The gray skies began to clear, along with the storms from earlier. Bright sunshine and warm weather came back, making the land so bright and full of life.
The games had been declared a tie for sure, but they were still planning on hanging out at school for a little more. And besides, this meant the Shadowbolts and Wondercolts got to talk some more. Especially after whatever the heck they had just been a part of hours ago! And while both schools had decided upon a tie, everybody got gold medals in the end. And to make the moment more special, both teams from both schools got together for one giant group picture.
Twilight was still hugging her brother and Cadence, sharing one of the biggest family hugs ever. She hadn't felt so good or so happy in a long time, and this was something she wanted to last even longer. And even the Rainbooms were feeling just as happy as her. The five girls were nothing but smiling in pure unbridled joy around each other, with the sweet pleasures of nice cold soda drinks in hand. And the students that came by passing here and there were offering nothing but thank yous and compliments.
"I'd say that went better than I thought it would," Applejack grinned.
"Very much so," Rarity nodded.
Everyone took a few sips of their drinks.
"How about a toast? To new friendships, and turning a new leaf," Fluttershy offered. "... Unless, you rather not, then, um... sorry I asked."
"Actually... that's not a bad idea," Rarity nodded. She raised her cup. "To new friendships."
"To friendship!"
Everyone toasted their drinks, and all took one large sip of their cups. And off to the side, they could see Principal Cinch and Principal Luna approaching the group with a proud smile.
"Girls. I'm proud of you five. Even though what you did was incredibly risky and dangerous... I am glad you were able to calm her down and bring her back," Principal Luna smiled.
The group looked back to Twilight who was still enjoying a nice hug from her brother. "I feel like she'll be much more happier now."
"Maybe get some color..." Applejack joked.
"Maybe change her hair," Rarity teased.
"Maybe she'll invite us over for sleepovers!" Pinkie squeaked, bouncing up in the air like a balloon.
"Lets just wait til we can get there...." Rainbow said, pulling Pinkie back down to the ground. "So is Twilight going to that Everton school?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm afraid not. I hate to revoke her application, but after what happened today, I don't believe she should go. Besides..." Cinch looked back with a soft smile. "I think Twilight would be much happier and healthier if she stays at Crystal Prep and continues to bond with you five. Having real friends."
Applejack tipped her hat at the principal. "Well, we'd be more than happy to hang with her. Sides, get her some color and all."
"And I know you five are just the perfect friends she needs," Cinch winked, before walking away to talk to the principals. They saw Twilight come around the corner, still looking a little guilty, but accompanied by Shining Armor and Cadence.
"Hey, Twilight. You okay?" Applejack asked, putting her hands on her shoulders.
Twilight looked and nodded, wiping a soft tear from her face. "Y-Yeah. I'll be okay now."
Pinkie Pie smiled, yanking her close for a hug. "We're all here for you Twilight."
The young girl sniffled, but out of pure happiness. "Thanks guys."
"Aww, come here!" Pinkie Pie yanked everyone close for a big group hug. Shining Armor chuckled a bit, watching Twilight be this happy with all these wonderful friends with her.
"Oh, Twilight?" Fluttershy interrupted, finally breaking from the hug.
"Y-Yeah?"
"I-I don't know how you feel about this, but, um... I kinda have a gift for you," Fluttershy said, a little shyly. She picked up the backpack she had brought out from earlier, carefully moving it around so she could open it.
"O-Oh, you do? But... why? I don't deserve one after all I did," Twilight said. To be honest, she had no idea how to feel about that.
"Y-Yeah, I know," Fluttershy nodded. She reached behind her, and opened up a zipper on her backpack. "But I've been trying to work on being kind to others. N-Now, I don't know how your brother feels, but, um... I got you this."
Coming back around, she held a small purple and green dog in her arms.
"Oh my goodness!" Twilight cupped her mouth.
"This is Spike. He's a rescue at the animal shelter. We found the poor guy without a mom, and we thought he should be taken into a lovely and caring home. I um... I don't suppose you can... um.. or want to adopt him?"
Twilight wasn't sure what to say. Truthfully told, she didn't know what was coming over her. She didn't know what to think of this new sensation inside of her, this feeling of just wanting to hold that little dog.
"C-Can I... can I hold him?"
"Of course!"
Fluttershy carefully gave Twilight the dog, allowing her to holding him up and look him in the eyes.
"Hey there little guy," She cooed.
The dog gave a soft bark, tail wagging in excitement. And she didn't know why, but she didn't care; she carefully cradled the dog like a mother holding her baby. She scratched Spike's belly, making the dog's leg twitch in happiness, making her giggle.
