//------------------------------//
// Becoming a Better Friend 
// Story: A Dazzling World 
// by Spyder27 
//------------------------------//


	Chapter VIII: Becoming a Better Friend


Walking down the street, I can’t help but be a little annoyed at the three companions following me this whole trip. The Cutie Mark Crusaders begged for me to let them watch my progress today, even if it is learning how to be a friend. They all gave me good advice I suppose, but the constant questions got on my nerves slightly. Even Scootaloo, who was previously opposed to helping me, came around and started to believe I can change myself. It’s… still weird of me to think that. Trying to change myself… I suppose it’s understandable due to me trying to find happiness, but I’m not trying to do this for anyone else… I’m trying to do this for me.
“Now whatcha going to do?” Apple Bloom asks me yet again. This must be the fourth time she’s tried to remind me on this walk alone. I force a smile on my face and pat Apple Bloom’s head. She has been skipping along my side this whole walk, probably out of excitement, whereas her other friends were either riding along roller skates or just walking. The Crusaders even made me wear a red wool jacket to compliment the grey sweater and scarf I had on. Fortunately, they didn’t have many other fashion choices when it came to my jeans and boots. I would hate to see what they could drag out of Rarity’s closet. Still, a part of me felt bad that they forced me to wear this jacket. I just need to return this as fast as possible after today…
“I’m going to walk in there and be confident in myself,” I say, slowly breathing in and out.
“And then what?” Sweetie Belle asks me, staring into my soul from my right. Putting my hands into the pockets of the red jacket, I sigh quietly. Still, Sweetie Belle’s stare persists.
“Then I will be as kind as I can be and keep conversation interesting.” As I say this, Scootaloo turns around and skates backward to face me as we walk. Scootaloo apologized to me profusely before we began this walk, since she felt she owed me the benefit of the doubt, but I told her she didn’t owe me anything. Ever since, she’s tried to be just as friendly as the others, but it’s clear she still feels bad for what happened a little less than a week ago.
“And most importantly?” Scootaloo asks me, expertly angling her skates to dodge rocks in the sidewalk. I still have no idea how she does that. 
“Be true to myself,” I say slowly, closing my eyes and breathing into the scarf. The momentary warmth reminds me why I’m doing this, to be friends with Sunset Shimmer, an all around special and warm person…
Shaking my head, I realize the three of them are still staring at me with wide smiles. For a second, I feel a little freaked out at all their stares. “What?” I ask in an annoyed tone.
“We know you’re going to do great!” Apple Bloom says before hugging me again. I have come to expect the constant hugs from the yellow hulkling in disguise, but it still pushes most of the air out of my lungs easily. Either I’m super weak or she’s super strong and I choose to believe the latter. What I didn’t expect is for all three of them to be huggers. In a moment, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hug me as well, trying to reassure me that I’ll do well, but I still feel like this is a bit much. Finally, the three girls let go of me and we continue walking before Scootaloo stops us.
“Okay, Crusaders! The bowling alley is up ahead, around the corner. What’s our plan or action?” she asks Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom looks up at me and I sigh.
“Like I said before, you three can watch from a distance. No interfering or being obvious about it.” For some reason, I still believe they’re going to stick out and draw attention to themselves, even if they try not to be. 
“Chillax, we’ll be secretive! We didn’t necessarily find our ‘cutie marks’ in spying, but we tried!” Scootaloo says, putting even more worry in my mind. 
Before I can say anything, the three girls put their fists together and then throw them towards the sky, exclaiming, “Cutie Mark Crusaders go!” In a moment, they all run away from me and towards the bowling alley, leaving me behind. Sighing, I lean my back against the brick wall of the building, occasionally looking over the corner. It would probably be weird if I went in at the same time as all of them, especially if it’s just supposed to be the two of us. Sunset and I… I never wanted to be her friend before. She was a nuisance that turned out to be a bigger problem than I ever expected. Now I want to be her friend…? I suppose all of my pride as a siren is gone, huh? Just as quickly as the thought comes to my head, I instantly bring my hand up and slap my wrist harshly.
