Aria was livid-as if it weren’t bad enough that that she was still stuck with Adagio and that idiot, Sonata. But, they had also lost the Battle of the Bands, all of the disharmony they had been feeding on since coming to this stupid world and their amulets were destroyed, meaning that their beautiful singing voices were now lost forever. One-thousand years of work down the drain, thanks to Adagio’s incompetence as a leader.
When that old wizard banished them, she immediately wished that he had killed them instead. Death would have been preferable to Sonata’s incessant jabbering and Adagio’s unbearable self-importance. The only reason she even continued following Adagio and her plans were because as long as they worked together, their powers were stronger and their meals were bigger.
Only a few hours had passed since The Dazzlings had been booed off stage by Canterlot High. They had taken refuge in the same café that Adagio had first noticed Equestrian magic entering this world. To avoid the other patrons, they were even seated in the same corner booth-the irony was not lost on Aria.
They had all underestimated Sunset Shimmer. Despite herself, Aria was actually impressed with how easily Sunset was able to manipulate and intimidate most of the school. But, master plan or not, she couldn’t believe anyone would voluntarily come to this horrible world and give up their magic.
“Wow!” Sonata exclaimed. “Who woulda thought they could make a big, giant Alicorn thingy like that!?”
Aria cringed as her stomach twisted in rage; Sonata’s voice was the last thing she wanted to hear, right now. In this world, Sirens were nothing more than mythological creatures-pure fantasy. But, in one of those myths a group of Sirens committed suicide out of shame for failing to entrance their prey. Right now, she wished Sonata was one of those Sirens.
“It would never have happened if they weren’t so desperate,” Adagio growled. “Think about it, why would they ever trust someone like her? Especially, after she tried to murder them at the Fall Formal.”
“If we did that, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.” Aria grumbled.
“The Alicorn was pretty, though…” Sonata commented, causing Aria to glare at her.
“I’m sorry, can we have her put to sleep or something?” she asked Adagio. “I mean, it’s bad enough that we have this annoyingly cheery airhead-“
“HEY!” Sonata protested. “I-“
“Our powers are gone!” Aria shouted. “Our voices are gone! It’s only a matter of time before we starve to death! Do you even realize just how screwed we are, now?”
“I’ll think of something…” Adagio replied, sitting back down.
“Really!?” Aria challenged. “Without magic we can’t do anything! And if memory serves, oh glorious leader-you’re last two plans got us banished here and made us powerless. So forgive me, if your track record doesn’t inspire much confidence.”
“Fine,” she replied, begrudgingly. “Then let’s hear your plan.”
“Finally…those five in the Rainbooms, they’re gullible idiots. They accepted Sunset Shimmer into their group after everything she’d done. All she needed to do was feed them a sob story about not understanding how to make friends.” Aria replied.
“For realsies!?” Sonata gasped.
“You can’t be serious-befriend them!?” Adagio added.
Aria shook her head.
“I don’t mean that we actually become friends with them, we fake it to gain their trust until their friend from Equestria returns, when that portal is opened-we can finally go home-”
She stopped herself when a woman with pink hair stylized in such a manner that made it reminiscent to that of a cupcake wearing an apron came up to the booth.
“I couldn’t help but notice that you girls have been sitting here for the past twenty minutes-I don’t mean to interrupt, but do any of you actually plan on ordering anything?”
“Ooh! Yes!” Sonata exclaimed. “I want a triple Chimi-cherry-changa covered in hot fudge and banana cream!”
Aria and Adagio merely rolled their eyes in exasperation, knowing that they would have to wait for Sonata to explain to Mrs. Cake whatever it was she was talking about.
“Coming right up!” she replied, cheerfully.
The two Sirens exchanged surprised looks before returning to the matter at hand.
“I have to admit, this plan of yours actually sounds pretty good.” Adagio continued; sounding genuinely impressed. “There is just one problem-we can barely stand each other, how in the world are we going to put up with those girls too, especially that annoyingly energetic one?”
Aria hated to admit it, but Adagio had a point; one Sonata was painful enough to put up with, but two of them?
“We’ll just have to learn to tolerate them-and each other, until they begin to trust and the portal opens up again.” Aria replied, thoughtfully. “Besides, they’re stupid, remember? It shouldn’t take too long for them to gain our trust. We then explain that we are dying and need to return home to find a way to cure ourselves.”
“Instead of telling them we need to back to Equestria, we say that we are looking for a cure for our hunger…” Adagio mused.
“Why would we do that, silly?” Sonata asked. “If we go home, we could go back to making everyone do everything we want and get more powerful from it again!”
“We aren’t going to actually do it-we’re just going to lie to them so they think we are and let us go home.” Adagio explained, exasperatedly. “Aria’s right, you really are the worst…”
“Oh, yeah?” Sonata challenged. “Well, I think you’re-”
“Order up!” Mrs. Cake announced, reappearing with Sonata’s meal.
“Ooh! Cherry!” she replied, gleefully before grabbing it.
“Are you girls sure you don’t want anything?” Mrs. Cake pressed.
“I guess I’ll have a soda…” Aria replied; all of this planning and the strain from trying to sing without magic earlier were beginning to leave her throat dry.
Mrs. Cake then turned to Adagio.
“And what about you, dearie?” she asked.
“I’ll just have water…with crushed ice.” Adagio replied.
Fortunately, when they first came to this world they realized very quickly that they wouldn’t get far without money. That was why they taught themselves how to pickpocket. Aria was able to pick up Flash Sentry’s wallet, to find that the guy was completely loaded. Even with that car of his, she had just assumed it was a birthday present from his parents.
While it would have been preferable to try and get something from Silver Spoon or Diamond Tiara, it would have been too difficult to be worth the risk. Taking out his wallet, she pulled out his license to inspect it. Adagio noticed this.
“What’ve you got there?”
“Wallet I snagged from that guy, Flash.” Aria replied, nonchalantly.
“Anything good?”
“A few hundred bucks and his license…also, it looks like there are a few love songs he wrote down.”
“So he’s rich-or, at least his parents are…what are you doing now?”
“I’m looking for his home address,” Aria replied. “We could break in whenever we’re strapped for cash, instead of trying to get lucky waiting for random people on the street.”
She put the license and the wallet back in her pocket, once she saw Mrs. Cake returning with their beverages.
“Here ya go! Just let me know if you need anything else.”
They waited until she left again before continuing.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Adagio asked.
“Yeah, Filthy Rich had a security system.” Sonata added.
“Well, we can’t really mooch off him or those girls without them getting annoyed or suspicious…”
“Then, I guess it’s worth the risk…” Adagio sighed. “Hopefully, we can get this done before it comes to that, though…”
If this actually worked, it might have actually been bearable to continue working with Adagio and Sonata. If they could find a way to restore their amulets then, with the power they could gain from returning to Equestria all they would need is a source of chaotic energy to feed off of. And in their one-thousand year absence, it seemed like it would be pretty unlikely for anyone to recognize them until it was far too late.