Chapter 8: Too Many Friends!
When they arrived at Sugarcube Corner, it looked like they had come too late, because the lights were on, but no one was around. Sonata opened the door and her guests followed, the three of them looking around curiously.
The second the door was closed, the Rainbooms sprung from behind the counter and yelled "SURPRISE!!" at the same time as a large, colorful banner reading "WELCOME!" unfolded from the ceiling.
The Dazzlings were startled, to say the least.
Sunset Shimmer was the first to step forward, smiling widely. "Hi, guys! Glad you all could make it!"
Adagio opened her mouth to reply, but remembered her place in the plan and nudged Sonata forward.
Smiling brightly, Sonata seized a wrist of each siren at her side and held them in the air. "We are here to do the friendship!"
Briefly sharing a confused look, Aria and Adagio said a tiny, silent prayer and nodded a little. Now it was their turn.
---
...Or not.
The party had gotten started right after brief introductions were made, and so far there wasn't so much as a mean-spirited stare cast by anyone. The couple at the counter, presumably the facility's owners, smiled and welcomed them to sit anywhere they liked and indicated the snack table on one side of the shop, where Pinkie Pie stood waving at them.
Sonata grinned. "I'm gonna go see if the cupcakes are the super-sweetened kind, ciao!"
She jogged over, Aria instead moving toward the jukebox. Partly just out of curiosity at the thing's existence in this day and age. "I'll see what tunes they've got here."
Her eyes flicking back and forth, Adagio watched her partners walk away.
Don't leave me on my own, you idiots! Splitting up is exactly what they want us to do!
She glanced around the room to find the girls they were here to... actually try to get along with, mostly spread out around the room themselves. Maybe it was fine. More by the minute, in wandered randoms from the street that possibly just came in for a donut before being unofficially drafted into the party. Adagio opted to stay where she was, leaning against a far side of the counter as she watched the rest.
Over at the snack table, Sonata waved to Rarity and Applejack, who stood close by, before looking at Pinkie. "Hiya, Pinks!"
"Hey, Nata! Don't worry about the cupcakes, these are-"
Sonata beamed. "I was just about to ask!"
The two of them giggled together before Pinkie gestured to the table. "We've also got donuts, muffins, bagels, cinnamon rolls, tiny sandwiches, a bowl of chips," Sonata let out a tiny squee, "a big ol' jello cube, and a pie!" She looked at Applejack and Rarity, who held a glass of punch each. "Thanks again for baking on such short notice, Applejack!"
"T'weren't nothin'," she replied with a smile.
"I second that thank-you," Sonata said while trying to contain her urge to shove her face straight into the snack table, "I love eating your pie!"
Rarity did a spit-take, coughing immediately after. This won her three perplexed stares, which made her reply with a rosy-cheeked smile. "Haha, yes, pies, um... I think Sunset is looking a little lonely, I'll go keep her company, ta-ta!" There was a short, awkward silence as Rarity quickly, but gracefully walked away.
Shrugging, Applejack looked back at Sonata. "So, yer lookin' pretty good fer somebody that wandered into the wrong part'a the farm."
Her head lowering in contrition, Sonata giggled nervously. "S-sorry I went in there." She had expected to be chastised a little more, but Applejack smiled and shook her head.
"Ah reckon you learned yer lesson. Swellin' looks like it's gone down a lot, how ya feelin'?"
Perking up, Sonata looked at the pie and licked her lips. "Like I'm about to be a whole different kind of swollen!"
She, Pinkie, and Applejack giggled together.
Across the room, Aria had engaged a slightly shaky Fluttershy before she reached the jukebox. There was something she badly wanted to know. "So, you're sure nothing happened? Like, other than all the biting?"
"Y-y-yes," Fluttershy answered with a nervous blush, not liking what Aria had been implying for the last few minutes, but touched by her concern for a friend, "and, I'm still not sure what made them do that."
Aria barely stopped herself from spilling the truth. "Ehh... Prob'ly nothing important." She was startled by a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey," announced Rainbow with a big, friendly grin, "do you have a favorite sport?"
