Siren Days

by Spyder27

Getting Yer Hands Dirty

Chapter IV: Getting Yer Hands Dirty

I’ll admit. Celestia and Luna put a lot of work into this competition. There are banners and colorful confetti most places we go. It’s a lot of hard work and I can’t help but respect that when I see it. That’s something my big sis taught me… The value of hard work. It’s honest and it reflects just how much someone truly cares about ya. Well, depending on the work… Still. It’s nice to see so much effort went into this competition. It almost makes me feel bad for taking advantage of the competition instead of admiring how much they strived to make this great.

Looking at the booth of our next activity, I can’t help but feel a little antsy. My big sis says that feeling comes from your heart not being able to calm down, either for good or bad reasons. I guess it makes sense… I’m just a little nervous that it will take Adagio and I more time to complete this one than others. I ain’t that great at memory games after all. This booth is just one big game where cards are face-down. Each card has a match, so you hafta remember where the matching card is. It’s funny. I can remember things pretty well about my friends, but when it comes to bucking symbols on cards, I am stumped… Though, I think the combined efforts of Adagio and I will help us get through it. I just wish we could have that cheat sheet… It would really help in this instance.

Hearing footsteps come up from behind me, I look to my side, seeing Adagio look towards the same booth. Her face is oddly still though… Almost as if something is eating at her thoughts. It’s never great when someone looks like that. Usually, my big sis has something troubling to think about and sometimes, it’s due to something I’ve done. So, it isn’t exactly appeasing to see that look on Adagio’s face right now. Especially when I can’t really guess what is on her mind. “Is something wrong?” I ask her quietly. Honestly, I’m a bit worried about this memory game, but I never expected for Adagio to feel the same way. Is she feelin’ alright? I swear if she came here with a fever, Imma kill her…

“I just learned something… peculiar,” Adagio states with a slight wave of her hand, looking down at me with a serious tone in her eyes.

“Are ya gonna tell me or do I hafta guess?” Adagio used to tell me things without drawing it out into some sorta game for her, but that changed ever since she got more confident in herself. In some ways, it makes her more fun and interesting and I can’t help but feel happy for her. In other ways? She seems to enjoy acting like a… well, a female dog.

“As fun as it would be to make you guess, I think it’s too important to waste that sort of time,” she tells me seriously, putting her hand on her hip. “That bathroom I just went in had a couple other people in there… A certain rainbow-haired athlete and her orange fangirl.” Adagio looks around the two of us before daring to say another word, leaning down slightly to get closer to me. “They were talking to each other about answers and hints to find said answers. I heard paper ruffling and they also mentioned Luna by name.” Wait… Luna? Vice Principal Luna? Scoots and Dash said her name? Looking her in the eyes, I can feel the color drain from my face.

“You think that… they’re the ones with the cheat sheet?” Without waiting a second, Adagio simply nods to my question, standing back up.

“It makes sense to me. I didn’t actually see them with the sheet, but the fact that they’re so far along in the competition makes me think they have to be.” Slowly, she brings her hand to her chin, looking like she’s thinking about something. “The only problem standing before us is the fact that we have no way to prove they are the ‘Moon Knights.’ So, we’ll need to find some way to steal the cheat sheet from them if they do have it.” Huh. What would be a good opportunity to steal it…? This next activity isn’t necessarily going to give us that opportunity… What have they even done so far? If I know Scoots as well as I think I do, she would probably wanna save all the athletic activities for last since they’re the most fun to her. Then again, Dash might not want to do that…

“Did ya happen to hear what they were planning to do next?” I ask her quietly, tryna think of where they could be headed next.

“Not exactly. Rainbow Dash did say something about how she wasn’t looking forward to their next activity. It had something to do with having ‘too many turns you could take.’” Turns, huh? What da heck does that mean? Are they talking about a quiz or something? Both Adagio and I look sufficiently confused, Adagio leaning against the nearby wall. “Apple Bloom. What kind of physical activity has turns?” she asks me quietly, looking at her own hand as if she has an idea.

“Hmm? Whatcha getting at?”

“Dash is competitive. She likes showing off and proving that she’s awesome. Normally, she would be really eager to do the physical activities as soon as possible.” Adagio snaps her fingers suddenly, making me look towards her with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s what I thought too… So, I’m not sure if they have any more physically straining activities left.”

“But…” Adagio, getting off the wall, locks her eyes with me slowly. “Wouldn’t it be the biggest power move to strut your stuff at the end of the competition? People typically remember the starting and ending portions of things, whether it be a list or a long day. Rainbow Dash would take the opportunity to show off in front of as many people as possible. So, what physical activity has turns involved?” Adagio actually makes a good point. I didn’t even think of something like that. I just assumed they were already done with those activities, but I suppose she has talked to Dash more than I have.

