//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: SURPRISE!! // Story: Fluff and Kidnapping // by Eyeswirl the Weirded //------------------------------// The sounding of five simultaneous party horns signaled the end of the modified birthday song, Rarity clapping joyfully in appreciation. Rainbow might have been in favor of using Fluttershy's songs a little more often since the Battle of the Bands, but it was the first time she'd ever seen Fluttershy agree to being the lead vocalist in anything. She almost regretting having to just sit back and watch, but being serenaded by her friends was a treat all by itself. "Thank you all," she said with a sincere smile, "this has been the nicest birthday in years!" Chuckling, she glanced over to the pile of neatly-folded wrapping paper and glittering bows that had been used to wrap her gifts, (a lady does not just tear apart perfectly good, reusable wrapping) finding those to be just as much welcome as the items themselves. "Really though, the five of you didn't have to-" Applejack cut her off, looking amused. "Rarity, with all you give the rest of us year-round, yes, gettin' you somethin' on yer birthday is necessary." The six of them giggled together, Applejack giving Rainbow a pointed look. "Speakin' of..." Rainbow, who hadn't offered a present right away, grinned with delight. "Guess that means it's my turn!" She motioned to Pinkie, who stood up with a similar smile. "Mine's waiting around back, it'll knock your silky socks off! Pinkie-Promise!" Rarity nodded. "Lead the way, I suppose." As the three of them left the room, Sunset Shimmer gave Applejack and Fluttershy an inquisitive look, to which they shrugged. "Ah don't know either, Sugarcube." Fluttershy glanced after them. "I wonder what it is." Sunset did the same. "If it's Pinkie and Rainbow giving someone something at the same time, I'm actually a little worried..." Applejack adjusted the rim of her hat as she leaned back on the couch. "Ah'm sure ArrDee knows better than to play a prank on someone right after their own birthday party, an' Pinkie'd blow a gasket if she did somethin' like that." Mostly reassured, Sunset smiled. "Yea, you're probably right. What do you think it-" The front door flew open with a bang, Fluttershy diving behind the couch in fright. Not stopping to say hello or apologize for the sudden entry, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk walked in, the former giving Sunset and Applejack a threatening glare. "Where is she?!" Sonata tried to back it up, adding an irritated hands-on-hips pose for effect. Sunset, Applejack, and the back of the couch shared a quick look, Sunset replying first. "Sorry for being cliche here, but, where is who?" "Don't gimme that," spat Aria, "one of you bozos kidnapped Adagio, didn't you?!" They again shared a look, more confused than before. Strangely, it was Fluttershy that spoke up this time, though she stayed behind the couch. "Y-your friend's gone missing?" "AHA," declared Sonata, a finger meaningfully extended in the couch's direction, "so you DO know something happened to her!" Aria's posture lost some of it's menace as her shoulders slumped, deadpanning a reply. "We pretty much just told them that. Idiot." Sonata pouted. "Heeey! I thought we agreed on no name-calling until after we find her!" Aria rolled her eyes. "Yea, whatever." She returned her attention to Sunset, Applejack, and the talking couch. "So you seen her or not?" Truth be told, none of them had seen a curly hair of Adagio Dazzle since she joined Sunset in coming to school one day about two weeks before, listening to suggestions about where she might be able to find work. It looked more like she was humoring Sunset than anything else and they hadn't heard from her since. "Um, sorry," Sunset offered, "we haven't seen her." Aria held her gaze for a long minute, the glare slowly fading to something of a pleading frown. "Are you sure? 'Cuz, it's okay if you did lock her up in your basement for a crazy seven-way or something later, we just wanna know where." Applejack's face resembled part of her namesake. "S-seven-way?!" Aria shrugged. "Hey, I don't know what you guys get up to and I'm not judging, we just wanna find Adagio." "S-sorry," muttered Sunset, fighting off an equally fierce blush at the thought of her, her friends, and Adagio all... doing that, "we really haven't seen her." Sonata put a hand on Aria's shoulder. "Maybe someone else nabbed her? We've got a lot of enemies." Turning a little to look at her, Aria raised an eyebrow. "You got the list?" She produced a piece of paper from her skirt pocket. "Yep!" As she and Aria turned to leave, Sonata caught sight of the colorful banner wishing Rarity a happy birthday. She smiled genuinely. "Whoever just got a year closer to dying, Happy Birthday!" All present were grateful that Rarity was not. Without another word, the two of them walked out, Sunset standing