"Uh..." Sports? I'm more of a dancer... "Not, really...?"
That the answer sounded like a question was Rainbow's first clue that maybe the Dazzlings weren't all that athletic. Or at least, didn't care much for sports. "No sweat, I'll describe the ones I know, you stop me if anything jumps out. Item One: Volleyball! It starts with a big net..."
Hoo, boy, thought Aria, they ARE into some kinky stuff...
---
The party went on, people moved around, but Adagio stayed put, alone. The Dazzlings, just herself and the other two, were in a building owned by those that by rights shouldn't have been this welcoming, with more and more people showing up. It positively screamed 'trap,' but nothing was happening.
Were they just building their forces? Waiting until a big enough mob had arrived that they could easily seize her group to tar and feather them? Or worse? Or was she worrying for nothing? If Sonata had genuinely won the Rainbooms over with her antics, Adagio didn't want to be the one to ruin that by doing something to come across as unfriendly. That in mind, she wasn't quite feeling up to just walking over and starting a conversation with someone. What would they talk about?
She didn't know, so she kept her focus on Aria and Sonata, both of whom were apparently having no trouble mingling. Well, give or take a few confused, mildly disturbed expressions from Aria while she talked to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
Not far from her, Sunset, Fluttershy, and Rarity stood together as the latter wrapped up her story.
"-and the most delightful arrangement of buttons! Quite the haul for a trip that began with a blow to the head." The three of them giggled as she turned her eyes toward Adagio. She hadn't moved from where she'd been since the party started, which drew a concerned frown. "It looks like she's still wallflowering it over there."
Remembering what Sonata had told her, Fluttershy nodded. "She, uh, m-might be a little nervous, or something. I'd talk to her myself, but, uhm-"
"But," Sunset offered, "those eyes of hers are a little scary?"
"Yes."
Rarity was still looking at her, raising a glass to her lips. "She might be as scared as you are, Darling." Her friends had to wait until she finished a sip for clarification. Rarity shrugged a little. "Look closely, I'm quite certain her legs are shaking."
It was hard to tell at that distance, but scrutinizing her triangle-patterned tights, it looked like Rarity was right.
Fluttershy gasped quietly. "Oh, goodness, her legs are shaking."
"Yea they are..."
Rarity and Fluttershy immediately turned to look at Sunset, the former voicing the question. "What was that, Darling?"
Sunset grinned nervously. "Er, I said, I'll go talk to her!" And off she went.
Watching her walk over, Rarity whispered. "...One minute?"
Fluttershy smiled. "Two."
They giggled together.
Slightly scary eyes were locked onto her as she approached, but Sunset kept a normal stride and friendly expression. "Hey. I've seen your MyStable account."
Adagio inquisitively tilted her head. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Your profile, the... one... that...?" Sunset shrugged, looking away as she smiled. "Nothing, just wanted to get to know my fellow Equestrians a bit. I used to be a pony, back home."
Raising a cautious eyebrow, Adagio leaned in a little to look at her. "...What kind of pony?"
---
Telling stupid, pointless stories was apparently friendship gold, Aria had learned.
"So, that's why I'm not an artist."
Rainbow and Pinkie both giggled, the latter nudging the former. "Maybe you should have tried triangles, huh, Rainbow?"
"Hey, red and orange scribbles are totally universal for fire, everyone in kindergarten knows that. Ria just improved on the method, is all."
Pinkie blinked. "'Ria'? You mean 'Ari'?"
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "No, I mean 'Ria.' Sounds better, doesn't it?"
Aria held up a finger. "Um-"
"'Ari' is cuter!"
"Cute has nothing to do with cool nicknames!"
"Cute nicknames are friendlier!"
"I'm sticking with 'Ria.'"
"'Ari!'"
"'Ria!'"
"'Ari!'"
"'Ria!'"
"'Ari!'"
"'Ria!'"
Aria tried to interject. "Guys?"
They only bickered faster.
"'Ari!'"
"'Ria!'"
"'Ari!'"
"'Ria!'"
"'Ari!'"
"'Ria!'"
"HEY!!" She now had their attention, smirking a little. "Why don't we go with 'Aria'?"
