//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Surviving The Night // Story: Dazzle's Poor Career Choice // by Eyeswirl the Weirded //------------------------------// A little later, the two of them were sitting (on the room's one chair and a conveniently-placed box) by different doors, a hand near the button if they heard or saw something coming. They reasoned that with both of them watching the respective halls, they should see or hear the things coming before they could get past the doors. It wasn't like big, metal animatronics could just pop up in a fraction of a second, right? They passed the time (five hours to go!) by talking. Adagio glanced up at the open vent. "I don't suppose you brought a ladder?" "No, and I don't see any on the screens, either. I'd suggest we look around in the cameras' blind spots, but there's no way we can even leave this room, let alone drag it back here if we found one." The two of them looked at the roof for a moment. It was high enough that if one of them stood on the other's shoulders, they could probably reach it and pull themselves up, but neither were confident about being strong enough to pull up the other in any way. Adagio chuckled. "Suppose I could just have you lift me up-" Sunset scowled at her, "-but, well..." Sunset's expression colored with curiosity when Adagio gave her an unreadable look. "It... it would be a little despicable of me to abandon you right after you saved my life, wouldn't it?" Sunset smiled. "Yes. Yes it would." Adagio shrugged. "Just as well, I suppose. If one of us had to stand on the other's shoulders..." She folded one leg over the other, pointedly displaying a spiky boot. Despite the seriousness of their situation, Sunset started giggling, only laughing harder when Adagio covered her mouth to hide giggles of her own. Soon, the two of them were laughing madly, halted only by Adagio going wide-eyed and screaming, pointing to Sunset's door. Not missing a beat, Sunset slammed the door button, looking over the cameras to see when The Duck was gone. The two shared a quick, worried glance before chuckling again. 1:15AM "So, why aren't you in uniform? Do they just not have security guard outfits here?" Adagio averted her eyes. "No reason." Unfortunately for Adagio, Sunset had little better to do than pry between checking cameras. "Ohh, come on," she urged with a hint of a smirk, "what was it? They didn't have any security heels? Not enough sharp objects to wear for your long nights of sitting still?" Adagio folded her arms. "It's not important." Sunset started to snicker. "Did they want you to wear a hair-net? One you could catch whole schools of fish wi-" A purple, spiky boot stomped on the floor as Adagio's face flushed. "They didn't have anything that fit a teenage girl, alright?! Belts only close so tightly and I wasn't going to guard anything with my pants falling down every-OH SHUT UP!!" Sunset was holding her sides, laughing hysterically. She managed to speak between gasps for air. "Y-you couldn't find pants that stayed up even with those hips?" Adagio stood up, her face indignant as she struck a sultry pose. "I'll have you know that this body hasn't failed me since I got here. I might not be able to fend off this world's deranged idea of kiddie entertainment, but none of this-" she took a stance that better emphasized her legs and rear, "-is just fat! Do you see it? Firm muscle, feel for yourself if you don't-" Sunset turned the entirety of her attention to the cameras. "OkayokayIgetit!" Something about that offer made her extremely uncomfortable. Adagio hmphed, nodding affirmatively as she sat back down. "Good." Things were quiet until after the next encounter with The Rabbit, who barely made it past the window before they closed the door on him. "So," Adagio pondered aloud, "on the topic of clothing, why do you still wear your 'bad girl' jacket?" "Come again?" "Don't give me that, you've been in this world how long? A few years, at least? You must know by now the connotations that attire has here, I thought that was the reason you threw it off when you stood against us." Sunset shrugged. "I, just kind of like the look, I guess." Sighing a little, her eyes drifted to the floor. "That, and even if I let Rarity dress me from the moment I stepped out of the crater-" "Crater?" "I got blasted into a crater." "Sounds painful." "A bit. Can I go on here?" "Yes, sorry." "Thank you. Even if I had a whole new look, nobody would have been any more inclined to think I