The Dazzlings run into hard times and gets help from someone unexpected.
After the battle of the bands, The Dazzlings run into a lot of trouble. They try their hardest to make things work, but they just can't. While they are at their lowest, they receive help from someone unexpected. Whether they like it or not.
Had a lot of help from my Co-Author and brother, Lightning Bolt. We are still beginners at writing, so if you notice something wrong, please let me know and I will fix it as soon as possible.
Rated Teen for Mild Language Sex Tagged due to Sexual References and Partial Nudity
A knocking sound echoed through an old apartment. The apartment wasn't anything special. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchenette, a short hallway, and a small living room with a couch and small T.V.
It had a shaggy look to it, but it was relatively clean. A girl with orange, bushy hair, wearing an oversized Tee shirt and shorts rose up from the couch, and gave the door a look of death. She thought about not answering the door, but decided to go to it anyway, not having anything better to do.
If anything, she could yell at whoever was on the other side for disrupting her, not that she was doing anything special. She sluggishly walked over to the door, and swung it open, intending on giving the intruder a verbal beating, but stopped when she seen it was her Landlord, Filthy Rich.
"Ms. Dazzle." Filthy Rich began. "I have noticed that you haven't paid your rent ever sense you first moved in, which was two years ago."
Adagio rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, we've ran into hard times."
"For two years in a row?" Filthy Rich asked, raising an eyebrow. "I am tolerant to a late payment, but this is just ridiculous."
Adagio thought about singing to get out of paying, but realized she no longer had her pendent, and cursed herself silently. "I know its ridiculous, but we just need more time."
"I am giving you three days to pay this month's rent. If you fail, I will have to evict you."
"Evict?!" Adagio asked in shock. "Three days?! We need more time than that!"
"You've had two years, Ms. Dazzle. I am being nice by giving you more time." Filthy Rich then turned around, and walked away. "Good day, Ms. Dazzle."
Adagio gritted her teeth, and slammed the door. She walked back into the living room, cursing along the way. This wouldn't of happened if they won the battle of the bands, and the stupid Rainbooms hadn't destroyed their pendants.
She rubbed the place on her neck where her beautiful, red gem used to be, half-expecting it to be there. Three days? How were they going to possibly make enough money by then?
She hated the thought that followed, almost as much as she hated the Rainbooms. They would have to get jobs, or at least Her and Aria. Sonata couldn't get a job if her life depended on it, and in this situation, it pretty much did.
"SONATA!" Adagio shouted. "ARIA! GET IN HERE!"
Aria and Sonata soon walked into the living room, Sonata wearing pajamas, and Aria wearing blue jeans and a black Tee shirt.
"What do you want, Adagio?" Aria asked. "I was in the middle of thinking of different ways to kill someone."
"You can think about that later." Adagio said, pointing a finger. "We need to get jobs, now!"
"What's the matter?" Sonata asked. "Did something happen?"
"A lot of things happened." Adagio pointed out. "Our Landlord came by and said we have three days to pay for this month's rent, or we get evicted."
"Well, let me just add that to my list of things that suck." Aria said sarcastically. "Just how are we suppose to get paid before the end of the three days?"
Adagio quickly looked to the calender on the wall, and back to Aria. "Most jobs pay their employee's on Friday. Today's Wednesday. If we can get jobs today, we will get a half-week's pay check. It won't be much, but put together, it will be just enough to pay the rent."
"Great plan, Adagio." Aria rolled her eyes. "And what if we DON'T get jobs? What if they don't hire us? Whats your backup plan?"
"Just put on make-up, look pretty, and be nice. We'll get hired."
Aria sighed. "Even though I highly doubt this will work, I will try."
"This goes for you too, Sonata. Even though I doubt you can get a job, I want you to try anyway."
"I can get a job!" Sonata snapped back. "I'm just as ma... matu... oh crap, what's the word?"
Aria began to rub her temples. "Its 'Mature', Sonata. I swear, you're just, the worst!"
"You are!"
"ENOUGH!" Adagio shouted, stomping her foot. "We won't get anywhere arguing! Now, get some clothes on, and start job searching!"
Adagio walked the streets of Canterlot, looking for any place that would be hiring. Normally, she would have standards if she was getting a job. Scratch that, she wouldn't normally get a job.
But, drastic times calls for drastic measures. Right now, she was willing to work anywhere. She hated that she thought like that, but she knew it was necessary.
She looked around her surroundings, seeing multiple restaurants and stores, but the ones she would rather work at were not hiring. She groaned loudly in aggravation, causing the people she was passing to look at her. She just simply ignored them, and continued to walk.