“Hmm. I’m not sure. There’s the obstacle course, but there’s not a ‘lot’ of turns there. Then there’s…” Wait a sec… Could that be it…? “Then there’s the maze…” In the gymnasium, a large maze was made once everyone left, being one of the bigger activities of the event. From what I’ve heard. You have to solve puzzles inside there and if you get the right answers, you get another gold piece. That probably would be something they would save for last.

“Did you just say maze…?” Adagio asks me hesitantly, her eyes looking at me cautiously.

“Yeah. There’s a maze in the gymnasium. Is that a problem?” Adagio’s hand reaches up to her scarf yet again, a small sigh coming from her.

“Let’s just say I’ve had my fair share of mazes…”

===================================================

Welp. The maze is certainly big. They made the walls pretty tall to avoid cheating from looking inside and trying to find out the answers before going in. Even if Adagio and I tried to hoist me up to look inside, the moderators would prevent us from doing so. Honestly, I can’t help but feel like we’re going to be a couple pigs in this maze. By that, I mean I think we will be confused to high heaven. Hopefully, Dash and Scoots will be here soon. This is the only activity I can think of that they could be referring to. I could be wrong, but I hope I’m not…

“Hey, short stuff,” Adagio’s voice calls out to me, making me turn around to look at her. Standing in front of a vending machine, Adagio looks at the options before locking her eyes with mine. “Want something? It could help us wait.” Slowly walking over, I look up at Adagio, feeling a little confused at the offer.

“I thought ya were trying to save up money for a new place.” If I remember correctly, Adagio’s job doesn’t really pay her that much. She said she had to save for like two months before she got a leather jacket for Sunset. She had to have a lot of help to buy the motorcycle for Sunset’s birthday and she told me on our way over here that they have been wanting to get a new place. That would surely take a LOT of saving.

“I am, but let’s just say I know a little trick with these kinds of machines.” Without explaining any further, Adagio looks all around us before pushing all the buttons of the machine, leanin’ her body against it. A quiet beep repeats every couple of seconds. Adagio’s mouth counts to five without actually saying anything before giving a kick to the bottom of the machine. Letting go of the buttons, she puts in the code for a grape soda, the machine quickly giving her the item she wanted.

“What in the hell…?” I slowly curse, finding it hard to close my mouth. How did she…? Wha? What sort of magic is that? I normally ain’t the type of girl to curse, but seriously! What the hell?

“Back when I had pretty much no money, I learned that little trick to kind of do a system restart. It basically makes the machine think you’re doing a practice run.” Clicking the code for grape soda again, the machine doesn’t give her another soda. Instead, it asks her for some form of payment. “And then it promptly returns to its normal programming, meaning no one will know you did this. The catch? It only works with vending machines that serve drinks made by the Crystal Empire Corporation.” Pointing to a logo at the bottom right of the machine, Adagio gives me a smirk, taking a sip from her drink. “I have yet to figure out a ‘system restart’ for their machines that serve snacks, so I can’t get us anything to eat. Just don’t let anyone catch you doing it because you can be fined for ‘stealing.’” Adagio is… full of surprises. Every time I think I have her figured out, she has another trick up her sleeve or something else she hasn’t told me yet. That’s not the reason I’m her friend, but it sure is interesting to see the tricks she’s learned.

The real reason I’m her friend is because… Well, I saw good in her. She’s a good person, no matter how hard she may deny it. Why else would she apologize to me? She may have been evil before, but that’s not the person I became friends with. “Could ya get me a water?” I ask her with a smile, both of us giggling at this odd situation. It’s not everyday you meet someone who knows how to scam a vending machine.

“One water for the cowgirl. Coming up~” Once again, Adagio presses all the buttons by leaning her body against the machine, counting to five before she kicks it. “Want to do the honors?” Adagio asks me, stretching her arm towards the machine’s buttons as if she’s presenting some prize. Carefully clicking a couple buttons, the machine spurs to life, getting the water and putting it in the slot.

“Thank you,” I say out loud, grabbing the water and taking a big drink as quickly as I can. Gosh, that feels better…

“Did you… just thank the machine?” Adagio asks me, a confused look painted on her face.

“What? I’ve watched Terminator, alright? I just wanna say thanks just in case there is a robot uprising. Just saying.”

“You know Terminator is a sci-fi fictional story, right?” Adagio’s stare only gets weirder as time passes by, making me feel like I’m the weird one.

