Chapter Nine
Fraternizing With the Enemy
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The crowd was still cheering when the band came backstage. They had really put on a great show in spite of all the stress they were under, and as always, the crowd ate it up.
But even so, Rainbow looked at Fluttershy with an anxious look. Fluttershy smiled and shook her head, which made relief flash across Rainbow’s face and the tension she was holding fade away.
Fluttershy felt the same way. She had thought that she’d been used to living every day as it came for the past few years, but now she realized that she’d had a sense of routine that had kept her sane.
A sense of routine that was now shattered. Ever since the Dazzlings had joined the band on tour, every night was a mystery. Sometimes no one ever saw them. Tonight was one of those nights, at least so far. They were good at making themselves scarce when they wanted to be, and Fluttershy neither knew nor cared where they were.
Maybe she should. No, she knew she should. They couldn’t trust the Dazzlings, and at least when they were around, they could be watched. But it was so nerve-wracking whenever they were backstage that Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel relieved when they weren’t there.
She tried to hold onto that feeling while the band got together with their fans. Everything was going smoothly, and that wasn’t something that could be said for every night lately. But still, Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel worried.
“Hey, Shy,” Gilda said from behind her, causing Fluttershy to jump. “You seem a bit tense.”
Fluttershy frowned. “You know why.”
Gilda nodded. “Yeah, I do but… You know I’ve been thinking. Actually, can we go somewhere else to talk about this?”
“Of course.” Fluttershy led them through the fans that were still filing in until they got to the dressing room. She closed the door behind them and smiled. “So what’s on your mind.”
Gilda shifted around uncomfortably. “It’s just… they haven’t done anything.”
“They’ve done plenty, trust me,” Fluttershy said.
“I don’t mean in the past, I wasn’t there for that. I mean since they got here.”
Fluttershy folded her arms. “Not yet.”
Gilda scratched at her neck. “What if they’re, I don’t know, legit?”
“Since when do you even believe in magic?”
“I don’t need to believe in it to know that they do. Whether it’s real or not, maybe they just want to go on their little magic quest and not bother anyone.”
“You just… you weren’t there.”
Gilda sighed and looked away. “I’m just saying that people can change. I did.”
“You’re not like them!”
“Because I’m your friend?”
“No. You were a bully, these girls were pure evil.”
Gilda put her hand on the doorknob, but she stopped before opening it. “I’m just saying that there’s nothing a person can’t come back from. But if the only option anyone holds open for them is being terrible, well, then they’re going to wind up being terrible.”
Gilda opened the door and left, but Fluttershy didn’t go out right away. Instead, she took a seat and looked into a vanity mirror.
She stared at her reflection, thinking of what Gilda had said. Once upon a time, Fluttershy had been the type of person who would always be willing to give a second chance. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen someone come back from a terrible place. Maybe Gilda really wasn’t a good comparison to the Dazzlings, but what about Sunset?
Sunset had once tried to take over the school with mind control. Which, as it happened, was incredibly similar to what the Dazzlings did later. Sunset had gone from being one of the worst people Fluttershy had ever met to being one of her best friends to the only real lover Fluttershy had ever had.
Fluttershy placed her hand on the mirror and wondered what Sunset would do. Part of her wanted to ask. She could, she knew. Applejack had the journal, she could get a message through to Sunset in an instant.
But then… Sunset might want to come back and take care of things herself. No, she definitely would. That was just how Sunset was. If there was a problem, she would be there to face it head-on.
Well, Fluttershy didn’t need Sunset. She knew how Sunset would handle things, and she could do the same thing. Sunset wouldn’t shy away from them, she would be right there making sure that the Dazzlings were really doing what they said they were.
Fluttershy stood up and walked out of the room. Immediately, she saw that she would have no problems putting her new determination to the test – the Dazzlings had arrived.
The first thing that caught her eye was that Adagio was talking with Windfall. Although a large part of her insisted that no good could come from Adagio talking to anyone in the band, Gilda’s words kept echoing in her head.
That didn’t mean she would leave them unchecked, however. So Fluttershy got closer under the guise of getting herself a drink from a nearby mini-fridge. They seemed to be talking about the night’s show.