Finally, she seen some place that was hiring. She looked up at the sign that read 'Oinker's', and groaned once more. Really? This was the only place that was hiring?
She hoped Sonata and Aria were having an easier time, because if they were, she was going to quit this job as soon as the rent was paid. She walked inside, and went up to a fat man, that was bald headed, had hairy arms, and a small moustache on his upper lip at the counter.
"Welcome to Oinker's! Can I take your order, pretty lady?" The man asked in an over-happy attitude.
"Actually, I'm looking for a job." Adagio said, trying to be polite.
"Huh, someone's actually replying. Alright, take an application and fill it out." The man said, sliding a white piece of paper to her.
Adagio looked at the application in confusion, trying to read the directions. The only thing she could understand, was where is was asking for her name. She took a pen out of her pocket, and wrote her name across the top.
She then attempted to understand the rest of it, but she truly couldn't. This aggravated her, but she kept a cool head. Even though she wanted to rip the application to pieces and burn the whole restaurant to the ground.
About five minutes later, the man turned back to Adagio.
"So, you think you've got what it takes to be a burger waitress?" The man asked, but didn't give her a chance to reply. "Lets see the application."
Adagio slid the application to the man, and he looked it over before looking back to Adagio.
"Its blank..." The man said in confusion. "Well, you got what it takes to be a burger waitress."
Adagio was insulted by this, but held a strained smile. "T-Thanks."
The man then held up his phone, and aimed it at Adagio.
"Who's bright idea was this?" Aria asked, standing outside of a fast food restaurant.
The restaurant looked like any other. Large windows in the front, glass double-doors, advertisement of the food it sold, and a large sign on top that held the restaurant name, 'Burgerville'. Aria sighed heavily before walking inside, and went up to the front counter, where a teenage boy, who was obviously a High School drop-out, was standing.
"Welcome to Burgerville, can I take your order?" The boy asked, breathing heavily.
"I'm actually here for the job." Aria said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, then you need to speak to the manager." The Boy said, pointing his thumb to the back. "I'd show you to his office, but I'm not allowed to leave the counter."
"Its fine." Aria said, holding one hand up. "Just tell me where its at."
"Well, you go around the counter, and to the right. Its the only door there."
Aria turned her head, and seen the door he was talking about. "You couldn't of just pointed to the door right there?"
"I didn't think about it."
Aria resisted the urge to ram her palm into her forehead, as it would most likely cause brain injury at the level of strength she wanted to use. Aria walked around the counter, and went to the door before knocking. Soon, a tall man, wearing the restaurant's uniform opened the door.
"Hello, are you here about the job?" The man asked.
"Yeah." Aria said. "I'll cut to the chase. I need a job, you need an employee. So you just give me the job, and we'll both be happy."
The man raised an eyebrow, but couldn't hold back his grin. "Well, you definitely have spirit. Come in and fill out your application. We'll do a short interview, and you can get started if I see you'll be fit."
"Its a cashier at a restaurant," Aria said, showing no emotion. "How hard can it be?"
Sonata skipped happily down the street, passing by many stores and restaurants with 'Help Wanted' signs on them, but she ignored them. She was looking for a specific place she liked to go to, but it always seemed to have different employees every time she went. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why.
But, she didn't care. It was a happy place where kids could be kids, and it had fun robots in animal suits, silly guys in costumes, and a silly guy who did magic tricks for the kids! Why wouldn't she want to work there?!
Soon, she found the building she was looking for. It had many different colors all over it, the doors looked like they were made of cheese, and the building sign was upside down. If Sonata stood on her head, she could clearly see it said 'Discord's Place'.
But last time she stood on her head to read it, she kept losing her balance. So, instead of trying that again, she skipped inside and looked for the silly magician guy. She found him pulling a slice of pizza out of some kid's ear, so she went up to him.
"Mr. Magician Guy!" Sonata said, getting his attention.
"Sonata, I told you, my name is Discord." Discord said, still smiling. "What can I do for you today?"
"I'm actually looking for a job." Sonata said. "Dagi and Ari are mad because we might get evicted, so we are all looking for jobs. Stinks, I know."
"Oh my. Eviction is never fun." Discord said, letting his smile drop, but he quickly picked it back up off the floor. "In fact, the most un-fun part about it is the packing. But lucky for you, I have your application right here!"
Discord reached into Sonata's ponytail, and pulled out a piece of paper. She clapped happily and hopped in place.
"So, I'm hired?!" Sonata asked, excitedly.
"Almost. I always have a test for all my employees." Discord turned around, and looked at a bull's eye on the wall with a hole in the middle. "I need you to reach into that hole, and pull out whatever is inside."
