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Chapter 1: Vignette Valencia2,005 words
Chapter 2: Summer Break!1,197 words
Chapter 3: Opening3,200 words
Chapter 4: Sonata's Day Out2,785 words
Chapter 5: Funtime's Over2,747 words
Chapter 6: Hanging Out With Vignette3,173 words
Chapter 7: I Am Not Having A Meltdown!4,010 words
Chapter 8: Everything Falls Apart3,719 words
Chapter 9: A True Friend4,973 words

Chapter 9: A True Friend

It took twenty minutes to try and track the source of Vignette's phone; and thankfully by the time they found it, Vignette still had a little bit of battery left in her device. Parking the car outside the warehouse destination, Amethyst and Sonata ran up to the doors of the structure, trying to find a way to get inside. No one had access, so they couldn't rely on the doors. Even then, there weren't any employees or truckers out here, this place looked as if it had been deserted for a while.

"I have an idea!" Sonata gasped. "Vignette! Can you hear me!?"

"Yes, I can hear you!" Vignette yelled through the doors. "We can't get out!"

"Okay, listen to me carefully! I need you to step back away from the doors; we're ramming them down!"

"WAIT WHAT!?"

"Trust me!" Sonata shrieked back. "I need you to listen to me, okay?"

"I... okay, nothing else is working!"

Sonata looked back at Amethyst, giving her a nod. The keytar player quickly moved out of the way, throwing herself behind her car just to brace herself. A bright flash was seen outside the few windows of the warehouse, confusing the girls inside. But they kept themselves far from the doors per Sonata's request. Just then they felt the ground shake with violent steps; as if a giant had stepped towards the warehouse doors.

BAM!!!

A violent thud slammed against the door, making them all shake and cover their ears from how loud the sound was. A massive dent was made in the doors, and it only got bigger and bigger with each thrash.

One final smash was enough to push them off the latches, and so they came slamming down onto the ground, undoing the dents in a cartoonish fashion. The thuds echoed throughout the warehouse, somehow not shaking any of the shelving or leftover pieces of crates inside. When the trio looked back, they expected to see possibly a heavy beam or wrecking ball being the source of the push, maybe some dynamite being the force.

The only sight they got was the adorable Sonata Dusk just walking casually inside, taking in the new sight around her.

"Sonata!!!"

The Siren turned to her right, and her face lit up with a squee. Vignette charged at her and scooped Sonata up with the biggest hug, making her giggle. The 23-year-old held her close, unable to express the sheer joy she was feeling right now. Rarity and Princess Trixie joined in as well, giving her a hug too.

"Aww, no sugar for Amy?" Amethyst pouted.

The Princess broke from the hug and tackled Amethyst to the ground, giving her a warm hug back.

"OW! Worth it!"

Vignette pulled out of the hug to look at Sonata with a sympathetic face. "Sonata, I am so sorry for vanishing like that, I didn't--"

"Ah-dah-bah-dah-dah..." Sonata interrupted, putting her finger on Vignette's lip. "It's okay. I know that wasn't your fault. Come on, we've gotta stop Click before she zaps anyone else with that phone!"

Everyone high-tailed themselves back into the station wagon with quick determination. Once everyone was gathered, Amethyst quickly sputtered the car out of the area and went back onto the main highway, moving as fast as she could. Vignette, Princess Trixie, and Rarity sat in the back, with Sonata in the shotgun, and Amethyst continuing to drive.

"What is wrong with that girl? Who raised her to be such an entitled little... blowhard!" Vignette ranted from the backseat. "I've tried to be patient with her, I've tried giving her several chances, and all she's done is harass my employees, make them sad all the time, and she zapped me, my fashion designer, and your sister's girlfriend--"

"--Not dating, by the way!" Princess interrupted. "Just saying!"

"--Into a warehouse! What could drive her to such insane lengths?"

"Never underestimate the power of greed," Sonata said, almost matter-of-factually. "If you were to pick someone out of a billion people to have the power to bend fire, odds are one of of those billions are greedy, nasty, spiteful, and just pure evil. Not scary axe-murderer evil, but just all around nasty. I've met over three-hundred Clicks in my lifespan, each of them different in their own way."

