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// 4. Not as Planned 
// Story: Undazzled 
// by Animegx43 
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The Dazzlings spent a fair bit of time singing for Ponyville, but they were smarter the second time around, giving more encouragement to the audience to give them their bits in between songs. Just like before, they were being well loved. They were greatly adored. They were given everything they wanted before they were turned into ponies.

One mare, on the other hand, didn't like how they were using an area at town hall. Without knowing what a bad idea it would've been, she tried to talk reason to the Dazzlings. So she approached Adagio and gave her a piece of her mind.

"Excuse me, but I'm the mayor of Ponyville, and I don't recall giving you girls permission to--"

"Buzz off, you old broad." Adagio ordered, who then pushed the mayor away with her magic, sending her flying. I love being a unicorn.

As the Dazzlings had done a wonderful job enchanting the audience with their song, none of them realized or cared that the mayor was trying to crash the party, let alone get knocked off the stage. In any case, their show quickly became a hit.

Unfortunately, while Aria and Sonata kept their eyes on the crowd, Adagio had her eyes on their hat and saw the lack of progress. The ponies were watching the show, but only one or two had bothered to put any money in the hat. It seemed as though they were working for nothing at the rate they were going.

Next time, we're straight up charging admission. At least I know we've got a few fans for next time.

After they finished up their song, the audience they gathered gave them a round of applause, stroking the egos of the homeless Dazzlings. Aria enjoyed the attention and even Sonata started to blush from the love, but Adagio knew what they actually needed. She decided that they needed to up their game.

"Okay girls,  we need to change tactics. We want to see to it that every stallion in here empties their pockets."

"I don't think ponies have pockets, Adagio." Aria said.

"And I think most of them in this town are girls." Sonata added.

That actually raises a few questions,  but that's not important right now. Adagio thought after hearing Aria and Sonata's comments. "Look, I don't care who we're playing for. Heck, I don't even care if we don't have magic. I want these ponies under my...under our control!"

Although Aria rolled her eyes to Adagio, she kept following her lead anyway and Sonata just followed them mindlessly. With their group talk over, they turned their attention back to the crowd.

"Okay, my big ponies." Adagio said with a seductive tone. "For our next performance..."

Before Adagio could finish her announcement, something horrifying caught her eye. Their songs had to wait to deal with a potential crisis.

Walking around a nearby corner, Adagio and Aria noticed Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer talking with nearby ponies. It appeared that they gave up their search in the human world and returned to Equestria. To make matters worse, the mayor had made her way to Twilight, likely due to her own run in with Adagio. If they stayed a moment longer or sang another note, they would be caught.

"For our next performance, we'll be charging admission. Okay! Got to go! bye!"

Refusing to be seen, Adagio grabbed the money filled hat, Aria grabbed Sonata, and the three ran like the wind, leaving their audience to be disappointed since they wanted more. But, it couldn't be helped. No amount of fame and fortune was worth getting caught by Twilight Sparkle, let alone mere pocket change.

Lucky for them, they were able to get away from the scene before Twilight and Sunset made it to the scene, but the Dazzlings were far from safe. Since they knew that they were being sought after, they had to keep a low profile for the time being. Incidentally, this meant that they wouldn't be able to make any more money for a while.

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Later that day, after successfully giving Twilight and Sunset the slip, Adagio brought the Dazzlings to motel that she found. They had to spend everything they earned to get the room they were given, but it meant that they didn't have to sleep under a park bench that night.

Sadly, the room was nothing compared to the apartment they lived in during their stay in the human world. The paint on the wall was aged and chipping, but even if it wasn't, they were an ugly green color. The room was clean for the most part, but the stained carpet and worn beds made it clear that they probably could've found a cleaner one. It did have a bookshelf for reading pleasures, but after the Dazzlings, Sonata in particular, had gotten introduced to electronics and television during their stay in the human world, the experience felt primitive.

"Yuck. Adagio, couldn't you have charmed the manager and maybe get a better place." Aria asked.

"I did. That's how we were able to get this room at all. You and Sonata will also have to share a bed because we didn't have enough to get a second room."

"Hey, why do me and Miss. Grumpy Pants have to share a bed?" Sonata asked.