had changed." She took a second to look over Adagio's purple, pink, somewhat spiky outfit. "Is that the reason you guys still wear your 'bad guy' clothes, too?" There was a shrug. "We're not trying to convince anyone of anything. We have other clothes for keeping a low profile, but it doesn't make much of a difference now." She smiled a little, admiring one of her own wristband-fingerless-glove things. "Besides, I rather like this look." "Even the hai-" Adagio jumped up, her face contorted with rage. "IT GROWS BACK, ALRIGHT?!" Sunset sat wide-eyed at the outburst, the other girl looking a little surprised herself. Adagio slowly shrunk backward with more than a hint of embarrassment as she twirled an orange lock around a fingertip. "I, uh, that is to say..." Sitting back down, she cleared her throat, pretending to take interest in the dark hallway outside her door. "I've gotten used to it, yes." Sunset smiled sheepishly, trying to focus on the cameras again. "Riiiiiight..." 1:45AM "So, how'd you end up working at a place like this?" Adagio again huffed, crossing her arms. "That's not what you're really asking, is it?" Sunset was honestly confused. "What do you mean?" "You want to know why I'm not working at the same place as Aria and Sonata." "Oh." It was vaguely true, at least now that she pointed it out. "That too, I guess." There was an irritated eye-roll, but she answered the question anyway. "I tried to elevate our status in that workplace by talking to the man in charge." "And?" "I didn't know his wife was in the next room." "What would that have to do with-" Realization struck, Sunset's face going scarlet. "You didn't." Adagio smirked. "I wouldn't have needed to, a few suggestive choices of words and careful use of body language and he was eating out of the palm of my hand." She scowled. "Then she walked in. One impending divorce later, I was thrown out. And don't give me that look, by the way they talked, that wasn't the first time she'd caught him with a much younger girl sitting on his desk." Sunset hadn't even realized she was making any kind of expression, quickly shaking her head to dislodge it. "So, yes, the three of us, most of all myself, don't exactly have much going for us." "Maybe your face." "What?!" Having spoken without thinking, Sunset forced a smile. "Yep, your terrified expression is something I'll treasure forever!" Scowling, Adagio groaned and turned red, as annoyed as she was mortified. Sunset grinned cheekily. "Your angry face isn't bad either." "I swear, if you hadn't saved my life already, I'd-" She shrieked, pointing to Sunset's door, which again stopped The Duck from entering a second later. Despite not being able to see Sunset's face while she was turned toward the door, Adagio knew what her facial expression was at that moment. "Not one word, Sunset Shimmer." Sunset couldn't help her poorly-hidden snickering for the next several minutes. --- "You never did tell me what you're doing with a gun, you know." Red-violet eyes traced over the weapon, lying on the nearby counter by the screens. (61% power remaining) "Oh, yea." Sunset scratched her head. "Well, basically, the first time I tried to explore this world, I ended up in one of the... less savory neighborhoods. Someone tried to mug me." She couldn't tell if the look on Adagio's face was one of concern or just vague interest, but it passed as she looked to the cameras. "Go on." "At the time, I really didn't have anything the mugger wanted. While he was explaining the concept of paper money and why I should give it to him, the idiot dropped his guard, followed by his weapon with a swift kick to the gut. I didn't know how to use a gun when I picked it up, but I knew he thought he had some kind of power over me when it was in his hands, and that the tables had turned as he ran off when I pointed it back at him." Sunset shrugged. "I just kinda held onto it ever since." Actually looking faintly intrigued, Adagio nodded. "I don't think I've ever had someone pull a gun on me, but provided they didn't shoot right away, it wouldn't have mattered." She held a hand to her throat, letting out a short note that didn't really sound all that much like a dying cat. Sunset noticed. "H-hey, aren't your voices-" "While our vocal cords are more or less healed," Adagio answered with a roll of her eyes, "we're still not a threat to your school. Did you know that having an enchanted stone broken while still magically attached to any part of your body rather hurts? And