Dazzlings Unleashed?
“So, the three of us have bartending duty tonight?” Adagio asked as the other two blinked a little in disbelief. They had never all three been asked to bartend at the same time before. Sure, it wasn’t too uncommon for two of them at a time to bartend together, but their whole strength and the reason they were first hired was because they could do all three main jobs and were happy to just have the same shifts with each other.
“We’re expecting a bit of a crowd tonight. Hopefully they’ll all be happy and cheerful, but the truth is you three are our best bartenders. Even if you try to down play it at times for some reason,” Mr. Forrester said to them as they each looked a little sheepish but didn't really deny what he said.
He gave a smirk as he shook his head. “I don’t know or care why you try to be careful, but it is the truth. You three know pretty much every drink a customer comes up with and in multiple styles. You’re really great at recommending drinks as well and know plenty of mocktails. We added that whole section on the menu because of you three and the others wanting to learn them too. Then there’s the fact you three seem to be the best under pressure. We thought you three would like working together together again, so the choice made perfect sense.”
“We appreciate it. Sir,” Aria replied first as her friends followed suit. Aria didn’t really want to give him too much time to reconsider. She really liked this idea and it seemed both Adagio and Sonata did as well.
Aria liked it when she worked with the others on the bar, even if it hadn’t ever been all three of them at once. If things were going to be busy tonight, she would rather be stuck with the others than someone else. The staff at the restaurant were professional, but when things got busy they didn’t always handle it the best. Things never got too bad or anything like that, but there was extra stress during such times. If she was with Sonata and Adagio, she didn’t think it would be as bad and might even be a little fun.
Mr. Forrester smiled at the three girls. He was kind of hoping he could possibly see just how much they had been holding back. He wasn’t sure why they did, but it wasn’t his business and they always did a fairly good job so they let the matter be. “Good to hear. Now you have a while before things should start to get busy. Check over the bar and make sure it’s ready. If you need anything tonight ask Jake or Kelly, they’ll help restock from the back if needed.”
The girls nodded to him as they made their way over to the bar island. He could have sworn they seemed happier even if only a little. He was really going to keep an eye on them tonight the best he could. The restaurant had a good number of events coming up they were catering and Mr. Johnston was thinking about putting the girls on their ‘unofficial’ catering team.
{-} {-} {-}
“Oooo! That would be cool,” Sonata suddenly said as the three of them were making a list of anything they would need.
“What would be cool?” Aria asked.
“Well, we could all three work as bartenders on a cruise ship or something. That would be so much fun!” Sonata gave a brilliant smile as she added a few different syrups to the list. The levels weren’t too bad for a normal night, but if it was busy it would be a different story. Plus, these were things that might in the worst-case scenario require a quick store run. In the best case, it would just take a while to find them in the back. They never really seemed to be in the same place for some reason.
She continued speaking, “I mean we would get to see all kinds of places and be on the sea a lot. Plus, we are really good even if we haven’t gone all out here. I haven’t even tried my fire breath trick in a looooonggg time.”
Adagio gave a laugh as she said, “That’s because you got carried away last time and started a fire that almost burned the place down. Not to mention what happened to that one guy.”
Aria snickered and Sonata frowned, “Hey! That barbarian deserved it. He threatened the owner and we weren’t ready to move on yet.”
“Still, we can’t just sing our way out of something like that this time. While the crowd would love seeing the trick, I don’t think our bosses would,” Aria added in conclusion as she was crouched down to check some of the bottles.
“Okay yeah… but still if we were on a ship’s bar they would like that kind of stuff. I loved doing other tricks as well you two know. And they don’t involve fire,” Sonata said.
“You do realize we would probably have every guy hitting on us even if his wife was sitting there next to him at the bar on a cruise ship. People are a lot less reserved when on cruises. We would have to actually put up with it and play along to keep our jobs and make good money,” Adagio said.
“And girls too,” Aria added causally as she stood up and noticed her friends looking at her with blinking eyes. “What? It never happens to you two?”
“Not really…” Adagio said.
Sonata nodded in thought as she said, “It’s your pig tails.”
“Hey!” Aria almost shouted as she glared before it turned into a little pout. “They’re Twin tails… Pig tails are shorter and not as cool.”
Adagio and Sonata both snickered to that. “But really it never happened to you two? I mean it isn’t like it wasn’t always unwelcomed…”
Again the others blinked at her. Aria blushed, “Oh come on... Don’t try to pretend you never…” She blushed a little deeper, “you know at least tried that.”
The other two started to giggle now as Aria again gave a little pout.
“Well yeah, we just never really talk that much about it, Aria. But I suppose that might happen once they have enough to drink on a cruise ship, but it would still be totally so much fun!” Sonata said with a huge smile.
“We can think about it sometime, but not right now. You heard Mr. Forrester they’re expecting it to be busy tonight,” Adagio said as Aria nodded in agreement.
“Can’t I at least try some tricks tonight? Boss Man said he knew we were holding back,” Sonata implored as she gave them her ‘Sonata Eyes’. The others quickly discovered they worked better than your usual puppy dog eyes.
