//------------------------------// // What Courage Truly Is // Story: Equestria Girls: A Fairly Odd Friendship // by redandready45 //------------------------------// "Hey Moony Loony." Moondancer turned around in the hall as she saw the unfortunately familiar face of Vanity and her goons. "Where are you going?" Vanity asked with her usual fake kindness. "I just wanted to say gum goes great with your sweatshirt!" Moondancer felt around the back of her sweatshirt and felt the gum was there. The mauve-haired witch with must've put it on her shirt while she was in class. Moondancer frowned and blushed out of embarassment as everyone cackled at her suffering. The frown remained on Moondancer's face for the rest off the day and on the bus ride home. It faded when she got off the bus and saw a group of teenagers in front of her lawn. Especially one she still loathed. Suddenly her broken sorrow was replaced by sheer rage. "Moondancer," Sunset pleaded with what looked like a sad frowned. "I need your help." "What's a matter," Moondancer said in a cold tone," are you in a 'bad place', Sunnybun?" Sunset flinched a little bit and she looked down. The apple farmer approached her with a more concilitory expression. "Moondancer, I know y'all hate us but it's a matter of life and death." "OK," Moondancer said, much to the surprise of the Rainbooms. "REALLY?" Pinkie asked excitedly. "But I need a favor," Moondancer said, her bespectacled eyes glaring at Sunset with merciless intent. Sunset sighed, realizing Moondancer has some demeaning task for her to perform. "OK," Sunset said uneasily, "what do you-," "First I need you to spin around three times," Moondancer said. Sunset was abashed by the request, but eventually complied. She spun around and, predictably, got all dizzy and fell to the ground. "OK," Rainbow said uneasily, "now-," "Now drink all these packets of hot sauce at once!" Moondancer ordered, pulling out a bunch of red, ketchup sized packets of something laveled "Vesuvius Sauce-HOT ENOUGH TO MELT STEEL!" Sunset was again reluctant, but with her friend's silent prompting, she drank them all in one gulp. Steam blew out of her ears and fire painfully erupted from her mouth. Sunset started wheezing from all that spicy sauce. "Now that that's settled," Twilight said with strained patience, "we can-," "Now juggle ten rubber chickens while riding on a unicycle." Sunset was dismayed. "But I don't know how-," "Heaven help you Sunset!" Moondancer said dramatically. "Juggle the chickens." "Don't worry Sunny," Pinkie said happily. "I can teach you in less than five minutes, with my own book," Pinkie said, fishing out a new book from her pink hair do, "HOW TO JUNGLE TEN RUBBER CHICKENS WHILE RIDING A UNICYCLE IN LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES!" LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES LATER Sunset started juggling rubber chickens while riding a unicycle with an extremely forced smile. Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy were annoyed, while Rainbow and Pinkie were amused. Finally, Sunset got off the unicycle and approached Moondancer while panting from exhaustion. "OK, Moondancer, now that that's over, can you help us?" Moondancer let a fake frown form on her face. "Help you? Who said anything about helping you?" Sunset and the others were dismayed. "But you said-," "I never agreed to anything," Moondancer said with a mocking tone before walking toward her house. "Isn't it horrible to be deceived." As she walked by, she felt something yank her by her hoodie and slam her into a tree. When Moondancer regained her bearings, she found a snarling Rainbow Dash pinning her to it with her hands. "You're gonna help us now you little twerp!" Rainbow snarled, before yanking Moondancer so close to her face she could feel Rainbow's breath. Moondancer, despite being outclassed physically, didn't seem remotely afraid. "Go ahead, hit me and show how devoted to friendship you are." "Rainbow Dash," Twilight admonished, "we're not gonna get her help that way." With a sigh, the sports' girl let Moondancer go. Moondancer was not impressed. "Am I supposed to say thank you..." "Moondancer, I don't care if you hate us," Sunset said with desperation. "I don't care if you talk to me. I'm here because...the...Timmy ran away." "We have this...tracking device that could aid us in finding him," Rarity said with darting eyes while holding it up Crocker's sensor. "As you can see, it is defective. We were told you are an expert in sensory devices and can fix it." "Please," Twilight asked with pleading eyes, "just help us find him, and we'll never bother you again." A sympathetic look appeared on Moondancer's face. "You really care about him don't you?" "Yeah," Pinkie