“I know that! But someone has to be thankful if it does become our reality. You never know.” Walking past me, Adagio gets closer to the entrance of the maze, laughin’ at me.

“Let me guess. You have a bed for your phone too, right?”

“Har har. Very funny, Adagio. Just remember who can drag whom around.” I know she hates it when I do that. Sometimes I do it just to annoy her, but I usually do it because I’m excited and she won’t move fast enough. I guess that’s to be expected from someone who ain’t from a farm.

“Point taken,” Adagio states with a calm sip of her drink, both of us looking at the maze. Before either of us can say anything else, I can hear laughter behind us. Looking at the door to the gymnasium, I see a rainbow-haired woman run inside, proudly looking at the maze as Scoots follows behind.

“Oh, hey, Dagi!” Rainbow Dash says to Adagio, waving to me as well. “I didn’t know you two were here. Have you already done the maze?”

“Actually, we were just about to start,” Adagio tells her with a slight shake of her head despite the smile on her face. At least she can act naturally around them. I’m just worried I’ll ruin something by looking at them too much or doing something stupid to let them know I know about their secret. I was raised to be honest, but it sure is hard to be a little bit dishonest in situations like these. Well, I’m not lying to them. I’m just… not telling them I know the truth. And I’m tryna steal the cheat sheet, so yeah…

“No way! We just got here, so maybe we could make it a sort of race!” Scoots tells us with a bright smile, even though she’s cheating through this whole thing… That’s right, Scoots. Act innocent and smile. You should be ashamed, not telling Sweetie Belle and I about it. We could have all gotten the top three places in this competition.

“I like the way you think, kid!” Rainbow Dash tells her with a high five. “What do you two say? Loser buys ice cream?” Depends on the definition of loser… I mean, what happens if we lose AND we have the cheat sheet? Then we have the upper hand for the rest of the competition, so are we really losing? Then again, I’m probably thinking too far into it. Applejack says I do that a lot.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” I proudly state, giving a thumbs up. Adagio simply stares at me with a confused look before shaking her head, shrugging to the proposal.

“Great! We’ll see you inside then~” Rainbow Dash tells us as they both run towards the maze entrance, Adagio taking a big drink of her grape soda.

“If they have the cheat sheet,” I whisper to Adagio, seeing her nod slowly.

“Then we will have to get it.” Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, Adagio’s expression suddenly becomes a lot more serious, staring at the entrance. Is she looking forward to fighting with them? “I’ll take Dash. You follow Scootaloo.”

“Agreed.”

Comments

[Blood Rarity]

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

“I thought ya were trying to save up money for a new place.” If I remember correctly, Adagio’s job doesn’t really pay her that much. She said she had to save for like two months before she got a leather jacket for Sunset. She had to have a lot of help to buy the motorcycle for Sunset’s birthday and she told me on our way over here that they have been wanting to get a new place. That would surely take a LOT of saving.

Interesting.

“I am, but let’s just say I know a little trick with these kinds of machines.” Without explaining any further, Adagio looks all around us before pushing all the buttons of the machine, leanin’ her body against it. A quiet beep repeats every couple of seconds. Adagio’s mouth counts to five without actually saying anything before giving a kick to the bottom of the machine. Letting go of the buttons, she puts in the code for a grape soda, the machine quickly giving her the item she wanted.

https://m.

“Back when I had pretty much no money, I learned that little trick to kind of do a system restart. It basically makes the machine think you’re doing a practice run.” Clicking the code for grape soda again, the machine doesn’t give her another soda. Instead, it asks her for some form of payment. “And then it promptly returns to its normal programming, meaning no one will know you did this. The catch? It only works with vending machines that serve drinks made by the Crystal Empire Corporation.” Pointing to a logo at the bottom right of the machine, Adagio gives me a smirk, taking a sip from her drink. “I have yet to figure out a ‘system restart’ for their machines that serve snacks, so I can’t get us anything to eat. Just don’t let anyone catch you doing it because you can be fined for ‘stealing.’” Adagio is… full of surprises. Every time I think I have her figured out, she has another trick up her sleeve or something else she hasn’t told me yet. That’s not the reason I’m her friend, but it sure is interesting to see the tricks she’s learned.

Hopefully she doesn't get caught doing it again in the future.

“I know that! But someone has to be thankful if it does become our reality. You never know.” Walking past me, Adagio gets closer to the entrance of the maze, laughin’ at me.

I find that very slim.

“Then we will have to get it.” Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, Adagio’s expression suddenly becomes a lot more serious, staring at the entrance. Is she looking forward to fighting with them? “I’ll take Dash. You follow Scootaloo.”

Let's hope not.