword was new. The chest itself was white, with a small latch on the front keeping it closed.
The sisters opened the chest up, revealing a bunch of clothes, crumpled up into one mangled pile. Every single article of clothing was brightly coloured, with some even having zips that went all the way up to the neck. Then, they stepped aside and let the seven magic-infused babies get their tiny hands all over the clothes, rummaging for ones that they liked the most.
Playing dress-up, are we? Well, at least that doesn’t require such a silly thing as friendship... Adagio rolled her eyes as she saw the babies finally choose their favourites, with the sisters dressing each of them in them. For a second, I was really worried there. I thought that the magic of friendship was going to cause me to lose everything again. Crisis averted. Now, let’s get back to our little fun, shall we?
As Adagio left the others behind, the newly-dressed babies went off together in one large group of seven. None of them followed after Adagio, though. They went off on their own towards the building blocks. They took whatever blocks they found and brought them together, creating a huge pile between the seven of them. They all shared smiles with each other as their hands dove for the blocks, little fingers clutching on tight to the first thing they could lay them on as they got to work on their first big build.
Adagio, Aria, and Sonata. Such wonderful souls they are now... Sugarcoat thought to herself as she laid her first wave of blocks down. And quite lucky too, given the hand they were dealt. Stripped of everything, reincarnated as infants, and granted agelessness with those pacifiers of theirs...
[i wonder if we can get magical pacifiers too. I’d like to have the option to stay a little squirt forever. They don’t have anything to worry about, they love their lives to the max, and I’m one of those lucky little ones. Lemon Zest planted her blocks down as well. Wait, I said that in my head, not with my mouth. Of course, I’m such a stupid-head. I don’t need to talk anymore. I’ve got this little beauty in my mouth. I can just let it do all of the talking for me!
“You know, Shadowbolts, you’re the first ever babies that I think we’ve ever seen who willingly want to be our friends after all of that stuff that we did when we were mean grown-ups.” Sonata spoke briefly as she lent her own hand in the construction. “In fact, I think you’re the first friends we’ve had in... well, forever.”
“I can’t remember the first time we had friends. We were so young back then, so carefree. Guess that’s just another reason why growing up sucks,” added Aria. “When you get old, it’s harder to make friends. When you get old, it’s not that simple as just going up to them and being nice. But when you’re babies, making friendships is as easy as breathing. You just have to play nice with others and they’ll never want to let go of you. Or maybe they can’t even think about things as abandonment. Or friendship, for that matter. All that the others really care about here is spouting off incoherent babbles while they poop themselves, eat, and sleep.”
“Speaking of pooping, I... uh, kinda need to go for a second.” Sunny Flare winced as she felt the steaming residue squelch around her rump. “You girls don’t mind if I just—“
“It’s fine, girl. We’ll be here for a while. You just head off and clean up, kay?” Indigo winked at Sunny and watched as she went off towards the changing table.
As Sunny went to the changing table, she passed by Adagio, who couldn’t help but look once again at the other babies putting their blocks together as one giant mangle of coloured shapes. A strange sensation formed in Adagio’s throat, a feeling that she didn’t want to have felt, but did anyway. She, Aria, and Sonata had been a unit since the first time they were children, and now it felt as if she was the only left. All of that talk about Sunset’s babies being stolen by her and her sisters, when in reality, it was Adagio’s sisters being slowly ripped away from her instead. Was this what she was trying to do? Had she really stooped so low for a petty revenge act against the human who had mortalised her?
No. No, that’s not it at all. We’re babies. We don’t think about anything. I shouldn’t have to think ever again. I just need to let my body handle everything else... Adagio shook her head vigorously. Babies don’t think of friendship, so it doesn’t exist. Why would friendship be a thing we need anyway? We don’t get any benefits off of it; we don’t get stronger from it. The only real people who need friendships are those pathetic Rainbooms. And while they delude themselves with something they don’t need, we can just do what we want without anyone trying to—
Adagio’s monologue was interrupted by a hand from Sunny Flare, who had been cleaned up and had been heading back to her friends. “Are you alright, Adagio? You aren’t with the other Dazzlings like you usually are.”
