8 – Welcome to the Show
Act II
Duets
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Chapter Eight
Welcome to the Show
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⠀
Everything changed just as it stayed the same. The band finished a leg of their tour, took time off to spend with their families over the holidays, recorded a couple music videos, then went back out on tour.
They’d certainly been busy, but ultimately, the tour was always there to return them to their brand of normality. Every night was a different city, but even so, this felt like home.
“Thank you all for coming out!” Rainbow said to the crowd after the band finished another encore. The audience cheered as they always did, so Rainbow raised her fist triumphantly before turning and walking backstage.
Once she was a safe distance away from the crowd, she set aside her guitar and rubbed her hands together. The heat from the stage lights helped keep them warm on stage, but it was an outdoor venue and it was early January. The tour was heading south, but they hadn’t quite gone far enough for it to not be freezing.
At least the heat was on backstage, so Rainbow started warming up. She saw Fluttershy was sitting on a couch and watching the news on TV. Rainbow took a seat beside her and smirked. “Anything big going on?”
“There’s a story about arson, but it wasn’t in this area,” Fluttershy said
Rainbow smirked. “Since when do you keep up with the news?”
Fluttershy shrugged. “Someone else had it on.”
“…addition to the arson, several items may have been stolen. Police believe that the fire may have been to cover tracks of grand theft. If anyone has any information at all, please call the hotline on screen.”
“So like, do we have the remote?” Rainbow asked. Fluttershy looked around for it then shrugged again.
“Look sharp, you two,” Lemon Zest said. “We got fans.”
Rainbow turned to smile at the fans that were beginning to enter the backstage area. “Hey, hope you all enjoyed the show!”
The usual choruses of fans assuring her that they had indeed enjoyed the show followed. Rainbow thrived off the sound; it was nice and routine, which was how she liked it. No shortage of people to remind her that no matter what else happened, this was all worth it.
“Well, it certainly was different,” a voice said that threw Rainbow off. She knew she recognized it from somewhere, and she knew it wasn’t good. “But I think your last band had more… harmony, perhaps?”
Rainbow looked around to find who had spoken, and her jaw dropped open when she saw who it was. “No…”
Adagio Dazzle laughed at the distress on Rainbow’s face. “My my, you do remember. we were afraid you might have forgotten.”
“What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked, rising to her feet.
“I’ll get security,” Fluttershy said, standing up as well.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Adagio said with a smirk. She stood with her hand on her hip and looked every bit as sinister as they remembered her. “Believe it or not, I’m not your enemy.”
“Bullshit!” Rainbow said.
“Do you two know her?” Lemon Zest asked. Gilda and Windfall also noticed what was going on and came over. Windfall stood beside Rainbow and Fluttershy, while Gilda stood in front of them protectively.
“Oh my, what a motley crew you’ve assembled.” Adagio grinned, clearly unintimidated. “Would you believe I’m here to talk?”
“Why should we listen to what you have to say?” Rainbow asked.
“Because there’s something worse than me out there. And because…” For the first time her composure cracked and she couldn’t look at them. She sighed. “We need your help.”
Rainbow and Fluttershy exchanged shocked looks. “What do you want from us?” Fluttershy asked.
Adagio pointed to the TV. “You’ve seen the news stories about the unexplained arsons and thefts? They’ve been happening in three states now.”
“Yeah, so?” Rainbow asked. “Don’t try to tell me you give a shit.”
“I do. No, not because I care about a little thing like fire and theft. But because of who’s causing it.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “And who is that?”
“It’s more of a what, actually.” Adagio took a step off to the side, seemingly examining a guitar. “Equestrian magic is behind this.”
“Oh fucking shit…” Lemon Zest took collapsed onto the couch.
“What?” Windfall asked. “Did she say… magic?”
Gilda scoffed and folded her arms. “Unless ‘Equestrian magic’ is some sort of street name for a drug, this girl’s a damn loon.”
“She’s not, though,” Lemon Zest said. “I’ve… we’ve run into it before. At the Friendship Games.”