"Um... okay?"
Sonata walked up to the bull's eye, and reached for the hole. But before her hand could enter, something stopped her. No, it wasn't her consciousness, nor did someone grab her hand.
It felt like the hole wasn't really there, but she could clearly see it. So she tried again, only to get the same results. She tried again, and again, and again, until she was repeatedly ramming her hand against the hole.
When she heard laughing behind her, she stopped and turned around to see Discord rolling around on the floor, holding onto his sides in laughter.
"It gets them every time!" He laughed.
"I don't get it..." Sonata said, shrugging.
"No one ever does." Discord said, wiping a tear out of his eyes and standing up. "You have the job. You passed the test."
Back at Oinker's, Adagio was wearing an mustard stained apron, had a note-pad in one hand, and a pen in the other. She stood by the counter, next to the Manager.
"Okay, as a burger waitress, all you have to do is take their orders, give it to me, I'll cook the food, and you give it to whoever ordered it. Then, once they're done eating, you go back, give them their receipt, and they will give you money. Easy enough?"
"No, its the hardest thing in the world." Adagio said sarcastically. "Of course it's easy!"
"Good, then get started."
Adagio looked around the room, and took notice to one man that just arrived, who was looking over the menu. She walked up to the man, and tapped on the table to announce herself.
"Welcome to Oinker's, what's your order?" Adagio said unenthusiastically. had "Isn't it, 'Welcome to Oinker's, can I take your order, please'?" The man asked, apparently a regular.
"What? You expect us to say that same stupid line every time? Do you think we're robots or something?" Adagio asked, waving her pen around. "Just tell me what you want."
"Um... okay then. I'll take the Oinker Big Burger, medium Sack of Fries, medium Guzzler Soda, and three ketchup packets."
Adagio wrote down the order, then turned on her heels.
"I'll be back in a couple of minutes with your order." Adagio said, walking back up to the counter. Once she reached the counter, she handed the order to the Manager. "Okay, here's an order."
"Excellent!" The manager said, taking the order. "He's a regular, so I've already got his order ready."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that." Adagio said, rolling her eyes.
"But be careful. He likes to pick on the newbies." The manager pointed out, giving Adagio a small wink.
"What do you mean?" Adagio asked.
"I think you'll figure it out."
The Manager turned around, and grabbed a plate with a Soda. He handed it to Adagio, and she began to make sure everything was there. Oinker Big Burger, medium Sack of Fries, medium Guzzler Soda, and three ketchup packets, yeah its all there.
So, Adagio made her way back to the man she got the order from, and set the plate and drink in front of him. The man observed the plate carefully, then looked back to Adagio.
"This isn't what I ordered." The man said.
Adagio's eye twitched. "What do you mean, its not what you ordered?"
"I ordered a Double Oinker Cheese Burger, a small Sack of Fries, a large Guzzler Soda, and three mustard packets."
"No, this is what you ordered." Adagio took her notepad and showed it to the man. "See?"
The man looked at the notepad for a moment, but still, he shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Miss. This isn't what I ordered."
Adagio's eye began to twitch violently. "Well then," Adagio then took the burger, ripped it in half, placed it on the man's head, and poured the drink over it. "Its on the house."
Satisfied with what she has done, she walked away from the man, and went back to the Manager.
"Ms. Dazzle!" The manager said, with his mouth agape. "What did you do?!"
"He said that wasn't what he ordered, so I proved him wrong."
"Didn't I tell you he likes to pick on the newbies?!"
At Burgerville, things weren't going any better. Aria had to stand at a counter, in front of a cash register, and take people's order's, take their money, and she wasn't even aloud to keep it.
She wore a stupid black polo shirt, and a stupid black cap, like she was a part of a stupid baseball team. She was bored, and she couldn't do anything to fix that. All she could do, was take the order, take the money, and give back any change.
At least, this was the repetitive action fifteen minutes ago. A tall, skinny, big nosed idiot was at the front of the line, looking at the menu and rubbing his chin. It felt like he has been standing there for hours, and Aria wanted nothing more than to make his big nose swell bigger in a single punch.
"Have you decided what you want yet?" Aria asked, keeping her head propped up on the counter with her hand.
"No, not yet." The idiot said. "There is so much to choose from."
Aria allowed her head to fall and land on the counter with an audible thud.
"Why, oh why, didn't you decide what you wanted before you got here?!"
"I didn't know what you sold."
Aria groaned, then picked her head up to see the line building up. "You know, your making a lot of hungry people wait while your dumbass stands up here, not even knowing what you want!"