Pie said. "He's our bestest, estest..." A nasty sneer appeared on Moondancer's face. "Good, I hope he suffers." The Rainbooms were completely shocked. "I hope he gets hurt. I hope you never find him." He started toward her house. "Now, if you need me, I'l be getting ready for the AV-," "HOW DARE YOU!" Everyone was shocked at who was doing the yelling. Fluttershy was glaring at Moondancer, her normally soft hands balled into fists and her face red with rage. "I thought you said you cared about him?" "Care about who?" Moondancer asked. "Didn't you say Timmy deserved to know how 'evil' Sunset was?" Fluttershy asked with a hiss. "I honestly thought you were trying to save Timmy from evil Sunset. Now you're saying he deserves to suffer?!" Moondancer just smirked again. "Yeah, well you-," Moondancer's resolved vanished as Fluttershy stormed over to her, glaring daggers at her. Moondancer's fear grew as the normally milquetoast girl grabbed her by her hoodie. "What did Timmy do to you?!" Fluttershy bellowed, her eyes gleaming balls of rage. "What did he do to you to deserve to suffer?!" Moondancer was a bit shocked by the question, her eyes darting back and forth. She noticed the other Rainbooms were looking at her with sheer dissapointment. "Well," Fluttershy pressed, letting go of Moondancer but still glaring furiously at her. Moondancer's response was to stare at the floor. "You know...I'm not really upset about what happened to me," Sunset said in a softer, but still stern tone.. "I kind of..had it coming. And when you said you wanted to warn Timmy about how evil I was, I kind of accepted that. If it was just me getting hurt, I wouldn't be here." Sunset then glared at Moondancer. "But after this little display, I realize you never cared about Timmy at all. All you cared about was getting revenge!" A nasty smile appeared on the fire-haired girl's face. "How does it feel to be as bad as you think I am?" Moondancer got defensively angry. "I am nothing like you!" "You know why I did the things I did," Sunset said. "I was just a spoiled brat who cared about gettng what I wanted. I didn't care about who I hurt. You moan and complain about how we hurt you, but you're so obsessed with getting back at me, you think that Timmy, a kid who did nothing to you, deserves to suffer just because I like him." A somewhat remorseful expression appeared on Moondancer's face. "And because of what y'all did,' Applejack said, her green eyes stern and uncompromising, "he is suffering." Moondancer was slightly concerned. "What do-," "You know what Timmy has to deal with everyday?" Rainbow asked Moondancer rhetorically. "He has a horrible witch of a babysitter, jerks that pick on him, and some nutcase teacher who humiliates him for fun." Moondancer's expression became even more remorseful. "Really?" "The Dazzlings bullied him too," Twilight said in a sterner tone. "They used him to grant wishes, brainwashed his friends and family into hating him, and than stole his magic, before throwing him away like he was trash." Moondancer's eyes narrowed in some anger. "They-they did-," "Yeah!" Rainbow yelled angrily to Moondancer. "You know how? Because of those pictures you gave them." Moondancer's jaw dropped in horror. Rarity stormed up to Moondancer right now with crossed arms."You know why he isn't present right now? He ran away from us and intends to fight those brutes and get back his magic himself, because he doesn't believe there is anyone out there concerned with his well-being." Moondancer felt her spine turn cold, something rotten churn in her gut, and her mind space out as everything dawned on her. "And now those meany-weanies have super awesome magic on their side," Pinkie asked. "If they did all those mean things to Timmy, who else do you think they'll be mean too? And what do you think they'll do too him?" "I'm not gonna force you to do anything," Twilight said in a passive-aggressive tone, "but if you don't help us save Timmy than that proves-," "Give me the scanner!" Moondancer said abruptly, taking it from Rarity. "So you'll help us?" Sunset asked with hopeful eyes. "For him!" Moondancer said with stern resolve. Everyone looked at the bespectacled girl with happy eyes and wide smiles. Pinkie Pie was brimming with joy. "YAY!" Pinkie Pie cheered, "this calls for a song." (Pinkie is currenty wearing a poofy-pink dress) We used to hate each other. Like a mean older brother But now- "Stop that, stop that!" Moondancer interrupted. "You're not gonna do a song while I'm here." Pinkie was dismayed. "But I was singing the song of how we're all friends-" "I'm not your friend!" Moondancer bellowed, much to the disappointment of Pinkie and the other Rainbooms. "I said I'm doing this for the boy. As far as