“The Friendship Games?” Adagio turned back towards them with a smirk. “You lot do have such predictable tastes.”
“Hey, you weren’t there!” Lemon Zest said accusatively, then turned to Fluttershy. “Er, she wasn’t there, was she?”
“No,” Fluttershy said. “She and the other Dazzlings were before the Friendship Games.”
Someone coughed, and everyone soon became acutely aware that fans were all watching them intently. Fluttershy stood up. “Adagio, I have no idea what you’re talking about. None of us do.”
“What?” Lemon Zest asked. “But, Shy –”
“Let’s get somewhere we can talk about whatever’s bothering you more privately.”
“As you wish,” Adagio said with a little mock bow.
Rainbow turned to the fans. “I’m… really sorry about this. Adagio is… a friend of ours from high school. We’ll all be right back to hang with you guys! And, uh…”
“And we’ll bring free shirts for you all,” Windfall said.
That seemed to do the trick to get the fans smiling again, so the band brought Adagio to their changing room. Rainbow was tempted to ask Windfall, Gilda, and Lemon Zest to stay behind with the fans, but she wanted as many people with Adagio as possible in case she tried something.
“When you say she was before the Friendship Games,” Lemon Zest said once the door was closed behind them, “do you mean that wasn’t the first time you all dealt with magic?”
“No,” Fluttershy said. “The Friendship Games were the third. Adagio was the second.”
“How does that not come up in conversation!?” Lemon Zest asked.
“Because we don’t usually like to talk about it,” Fluttershy said. “Just like you don’t like to talk about the Friendship Games.”
“Fair enough, so –”
“Hold the fuck on,” Gilda said. “You all want me to believe there’s some sort of fucking magic bullshit going on and you’ve all seen it before?”
“From her.” Rainbow nodded her head towards Adagio. “She has two partners though. Where are they, Adagio? Waiting to spring some sort of trap?”
“Now that’s not fair,” Adagio said with a pout that Rainbow didn’t buy for a moment. “You know we don’t have magic anymore. You lot saw to that. No, Aria and Sonata are waiting outside. We thought you might feel less threatened if I talked to you myself.”
“Waiting outside for what exactly?” Fluttershy asked. “You still haven’t told us what you want.”
“My apologies. You see, we’re tracking the magic. We may not have any magic of our own, but we are attuned to it. But the truth is that we lack the means to go after it.”
“And we do?” Rainbow asked.
“You already are.” Adagio tried to take a step closer to them, but Gilda stepped in her way with her arms folded. Adagio didn’t seem to mind. “Your tour is heading the same way as the Equestrian magic is. We propose you take us with you so that we can go after it.”
“And why the hell should we do that?” Rainbow asked. “You lot getting your hands on Equestrian magic? Sounds like a horrible idea.”
Adagio shrugged. “Even if we could get to it, we couldn’t use it. You shattered our gemstones, remember? We’re doomed to live as normal girls, and the only little bit of power we have is that we can track it. Something, I might add, that none of you can do.”
“So then why go after it?” Fluttershy asked.
“Because we live here now.” Suddenly Adagio was deadly serious. “I don’t need to tell you what Equestrian magic left unchecked can do to this world. So while we’ll never like each other, it’s in our mutual interest to make sure whoever is wreaking havoc with magic is stopped.”
“So that’s it then?” Rainbow asked. “You only care because you’re in danger?”
“Yes,” Adagio said simply. “We’re… I’m scared. The last time Equestrian magic was loosed on the world, it nearly tore it apart. I don’t know if you realize how close we came to extinction, but I do.” Adagio placed a hand on her heart and looked down. “I felt it. I’ll never forget what that felt like.”
Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at one another, but it was Gilda that spoke up. “Look, this all sounds like a load of shit to me. What do you two know that we don’t?”
“Have you all seen our old Rainboom music videos?” Fluttershy asked. “The ones where we got pony ears and Dash and I got wings?”
“Yeah, it was like your whole theme,” Windfall said.
