A Dazzling Mismatch

by Shadowmane PX-41

The Big Moment...

The Dazzlings were finally gathered together, and Adagio's plan was about to come to fruition. She was going to watch both Aria and Sonata cast off the gems that gave them their flipped personalities and hopefully fix all three of them, with the Rainbooms standing by as witnesses to make sure that nothing went wrong. All that she had to hope for was that both of her sisters were as thick-headed as they always were and that they'd just blindly accept these new jewels over their current ones.

Sunset Shimmer watched all of the Dazzlings getting ready to change back to normal. Even though she did feel some kind of guilt for forcing it on Aria and Sonata without their consent, she knew that if there was some way to control the Sirens and keep them from abusing their magic for their selfish privileges, then they wouldn't have another incident. But at the same time, Sunset barely even knew the Dazzlings outside of their personality and the warpath that they led against Canterlot High with their mutterings of musical warfare. Those kinds of people couldn't be trusted, at least not at the moment.

"You ready for this, Sonata?" Aria asked as she lifted her new gem, ready to make the change.

"Mmhmm! I'm ready!" Sonata nodded as she picked up her new 'replacement' gem as well.

C'mon... C'mon. Take the bait. Adagio watched in anticipation. This was what she had been waiting for. She just had to say nothing and let everything play out. However, just as the two sisters lifted their hands, they stopped. That was what sent a shiver down Adagio's spine. Had one of them figured out what was going on here?

"Hang on a second," Sonata said as she examined the gem all over. "How do you think it'd look on me? Should we get a mirror and find out?"

"Nah, I can see it already, Sonata." Aria just flashed Sonata a smile. But she was looking at the crystal on Sonata's neck rather than the one that was in her hands. "Whatever you wear, you'll always be a super-duper superstar to me."

"Thanks, Aria." Sonata gave an innocent grin, clasping her hands together. It had been a long time since she and her sisters had bonded over something like this; even if it was just her and Aria. A fuzzy feeling welled in her heart as she looked down at the gem once more. "Y'know, when you put it like that, why do we even need to change gems anyway? I'm really happy as it is."

"Me too. Ever since I put this gem on, I've been feeling the happiest I've been in forever!" Aria threw her arms into the air. "No more having to fight over our food, no more having to deal with the nasty things in my brain, no more discord between us. We're all happy like we are."

Adagio felt her entire body tense up. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why were her sisters of all people picking now to get wise and sappy? Her hand tightened up into a fist and trembled silently.

"Wait. Are you sure that this is what you want?" Rarity was the first of the Rainbooms to speak to Aria and Sonata. "Don't you want to put these new crystals on and get some new power?"

"New power? Why would we want that? After all, we've got our gems back, don't we?" Aria made a frame around the current gem using her fingers. "We've got these things on, don't we? So why would we want some new ones?"

"Unless... you want us to wear these new crystals WITH the ones we've already got!" Sonata's face flashed bright with glee. "That's a wonderful idea, Rarity! Thanks for that!" And Sonata wasted no time in slipping her new gem on. But unfortunately, she didn't take the one that she was already wearing off; the last key part of the plan that Adagio had envisioned.

"That ain't exactly what she meant, girls..." Applejack watched as Aria put on her new gem with Sonata, but again, did not take off the gem that she was already wearing. Applejack tried as hard as she could to not pull her hat down over her face at the plan going pear-shaped. Now the girls had their powers and didn't want to get rid of them, completely unaware that this was all just a trick being played on them by Adagio.

"Well, now what do we do?" Pinkie whispered to Fluttershy. "The Sirens kept their sing-magic gems and now they won't even wanna get rid of them..."

"I know, Pinkie. I can see it too," Fluttershy replied in a whisper back to Pinkie. "This is bad. We should probably think of something else."

"So, what do you wanna do now, girls?" Sonata asked, looking around the house for something to do. "Do you wanna play some games? I've got a lot of toys and games that we can play with!"

"And I've got some great places where we can hang out too!" Aria added, completely unaware of Adagio, who had been sitting in the corner silently cursing herself. Her entire plan had been scuppered and Aria didn't even notice it.

"Ooh, can we go to that park and throw those balls into the baskets?" Sonata beamed from ear to ear. "I've always been wanting to play that game, and now we can, thanks to the Rainbooms!" She slid over to the other Rainbooms and pulled them into a wide hug, which caused all of the girls' faces to scrunch up in surprise.

"Yeah. We can totally say sorry for all the bad things that we did and have a fresh new start; make some friends, and we can all live happily ever after!" Aria joined in that hug, wrapping her arms around the girls' bodies. "And maybe they can even learn about our magic too since they've got some magic of their own to play with!"

"Y-y-y-know, maybe we've just misjudged the Dazzlings," Twilight was the next to speak up since she had no prior experience with the girls.