“I’m not so sure about that…” Aria said as she looked to Adagio for an answer.
“Maybe a little if we have the chance. But I think we should be careful. Mr. Johnston might have a heart attack if we started juggling bottles and tossing them around to each other or something like that,” Adagio answered.
{-} {-} {-}
“Yeah!” "That’s awesome! Who knew this place was so rocking?” “We should come here again sometime.” The crowd around the bar was in a very good and friendly mood tonight. It was also bigger than anticipated, but there weren’t any real hold ups with the serving of drinks.
“Wooh!!!” Sonata cheered as Aria caught a bottle and did a quick back hand pouring trick. The crowd cheered again in reply.
Aria then quickly filled out a line of shots for a group of friends celebrating a birthday who happened to wander into the place. As she put the tequila away, she added a dash of Tabasco sauce to each of the shots. She then gave them a delightfully wicked, but still fun smile as she said, “I warned you guys not to underestimate this shot. But if there’s any kind of a shot that will put hair on your chest, this is it.”
The group of friends looked to each other cautiously before taking in a breath and letting it out simultaneously. They took the plunge and many of the bar patrons watched with bated breath. “I can’t believe their seriously having Mexican Prairie Fires…” a guy with purple hair said.
The birthday friends quickly stopped trying their best to tough out the shot just as a line of their chosen chasers slid their way. They didn't waste time before downing the lifesaving liquid as Sonata gave them a wink. It was the birthday boy who took the offered relief drink first. The others quickly followed suit as the crowd cheered and laughed. “35 seconds!” the guy with purple hair said as more cheered and some of the customers sitting at tables even applauded them.
“Three Starry Nights coming right up!” Adagio called as she twirled a bottle of Goldschlager while pouring the Jager for the shoots a trio of girls having a night out ordered. They liked the taste of cinnamon and loved the way the flakes from the Goldschlager looked in the shot.
Adagio next easily poured four drinks of cola mixed with Kraken dark rum. She didn’t even need to measure out the amount of rum to pour into the drinks or anything. “I’ve heard this tastes very good. I’m sure you guys will like it,” she said to the customers who wanted to try something new but familiar.
The group wasn’t so sure at first, but when one of their friends, who usually hated rum and cokes, tasted his and his eyes lit up before taking a few more sips, they were sure it was going to be good. “This is probably the best rum and coke I’ve ever had. Thanks!” he said with a smile half way through the drink.
“Hmmm…” one guy said with two friends next to him at the bar.
“You know… it’s just a drink. There’s no relation really…” one of his friends said.
The first guy looked to Sonata, who was smiling while waiting for their orders. “Do you know anything kind of like a Long Island, but not a Long Island?” he asked.
“He just had a bit of a bad break up with a girl from the New York area, but he really loves that drink,” the third friend explained.
Sonata nodded. “I know of one. It adds in bourbon as well as the other liquors.”
“That sounds perfect! What’s it called?” he asked.
“Texas Tea,” she said with a smile.
“Ahhh… Texas… reminds me of home,” he said as Sonata mixed the drink for him.
He then took a sip and let out an “ooo!” in response to the taste.
Sonata gave a giggle as she said, “Maybe I should have mentioned it has some kick.”
He shook his head and took another sip and again let out an “ooo!” in reponse. “Don’t worry about it. I like some kick in my drinks and really needed it.” He took a couple more sips and nodded. “This is actually kind of tasty, but strong.”
“Do you know any really cool drinks?” one of the friends asked.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked.
“Something that looks cool and tastes good. Surprise us,” the other one said.
“Okay, I got one. It’s follows the Texas theme,” she said giving them a wink.
They were curious what she had planned. She pulled out two glasses and poured beer into them before then getting two shot glasses and pouring Amaretto up to two thirds of the shot glass. She then pulled out a bottle of high proof rum and topped off the shot glasses.
The customers were very curious what she was making. One of the girls near to them gave out an “Ooo!” in response but didn’t further explain. She could tell the guys hadn’t ever had this drink before and she didn't want to spoil it for them.
The guys straightened up when Sonata pulled out a lighter and applied it to the shot glasses. The shots flared to life with fire before lowering to a gentle flame on top of the shot. She gave them a sweet innocent smile and asked, “Do you want to do the drop, or are you going to make a girl do it for you?” The guys looked to each other and shrugged as they picked up the shot glasses and dropped them into the beer. “Now shoot it!” she said and they did just that.
Once they were finished, they nodded to it. “That was good! What’s it called and how does it fit in with the Texas theme?”
“It’s called a Flaming Dr. Pepper. It tastes just like the soda it’s named after. Which was founded in Waco, Texas,” Sonata explained. “They have a museum there and everything. It’s pretty neat.”
Sonata, Adagio and Aria actually got a little fancier with their tricks while showing even more of their actual skill in bartending during the night. Adagio had forgotten about the caution she voiced earlier as she got caught up in the fun of bartending with both Sonata and Aria. The customers were all delighted and happy while the drinks still managed to flow at an acceptable rate.