don't worry, we'll never be what we were ever again, thank you very much." "Hey," Sunset said with a frown, "if it's any cons-" Adagio held up a hand, not looking at her. "Don't. I'd really rather not risk the last conversation of my life being a pitiful exchange of-" "DOOR!!" Letting out a high-pitched squeak, she turned to slam the button, the sound of The Fox impacting the metal heard a fraction of a second after it fully closed. Both girls breathed a sigh of relief. After a few minutes spent in silence, Sunset decided a lighter topic might be in order. "So, are there any movies you like?" Adagio looked back at her in bewilderment. "They're like big picture-books that-" "I know what movies are, it's your bringing them up that baffles me." Sunset resisted the urge to say something snappy, instead smiling a little at her. "Just something to kil-pass the time with, kinda like movies themselves. Most of Trixar's stuff is pretty good." It explained so much the day Sunset learned the Lulamoon family was directly involved with a major entertainment company. Adagio crossed her arms and looked away, not weighing in. "Have you seen them? The Improbables, An Insect's Existence, Bold, Locating Meno," she noticed Adagio tensing up just slightly at the mention of that last one, averting her gaze a little further. Sunset did her best not to smirk knowingly. "...You might like them, you know. One's about a clown fish looking for his-" "I really don't care." Sunset went on, her smile no weaker. "At one point they meet up with a bunch of sharks having the equivalent of an AA meeting and-" Adagio held her hands over the puffy mass already covering her ears. "I'm not listening." "They have a slogan; 'Fish are friends, not food.'" "And?" "It's funny." "No it isn't." "Neither is the clown fish." "Pity." Adagio's eyes widened, looking at Sunset for a split-second before turning away again. Sunset made no visible reaction. "Later, one of the fish is trying to remember directions to a place on land," Adagio tried harder to cover her ears, "and to memorize it, she says it over and over and over again. 'G Herman, 44 Kangaroo Way Sydney.' 'G Herman, 44 Kangaroo Way Sydney," Adagio was shaking, "G Herman, 44 Kangaroo Way Sydney, G Herman, 44 Kangaroo Way Sydney, G Herman, 44 Kangaroo Way Sy-'" "It's P Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way Sydney, Goddammit, Mory!!" Adagio froze, her face turning crimson as she looked back at Sunset in horror. Briefly checking the cameras to make sure it wasn't for the other reason, Sunset beamed at her. Before she could say anything, Adagio slumped in her seat, covering her face with her hands. "I hate you so much." Sunset giggled. "It's okay you know, millions of people like that movie." "Millions of people," she grumbled back, what Sunset could see of her eyes staring daggers through her fingers, "aren't formerly-aquatic beings." She gave it a minute to sink in. "Go on, laugh!" Sunset only smiled amicably. "I liked those movies even back when I was trying to take over two worlds. They might seem 'kiddie', but there's no reason you can't enjoy them." It was hard to tell, but most of the venom seemed to drain from Adagio's face, if only due to confusion. "And if people poke fun or give you a hard time about it," Sunset added with a wider grin, "Just keep swimming, just keep-" Adagio groaned, but Sunset could definitely see a smile. --- 2:20AM "Is it lonely for you, having to work away from the other two?" Adagio scoffed. "Please, I'm not one of those socially-dependent types. Do you think I'd agree to sit alone in a relatively dark room for six hours by myself otherwise?" "But you wouldn't mind if they were here with you, right?" There was a second's delay in her reply. "I wouldn't mind if they could do something useful while they were with me." "Such as?" Adagio was starting to look annoyed again. "Such as something apart from their usual routine; bickering, complaining, and saying stupid things." Sunset smiled. "I think you'd miss them, if they weren't around anymore, and they would miss you." Adagio turned her attention to the screens, her response coming a little slower this time. "I'd find new partners if I really had to." "How?" "I can be very convincing." "Really? I'm not convinced you'd be okay with leaving them." "I'd manage," she growled through gritted teeth, still staring only at the screens, "East Hall is clear, Rabbit in the Party Room, nothing in the Dining Aria, the Stage is-" Sunset smirked. "What