No, I’m not a siren… Not anymore…
Bringing my flip phone out of my pocket, I begin to look through my gallery, seeing two pictures, one of my apartment and one of Sunset at the coffee shop. I’m not even sure why I took the photo of my apartment, but it’s there nonetheless. The one of Sunset is a picture of her giggling at one of my stories. She didn’t even know when I took the photo… Honestly, I know… she doesn’t need someone like me in her life. I know I don’t deserve her friendship, but… it’s like a poison, seeping into my veins, making me act uncharacteristically and think about her and our friendship more often than anything else. A poison that’s helped me feel… happy. Funny, that sounds like what a drug addict would say. But…
Rubbing my finger on the screen displaying Sunset’s picture, I can’t help but feel a smile come across my face. What if friendship could be my drug…? Shaking my head, I put my phone back in my pocket and sigh, starting my walk towards the front door of the bowling alley. I just hope Sunset is… enjoying our time together. It does mean a lot that she agreed to be… friends. Looking at the bowling alley, I see the decorations are reminiscent of the 1980s decor while maintaining an inviting look instead of looking dated and old. Walking through the front doors of the establishment, I see the many bowling lanes in front of me, with a small burger bar to my left and an arcade full of machines to my right. They even had games like Discord Destruction and Iron Person Competition. To my left, there is also a counter between the door and the small burger bar, renting out bowling balls and shoes. All the balls are decorated in either simple colors or designs, but not surprisingly, the designed balls are more expensive. I have a bigger problem than the designed balls, however. I have little to no way to pay for a ball or pair of shoes. I suppose I could just watch Sunset bowl, but I don’t think that she would have fun that way. Besides, I want to be an interesting friend to her. The most I have is a dollar and thirty-five cents on me. There’s nothing at home either, so it’s not like I could go get more to pay for this. 
Suddenly, I feel a hand tap my shoulder, causing me to avert my eyes from the balls, looking behind me. “How are you doing, Adagio?” Sunset asks me, handing me a cone of vanilla ice cream with cherry syrup on top of it. Reluctantly, I take the cone she offers me and give her the best smile I can. 
“Thank you. I um… I love cherry,” I say quietly, unsure of what else to say. I could say the cat got my tongue, but I didn’t know what to say genuinely. Sunset’s hand reaches up to my hair and ruffles it around a bit.
“I know you do, by the way you kept staring at that cherry cheesecake at the coffee shop,” Sunset says with a chuckle. I did…? I don’t remember staring at a slice of cherry cheesecake, though I do remember staring at her. Funny how I can remember almost every movement she made, but almost nothing of what happened in that coffee shop besides our conversation. 
“I was staring at a dessert?” I ask in a confused tone, looking into her eyes.
“Well, I would say your eyes kept looking at it every five minutes, but still.” With a smile, Sunset licks her ice cream which has chocolate syrup on it, before pulling on my hand to follow her. I can almost feel my cheeks flush at the sight of our hands holding each other. Is this a normal thing for friends to do? And why is it so damn embarrassing? I can’t help but sigh when I have to pull my hand away from hers. 
“I… can’t really go yet. I don’t have shoes or a ball,” I say quietly, averting my gaze from hers.
“Don’t worry, it’s already paid for~ Rainbow Dash apparently insisted on paying, even though she usually doesn’t have money. Probably from spending it all on Daring Do comics now that I think about it.” Instantly, I look at her with confusion and then scan around us, finding the bowling lane where Rainbow Dash was practicing her swings. I already feel my body screaming to turn back and walk home. I didn’t want anyone else here and I barely agreed to let the Crusaders stay here and watch. “Hey,” Sunset says gently, walking up to me. “I know you probably wanted us to be alone, since you’re probably not ready to hang out with anyone else, but Rainbow Dash wanted to hangout last minute, so I said she could come. If you want, you don’t have to be here and we could catch up later?”
“No, I’ll be fine,” I say without thinking. The prospect of losing time with Sunset is something that I seem to hate. I want to spend time with her today, even if it means… facing Rainbow Dash. Sunset’s eyes look at me suspiciously and I’m almost afraid she can sense the awkward feeling in my gut, but she looks away and grabs my hand again, making my cheeks flush once more. Her hand is… surprisingly soft.
Walking over to the bowling lane, Rainbow Dash finally turns around, looking us up and down. I can’t help but brace for her to lash out at me, but nothing comes out of her mouth for a few moments. Putting her ball down on the ball return, she looks at me and smirks. “Huh, Sunset told me you were going to show up. Wanna bowl?” she asks before throwing me a pair of bowling shoes. “How about you show me you’ve really changed, rookie?” she says challengingly. Sunset opens her mouth to scold Rainbow, but I hold my hand out to her to stop her thought.
“Sure, let’s bowl,” I say with a smirk, looking Rainbow Dash in her eyes.
“You bet!” she says as I change my shoes. “How about we make it three matches? Then it’ll be more time to show my awesomeness.” With a nod, she adjusts the scoreboard to put our three names up there, abbreviating our names as RD, Shimm, and Dagi. I want to sigh at her changes, but I disregard them as I stand up, trying to see how the shoes feel on my feet. “Okay! I go first, then Sunset and then you,” Rainbow says before walking to the ball return and grabbing a rainbow designed ball. After the pins are aligned, Rainbow Dash lines up her shot and takes it with full confidence, hitting all the pins down. “Strike!” she exclaims with an eager face.
“Okay, Ms. Bigshot. Let’s see you repeat that every turn,” Sunset remarks with a smirk as she grabs an orange ball. Rainbow Dash seems unsure of what to respond with for a little bit until she sits down and kicks her feet up on the console.
