//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 "Aftermath of a Band Battle" // Story: Equestria Guardians // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Chapter 21 “Aftermath of a Band Battle” Or “How to Love Your Siren” The Battle of the Bands was long over, the crowds were gone, and even Vinyl had called it a night and had taken her Wubmobile home. The Rainbooms, however, had volunteered to help with cleanup; and were out in the stands and backstage picking up trash and sweeping. Even though they were kind of tired from that titanic battle they had fought with the Sirens, they felt they had a duty to clean up the mess. “You know, they never show the aftermath of these things on most superhero shows,” Twilight observed, as she swept. “I know it’s terribly mundane, but you’ve got to wonder if there are folks in places like Maretropolis and Trotham that have started businesses just to clean up after superhero messes.” “A little hard work never hurt nobody.” Aj said, moving some debris. “Though I do fear for my nails at this rate…” Rarity said, looking at her nails as she tried to move some trash to a nearby can. “Just think of it as an opportunity ta get ‘em done up nice, as a reward fer a job well done, Sugarcube,” Applejack suggested. “Oh! What a brilliant idea! Thank you, Applejack,” Rarity exclaimed happily, going back to work. Behind the stage, Rainbow was packing up the band’s instruments. She got up dusted her hands off and turned to find Raiden standing there. “Sweet band, babe,” He said with that grin of his. “Thanks. Not like I need your approval or anything, though,” Rainbow said with a smirk. “I have to say they have been the best. Especially for putting up with me.” “Maybe you guys can open during one of my shows?” Raiden suggested. “Then maybe afterwards we can...jam again.” “Hmmmm. First…” Rainbow said thoughtfully, as she walked up to him. She then KNEE’D him in the gonads. “That’s for stealing my first kiss! I’m not some conquest! I’m not going to be another notch on Raiden Bolt’s belt! You hear me!” She then grabbed his collar, pulled him to her, and proceeded to kiss the living daylights out of him before dropping him. Raiden fell down, clutching his gonads. “Worth it…” He groaned as Rainbow strutted off. Rainbow returned to the others, Rarity smirks at the sight of her. “Finally letting your brutish brand of affection out Rainbow?” She asked. “Eh. Maybe,” Rainbow said with a grin. “Hey, Private, you need to talk to Ray about business stuff. He wants us to open for him, sometime.” “I’ll try as soon as he’s ready to get back up,” Private said with a chuckle. “Perhaps you will tame him after all,” Rarity added. “Tame huh….?” Rainbow said, getting an evil grin on her face. “Uh oh, I think we gave Dashie some really not teen rating ideas,” Pinkie said. “Should I stock up on leather?” Rarity queried. Onstage Luna stood looking out over the empty stands with an air of melancholy a flier for the Battle of the Bands in her hand. At the very bottom was an advertisement for a “Surprise Performance by Celestia and Luna”. “We were under a Siren’s spell? That certainly explains why we agreed to this,” Luna said, making a face. “I should take greater precautions in case somebody tries to control our minds again,” Celestia said, coming to stand beside her sister. “I was so looking forward to our surprise act, too,” Luna said with a huge sigh. Celestia suddenly came over with a mic in hand. “Whoever said we had to cancel?” “You want to… But there’s nobody here,” Luna said, sounding stunned. “Who cares? It’s us two doing what we love. I can see no better reason to do it than that,” Celestia said with a smile. Luna grinned back, then ran backstage to change. Twilight wiped her brow as the last of the mess was cleaned up. All of her friends gathered around. “Okay, evil is beat, place is cleaned up, Battle of the Bands dealt with. Who wants to head to Sugarcube Corner for-” She stopped as the stage suddenly lit up. Suddenly there was a sound like somebody had ran their fingers across a piano’s keys high notes to low, then background vocal ah’s came in with drums, guitar, tambourine and bass. An intro played for about seventeen seconds, leading to an “oooh-oooh” before a pair of voices sang out: ”You can dance, You can jive Having the time of your life! See that girl, watch that scene, Diggin’ the dancing queen!” Onstage were… Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna, both dressed in jumpsuits and wearing wigs. Luna was dressed in green, wearing a short brunette wing. Celestia, on the other hand was wearing a longer blonde wig and wearing a red jumpsuit. Both