Vignette was about to ask, but Sonata kept going.

"But she's about to find out what happens when you mess with me," Sonata growled softly. "You can insult me to my face, but no one... no one zaps my friends with Equestrian magic and gets away with it!"

"Equestrian magic...?" Vignette repeated. "That's rather specific..."

"Because it is, and... oh no," Sonata realized. "Okay. Vignette... do you promise me you won't freak out, or leave me if I tell you a secret?"

"What's going on? Sonata, are you in danger?"

"I'm not, but everyone in the entire park could be in danger if Click keeps her phone," Sonata replied. "Okay, um... how do I put this lightly? I'm.... over a thousand years old."

The car went dead silent. Vignette wasn't sure what to really say, or if this was all one big joke. "You're kidding, right?"

Sonata turned her head back. She shook her head casually.

"You... you're not kidding?"

"Nope!"

"Okay, Sonata, this isn't funny--"

"She's not joking," Amethyst interrupted. "The reason she got those warehouse doors down? She got them down using a form of magic that reverts her back to her true form. She's not exactly human."

"You... you're actually.. how, what..."

"It's a long story. But I need you to trust me," the youngest Siren asked with sincerity in her tone. "I promise I will tell you everything soon, but we need to stop Click from zapping anyone else. That Equestrian magic isn't hers, and it shouldn't be in her phone. We need to grab that phone, and smash it before she could hurt anyone else with it."

Vignette was still trying to wrap her head around what Sonata had said, but she reined in her ten million questions to be put aside for later. "Alright. Well, how do we stop her then?"

"Easy. If she's putting those floats out in about... say, half an hour? I say we stop her before she has a chance to butcher the parade," Amethyst asked. "We don't even have to make a scene if you don't want to, we can stop her right there and then."

"I suppose so. But I don't want her to cause any more harm to anyone else; she needs to be reminded that her actions have consequences, and I cannot let what happened today continue elsewhere," Vignette determined.

"Actually... I have an idea," Sonata grinned, almost looking sinister with her fingers twiddling against each other. "A very good idea..."

"We can't kill her," Amethyst deadpanned.

"What? No! That's evil, I wasn't going there!" Sonata protested. "I'm just saying, I have a very fun idea to get her true colors revealed to everyone..."

The parade floats were almost ready to depart, they just needed the hangar bay doors opened and they could begin. Click was working her hardest (not really) to get the crew moving, but they were starting to have a problem. The poor coordination from Click's part was making things very difficult for any cohesive plans or scheduling in. Not to mention, too many people started to ask questions on where Vignette was, which made Click nearly want to zap them with the phone, but she restrained herself in the more public spacing.

Thankfully her distraction was just what Vignette and the others needed. Tapping into their phones, and grabbing Vignette's laptop, they turned on the cameras and focused a few tripods to lock onto Click and anyone else in the room. If they were going to face her down, they wanted everyone to see it. And in a nick of time, the phones of everyone who subscribed to Vignette started to ding, giving them notification of a live-show starting soon. It must have been the parade, it was almost time!

But to everyone's surprise, they were seeing Click Bait just screaming and yelling at the staff.

"Come on, you idiots! How hard is it to get a parade float moving?"

"Very hard, indeed!"

Click's attention was brought to the ground floor, spotting Rarity glaring at her and tapping her foot.

"What!? I made you vanish! How did you get back here!?" Click shrieked.

"I picked up a ride, so if you do that again, I'll just come back!" Rarity warned with a smirk.

"Erggh... get out, Rarity," Click snarled, deciding to try a different tactic this time. "You're not needed, you're fired."

"Since when do you give the orders?"

Click jumped, hearing the voice coming from behind her; Princess Trixie was there, her arms folded and looking very cross.

"W... I zapped you! How did you come back?"

"Hand over your phone, now," Princess Trixie ordered with an open palm.

"Or what? I can just zap you too!"

Click primed her camera and hit the click button, sending a bright zap towards Trixie's direction, but thankfully was intercepted by Rarity who had climbed up as they talked, deflecting the blast towards a random stage light in the ceiling. Click hit the button again, and Rarity's diamond skin deflected it to something else, hitting a random piece of cargo in the hangar.