"Hold on, hold on, I think I almost know what I want."
Aria's eye twitched, and her mouth hung open. "Why didn't you look at the menu when you were at the back of the line?!"
"I didn't think about that."
"You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you?" Aria growled. "Its like dealing with Sonata!"
The idiot raised an eyebrow. "Did you just call me a girl?"
"I've called you a dumbass three times, and you get offended when I call you a girl?!"
"I don't have to take this!" The idiot said, walking away.
"Good, leave! No one will miss ya! Get hit by a car on your way out!"
Right after Aria's small rant, she heard someone clearing their throat behind her. Her pupils shrunk, and she turned around to see her boss behind her, who didn't look pleased.
"Let me guess, I'm fired." Aria said, showing no emotion.
At first, Sonata loved the fact that she got the job. She got to wear tan dress pants, a red and white vest, and clown shoes! She was allowed to get anything from the salad bar if she wanted, she could play the arcade games, and dance with the draconequus mascot (Who looked strangely familiar to her)... as long as she was on break.
For the rest of the time, she had to keep the kids under control, keep them fed, and tend to their every need. It was like dealing with a hundred spawns of evil. They kept pulling her hair, puking all over the place, knocking things over as they ran around, and fighting.
Sonata has tried to keep it under control for hours, and was nearing her end when she felt a tugging on her pants leg. She turned to see a little boy, looking up at her.
"Hello?" Sonata said, trying to look more calm than she actually was. "Can I help you, little boy?"
"Where's the..." The Little Boy stopped for a moment. "Where's the...."
"The?" Sonata asked, cocking an eyebrow when his face turned green.
The boy's mouth popped open, and a stream of yellow puke came flying out of his mouth, landing on Sonata's lap. Sonata screeched and threw her arms into the air, trying to avoid touching the puke. Her pupils shrank as she stared at a piece of pepperoni that was sticking on her thigh.
"I'm sorry." The Boy said, slowly backing away from Sonata.
"I... I can't take it any more... I CAN"T TAKE IT ANY MORE!"
Sonata started stomping away, resisting the urge to throw the pants off. She made her way to Discord's office, and swung the door open, startling him.
"Uh... Sonata?" Discord asked, observing her messy hair, slightly ripped vest, broken name-tag, ruined mascara, and puke covered pants. "What happened to you?"
"Well, lets see here." Sonata said. "You immediately hired me, and threw me to the side for miniature sources of evil, called children, to get me!"
"I thought you loved children?" Discord asked.
"I love PLAYING with them, not looking after a hundred of them. Where were their parent's anyway?!"
"Yeah... about that. Parents leave their children here a lot when they have no one to babysit them. We've tried to stop it, but we can't."
Sonata dropped her jaw, but quickly shook it off.
"You know what? No. I quit." Sonata said, throwing her vest onto Discord's desk.
"Yeah, I can't blame you. You'll still come back sometime, right?"
After all the Dazzlings got fired from their jobs (or quit, in Sonata's case), they were unable to get hired again within the time limit they had. The Trio went to other stores and restaurants that were hiring, but they needed to fill out applications and come back at another time. So, they gave up.
The Dazzlings went back to their apartment, and packed, waiting for the inevitable. Fighting eviction was futile, and they knew it. Even Sonata, who was usually in a happy mood, was sad.
She spent her next three days, sulking on the couch in the living room, with a backpack by her side. Inside the backpack was things she thought they would need to live on the street. A blanket, a small pillow, canned food, a can opener, a pocket knife, matches, dryer lint, and a picture of her, Adagio, and Aria before the Battle of the Bands.
True, she didn't need the picture, but it was special to her. It reminded her of better times, and gave her hope that those times would return. But it was only a glimmer of hope in the world of darkness she seen at the moment.
Aria would occasionally sit down next to her and try to talk, but Sonata would only say short sentences, and nothing else. Aria wanted the cheerful, childish Sonata back, even though she did get on her nerves at times. Anything to take her mind off of the inevitable.
Three days of sulking, three days of preparing, three days of silence, the day came. Early in the morning, they were all ready. They sat in the living room, waiting for the knocking to come.
At exactly 8:00 AM, the dreadful knocking came. Adagio sighed, and walked to the door. She opened it slowly, and seen the Landlord, Filthy Rich.
"Ms. Adagio, did you come up with the payment?" Filthy Rich asked.
"We tried, Filthy Rich," Adagio said, casting her eyes to the ground. "But we were unable to come up with a single dime."
"That's too bad." Filthy Rich said, shaking his head. "I am sorry to say, that I must evict you and your friends. I wish there was another way, but there isn't."