Fluttershy took a deep breath. “That wasn’t special effects. When we played in the Rainbooms, we would really ‘pony up’, as we called it.”
Windfall shook his head. “That… I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.”
“I know it sounds fake, but I saw it too,” Lemon Zest said. “You know, for whatever that’s worth.”
Fluttershy pressed her hand to her temple and turned to Adagio. “Do you have anything else to say to us?”
“I think that about sums it up,” Adagio said. “So what’ll it be?”
“We need to talk about this in private,” Fluttershy said.
Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, surprised at the suggestion. It made sense, but that didn’t stop her from being worried. “Are you sure we can trust her without supervision?”
“There’s security outside,” Fluttershy pointed out. “Besides, I don’t think she’ll do anything until she knows our answer.”
“I never pegged you for the smart one,” Adagio said. Fluttershy just pursed her lips. “Fine, I’ll leave you to talk amongst yourselves.”
Adagio walked past them without bothering to look twice. Rainbow wanted to turn her down just to wipe that damn smug look off her face. At least she closed the door behind her.
“So… what do we do now?” Lemon Zest asked. She leaned against a wall and folded her arms.
“We have security throw her out on her ass,” Rainbow said, not sure why this even warranted a discussion. “You remember Midnight Sparkle? This would be like inviting her on tour, but there’s no turning back to Twilight.”
“I… think I agree,” Lemon Zest said. Her mouth moved as if she was trying to force out other words, and eventually, they came. “I mean, I don’t know anything about Adagio, but… if there’s magic going on, I want to be as far away from it as possible.
Fluttershy sighed. “If they come with us, we’d be able to keep an eye on them.” She looked around the room at everyone, stopping at Rainbow. “If they’re really determined to go after this Equestrian magic, I think they’ll do it one way or another. Better that we can watch them.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but it sounds like a whole lot of crazy,” Windfall said.
Rainbow seized his point, nodding enthusiastically. “It’s so much crazy. Come on, Shy, this is a horrible idea.”
“I don’t know… I don’t want to trust them either, but…” Fluttershy shook her head, and when she looked at Rainbow again, she had fire in her eyes. “If there is magic, we have a responsibility to do something about it.”
“What are we gonna do?” Gilda asked. “Even if this magic thing is somehow legit, I ain’t no exorcist.”
“But we are.” Fluttershy put an arm around Rainbow. “Well, sort of.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “That was years ago. We don’t even pony up anymore.”
“I just think we should do what we can.” Fluttershy looked around the room and ran a hand through her hair. “Besides, we could take them along as roadies, tell them they’ll have to work to earn their keep.”
“I’m sure the road crew would like having a hand,” Gilda said. “I don’t know that I really believe in all this magic stuff, but if they’re earning their way here, I guess I don’t really give a shit.”
Windfall was watching Fluttershy closely. “This is really important to you, isn’t it?”
Fluttershy nodded. “It is.”
“Then I’m in. I think we can handle a few extra women around, even if they are, er… magic.”
Fluttershy smiled. “They’re not magic though. Not anymore.”
Rainbow clenched her teeth and looked around, as if she would find the words she needed to say somewhere in the room with them. She didn’t, so she just forced something out as best she could. “I still vote no. I don’t want them on tour with us.”
Fluttershy placed her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Dash, please, trust me on this. I know this is the right thing to do.”
As always, it proved hard to maintain her disagreement when Fluttershy was pleading with her. “But… how do you know?”
Fluttershy frowned and shook her head. “I just… feel it.”
“You feel it? Shy, do you realize how big of a risk this is?”
“I think it would be a bigger risk to not take them with us.” She turned to Lemon Zest. “Zesty, imagine if the Friendship Games happened and we weren’t there to keep it in check. I know it’s scary, but I need you with me on this. Everyone does.”
Lemon Zest sighed. “Fine, I’m with you.”
Everyone turned to Rainbow, who scowled and turned away. “Fine, but I’m not fucking around with this. The second they get suspicious, they’re gone.”
