//------------------------------// // A Perfect Day for Fun // Story: This Night Aria // by Ianpiersonjdavis //------------------------------// “What did you think you were doing?” Aria demanded, removing her hands from Sonata’s mouth. “You almost blew our cover!” “But, they said-” “We know, what they said.” Adagio replied exasperatedly, massaging her temples. “And we are going to play along until we got our powers back, then after we find out how to get back to Equestria we can get our revenge and things can go back to the way they were before.” “Unless you screw it up.” Aria added, crossing her arms. “How was I supposed to know?” Sonata pouted. “You didn’t tell me that when we were in there!” “We didn’t tell you because it was supposed to be obvious.” Aria growled. “We talked about this, remember? It was after our humiliating defeat at the end of the Showcase? Last night?” “Well, it’s not my fault!” Sonata groaned, clutching her stomach. “We haven’t eaten all day and I’m so hungry…I can’t concentrate on all this stuff.” “Yes, I know you’re hungry.” Aria sighed. “We’re all hungry-that’s the whole reason we’re doing this in the first place.” “You mean aside from getting revenge on the Rainbooms?” Adagio added. “Besides, I think she means actual food…I’m getting kind of hungry myself…” The trio then began walking down the hall. “I’m so hungry…I wanted to eat Sunset’s hair!” Sonata groaned. “I couldn’t stop looking at it…it looks so juicy and delicious…” “Yeah, it looks like bacon.” Aria laughed. “Really?” Adagio pressed as they rounded a corner moving towards the exit. “I was thinking it used to be different color entirely, but she dyed it with condiments to stand out more…” They pushed through the double doors leading out to the front lawn. “So, we still have a few hundred bucks from that Flash guy-where do you wanna eat?” Aria asked, as they stopped next to the horse statue. “Ooh! Can we get some pizza?” Sonata begged. “There’s this new place that opened up with ball pits, arcade games, tickets, prizes, and singing animals!” “’A Perfect Day for Fun’?” Aria frowned, crossing her arms. “Isn’t that place meant for little kids?” “And their parents!” Sonata insisted. “Well, I do hear that they have pretty good pizza…” Adagio mused. “Besides, we can certainly afford it-and it’s not like we have anything better to do until Sunset convinces Celestia to let us back into the student body.” Aria leaned back against the base of the statue. “Fine…” she sighed. “I guess we could have a little fun here in this world until they tell us where the portal home is…but, don’t say I didn’t warn you, Adagio.” --- “Welcome to ‘A Perfect Day for Fun!’” A young man greeted the trio. He had slick black hair that looked as if someone had poured a bucket of water over his head and didn’t look as if he could have been more than a year or two out of high school. The violet strap around his neck had a photo id on the end that said his name was Chad. He was wearing the same uniform as most the staff that weren’t dressed up as one of the entertainment center’s several animal mascots; a black t-shirt with violet and white stripes trailing from the shirt’s v-neck down the sleeves. “How may I help you girls?” Sonata looked as if she were a child in a candy store as her eyes widened in wonder at her surroundings; large multicolor tube-like structures that could be explored, reaching up to the ceiling, animatronic animals singing on a stage before those dining on pizza, and arcade machines spitting out tickets to be exchanged for prizes. Adagio held out her hand as Aria gave her the cash for the entry fee, she wasn’t going to be caught dead paying for entry to place like this. “Yes,” Adagio replied, approaching him. “We would like an extra large pepperoni pizza and a few tokens for our friend here.” “Uh, sure thing…is there any kids coming with you or…?” “No, it’s just us.” Adagio replied before leaning close to him and gesturing to Sonata with her thumb. “We’re mostly here for our friend, she’s…special.” “All right then, follow me…” he instructed as he began leading them to their table. Adagio went first as Sonata followed close behind with Aria bringing up the rear before grimacing as she realized she was stuck to the floor and lifted her right leg to reveal gum stuck to the bottom of her boot. “Alright, here you go.” Chad stopped before a table in the back corner. “Sorry, we don’t have anything closer to the stage.” “Oh, that’s quite alright.” Adagio replied. “There are some things we would like to discuss and it would be better if weren’t in front of stage blasting music.” “Well, in that case your pizza will be ready in a few minutes…would you like anything to drink?” “Just a few glasses of ice water will be fine.” Adagio replied. “Okay.” He nodded before taking off as Adagio and Aria sat down. “Ooh! I want to sing with band!” Sonata exclaimed, looking up at the stage with the animatronic animals singing a prerecorded song. “No,” Adagio replied. “You have to stay from the stage or you’ll get us kicked out, we can’t sing anymore, anyway.” “We can still sing better than those stupid puppets.” Aria