"Is there really?" Adagio asked, trying one last time. "There must be something we can do to avoid this."
"No, there isn't." Filthy Rich said, keeping his face emotionless. "You lived here for two years, with no payment. I even gave you three extra days to come up with the money, but you failed.
"I have no choice but to evict you."
Adagio sighed in defeat. She nodded her head and went back inside, were Aria and Sonata waited.
"Its time, girls." Adagio said, picking up her backpack.
The Trio adjusted their backpacks on their backs, and went back to the door, were Filthy Rich stood.
"Do you know where your going to go?" Filthy Rich asked.
"No, we don't." Adagio said plainly. "I guess we'll just go where the road take us."
Filthy Rich didn't stand in their way, nor did he say anything else. He watched them as they walked down the road before pinning a 'For Rent' sign next to the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Trio walked the streets for hours, not saying a word. Occasionally they would get shoved by someone, but they didn't respond. They only continued to walk.
They went by many restaurants, hotels, and stores, but none of them meant anything to them now. Those buildings now only resembled promises of things they couldn't have. Dull, empty, meaningless promises.
Finally, they came to a bridge that separated the marketplace and the residential area. There was a chain link fence, keeping them from getting beneath the bridge, but this wasn't going to stop Adagio. She took her backpack off, and threw it over.
She then grabbed Sonata's and did the same before Aria's. She then placed the toes of her boots between the links, and proceeded to climb up. Once she was on the other side, she looked back at Aria.
"Well, come on!" Adagio commanded.
Aria sighed, and helped Sonata over before going herself. Once all three of them was on the other side, they started to climb down the hill with their backpack's in tow, and went under the bridge. There was a creek that passed through, but there was enough land under the bridge for them to stay dry.
Adagio placed her backpack down on the ground, and sat on top of it. Aria and Sonata continued to stand, staring at her.
"Really?" Aria asked. "This is your brilliant plan? To live under some bridge like a troll?!"
"We're not living under here!" Adagio snapped. "We're just staying here for a couple of days until we can come up with something!"
A slight chilled came through, and Aria started to shake. "Ugh! I wish we brought something to make a fire!"
Not saying anything, Sonata took off her backpack, and pulled out her matches and Dryer Lint. She then handed them to Aria, set her backpack beside Adagio's, and sat down.
"Well, someone thought ahead." Adagio said with a slight chuckle.
"This is great and all, but we still need dry wood." Aria said, putting the dryer lint in her pocket.
Sonata lazily pointed to the other side of the creek, were there was three old crates, which looked like they have been there a long time. Aria sighed, and walked up to the creek. She put one foot down in the water, to see it was less than twelve inches deep.
Aria continued on, stepping carefully to make sure she didn't fall. Once she was across, she picked up one of the crates to see it was empty. She threw the first crate, which barely landed on the other side before breaking.
She then threw the other two, each landing in the same place. Aria then made her way back across, and proceeded to break the crates further. She used one of the boards as a hammer to back the nails out and threw them to the side.
Close to an hour later, all the boards were nail free, so she started stacking them in a cone-like shape. Aria took the dryer lint out of her pocket, and placed them in the center. She took a match out the match box, and struck it against the side.
After a couple of tries, she had the match lit, and held it close to the lint. The lint quickly caught fire, and after a few moments, the wood did as well. Aria blew the match out, and threw it into the creek.
"There, we have a fire." Aria said, sitting down near it.
Aria kept her feet near the fire, but not too close, so they would dry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days passed under the bridge, mostly in silence. Aria would occasionally complain about how much it sucked, and Adagio would give suggestions, which were instantly shot down by Aria. The only one who didn't say a word, was Sonata.
She didn't say anything ever sense they left their Apartment, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. Adagio would occasionally ask her something, but she would only shrug, nod, or shake her head. Aria would complain about Sonata, but she never even acknowledged it.
Most of the time, Sonata sat away from Adagio and Aria, staring at something in her backpack. Neither of them ever bothered to ask what it was, but that didn't mean they weren't curious. Whatever it was, it must of meant something to her if she was always staring at it.
A twig breaking was heard, and they all shifted their gaze to where it come from. There stood a girl with red and yellow curly hair, a black leather jacket, and an orange skirt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunset Shimmer walked through Canterlot, with one designation in mind. An old bridge, that had a creek running beneath it. She first discovered it not long after the Fall Formal.
At first, it was a fortress of solitude, away from anyone who would be mean to her for what she has done. It was nice to be alone with her thoughts as her only company. It gave her time to think without anything to disrupt her.