looked like they came out of the seventies but there they were on stage singing their hearts out. “Oh my!” Rarity uttered with a gasp. “Is that… Professor Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna?” Twilight asked. “What’s with those outfits?” Sunset asked. “They’re dressed like the lead singers of Abba,” Rarity replied, prompting a collective “huh” from her friends. “Am I the only one here who likes vintage music?” “Well Ah guess even Principals/Princesses gotta have fun somehow,” Aj said, watching the performance. “Poor Twilight, if her vision Celestia was shattered befor-” Rainbow looked on as Twilight looked to be in a daze. “Please excuse me all of you...my whole worldview is about to be shattered for the twentieth time this year.” Twilight said with a sigh. “I will admit, though, Professor Celestia has got a great voice.” “The song’s kind of catchy,” Sunset observed, as she watched them sing, and move to the beat of the music. “Maybe I should add it to my playlist.” “It’s all so lovely…” Fluttershy said, “Uh...where’s Pinkie…?” “Oh no..” Private groaned. Suddenly Pinkie was behind them, drumming along to the beat, dressed in a sleeveless black vest, shoulder-length blonde wig, and black slacks. Celestia and Luna look back at her, startled, then shrugged, and continued their song. They sang well into the night, their unintended audience enjoying the show to it’s fullest. ________________________________________________________ In one of the more run down parts of town lies a small abandoned home. The Dazzlings had been using it as temporary shelter. Right now though, it was more of a panic room considering that’s exactly what the Dazzlings were doing. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata all ran inside, Adagio closing and locking the door. Adagio held the broken remains of their pendants in her hands. “Quickly! Did all of you get any pieces?!” She demanded quickly. “I’ve got mine,” Sonata said, holding out her pieces. “Got mine, for what it’s worth,” Aria said holding her pieces. Adagio grabbed the pendants quickly, and tried everything to put them back together. But no amount of pushing or hitting them together did anything but make noise. After her last attempt, Adagio sighed in defeat. “It’s no use, Discord was the one who made these pendants. None of us are sorcerers at all. I doubt we’d be able to find anybody as well versed in magic on this world to even attempt to fix them.” “Except, you know, the ones who broke ‘em in the first place,” Sonata observed. “But I don’t think they’ll wanna fix ‘em.” “I think that Principal could be a sorceress, too, considering how easily she fell under our sway,” Aria stated. “Remember, the unicorns were the quickest to do our bidding on Equestria. The more magic they had, the quicker they fell. Well except for the Starswirled guy.” “It’s no use. Even if they could use the magic they wouldn’t know how to make them,” Adagio said, then looked at the other girls gravely. “Aria, Sonata, those pendants are what kept us immortal for so many centuries...we could face the very real possibility that age will come rapidly over the next few days…” “You mean we could, like, turn to dust or something?” Sonata asked, eyes going wide. “Maybe… we’ll… just start aging from current ages? I mean if we don’t start going all wrinkly by tomorrow, that’s something to kinda hope for, right?” Aria asked. “I don’t know,” Adagio said sadly. “Those pendants were supposed to be indestructible. I never made a plan in case something did happen to them…” “Well… Maybe we’ll think of something tomorrow if we’re not, like, dust by then,” Aria said. “Right now, though, I’m beat…” “Yeah. I’m tired too… Today was long,” Sonata said yawning. “Right...let’s hope we don’t perish in our sleep first…” Adagio said as they all went over to the different rooms of the house to get some sleep, and ponder their future. ___________________________________________________________ Saturday morning, Sonata woke up first and she woke up hungry. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt for over a millennia but it prompted her to get up, check the kitchen, then leave the house in search of food. She was sure that the others would want food, too. Sonata wasn’t sure how they were going to get it, though, because they had no money. She wandered around, stomach growling, trying to think of something, when she saw a very familiar face. “Hey, that’s Private,” Sonata said to herself, her pace picking up. “He’s a nice guy. Maybe he’ll help me find food…” She started to follow him, hoping to make it seem ‘casual’ that they ran into each other. Private walked along a little ways, unaware of Sonata following him. He came up towards Sugarcube Corner, where Sunset was waiting. She waved and then stopped, grinned and laughed a little. “Is there something on my face?” Private asked. “No, but somebody followed you home.” Sunset said with a laugh. “Huh?” He looked behind him to see Sonata standing there looking guileless as always. “GAH! Sonata!? Where did you come from!?” “We-e-e-ell… When a mommy sea-pony and a daddy sea-pony love each other very very much…” Sonata started, scuffing a foot. “You know what I mean!” Private yelled at her. He then sighed, “Look Sonata, I really don’t want to hear about how you came out of mommy okay?” “Silly Privy. I came out of Daddy,” Sonata giggled. “Like an actual sea...never mind…” Private groaned. “So… What are you going to tell Twilight about you having a stray Siren follow you home?” Sunset asked with a grin. “That’s enough out of you,” Private snipped. Then he looked back at Sonata, “Just what are you doing here anyway? We didn’t see you Dazzlings after you split from the Battle.” “We were kinda panicking. Y’see, those pendants aren’t supposed to break, and you, like, totally broke ‘em,” Sonata said with a shrug. “So you guys did really lose all your powers when those things broke,” Sunset said thoughtfully. “So you guys can’t suck out negative energy anymore. Are there any other side effects?” “Well Adagio was kinda worried that we’d, like, totally rapid age, overnight, and turn to dust,” Sonata said twirling the end of her ponytail around her fingers. “Aria was hoping we’d just… start aging normally but we’ve been around for, like, a thousand years, so…” “Well you don’t look like you are turning to dust or anything,” Private said. “Right now, though, I’m just really really hungry,” Sonata said and her stomach growled as if to emphasize this fact. “Heh… Kinda used to eat negative vibes… Can’t do that anymore…” “Well, we’re here at Sugarcube Corner, may as well fill her belly.” Private said, opening the door for them. “Think we ought to get some for the others?” Sunset asked, “They’re bound to be hungry, too,” Sonata said as she looked at the baked goods in the display, trying so hard not to drool. The three entered the store, Pinkie suddenly appearing as she always does at the stand. “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner home of all your baking nee-WHAAAAAA!!!” Pinkie’s eyes suddenly grew wide as she saw Sonata coming in with them. “WHAAAAAA!!!” Sonata yelled in response, then giggled grinning at Pinkie. “That was funzies.” “Wow! Yeah it totally was!” Pinkie said cheerfully. “I’m Pinkie Pie!” “I’m Sonata Dusk! It’s great to finally meet you! You are SUCH a hoot!” Sonata said beaming at her new-found buddy. “Crap...we have two of them now…” Private groaned. “Eh, sanity’s overrated, anyway,” Sunset observed with a shrug. “Uhm… I kinda don’t have any money, and with what you and your friends did to our pendants… We kinda need to eat now…” Sonata said, looking like a little lost puppy. “Oooh. Good puppy-dog pout,” Sunset whispered to Private. “Don’t worry, betwen me and Aj I’m sure we’ll have you and your friends filled up in no time!” Pinkie said. “Now, allow me to show you the wonders of CUPCAKES!” With that, the pair dove into the kitchen, Pinkie singing about Cupcakes and the making of them. ___________________________________________________________ Adagio paced inside the house as Aria sat down in a nearby chair. “She couldn’t have gone too far. I can’t believe she would..okay she is stupid enough to wander off by herself!” Adagio growled in frustration. “Maybe she went to get us some food,” Aria suggested. “I mean I woke up ravenous, and we can’t feed off negative energy anymore, so…” “I just hope she hasn’t done anything too stupid…” Adagio grumbled as the door suddenly opened. “Hiiieeee! I learned how to make cupcakes, today!” Sonata said, slamming open the door, a large bakery box. “I even brought plenty to share!” “Sonata!” Adagio said, coming over. “Where were you?!” “Maaaking Cupcakes!” Sonata singsonged. “Uh...yeah...I’m taking like...half of these…” Aria said, snagging some of the cupcakes and going off to a table to eat them. “But we don’t have any money Sonata, you didn’t steal them did you?” Adagio demanded. “Of course not! Pinkie said I could have them, because they were from my learning how to make them!” Sonata said gleefully. “She even thinks I could get a job at Sugarcube Corner.” “YOU WORKED WITH ONE OF THE RAINBOOMS?!” Adagio yelled. “It’s their fault we’re even in this mess! Especially that meddlesome Sunset! Who does she think she is, joining to save their sorry hides?!” “Somebody