//------------------------------// // Finding the Dazzlings // Story: A Dazzling Reformation // by Thunder Roller //------------------------------// After all the Dazzlings got fired from their jobs (or quit, in Sonata's case), they were unable to get hired again within the time limit they had. The Trio went to other stores and restaurants that were hiring, but they needed to fill out applications and come back at another time. So, they gave up. The Dazzlings went back to their apartment, and packed, waiting for the inevitable. Fighting eviction was futile, and they knew it. Even Sonata, who was usually in a happy mood, was sad. She spent her next three days, sulking on the couch in the living room, with a backpack by her side. Inside the backpack was things she thought they would need to live on the street. A blanket, a small pillow, canned food, a can opener, a pocket knife, matches, dryer lint, and a picture of her, Adagio, and Aria before the Battle of the Bands. True, she didn't need the picture, but it was special to her. It reminded her of better times, and gave her hope that those times would return. But it was only a glimmer of hope in the world of darkness she seen at the moment. Aria would occasionally sit down next to her and try to talk, but Sonata would only say short sentences, and nothing else. Aria wanted the cheerful, childish Sonata back, even though she did get on her nerves at times. Anything to take her mind off of the inevitable. Three days of sulking, three days of preparing, three days of silence, the day came. Early in the morning, they were all ready. They sat in the living room, waiting for the knocking to come. At exactly 8:00 AM, the dreadful knocking came. Adagio sighed, and walked to the door. She opened it slowly, and seen the Landlord, Filthy Rich. "Ms. Adagio, did you come up with the payment?" Filthy Rich asked. "We tried, Filthy Rich," Adagio said, casting her eyes to the ground. "But we were unable to come up with a single dime." "That's too bad." Filthy Rich said, shaking his head. "I am sorry to say, that I must evict you and your friends. I wish there was another way, but there isn't." "Is there really?" Adagio asked, trying one last time. "There must be something we can do to avoid this." "No, there isn't." Filthy Rich said, keeping his face emotionless. "You lived here for two years, with no payment. I even gave you three extra days to come up with the money, but you failed. "I have no choice but to evict you." Adagio sighed in defeat. She nodded her head and went back inside, were Aria and Sonata waited. "Its time, girls." Adagio said, picking up her backpack. The Trio adjusted their backpacks on their backs, and went back to the door, were Filthy Rich stood. "Do you know where your going to go?" Filthy Rich asked. "No, we don't." Adagio said plainly. "I guess we'll just go where the road take us." Filthy Rich didn't stand in their way, nor did he say anything else. He watched them as they walked down the road before pinning a 'For Rent' sign next to the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Trio walked the streets for hours, not saying a word. Occasionally they would get shoved by someone, but they didn't respond. They only continued to walk. They went by many restaurants, hotels, and stores, but none of them meant anything to them now. Those buildings now only resembled promises of things they couldn't have. Dull, empty, meaningless promises. Finally, they came to a bridge that separated the marketplace and the residential area. There was a chain link fence, keeping them from getting beneath the bridge, but this wasn't going to stop Adagio. She took her backpack off, and threw it over. She then grabbed Sonata's and did the same before Aria's. She then placed the toes of her boots between the links, and proceeded to climb up. Once she was on the other side, she looked back at Aria. "Well, come on!" Adagio commanded. Aria sighed, and helped Sonata over before going herself. Once all three of them was on the other side, they started to climb down the hill with their backpack's in tow, and went under the bridge. There was a creek that passed through, but there was enough land under the bridge for them to stay dry. Adagio placed her backpack down on the ground, and sat on top of it. Aria and Sonata continued to stand, staring at her. "Really?" Aria asked. "This is your brilliant plan? To live under some bridge like a troll?!" "We're not living under here!" Adagio snapped. "We're just staying here for a couple of days until we can come up with something!" A slight chilled came through, and Aria started to shake. "Ugh! I wish we brought something to make a fire!" Not saying anything, Sonata took off her backpack, and pulled out her matches and Dryer Lint. She then handed them to Aria, set her backpack beside Adagio's, and sat down. "Well, someone thought ahead." Adagio said with a slight chuckle. "This is great and all, but we still need dry wood." Aria said, putting the dryer lint in her pocket. Sonata lazily pointed to the other side of the creek, were there was three old crates, which looked like they have been there a