Now, it reminded her of the hard times and how she was able to get passed them with the help of her friends. She would think about them, and how they helped her redeem herself at the Battle of the Bands. Her thoughts then shifted to the Dazzlings.
Come to think about it, no one had seen them after the Battle of the Bands competition. Or if they did, they didn't say anything. Of course, there were rumours, but they never had anything to back it up.
There was a rumour that they left town out of embarrassment, another that said they now live in the woods, and another that said they returned to where they came from. Sunset knew the last one wasn't true, due to the fact that they were banished to this world by Starswirl the Bearded. But the first two were still a possibility.
Sunset reached the bridge, and climbed over the fence with practised ease. She landed on the grass with a soft thud, and continued to climb down the hill. Once she reached the bottom, she turned and seen two girls sitting on backpacks, and another who seemed to be staring at something inside of her own.
It took a moment for Sunset to realize who they were, due to them being covered in dirt. Finally, she realized it was The Dazzlings, living under her bridge. Her first emotion was anger, remembering that they almost tore her friends apart, but it quickly faded when she realized that they needed help.
She took a step forward, and accidentally broke a twig. They quickly looked in her direction, startled. She took this time to try to read their emotions.
After Sonata recovered from being startled, she stared at her with hopeful eyes. Aria seemed to have a mix of emotions between anger, and fear. Adagio on the other hand, was full of anger, and hatred.
"Um... Hi." Sunset said, taking another step forward. "What are you doing under a bridge?"
"What are YOU, doing under a bridge?" Adagio spat, not taking her eyes off of Sunset.
"I come here every Friday." Sunset admitted. "This place kinda holds good memories for me."
"Is it really Friday?" Aria asked, looking at Sonata quickly before turning back to Sunset.
"Yeah." Sunset said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. "So, what are you doing here?"
"We got evicted from our Apartment." Adagio admitted. "Which wouldn't of happened if YOU and the other Rainbooms hadn't destroyed our pendants!"
"Well, you did kinda try to tear my friends apart, and the rest of the school." Sunset said defensively. "We were left with no other choice."
"Yeah, well do you know what your actions caused?!" Adagio asked, standing up. "Did you not think of what would happen to us if you took away our power?!"
"You're pinning this on me?" Sunset asked, a little shocked. "Why didn't you just try to get along with other people to begin with? Power isn't the answer to everything."
"Funny, coming from someone who tried to take over Equestria."
Sunset took a step back, her feelings hurt by the memories.
"I- I changed!" Sunset recoiled. "A-And you can too!"
Adagio raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to pull?"
"I'm not pulling anything." Sunset said. "I'm just pointing out that you are living under a bridge when you don't have to."
"We don't have to?" Adagio asked sarcastically. "Thats funny, because it sure does look like it."
"It may look that way, but its not. Look, I'm staying at Pinkie's for a while. I'm sure she'll let you too if you just ask."
"Thanks, but no thanks." Adagio said, turning her back to Sunset. "We don't take handouts. We can make it on our own."
Adagio felt a tap on her shoulder, so she turned and seen Sonata, staring at her with tear filled eyes.
"Adagio, I think we should do it." Sonata said, finally speaking again. "We can't make it on our own. If we stay out here, we'll get sick, and we can't afford to see a doctor."
"We DON'T need their help!" Adagio snapped back.
Sonata sighed, and walked away from Adagio, carrying her bag on her back. She watched as Sonata walked up next to Sunset, and gave her a short hug. Watching this was like a slap in the face to her.
She realized that her mouth was hanging open, so she quickly shook her head and looked at Aria.
"Well?" Adagio asked Aria. "Are you going to say anything?"
Aria grunted. "That idiot has a point."
Aria stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked up next to Sonata. She turned and crossed her arms as she stared at Adagio. She looked around, trying to find an excuse for them to stay with her.
"I-I'm your leader!" Adagio stuttered.
"Which means you're nothing without us." Aria pointed out.
"It doesn't have to be like this." Sunset spoke up. "If you just come with us, I'm sure you can redeem yourself, and make a better life than this."
"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Adagio shouted, making Sunset wince.
"Then I'm sorry." Sunset said with a sigh. "If you change your mind, then you know where to find us."
Sunset began to walk away, with Sonata and Aria following. Adagio bit her lip, and quickly grabbed her bag.
"Wait!" Adagio shouted, running to catch up with Sunset and the others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About thirty minutes later, Sunset and The Dazzlings were at Pinkie's house. It was much different from what the Dazzlings were expecting. It seemed to be an average house, except for many large boulders in the front yard.
Sunset knocked on the front door, and soon a girl with pink, curly hair came to the door.