“It really was something,” Adagio said. “Much better than I expected.”
“Thanks,” Windfall said in his usually friendly tone. He had no idea whom he was talking to. “Glad we were able to surprise you.”
“It really is a shame, though. You’re so talented, and they’re just keeping you out of the spotlight.”
Fluttershy frowned and glanced in their direction. Adagio had her back to Fluttershy, which limited what she could see. Even Windfall was hard to make out over her poofy mass of hair. Even so, she could tell he looked surprised by the comment.
“I don’t know about that,” he said. “I mean, I’m up on stage with all the others and everything.”
“Yes, but you’re stuck playing rhythm guitar. I’m a musician myself, so believe me when I say I can see your obvious talent. I can’t imagine you’d have any difficulty playing guitar solos the crowd would go crazy for.”
“Well, I have written a few solos.”
“And I bet you never get to play them, you poor thing.”
Windfall had written solos? Fluttershy didn’t know that. She inhaled and prepared to step into the conversation, but as soon as she turned towards them properly, Aria was in front of her.
“Great party,” Aria said. Fluttershy couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
“Thanks,” Fluttershy said. She looked past Aria, but Adagio had shifted position so Fluttershy could longer see Windfall past her hair.
“I have to say, I’m a little surprised though.” Aria walked past Fluttershy and grabbed herself a beer. “I always thought you and your friends were so close, and yet, only one of them is here.”
“We’re still close,” Fluttershy said.
“Oh yeah?” Aria popped open the can and took a long drink of her beer. “That’s cool. You know, distance ends so many friendships.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Whoa, just making small talk.” Aria grinned. “Geez, I thought you were supposed to be the nice one.”
Fluttershy fixed her with an icy stare. “I don’t appreciate people telling me my friends and I aren’t close anymore.”
“I didn’t tell you anything, I was just asking a question.” Aria’s grin grew wicked. “If you feel like that, that’s on you, not me.”
Fluttershy took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm. “We just chose different paths in life. The others didn’t want to be in a touring band like Bitchette.”
“I guess that’s fair. Thought you’d call them in when Equestrian magic hit the scene again, though. You know, call the cavalry?”
Fluttershy’s eye twitched. “They’re all busy with their own lives. They can’t just drop everything and head across the country.”
“So what are they doing these days, anyway?”
“Why do you care?”
Aria shrugged. “Like I said, just making small talk. What about that Sunset Shimmer chick? She ever do anything besides hang off the rest of your coattails.”
“Don’t talk about her like that!”
“Whoa, I hit a nerve there?” Aria didn’t even try to look guilty.
Fluttershy realized her fists were balled up. She forced herself to open them, but she couldn’t manage to calm herself down.
“I’m surprised you care.” Aria shrugged. “The way I remember it, you all didn’t much care for her.”
“That’s not true.”
“Oh sure, you were all friends, but you didn’t invite her to join your band.”
“We did!” Fluttershy wasn’t sure why she was having this discussion. What did it matter if Aria understood? “Sunset joined the Rainbooms after the Battle of the Bands.”
“Really? Huh.” Aria just shrugged again and drank the rest of her beer. She crushed the can and threw it into a trash bin.
“I see what you’re doing,” Fluttershy said accusatively.
“Really?” Aria smirked. “What am I doing?”
“You’re trying to get under my skin. I just don’t know why.”
“You think way too highly of yourself. Why should I care about getting under your skin?”
Fluttershy didn’t have an answer to that, but she realized she didn’t need one. “Aria, do you know what it is I do here?”
“No idea. You’re like… a groupie, or something?”
Fluttershy clenched her teeth and stepped closer so she was right in front of Aria. “I’m the tour manager, which means it’s my decision whether you stay on this tour or not. So I’m giving you one warning, don’t fuck with me or I will kick you off of it, magic or not.”
Aria turned away from her. “Tch, whatever.”
Fluttershy pushed past Aria and kept walking. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she was sure she was going to put distance between herself and Aria Blaze.
She kept walking until she reached a door, then she went through it. She found herself outside and looking at their tour bus, which suited her just fine. She realized too late that she had left Windfall to deal with Adagio himself, but she was sure he could handle himself. She just… couldn’t be in there anymore.