long time. Aria sighed, and walked up to the creek. She put one foot down in the water, to see it was less than twelve inches deep. Aria continued on, stepping carefully to make sure she didn't fall. Once she was across, she picked up one of the crates to see it was empty. She threw the first crate, which barely landed on the other side before breaking. She then threw the other two, each landing in the same place. Aria then made her way back across, and proceeded to break the crates further. She used one of the boards as a hammer to back the nails out and threw them to the side. Close to an hour later, all the boards were nail free, so she started stacking them in a cone-like shape. Aria took the dryer lint out of her pocket, and placed them in the center. She took a match out the match box, and struck it against the side. After a couple of tries, she had the match lit, and held it close to the lint. The lint quickly caught fire, and after a few moments, the wood did as well. Aria blew the match out, and threw it into the creek. "There, we have a fire." Aria said, sitting down near it. Aria kept her feet near the fire, but not too close, so they would dry. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three days passed under the bridge, mostly in silence. Aria would occasionally complain about how much it sucked, and Adagio would give suggestions, which were instantly shot down by Aria. The only one who didn't say a word, was Sonata. She didn't say anything ever sense they left their Apartment, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. Adagio would occasionally ask her something, but she would only shrug, nod, or shake her head. Aria would complain about Sonata, but she never even acknowledged it. Most of the time, Sonata sat away from Adagio and Aria, staring at something in her backpack. Neither of them ever bothered to ask what it was, but that didn't mean they weren't curious. Whatever it was, it must of meant something to her if she was always staring at it. A twig breaking was heard, and they all shifted their gaze to where it come from. There stood a girl with red and yellow curly hair, a black leather jacket, and an orange skirt. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunset Shimmer walked through Canterlot, with one designation in mind. An old bridge, that had a creek running beneath it. She first discovered it not long after the Fall Formal. At first, it was a fortress of solitude, away from anyone who would be mean to her for what she has done. It was nice to be alone with her thoughts as her only company. It gave her time to think without anything to disrupt her. Now, it reminded her of the hard times and how she was able to get passed them with the help of her friends. She would think about them, and how they helped her redeem herself at the Battle of the Bands. Her thoughts then shifted to the Dazzlings. Come to think about it, no one had seen them after the Battle of the Bands competition. Or if they did, they didn't say anything. Of course, there were rumours, but they never had anything to back it up. There was a rumour that they left town out of embarrassment, another that said they now live in the woods, and another that said they returned to where they came from. Sunset knew the last one wasn't true, due to the fact that they were banished to this world by Starswirl the Bearded. But the first two were still a possibility. Sunset reached the bridge, and climbed over the fence with practised ease. She landed on the grass with a soft thud, and continued to climb down the hill. Once she reached the bottom, she turned and seen two girls sitting on backpacks, and another who seemed to be staring at something inside of her own. It took a moment for Sunset to realize who they were, due to them being covered in dirt. Finally, she realized it was The Dazzlings, living under her bridge. Her first emotion was anger, remembering that they almost tore her friends apart, but it quickly faded when she realized that they needed help. She took a step forward, and accidentally broke a twig. They quickly looked in her direction, startled. She took this time to try to read their emotions. After Sonata recovered from being startled, she stared at her with hopeful eyes. Aria seemed to have a mix of emotions between anger, and fear. Adagio on the other hand, was full of anger, and hatred. "Um... Hi." Sunset said, taking another step forward. "What are you doing under a bridge?" "What are YOU, doing under a bridge?" Adagio spat, not taking her eyes off of Sunset. "I come here every Friday." Sunset admitted. "This place kinda holds good memories for me." "Is it really Friday?" Aria asked, looking at Sonata quickly before turning back to Sunset. "Yeah." Sunset said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. "So, what are you doing here?" "We got evicted from our Apartment." Adagio admitted. "Which wouldn't of happened if YOU and the other Rainbooms hadn't destroyed our pendants!" "Well, you did kinda try to tear my friends apart, and the rest of the school." Sunset said defensively. "We were left with no other choice." "Yeah, well do you know