I'm concerned, you're still the idiots who lied to me and stabbed me in the back. Once the boy is safe, we go our seperate ways." Twilight frowned sadly. "But Moon-," Twilight paused as Sunset put a hand on her shoulder. "Twi," Sunset admonished softly, "let it go". Sunset looked back toward Moondancer with solemn eyes. "How soon can you get it fixed." "I need about...an hour to get it done," Moondancer said, her hateful tone replaced by a more professional one as she examined Crocker's scanner. "But I don't have any parts, and I need a lab to work in." "We can get that for you," Rarity offered helpfully. Moondancer was at her workstation in Canterlot High's science lab, silently fixing the scanner. She sat alone, surrounded by parts and tools. She was so focused on her work, she barely noticed someone come in. "It's not done yet." She said idly. "Moondancer can we talk?"The voice of Twilight asked. Moondancer didn't even look up from her work. "Busy." "Can I just talk...while you listen?" A short pause followed. "I don't know if you can, but you may." "Look, I know how you feel about Sunset and you every right to be angry at her-," "But I have to forgive and forget because it's the right thing to do," Moondancer blurted out. Moondancer heard the Princess make an annoyed sigh. "Did you know that...Sunset nearly got me kicked out of school?" "Not surprising," Moondancer muttered. "And, let's just say that...she finally got caught by everyone...and it was up to me whether or not she was gonna get expelled from school and/or sent to a dungeon." Moondancer snorted. "What are you? Some kind of Princess?" A long pause followed. "Anyways, I could've had her expelled, but...I gave her a chance to be better." Moondancer put down her tools and looked at Twilight with confusion. "Why would you do that?" Twilight looked at her with sympathy. "I was alway taught to believe that jerks are just...people who don't know any better. What Sunset did to both of us was wrong, but after I defeated her, she realized that she could've been better. And that's why I gave her a chance." Twilight came up to her with an encouraging smile. "Maybe you should try and give Sunset and the others another chance, they'll be better." "Well I went up to her at the basketball game, and she didn't do a thing to make it up to me," Moondancer muttered with some misery. "I walked around CHS, and no one remembered me or even said hello. I was just a nobody to them. Just like I'm...a nobody at Dimmsdale High," Moondancer whimpered. "You're right to be angry about that," the purple-haired alicorn-turned-human conceded. "But again, they didn't know how hurtful they were being. I'm sure that if you have faith in kindness and love, they'll make it up to you. I can help you if you want." "I did have faith in kindness and love," Moondancer said morosely, "and I had my personal secrets shown to everyone, oatmeal dumped on my head, I was laughed out of the building, and it was because someone who I thought wanted to be my friend backstabbed me." The bespectacled girl wandered back to her workstation. "I have to get this done, so please go away." Twilight let out a dissapointed sigh. "If you want to talk, I'm willing to listen, OK?" With that, Twilight walked out of the room. As Moondancer worked, she saw some drops fall on the table. She realized it was some tears pouring out of her eyes. She was halfway through her work when she heard someone come in through the door. Moondancer turned around and saw it that blue-haired girl who was in the Dazzlings' house, wandering over to some dresser. Her eyes were covered in sunglasses. "You're the person I called," Moondancer vaguely remembered, before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry for...calling you...that. I was just...not in a good mood." While the science geek detested CHS, she hardly remembered this girl, and felt she didn't need to be drawn into her grudge. The girl just gave her a thumbs up and a chill smile, silently assuring her it was all good. She went over to some desk drawer and pulled out some equipment, took out some tools, and began working on her own desk. "Are you building something for...the Rainbooms?" Moondancer asked. The girl let out a simple nod. Based off the enormous amount of equipment she had, the apparently mute girl had a lot of work to do. Moondancer looked down at the purple tracking device and saw it was almost done. If the Dazzlings had magic, the Rainbooms needed all the help they would get. "You...want some help?" Moondancer asked her timidly. The blue-haired girl smiled and gestured with her hand to come over. Moondancer did and began working away. "Names Moondancer," the red-and-purple-haired girl greeted. The blue-haired