Fluttershy took hold of Rainbow’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you, Dashie.”
Gilda rolled her shoulder back until it made a popping sound. “Guess we should go tell her then.”
“Yeah, let’s go.” Fluttershy led them out of the room, stopping just before she reached the door. “Uhm, can someone go get those T-shirts we promised?”
Windfall laughed. “Yeah, I’ll go get them.”
“I’ll come with you,” Lemon Zest said. “I want to stay away from the crazy magic bitch…”
They left the room, to the celebration of their fans. Rainbow tried to look like she was living it up, but right now she wanted to be anywhere else. She, Fluttershy, and Gilda made their way to Adagio, who was sitting on the couch Fluttershy had been on earlier.
“Alright,” Fluttershy said. “You can come.”
“But you gotta work for it,” Rainbow said. “For free.”
Fluttershy frowned and looked at Rainbow, no doubt thinking that they had never said anything about it being free labor.
Adagio didn’t seem to care though. “Fine. Perhaps you could arrange for Aria and Sonata to be allowed in then?”
Fluttershy sighed and turned away from the others. “I’ll go send for them.”
Rainbow glared at Adagio for a moment more, then turned away, taking Gilda with her. “Gil, listen… I know you don’t believe us about, uhm, all that stuff, but believe me when I say these girls are bad news.”
“Relax, Dash. You think I’m gonna let some bitches come in and wreck shit? I could break her face without even trying.”
Rainbow grinned, finding that reassurance meant more to her than any of the others. “I’m counting on you to help me keep an eye on things.”
“You got it, Dash.”
Windfall and Lemon Zest returned, so Rainbow tried to feel better by mingling with their fans and handing out shirts. It might have worked, at least a little, but occasionally she caught sight of Adagio and it all came crashing down.
It was even worse when Aria and Sonata showed up. Aria immediately took to talking to the fans as if she was supposed to be there, while Sonata seemed more interested in raiding the food spread.
The tour was supposed to be Rainbow’s haven, her home, her normality. Then the Dazzlings showed up, and now… now Rainbow just hoped it could ever be the same again.
Thanks to Corejo for guest proofreading this chapter when I was unhappy with it 
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the dazzlings showing up totally thew me for a loop. glad to see them tho. i'm wondering what is now using Equestrian magic, and if this will force Sunset to return to the human world and face human Fluttershy again. kinda hoping for a bit of ShyZest romance still
Interesting twist! For a brief moment there I had a vision of this story ending with Shy hooking up with Adagio, but that would be too wild, wouldn't it?
In any event, things are going to get VERY intense here soon.
Suddenly Fluttershy shows some signs of fervor? Or is it some form of guilt?
Perhaps after chasing her magical problem solving bacon horse away?
...huh. Y'know I really didn't expect anything like this. For a fiction series based of a show with so many fantasy elements, it's always been grounded in realistic drama. Magic is part of Equestria so it's present on that side of WWB, but it's never been important. Just life. And in Everton, the only magic was the journal and the mirror. The Dazzlings showing up is one thing, but magic even becoming a background plot took me off-guard.
Welcome back. excellent chapter I did not see this coming at all, nice way of keeping it secret. although they may have lost their magic but adagio is still as confident as ever be the equestrian magic is a nice touch, I think I know who it is but eager to read more to confirm my suspicion although not sure how they are going to deal with it if they themselves can't use their magic guess I will just have to wait and see 🤔🤔
Well now this is an unexpected twist.
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I've been hyped to add the Dazzlings for a while now. I'm a big fan of them, and I like how they play into this story and how they'll play into the series as a whole. And lol my lips are sealed on Shy's romantic life, but something is coming there
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Haha this is the first I'm hearing anyone getting any Adagishy ideas from this fic. Who knows though? I've shipped stranger things
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I don't feel like any part of this comment is really fair to Shy or the situation at hand, but if I haven't shown her side of things well enough by now, then that's on me I guess.