yell my name?” came Sunset’s voice from outside, sounding rather amused. “Oh… yeah… Sunny’s coming by with more food…” Sonata said sheepishly. “Now you invited them here?! Do you just lick spark plugs when we aren’t looking too!?” Adagio yelled. “Could somebody help me with this box? It’s kinda heavy,” Sunset said from outside. “We needed food, Dagi… And Pinkie and Applejack turned out to be kinda nice…” Sonata said, going to the table and putting the box of cupcakes down to go and help Sunset with her burden. They came in both carrying a rather large box that they set on the table. Sunset arched back, once relieved of her burden with a small groan. “Ugh… Applejack carried that by herself... That girl is probably stronger than most guys…” Sunset muttered. “What are you doing here…” Adagio said, glaring at Sunset. “Helping Sonata. Seriously, there was no way she could carry that huge box of food from AJ’s house to here,” Sunset replied with a smile. “I know what it’s like to be alone and hungry, so I was happy to lend a hand.” Adagio narrowed her eyes at Sunset, and as Sonata and Aria went to eat, she came up to Sunset. “Don’t think this means we’re friends or anything. I’m only doing this to make sure we don’t starve…” She said firmly. “Fine. Have it your way. But having friends makes things easier,” Sunset said, “and that’s personal experience talking. Sure it’ll take time for people to trust you, but… It’ll be worth it. Anyway, enjoy. If you need anything else, just send Sonata. She’ll probably spot Private and start following him again.” Sunset then half-waved to Sonata, and went out the door, closing it behind her. “Uggh, that woman! Who does she think she is?” Adagio grumbled. “I Phink she likf you!” Sonata said with a mouth full of cupcake. “Swallow Sonata, for pete’s sake…” Aria groaned. “*GULP* I said I think she likes you!” Sonata said, again, after swallowing. “Don’t be ridiculous, she’s a human, even if she has really beautiful eyes, luscious hair and a nice looking bod-” Adagio stopped herself, and found that she was blushing brightly. “UGGH!! What is wrong with me?!” She stomped away. “And I thought that Rainbow Dash girl was in denial.” Sonata said. “Just eat your food…” Aria groaned. ___________________________________________________________ Rarity was at her shop, sewing the dress for her birthday party, humming happily. It was going to be such a nice day. Pinkie had her party already planned, and had taken her cake request. She had invited all her best friends, and their significant others. She just hoped that Spike would be there. He had been rather distant, lately, and keeping quite busy. Rarity was more than a little concerned that Spike had changed his mind about dating an older woman. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. She got up and opened the door to find Spike standing there with his hands behind his back. “Hey Rarity, did I interrupt anything?” He asked. “Spike! Why… no, nothing important, really. Do come in, won’t you?” Rarity said, opening the door. “I… I was just thinking of you, actually…” Spike walked inside, seeming to be very nervous. He looked up and saw the dress Rarity was making. “Wow, that’s gonna look great on you, Rarity,” He said with a smile. “Why thank you, Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity said with a smile. “I do hope you’ll be able to come to my party…” “I am, but I... see I’ve been working really hard on this gift,” He said, his face blushing a little. “And well… I wanted to give it to you early…” He soon presented a small red wrapped box to her. “I was just so excited when it was finished I just had to wrap it up and give it to you.” “Oh, Spikey-Wikey, you really didn’t have to give me anything,” Rarity said taking it, and carefully unwrapping it. “I’m just happy you are with me.” She set the wrapping paper aside, and opened the box. When she opened it however, her eyes grew incredibly wide. Sitting there was arguably one of the rarest gems in the world, a Fire Ruby. It had been carved into a heart shape and was put into a gold setting and hung from a fine gold chain. “Oh my… Spikey-Wikey how did you ever…” “I found it a long time ago,” Spike explained. “Took me forever to cut it in the right shape. You see, gem work is kind of a hobby of mine. I thought if anybody deserved something like this, it’s you…” He scuffed his foot nervously, awaiting her response. Rarity pounced upon the hapless boy, taking him in her arms, and kissing him passionately. She then peppered his face with kisses, whispering “thank you” with each kiss. “Oh Spikey-Wikey… I… I am moved beyond words.” “Uuuuuhhhh…” Spike