The Dazzlings and I trekked onward to Canterlot Hall, which was a much larger building than I anticipated. Certainly big enough for climax material for this story. I had to make every sentence count.
"So, what's the plan?" Sonata asked as I started writing all this down. Adagio looked at me as if I'd eavesdrop in, but she didn't mind. She probably thought I'd narrate the plan anyway.
"How about we split up, and Mr. BenSwolo here can check up on us one at a time? Then we meet back up for our main man to make his choice." Adagio explained.
"Sounds like a good plan," Aria said almost sinisterly, while Sonata nodded excitedly.
"You got all that?" Adagio asked me as if I was her cameraman on the news (or some YouTube channel at least).
"Yep. Got the whole thing memorized. You go on ahead." I said as the Dazzlings left to do their own thing. To be honest, I felt excited about the whole thing. They may have lost their siren gems, but I feel like I made them feel like their old selves again. And I was happy for them for that. Of course, I was still scared of picking one of them to be my "unofficial" girlfriend (Hey, I'm still a REAL person after all), but I just decided to let myself live in the moment. As I continued to jot down everything in my notebook, juggling ideas and whatnot, until guess who walked up to me? That's stinking right! Sunset stinking Shimmer!
"Alright, Mr. AntiBrony! I have come to confront you about your powers!" Sunset demanded in a hilariously dramatic tone.
"OK, let's get this confrontation scene out of the way," I said, more annoyed than anything. I had an embarrassing choice to deal with, and I'd rather take care of it now, rather than later, thanks to some hero-antagonist.
"I have come to let you know that I believe I know how to defeat you," Sunset asked, smugly proclaiming.
"And why would you want to defeat me?" I asked as if I was interviewing her.
"We can't have the Dazzlings restored to power and running amok. Especially since the Friendship games are coming up and--"
"OH, What a nimrod I am! I can't believe I forgot about that! Well, I didn't 'forget' forget about it. I was just saving it for another time," I said, cutting Sunset Shimmer off from my warning.
"Let me rephrase. We can't have Dazzlings restored to power, AND a mysterious figure somehow controlling reality with an old book, ruining the Friendship Games for everyone," Sunset explained as if I was another villain in need of "redemption" if you could call it that. I honestly thought it over a little bit.
"Well, to be honest, I would gladly ruin Friendship Games for everyone. It would be hilarious," I confessed.
"Well, soon enough, you're going to learn, just as I have once learned, that no omnipotence is a match for Friendship," Sunset said, trying to be friendly with me, again like I was someone "worth saving". I...was not impressed.
"Could you, like, not do that again?" I asked, shocking Sunset and having her back up (so I could get some space).
"Well, one way or another, you'll learn that Friendship is Magic. Obviously, it's not today," Sunset said, disappointed in my choices. To be honest, if she wasn't so focused on my power and my connection with the Dazzlings, she'd do a better job at, at least trying, to be a good friend. I looked at my bare wrist as if I had a watch, and I decided to host myself a dazzling little contest. I wandered the mall looking for Adagio, and all the while, I was getting some worried stares from younger folks. They must have heard what I did with Flash Sentry and Sunset Shimmer, and rumor spread like wildfire.
"Hey, BenSwolo, Over here!" Adagio called out. And of course, she was in the Swimsuit store. Why wouldn't she be? After our little swim date, I kind of pieced together that is gonna be her attempt at flirting. I walked inside, embarrassed to be in such a place, and just went on with it.
"Remind me, are you doing this to seduce me, or just mess with me?" I asked in a grumpy manner, causing Adagio to giggle a little.
"Well, I would say the former, but you do your best to stay oh so PG clean, at this point it's gonna be the latter," Adagio explained.
"OK then. Am I paying for these or...?" I asked as Adagio pulled out her wallet, answering my question. I decided not to finish it. The two of us started browsing, and...well, Adagio was browsing. I was just making sure I didn't embarrass myself in this kind of store.
"Ohh, how about this one?" Adagio asked, pulling up a violet one-piece swimsuit resembling a mermaid, decorated with a print of an orange gem.
"Yeah, sure, fine. Whatever," I said. I really didn't care about what she got, as long as it wasn't...wrong. Adagio looked around and got only three swimsuits, one for each Dazzling, and these ones I can actually kind of feel safe around. I guess Adagio kept her work about trying to mess with me.
"So, should I get going, or are you just gonna browse more clothes for you to mess with me with?" I asked as I headed on my way.
"Sure. Go ahead. I was gonna do that anyways. Just to surprise you, that is," Adagio said, winking at me. I headed off and got more nervous looks from the young folks, some of them I think I saw at the school. Apparently, to them, I stand out like the stink on a skunk. I didn't mind though. I didn't plan on making friend with anyone except the Dazzlings. And maybe a few other characters, but that's another story. I walked by a bright and colorful yellow store where I was dragged in by Sonata, grinning with glee.