“You know…” Kelly started as she looked to Jake. They were having a short break at the moment because the liquor stores were good at the bar. “Those three girls are really making the rest of us look like amateurs when it comes to the bar.”
Jake gave a chuckle. “They may not have meant to do it, but they might have just assigned themselves as the main and permanent Bartenders. The bosses might have to keep this up.”
“Oh, I think we will just have it be a once every month or two deal. Wouldn’t want to ruin the uniqueness of it,” Mr. Forrester said causing the other two to jump a little. “I think your break is about to be over,” he said with a smile just as Sonata motioned for them to come over. She probably had another list again.
The three girls seemed to almost have a sixth sense for when to get refills at the bar. If the General manager didn’t already know they were just that good at managing the liquors at the bar, he might believe that. They were actually getting a lot of customers asking them to think up drinks for them, so the girls did just that and would always be aware of the booze levels. In fact, Mr. Forrester would say they seemed to have even more experience than some of the most experienced bar owners had when it came to serving up drinks. They also knew how to entertain the crowd while still keeping a certain level of class.
{-} {-} {-}
When the night was finally over, the Dazzlings were in the staff locker rooms getting their clothes out. The three of them decided to use the restaurant waitress outfits with some modifications, since they were all at the bar tonight working together. It was actually Sonata’s idea.
They hadn’t expected to have bartending duty tonight. They usually got more notice for schedule changes. Sonata was supposed to be in the kitchen while both Adagio and Aria were going to be waitresses for the night. They weren’t dressed for bartending. Sonata decided it would be both fun and practical for the three of them to wear the waitress uniform with some slight changes to make it seem more casual. She also really liked the idea of them dressing up the same way like this together.
“That was actually a lot of fun,” Adagio admitted with a smile as she put on her blouse.
“Yes, it was,” Aria said while she unknowingly hummed one of the songs that played over the speaker system while they closed up for the night.
Aria looked to Sonata and smiled as she said, “Glad you suggested we have fun with some tricks and got Adagio to agree with it.”
Sonata snickered as she said, “Yeah. Adagio may have been opposed to the idea at first, but…” Sonata pretended to lower her voice as she stage whispered to Aria. “I think she actually had the most fun in the end.”
Adagio blushed a little but was still smiling.
Aria then jokingly said, “I was thinking for a moment there she was going to be the one to try a fire breath trick.”
Sonata giggled as she said, “And to think she was concerned about me doing it.”
Adagio gave a mock look of indignation before chuckling and saying, “Well I’ve never almost burned down a tavern because of such tricks.”
Aria laughed to this and Sonata gave a pouty look for a couple of seconds before smiling and laughing as well. The three friends laughed together and Sonata spoke again, “I hope we get to do something fun like this again sometime. Though I don’t want it to become a regular thing. That would take away the fun and people wouldn’t enjoy it as much after a while.”
Aria nodded and added, “Plus, I don’t think our usual crowds would be as understanding if it happened often. Though a lot of them seemed to enjoy the atmosphere tonight and the rest weren't really bothered by it.”
As they were about to leave, they heard Mr. Johnston call to them from the office. “Would you three please come in here and sit down?” The three friends were curious and a little worried at those words. Both Mr. Johnston and Mr. Forrester were in the office. Mr. Forrester closed the door once they sat down.
“Are we in trouble?” Sonata asked. Adagio was concerned about this situation. Aria folded her arms as she looked at them with a guarded expression.
Mr. Johnston gave a chuckle and a smile. “No. You three are not in trouble, but what we want to discuss with you all is something we don’t want getting around.”
The girls were more intrigued now than worried. Aria shifted back to a normal position in her chair. “I had expected you three were holding back your skills, but after what I saw tonight. I can safely say I had no idea just how much,” Mr. Forrester said. The girls were a little worried again and fearing they might ask questions.
“Like he told you three earlier, we don’t care how you came about those skills or why you were holding back. We instead have a couple of propositions for you all,” the owner said.
“First of all, we were wondering if you three would like to do this kind of thing again sometime. It isn’t something we want to have happen often. We were thinking maybe every couple of months or at most monthly. It is up to you three since it is you three who will have to go through all of that again. Naturally, you would actually have plenty of notice in the future, unlike tonight, and there would be some leeway for scheduling those nights. It is something to think about for now,” Mr. Forrester said to them.
The girls were excited about this, but took his advice and chose to think on it. They didn't want to rush into agreeing on it simply because they were in a good mood at the moment and still experiencing a bit of a rush from it all.
“The other thing we wanted to mention is about other services our restaurant offers. You know how we do a fair amount of catering, correct?” Mr. Johnston asked them. The girls nodded to that. Catering was kind of a big deal and to get to help with those gigs was a very good opportunity.
“Well we kind of have an unofficial catering team. We offer the staff in general plenty of chances, but there are some individuals we always have cater when they can make it. You three have more than proven yourselves valuable employees and have a very good work ethic. And even without tonight, your skills were noticeable and it really wouldn’t surprise anyone if you three became regular faces on the catering teams. I wanted to ask you three if you wanted this. Not everyone wants to cater and it's another thing to think about as well,” Mr. Johnston said.