At first everyone thought this was just a recorded video, maybe some promotional material. But students of Canterlot High and Crystal Prep Academy knew better, gasping at what they were seeing.

But now Click was getting raging mad. Realizing her phone wasn't doing anything, she tried to get closer and tackled Rarity across the float, sending them both falling down and on the ground. Rarity kept her diamond skin up, blocking any physical assault Click tried to do, which now had gotten everyone's full attention. Click tried to punch, but only hurt herself in the process, even so far as to try and grab Rarity by the neck to hold her in a chokehold, but that didn't do anything either.

"HEY!"

A loud sound of synthesized music blaring from a keytar filled the room as Amethyst leapt down to face her.

"How about you stop trying to hurt my friend?"

Click let go of Rarity with a snarl, and immediately turned her wrath towards the newcomer. She almost threw herself at the other girl, in a near-flying tackle, and Amy stumbled back, surprised in spite of herself. The keytar hit the floor with a heavy clatter, as Click Bait - all pretense forgotten, so great was her rage - grappled with Amethyst and tried to wrestle her to the ground.

"Get - off of me!" The purple girl shouted. She kicked her feet, and then managed to knee Click in the gut; the taller girl doubled up for a moment, and Amethyst shoved her hard, pushing her back and out of immediate range. Amethyst Star leapt back, to put more distance between her and Click Bait. The push was just enough that Click Bait had lost her phone, which dropped to the ground with a clatter. Unfortunately with no screen protector, or anything to protect it from damage; the screen cracked. Streams of magic escaped, vanishing into thin air. Click Bait was now unarmed, with no weapon left to fight. Amethyst brought her fists up, bracing for another attack. "Stop it, Click! It's over!" she hollered.

And then another person stepped out; this time, Sonata Dusk who had her arms folded. "Try anything else, and we're calling the police."

“You! You’re ruining this show, I’m going to have to call security especially for—”

“—For what?”

Click’s body froze in place. When she turned around, she felt herself freezing at the sight of her boss. Her boss that she had zapped away, who was standing there with a deathly glare. Everyone who was watching the livestream was suddenly going 'oooh' at the sight; they had no context for their relationship, but they could tell by Vignette's tone she wasn't happy by this new girl. The coworkers inside the hangar bay however lit up, knowing exactly how Vignette acted whenever one of her employees mistreated one another.

“—For sabotaging my employee’s productivity? For insulting patrons who were just having a good time? For yelling at stressed out parents who were trying to get their children back? For using your phone which was infected with supernatural energy, which you had no right to possess, to get what you wanted? For harboring said supernatural energy, to zap me out of the park just so you could get a job that you have no experience or rights to have, all to take petty revenge on some former classmates? For ATTACKING these girls!?”

Lyra and Bon Bon went ‘oooh’ when they saw the signal.

“This is going to be juicy. Should we find them?" Lyra asked.

“No. Let this resolve on its own. I have a feeling Vignette isn’t going to need us,” Adagio said, folding her arms with a smirk as she watched.

Vignette pointed sharply at Click. Her face was practically burning with rage; cheeks flushed, her eyes staring daggers, she even ground her teeth for a moment, trying to find words for just how angry she was right now!

"You... you are one of the most shallow, disgraceful, insensitive, self-absorbed, and infuriating human beings I have met in my life! When your father recommended you to me, I had hopes for you. But you've just made it clear today that hiring you from the start was the biggest mistake I ever made. Not only did you insult my employees, attack my fans and the visitors here at this park, but you also tried to pin everything on my costume designer, and trapped me in a warehouse to take over my job! Do you honestly think this is how I got famous? Do you honestly think that any of the behavior you transpired today would be okay!? How many brain cells had to be destroyed in that walnut sized brain of yours to think that any of this was a good idea!?"

Vignette took a short moment to catch her breath, trying to calm down a notch... for a few seconds, before winding up and screaming again.

"Do you really believe I would ever do any of these things? I became famous because unlike you, I WORKED to get this position! I applied, I studied, I did everything to honestly earn this job here at the park! Oh, and by the way? I know about the false information you put on your resume, because I called your previous employers and learned a few details about your behavior! And I also know about the torment you put my friends through! I have enough evidence to put you in some serious trouble; you have no leg to stand on here!"