said, totally stunned by the kissing bombardment. “Darling, I would think you’d be used to us kissing, by now,” Rarity giggled. “But you just gave me one of the rarest and most precious gemstones on Earth… Of course I’m going to thank you by showering you with kisses. It’s the most I can get away with… for now.” “Well, you kind of blow away my expectations every time so...yeah I got stunned for a little bit.” He said with a nervous chuckle after coming to his senses. “Oh, just wait until your eighteenth birthday, my Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity purred. “I’m sure I’ll blow away more than just your expectations.” “I...I...uuuuuhhh…” He said, and then went back to being stunned again as his face turned so red it rivaled Tomatoes. “Oh dear, there he goes again…” Rarity said, amusedly, as she guided him to her nearby chaise, and sat him upon it to recover. Rarity stopped by a mirror, and put the necklace on, then sighed, touching it a happy smile on her face. She would never regret the decision she made, choosing him above any others. It was with a smile on her face that Rarity went back to working on her party dress, keeping an eye on her poor Spikey-Wikey as she did so. _____________________________________________________________ Sunday, Sunset was out in the park, picking up some trash, as part of some self-imposed community service. Sunset had decided to spend part of each weekend doing things around town to make the community a better place. She felt it was a way to pay it forward, since she had been given a second chance. She listened to her MP3 player as she went through the park, poking trash with the trash picker and stuffing it in the shoulder bag she had been issued by the parks service, enjoying being out on a nice crisp fall day. As she walked however, a shadowy figure was stalking her. Well, it was really just Adagio wearing her hoodie but she sure looked shady. “I’m going to get answers out of you Shimmer…” Adagio said, firmly, picking up a large stick and waiting for Sunset. ”I got shivers When you touch my face I’ll make you hot Get all you got I’ll make you wanna say...” Sunset sang along to her music, as she went along, oblivious to her stalker. As she walked to pick up some trash...Adagio swung the stick, knocking out Sunset as it hit her in the head. Sunset fell to the ground with a low groan, dropping the trash picker. ______________________________________________________________ Sunset groaned again, as she slowly crawled her way back to consciousness. She found she couldn’t move her arms or legs. Looking down and around made her realize this was because she was tied to a chair. “Oooonnnnh… My head…” Sunset groaned. “Ow… I’ve got a freaking massive headache, and I’m tied to a chair… It had been such a good day, until now…” “Wake up!” Adagio’s voice yelled at her. Sunset blinked her eyes to find the siren glaring down at her. “Adagio? What the hell is going on?” Sunset asked. “Why am I tied up, like this?” “So you won’t go swinging around Guardian powers,” Adagio said still glaring. “Now, I want to know exactly what you did to me. What curse or spell did you cast on me after my pendant broke?” “None that I know of,” Sunset said looking really confused. “Why do you ask?” “Don’t play dumb! Ever since you defeated me I cannot get you out of my mind!” Adagio yelled at her. “Ever since my pendent shattered all I can think about is you and your stupid beautiful eyes and your...GAAAH!!” She groaned in frustration. “You… You think my eyes are beautiful?” Sunset asked as some red came to her cheeks, and she looked very surprised. “Uh… I… I don’t think that’s a curse. Apparently… You… Wow… You’re attracted to me… I never thought you’d…” “ATTRACTED?!” Adagio said, taken aback. “Uh… Yeah? Why do you sound so shocked? You act like you’ve never been attracted to somebody, before,” Sunset stated, quietly using her fire powers to try and free her hands at least. “But, I...I don’t...understand how can I be…” Adagio said, suddenly looking very confused. “How can you be what?” Sunset asked. “And could you untie me? I’m not going to go all guardian on you, I promise. I want to help, and… me being untied would be a bit less… uh… confrontational.” “And why should I trust you? Just because you’re saying something as silly as me feeling love. I haven’t felt love in centuries!” Adagio argued. “What did that pendant do to you? You haven’t felt love for…centuries?!” Sunset said, stunned. “Wow… Apparently I have a thing for older women…” “As if a human could understand…” Adagio said dismissively. “Try me?” Sunset asked. “Fine. You see, Aria, Sonata and I were not always