girl silently held up her student badge. "Vinyl Abraham Lincoln Scratch." "Nice to...meet you." Despite being silent, Moondancer thought Vinyl was so charismatic, she didn't need words or even visible eyes to communicate how she felt. "Do you..." Moondancer offered uneasily after a few moments of work. Vinyl was part of CHS. Moondancer hated CHS. But Vinyl wasn't part of her direction humiliation, and so far, at least, she didn't seem to hold anything against her. Then she remembered Twilight's words. Reluctantly, Moondancer reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic bag. "Want some freshly backed cream buns?" Moondancer offered. The blue-haired girl nodded with a smile. "OK, so here is your tracker," Moondancer said, "is as good as new." She handed the device to Sunset. The Rainbooms, Moondancer, and Vinyl gathered in the science lab. The DJ and the AV clubber was giving them some equipment. "Vinyl and I also made you a listening device." The bespectacled teenager added. Vinyl handed Rainbow what looked like a satelite dish with a black stick glued onto it. "I also made you a radar system, that can help you detect their locations," Mooondancer said, handing a rectangled shape device to Twilight. "Thank you so much, you two." Twilight said with sincere gratitude. "Don't..,mention it," Moondancer choked out. Vinyl happily nodded. "C'mon guys," Rainbow said with fierce determination. "We've got some sea monsters to catch!" The same look also appeared on the Rainbooms. "FOR VAHALLA!" Pinkie declared, suddenly wearing a viking helmet and sword. "FOR TIMMY!" Sunset declared. The Rainbooms ran out of the lab, leaving Moondancer and Vinyl. Moondancer walked out of the lab, and toward the library when she felt someone pat her on the shoulder. Vinyl was looking at her with a smile. "What?" Vinyl pointed to the gym, and saw the students were all piling in there. Apparently, they were going to wait for the Dazzlings to be defeated in there. Vinyl extended her hand to Moondancer. Apparently, she wanted to wait with her in the gym. Moondancer stared at the hand for a few moments before letting out a sigh. "Sorry, they don't want me around," Moondancer said, before walking toward the library. Vinyl watched her go with no small amount of sympathy in her bespectacled eyes. Vinyl thought of catching up with before deciding to join her friends in the gym, but not before casting one last sad glance in the direction the hoodie wearing girl had gone. Moondancer sat in a small corner of the library alone, reading a giant science book. She blink away small tears that gathered around her eyes. Crocker's tracker had taken them to Dimmsdale. They were driving around it in Applejack's pickup truck. Everyone sat in the back, except for Sunset, who held the tracker and told the farmer girl where to drive. They pulled into what looked like an industrial slum, much to Rarity's horror. "What a wretched place," Rarity commented with disgust, even pinching her nose so she wouldn't have to breath the air. "I can see why those wretched Dazzlings would want to be here. The atmosphere suits their wicked ways," Rarity sneered. "Stop here," Sunset ordered Applejack as they drove to some large abandoned factory. Applejack parked about 100 yards from the building. Everyone got out. Twilight tried to approach it, only to be stopped by everyone and dragged into an alley away from the place. "Guys," Twilight said, "what's-" "Cameras," Rainbow hissed. Twilight poked her head out. All around them were security cameras. On the roof, near the doors, and even one was disguised as the sandwich a homeless man was eating. Twilight frowned, upset that she forgot that technology on this world was so advanced, it made it possible to record what others were doing. She learned that lesson the hard way when Sunset humiliated her while she ran for Fall Formal. "Can they see us?" Twilight choked out. "No," Rainbow said. "This is a blind spot." Applejack held up Vinyl's listening device and turned it on. After a few moments of turning knobs, a voice was heard. "You want me to rule Dimmsdale with you?" A familiar brown-haired boy uttered. Everyone smiled brightly. "It's Timmy," Pinkie cheered. "YAY!" "Of course," a distinctly female voice uttered. Everyone frowned. "It's Adagio," Pinkie cheered. "YAY-I mean-NOT YAY!" Timmy looked at the Dazzlings with no small amount of confusion. "Why would you want me to-," "It's what you want," Adagip pointed out with an odd smile. "I do?" "You said you wanted popularity," Adagio pointed out with a smile. "Where do you think popularity comes from? Power." Timmy didn't understand. "I understand you're confused?" Adagio said with a wistful tone. "I was, until I was about your age." "Those