"And how do you reckon that?" Click scoffed.

Vignette still shook her head, annoyed by the lack of awareness this girl had.

"But okay; so maybe my methods were a little crazy, come on! I was almost ready, I was doing your job for you, you should be thanking me!" Click protested still.

Vignette's nostrils flared as she growled. Sonata was just as mad, but to a lesser degree. She wanted to step forward but Amethyst put her arm out, blocking her. She shook her head, silently asking Sonata to stand down and to not incriminate herself.

"And why are you even making friends with... her? Do you have any idea how much of a freak she is, she and her sisters!"

Now Vignette was ready to let loose. But she calmed herself down before she spoke any further. She took a few more steps forward, knowing how much danger she was about to be in with her enemy still armed. But she still remained composed. Adagio and her company back outside glared intently at the screen, waiting for Vignette to make her phone.

"You want to know why I made friends with her? Sonata Dusk is the first real friend I have made in a long time. She did things with her life, she served this country. She went into places we all could dream of, things we couldn't have even imagined! She was either naïve enough, or brave enough to even try to go to your school, along a snobby boyfriend, snooty elites… and a certain power-hungry wretch. All she wanted was to enjoy a normal life that didn’t involve running, getting hurt, constantly trying to survive getting away from people who wanted her dead simply for who she is. She is a better woman than you will ever be, you say one more word about her and I will throw you out of the park myself."

The entire park was silent. They had never seen this side of Vignette before; sure she had a few bad episodes at times where she had to take breaks from making a video for her own mental or physical health, but no one had seen her this mad before.

Click had to admit, even she was scared. But just as she was about to speak up—

“Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn’t anger her if I were you. She’s already had a bad enough day, you wouldn’t want to make it worse for yourself!” Sonata said nonchalantly.

Vignette was still seething, but she kept herself as calm as she could. “You know, after everything you’ve done, I could easily call the police and have you arrested on the spot,” Vignette spat.

“No, no, please! I can’t be arrested!”

“Why not? Because you’re ‘innocent’? Because you’re such a ‘valued employee’? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t call the police right here, right now!”

“You know…” Sonata leaned over and started whispering in her ear. Vignette was quiet, listening to her suggestions.

“Hmm… mmmhmm… ooh,” Vignette said, her interest piqued. “Oh I like the way you think.”

“W-What?”

Vignette turned her head with a smirk. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I won’t have you arrested… but I’m afraid I won’t be able to let go of such an incident as today's. Especially since my audience has witnessed you attacking my friends. And judging by the amount of people who have their phones out, I say I have more than enough witnesses to file some complaints, enough to fill heaven knows how many police forms. You can either leave this place quietly, never setting foot in Equestria Land, staying 500 yards away from me and my friends; my real friends… or I’ll call your father and tell her every little detail that my employees have been compiling about their experience working with you. Be such a shame since your father is such an upstanding citizen…”

Click was appalled. She couldn’t make these demands, she just couldn’t!

“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. It’s your choice,” Vignette tapped her foot.

Click's fists continued to ball up but for once in the entire day, she didn't react with a temper tantrum or violent outburst. Instead she stayed collected, and looked Vignette in the eyes with a seething tone in her voice.

"I will gather my things and leave Equestria Land for good."

"And I mean it. If I ever find you near us, if I even learn you've been doing so without my knowledge..." Vignette warned. "Now, go."

And without another word, Click Bait walked away. Sour in defeat, angry, wanting to get back so badly, but unable to come up with anything effective for a means of payback. She knew how well this was going to go with her family... and it wasn't going to go well.

"Think she'll learn her lesson?" Amethyst asked to the group.

"Maybe with a little bit of humility, she will," the Princess thought. "But unless she learns real soon... I don't see her living a happy life."

"Whatever she decides is all on her now. Right now, I'm just happy I've got my job back!" Vignette cheered, swinging Sonata around with excitement. "Oh my goodness, thank you so much! All of you, I cannot thank you enough!"