“Oh, uh… hi.”
Fluttershy winced. She knew that voice. Sure enough, she turned to see Sonata Dusk leaning against the building beside her. “What are you doing out here?”
Sonata frowned. “I’m just getting some air.”
Fluttershy folded her arms for warmth. “It’s forty degrees out here.”
“Yeah,” Sonata said somberly. “It is.”
Fluttershy waited a bit for more, but it didn’t come. Eventually she sighed and asked, “So what’s your angle?”
“My angle?” Sonata quirked her head to the side.
Fluttershy wasn’t buying it. “How are you trying to cause problems? What are you up to?”
“What?” Sonata flinched back and shook her head. “I’m not up to anything! I’m sitting outside in the cold, what do you possibly think I could be plotting?”
“I don’t know, just…” Fluttershy pressed her hand to her temple. “I just got done dealing with Aria making me feel like shit for my friends not all being here, and then I heard Adagio trying to convince Windfall we’re keeping him out of the spotlight.”
Sonata bowed her head. “They don’t mean anything by it. We just… aren’t really used to dealing with people without, err… manipulating them.”
“That doesn’t make it okay!”
“No, I know it doesn’t.” Sonata sighed and looked up at Fluttershy. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but they’re trying.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Fluttershy mumbled.
“I know. Just…” Sonata pushed herself off the wall and placed her hands together. “You have to get to know them.”
“I’d rather not…”
“Well then… get to know me. And then you can trust my word on it!”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. She had better things to do than to get to know a Dazzling. “I’ll pass. Just keep them in line better, or else all of you are off the tour.”
Not wanting to stand out in the cold, Fluttershy walked across the parking lot to get to their tour bus. She got as far as the door, then stopped. The bus was going to be just as cold, and she had made up her mind to confront the Dazzlings head-on. What good would running away do?
So instead, Fluttershy turned back to the building. She saw Sonata giving her a questioning look, but she ignored it. She opened the door and went back inside, immediately looking around for the other Dazzlings.
They weren’t too hard to spot. Aria was surrounded by a group of the band’s fans, while Adagio was talking to just one guy. Since she had already given Aria a warning, Fluttershy decided to drop in on Adagio instead.
“So what are you doing after the show?” the guy asked. He was leaning in close to Adagio and seemed to be too caught up in her to notice Fluttershy.
“I don’t know,” Adagio said in a sultry tone that would give him plenty of reason to be hopeful. “Depends if the boss is here to pile extra work on me.”
She turned to face Fluttershy, causing her to drop all her words. With no time to pick them up, she scrambled for new ones. “What?” was all she managed to come up with.
Adagio just smirked. “Well, I figure you must be hovering for some reason.”
“I’m just… making sure everyone is doing okay.” Fluttershy knew it was a weak excuse, but what was she supposed to say? She had no reason to suspect she was up to anything sinister yet.
“How considerate.” Adagio turned back to the guy. “But we’re doing just fine here. Might want to check on Aria, I think she’s also flirting with someone, heaven forbid.”
“I never said you couldn’t flirt with people,” Fluttershy said, frowning at Adagio dismissing her so readily. “But, well… I heard you talking to Windfall earlier.”
“Really?” Adagio looked at her over her shoulder. “Well, my secret’s out. You know I’m a fan, then.”
“It was more than that and you know it. You were filling his head with the idea that we don’t want him taking lead.”
“Well, he is the rhythm guitarist. All I said was that it was a shame. I don’t see why that should bother you.” Adagio put her hand to her mouth. “Unless… you really are keeping him from the spotlight.”
“Of course we’re not!”
“In that case, you shouldn’t mind me telling him how impressed I was at his performance.” Adagio turned back to face Fluttershy properly. “Now, am I going to be able to resume my conversation, or did you have more circles to run around in?”
Fluttershy took a step back. She had told herself she’d meet the Dazzlings head-on, and she had. Only, she never suspected that she would be so bad at it…
Without giving an answer, Fluttershy turned around. She looked over at Aria to see she was laughing at something a guy said while she had her arm around a girl. Knowing she would do no better with her, she decided not to bother.