"He's so adorable..." Twilight gushed.
Shining couldn't help but smile at the scene. This was too cute. But Twilight remembered; the family never took any pets into their house before, mostly cause of her.
"Oh, Shining, pleaseeeeee???? Can I keep him???"
Shining chuckled. "Twily, dogs are a big responsibility, you know."
"I know, but I can take care of him, pleaseeeee????"
Shining rolled his eyes, still chuckling. "Lets talk with Mom and Dad first, but because I'm your brother, I'll say yes."
And Twilight squeed like a little girl, hugging the dog with so much joy. And it was enough to make the Rainbooms giggle a bit.
Trixie and her friends just hung out close by the revived Wondercolt Statue. They did exchange a few words from some passing friends but they just wanted to sit alone for a little bit. And from time to time they showed off their powers for those who just wanted to see them in action again.
“Any word on whether the Dazzlings are coming back?” Octavia asked, laying on top of the statue, making a piece of metal hover above her.
“I’m afraid I don’t know. But you know something? I think we’ll be okay for a bit,” Trixie smiled. “I mean, we’ll still need to work on how to use our powers, but… in the end, we survived this ordeal. And without their help.”
The others had never thought of it that way before. Sure they were saved by girls they were still warming up to, but still, they were saved in the end.
“I guess maybe those Rainbooms aren’t so bad after all,” Amethyst admitted. “Granted, I still need to figure out when I can trust them again… but I suppose in a way they aren’t entirely awful.”
“They’re not Sunset Shimmer; let's put it at that,” Bon Bon deadpanned.
Just then, they heard a strange sound coming from the Wondercolt statue. The center started to glow, and looked a little liquidy, like water. And forms were coming through! Human, in fact! And their voices were starting to ring a bell…
"--Look, Sonata, I know but… it’s not up to us," Aria said, walking out of the portal first.
“But… she’s just going to…” Sonata asked, looking disappointed.
Aria sighed. “She’s an adult. If she wants to spend her life there, then… it’s her choice.”
Sonata’s eyes looked a little watery, like she was about to cry right there on the spot. But the hugging embrace from her older sister calmed her down, making her only breathe heavily.
“Aria! Sonata!”
The two broke from the hug, looking at their friends who came rushing up to them with happy smiles.
“You’re back!” Octavia grinned, nearly tackling Aria in a big hug.
Aria chuckled, hugging her back.
“Yeah, we’re home.”
“Sonata!” Vinyl squeaked, hugging the siren. The youngest of the trio hugged her back, albeit a little tighter than her usual hugs.
“Wait… didn’t you girls get on a plane, why did you come through there? How did you even come from there?” Bon Bon asked.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” The three sisters screamed.
The plane kept hurling down.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Adagio screamed, arms no longer gaining control of the steering controls and were now flailing like the inflatable arm tube men you see outside of car dealerships.
And the plane kept hurling.
“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Aria and Sonata screamed in unison.
And the plane kept hurling.
If you were to watch from a far away view, you could see a giant inferno of an explosion be found on a small island somewhere out at sea, almost like someone had just blown up an oil tanker.
“… maybe not that long,” Aria admitted.
“… you didn’t tell us what happened.”
“Yeah, I did. We crashed the plane. No, Adagio crashed the plane. Once again, that ramen-haired idiot doesn’t know why I keep offering to fly, but nooooooo, she just HAS to be the one to fly!” Aria said, almost hateful. “But… in the process, we were able to get this.” She reached behind her back and pulled out a small jar that was sealed tight, with glowing liquid within. “Whatever spell those three girls were put under by Sunset Shimmer, is about to be undone.”
“Alright!” The group cheered.
But one of them, looking at the two who were back, started to frown.
“Wait… where’s Adagio?” Trixie asked.
Sonata and Aria’s faces drooped, immediately dropping the joyful looks they had to see their friends. And they looked at the magician with disappointed expressions.
“Trixie… I’m not sure you want to know,” Sonata frowned.
“Wait… is she—”
“—No, she’s not dead!” Sonata yelled. “… sorry. I feel salty today,” She huffed.
“But… Okay. Trixie, I… this is gonna hurt, but… Adagio, she—”
“—Is staying home.”
The two Sirens heads went up and looked back, now they were the ones in shock. Standing there was Adagio Dazzle. There was some guilt mixed with a little bit of joy on the siren's face, but she was beaming with more joy to see one particular girl.
“A-Adagio?” Trixie gasped, cupping her mouth.
Adagio smiled. “Hi sweetie. I’m home.”