up when the door closed. "I should probably go after them, who knows what kind of trouble they'll start if they can't find her?" Muttering about those siren girls not being right in the head, Applejack nodded. "Reckon Ah'll head out too, got a bit'a work to do." She chuckled, patting her stomach. "'Sides, gotta work off that cake." Sunset smirked at her. "Right, because you of all people are totally at risk of getting too heavy." The three of them giggled, Fluttershy having emerged from her hiding place. "I think I'll head home too, see you guys at school?" A few minutes later, Rainbow and Pinkie pushed a large, colorful box, about a square meter of space in total, into the living room, Rarity walking behind them. "Hm. Looks like the others went home." "Aww," moaned Pinkie, "they'll miss the big surprise!" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Bigger than that chocolate Ferris wheel?" It was only big enough to take up the dining room table, but nobody asked how she put it together. The cars even rotated as per a real Ferris wheel. "The other big surprise!" "Speaking of," Rarity said with more than a hint of eagerness toward the box, "may I open it now?" Rainbow and Pinkie shared ear-to-ear grins, taking hold of the lid and lifting it in unison. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" Rarity's expression went from anticipation to shock almost immediately as she laid eyes on the 'gift' Rainbow had in mind for her. Judging by the way the 'gift' was staring back at them, Rarity wasn't the only one surprised by these developments. Adagio Dazzle was lying on a large cushion on the floor of the box, tied up at the wrists and ankles, arms at her back, and gagged with a red bow that was held in place with a shiny, red ribbon. The pair of kidnappers giggled to each other at the sight of Rarity's mouth hanging open, Rainbow explaining the rationale behind her present. "I got the idea a while back, after she popped in to join us at school that one time? The way you went on and on about her for the next two days, I figured this was exactly what you'd have wanted." As Rarity tried to form a coherent sentence about being touched that they cared about her enough to commit what she was fairly certain was an illegal act for her sake, but still preferring they didn't, Rainbow wrapped an arm around Pinkie's shoulders. "Of course, I can't take all the credit, it never woulda worked without her!" Pinkie giggle-snorted, still delighting in the look on Rarity's face. She agreed to help Rainbow when she said that this would be both a gift to Rarity, and a prank (from the Scary department of jokes and tomfoolery, frightening the victim, then revealing they weren't really in any danger for instant giggles) on Adagio. "It's a total win-win deal!" Rarity continued to sputter in shock and disbelief, Rainbow smiling as she headed toward the door. "Welp, hope you enjoy your present!" Pinkie skipped along after her, giggling merrily. "Have fun, you two!" They had the decency not to slam the door. Rarity, a little uncomfortable with the insinuating tone of that last comment, turned slowly to her 'prize' to find her looking considerably less comfortable. Even with the cushion. Adagio stared up at her, pupils shrunk to pin-pricks, visibly sweating. Suppose I would too, trapped in a box with all that fabulous hair. Humidity must be murderous for her. Rarity smiled sheepishly. "Please don't mind anything those two said, I have nothing but pure intentions for-I mean, had nothing but, no, wait, that sounded-ah, l-let me start over." Adagio squirmed in place, trying to get her hands free, to no avail. Rarity cleared her throat. "Perhaps I should start with this." Adagio flinched when Rarity reached out towards her, Rarity hesitating for a split-second when she did. Still, as there was nothing malicious about what she meant to do, she went ahead and took the bow-gag out of the other girl's mouth. Adagio immediately scowled up at her. I will not beg, I will not plead, I am a siren!! "Listen carefully," she seethed, "when I get out of this, tales of my revenge will be spoken in whispers in this region for generations to come." Trying to ignore the shivers Adagio's threat sent down her spine, Rarity kept a cool head. "Actually, I was thinking-" "And after I break the ones who put me in this position," she interrupted, "I'll come after the rest of you. Don't worry about Aria and Sonata, I won't even bother asking their help, because I want to do all of it myself." "That's not really neces-" "It will be slow, it will be agonizing, as much as lying in this goddamn box has been for me while I waited to know my fate." Sure, she had only been awake for around forty minutes, but waking to find herself tied up in a box is not how she'd have chosen to start the day. "I'm sorry abo-" "If you're wondering? I'll get you last, so that in being the one to 'receive' me as