Choosing action over words, Adagio did what she would normally do to Aria when such a question is asked. With her magic, she grabbed Sonata by the throat, pulled Sonata towards her, and stared down the at the ditzy pegasus eye-to-eye. Even someone like Sonata could see the anger and aggression that Adagio had been trying to repress simply by seeing the unicorn's pupil.

"O-okay. We'll...share a bet." The strangled Sonata said as she gasped for air.

As Adagio heard no objections from Aria, who was busy being shocked from seeing her treat Sonata in such a way, she released Sonata from her magic, gave her a chance to take a deep breath, and marched to one of the two beds in the room. After that, she lied down, had had her head face the wall, and was quiet after that. She was not at all in the mood to actually say anything, nor did she want to hear anything stupid out of Aria or Sonata again.

Adagio had too much on her mind to want to care about nonsense. Without letting the others see her, she took out something that she wanted to keep hidden: Three bits. The same three bits that she had received from the wolf earlier that day. She could've used it to help make things easier for herself and the Dazzlings, but she refused to spend it.

These are going to haunt me forever, and I'm probably going to let them haunt me. Adagio thought as she put the bits away.

"Hey look! These beds can vibrate!" Sonata noticed as she the coin operated device. "I say we race them!"

"You've watched too many cartoons in the other world. Besides, we're broke" Aria reminded. "We should use this time to figure out what we're going to do tomorrow."

Sonata disagreed. She thought the idea was pointless. "What's to figure out? We make the ponies pay us, we give them a show in return, and if we get a chance, maybe steal bits from the cheapskates.

Holy crap! She's been using her head! Adagio thought, who expected far less out of Sonata's limited mentality.

"Yes, that probably would work if we weren't...you know...WANTED CRIMINALS!!!"

"Aria, keep your voice down." Adagio finally spoke up. Since Aria brought up a topic that was legitimately important, she decided to mope about the bits she was hiding later. "We haven't introduced ourselves to anyone here yet. As long as we don't stir up any nonsense, we shouldn't get caught."

"But singing is the only thing we're good at, and that does nothing BUT catch attention." Aria argued. "How are we supposed to stay here if we can't live off of the only thing we came to Equestria for?"

"We'll do exactly what we did when we got banished. We'll find someone foolish like our old dorky landlord, convince them to let us stay somewhere until we could get on our feet, and the rest solves itself. For now, just get some sleep. Let ME get some sleep."

Adagio didn't want to think, do, or deal with anything until the next morning. After going through a major change, dealt with unexpected experiences, and was still thinking about the bits she had kept with her, she wanted to have a night, or even five minutes, where she'd be able to think of absolutely nothing.

As she did her best to ignore Aria and Sonata, Adagio turned back to the wall, wrapped herself under the blankets, and tried to call a night. Since it was getting late anyway and Adagio showed no interest in letting the conversation continue, Aria regrettably decided to get some rest as well. 

In response, Sonata jumped right on her side of the bed and knocked Aria out of the bed. "I still want a bed race!"

Please don't let me drop dead be the only way for me to get rest.

It took a little bit of time for Aria and Sonata to get situated, but once they both got into their bed, they managed to keep quiet, much to Adagio's surprise. After a busy day of surprises and excitement, all she wanted was peace and quiet. Using her magic for the final time that day, Adagio turned off the lights, and began to doze off. The others did the same, but even then, Sonata had to say one more thing.

"Aria?" Sonata said quietly. "I'm hungry again."

Without turning around to face her or even raising her voice, something Aria doesn't usually do when it came to Sonata, she gave her a simple reply. "Yeah. Me too."

Cry babies. I'm hungry too, but they don't hear me whining-- But before Adagio could finish the thought, she heard her own stomach growl, which she hoped the others didn't hear. Shut up, gut. You and I both know you'll have to if my dreams are to come true.

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Even with the light hunger pains, the Dazzlings were able to get a decent sleep. They avoided one homeless night and were given a chance to start off their careers as singers on hopes of achieving world conquest. As they arrived in Equestria during midday the day before, they had the advantage of getting a full day to be active. As for a disadvantage: Adagio woke up with some unexpected news.

"GET UP!" Aria shouted. 

After yelling at Adagio, she shoved her out of her bed, knocking her to the floor. Adagio had a good sleep with all things considered, so of course it had to be ruined by an unwanted wake-up call.

"Ow! What's the meaning of this?" Adagio asked.