“You know I can! I’ll just take it easy on you two this time,” she remarks as she looks at me. 
“Uh huh, sure, Rainbow,” Sunset says in an amused tone before aiming her ball and proceeding to take down nine pins. Rainbow laughs slightly at her attempt before Sunset knocks down the one remaining pin with her second shot.
“Your turn, newbie,” Rainbow remarks to me with a smirk painted across her face. Gently, I stand up and grab one of the other balls remaining. The ball is painted purple with pink stripes all over it, making a decent pattern to it. I admit I am new to this game. In fact, I’ve never even heard of bowling before Sunset told me about it through text. I’m pretty thankful that Sunset is patient with me by teaching me the rules, but she doesn’t have to do that for me. I feel sort of useless when I can’t do basic things, like learn how to play a game. Especially if it’s for her. I take a deep breath and line up my ball with the small arrows on the ground. I don’t necessarily want to get the best goal, but I do want to at least impress them. Exhaling, I finally toss the ball, seeing it slide into five pins. “Ha! Nice try!” Rainbow exclaims, holding her gut from laughing, but Sunset just smiles at me and nods. 
“It was nice for someone who just learned the game yesterday,” she says quietly, gazing at Rainbow. Rainbow Dash’s laugh stops instantly and her eyes look at me surprised. 
“Wait, you’ve never played this game before?” Her question is asked in a quizzing tone as she stares into my eyes.
Shaking my head, I say, “No, I haven’t. I’ve only really… played one game in this world and that was checkers.” Rainbow Dash seems confused at first, but she accepts the news with a nod. 
“Well, I suppose it wasn’t bad. Let’s see how you do with some practice.”

=====================================

“Come on, don’t fail me now,” Sunset says to me as I line my ball up once more. Over the course of the past couple of games, Sunset suggested teaming up against Rainbow Dash. Turns out she wasn’t kidding that she could get a strike almost every turn, but Sunset hoped we could win if we pool our points.
“Aw, come on! You guys will never beat me,” Rainbow Dash says with her feet up on the console again. “Especially with Dagi taking forever to line up one shot!”
“I’ll have you know, Dashie, I have hit my best shots by taking my time,” I say with a laugh of my own and tossing the ball on the ground, hitting all ten pins. Rainbow’s jaw drops for a moment and she looks up at me with a smirk. 
“You’re not half bad, Dagi. Maybe I should take you under my wing.” Dash’s joke makes Sunset laugh, but I just end up rubbing my hand through Rainbow Dash’s hair and chuckling. 
“No thanks. I’d like to win.” My remark seems to hit Rainbow and she laughs loudly. 
“Snarky, I like that. Now let’s see if little Dagi can handle a loss,” Rainbow says, standing up and grabbing her ball again. “This is the final turn, ladies and gentlemen! What will Rainbow Dash the Amazing do next?” Rainbow announces to herself like a sportscaster before tossing her ball down the lane as hard as she can. Pretty roughly, the ball hits all the pins down to the ground and she jumps in the air. “Another strike, everyone! Rainbow Dash is still the most amazing! Uh huh!” 
“Pipe down on the excitement, Dash. We may win if we hit enough pins,” Sunset says in a joking tone, standing up and grabbing her ball. Her posture exudes determination as she raises her ball out in front of her, aiming the shot she wants to take. That’s one of the things I admire about her the most. Her determination. It’s funny that I would notice anything about Sunset Shimmer, but here I am, watching her movements and admiring the determination she carries with every action she makes. Maybe she’s just determined to be the best person she can be, but either way, it shows that she has a goal and she will do her best to reach it. That goal may change depending on the circumstances of the pending situation, but she still has that confidence and bravado that she can do it. The sound of pins hitting the floor breaks me from my thoughts as Sunset turns back around to me and smiles. “Your turn, hotshot,” she says with a smirk, sitting down next to Rainbow Dash.
Standing up from my seated position, I start to walk to the ball return before Rainbow Dash stops me in my tracks. “Try to beat me, Dagi~ You’ve done well, I admit, but you’re still not as awesome as me,” she says in a teasing way. 
Looking back to her, I smirk and say, “Oh, we’ll see, Dashie. You want to put your pride where your mouth is?” My question seems to intrigue Rainbow, sitting up in her seat and looking at me confused.
“A bet? What kind of bet?” 
“Oh, the losers have to buy the winners lunch,” I say, confidently holding my ball with both hands. I know I don’t have the money to hold my end of the bargain, but I could probably ask for my check early from my boss… And if this helps me get closer to Sunset… so be it. Her laughter instantly erupts from her lips as she holds her gut.
“You know what? Sure! I’ll take that bet on! I don’t know if I can stay for lunch, but knowing your aim, you’ll need to knock over nine pins to even beat me.” Her laughter continues as Sunset giggles at the situation, then winking to me as a sign of good luck. 