"Heh, happy to help," Amethyst blushed, rubbing her arm. "Anyways, assuming she hasn't damaged the parade floats or the routines... wanna meet up with the others?"

"Actually, if none of you mind..." Vignette interrupted with some twiddling fingers. "I don't suppose maybe I can join you. I-I'd love to have a chance to hang out... i-if it's not too awkward, I don't want to impose."

"Are you kidding me? It wouldn't be imposing at all!" Sonata gave her another adorable hug. "Besides, I think I owe you an explanation as to who exactly I am," the Siren winked.

With the parade back on schedule and the employees able to get the real plans moving, the parade floats were able to move on schedule just in time for the show. The crowds went wild as musicians, dancers, and all the performers came out of the hangar bays. And after getting rid of Click Bait, all of the performers couldn't have been more happier. Rarity especially was glad to see her hard work and designs were being put on public displays for the crowds to enjoy.

And with the management under control, this gave everyone freedom for the rest of the evening. Rarity went off to go hang out with her friends since her shift was done for the day, allowing Princess Trixie to reconvene with Amethyst and join the rest of the company, Sonata and Vignette included. Now they were filling in Vignette Valencia on the truth regarding everything that happened following their story; how they were Sirens from another world, how they lived for over a thousand years, how they fought against Sunset Shimmer and made new friends, and the existence of magic. It took a lot of talking and detail to fill Vignette in on everything, but she got the picture.

“… And that’s everything,” Sonata finished.

Vignette was completely clueless on what to say. What even could she say? She swore if she heard this entire story from anyone else, they would have to be crazy.

“Wow. I… I don’t even know what to say. Does anyone else know about this?”

“All of CHS and CPA,” Trixie explained, taking a sip of a milkshake. “Some family members, but that’s about it. No one else knows.”

“And if anyone did, we can kiss our freedom goodbye,” Octavia said with some loathing, taking a shot of her drink.

“But wait, why are you telling me all of this?”

Sonata softly smiled. “Because you’re my friend. You trusted me to help you when you needed it. You had my back when she attacked us. And I would happily trust you with my life.”

Vignette smiled. “You really do?”

“I do. But, I also want you to know you can't go telling anyone about we who are. I know it'll just sound silly, but there's a lot of evidence of our history we've been trying to keep hidden, and if anyone were to ever find us... we can kiss our friends, and our freedom goodbye. Can you please not tell anyone? Please?”

Vignette gave a genuine, honest nod. “I promise I will not tell anyone your secret. All of you. You have my eternal loyalty and respect.”

The girls all smiled, letting Sonata give her a hug again. “Thanks Vignette!” Sonata adorably leaned on her still. Vignette was a little surprised, but she smiled and hugged Sonata back. “You really are my best friend.”

“Aww…”

“Now that’s adorable,” Vinyl giggled.

The two of them broke from the hug and looked back to the table.

“I just can’t believe I know all of this, I have so many questions!”

“Well, ask away!” Sonata said, welcoming her to ask.

“Okay, okay, um… How long have you girls been in America?”

Sonata’s fingers did some sky-writing as she broke down the math. “Let me see… The years we served with George Washington… Adding the years spent in both World Wars… multiplied by the five times we spent in the Old West and living in suburban life into the fifties… Ummmmm, about 118 years, I think,” Sonata finished.

“Oh my… And you and your sisters are over a thousand years old, correct?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“… How do you two still stay fabulous, you have aged gracefully for being over a thousand years of age,” Vignette complimented, getting some giggles from the table.

“Miracles of immortality. Never age, never change,” Adagio confidently replied, leaning back in her chair.

“And if I remember correctly, Trixie,” Vignette pointed. “You said the girl next to you who looks just like you is not a twin sister, is that right?”

“Exactly. She’s an interdimensional princess,” Trixie nodded, gesturing to the princess next to her.

The princess politely stood up and shook her hand. “Princess Trixie, nice to meet you without the stress of being trapped in a warehouse.”

Vignette giggled. “Yes, yes indeed…”

“Hey, where’s Aria at?” Sonata asked, looking around. “Where did she run off to?”