"Sunny!" Pinkie exclaimed, giving Sunset a hug. "I see you brought friends!"
"Yeah." Sunset said, pulling away from Pinkie Pie. "Is it cool if they stay here with us for a while?"
"Of course its okay!" Pinkie answered excitedly, moving out of the way. "Come on in!"
Sunset and the Dazzlings walked inside, with Adagio raising an eyebrow at Pinkie.
"You're really okay with this?" Adagio asked, confused.
"Of course I am, silly!" Pinkie said, smiling wide. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Don't you remember what we did at the Battle of the Bands?"
"Yepperoni!" Pinkie said, bouncing in place. "So, what do you guys wanna do first?! Finger Paint, eat Pizza," Pinkie Pie then got really excited. "Finger Paint while eating Pizza?!"
"Can we shower first?" Aria asked, looking down at her clothes. "We're a little... dirty."
"I guess that would be a good idea." Pinkie said, nodding. "But we only have one shower, so you'll have to take turns. But don't touch the Mane & Tail. Thats Maud's. But you can use the the other Mane & Tail. That one's mine!"
"And how can we tell them apart?" Sonata asked.
"They're labelled, silly! Mine is covered in glitter and rainbow stickers!"
"How do you keep the stickers on?" Adagio asked. "Wouldn't it come off with the water?"
"Suuuuper Glue!" Pinkie said, talking in a mystical voice.
"Um... okay?" Adagio said, even more confused.
Sunset then leaned to Adagio. "If you value your sanity, don't try to figure Pinkie out."
"In any case, I call first dibs." Adagio said, taking a step forward. "Where's the shower?"
"Upstairs, first door on the right." Pinkie said, leaning in the directions as she gave them.
Adagio half-heartedly thanked Pinkie, and made her way upstairs. She went through the bathroom door, and took in her environment. The sink, toilet, and shower was white, where everything else was grey, which felt a little depressing.
The only thing that really stood out, was a bottle of Mane & Tail that was covered in pink glitter, with brightly colored stickers all over it. She closed the door behind her, locked it, and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her normally puffy hair was matted, her clothes were covered in dirt, and her make-up was ruined.
She sighed, and went to turn on the shower faucet.
An hour or so later, all three Dazzlings had their showers, and was now wearing clothes from Pinkie's closet. It completely clashed with their natural looks, but at least they were wearing clean clothes that oddly smelt like candy. Adagio and Aria completely hated it, but Sonata seemed to not mind the outfit at all.
All three of the Dazzlings, plus Sunset and Pinkie, were downstairs in the living room. Pinkie was shaking excitedly were she stood, looking at the Dazzlings with a smile plastered across her face. Aria looked at Adagio with a worried look, who returned the same look.
"You know what would be really really really fun?!" Pinkie Pie asked.
"For you to sit still?" Aria suggested, knowing this wasn't the answer.
"Noooooo."
"Making a really big taco?" Sonata suggested, drooling a little at the thought.
"That would be fun, but no."
"I have a feeling I'm not going to like this." Adagio said, slouching a little.
Pinkie Pie inhaled deeply, before yelling- "MAKEOVER!!!"
Aria gave a deadpan stare. "Yeah, how about, no."
"Oh, come on, your make-up washed off in the shower!" Pinkie Pie complained. "It'll be really fun, and a good way to build trust!"
"You mean building non-existent trust?" Adagio asked, putting one hand on her hip.
"Isn't that what I said?" Pinkie Pie asked, scratching her head.
Sunset then whispered in Adagio's ear. "Its Pinkie being Pinkie. Just drop it."
"I've applied my own make-up for years." Adagio said out loud. "I don't need someone to do it for me."
"It'll make you look more adorable~." Pinkie sang while pinching Adagio's cheek.
She then smacked Pinkie's hand away. "I don't need help with that."
"I think its a good idea!" Sonata said, bouncing slightly.
"Of course you would." Aria said with a roll of her eyes. "You are just, the worst."
"You are!" Sonata snapped back.
"I am!" Pinkie said, jumping between them.
"... What?" Sonata and Aria asked, confused.
"Pinkie being Pinkie," Sunset said. "Don't question it if you value your sanity."
"Sonata has no sanity." Aria said.
"I do too!" Sonata argued.
"Come on girls." Sunset said, stepping in before an argument could start. "We're here to try and have a good time. Just give it a try; You might like it."
"I know I will," Sonata said. "But these too might not."
"Ugh, fine." Aria said, throwing her hands in the air. "But no pictures, and no telling anyone."
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie Pie Pinkie Promised, doing the appropriate hand movements.