"What do you mean, Twilight?" Sunset asked as the hug ended and the girls were freed from Aria and Sonata's clutches.

"Let's say that they did cause some trouble at Canterlot High. This Battle of the Bands thing you keep going on about. And let's say that, for some reason, they did turn into some kind of demon girls with dark magic," Twilight pushed her glasses closer to her face. "But look at them now. They wouldn't hurt a fly, and they don't want to change back to the way that they were. Can we keep up the apprehension?"

"What do you mean?" Sunset lifted a brow.

"The Dazzlings might have done what they did and used their powers for evil. But that's all in the past. Look at them now, Sunset Shimmer," Twilight stretched her arm towards Aria and Sonata. "They don't want to do anything evil anymore. They just want to be who they are with these gems and enjoy life as it comes. Who are we to say no to that?"

"Twilight? I know that you're not really as caught up as the rest of us are, but the Dazzlings did cause a lot of people to get frustrated." Rainbow Dash folded her arms. "I mean, let's put it this way. These three girls play with emotions—"

"Played. Play-ed. They don't play with them now." Twilight quickly retorted with her arms crossed. "You and the other girls are being way too harsh and hard to forgive. Have they ever once caused people to fight because of their singing? And have you ever seen them sucking some kind of magic out of their bodies now that they have these new gems?"

The Rainbooms fell silent. Twilight Sparkle had cut through their prejudice and apprehension with a simple fact. Sure, the Sirens did have the powers, but they had never seen any real arguments or trouble arise in the city as of late; not any that they knew of. And if they did know anything about it, then surely, someone within their group would have noticed and let everyone else know of the situation. None of them had any words to say to counter Twilight's argument.

Adagio was aghast. This was far too sappy for her liking. Seeing her sisters as a lost cause, she just ripped the gemstone off of her neck and tossed it to the ground without anyone else noticing. If they wouldn't want to be rid of them, then at least she would cast off the very thing that had ruined her mind and be free of any burden or involvement. She slipped out of the house without saying goodbye to anyone or making any noise.

"As I figured. The Dazzlings were evil, but thanks to these new gems, they're turning over a new leaf; even if they didn't even know that they were changing their lives for the better," Twilight finally broke the silence between her and her fellow teenagers. "So, whatever prejudice you have towards the three of them, you need to drop it and give them a chance to shine as they are right now."

Again, silence fell between the girls. But this time, it was short-lived as Sonata finally plucked up courage and laid a hand on Twilight. "She's right. I don't want to be the same kind of person you think I am. Whatever happened in the past happened. We can't exactly keep your fires stoked. We've gotta just draw a line, wipe the slate clean, and just try to be friends." She knew that it was the intelligence and maturity of Adagio talking, but Sonata had adopted it as part of her mindset rather than borrow on what her sister would say. "Isn't that right, Aria?"

"Mmhmm." Aria gave a gentle nod. She had been feeling nothing but negative thoughts until that new crystal found her way into her life. Now, with a lot of that bitterness drained from her head, it was like she could finally think, without having to dread anything or judge her sisters. Aria was a changed siren.

"Look, whatever you think of us, we're sorry for what we did. Even if you hate us nonstop, we're not gonna hurt you or anyone else anymore." Sonata bowed in repentance at the Rainbooms. "That's not gonna stop us from trying to change who we are and start over. My only question now is, after all this is said and done, can you please forgive us?"

For the third time that encounter, silence fell between the group. But this time, the Rainbooms were deep in thought. Sonata's words were starting to burrow into their heads. For all that they knew, the Sirens were showing signs of change. Not a single one had been hostile towards them or wanted to try and scheme something against them. And since these gems had found their way onto the necks of the Dazzlings, there was something much different about them. Something... docile. None of them could put a finger on it, but there was something that was keeping them back and stopping them from going over the edge and trying to pick a fight with them.

At last, Pinkie Pie took a few steps forward and held Sonata's hand. "Of course, Sonata." Pinkie finally gave a genuine smile to Sonata. "After all, if we just keep up this whole meanie act towards you, then we're no better than any of the other jerks and jerkettes we've met."

"Jerkettes?" Applejack lifted a brow.

"A girl jerk. Y'know how mean guys are called jerks. It only makes sense to call mean girls jerkettes, right?" Pinkie replied with her usual cheery attitude as she turned back towards Applejack. "Anyway, we're not jerkettes, are we? We can make nice with the Dazzlings this time."

"I... suppose." Fluttershy was the next one to step forward as she deftly coiled her hand around Sonata's hand. "If the Dazzlings have changed, then we should change as well. Give them a second chance."

Rarity just sighed and walked forward. "Oh, what the heck? There's no harm in fighting this whenever Pinkie and Fluttershy feel so strongly about this. Not to mention, Twilight was very insightful." She also joined in with the others. "Now then, does anyone else want to change their tune? Metaphorically speaking, of course?"