sirens. Back in Equestria we were a subspecies of pony that lived under the sea, Sea Ponies.” Adagio explained with a sigh. “And I was a unicorn, but I was reincarnated as a human, here. Apparently you had a more direct route,” Sunset observed. “Yes, under the sea I was the youngest in a long line of noble Sea Ponies. I was prepared to make my debut to the world…only to find out too late that I...couldn’t sing,” Adagio said, her fists tightening as she remembered it. “I was utterly humiliated. Sea Ponies who can’t sing were considered outcasts and genetic defects…” “Owch. Harsh,” Sunset observed, gazing at Adagio with some sympathy. “As a result I was laughed out of Atrotica…” Adagio said with a quiet sadness. “I wandered the sea for months, hopelessly alone. I eventually found Aria and Sonata, both of them were outcast for the same reason I was. We then grew tired of being treated like dirt, and wanted revenge...so we contacted a creature named Discord…” “Oh… He gave you those pendants… I have not heard good things about him, I really haven’t. He has ways of changing people to suit his whims,” Sunset said making a face. “At the time we were desperate...the pendants gave us the power to control whoever we liked,” Adagio said. “All we had to do was absorb negative energy to sustain ourselves and we would remain young, beautiful, and have amazing voices forever...until you Rainbooms ended that.” “Well, you did turn all our classmates into a bunch of dicks, and mind-controlled our principals into going along with your scheme to keep them dicks,” Sunset said with a shrug. “Yes, but the pendants being destroyed still doesn’t explain why I can’t stop thinking about you, Shimmer…” Adagio said. “Hmmm… You never felt love, after you put the pendants on? And I bet you were hungry for the first time in a millennia too, am I right? Also, was the only time you ever felt kind of happy was when you were causing conflict, and negativity?” Sunset asked, looking thoughtful as she did so. “Yes, yes, and yes…where are you going with this?” Adagio asked. “I think those pendants suppressed your ability to feel positive emotions,” Sunset replied. “Discord wanted you causing as much… well… discord as possible, so he made the pendants tweak your emotions so you would. You had to eat negative energy, so you had to cause negative energy. But by causing strife with your voices you ended up feeling a rush of power over those weaklings. You deserved to make them fight over you and do your bidding, and you deserved to eat their negative energy, because they were so gullible.” Sunset made a face. “Wow… That sounds kind of familiar…” “So your saying…” Adagio said, blinking. “I’m saying that maybe the pendants breaking isn’t a bad thing. It may be a second chance. As somebody who knows a thing or two about second chances...take this one, Adagio. Take this one and change for the better,” Sunset said firmly. Adagio’s whole demeanor changed, the strong and forceful leader of the Sirens made way for a more vulnerable girl, facing positive emotions for the first time in a long time. She walked to Sunset, and slowly began untying her. “I...I’ll try to change...try to adapt to this new way of life with...positive emotions…” She said, nervously. “I’ll help however I can,” Sunset said, working the feeling back into her hands. “I’m… still kind of amazed you’re attracted to me though… I mean I’ve been kind of crushing on you since I first saw you…” “And I… couldn’t return your feelings…” Adagio said, guiltily. “The truth is Sunset I… when I look at you now, my heart beats so fast. I want to hold you, run away, scream to the heavens, and say incredibly sappy things all at once…” She held a hand to her heart. “I don’t... I just can’t make sense of it all…” Sunset bit her lip, then stood up. She took a couple of steps toward Adagio, and nervously held out a hand. “I… We… could try figuring it out, together… If you want to, that is…” “Even after all I did and said to you?” Adagio asked, her eyes glistening a little. “Second chance, remember?” Sunset said with a kind smile. “Sunset…” Adagio whispered, with an almost reverence..she took a step close to Sunset, took her hand...and the girls looked into each other’s eyes… Sunset caressed Adagio’s cheek, and carefully brought her lips to meet those of the former siren kissing her sweetly, Sunset was internally jumping for joy. Adagio’s eyes widened, she felt a rush of such wonderful and terrifying emotions...but simply closed her eyes, and returned the kiss Sunset was willing to give her. They held each other’s hands as they kissed one another. In each other...they found what they were missing.