Fuck it, she was going to the hotel. She was going to wait for the others like she usually did, but they’d be fine. She’d just shoot them a group text saying she was heading out early and maybe talk to them about the Dazzlings’ behavior tomorrow.
The cold air stung as Fluttershy made her way out of the building for the second time. She looked to the side and, sure enough, Sonata was still there.
She should just leave well enough alone. She’d had no luck with any of the Dazzlings, and she’d already decided to call it a night.
But while she rationalized that, she still found herself asking, “What are you doing out here?”
Sonata groaned. “This again? I already told you.”
“You said you were getting some air. It’s fucking cold out, you’re going to freeze.”
Sonata folded her arms and looked away. “Do you care?”
“I don’t know.” Fluttershy frowned and hated herself for the answer that came to her lips next. “Yes. Okay, yes, I care. I don’t want you to freeze to death.”
“Even though I’m a siren?”
“Yes, even though you’re a siren.”
“Well, if you really want to know…” Sonata looked down as if this was some big secret, although it couldn’t be that big of a deal if she was telling Fluttershy. “I don’t like big groups.”
“Well, neither do I, but that doesn’t mean I want to stand out in the cold.”
Sonata shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know, you came out here twice already.”
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. “That’s because of your sisters, or… whatever they are.”
“We’re not sisters,” Sonata said. “We’re packmates.”
“Packmates?”
“Your language doesn’t actually have a word for it. We call it visera. It’s like…” Sonata put her finger to her mouth to think. “A family can break apart, but when you’ve bonded with you visera, that’s for life.”
“A family by choice is still a family,” Fluttershy pointed out. “Like Rainbow Dash. She’s my sister, but we’re not actually related.”
Sonata just shook her head. “Humans never really get it.”
“Yeah, well, your visera are a bunch of bitches…”
Surprisingly, Sonata laughed. “Yeah, they really are. Sorry about them…”
“Pretty sure they’re both in there flirting. Aria’s with a whole group of people, and I kind of think she’s flirting with all of them.”
“Yeah, she does that. We come out to shows when we feel like hooking up with someone.”
Fluttershy could hardly blame them for that, but she worried about their fans. “They’re just hooking up? No weird, I don’t know, mind control shit?”
Sonata pointed to her neck, which was bare. “We can’t do that anymore. Remember?”
Fluttershy found a small smile working its way to her face. “You say that like I ever understood magic in the first place.”
“You didn’t?” Sonata cocked her head to the side. “But you used it against us.”
“It all just sort of… happened.”
Sonata facepalmed. “Oh man, we got beat by a bunch of teenagers who didn’t even know what they were doing… Please don’t tell the others that.”
Fluttershy actually felt a little bad for her. Of course, she knew they had done the right thing to stop the Dazzlings, but it sounded like it had been quite hard on them. “Well, if it helps, Sunset and Twilight understood magic. Just… not the rest of us.”
“I guess that’s a little better.”
Fluttershy took a step closer to Sonata. She felt a little guilty for accusing her earlier. As far as she could tell, Sonata was genuinely not that bad. The others were awful, of course, but Sonata seemed alright.
“So what about you?” Fluttershy asked. “If you’re all here to hook up, then why are you out here?”
Sonata grinned. “Well, I never said I was in the mood to hook up with someone.”
“So then why come?”
Sonata seemed confused by the question. “They’re my visera.”
“So? I was about to leave the band and go to my hotel. I love them, but I don’t need to be here just because they are.”
Sonata nodded and smiled. “Well, they’re your band, not your visera. We go everywhere together.”
Fluttershy wasn’t sure that sounded particularly healthy, but she was sure it wasn’t her place to question Sonata’s culture. Besides, she has another question on her mind. “Wait, if they’re trying to score and Adagio was talking to Windfall earlier… Was she coming onto him?”
Sonata shrugged. “Maybe.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Tell them that the band is off limits. As long as they’re not hurting anyone, they can flirt and sleep with who they want, but not anyone in the band.”