Sharing a quick look, Rainbow and Pinkie beamed and answered in unison. "A compromise, that's perfect!"
Aria 'Aria' Blaze facepalmed, trying to keep from smiling as they hi-fived. Now there's three of her...
---
Festivities carried on for the next hour, all three Dazzlings engaged in conversation with Rainbooms, as well as people they'd never met! Sonata, overjoyed, ran around greeting random people, shaking their hands, and then pulling them by that hand to introduce them to someone else. Friendship to everyone! She had just finished bowing to Padawan Lyra when Aria tugged on her shirt.
"Hey, can I talk to you in private for a minute?"
They moved to a vacant area in the back, by the bathrooms. When they stopped, Sonata smiled. "So, what'd you wanna talk abo-" She was cut off with a gentle hug.
"Been thinking," Aria whispered, "when Adagio was holed up in her room, I thought it was all my fault, that some of what I said really must've got to her." It said something that Sonata offered no arguments right then. "Looks like that wasn't it, but I still wondered. I want you to know that I don't hate you, that when I call you names or belittle what you do, I don't mean it, not a word. Okay?"
Tearing up, Sonata couldn't do words, but she could squeeze Aria in the warmest, cuddliest hug she'd ever given! So she did! A minute later, Aria asked a question.
"I'm still allowed to deny this ever happened, right?"
"Of course."
Still hugging, the two giggled together, at least until Aria quickly reached down to give Sonata a wedgie.
"IPE!!" Breaking away, Sonata immediately moved to adjust her striped underpants. "Hey!"
Aria shrugged, smiling guiltily. "Insurance, in case anyone saw us here." Once again, Sonata gave her the Angry Pout.
The two of them returned to the main party area and were swiftly met with a rosy-cheeked, cross-looking Adagio holding Pinkie Pie (who didn't seem the least bit bothered by it) by the wrist, a worried Sunset Shimmer behind her.
Adagio wasn't sure how Sonata could have known about her vague sense of fondness for unicorns, the only pony race she could recall ever having stood up to them back in Equestria (even if it was just the one), but that wasn't what irked her at this moment.
"Sonata? Perhaps you could explain something to me..."
---
Aria didn't revise her private speech to Sonata after learning about the MyStable profiles, but she did give one Hell of a glare. For the next 24 hours, Sonata had gorging herself, throwing up, being stepped on, being a beast of burden, fang-marks on her butt, going pantless, balls to the face, and being covered in bees listed as her interests.
"Thanks for making us these profiles, Sonata," said Aria with a smug grin as she sat at the computer, "I'm sure all our new friends will love to see them!"
Sonata stared in mortified silence at the footage of her chasing the bulldog in that parking lot with her skirt off. Much more worrying was the ever-increasing view counter.
Chuckling, Adagio walked in and looked over Aria's shoulder at the screen. "Been customizing your page too, I take it?"
"Yup. Had to, or Fluttershy might'a sent me another-"
Adagio deadpanned. "Another half-gig of rabbit photos? She sent me what was labeled as the special edition..." She had to agree, they indeed looked like super snuggly bunnies. Still, that had to be the least disturbing thing she or Aria were emailed as a result of those interest lists.
Sonata was covering her face with both hands. "I'm sorry I set up embarrassing profiles for you guys, now can you please take down that video?!"
Aria touched a fingertip to her lower lip, her voice and face utterly innocent. "But, dear Sonata, however will people know my interests otherwise?"
Groaning, Sonata stomped a foot and stormed off. "You guys are THE WORST!!"
Aria and Adagio both laughed themselves silly.
When she caught her breath, Adagio leaned in to whisper to Aria. "You really should take that video down." Aria gave her a confused look. She smirked. "...In a few days."
They laughed a little more.
---
A few weeks later, the many embarrassing events of Sonata's excursion by herself were largely forgotten, even by Aria and Adagio, who had taken to spending time with their new friends more than they'd have ever imagined. The trio even found themselves attending school of their own free will just to see them more often. Not everyone was immediately accepting of the former magical menaces, but the continued presence of the now-friendly Sunset Shimmer often served to make such people feel silly about their grudges.