Aria and Flash had completely missed everything that was happening outside; they were too busy being off in their own world, along with Starry. They were just having a blast hanging out, and hadn't heard from anyone else regarding the crazy stuff regarding Vignette's livestream with Click Bait. For now, they were getting ready to cap off the evening for some dancing, all with their own western-themed attire they managed to acquire.

“Alright everybody. Now this one is a little something that our country friends from the west put together; a little ditty they made in honor for one of the greatest legends of the Old West, one of the toughest outlaw ever existed; Slugslinger.”

Everyone gave a soft round of applause, waiting for the announcer to get off the stage. Musicians began getting on stage, all dressed in their western clothes; plaid button ups, overalls, jeans, boots, you name it. The musicians began playing with guitars, the clap of their own feet, banjos, etc. And on stage were a few members of the Apple Family all together to perform: Blewgrass, Fiddlesticks, and Pitch Perfect.

From the opening beat, a few people were now moving out on the dance floor, adding to the overall beat of the music. Some familiar, some not. The CMCs were there, with their boots clapping on the floor. Including but not limited to; Sandalwood, Thunderlane, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Rumble, Neon Lights, Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, Indigo Zap, Rainbow Dash, even Twilight Sparkle came to the park for fun. And everyone had their own form of cowboy garb, just to add to the authenticity. And of course, Aria Blaze, Flash Sentry, and Starry Sentry were on the dance floor with the others just to join in.

Beauty Brass took the center, taking the mic and she began to sing.

She flew out west to get out of a rut
A girl with action on her mind

Lookin’ for a homestead, or hut
And slingers are all she's gonna find

She’s fightin’ the law like a one man wrecking crew
This gal’s in for more adventure than she knew

Some folks like to fight for their land
Others like to fight for their friends
Slugslinger lived to fight for both
Fightin' until the very end

Slugslinger! In and out of battle
Slugslinger! The legend will be known
Slugslinger! Fightin' for all!
Fearless to the end, the toughest gal that ever roamed

Flash and Aria took the center of the dance floor, with the rest of the patrons dancing with them, following their steps. Admittedly Flash had never really done this kind of dancing, but with a smile, he just followed after his girlfriend’s steps, and he was already catching up with her.

She had struck gold and now she's on the run
Ready to fight with a sling of her old gun

Went down in the old mine for a flat out chase
On a job to help out her sis

For a moment there and then, it must have seen like the end was near

And walking through the country restaurant was Vignette and the gang, who stood in amusement and mild shock to see the band still playing away, as if she did not cause a scene out in the Life Parade. They just kept dancing away like normal!

“Boy, these guys really know how to throw a party!” Sonata grinned.

But then she found her way, and her memory still stands todaaaay!

Aria and Flash spun around in the middle of the dance floor, keeping in touch with the country music, doing all the dances. And Adagio and Sonata were blanking, but at the same time, impressed with the dancing she was doing in front of them. Aria still knew all the dances of the west; and now she was having a blast with her boyfriend and friends.

Some folks like to fight for their land
Others like to fight for their friends
Slugslinger lived to fight for both
Fightin' until the very end

Slugslinger! In and out of battle
Slugslinger! The legend will be known
Slugslinger! Fightin' for all!
Fearless to the end, the toughest gal that ever roamed
the toughest gal that ever roamed
the toughest gal that ever roamed!

Slugslinger’s the toughest gal we’ve ever known!

Aria made some final taps with her heels and with a proud pose, she tipped her hat and gave a wink to the audience, as everyone in the restaurant applauded for their dancing. Sonata only had one question.

“What did we miss?”

Author's Note:

We have finally... FINALLY finished Rollercoaster Of Friendship. I am so sorry for how long this took, but I am very glad to have gotten this finished. I can't express my gratitude to all of you for your patience, and especially to Scholars for helping me finish this story.

Hopefully the next big story I do, if I do one, I'll have a better balance of time for it. Til then, enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading everyone!

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Scholarly-Cimmerian

Scholarly-Cimmerian #1 · Oct 7th, 2023 · · ·

Glad to have been able to help you see this story to the finish, Four. It was fun to watch the plot unfold, and particularly to see this spin on Vignette Valencia in particular.