“Alright, I’ll tell them.” Sonata shifted in place. “Uhm, I know you’re not too happy with us, but please keep letting us come with you. This is really important. For everyone.”
“I know, you want to track the magic.”
“We do, and you do too. Who knows what’ll happen if whoever’s using the magic goes all crazy?”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “I already got the whole spiel from Adagio. But that doesn’t mean I won’t kick you all off the tour if you cause problems.”
“I’ll tell them not to mess with you all,” Sonata promised. “I’ll tell them not to even talk to you all unless you talk to them first. We really need this.”
Listening to Sonata made Fluttershy wonder if she should be doing more herself. “You really think this magic thing is that serious, huh?”
“It is, I know it is. And…” Sonata looked away from her. “And we don’t have any other options.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve never… needed to do things on our own before, you know?” Sonata traced her hand around her neck. “We used to just manipulate people into doing things for us. Giving us food, or money, or places to stay. Whatever we needed.”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip. “Am I supposed to feel bad that you can’t mind control people anymore?”
“No. I don’t mean you should feel bad, I’m just… explaining.” Sonata looked up at the night sky. The city lights blocked out most of the stars, but there were a few visible. “Because now… we have to do things for ourselves. And we’re bad at it. We scrape by on a little hole in the wall bar, and we barely even knew how to shop for food until a few years ago.”
Despite her claim of not feeling bad for them, Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel a little less upset.
“The reason Adagio came by herself at first was that we could only afford one backstage pass. We really don’t have a lot, you know? Like a car, we’ve never had one of them. And that means that even if we know where the magic is, we don’t have the ability to go after it, you know? Even if we tried to make it on foot, we wouldn’t have money for food or shelter.”
“So what about your bar?”
“We closed it for now, and we just have to hope we can reopen it without any problems when we get back. We’re risking our livelihood to be out here, so… Please don’t kick us out.”
Fluttershy sighed. “I won’t. But you all need to be on your best behavior.”
“Yes!” Sonata jumped up and grinned. “You won’t regret this!”
Fluttershy sighed. She certainly hoped she wouldn’t, but she couldn’t be sure about that. One thing was sure though. “I do regret standing out here for so long. I’m getting a taxi and then getting out of here.”
“Yeah, probably a good idea.”
Fluttershy pulled out her phone and opened a ride sharing app. She ordered a cab and gave directions for them to come to the back of the building.
When she was finished, she frowned at Sonata. “Aren’t you cold?”
“I am, but… I’d just be in Adagio and Aria’s way in there.”
Fluttershy’s eye twitched. “Come in and wait with me then.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Come on.”
Fluttershy opened the door and held it open for Sonata. It took her a moment, but she eventually stepped through. Fluttershy followed immediately after.
Sonata stretched out her fingers, and Fluttershy wondered how long she had been outside for. It wasn’t like her blue skin gave any indication.
“You know, I’m surprised,” Fluttershy said.
Sonata cocked her head to the side. “About what?”
“You don’t seem like someone who would be bad at groups.”
Sonata grinned sheepishly. “I never… really needed to talk to anyone other than Aria and Adagio. I’m a little better than I used to be.”
Once again, Fluttershy wondered if this ‘visera’ was really a good thing. “I guess you get practice at the bar.”
“A little bit, yeah.”
“Here, let’s get you something to warm you up.” Fluttershy led the way to the mini-fridge, where she pulled two of the last three beers. She handed one to Sonata. “I hope you don’t mind beer, it’s all we have here.”
“I don’t mind.” Sonata opened her can and started drinking.
Fluttershy smiled and did the same. Being inside seemed to put an end to their conversation. Maybe it was the fact that Adagio and Aria were in the room, maybe the group was just a little too big for Sonata.
Either way, it got them out of the cold, and that was enough on its own. It wasn’t like Fluttershy was trying to make friends with Sonata; she was just being friendly with someone she was forced into spending time with.
Within fifteen minutes, she got a notification that the taxi had arrived. “I’m heading out now,” she told Sonata.
“Oh. Okay.”
Fluttershy smiled at her. “Try to stay warm.”
Sonata nodded, and Fluttershy walked off to the door. She opened it one more time, then walked out into the cold.