what your actions caused?!" Adagio asked, standing up. "Did you not think of what would happen to us if you took away our power?!" "You're pinning this on me?" Sunset asked, a little shocked. "Why didn't you just try to get along with other people to begin with? Power isn't the answer to everything." "Funny, coming from someone who tried to take over Equestria." Sunset took a step back, her feelings hurt by the memories. "I- I changed!" Sunset recoiled. "A-And you can too!" Adagio raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to pull?" "I'm not pulling anything." Sunset said. "I'm just pointing out that you are living under a bridge when you don't have to." "We don't have to?" Adagio asked sarcastically. "Thats funny, because it sure does look like it." "It may look that way, but its not. Look, I'm staying at Pinkie's for a while. I'm sure she'll let you too if you just ask." "Thanks, but no thanks." Adagio said, turning her back to Sunset. "We don't take handouts. We can make it on our own." Adagio felt a tap on her shoulder, so she turned and seen Sonata, staring at her with tear filled eyes. "Adagio, I think we should do it." Sonata said, finally speaking again. "We can't make it on our own. If we stay out here, we'll get sick, and we can't afford to see a doctor." "We DON'T need their help!" Adagio snapped back. Sonata sighed, and walked away from Adagio, carrying her bag on her back. She watched as Sonata walked up next to Sunset, and gave her a short hug. Watching this was like a slap in the face to her. She realized that her mouth was hanging open, so she quickly shook her head and looked at Aria. "Well?" Adagio asked Aria. "Are you going to say anything?" Aria grunted. "That idiot has a point." Aria stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked up next to Sonata. She turned and crossed her arms as she stared at Adagio. She looked around, trying to find an excuse for them to stay with her. "I-I'm your leader!" Adagio stuttered. "Which means you're nothing without us." Aria pointed out. "It doesn't have to be like this." Sunset spoke up. "If you just come with us, I'm sure you can redeem yourself, and make a better life than this." "I'm not going anywhere with you!" Adagio shouted, making Sunset wince. "Then I'm sorry." Sunset said with a sigh. "If you change your mind, then you know where to find us." Sunset began to walk away, with Sonata and Aria following. Adagio bit her lip, and quickly grabbed her bag. "Wait!" Adagio shouted, running to catch up with Sunset and the others. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About thirty minutes later, Sunset and The Dazzlings were at Pinkie's house. It was much different from what the Dazzlings were expecting. It seemed to be an average house, except for many large boulders in the front yard. Sunset knocked on the front door, and soon a girl with pink, curly hair came to the door. "Sunny!" Pinkie exclaimed, giving Sunset a hug. "I see you brought friends!" "Yeah." Sunset said, pulling away from Pinkie Pie. "Is it cool if they stay here with us for a while?" "Of course its okay!" Pinkie answered excitedly, moving out of the way. "Come on in!" Sunset and the Dazzlings walked inside, with Adagio raising an eyebrow at Pinkie. "You're really okay with this?" Adagio asked, confused. "Of course I am, silly!" Pinkie said, smiling wide. "Why wouldn't I be?" "Don't you remember what we did at the Battle of the Bands?" "Yepperoni!" Pinkie said, bouncing in place. "So, what do you guys wanna do first?! Finger Paint, eat Pizza," Pinkie Pie then got really excited. "Finger Paint while eating Pizza?!" "Can we shower first?" Aria asked, looking down at her clothes. "We're a little... dirty." "I guess that would be a good idea." Pinkie said, nodding. "But we only have one shower, so you'll have to take turns. But don't touch the Mane & Tail. Thats Maud's. But you can use the the other Mane & Tail. That one's mine!" "And how can we tell them apart?" Sonata asked. "They're labelled, silly! Mine is covered in glitter and rainbow stickers!" "How do you keep the stickers on?" Adagio asked. "Wouldn't it come off with the water?" "Suuuuper Glue!" Pinkie said, talking in a mystical voice. "Um... okay?" Adagio said, even more confused. Sunset then leaned to Adagio. "If you value your sanity, don't try to figure Pinkie out." "In any case, I call first dibs." Adagio said, taking a step forward. "Where's the shower?" "Upstairs, first door on the right." Pinkie said, leaning in the directions as she gave them. Adagio half-heartedly thanked Pinkie, and made her way upstairs. She went through the bathroom door, and took in her environment. The sink, toilet, and shower was white, where everything else was grey, which felt a little depressing. The only thing that really stood out, was a bottle of Mane & Tail that was covered in pink glitter, with brightly colored stickers all over it. She closed the door behind her, locked it, and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her normally puffy hair was matted, her clothes were covered in dirt, and her make-up was ruined. She sighed, and went to turn on the shower faucet.