“You’re on~”

========================================

Walking through the doors of Taco Pony, I can smell the air of cooking meat, melted cheese and the smell of air fresheners. Rainbow Dash has a frown on her face as she walks with us to the counter.
“How did you get a strike all of a sudden? Your aim was really bad the full game and you suddenly pulled a strike on the last turn?! Were you going easy on me?” she asks me with a funny look on her face before Sunset grabs her shoulder.
“We were just lucky, Dash~ It’s alright to lose every now and again, right?”
“Yeah, well… I’m a good sport, so I’ll hold up my end of the bargain,” she says, pulling out a bank card from her wallet. “Next time, I’ll wipe the floor with you, Dagi,” Rainbow remarks with a grin and a wink. For some reason… I feel glad at the prospect of a next time. It was fun to hang out with both of them, Rainbow’s competitive nature pushing me to be more confident in my approach and Sunset supporting me along the way. A solemn handshake is shared between Rainbow Dash and I as we both chuckle.
“Yeah, that’s if I break my leg and have my arms tied behind my back,” I remark in a snarky tone, Rainbow Dash snickering at my response.
“We’ll see about that! Hopefully we can play again soon.” Before I can respond to her, a buzz comes from her pocket as she looks to see what it is. Turning on her phone, her face goes from a smile to a look of despair in a moment. “Oh no! I’m already late?! Crap! Sunset!” Immediately, her body spins in a blur to look at Sunset and she practically throws her phone into Sunset’s face to show her what’s wrong. “I’m so sorry, guys! I have to go! Coach Soren is going to be furious if I don’t show up at practice!” Instantly, she throws her phone into her bag and sprints as fast as she can out of the front door, looking like a rainbow blur as she runs. Sunset, who seems less confused than I, shrugs her shoulders and looks at me.
“Sorry about that. Rainbow Dash often forgets to mark things in her schedule, so she’s all over the place.” Her eyes avert mine for a few seconds, preferring to look at her hands before taking out her own wallet. Before she can do anything more, I slowly grab her hand and look into the cyan eyes of my friend.
“Hey, it’s alright. I had fun with Rainbow and I think she had fun with me.” Her eyes look relieved before she gazes at the menu board with a critical eye, probably thinking about something else instead of the actual food.
“I’m glad you had fun today. I had fun with you two as well. Honestly, I felt really worried it would turn into a fight, but I’m glad it didn’t,” she says with a small smile appearing on her lips. An odd feeling surrounds my mind again and I can’t help but avert my gaze to the scene outside the window. I don’t quite know how to feel about that statement. I suppose I understand what she means, but I would have tried to not fight with Rainbow Dash if it came down to it. The second thought in my mind is the fact that she had fun.
“You… actually had fun? Hanging out with me, I mean,” I say quietly, looking around the vicinity at the other patrons and workers in the store, watching everyone but Sunset. My body feels a bit too nervous to make eye contact with her once more, but despite this feeling in my gut, her hand gently forces me to look at her again, moving my chin slightly. Her warm smile seeps into my mind and I can’t help but feel happy at this.
“Of course I did~ It’s been fun hanging out with you and I would love to do it again if you would want-”
“I want to,” my mouth says entirely too quickly. An impromptu statement said in the spur of the moment now makes me feel embarrassed and my cheeks flush again. Despite my embarrassment, Sunset Shimmer just giggles and tries to hold in her own laugh.
“Great~ When do you think you’ll be available next?” she asks me kindly, suddenly making me forget my whole schedule for a few moments. It takes me a bit to finally breathe in and formulate a response to her question.
“I’m um… available this next Friday? It’s my next day off and I should be paid by then.”
“Okay! I do have an internship that day, but I think I can get off around two in the afternoon. Would that work?” Huh. Sunset has an internship? The thought makes me curious about Sunset’s own life, since we haven’t gotten to talk much about it except when it came to her friends. I know Twilight wants to be a biologist, but I’m not sure what Sunset is studying to be. 
“Yeah, that should work,” I say with a nod, grabbing my bag and opening it to look for my phone. For a second, I see my revolver inside and a freezing chill goes up my spine again. Where would I be without Sunset’s advice…? Shaking my head, I grab my phone and input the date we agreed on as Sunset walks up to the counter. A young man attends the cash register, sporting a blue ball cap and shirt, both of which have the logo for the store printed on them. Sunset opens her mouth to order, but hesitates before looking at me. 