"Found you," Sonata said, causing me to jump. I think this has been the most Sonata has seen me absolutely s h o o k. Anyway, once I got a hold of myself, I browsed around and saw hundreds of comics and movies. Most of these stories were unfamiliar to me, but only six stood out because I actually recognized them.
"Are you a fan of the Power Ponies?" Sonata asked as I continued browsing.
"If you asked me if I was a fan of superheroes in general, then I would say yes. However, since you narrowed it down to certain superheroes I'm honestly surprised you take interest in, I'm gonna have to say no," I said, as I finished browsing. Now Sonata was absolutely s h o o k.
"What? Why? Their popularity has started skyrocketing. Especially since their cinematic universe started," Sonata explained. I groaned in disappointment.
"OK, I get where you're from, they're original characters. But where I'm from, they're cheap parodies of other popular superheroes," I explained back.
"Well, at least check out their cinematic universe before you say anything else," Sonata said, one more time trying to get me to join her fandom.
"I'll check it out once they get a super-cucumber on the team," I said, looking over the comics one more time. I then stopped, realizing something, and went back to Sonata.
"You said 'Cinematic Universe', knowing I'd write a story on it to go more in depth, didn't you?" I asked Sonata.
"Uh-huh. Because Adagio said you did the same thing with some treasure map, so I thought you'd do the same for the PPCU," Sonata explained (PPCU meaning "Power Ponies Cinematic Universe"). And as much as I hated to admit it; that was clever. I sighed in defeat as she dragged me around the store for comic suggestions for the Power Ponies and whatnot. Is this what Ren deals with when hanging out with Nora?
"Oh, also, I was thinking if you ended up interested enough in the Power Ponies, then I thought we could do some cosplaying together," Sonata offered up.
"Would this offer still stand, even if I didn't choose you?" I asked as Sonata giggled at the possibilities.
"Hey, I'll take what I can get. You'll still get to be my friend," Sonata said. Wow, I did not expect Sonata to take a friend-zoning with dignity like that. Even if I ended choosing her. Anyways, I headed over to look for Aria and found her in the one place I kind of expected her: The Arcade.
"Hey. I took a hint from your rough draft of our time together, and I thought we'd play some games in here," Aria explained.
"Huh. Never really thought to resurrect this idea, but I'm fair game," I said, as the two of us went inside. Aria paid for game tokens so we could try out the games we could play until we ran out of tokens. We tried arcade games, and I'm surprised they have Pac-Man in this universe. We tried rhythm games, and I can't dance for the life of me, so Aria beat me easily. And we tried shooter games. I can't describe the game because of me being PG-friendly and all that, so all I could say is, Aria liked it, and I was too terrified to play it again. No wonder Aria liked this game. I looked at my bare wrist again and headed out of the Arcade.
"I take it we're meeting up with Adagio and Sonata now?" Aria said, following closely.
"Yep," I replied as we navigated the mall. We ran into Adagio and Sonata, taking their seats at a table for the four of us to sit at. I took my seat across from the Dazzlings, while Aria took her seat at Adagio's right, while Sonata sat at her left. Adagio handed out chocolate shakes for the four of us, and the Dazzlings gave me their hunting glare again. Mental note: don't make the Dazzlings so curious about me next time.
"So, AntiBronyBenSwolo. Have you made your decision?" Adagio asked in a dramatic tone as if I was in a dark room with only one light, and the Dazzlings testing me or something. The suspense was killing me, to say the least.
"I'm not sure I have," I confessed, as the girls just looked disappointed.
"Why not? We gave you plenty of time," Sonata explained.
"I know. I'm just trying to stall for time so I could hit 2k words on this chapter," I explained, continuing to jot this down in my book.
"Just...make it quick," Adagio said, stressed out. I continued to write out my thoughts on these girls as they awaited my answer. Adagio just seemed the most patient with me, being the first to witness my abilities firsthand. Then again, maybe that's what happens when someone gets oranges pulled out of their hair. She also seems to be the most "playful" of the three, and I could use a little fun here and there. Just gotta be careful not to make the story R-rated.
Then there's Aria. I always believed she was the muscle of the group, but there is always more than meets the eye. I always though Adagio would be the most heartbroken about the Battle of the Bands, after reconsideration, I think that spot goes to Aria. She always seemed so competitive. My question is how well they fared with Sonata, the most childlike of the three. Well, I can say she lived up to that title. And especially like that in a character. Especially Sonata. And like a child, a girl like her just needs support when something terrible happens to her. And I am willing to give that to her. As well as all the Dazzlings.
My head swirled with consideration after consideration. Comparison after comparison. And I just couldn't quite make up my mind. But that just leaves me with my one final question: Who do I choose?