Trixie couldn’t hold it back anymore. She leapt up in pure joy, embracing her girlfriend with the most adorable squee. Adagio’s smile just grew bigger as she was hugged by her girlfriend, and immediately wrapped arms around her partner.
“I missed you so much,” Trixie cooed.
Adagio’s heart melted. She couldn’t keep herself from smiling at how adorable and sweet her girlfriend could be at times. “I missed you too.”
“Welcome home, Dagi.”
Aria and Sonata looked at Adagio, still confused as ever. Aria’s hands reached her hips, and Sonata had her arms crossed.
“I thought you wanted to stay over in ‘perfect’ Equestria,” Aria said with a dry tone.
“Wait, what?” Trixie said with confusion. “W-What are they talking about?”
Adagio took a deep breath and sighed. “It’s a long story girls. I’ll be more than happy to explain. But right now…”she approached her siblings with a guilty face. “Girls… about what I said, I… I’m sorry. Look, I was just, I... I don’t want any opportunity to see our home again gone.”
Aria still kept her arms folded. “Well you know we can just pop over there anytime through that portal, right?”
“I know, I just… I guess I was homesick. But it’s not an excuse for how I behaved, and so I’m… I’m sorry. Forgive me?”
Sonata couldn’t resist it. “Oh, come here…” She pulled her older sister into a hug, rubbing her back in return. “Ari?”
“No, not happening,” she turned away.
“Ari… you know you wanted her back,” Sonata sing-songed.
“Don’t. Start. With me.”
“Come on…”
“… Dang it, I’m not cold,” she gave up and joined in the family group hug, finally welcoming her back home. “But the next time you get a STUPID IDEA LIKE THIS... I’mma slap you up the side of your head, you understand me, cowboy!?!?!”
Adagio rolled her eyes. “I get it. I promise. But why don’t we discuss this matter later? I’m rather eager to see how our friends have been up!” The eldest siren looked at the scene before her. The amount of happy faces all gathered, talking, laughing, enjoying some time together. Crystal Prep and Canterlot High all in perfect happy harmony. “What happened here? Please tell me something bad didn’t happen.”
“Well, something did kinda happen,” Trixie admitted, rubbing the ground with her feet. “But we do have it under control! … Sorta. … Okay not really.”
“Girls, what happened, just tell us, pleaaaaseee,” Sonata said, finally losing it.
“Well… okay, uh, so we’ve been kinda going through some weird… changes. Like, physical changes.”
“Oh…” Adagio said confused. But her face widened a little, thinking it was something else. “OH… uh… well, girls,” she cleared her throat, her face looking a little embarrassed. “You’ve, um… I don't think I really need to say this, but I think you've all hit that age where your body starts to change, and you uh, well… you may notice some areas, um—”
“—Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Octavia held her hands up, silencing her with a red face. “It’s… it’s not that. It’s definitely not that, Adagio. Besides, we already know about that.”
“Well, what is it then?”
“Well… maybe it’s… perhaps it best if we show you. Girls?”
“Wait, what are you—”
Adagio and her sisters were speechless. Metal support rods from the top of the construction supports were now floating above Octavia like daggers. They were floating around, bent to her will. She used her hands to twirl them around in the air like batons before letting one of them come to her hands.
“That’s… wow… Octavia, that’s amazing…” Aria gasped, surprised.
“Just wait, luv. You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Vinyl opened her hand up, making a grabby like notion, and electricity started to sizzle between her fingers, little lightning bolts fusing all around like a machine in a mad scientist’s lab. This notion made Sonata almost pass out from shock.
And it didn’t end. Bon Bon stepped up, creating soft smoke balls with her bare hands, holding them like she was ready to launch them at someone. Lyra teleported out of nowhere, appearing on the roof of the school, and then back again, only up in the air, held by the katana which held her body. Amethyst played a chord on her keytar, shooting several sound waves up into the sky which radiated in bright blue.
And last but not least—Trixie. She was found floating in the air, looking relaxed and at ease. The same alicorn wings from before spawned from her back and kept her hovering for the time. And of course, the same pony ears and tail sprouted from behind her as she hovered. And as she did, she kept her mind in focus, and created illusions; illusions of herself that were all created in a hexagon formation.
Adagio looked up in shock, but was impressed. She gasped with a soft chuckle, trying to process what she was seeing. Their friends… have superpowers! There was no other way to grasp it, they had superpowers!
“It’s… it’s pretty weird, isn’t it?” Trixie chuckled.
Trixie’s only answer was Adagio floating up in the air, her pendent glowing around her neck. Ponytail, wings, the whole deal all out as she got on the same eye level as her girlfriend.
“It’s not that weird,” Adagio smiled, feeling a bit of pride within.