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I do actually have a heavily magical EqG story planned that does spin off from this current situation, but that'll be its own story rather than hijacking a grounded slice of life drama like this.
This isn't about to become all about magic or anything, the magical element is a background plot that gives me a reason to put these characters together
10177913
It'll be a while before the magic thing has it's full payoff, but for now, the Dazzlings and Bitchette get to go on tour together 
Glad you like the twist
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Haha glad to see it's catching everyone off guard
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I just felt she reacted really strong after being confronted with magic and it surprised me why she wanted to take control of the situation .
I don‘t know if fervor is the right word More in the direction of passion perhaps? But english isn‘t my first Language and some german words are not easy to translate
10177960
Sorry about that.
I replied to you while feeling sick and grumpy, and I may have come off as more irritated than I intended
My thoughts were along the lines of Fluttershy has thrown everything into Bitchette and being their manager, something she’s been very passionate about. If it’s not coming across that way, then that’s my fault as an author for not conveying that (and I have earnestly no idea how well I did conveying that; I’m blinded by authorial intent, it’s up to readers to determine how well I did). And as for the second part of your comment on Sunset, I realize people have differing views there, but mine has and will always be that things are more complicated than blaming just one of them, and Sunset was at least as guilty as Shy was in different ways, so I personally wouldn’t say Shy chased Sunset away (although I know that any time I write complex situations where multiple characters are wrong, the readers’ individual sense of right and wrong will always make for different views on the situation and how much each character is at fault)
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I thought Shy she felt that way since the last message she send to Sunset in the epilogue of playing house indicated something like that.
This doesn't mean that she is solely at fault(Sunset and her had both problems)but from her perspective it may have been.
At first i thought i was just a reference to the original plans for Rainbow and Sunset to burn down Stomies house that never got mentioined in story.Now that it's got more attention though it couldn't be demon sunset in this world could it?
But they might be able to sense the equestrian magic... it this really happening :)
Either I'm really wrong or really right
YAY I'm probably not crazy!!
So now that I'm right about that in all likelyhood, how abut some crackpot theory about darkfire-sunset controlling the course that Bitchettes are on to get them to where she needs them to get their magic or the Dazzelings controlling the course. Lets hope Fluttershy has enough glasses to thow at darkfire-sunset to defeat her.
Just realised that bringing magical detecters and those who used to pony up to someone that is stealing stuff (possibly magic related or used to build something like scitwi did i dunno) might be the reason why 'the villain/s' let it be national news.
So many ideas in my head! Like how are Sci-Twi and Moon Dancer getting along with their research? Will they call Applejack to message Equestria? Will they slip up and mention the portal back to Equestria in front of the Dazzelings? And here I was expecting a nice calm return to the interpersonal drama and romance.
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I took your comment to mean that you were blaming Shy for Sunset leaving, not that you were saying she blames herself (which she does). Sorry about that.
Ah okay, I seem to have misread your meaning
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There will be payoff for this magic situation, but this story specifically is just setting it up for later while using it as a reason to get these characters together. So yeah, feel free to speculate and try to figure things out, just be aware that this will remain a fairly grounded slice of life drama
Fish ladies fish ladies fish ladies fish ladies!
10466721
It's T H E M
The Dazzlings?!
What a twisty twist!
Burr!
We were*
She can't be serious.
I find that hard to believe.
It's not Gilda. It's worse than you might expect.
Sadly, yes Gilda.
Agreed.
Something tells me this might continue on throughout the story itself.
possible."*
Glad to see those two are starting to be friends again.
I gotta admit, with the way the storylines for this side of the world have tended to go, wasn't expecting the sudden involvement of Equestrian magic. Or the appearance of the Dazzlings, for that matter.
holy fucking shit outta nowhere :O this is gonna be good
also, I kinda forgot that Lemon Zest would know about magic stuff, too :) good detail
What better way to introduce the sirens, then a drama filled story,
I got a weird feeling it could be human sunset with some form of fire phoenix magic, but I think I am overthinking it lol, regardless i wonder how things play out