The girls were quiet for moment. Adagio spoke up first, “We thank you for the offers and will think them over. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can with a decision.”
“That’s all we can ask,” the owner said to them. “Have yourselves a goodnight,” he added and dismissed them with a smile.
{-} {-} {-}
“We’re going to take them up on those offers, Right? Adagio?” Aria asked once they were walking back to their apartment.
“I so want to do both,” Sonata said in a slightly pleading voice.
Adagio sighed. “I’m perfectly fine with the bartending deal. It’s the catering thing I’m a little concerned about….”
“Why?” Sonata asked quickly.
Aria gave a knowing frown. “We can’t keep hiding from the rest of Canterlot if we want this to be our home, even if not permanently. It will be possible we run into students from CHS even here. It has always been a possibility.”
“Ohh…” Sonata said with a frown. This was why she usually let Aria and Adagio do the thinking about things. She wasn’t stupid, but she was more about helping them with what they came up with.
“I know…” Adagio started. She remembered some of the things Sunset had told her about the students at CHS. They could really hold grudges and weren’t always accepting people can change. She was worried something might happen and they end up catering at some big event with lots of CHS people there and trouble would find them.
Aria looked to Adagio with determined eyes. “We shouldn’t try to hide anymore. If we keep thinking that way, then we’ll never move on physically or emotionally.” She then sighed, “We still have time to think on it, but I don’t want you already deciding no to the catering thing. I like our jobs at the Bar and Grill as they are, but I’d like it if we catered too. I think it would help us figure out what we want to do after the Bar and Grill.” There was one option for after the Bar and Grill Aria had been secretly toying with for a while now, but she wasn’t going to bring it up to the others yet.
Adagio nodded. “I did say we would think about it. I’m not sure about the catering thing, but I’m not saying no to it outright. We just need to think about it carefully.”
Aria was about to say something else and possibly continue the argument, but Sonata spoke first. “We will, Adagio. Right, Aria?” she said while looking to the other girl.
Aria nodded and said, “We will.”
Sonata then grabbed each of them by the arms and smiled as she said, “Tonight really was lots of fun though. I kind of really liked the uniform idea too.”
Adagio chuckled and said, “Of course you did. You came up with it. It was a good idea though.” Sonata smiled brightly to this.
As the three continued home, Aria made up her mind about something else. She was going to start making her own plans. She decided Adagio needed to get out with them a little more and in a way that wasn’t ‘safe’.
She also wanted them to meet with Twilight and Sunset again sometime, but first she felt some time with just the three of them was in order. She’d ask Sunset about places likely to have CHS students visit, though hopefully wouldn’t be something like the popular local hangout or something. They all three needed to face the reality of their past actions sooner or later. She felt the sooner they did together the better. If nothing else, they could speed up their plans to leave the area, even though she had come to see it as home already. There was also that convention thing Sonata wanted them to all go visit together. Aria had a feeling if they didn’t get this whole CHS thing out of the way that trip wouldn’t be as much fun as it should be.
{-} {-} {-}
Sonata woke up with a mighty yawn the day after they had bartending together. She really loved doing that with both Aria and Adagio. The truth was she loved pretty much anything they all did together. Sonata didn’t really notice as she hummed happily to herself while showering and getting ready for the day.
The light blue haired girl did notice when she entered the kitchen Aria was humming a pretty tune absentmindedly while working on something. Sonata paused in mid step at the sound. She had now heard both Aria and Adagio humming pretty tunes. She tried to curb the idea and hope spinning around in her heart. It might be nothing. “It could be everything!” she thought for a moment. She shook her head. If that was the case, she knew now wasn’t the time for action. She instead settled for saying, “Good morning, Aria! What are you working on?”
Aria’s humming stopped and she looked up before smiling to Sonata and motioning for her to sit next to her quietly. Adagio was still asleep it seemed. Sonata sat down feeling excited. “I decided something last night as we were walking back and debating about the catering offer the bosses gave us.”
“Ooo what did you decide?” Sonata asked eagerly.
“I think we should do it,” Aria started.
“I do too,” Sonata said. She then sighed and looked towards Adagio’s door.
“I have a plan about that. I’m hoping you can help me with it,” Aria said.
Sonata looked a little worried as she asked, “It isn’t something that will… tear us apart again is it?”
Aria placed a hand on Sonata’s shoulder. “No, it isn’t.” Sonata was relieved hearing this and listened as Aria continued. “I want the three of us to start going out to more places for fun together. Places where we might run into students from CHS. Places that aren't safe from that happening.”
Sonata was curious about this and could see some possible reason for this plan, but she wasn’t sure about it. Fortunately, Aria wasn’t done explaining it yet. “I want the three of us together facing the rest of the city. We are safe here, but I think we need more than safe now. We need to get out there. It could be possible maybe the CHS students will have already moved on to something else given they are kind of used to crazy magic stuff happening.”