“What would you like, Adagio? Tacos? I’ll pay~” Her generous offer is one I fully accept, but the idea of tacos… doesn’t sit well with me. It’s not like my stomach is sick, but it doesn’t exactly sound like a good idea…
“I’ll take a burrito,” I say quietly, unsure whether to take Sunset up on her offer. “No onions.” Sunset nods before turning back to the cashier, whereas I turn and decide to find us a spot to sit at. Thankfully, there’s still a booth that’s free of customers and it even has a window with a good view of the environment outside. Weaving past the tables in the middle of the room, I sit down and look outside the window, looking up at the snowy sky. I suppose it wouldn’t surprise me if it snowed again, due to the freezing weather outside. If it does snow, then I’ll have to be careful around my apartment steps again, or around my whole apartment complex in general, I suppose. Pulling my phone out again, I look at the most recently opened applications, my calendar and my gallery, the latter of which still has the picture of Sunset opened. The corners of my mouth turn upward once more and my eyes analyze the picture, seeing the perfect imperfection of the moment. It’s… really nice that Sunset wants to hang out more. With a flick of my finger, I open the application and set the photo as my phone’s background, but before I can do anything else, I notice Sunset walking toward me with a tray. Surprisingly, it has a couple of drinks on it as well as four wrapped foods. When she sits down in front of me, she gives me two burritos and one of the drinks. The surprise isn’t an unwelcome one, but I hope she doesn’t feel like she has to get me all of this. 
“I assume you still like grape soda?” she asks nonchalantly, organizing her own food and drink, looking into my eyes. 
“Still…?” I ask slightly. “That sounds like you knew that beforehand, but I don’t remember telling you that,” my apprehensive statement comes out of my lips weakly, but Sunset calms my nerves unknowingly with just a simple smile.
“Yeah, you drank grape soda back in Canterlot High. At least, that’s what you always chose between the twelve options available. So, I got what I thought you would like.” It’s funny, I never thought she was close enough to see the type of drink I bought, nor did I think she would be that inspectful. I’m surprised she even remembers little things like that, though I suppose it’s understandable when I almost ruined her life and her friends’ lives. It’s… better that my life was ruined instead. “So, what are your New Year’s resolutions?” Sunset asks in a chipper voice, unwrapping her tacos slowly and neatly. 
“I’m… not sure, honestly?” is all I can seem to muster when thinking about resolutions. 
“Aw, come on. There has to be something you want to do better, right? Or something you want to promise to yourself?” Sunset chips in, taking the first bite out of her taco. With a breath, I try to think about the question seriously. It’s a thought provoking question, but it’s still difficult to come up with an answer to it. An idea comes to my mind slowly, looking up from my drink that I uselessly stir with my straw.
“I suppose… my resolution would be to be better.”
“Hmm? At what exactly?” she asks with her curious stare looking into my eyes, trying to find the answer.
“At everything…” For the first time the whole day, a moment of silence passes between us, both of us seemingly unsure of what to say. Sunset takes another bite of her taco and gently reaches over to my hand, rubbing it gently.
“Hey, that’s a good goal~ I understand that and it even hits a bit close to home. You’re clearly succeeding at that so far.” Her hair bounces slightly to her nod, but I avert my eyes to my burrito, finally taking a couple bites into it.
"Yeah, but now you've gotten me curious. What's your New Year's resolution?" I ask, taking a sip of my drink, but maintaining eye contact with her. The mystic look in her eyes dies down, making her look away from me with a chuckle leaving her mouth before she takes another bite of her taco.
"That's the funny thing. Mine seems much worse compared to yours…" Once more, her gaze is aimed away from me, rather looking at the cars passing by the establishment. I can't help but feel slightly worse given the fact that she doesn't seem to be comfortable sharing it with me, but the feeling only lasts a moment in my mind. 
"I want to know~ It can't be that bad considering how kind you are," I state with a smirk that turns into a smile, one that I try to make as warm as hers. Instantly, her cheeks have a pink blush appear on them, making her… sorta cute… 
"Well, I… I want to promise myself that I'll be more selfish. I often tend to look out for people and it's sometimes to the detriment of my own health. I guess I just want to do some things for me, you know?" Her statement hits me a bit hard, honestly. It's funny that our lives are almost opposites of each other, her wanting to be more selfish and I need to be more selfless. Sunset Shimmer is so pure, whether she likes to admit it or not…
"You deserve to be selfish sometimes, Sunset.” My statement comes out cold and unwavering, even if I didn’t mean for it to be. “I mean, look at it. You’ve done so much for everyone else, why don’t you deserve a little to yourself?” Sunset’s cheeks flush again, bringing her hand to her hair to brush it out of her face.
“Well, I… Thank you, Adagio~ You’re the first person I’ve told about that desire. I guess I just don’t want to be seen as selfish, you know?”
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to be selfish at times. I mean, we all need our own time to ourselves and we can all get burned out.” Stirring the straw in my drink a bit more, I think about what else to say, but nothing seems to come to mind. “I don’t know, I guess I’m saying that you shouldn’t let others define you. Seize the day.” I expect to see Sunset blush again, but this time, her eyes reflect a serene feeling, staring directly at me with a smile. I can almost feel my cheeks turn to a brighter shade…
“You have such a way with words, Adagio. Maybe that’s what helped you with music,” she states with a wink before finishing her second taco off, whereas I was still in the middle of this first burrito. I guess when I’ve gotten used to the scarcity of food, I’ve learned to enjoy it.