There were ups and downs, peaks and troughs, but one day, Adagio had called everyone together for a picnic-party at the park, starting with a little announcement.
"Hello, everyone!" It was more than just the Rainbooms that greeted her back. "You may recall that Aria, Sonata, and I once tried to take your school, your town, your world, and make them our playthings. Our efforts were thwarted, but that alone didn't show us what we were doing wrong, and for a time, we didn't know what to do anymore." She frowned. "Personally, I eventually fell into despair, convinced that there was nothing left to do but lie down and die," a hesitant smile returned, "but my oldest friends had other ideas." She stopped long enough to look at Aria and Sonata, who smiled back at her. "Today, the three of us are here with you as friends, happier than we've ever been!"
There was a short cheer, but she wasn't quite done. Adagio let one of her 'scary grins' cross her face. "As such, I've amended my plans for world domination..."
In the crowd, Aria facepalmed. "Aw, jeez, she's really doin' it..."
"Considering how much better off we are now, after having embraced that which once opposed us..."
Sonata giggled. "Never change, Dagi."
"The new plan is to conquer the world-" Sunset Shimmer popped up behind her to deliver the announcement at the same time. "-THROUGH FRIENDSHIP!!" Sunset and Adagio took up villainous poses (hands-on-hips and holding-two-grapefruits, respectively) to laugh maniacally, but Sunset's grin was too wide and cheerful to really pull it off.
Among those gathered, some giggled along with them, some rolled their eyes, some turned their heads away and blushed, and some just backed away slowly.
Following that little spectacle, people spread out. Some joined Fluttershy and Rarity on lawn chairs in the shade, some played soccer with Rainbow Dash and Applejack on a flat feild, some hung around the snack tables to hear Pinkie's stand-up routines, some cartwheeled in the grass and some just floated around. Sunset Shimmer had aptly proven to be in this last category, but she never wasn't having fun.
The Dazzlings, however, met up together a little after the announcement, two having something to say to the other. For once, Aria and Adagio squeezed Sonata in a hug and didn't care who saw, speaking in unison. "Thank you!"
She giggled. "What's this one for?"
"For opening the door for us," answered Aria.
"For finding a way to be happy," Adagio continued, "then coming back to share it with us."
"Yea," Aria said with a little laugh, "I mean, I still can't believe you really went out, made new friends, smoothed things over for us, and..." Giggling, she couldn't even find the words, instead squeezing Sonata a little harder. "Just, this!"
Adagio nodded. "Really, I would never have guessed you could have such cunning as to deduce what we really needed, then formulate a plan to seize it all by yourself!" Hugging a little tighter, Adagio gently nuzzled Sonata, tearful pride in her voice. "You don't need me anymore."
Sonata was glad the others were too close to get a good look at her face right then, because there was no way her wobbly-lipped smile was convincing. They both evidently forgot the specific details of her original plan, but this was the highest praise the two of them had ever bestowed on her. She had made quite a few mistakes, but those mistakes apparently made everyone very happy. The truth of Sonata's scheme, she decided, would have to be a private shame that she would keep to herself. Possibly for the rest of her days.
"Hey," came the voice of Sunset Shimmer, "there you guys are! I hate to break up a group hug, but it's almost time."
Letting Sonata go, Aria and Adagio nodded to Sunset and set off, the former making sure she was following. "Coming, Nata?"
She snapped out of her guilty daze. "Yep!"
---
The three of them stood on a large, wooden platform, microphones in front of them and Vinyl Scratch operating her sound system behind the stage, visibly aching to get started.
I can't keep it secret forever, thought Sonata as she and her two oldest companions looked out at the crowd, I'll have to tell somebody some day...
Adagio made her malevolent smile again, though most had learned that that was pretty much just her 'excited' face. "Ready, girls?"
But, for now...?
Aria chuckled, looking just a little villainous herself. "We did promise them a song."
I might not be as smart as Adagio or as strong as Aria, but I can do something they need my help for.
She beamed happily.
I can smile!