“Wh-what? Me? Not okay? I’m fine, Sunny. Totally fine. I was just... uh, distracted by something.” Adagio didn’t have much time to make up an excuse. Her eyes frantically sprinted around the room. “It was... uh... I mean...” She sighed and hung her head. “Okay, there’s no digging me out of this one, is there?”
“Hey, it’s alright, Adagio. We’re friends now, and that’s all that you need to think about.” Sunny wrapped her arm around Adagio’s shoulders.
“But babies can’t have friends. They don’t even know how to say their own names...” Adagio pulled the arm off of her shoulders. “We’ve never needed friends before and we don’t need them now...”
“But you’re not just some mindless baby like everyone else, Adagio. You’re magical.” Sunny pushed the crystalline end of Adagio’s pacifier deeper into her head. “You’re a thinking baby, a talking baby. Who’s to say that the ‘no proper mind means no friends’ rule applies to you or your sisters?”
“The rule still applies in any format. The thing about babies is that they’re already perfectly happy as they are. They don’t need friends because they’re too busy playing. They can’t have friends because of the fact that they can’t even remember things or say proper words. And if it’s possible for either of those two to be overlooked, who’s to say that they’ll forget those friends when they grow up? Not that we ever plan to.” Adagio asked, tipping her hand.
“You know, you need to stop thinking too hard about this. You said it yourself just then. Babies can’t think too much about things. So why would you ever think too much about this kind of deal?” Sunny asked, putting the palm of her hand on Adagio’s tummy. “You’re completely right about things in your way, but we know the script unlike everyone else. What’s stopping us from changing it? We can be friends and think like babies, right? Why is that so hard?”
"Because, well, it's just... how do you... I mean given the..." Adagio fumbled with her own words so much that she couldn't even think about the answer. Her search was brought to an end when Sunny Flare just brought her into a hug, prompting her to let out a small cry. "I don't know how to have a friendship. I just... don't. Truth is, when you girls said that we were going to be friends, I was shocked beyond belief. I didn't know how to react. For once, I didn't know what to say."
"Well, let me give you a little helping hand with that, Adagio. There's nothing wrong with friendship. If anything, everything is even better when you have friends. No matter how much you want to try and deny it, the truth is that you never wanted a friendship. You needed a friendship. And after what you and your sisters told us, we can't just let you keep on going without friends now, can we?"
"I... I..." Adagio wanted to say, but found the pacifier pushed back into her mouth again by Sunny.
"Come on. Let's do this together. That's what friends are for." Sunny Flare crawled back to the other Shadowbolts and Dazzlings, pulling Adagio along with her.
The other six babies had already done quite a bit of work with the blocks, forming a wide cylindrical tower that spanned the inside of the ring. There were only a few blocks left, but Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Aria, and Sonata handed them over to Sunny and Adagio.
"You sure about this? That friendship's actually going to make this better?" Adagio asked, looking into Sunny's eyes as she took the first of the blocks. "After all, we're just making this thing together, right? Nothing really special or out of the ordinary, is there?"
"Does it have to be special?" Sunny Flare blinked at Adagio. "Come on, girl. We need to let go of ourselves and just enjoy this for what it is."
"I don't really know about this, Sunny. It just seems like this is a normal game of building a large thing with blocks to me. Not really overly selling me on this friendship thing that you're talking about..." Adagio's arm, shaking slightly, reached up high towards the top of the tower, placing a block in one of the open spaces, blending it into the vertical kaleidoscope.
"Hey, as long as you're doing this together with us, that's considered friendship." Sour Sweet, clutching Mr Cuddlebutt tight watched as Adagio took another block and reached higher to begin the next layer of the tower.
"Friendship isn't really made by a lot of special experiences. It's made when two or more people enjoy something together, bond over it, and create a deeper affinity with one another. In less thinky-talk, if you and Sunny both like it, then you're doing it as friends," Sugarcoat spoke as she crawled over to Adagio's side. "So... do you like it?"
"Well, I always love this kind of baby stuff. Just whether or not in the way that Sunny's thinking of is a different matter entirely..." Adagio took the next block, then tried to reach up for the top of the tower with it, only to find that her arm was too short. She tried to stand up once more, her tiny body wiggling as she tried to find some form of balance. "If everyone here likes what they do, then aren't we all technically friends with each other then?"