“Don’t be silly. It was… just the gemstone. That’s the only reason I was good at singing back then.”
“I would disagree,” Sunset says with a smirk. “For someone as talented as you, it’s hard for me to believe that not a single portion of that was skill."
“Yeah, well…” I admit it makes me feel nice to have her compliment me like that, but it’s also a bit embarrassing. The funny thing is that I would usually eat up compliments as a… siren… Now, it’s hard to accept that a compliment is actually true rather than an arbitrary opinion, one that I don’t understand. Perhaps it’s been like this ever since Sunset visited me that night. A lot of things have changed since then, but the one feeling that remains from that night is despair. Looking at Sunset, I know I don’t deserve to sit across from her or enjoy this small conversation as much as I am. I should have disappeared that night. The bright light of a former siren cut short in the middle of a street in a world where no one cared for her… Will I ever be good enough for her…? “Either way, I was meaning to ask, what is your internship about? By that, I mean what are you interning for?” I slowly ask as I take another bite, chewing slowly and keeping my gaze on her to show my interest.
“Oh? My internship?” Her eyes show genuine curiosity that I would be asking a personal question like this. Maybe she doesn’t want to share the details about her own life, but I want to know more about her. I want to be closer to this girl that has given me so many chances and be there for her, like she has been for me. “Well, as much as I like music, I’ve also had an interest in psychology for a while now, so I thought I would dip my toe in the water, you know? I’m interning at a mental health clinic under a licensed psychologist. That way, I can tell what some of the field entails,” she states, once more with a grin showing the proud feeling she has in herself. “Now, since you’ve asked me a personal question, do you mind if I ask you one?” This request catches me off guard for a moment, but I eventually oblige.
“Shoot,” I say with a slight nod, taking a sip of my drink. Despite Sunset’s initially cheery appearance when she requested this, her expression takes a turn and a frown crawls across her face. Her hands just fidget with themselves and her eyes avoid mine for a while, before she finally asks the question.
“How long have you had that gun?” Initially, her question startles me as I slightly jump and choke on the grape soda I was in the middle of drinking. A brief moment of silence is all that fills the air between us as our eyes connect, hers peeling for the truth. I wonder if I should tell her the answer to that question, contemplating what her reaction may be. Slowly, a dejected look paints my face in a color of uncertainty, making my gaze finally break from hers.
“Ever since that night you visited me in the nightclub,” I slowly sigh, my eyes looking down at my purse with disdain. “I didn’t think you saw that…” 
Again, Sunset surprises me by grabbing my hand with both of hers, slowly rubbing with her thumb and the gentlest smile I’ve ever seen adorns her face. Sunset never fails to surprise me, despite her predictable nature. “Hey, I just want you to know that I’ll always be here for you, okay? Even if we haven’t been friends for long, I’ll always listen to you if you need to talk and I’ll be there if you need help.” Her smile stays as one of her hands moves to my head and gently brushes the hair out of my face so she can look into my eyes easier. “You’re a good person, Adagio~”

===========================================

“Then what happened?” Apple Bloom's eager voice asks me as we walk down the street, away from Garden Hooves Park. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s eyes are also trained on me like hawks, predictable for freshman girls in high school. I suppose all three of them are alike in some ways since all of them have that instinctive nature to help another person when they can. Despite the fact that they had followed us the whole time, they still want to know every word that was exchanged between Sunset and I. I didn’t ask for them to follow me, but they seem to track me down like dogs, even if I try to dodge out of their sight. These adventurous girls will be the death of me yet. 
“Then we talked about our own problems, which lead to Sunset talking about some of her favorite movies. Apparently, she likes criminal and gang movies or love stories the most.”
“That’s great! Then we can recommend some movies for you two to watch together and then you two can possibly fall in-” Scootaloo’s voice is cut short by Sweetie Belle delivering a short punch to the abdomen in an uncharacteristic move. Honestly, the sequence of events makes me curious about what Scootaloo was going to say, but I'll leave it be for now. 
With a deep breath, I chuckle to myself. “I don’t think I’ll need help with recommendations about which movies to watch, since Sunset already has twenty in mind, but thanks for the offer. Oh, that reminds me.” My footsteps come to a halt when I finally pull off the red coat that Sweetie Belle lent me. It was a nice material and it felt comfortable. Rarity does have good taste in clothing. “Put this back where you found it, okay? I assume in your big sister’s closet?” I say to Sweetie Belle, handing her the coat. Her head just gives me a simple nod before taking the coat and wrapping it around her arms. Apple Bloom, who didn’t seem fully satisfied, tugs on my sleeve and forces my gaze to revert back to her.
“That’s it? Nothing else happened?” Apple Bloom asks me with a worried look on her face. Gently, I rub her head and chuckle at her question.