“What if they do recognize us and it ends up bad?” Sonata asked with worry.
Aria gave her serious face as she said, “That is a possibility, but then that will just help us decide to move on and maybe we can really start over, even if I do see this place as home now. I just don’t think we should keep things how they are presently. If we aren’t already too complacent yet, it is only matter of time I feel.”
Sonata thought it over in her head. She both liked the idea and didn’t like it. She didn’t want Adagio getting hurt again or in trouble either, but Aria was also right. She helped herself to a glass of juice and took a sip. She sighed as she made up her mind. “Alright, but we take it easy. Places where there are too many people for something bad to happen, or places that aren’t going to be too bad. If this goes bad and goes real bad we move quickly if needed and apologize to Adagio together.”
Aria nodded. “I can agree with that, but I think this is for the best. For all of us. We’re in this together now. We help each other out, even if it isn’t always easy.” Aria then smiled as she said, “I already got some places in mind. I sent Sunset a text asking for suitable places and she replied this morning with a few. I would have asked Twilight for help as well, but she’s too new to this area.”
“Sounds good! We can go over them sometime,” Sonata said before giving a giggle. “Probably whenever Adagio goes sunbathing again. You know she’s going too.” Aria joined Sonata in a laugh. They laughed even more when they heard the sounds of Adagio starting her shower.
Aria got back to what she was doing while eating some toast and sipping juice. Sonata got herself some cereal. The sugary kind. The best kind! She refilled her juice and soon heard Aria again start to hum a tune. Sonata did her best not to make it obvious she noticed something, but she ate rather quietly that morning and just listened. Aria didn’t ask her why she was so quiet because she guessed Sonata was letting her think on her plan some more. By the time Adagio joined them, Aria had already once more stopped humming.
{-} {-} {-}
Adagio wasn’t sure about where they were going today. It was a place that was closer to CHS then she liked. It wasn’t the famous Sugarcube Corner, but it wasn’t too far away. Even though it was a weekend, Adagio was feeling a little nervous as they sat down to place their orders. She might have said no to this, but Sonata brought out the Sonata eyes again and Aria really wanted to come here as well for some reason. Adagio gave into them in the end and was partly enjoying herself at least, even if she was constantly looking around for potential problems.
The trio of friends got into Aria’s car after lunch and went to their next stop. It too was in CHS territory, but it was a store they had all three heard some co-workers talking about and wanted to visit. It was a store with lots of decorations and collectible things of all kinds. Adagio might have thought they were pressing their luck, but she wasn’t the one driving and she also wanted to see the place.
When they arrived at the store, Adagio was still a bit wary as they entered. The store looked nice enough and it wasn’t too busy, but there was a part of Adagio expecting a CHS student to suddenly pop up and shout, “There they are! Get them! Get those Dazzlings!” After that, there would be a mob popping up from different parts of the store ready to chase them.
As the three girls looked through the store, Adagio found herself relaxing a little more. She even got a good laugh when Sonata appeared next to her and Aria wearing one of the tiki masks and making a few grunts. Adagio even got in on the fun a little bit and chose a different one to wear. The biggest shocker though was when Aria joined them in their fun. All three of them laughed and a store employee was about to tell them not to play with the merchandise, but he stopped himself when he saw the three girls go look at more of the store while carrying a mask each.
In addition to her mask, Adagio found a beautiful wall scroll that she already knew where to hang in her room. In the car Sonata spoke, “So where should we hang these masks? In the living room? In the kitchen? Ooo ooo on the doors to our rooms!”
Aria was the one to respond first, “I was actually going to hang mine inside my room.”
“Same here,” Adagio admitted.
“That works too!” Sonata said with a smile.
“I’m glad you drove us to that store, Aria. I’ve been wanting to go there for a while now, but didn't because it's close to that place,” Adagio said looking out her window as Aria and Sonata flashed each other a grin.
After all of that, Adagio’s week began.
Monday the group worked until mid afternoon and they went to a different restaurant which was again near CHS for supper. By this point, Adagio was sure Aria and Sonata were up to something and she had a couple of ideas, but didn’t say anything on the matter. She was very tempted to see where things went with whatever it was they were planning.
Tuesday they were busy most of the day at the bar and grill, though they visited a really nice coffee shop that was only a little ways out of their way to work. On Wednesday, they went to an arcade near a burger joint they wanted to try and both were close to CHS. Adagio was a bit surprised no one noticed them that day or maybe they had missed the CHS crowd. Thursday they again spent most of the day working and all three just retired to their apartment that night with some really good Chinese takeout they picked up on the way home.
Friday was going to be a tough day Adagio just knew it. The night before Sonata bought tickets to a movie they all really wanted to see. She even got them tickets to an IMAX 3-D showing of the movie. The only problem was how the light blue haired girl “forgot” the only IMAX 3-D screen in the city was in a mall movie theater which was deep in the heart of CHS territory. On top of that, the three friends found out Friday was a holiday and school was out. They were still going because they didn’t want to waste the money Sonata spent, but Aria and Sonata wanted to spend more time at the mall as well so it was going to be long trip.