"Fine, fine. Guess I'm down as well." Rainbow Dash finally shook her head and came over to the others. "But I'll still be watching you, y' know that?" She gave both Sirens a look, then dropped it shortly afterwards. "Nah, I'm just joking!" Rainbow Dash rubbed her fist against the skulls of both girls playfully. "But seriously, don't try and break your promise if you wanna change."

Applejack just watched as the other girls joined the Dazzlings and caved in as well. Scoffing to herself, she came over and said nothing. The others could tell from her stoic nature that she too was on board with this, but it would take some extra convincing to make her think that Aria and Sonata had changed for the better.

"See? Isn't that much better?" Twilight turned to Sunset, who was still fixated on the sight of the other girls siding with the Dazzlings. "We're managing to bridge the gap between us and we're making some new bonds. Isn't that what we always do, Sunset?"

"Y-yeah..." Sunset was still thinking about the future. For all that she knew, if the girls didn't get their emotions fixed, how long would it be before they were stuck with these new personalities forever? Moreso, Adagio? Adagio had been the most eager to change back, and now that the others were refusing to change back with her, it was breaking the plan that she had made. With all the fiery fury of Aria Blaze's old personality stewing in Adagio's head, it would be very hard for her to listen to reason or sense if this change was permanent. "I'm happy that we're able to bond with them and finally get all the weight off of our shoulders. I am. But..."

"But what?" Twilight tipped her head to the side. "I don't get what you're thinking about, Sunset."

Sunset tried to explain to Twilight, but she would rather not confuse her with those thoughts, especially since the Dazzlings were starting to settle into their new mindsets permanently. "N-never mind."

"Never mind?" Twilight came back over to Sunset's side and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Sunset, you can talk to me about it. If there's anything that you want to say, then just say it. There's nothing wrong with talking about your feelings."

Sunset let out a sigh. "Y-yeah. About that. If the girls do decide to stay like this forever, then what do we do? What're our plans to reintegrate the Sirens into modern society? And what do we do about Adagio? Seeing as how she's got all of Aria's old anger issues."

"Yeah. That could be a problem." Twilight put her hand to her chin and started to dwell on that aspect. She didn't know much of Aria's old personality, but the current Adagio that she knew was brash, hot-headed, and did not care about anything. That kind of mindset was dangerous for someone of her age to have. As she thought more about Adagio, she surveyed the room, only to find that the Siren wasn't even there. "H-hey. Where is Adagio anyway? Did anyone see her leave?"

Those words were enough to draw all of the Rainbooms' attention as well as Aria and Sonata's. They looked all around the room for Adagio, only to find that she was completely absent. Even looking out to the garden turned up no results, with nothing but a field of grass and some flowers growing by the walls.

"Hey, girls?" Aria had noticed something. She walked over to the pendant, squatted down, and snatched it up. "This is... Adagio's gem. But Adagio's nowhere to be seen."

"That's not good," replied Applejack.

"We need to find her! Who knows what kind of trouble she could be in!" Twilight exclaimed, dashing towards the door. "You girls come along as well! We need all the help that we can get!"

And with that, the Rainbooms all went out of the house and down the streets, with Aria and Sonata in tow. The nine teenagers all split up in different directions, all with the same goal in mind; to find Adagio Dazzle and bring her back to the others.

---

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Adagio Dazzle was all alone. Nobody around to help her, no crystal around her neck, and no way to fix the damage that had been done to her. She had just about had enough of this whole mind-swap thing and wanted nothing more to do with it. And now that her sisters had been converted to the side of happy-go-lucky friendship, there was no point in trying to keep going.

"Useless, stupid, no-good..." Adagio muttered those words and many others underneath her breath as she trudged through the streets; feet stomping heavily on the ground with each step that she took. All of the hatred and coldness of Aria's mind was starting to run through her mind and everything else was being burned away. It wouldn't be long before she fully adopted Aria's anger and lost everything that made her who she was. "I should have never found those two in the first place. Well, I won't be making that mistake again. Not with them or with anyone."

Adagio walked off, not caring in the slightest where she went, who she met, or what she did from that point onward. Anything was better than trying to fix the issue that she had been burdened with. Even if it meant throwing away everything and everyone that she had worked so hard for.

"I don't need friends. I don't need any of it. And I certainly don't need any of this bullshit." Adagio scowled. "I don't need anything but myself. From this point on, I'm doing all of this by myself." And with those words, she trudged on, onto wherever the world took her.

Comments

[Twilight_Shimmer]

Yikes, cant say i did not see this coming. Like I said this situation has no easy answer. Here's hoping Sunset and friends (this includes Sonata and Aria) can find Adagio and bring her home,

[CSC]

Finally caught up, oh boy.