"I... guess?" Lemon asked, looking at all of the other babies once more. Again, all doing what they wanted without any real thought about it. "Man. If only every baby could talk, then this kind of stuff wouldn't be so awkward," she said to herself, thinking about how much difficulty it would be to make friends with a non-magic baby.
As Adagio finally stood up properly, her legs trembled. The excessive weight of her body was beginning to prove counteractive to her situation. She reached for the tower's apex once more, only to find that her whole body was about to give way. She was about to topple over when the other Shadowbolts and Dazzlings stood up and held onto her body, giving her some form of support.
"Thanks for that..." Adagio looked at the other girls, who gave her smiles as she once more tried to reach the tower's top. She leaned forward to put the block down. Then, as it was set into place, it happened.
Because Adagio had to lean forward, the others found it hard for her to keep her stable while at the same time hanging onto their own balances. They themselves started to sway and swing, trying desperately to stand upright while keeping Adagio supported. In the end, Sugarcoat ended up falling first, prompting Adagio to topple forwards, which then sent the others down with her. The babies crashed head-first into the tower of blocks, causing it to crumble in the blink of an eye, forming two twisted piles on the floor. One of magic-infused babies and their limbs, and the other of their ruined creation.
Adagio looked at the mess that had been caused, then turned to the others. Once again, friendship had caused them all a great deal of sadness. All of the work that they had put into the tower had been for nothing as it laid in pieces before their eyes. As she was about to hurry off away from the shame again, she couldn’t help but hear laughter from behind her.
The Dazzlings and Shadowbolts had little chuckles coming out of their mouths, which escalated into full-blown laughter on no time at all. Instead of letting pain or misery be their focus, they were instead laughing at all of the bedlam that had ensued for them.
“Wait, what? You’re not... upset by this?” Adagio cocked a brow as she turned to the others, tilting her head as well.
“Why would we be upset? This kind of stuff happens all the time.” Sour Sweet sat back up with Mr Cuddlebutt still in her hands. “It was only just a matter of time, really.”
“Building blocks never stay fully built for long. Usually because some other babies or toys come along to knock the whole thing down once again.” Sugarcoat nodded. “The real fun in these things is seeing how big and creatively you can build them before the inevitable destruction happens. Then, if you get bored, you can just cause it yourself.”
“B-but you did so much work together... How are you so happy about this? I even caused the mess. Shouldn’t you be scolding me for ruining all the work you girls did?” Adagio waddled over to them.
“No, Adagio. Don’t you remember when we did that building block day together?” Sonata asked, pulling Adagio in close to her. “We never really finished any of the things we were building. We always just got our work trashed or one of us made an oopsie. Heck, that’s what you did right there. Nothing wrong with that, is it?”
“I...” Adagio didn’t even try to think, seeing as how the last few attempts had ended so poorly. Eventually, a warm feeling filled her heart and a smile painted itself onto her face. “You know what? You’re right. That actually was kind of fun. For real.”
“Did you enjoy playing with us, Adagio?” Aria asked, joining Adagio on her other side. “Us and the Shadowbolts?”
“Yes. Yes, I did. It’s so strange, but... I think I might actually be starting to open up to this friendship thing of yours, girls.” Adagio grinned wider and wider. “In fact, I have a sudden urge to try building that again. Do you wanna give me a helping hand?”
“Of course. It was so cool to build that thing up, Adagio!” Lemon threw her arms up.
“It did look pretty well-made, so I’m also on board,” said Sugarcoat.
“Sure. Anything for fun, right?” Indigo Zap added.
“Anything for our new friends, Adagio.” Sour Sweet got back onto all-fours again.
“Because friends always do things together, no matter how good or bad they may be.” Sunny Flare finished with her and the others joining the Dazzlings.
“Then it’s settled. We’re going to build the biggest, best tower ever!” Adagio jubilantly swung her arms skyward. “Together, as friends!”
“Yay!” Everyone else let out a cheer and gathered around the strewn mass of blocks, letting their little arms reach out once again for the blocks. Once they had all gotten their blocks together, they got to work once more on their large, cylinder tower. Piece by piece, they once more found themselves deep within their playful trance, planning on making their creation as big as they wanted to imagine.