Adagio knew what they were trying to do despite their attempts to hide they were planning this. There was still that part of her wanting to see what would happen. “Maybe the students were so caught up in our magic they remember us as little more than a voice pushing them this way and that way. They only reacted to us at the Battle of the Bands because it was so soon after the magic was broken,” Adagio thought as an attempt to reassure herself this wasn't a bad idea while picking out an outfit.
“That would be far too convenient,” Adagio’s doubt said to her.
When they arrived at the mall, the girls climbed out of Sonata’s car, which was best for shopping trips, and Adagio was immediately on alert and remembering how to best get back to their car. She carefully followed her friends around the place as she noticed a few familiar faces, even if she never bothered with any of their names. Nothing was happening, but she was still on edge. Adagio was at least feeling some relief since she was here with Aria and Sonata, who were both keeping close to her and each other.
They went to a couple of stores and bought a few things before eating at the food court. Adagio bought some new clothes she needed. Aria bought them all a new video game they could play together and Sonata got a couple of movies. One movie she got for herself the other she got as something they would all like watching.
This mall actually had a very good selection for the food court and it was right by a beautiful two story carousel. Adagio was looking around carefully and trying to avoid eye contact with the two girls she recognized as being a part of Trixie’s band. They didn’t seem to care or notice the trio, so the curly haired girl allowed herself to relax for the rest of their lunch.
Their first stop after lunch was at the Build a Bear Shop. Sonata really wanted to visit it. This one was supposed to have a lot more stuff than the others usually had, and that was saying something. Sonata was humming happily as she looked around the shop with a smile on her face. Adagio registered the hum and might have thought more on it, but she was too busy snickering at Aria.
Aria was pretending to be the cool tough girl again. She was at the entrance with her arms folded as she asked, “Ugh… Sonata… Why are we here again?”
Sonata just continued about her business as she said, “Building a bear. Why else would we be here?” Aria rolled her eyes and left it alone.
Adagio might have bought Aria’s act a little more if she didn’t know better and Aria hadn't just moved from waiting outside the store to waiting inside the store. She was still at the entrance, but she was looking around the store ‘casually’ with too much of a smile for a tough, I hate everything cute kind of girl to have in such a place, even if it wasn’t a big smile.
The orange and yellowed haired girl was looking around the place curiously. She liked the way the store was laid out. It was rather easy to figure out where to get what you wanted, even if there were lots of choices. She made her way back over to Aria, who had moved even further into the store. Adagio waited near Aria, but not so close the girl would feel she had to keep up her image as much.
“Done!” Sonata said in a singsong voice. Aria and Adagio moved closer to each other and waited while a grinning Sonata approached them with her hands behind her back. “Ta Da!” she said as she held out two bears that looked remarkably close to the girls in front of her. “Aria, Dagio! Meet Bearia and Badagio! I got them for you,” she said with a grin and handed a bear to each of the two girls.
Bearia looked just like a bear form of Aria with her hair and everything. The bear had a neutral but still somehow welcoming expression on her face. She even had fur the same color as Aria’s skin and an outfit that was similar enough to what she usually wore.
Badagio looked just like Adagio, though her hair wasn’t as massive as Adagio’s. It was still close enough to mark their resemblance. The bear also wore a similar enough outfit too. However, Badagio actually had a small smile instead of a neutral expression.
Aria looked her bear over and remained still as she held it while examining it. Adagio looked at her bear and smiled before giving Sonata a tight hug in thanks. She even let out a tear or two in happiness. She didn’t expect this and she felt really happy at the surprise gift. She also wasn’t trying to act cool or anything like Aria, so she let it show. “Thanks, Sonata… It is really cute and such a thoughtful gift,” she said to her friend who smiled in return.
Aria didn’t say anything. She disappeared into the shop. Sonata looked a little worried now. She feared maybe Aria didn’t like the gift and was trying to return it. Adagio squeezed her shoulder telling her to wait. Adagio had a feeling she knew what was up. The last thing she or Aria wanted was a sad Sonata, but that could have easily been avoided by just accepting the gift. This was something more to Aria.
The twin tailed girl returned blushing a little as she held a bear out for Sonata. Sonata looked at it and took the bear quickly. It looked just like her and even had a big smile. She quickly gave Aria a hug in thanks. Aria returned the hug in her own way and said, “Wouldn’t feel right for them to leave behind their best friend Bonata.” Aria sniffed back a couple of tears and her voice was filled with emotion as she spoke.
Sonata didn’t care for such reservations. She cried a little in happiness as she hugged Aria again. “Thanks so much, Aria… I didn’t expect this. Bonata is really cute!”
She then happily hugged the bear again as they left the shop and made a trip to the car to drop off what they got so far. Neither of the girls wanted something to happen to their bear counterparts. After they placed everything else into the trunk, they took extra care to sit all three bears together. It wouldn’t do for them to just be tossed into the car. Bonata was in the middle of Bearia and Badagio. Their human counterparts even placed them so the bears were all three holding hands, or paws in their case.