rich brats who cheated you got away with what they did because they threw money around," Aria pointed out with a digusted tone. She snapped her fingers, and suddenly, the image of the rich kids' bouncer throwing Timmy into the trash can appeared. "In this world, money is power," Adagio sneered. "Why do you think your parents never want to be around you? Because they hate having to spend money on you, and because of you, don't have time to make more money." Timmy frowned as he thought it over. Dad...did complain about the bills a lot. Adagio...sounded kind of right. Twilight frowned in confusion. "Do you hear what they're doing?" "They're playing mind games with him!" Sunset bellowed in a rage. The Rainbooms frowned as Adagio continued her manipulative and hurtful spiel toward Timmy. "No, I mean why aren't they...using their song on him?" Twilight asked aloud. "Couldn't they just...make Timmy do their bidding, or something?" The angry face's of everyone were replaced with contemplative ones as they wondered that too. But it went away as Adagio continued talking. "But we want an even greater power," Adagio explained to the brown-haired boy in a more sinister tone. "The power to bring entire villages to their knees, in both surrender and in worship. The power to make others quake when you even glance in their direction." "And thanks to us," Aria pointed out, "you managed to get that kind of power, and put a couple of those brats in their place." Aria snapped her fingers, and Timmy's fight with Chad and Tad played out. "Didn't it feel,,,good to finally give those brats what they finally deserved," Aria pointed out with a nasty grin. "What if you could do that to every other rich brat in this world?" It did...feel really good to finally get back at Tad and Chad. Timmy, however, didn't feel proud when he saw how he attacked Chester in a rage, and how everyone was afraid of him. "But everyone was scared of me," Timmy pointed out miserably. "Fear and power are the only way humans do anything," Adagio said with supreme belief that she was right. "We've walked this world for a millenia. We've learn that all people care about is power, and who has it. It doesn't matter how nice you are. If you have power, people will listen to you, no matter what you tell them, because they'll be afraid of what you'll do them, or because they want what you can give them." "The Rainbrats are like that," Aria said. The statement made Timmy frown even more. "The only reason why they pretended to like you is because they wanted your fairies' magic ." Aria frowned at the boy. "You think they would've even glanced in your direction if you if it weren't for all those wishes?" "You saw how much of a meanie Sunset was," Sonata added. "Yeah, the truth is this: Sunset never loved you. Only the magic you had." Adagio said. "Do you think someone like that would ever really want to be around you, unless they had to be?" "And if Cosmo and Wanda went away," Aria said with a small amount of menace, "you think they would ever want to be near you again? After what you did to them?" Aria snapped her fingers. The memory of Timmy turning them to worms and feeding them to a bird appeared. Timmy watched with horror and guilt as he remembered what he nearly did. "Timmy, please don't listen to them!" Sunset pleaded while holding up the listening device. "Sunset I don't think he can here you," Applejack added sympathetically. "Timmy I do care about you!" Sunset wailed, tears rolling down her eyes. "I'm sorry for the mean things I said. Please don't listen to them! Please!" The other Rainbooms watched the listening device with concern as they waited Timmy's answer. "No," he at last said with a small, sad voice, "they won't." The other Rainbooms frowned in disappoinment and shame, while Sunset cried even more. "You didn't notice me until you knew I had magic," Timmy added with a narrowed eyes. "You're right," Adagio admitted shamelessly. "But I'm honest about that. I'm being honest with you right now and telling you how it is. Unlike those Rainbrats who pretended to like you." The orange-haired siren snorted. "They call themselves heroes and blah and blah." Adagio snorted with disdain. "Oh, they call themselves heroes, but they want power and glory like everyone else." "That's why they were making you into a goody-toe shoes," Aria pointed out with a snarl. "Just to drag you down." "But we'll always be honest with you Timmy," Adagio said, bending down to look him in the eye, a kind smile on her face. "We'll always look out for you. We'll always be there for you. Because we see potential in you." "I mean, you did beat our butts," Aria pointed out with what sounded like sincere amazement. "That was pretty hardcore of you." "You'll