“What? Did you expect something else? Don’t worry, yeah? We’ll hang out this next Friday and I’ll give you all the details about that too.” Apple Bloom’s worried expression isn’t soothed by my statement, but she seems to leave the subject alone for now. As I look at Apple Bloom, I see her eyes go wide as she stares in front of us, stopping in her tracks. Confused, I avert my eyes from her and look forward, trying to detect what Apple Bloom’s eyes are concentrated on. It doesn’t take me long to realize just what Apple Bloom seems worried about… 
Down the sidewalk, a couple of familiar girls walk towards us, interacting with each other and not noticing us at first. My first instinct is to hide somewhere to get away from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's older sisters, but I wasn't sure where to go. With a sigh, I turn left down into an alleyway and walk further away. Apple Bloom seems to panic as she doesn't know what to tell the other two.
"You two go on ahead! I'll catch up with ya later. Just don't tell my big sis where I am!" I hear her exclaim moments before I hear her footsteps run after me. "Adagio!" Apple Bloom calls down the alleyway for me running and grabbing onto my arm. Her eyes look at me with an apologetic look, but she tries to pull on my sleeve to get me to stop. "Where are you going?" Her question bounces around in my mind for a bit before I bring the will to answer it. 
"I'm going to my interview…" 
"Interview?" Apple Bloom asks in a confused voice, but she shakes it off in a second, stepping in front of me. "Look, I know ya have a bad past with my big sis, but I know things have changed and all. Maybe she would like to meet you now." Clearly, Apple Bloom is under a lot of stress due to me. She wants to help me with my friendship, but she also hates to hide things from her sister. She's told me as much on text and I don't blame her. I'm just… not ready to meet more of Sunset's friends again. Slowly, I bring my hand to her head and rub slightly trying my best to smile at her. 
"Now isn't the best time, Apple Bloom…" 
"When will there be a good time? You have to face t-them eventually," her voice lets out weakly, showing the nervous feelings that lay underneath. Honestly, it makes me feel bad to see her trying so hard to reach out to me, to push me to do more. If it was anyone else, I would accuse them of making me their passion project, but with Apple Bloom? I know she’s just a kind kid… 
“Listen, I’m not sure when there will be a good time, but I promise I’ll face them eventually.” Slowly, I slump down to my knees, looking up at Apple Bloom slightly. I try to make a bright smile appear on my face, but I’m unsure if it worked. To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m doing a lot of the time now. Life has just been one spiral after another, making me choose options that I don’t know the consequences of. Bringing my hand up, I extend my pinkie finger and nod. “I mean that I’ll face everything I need to, okay?” Again, she takes my pinkie with hers, just like a week ago and she nods, looking away for a few moments. 
“Fine. But ya gotta keep me in the loop, okay? I-I worry about ya, especially since we’ve gotten to know each other a lot, ya know?” she asks me weakly, keeping her eyes away from me. I just chuckle in response, standing up and wiping off my legs. 
“I’ll tell you everything that happens, short stuff.” We both giggle at the tease I throw at her before she walks past me, going down the alleyway. For a moment, she doesn’t look back at me herself, instead opting to give a thumbs up, before running all the way out of this alley. I chuckle to myself and shake my head, ruffling my hair with my hands. Apple Bloom may be a weird kid, but she’s helped me a lot. She’s a good person and I intend on keeping my promises to her. Thanks for everything you’ve done for me, you strange apple.

===============================================

Walking up some metal steps, I sigh, looking down at the concrete roughly five feet below. This studio had to be on the second floor of this building, huh? I suppose it can’t be helped. Below this studio, there’s a bakery, so it can’t really use the first floor to its advantage. Though, it still makes me wonder why this Fancy Pants didn’t make the studio somewhere else. To make it even weirder, the only entrance to this establishment is through the back and going up a flight of stairs. I sigh, walking up the last stretch of steps and making it to a front door. Despite this building, or portion of a building, being owned by an entrepreneur, the front door is designed in child-friendly painting on the glass and even some drawings posted on it. In a bold Lobster font, the door read, “Daytime Choir”. I can’t help but chuckle at the weird design, but I decide to ignore it and walk inside. 
Inside the building, there are many colorful paintings and posters depicting instruments or musicians with inspiring quotes. There’s multiple instruments lined up on one of the walls and despite its name, there were multiple pamphlets for music classes and singing classes. Looking towards the receptionist sitting behind the counter, I see she has pastel pink hair and white skin. Her name tag tells me her name is Fleur de Lis. Slowly, I approach the counter, looking at the rest of the things throughout the room. Fleur’s eyes look up from the computer monitor she is working on and she smiles, grabbing a notebook. 
“May I help you?” she asks in a cheery voice, clicking her pen and readies it to write down something. 