The three friends were in a really good mood as they trekked around the mall a little more together. They still had some time before the movie started. They weren’t really bothered by any of the others at this point. Some of the students looked at them, but it could have been for any reason really.
Later, as they made their way to the movie, Adagio was starting to feel a little nervous again. There were a lot of CHS students in the theater waiting for tickets or refreshments. She was starting to think maybe the three of them had just been lucky earlier no one bothered to actually take notice of them, since they were all minding their own business throughout the mall. However, when waiting in line for a movie or refreshments one did tend to look around at the other people in the area. There were also a lot of them together here, even if they weren’t all there with each other. The students were talking to one another or waving and such.
The former leader of the Dazzlings would do what she could for her friends, but there wasn’t much she felt she could do if needed here. They didn’t have any powers. They weren’t physically that strong compared to some of the guys and they were severely out numbered. If the students suddenly wanted to get back at them, they would only be able to run and pray they did so fast enough.
Adagio felt a hand grab her own. She looked down and noticed it was Sonata’s hand. She looked up and the girl gave her a friendly and warm smile. “Don’t worry Adagio,” she said as she squeezed her hand. Adagio smiled in return and felt calmer as they walked up to the refreshment stand.
“Can I have a Buncha Crunch and a Root Beer?” Aria asked the worker, who was a student at CHS. The girl seemed to look them over, but she didn’t seem bothered by them being there.
“What else?” she asked.
“I want a Sprite mixed with grape and milk duds,” Sonata ordered with a friendly smile.
“And I’ll have a cherry soda with Reese’s pieces,” Adagio said.
Aria paid for their refreshments. Adagio might have complained, but she was stopped before she could. “You paid for our night out on the town. You can’t complain about us being generous as well every now and then,” Aria said. Adagio nodded as she grabbed her refreshments and felt relieved as they walked to go wait for the doors to open for their movie.
Fresh Mint wondered what those three were doing here, but she didn’t care. Sure, there was the whole Battle of the Bands thing, but everyone got heated and caught up in the competition there. Things had gotten intense during that time, but they had all done things they regretted a little during those days. Some had claimed magic was somehow involved, but the majority of the students just cared about apologizing to their friends instead of who to blame after they cooled down, once the competition was over. It probably helped that there weren’t any friendships really broken during that time.
The three girls were actually a little worried something might happen as they stood there in line waiting for the movie. They happened to be standing right next to most of Flash Drive. The leader apparently was too busy to come with the rest of the band, because something came up at the last minute from what they could gather. The rest of the band even looked at the three girls a little curiously, but it felt more as if they were just checking them out a little before smiling and turning back to each other talking again.
The guys of Flash Drive were caught a little off guard when they saw the Dazzlings standing next to them in line for the movie. They weren’t sure what to think, but when the girls just kind of kept to themselves it felt as if they were just three normal girls. They guessed they now were, they weren’t sure how this magic stuff worked, but despite most of the Battle of the Bands' final being a blur they did clearly remember the Dazzlings loosing whatever powers they were supposed to have had.
They also weren’t really too caught up in the whole competition thing. They were serious about it and wanted to win, but it was mostly Flash that they were following since he was their leader. He had done things he later admitted to them he felt bad about, but Flash Sentry never really took anything out on others. He simply got over it and learned from it. After all, if he stood up for Sunset Shimmer after the Fall Formal, despite everything she did to them all and to him personally. There was no way he would get upset at the Dazzlings because he got so carried away with the competition.
{-} {-} {-}
The girls laughed as Aria went over a part of the movie she liked again. “We knew that movie would be awesome and it was,” Aria said as she climbed into Sonata’s car. “Thanks for getting the tickets, Sonata. I don’t think it would have been anywhere near as cool on a regular movie screen.”
The day had actually been a lot of fun for the three, even when they were worried about what might happen. The car ride back consisted of the trio going on about the movie, even though it was mostly Aria and Adagio. Sonata was focused on driving. It didn’t take them long to get everything out of the car and into their rooms once they arrived back at their apartment.
The girls didn’t have to go in to work until late tomorrow, so they decided to have a drink or two with each other as they sat around the living room talking some more. When there was a lull in the conversation, Adagio spoke. “Okay. I get it,” she simply said to them.
The other girls looked to her curiously. “I get it. Things aren’t as bad as I feared they would be. I figured out what you two were trying to do a while back. I appreciate it, though I wish you had just told me what was going on instead of ‘accidentally’ forgetting something was right close to CHS.” She said the last part with a giggle as both Aria and Sonata blushed knowing they were caught. They were also happy it seemed to have worked and Adagio wasn’t angry with them.
Adagio gave a stretch. “Tomorrow after our shift we will meet the bosses together and tell them we do want to join the unofficial catering team. I know you two already wanted to do it from the start and I was the only one with doubts.”
“Well we were a little worried too, but we just figured it was time we see what would happen,” Sonata explained.