grumbled. “Besides, I thought you wanted to play in the arcade.” Sonata gasped as the realization struck her; “That guy forgot to get our tokens!” “Chill out,” Aria replied leaning back in her chair, crossing her arms and legs. “He’ll probably bring them back with our water and if he doesn’t-we’re not about to let him screw us out of our money.” “And didn’t you also want to play in…whatever that is supposed to be.” Adagio added, gesturing up towards the large structure towering over them constructed from multi-colored play tubes of various shapes. Sonata’s face lit up as soon as she was reminded of this fact. “Okay, but you get me when the pizza’s ready?” she asked. “You’re a big girl,” Aria replied, annoyed. “Come back here in fifteen minutes-it should be done by then, if you’re late then I guess you’ll just have to go hungry.” This caused Sonata to frown; it was a lot harder having fun when they put her under a time limit like that. But, she knew from experience that Aria and Adagio meant it when they said they wouldn’t wait for her. She hadn’t either, in the few times she was in their shoes. Kicking her boots off, Sonata rushed off towards to the plastic playground, eager to traverse the newly constructed tunnels and the mysterious they held. “Well, that takes care of her for a while…” Adagio mused before turning back to face Aria. “I’m curious; what makes you think Celestia will allow us to return to the school as students again-we were able to avoid detection this time, but it’s not something I look forward to doing on a regular basis…and for that matter, what makes you so confident that Sunset Shimmer of all people can convince her?” “Sunset Shimmer was a lot like us before we came to the school, remember?” Aria replied, irritably. “Even without our powers I can tell that a lot of the animosity the school’s had towards her has died down-no doubt thanks to her being the reason our plan failed, she could easily cite herself as an example of a reason for us to be given a second chance.” “Need I remind you that Sunset Shimmer was more or less an outcast when we arrived, which was the very reason she offered to show us around in the first place?” Adagio placed her elbows on the table, interlacing her fingers as she leaned forward thoughtfully. “If she could influence Luna or Celestia in such a way-then why hadn’t she done so before?” “Because she wanted to prove that she had turned over a new leaf, she had both the experience and the intelligence to play everyone in the past-unfortunately, she abandoned her strengths in an effort to show that she was being genuine.” Aria elaborated. “While everyone was already distrustful of her and making our manipulations easier-it wasn’t until she assisted the Rainblossoms…or whatever they called themselves and ruined your plan-that’s probably when they started believing her.” It was difficult enough for Aria to stand this place with the horrific prerecorded singing of the onstage animatronics and the little brats running around screaming without Adagio trying question her every move. “You do realize that if we screw this up, we most likely won’t get another chance?” Adagio pressed. “Of course I do!” Aria snapped, slamming her hands down on the table as she stood up. “Do you think I’m an idiot like Sonata?” “Aren’t you?” Aria’s eye began to twitch. “I actually understand what I’m doing and I’m well aware of the risks if we screw up-that’s why I’ve been thinking long and hard on this, which by the way-wouldn’t even be necessary if you idiots had just followed my lead in the first place!” “Aria, sit down-you’re causing a scene.” Adagio commanded calmly. “That’s another thing; I can’t remember anyone ever making you the leader-yet, you’re always trying to take control and telling us what to do.” Aria continued. “That’s what leaders do; they take charge of a given situation.” “Yeah, and look where that’s got us!” Aria exclaimed, holding her arms out. “We’re still stuck in this crappy world with no voices, no magic, and no amulets, possibly dying, and forced to take votes on whether or not to go to some lame kiddy pizzeria while we’re stuck waiting for even the possibility of being able to return home after one thousand years.” “You got that off your chest?” “Yeah…” Aria sighed, returning to her seat. Chad returned with three glasses of water and a plastic cup balanced on top of a steel tray. “Alright ladies, I have your drinks and your tokens…and your pizza should be ready in just a bit.” “Thanks,” Aria grumbled, taking one of the glasses. “Hey, where’s that other girl?” “Oh, her?” Adagio replied apathetically. “She’s probably still playing around in that tube-thing.” “Well, kind of just meant to be for children…” he continued nervously. “They aren’t really constructed for those with the size or weight of an adult…” “Well, she’s in there.” Aria added just as apathetically. Chad turned to leave with a worried look on his face. “If she gets stuck, I’m leaving without here.” Aria informed Adagio. “Agreed.” Sonata returned to the table with her boots back on, seemingly even more excited than when she left. “You guys, they have a slide