be our bestest buddy ever," Sonata chirped. She took the hat off his head and began playfully rubbing his head. Not the fake way Vicky did when she was acting nice in front of his parents, while hurting his scalp. Timmy tried to find any kind of lie in their voices. But there was nothing. The wish they wanted him to make said he would rule with him. Sonata patting him on his head felt nice and real too. "It's a simple choice really," Aria said. "We can send that picture to Crockpot, have your fairies taken away from you, and you could go back to your life of being a pathetic punching bug no one will ever care about," she threatened while holding up the phone with the picture of Cosmo and Wanda. "Or...you could give us what we want," she said, holding up the tape recorder, "and we can give you what you want." "A world where no rich brat or bully will ever be mean to you again," Adagio said in a soft voice, while patting his shoulder. "A world where power goes to people who deserve it. A world where no kid will ever be hurt." Adagio extended her hand to the seated boy. "Give us what we want, and you'll be at our side, building that better world. Under us, you'll be the most popular kid in the world. Deal?" Timmy thought it over for a few minutes. "Deal," Timmy said at last, shaking Adagio's hand. With that, Adagio scooped Timmy into a hug. "Oh Timmy, I knew you were smart," Adagio said in a soft voice as she squeezed him. For the first time in a while, Timmy felt...happy. "Oh Timmy," Sunset muttered in despair. The other Rainbooms also cried, dejected by Timmy's choice. Aria handed the boy the tape recorder and he began to record his wish. "I wish..." Timmy began, before his eyes glanced upward. He noticed his fairies... They were still stuck in the glass ball. And based off their dopey smiles, still under the Dazzlings' spell. "There is...one thing I really want," Timmy said with a low, serious tone as he looked at Adagio in the eye. "What's that, Timmy Buddy?" "I want you to let Cosmo and Wanda out of the glass ball and stop messing with their brains." The question gave the Dazzlings serious pause. "Uh, we can't do that..."Aria said uneasily. "Yet," Adagio added abruptly. "Yet. it what I was gonna say. Until we...trusted you." Timmy's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Were you ever gonna let them out of that glass ball?" The Dazzlings were silent for a moment "Of course we were," Adagio said with an uneasy smile and her eyes darting back and forth. "Now come on, Timmy Buddy, make the wish, and all your dreams would come true." Were the Dazzlings paying attention, they would've noticed Timmy's grinding teeth, his balled and shaking fist, and his red face. They would've also noticed him clenching the tape recorder tightly. So it was shock when Timmy threw the tape recorder and it bounced off of Adagio's forehead. "NO!" The Dazzlings were stunned. "What did you say-," "I said...NO!" Adagio's kind face slipped into snarl. "What's wrong with you?! We're offering you power and all you can say is-," "I DON'T CARE ABOUT POWER! I DON'T CARE ABOUT WISHES! I CARE ABOUT THEM!" Timmy said while pointing upward. "They make me feel safe. They make me feel special. They make me feel loved." "They why would you want for them go away forever?!" Aria asked in annoyance. "You could have them-," "Not like that!" Timmy yelled in disgust. "Not so you can use them as...magical batteries forever! They don't deserve that!" Adagio's eyes narrowed. "OK, fine," she said, holding up her phone, "I'll send the picture to Crocker." "Go ahead!" Timmy yelled in defiance. Adagio looked even more enraged. "You want to end up alone and and a useless waste of space forever!" "I don't care," Timmy said with a shrug, "as long as they're safe from you." Adagio kept her finger over the button menacingly. But the orange-haired siren didn't press it. To her shock, Timmy didn't even flinch or beg them not too. He just sat there, sternly waiting for them. After a few minutes, Timmy smiled at them mockingly. "You're not going to do it are you?" Timmy asked them with a sneer. Adagio ended the charade and pulled her finger away with a snarl. "Because...because you know that when Cosmo and Wanda go away, you'll stop having magic, and you'll go back to being losers." The Dazzlings' eyes widened and their jaws dropped in shock. "What did you say to us?" Adagio asked. "You heard me, losers!" Timmy yelled with a nasty grin. "You called me useless without magic, but that's you must feel. Without magic, you think no one will ever care about you. Without magic, no one will ever like you." The three siren sisters stood silently as they absorbed the ten-year old boy's observation. "I know that, because that's