"THIS is the meaning of...this. Whatever, just look!"

Before Adagio could even get back on her hooves, Aria presented a large, brown piece of paper to her. Adagio got up with the intention of punishing Aria for waking her up, but after seeing what Aria brought in, she understood her behaviour.

The brown paper Aria found was a wanted poster, one with sketches of the Dazzlings themselves, though the sketches themselves appeared to have been incomplete as they lacked certain details, mainly Adagio's horn and Sonata's wings. Overall, they appeared somewhat crude, but it was clear that the individuals on the poster were meant to be them.

"I don't believe it. How could this happen?" Adagio asked.

After taking the wanted poster out of Aria's hooves, Sonata read it out loud to answer Adagio's question. "It says here we dined and dashed, assaulted the mayor of Ponyville, and intruded on Princess Twilight's castle."

"Well, I guess those really are crimes." Adagio admitted.

"I'm just glad it doesn't include our crimes as sirens." Sonata added. "They'd probably banish Aria again if they found out she ate babies."

In return, Aria brought up another memory. "Or you when they learn how you made two villages go into a civil war because one of them didn't like you?" 

"Hey, those guys were jerks."

As much as I'm enjoying this nostalgia trip, I need to bring an end to the stupidity. Adagio thought.

After taking back the wanted poster and giving it another look, Adagio started to think of what to do next. She noticed how the sketches were well drawn, but more importantly, the fact that there were named. She concluded that Twilight and Sunset were the ones who prepared the poster, as her and Sonata's names were both on it.

"Hey, Aria. They must not even know who you are, because you're name isn't even on here." Adagio said, insulting and angering Aria. "But in all due seriousness, Twilight and Sunset must've figured out who we are. For now, we'll just have to hope the foolish ponies in this town don't recognize us as we continue to sing."

To make it harder to get caught, Adagio used her magic on all three of the Dazzlings, more specifically, their hair. By removing the hair bands, their hair all dropped down, giving them a slight, but noticeable change in their appearance. It wasn't much, but it was better than doing absolutely nothing.

"I want the two of you to go around town and find all of these wanted posters and get rid of them. After that, we can get a show started."

"And what happens if someone at the show recognize us?" Aria asked.

"At that point, they'll already be under our spell." Adagio argued. "Now I'm going to check us out of our room before the manager realizes they're harboring criminals. You two get to town and find more of those posters."

Wanting to deal with their newest obstacle as soon as possible, Adagio left Aria and Sonata behind, trusting them to carry out their newly appointed job, although she usually doesn't trust either one of them to accomplish anything without her. In any case, it was a risk worth taking, as they wouldn't be able to accomplish much if the town recognized them as criminals.

Sonata would've went out to do what she was told to do, but Aria stopped her before she left. For the first time, Aria had something important to talk to Sonata about.

"With Adagio gone, we need to talk about something."

"Is it about breakfast? I'm starving."

While not the thing that was on her mind, Aria didn't feel the need to disagree. "We'll try and figure that out. Until then, we need to talk."

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Long after she left the motel, Adagio did her share of finding and shredding the wanted posters across Ponyville. Quite a few were made, but since Adagio was able to find as many as she found without getting caught, she felt confident. So far, the plan was going off without a hitch.

"I should work solo more often." Adagio said to herself. "It feels like I'm succeeding for once."

After dealing with another poster, she made her way to a bulletin board that was covered up with many different fliers and posters, feeling that it was an obvious place to find another wanted poster. Initially, she didn't see her face anywhere, so it looked like she had a secured area.

"Excuse me, pal. Can I get through."

However, a red stallion managed to get Adagio to move out of the way, who then proceeded to pin something on the bulletin board. After getting a good look at him, Adagio realized that she knew him.

Wait. This guy looks like the hall monitor at Canterlot High.

When the stallion was finish, Adagio saw precisely what he was posting. As it turned out, it was one of the wanted posters for the Dazzlings. Even with the slight change in her hair, the stallion proved to have been smart enough to realize who was standing next to him after a few moments. In that same time, Adagio realized who the stallion was.

And it appears that in THIS world, he's a cop.

Using quick think, Adagio grabbed one of the many fliers on the board, and slammed it into the stallions face. After he got the flier off, he saw that Adagio had already started to run away. Just as Adagio feared, she was spotted by a cop. Worst still, she was reckless enough to get spotted by one.