a gift, you'll be awarded the full horror of-" As the creepy little monologue went on, Rarity rolled her eyes, took hold of the bow-gag still hanging around Adagio's neck, and moved it toward her mouth. "-with the tombstones. And when that's finished, I'll-what are you-DON'T YOU DARE-" The gag was fastened in place again. The resulting glare might have melted glaciers, but Rarity only stared crossly back at her. "I do apologize if this ordeal has been terribly unpleasant for you, but that is no excuse to go making threats. Doubly so for long, vague, scary ones." She wanted to be patient and understanding with Adagio, (her friends' occasional ludicrous antics could be anywhere from strange to horrifying for anyone not accustomed to them) but there was only so much venom one could put up with. "I hate to be the one to remind you of this, but you are currently tied up, in Pinkie Pie's knot-work, if I'm not mistaken, alone, and helpless before someone you just promised horrible vengeance upon. To their face. Are you certain you wouldn't like to revise your position a little?" The realization seemed to reluctantly creep back into Adagio's awareness, her anger fading back down into fear, making Rarity's own indignance again bubble back down to guilt for the other girl's predicament. While she hadn't forgotten everything that happened because of them, not to mention a perfectly good outfit being ruined, Rarity had no plans to take any kind of revenge on any of the Dazzlings, even now. She sighed. "Look, let's start over." Clearing her throat, she forced a smile. "Hello there! First off, I should probably apologize for my friends abducting you, I didn't ask them to do that. It's my birthday, you see, and Rainbow Dash had something of an unorthodox idea for a present. You. Specifically, so I could style your hair." Adagio only stared back. It was a little hard to tell just from her eyes, but it looked like she was just incredulous. With an abashed giggle, Rarity scratched the back of her head. "Yes, I was rather shocked as well, but you see-" There was a knock at the door, startling both of them. Rarity glanced back and forth between it and Adagio, again smiling sheepishly. "I'm truly sorry about this," she whispered, "but I don't really know how to explain this situation to guests, would you mind just sitting tight for a spell?" As Rarity moved the lid back in place, the way Adagio thrashed and shook her head suggested she very much did mind. Rarity already felt horrible, but it was only going to be a few minutes. She rushed off to answer the door. Alone, in a box, Adagio lay on her side, quietly sighing to herself. The action lost something when there wasn't even anyone she could complain to about her miserable situation. That situation was being trapped in a box. All she could really do was keep an ear to the ground, (which in this case was the wall of a box) listening for any sign of someone coming by. She could hear a voice that wasn't Rarity's, wishing her a happy birthday, Ugh. dispensing small-talk, Yawn. asking if she got anything interesting, If only you knew! and making Rarity some kind of offer she couldn't hear clearly. For her part, it sounded like Rarity was conducting the conversation not at all like someone that had a person trapped in a box in her living room. That the apparent heroes of this realm could orchestrate and cover up this kind of thing so easily was a thought too frightening to dwell on, so Adagio was grateful when she heard Rarity's returning footsteps. She showed her gratitude by glaring at her the moment the lid was off again. Rarity gave her the same apologetic grin as earlier. "Hello again." She glanced at the door, looking like she was choosing words carefully. "I had a visitor, Prim Hemline. We met a few times at some of the fashion shows I've attended and-oh, I'd rather not bore you with the details-" it was possible Adagio's murderous look was having some effect, "-but she offered me a chance, as a sort of birthday gift, officially speaking, to display a design or two of mine in the Junior Fashionista displays for..." Rarity glanced away, taking a quick breath and looking at Adagio with a forced smile. "How are you holding up, darling?" Unable to decide right away whether she should take a pet name as reason to be more angry or more afraid, Adagio just stared back at her captor, wondering how she was expected to respond through the bow-gag. Rarity seemed to realize the problem, facepalming. "Right, forgive me, I'll just-" Her hand was inches away from the gag (Adagio didn't flinch this time) when the doorbell rang again, making Rarity jump. Once more, to Adagio's horror, Rarity's attention shifted rapidly between her and the door, a rueful look on her face as she whispered "Sorry!" and put the lid back on. Adagio would have screamed at her to come back and let her go right now, but her mouth was full of bow-gag.