here too!” she exclaimed before grabbing the plastic cup. “They remembered my tokens!” “For fifty bucks they’d better.” Aria grumbled. “Now, why don’t you sit down-the loser we talked to when we came in said the pizza will be ready in a few minutes and the horrendous sound of your voice just reminded me how grating your whining is.” “So, eat the pizza before you go do anything else.” Adagio added. As Sonata sat down Chad returned with their pizza, which was still steaming. “Pizza!” Sonata exclaimed. “You see? This place is the best place ever!” “More like the worst place ever.” Aria grumbled. “No wonder you like it so much here.” “What?” Sonata asked incredulously, appalled by Aria’s comment. Chad placed the pizza before them and then looked uncomfortably between the three girls. “Is everything alright?” he asked. “If it’s a service issue I can do better-it’s just that this is my first week on the job and-” “It’s fine.” Adagio replied. “We’re just having a discussion.” “Okay…” he replied uncertainly before returning to the front. As soon he left, each of the girls grabbed a slice. “You just think everything’s the worst because you hate fun.” Sonata growled at Aria before biting into her pizza. “Yes, because when I think of fun the first things that pop into my head are crappy music, whiny kids, and being stuck with you two.” Aria replied, bitterly. “Did you know that guy called you fat when you were screwing around?” “He did not!” Sonata insisted confidently. “Did too,” Adagio agreed. “He said he was worried you were to fat to play in the tubes-he was afraid you’d get stuck.” “Yeah, I could tell just by the look on his face that he was worried about you suing this place because of it, too.” Aria continued. “You’re both liars!” Sonata exclaimed, clenching the remains of her pizza crust in her fist. “Go ahead and ask him.” Adagio prompted. “No! Every time we go out in public and I do something away from you two, you always do this to me!” Sonata replied adamantly. “I always go up to someone to ask about it and then it makes me look stupid!” “Uh, that’s because you are stupid.” Aria replied. “As stupid as Adagio is flat-chested.” This earned a glare from Adagio. “You two just don’t know how to fun!” Sonata pressed. “All you ever do is complain and I bet neither of you have even given this place a chance.” “Well, we’re here now, we’ve paid to get in, and we’re eating the food here.” Adagio retorted. “But, you haven’t tried any of the other stuff!” Sonata pressed. “We don’t want to go play in that stupid jungle gym-or whatever that thing is.” Aria replied, exasperatedly. “There’s an arcade here!” Sonata reminded her, picking up the plastic cup and shaking it, causing the tokens inside to jingle. “And you can win tickets from it to get prizes with!” “Yeah, you would-wait, what kind of prizes?” “All kinds of stuff!” “Thanks for being so specific.” Adagio deadpanned. --- Aria followed Sonata to the arcade while Adagio had stayed behind. “You really think there’s something here that’s gonna impress me, huh?” Aria asked, as they passed by kids playing on other machines. “Well, you won’t know unless you try…too bad Adagio doesn’t want to give it any of these games a shot…” Sonata frowned as they stopped before a machine with several holes and a small mallet attached to it with a cable. Above the machine was a sign with a cartoon mouse holding a wedge of cheese with stars swirling above its head as a mallet levitated above it. In big bold letters the sign read; ‘Hit-A-Mouse’. “Haven’t you figured it out, yet?” Aria replied as Sonata inserted her tokens. “Adagio thinks she’s better than us-that’s why she thought she was supposed to be in charge all this time.” Sonata struck a mouse. “But, I thought she was?” “No, she might have intimidated me a bit in the past…but, we’ve already lost too much for me to keep standing by while she tries to think of another ridiculous plan-especially when I know I can do things better and you’re…you.” Three more mice popped up as Sonata hit them in quick succession. “So? You’re in charge now…does that mean you think you’re better than us?” “I’m going to try out one of those light gun games.” Aria commented, ignoring her as she walked towards a row of three machines that gave the choice of blasting dinosaurs, zombies, or aliens. Sonata shrugged before returning her full attention to her game. --- Adagio was sipping on her glass of water as Aria and Sonata returned with the latter carrying a large teddy bear. “What is that?” “His name is Sir Reginald Bear Esquire!” Sonata replied gleefully. “I traded the tickets I won for him!” “My tickets too.” Aria reminded her. “I played a few games, but most of the prizes were pretty lame…” “So, Sonata was wrong after all…what a shocker.” Adagio deadpanned, standing up. “I wouldn’t say that…” Aria replied as they began walking out. “It did feel pretty good to blow off some steam.” “That thing is huge, are you sure you can carry it all the way back to the hotel?” Adagio asked Sonata, there was no way she was going to be carrying that oversized thing if she got tired. “Mm-hmm!” Sonata replied, cuddling the bear.