"Freeze! You are under arrest!" The stallion shouted.

"No!" As Adagio was too busy getting chased, she answered with a very simple and blunt answer. Why in the world would stop? I'd get caught.

The chase didn't last overly long. As soon as Adagio found her way to a park, she quickly and desperately jumped into a large bush, one that was capable of hiding her and all of the hair she had on her head. She had a very difficult time shaking off the cop, so she even had her doubts on whether or not she was safe in the bush.

She kept quiet and still. She did her best not to make even the slightest sound. She didn't even from breathe. She could hear the grunts and muttering of the cop who was chasing after her, and while she didn't want to admit it to even herself, she was scared.

I will not let some nobody like you put an end to my dreams like this.

She heard him approaching the area. She heard him speak. She also heard another individual. She began to sweat as it seemed like she was about to get caught. 

"Hi there. Have you seen these mares. More specifically, the one in the middle of this poster?" The cop asked.

The new voice she heard spoke up. "Hmm...no sir, I can't say I have."

"Dang it. Well, if you see them, either let me know or let Princess Twilight Sparkle know. Take care, pal."

After the cop was told that she wasn't seen, Adagio could hear him grumbling and moping as he walked away. She didn't risk peeping her head out of the bush, but she was sure that he was gone. After waiting a few moments, she let out her breath and started to breathe normally. She finally felt safe.

"He's gone. You can come out now."

Adagio heard the second voice, but she was caught off guard when it spoke up again. Was that directed to me?

She felt a finger poking through the bush, nudging on her nose. The voice then spoke up again. "It's safe for you to come out now."

Since she was already discovered, Adagio saw no reason to stay in the bush any longer. After poking her head out to make sure the cop was gone, she merged from the bush completely and was out in the open. That was when she bared witness to something that annoyed her more than anything before.

Oh my...WHY!?

In front of her hiding place was a park bench, which itself was placed in front of a small pond. It was not a pony who sat there and covered for her. It was the exact same one she encountered the day before. It was the wolf in the purple suit. First he gave her money, then he saved her from the police.

Adagio didn't care for the wolf's kindness, especially since she used to live to spread negativity to all around her. Because of that, it pained her to have to stay with him since she had nowhere else to go.

"I can't possibly imagine why a nice mare like yourself could be wanted." The wolf said with confusion.

"That would be because I'm a very bad girl." Adagio answered. "So tell me. What do you think you're doing?"

"Well, I have no appointments right now, so i thought I'd come to feed the ducks." The wolf explained as he threw breadcrumbs into the pond.

"Ugh...I meant why would you save me. Didn't you think that was dumb?"

The wolf thought about it for a moment. Adagio made a perfectly valid point, as he really had nothing to gain from helping her. In fact, he very well could've gotten in trouble if anyone knew he helped her. So, after thinking all of that over, he came up with an answer.

"I like you." He said with a smile.

ACK! That's such a Sonata answer. Now I REALLY wish I didn't return his wallet.

Adagio found herself hating the wolf. She found everything about him to have struck a nerve with her, from the soothing sound of his voice to his overall politeness. He was practically the embodiment on everything Adagio hated in a person.

So, she found it hard to explain why she didn't just up and leave. Instead, Adagio actually got up onto the bench and sat right next to him. Just as before, once she started to think of him, she  couldn't get him out of her head.

Since the two were hanging around for a while, the wolf decided that it was time to introduce himself. It all started off by offering a handshake. "By the way, I am Dr. Wolf."

Adagio saw the handshake, but she refused to accept it. "The name seems a bit on the nose, doesn't it?" She argued. While she very could've made fun of his name more, she decided to introduce herself anyway. "Adagio. Adagio Dazzle."

With introductions out of the way, things began to get interesting from there. Dr. Wolf put the bag of breadcrumbs next to him and turned his attention to Adagio. He could tell by looking at her that she a lot was on her mind. She appeared very stressed out, but after getting chased by a cop, that could be understood.

Adagio tried her best not to look at him back, but after it became clear that he had his eye on her, it was impossible to ignore him completely. From what she could make out, it appeared as though Dr. Wolf was actually worried about her.

Deciding to break he silence, Dr. Wolf spoke up and asked a question. "So Miss Dazzle.  Tell me what's on your mind."