was th-" Adagio felt her face burn. "AREA, Dining AREA!" She turned to Sunset, who started giggling. "Well it's not like I want to get rid of them! They've been good enough partners up to now that there's no need to replace them, what's wrong with that?!" "Nothing," Sunset answered, laughter giving way to a serene smile. "nothing at all." Still nearly glowing, Adagio turned to face the screens again. Easy as it might have been to tease her right then, Sunset didn't want Adagio thinking fondness for her friends was something to be ashamed of, as she apparently did, and opted to take the focus off her a little. "I hear Aria and Sonata's jobs are working out so far." Turning just enough to look at Sunset out of the corner of her eye, Adagio raised a suspicious eyebrow. "You know this, how? If the answer involves dedicating a considerable portion of time to staying concealed and carrying a camera, I don't think I want to know." Sunset dismissively waved a hand. "It's just what I've heard." In response to Adagio's searching look, she deadpanned. "Because I have friends that talk to me about things? And yours tend to draw some attention?" Adagio turned away to hide a smirk. "If anyone you know is thinking of pressing charges for a band of imbeciles being mysteriously injured, I don't think 'it was the girl in the suit with next to no mobility' will hold up in court. I know a few good lawyers, and she still falls on her face every now and then." Sunset gulped. It was true. She laughed nervously. "Yea, imagine mascots being an actual threat to any-" She stopped dead. Neither of them wanted to talk about this anymore. --- "EEEK!!" Once more, a door prevented The Bear's entry, Sunset smiling a little at Adagio's reaction. "You scream every time they so much as get close, you're so jumpy!" Adagio huffed. "Oh I'm sorry, perhaps you're more acquainted with being brutalized than I am? Should I smile and ask them how their night is going before they tear our faces off?" Sunset shrugged a little. "I'm just saying, after a while I think you'd kinda get used to them showing up." "Well excuse me for not having much taste for life-threatening situations! I'm an artist, not a gun-toting barbarian!" The barb went ignored as Sunset pressed further. "Then why'd you take a job as security? What were you going to do if-" "They told me nothing ever happened here, that I'd essentially be getting paid to do nothing!" Sunset smirked. "Right up your alley, huh?" Adagio crossed her arms. "Oh, shut up." "Hey, maybe you could get a job screaming like a little girl?" "Rrrrgh." Sunset chuckled. "Don't worry, Dagi, I'll protect you from the big, bad bear!" Adagio's face darkened with more than a blush. "For someone that's turned over a new leaf, you seem to be taking an awful lot of pleasure in my discomfort." Sunset was grinning ear-to-ear. "Maybe, but I never said I'd be perfect." Adagio spent the next few minutes grumbling under her breath. Sunset enjoyed every second of it. --- 2:51AM "We're going to die. The power's going to run out and we're going to die." Sunset's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at the meter, (12% power remaining) not sure how to counter Adagio's observation. "We might make it." "There are three hours to go before the front doors open up, we won't last another hour!" Sunset glanced around the room, her heart hammering in her chest as she looked back and forth between the few boxes and the camera screens. "M-maybe there's something we can use for more power, like another battery or something." Adagio got right to work, tearing open boxes and scattering things about in a desperate effort to will more time they could use the doors into existence. "I-I don't see anything," she cried, nearly hyperventilating, "there's nothing we can use, the power's going to run out and we'll both-" "Shut up," snapped Sunset, just waiting for the next killer mascot entry attempt, "panicking won't solve anything!" "This is your fault," Adagio snarled, turning to the girl flipping through screens, "we'd have had a lot more left if you hadn't forgotten to open your door again after The Rabbit left!" "Please," Sunset shouted back, "you shut your door like six times when there was nothing there at all!" "I suppose you'd rather have chanced it? I guarantee it wouldn't matter how much power we had left then!" They were only looking at each other now, standing just inches apart. Sunset glared at the other girl. "I'm trying to help you!!" Adagio matched