Aria nodded, “We were ready to move out if needed, had things gone sour. We weren’t going to let you get hurt again trying to fix things on your own for us.”
Adagio smiled fondly at them both. “I don’t know why or how it is the CHS students aren’t like super angry at us, but I’m thankful. Maybe they just moved on since the Battle of the Bands already. Maybe our magic fogged their minds so much they didn’t really remember anything other than a voice whispering to them. I feel like we can, I can, stop worrying so much about that. I’m sure some of them will remember and not really forgive us. Such as maybe that Flash whatever his name was guy and Trixie. There is also the other Rainbooms, but maybe things will work out there too. Twilight and Sunset are our friends. If we apologize to the others, eventually they might forgive us. Though I will admit, I don’t want to force that confrontation.”
The others nodded their heads in agreement. “I don’t want to press any confrontations. If we have to talk about it to someone we can, but I think not looking for trouble will work out the best for us,” Aria said. Adagio and Sonata nodded in agreement.
Sonata gave a smile. “I really enjoyed today. And I’m really happy you agreed to finally let us join the catering team. I'll admit I was a little worried today at certain times, but it's all good now.” The girls moved in and gave each other a group hug.
Adagio then gave a bit of a snicker. “I still like how Aria made a Sonata bear despite claiming to hate that store so much.” Aria pretended to be indignant and raised her nose in the air before the three of them shared a laugh and enjoyed the rest of the night.
{-} {-} {-}
Saturday was busy as it always was on Saturday, especially at night, but it was a good night business and tip wise. The three girls were meeting again with Mr. Forrester and Mr. Johnston in the main office. Sonata and Adagio were wearing their waitress uniforms and Aria was in her regular clothes having just finished with her kitchen duties. “We decided we would like to do the bar thing some more, but not too often like you said,” Adagio explained as the other two nodded in agreement. Mr. Forrester smiled to their answer. “We also decided to join the unofficial catering team,” Adagio said as the three of them smiled excitedly.
Mr. Johnston gave a good hearted happy chuckle. “Excellent! I was really hoping you would say yes to that.” He then nodded to Mr. Forrester who left to go and finish with the close out duties and pass the message to those who needed to know. “Now we have a few upcoming events already scheduled. I would like you three to look over the calendar here and tell me if there are any you know for sure you can’t make it to because of previous arrangements.”
The girls looked even though there wasn’t any problem like that for them.
Mr. Johnston pointed to a date on the calendar not too far off and said, “This event is coming soon and we could really use your help. Mrs. Franks will be running this one and she will be meeting with you three later to discuss details about it. This one isn’t the usual catering gig, so there will be a number of differences from our regular catering service, but you three are more than capable of helping with it I’m sure.”
They spent a good amount of time talking about the other events as well. Mr. Johnston told them to not over do it on signing up for events. He could tell they were more than ready to go full throttle now that they made their choice. He had faith in them and their skill, but he first wanted to ease them into catering if possible.
The girls left that night in a really good mood and all three were humming at one time or the other as they walked back to their apartment together. Sonata enjoyed the moment, but took note of this occurrence. She was going to take actions on her new plan soon as a result of this. For tonight though, she was just going to enjoy the mood they were all in because of their excitement. "I can't wait to tell to Twilight and Sunset about this," she said.
"I was hoping the five of us could get together again soon and this will be perfect to talk about," Aria said.
Adagio gave a nod. "I'll get in touch with them and tell them we want to all hangout gain soon," she said as they made their way home.
I said this chapter would come out soon and here it is 
. Sadly, the next chapter will take some time. I wrote the main part of it a while ago, but it needs some serious reworking after all of this time and there is something really hanging me up on it. Who knows? Maybe something will happen and I will get it out quicker as inspiration fires brightly inside me and compels me to focus on writing this! But like I said, who knows? 
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.
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So nice to see how the Dazzlings are coming along. Good work on portraying their struggles in adjusting, very well paced! I'd say "realistic" but let's be honest, I'm not quite as old as these three lol!
Are You going to include the Season 7 finale as a reference later on in the story or is it too late for that? Just curious
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If I do it will just be lightly touching on it and not exactly canon to what the show had.
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Glad you like how the Dazzlings are in this story. I'm sure there are very few if any who are as old as those three.
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Why'd this reply get downvoted? Know what, screw it, up-voting just because I'm spiteful.
This was a great chapter
I loved the Build-A-Bear part
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I really enjoyed writing that part. It really felt like a Sonata thing to do and their reactions really fit as well.
Aria's my kind of girl.
So digging this right now!
Sounds like the Stonebriar mall.... hmmm
This is very credible coming from Sonata. I can totally see her doing stuff like that.
OMG! This was fantastic! Loved how the Dazzlings were able to get past their fears and make some “risks” to expand their horizons. And man! That part with the Build A Bear Workshop was simply ADORABLE! Loved it!
It also seems that both Sonata and Aria have plans! I wonder what they are? And also, is their singing coming back? After all, both Sonata and Aria were heard “humming beautifully”!