*LONG RANT AHEAD*
...Predictable ending, huh? Maybe not the specific details, but overall. I guess that's kind of what happens when you take a done-to-death story idea and make yet more of it, even with a little twist. That twist was that nobody* was left out of the happy ending, by the way, along with even the doomed-to-failure bad guy still getting plenty of bright spots to keep her going. That first one might not be completely unusual for an MLP fic, but it's a little disconcerting how often you can see some left in dire straits and miserable fates and everyone pretty much cries out "YAY, TEAM FRIENDSHIP" without irony, in-universe and out. This annoys me because I generally grew up thinking that the good guys are supposed live up to their virtues by doing all they can to save everyone or die trying.
What does it say that not everyone is redeemed? That sometimes, it isn't even tried? If even one person can't be converted to sing about sunshine and rainbows and all that, doesn't that kinda mean the Magic of Friendship has failed? If only on a small, 'acceptable' scale? That something proved too strong for it to overcome?
Redeeming the bad guys might get old after a while, but you know what else gets old? Watching them suffer and/or die because most seem to think it makes the 'hero' look cool. That, or it's screwing over their entire lives and giving no closure whatsoever, writing them off as lost causes because actually putting effort in to making them see things differently is apparently asking too much from what is treated as this limitless, unstoppable power. I don't quite grasp why those are apparently such popular choices for this show, in canon and out, when the stage was set with Luna back in the pilot, but the implications are grim.
Sometimes I get the impression that the old 'F
ck you, got mine' is just one of those things that's okay when the 'good guys' do it. Being able to save everyone might not be realistic, but I kind of thought we abandoned realism when the unstoppable rainbow lasers powered by friendship started up. I used to take the magical instant-win powers (Elements, Cadence/Shining Armor's repulse sheild thing, the Crystal Heart, etc) as a metaphor for teamwork overcoming any obstacle or something, but maybe recent episodes are deliberately moving away from this in favor of sending the Mane 6 to go and share their philosophies in a more effective, less I-win-you-lose-deal-with-it kind of way.
But maybe all of this is just me barking at the moon, getting all worked up about messages nobody ever intended to send? I had a thought that none of these unfortunate implications I see time and time again are deliberate or even noticed in most cases, because things can be interpreted differently than the writer ever meant for them to be.
To show you what I mean, stay tuned for a bonus chapter!
* It isn't stated, but they even mended fences with Photo Finish for the unnamed transgressions that led to Aria slamming the door in her face.
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Unicorn. Also a sunbutt.
Oh just f
ck already!
Yes. Yes they are. And I'll admit, I'd laugh too.
DEspair. ALso, yay for friendship.
Predictable? Yes. But well-executed. And that's what matters.
Also, I do agree that it's absolutely bizarre how often one of the Dazzlings (Sonata in particular) gets redeemed and the others get left in the dust, for stories set in a universe that had an insane goddess shown the light in the first two episodes and later went on to reform Discord.
Lots of good little jokes in this chapter, I won't go into all of them, but I like the idea of world domination through friendship. It is, literally, magical power after all.
Is that not a common occurrence in the US? Happens all the time in Canada.
6744349
Not normal in the south
NOW STOP SHOOTING FRIENDSHIP LASERS OVER THE DAMN BORDER!
Yes
Both to the story and to the author's note.
Heck, for all my bellyaching about Discord being reformed, my issue is more with how it's been handled for the most part and less with the actual idea of it.
That's probably the most well thought out defense of the show's use of reformation I've ever heard. Personally, I think it's okay not to do it with everyone (from a storytelling perspective). In the real world, some people just can't be reasoned with, and won't "stoop" to accepting help. Of course, it should also be clear that this shouldn't stop you from trying (I think they did an abridged version in Rarity Take Manehattan). Now, if the "Magic of Friendship" doesn't work on everyone, that doesn't mean it's a failure. By that logic, if a hero can't save every single person ever, they're a failure, and shouldn't even try. It's perfectionism to the extreme. My attitude is do the best you can, look at the mistakes you made, and then don't make those mistakes again.
Rant aside, I love this story.
(claps) I loved it. I'm gonna do a full review later.