“Um, yeah. I’m Adagio Dazzle and I have an interview with Mr. Pants,” I say slowly, gripping my forehead for a second to try and get rid of the headache. Her eyes seem to widen for a moment before she writes something down on the notebook, then clicks a console that seems to be made for receiving calls. 
“So, you’re Fancy’s afternoon interview? I hope it goes well~” her chipper voice jumps around in my head and I try to not let the damn headache get to me. It sounds like he’s been expecting me, but I don’t think I’m late? I can swear I’m on time. I looked at the scheduled time four or five times before walking here. I can’t help but feel scared for a moment that maybe I am late. If I am, maybe I should have cancelled with Sunset…? No, I shouldn’t have. It’s better to be with Sunset than to be at a stupid interview. At least she makes me happy… 
Shaking my head, I notice Fleur looking at a blinking green light on the console and nodding to herself, marking another thing down in her notebook. “You may see Fancy now,” she says with her index finger pointing to the left of the entrance where a door stood, simply saying “Pants” in the middle. Slowly, I take a deep breath and walk towards the door, opening it slightly and peering inside. Sitting at a desk, a man in a suit scribbles something down and looks at the gold watch on his wrist. His hair shines a blue color and his skin is white. A monocle is positioned in front of his left eye and the only facial hair to be seen is a blue mustache, barely going past the edges of his lips. His eyes look up to me and beckons for me to wander further in, out of the doorway. 
Slowly closing his door, I turn around and smile. “Hello, Mr. Pants. I’m-”
“Adagio Dazzle,” he says with a stern look painted across his face. “A highschool dropout that terrorized Canterlot High a little over a year ago,” his voice echoes slightly in the small office and enters my mind easily. “No record of even completing the first grade, just entering school at the highschool level, quickly earning yourself high grades, before dropping out due to what sounds like a song battle.” Closing his eyes, he brings his hand to his forehead and rubs slightly, thinking of what else to say. I almost feel like yelling at this breach of privacy, but it would be unprofessional of me to do so. How did he know I… terrorized Canterlot High? “Did I get most of that right?” he asks, straight to the point, taking his monocle off and sighing quietly. Slowly, I approach the chair in front of his desk and sit down in silence.
“Yeah, most of it…” My meak voice still seems to be heard by the man as he looks up at me. Gently, he stands up and readjusts his bowtie. 
“I apologize, Ms. Dazzle. I didn’t mean to interrupt nor give such a rude display, but I was quite… shocked to hear your record,” he says in a gentler voice than before, sitting back down and looking into my eyes. “I couldn’t actually find much of anything on you, Ms. Dazzle, so I called your previous principal.” A long pause ensues, making my heart fall below my stomach and a nervous feeling crawls all over me. “She didn’t hesitate to tell me about your… past.” His hand slowly picks up the monocle again to put it next to his eye and he eyes me up and down.
“So, do you want me to leave…?” I finally ask, plucking up enough courage to speak. Suddenly, a quiet chuckle comes from his lips and he shakes his head slightly.
“No, quite the opposite. See, your principal also told me of your grades and your character if you will. Apparently, you’re quite headstrong, determined, and can find your way through mostly anything.” I will admit that I do tend to get through the toughest of situations, but that’s only due to blind luck. “But most of all… Ambitious,” he says with a smile, a glint appearing in his eye. “Tell me, Ms. Dazzle. How would you describe yourself?” For some reason, this question catches me off guard and I can’t help but feel cornered. I expected different questions than this…
“I’m not a stranger to hard work and I will often do anything to overcome an obstacle. I-”
“No no. Not that,” he interrupts me quickly, shaking his hand in front of me. “How would you really describe yourself? Not for the sake of this job, Ms. Dazzle, but if you were to describe your character to yourself.” His eyes seem to burn with some sort of passion in them, putting his hands on his desk and standing up. “Ms. Dazzle, I am an entrepreneur who funds multiple functions of the fashion industry, but that is not who I am. I am a man who also enjoys music and tackles any challenge ahead of him. I built my own business from the ground up from my dreams. I’m a dreamer who’s ambitious and competitive.” His hand slowly raises in the air towards me and he smiles. “Ms. Dazzle, from what I’ve heard of you, it gives me enough cause to cancel this meeting now, but I also see a spark of potential in you. I’m willing to look past your record for the sake of this interview, but first, you’ll have to tell me who you are truthfully.” 
The question itself isn’t necessarily a bad one… In fact, it’s expected for an employer to ask this kind of question, but not demand this type of answer. A small grin comes across my face as I feel an emotion I haven’t felt in a long time… Confidence… “I always try to step up in the world and I formulate plans to do so. I will often do anything it takes to achieve my dreams and I wouldn’t let anyone stop me.” A light chuckle comes from my lips as I sit up and look him straight in the eyes. “I’m a dreamer too… A dreamer who takes their dreams head on…”
For a moment, a small smile appears on Fancy’s lips and he closes his eyes. “Good.”