how I feel sometimes," Timmy said. "But here's the thing: with you, it's true," Timmy said in a low, spiteful tone. "What was that, you little twerp?" Aria said with anger in her voice. She and Sonata's faces turned bright red and their fists were clenched while Adagio stood as still as a statue. "You're mean, you're evil, and everything about you...STINKS!" Timmy spat mercilessly as he glared at the three sisters. "Your music, your clothes, and your stupid haircuts! You need to sing your song because without it...NO ONE WOULD EVER WANT TO BE NEAR YOU!" The Rainbooms all smiled proudly as they looked at the listening device. "GO TIMMY!" Rainbow cheered while pumping a fist. The Rainbooms all let cheers of their own. "I'm so proud of you," Sunset said with kindness in her voice. "OK Timmy," Adagio said. "You think we're mean and evil. That's fine." Another long serious pause followed. "Then we'll be evil and mean." The Rainbooms' hearts fell into their throats as they heard some kind of thump, and the sound of something hitting the ground. Followed by a pained whimper. Timmy laid on the ground, rubbing his cheek. Adagio punched him so hard, it knocked him off the chair. It came so fast, he felt shock. The shock faded as he looked up at the Dazzlings.They lost all pretense of kindness, and were glaring at him with red-faced hatred. Timmy felt his previous bravado fade. Adagio then picked up the chair and threw it against wall near Timmy's head, breaking it. Timmy felt terrified. "I'm done asking, twerp," Adagio said in a low, but menacing hiss. "You're gonna grant us or wishes. One way...or another." Timmy shook with terror. But then he looked up at Cosmo and Wanda. "No." "Aria," Adagio ordered. Aria came toward TImmy, fists bared and a sadistic , evil smile on her face. Timmy tried to run away, only for something to catch him. By his hair. Aria painfully picked Timmy up by his hair, clearly enjoying his pained whimpers if her mean grin was any indication, and slammed him into the wall by his back. Timmy felt a massive pain shoot through his body. "Now!" Aria ordered. "No," chocked out. With a demented grin, Aria raised her fists. "I'm gonna enjoy this." The Rainbooms heard with horror as Timmy groaned in pain and let out whimpers begging for mercy. The thumps they heard indicated the Dazzlings weren't giving him any mercy. "TIMMY!" Sunset exclaimed with terror. Sunset and Rainbow, angry expressions on their faces, ran toward the factory. Only to be held back by the other Rainbooms. "What are you guys doing?!" Rainbow said while struggling against Applejack's grip. "Timmy's in trouble!" Sunset pleaded while being held back by Rarity. "He's gonna be in more trouble if y'all rush in like cotton-pickin' fools!" Applejack ordered, while holding Rainbow back. "But-," "Darlings, I want to help Timmy too," Rarity said with a sad but determined look. "But they have cameras, and magic, and weapons." "And Timmy too," Fluttershy whimpered with fear. "If we rush in without a plan, they'll beat us!" Twilight said her stern, princess-like voice. "We can't rely on the Elements to save the day for us. We need to use our brains. and we especially need the element of surprise! If we lose, so we'll he!" Sunset and Rainbow's struggles died, replaced by grim sadness. Especially, as they heard the Dazzlings beat on the poor kid even more. Sunset felt scared tears roll down her eyes. "But-," "They won't hurt him too badly," Pinkie said with strained optimism. "They need him for wishes," she said with a frown. "You need to be calm," Twilight said with soft eyes, "for him." Sunset thought it over, and realized they were right. As scared as she was, Timmy needed her to be brave and collected. He deserved it too. The boy, in one act, proved he was worthy of the magic he wielded. He proved that, whatever his faults, he would never throw the people he cared about under a bus for power. He proved he would sacrifice magic, if that's what it took to protect his friends. Sunset was proud of him, and she wanted to tell him. But in order for her to do that, Sunset needed to swallow her emotions and not let them cloud her judgement. She needed to put away her passion and think rationally. Once Timmy and his fairies were safe... Then she could unleash her emotions. She would cry in relief. She would show him much she loved him. And she would unleash her wrath on those fiends who dared hurt him. But not now. Later. Now, she needed to be rational. "Alright ladies," Sunset said at last, wiping away her tears. She looked at her fellow Bearers with a calm but determined expression on her face. Outwardly, she was calm, but her eyes held a fire waiting to be unleashed upon those she considered her foes. "Let's...plan."