it. "And failing miserably!" "Maybe I shouldn't have come at all!" "Maybe I should thrown you out and locked the door!" Sunset felt tears stinging her eyes as she whispered through gritted teeth. "You bitch. I go out of my way to save your miserable life and you only care about yourself." That seemed to get to her, but before Sunset could derive any amount of satisfaction from it, Adagio grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her to a wall. "I only care about myself?! All anyone cares about is themselves, but you'd condemn just me when I do it?! You make me sick!" She was livid now, breathing heavily and baring her teeth for a few seconds, Sunset staring back as she remembered the day she'd talked to the Dazzlings in that dark hallway. This was much worse. "Why did you come here, Sunset Shimmer? To 'save me'? Because you're just such a good and caring soul? No, you came because you thought that if I died when you could have prevented it, you'd feel guilty, that you just couldn't live with yourself with that possibility on your conscience, never mind the pricks who hired me to begin with while knowing the danger, or the idiot inspectors, if there've ever been any, that refused to shut this place down! People are all about themselves, Sunset Shimmer, I thought you most of all would know that." Sunset opened her mouth, but Adagio slammed her against the wall again, her voice starting to break. "Don't interrupt me! When you came to this world, what was the only thing on your mind? You, and what you could do to your own benefit! Do you know what's changed now that you have friends? NOTHING!! You act the way you do now so you can keep being around them, because being with them is worth more to you than being by yourself! Everything people do is ultimately for their own benefit, even the 'kindest' among us, from your flighty friend that tends to animals because they make her happy, to those that help others because they'll feel guilty if they don't, like you!" Adagio's fingers dug into Sunset's shoulders like a vice, even through the jacket, a faint shine of tears in her eyes. "You, the people who run this place, the students of CHS, your idiot friends, EVERYONE is selfish! Yes, I'm doing this because I can't stand the thought of Aria and Sonata getting by entirely without me, as I know they could, of my idiots not being around for me anymore, but I refuse to be demonized for being just like you!!" She stopped for breath, leaving Sunset speechless and a little sad. Before Sunset could say a word, Adagio laughed bitterly, her smile a ghost of the confident smirk Sunset remembered from the day they met. "Ironic. 'You and me, me and you. One and the same'?" She laughed harder, sinking to her knees and covering her face as her laughter began to sound like sobbing. Any fear Sunset still had of Adagio Dazzle was gone now, seeing her for what she really was deep down; a scared little girl that didn't want to be alone. Maybe it was a little more than ego that made her want to be adored by a crowd. Was it the same for the others? Sunset knelt down to hug her and whisper. "I'm sorry." The two of them stayed that way for a little while, Sunset holding Adagio as she cried into her jacket. She remembered very well the feelings of doubt and the fear of abandonment by her new friends for the first several weeks after the Fall Formal, how much they hurt until she was sure they really weren't going to up and leave her one day. It wasn't hard to empathize with what Adagio was evidently going through. The sirens' magic wasn't just their weapon, it was the thing holding their group together. She wanted to tell Adagio that it couldn't have been the only thing, because they were all still working together, (figuratively speaking) but as sobbing gave way to whimpers and sniffles, she was still too upset to talk. Sunset just held her, gently patting her back until she saw something out of the corner of her eye. The Fox. Leaning it's head into the room. Staring right at her. The bullet hole in it's head was all the reminder needed to see what it had in mind for the two of them. Blood turning to ice-water in her veins, Sunset knew she couldn't make a move. She couldn't get to the gun on the desk by the screens before it attacked, (6% power remaining) she knew that even if they'd had a ladder, she couldn't get up to the vent and out of the building in time, especially not with Adagio the way she was; crying and defenseless. Sunset closed her eyes.