"Uh... what?" Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Its the Pinkie Promise." Sunset said. "Its a promise Pinkie invented, which means if it is broken, it will end the friendship forever."
"FOREEVVVVEEEEERRRR!" Pinkie said creepily, eyeing the Dazzlings while pointing her index finger at each of them. "Now lets get started!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple of hours later, the girls sat in Pinkie's bedroom floor, wearing make-up that looked more like face paint. Pinkie Pie looked like a clown with a curled moustache and a goatee. Adagio had lipstick all around her mouth, a fake tongue by her lips, eye-liner eyebrows on her forehead that made her look angry, a full moustache above her lips, and a goatee.
Sonata looked normal except for a blue lightning bolt under her left eye, which made her look like a rock star. Aria's make-up made her look more grumpy than normal, and Sunset had every color imaginable spread out across her face. Adagio looked at everyone in the room, giving them all death glares.
Everyone except for Aria and Adagio looked happy.
"You all have to sleep sometime." Adagio warned.
"So do yoooou." Pinkie Pie said, extending the 'O' in 'You'.
"Speaking of sleep." Sunset said, looking over at the clock. "Its half-past ten. We should probably call it a night."
"Aww." Pinkie Pie complained. "But we just started Spring Break!"
"Its Spring Break?" Aria asked. "Wow, you'll be surprised how fast time flies when you don't leave home often."
"What DID you girls do after the battle?" Sunset asked. "I mean, other than getting evicted."
Adagio sighed. "Well, first we retreated back to our Apartment. Then we spent months there, waiting for everyone to forget what happened. We only left to get food. I don't know why our Landlord didn't come to evict us sooner, but we just stayed."
"Maybe he travels a lot." Pinkie suggested. "So you just stayed at your apartment? That doesn't sound very fun."
"Yeah, it really wasn't." Aria agreed. "Have you ever heard of Cabin Fever?"
"Yeah." Pinkie said, nodding. "Its when someone stays at home for too long and gets really really grumpy."
"Well, we all became victims of Cabin Fever."
"Oh boy."
"On a happier subject!" Sunset chipped in, not wanting things to get too depressing. "Do you guys plan on returning to school soon?"
"And go back to everyone we put under our spell?" Adagio asked. "No thank you."
"Then what will you do?" Sunset asked. "Since you're normal girls like us, you should get an education so you can get jobs that pays a lot."
"We don't have a need for an education." Adagio said. "We've been in this world for a thousand years, remember?"
"Right. But in that time you used your magic to get what you want. Now, you don't have that magic. Why do you think I'm still in school, even after what I did?"
"True, but during those centuries, we've learned how to play many different instruments. In the early 1900's, I first learned how to play the Piano. Though, I've learned many other instruments, I still prefer the elegance of the Piano."
"Really?" Sunset asked, intrigued. "What about Aria and Sonata?"
"Aria also learned many instruments, but she couldn't find one that suited 'her style' until the early 80's, when she decided to learn the Electric Guitar. As for Sonata, she often plays the Violin, but she will occasionally go to the Piano for certain songs."
"So, you're going to make careers in music?" Sunset asked.
"That is the goal." Adagio said with a nod.
The conversation was interrupted with a loud yawning sound. They all shifted their gaze at Sonata, who was staring at them, eyes half lidded, before falling backwards. She was snoring before her head hit the floor.
"I... guess its time to go to sleep." Sunset said, a little surprised.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Pinkie agreed. "I've got some sleeping bags in my closet."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that night, Adagio laid in her sleeping bag, still awake. She and everyone else had already washed their 'make-up' off, even though they had to help Sonata as she was sleeping. She was still angry about how they made her look, so she knew she needed revenge, even if it was something small.
A way to get back at them, but how? She considered putting all their hands in a bowl of warm water, but then that would mean a messy clean-up. She even considered putting whip cream in their hands, and tickling their noses with a feather, but that would involve doing them one at a time, and it would wake them up, so that was out.
Then it hit her. She would write an embarrassing message on their foreheads, that way they would be as humiliated as her with the make-up. Smiling, she got out of her sleeping bag and sneaked over to Pinkie's backpack which was next to her bed.
Surely she would have something that would write on skin in there. She zipped open the first compartment, which was filled with many different writing tools. She first picked up a wooden pencil, and brushed it against the back of her hand.
Sure, it did cause a small dark brown streak, but it caused a small amount of pain, which would definitively wake them up. She put it back, and pulled out a black pen. She took the cap off, and brushed it next to the pencil mark.
It did cause a black streak, much more noticeable than the pencil, but it required pressure that would, again, wake them up. She grunted softly before putting the pen back. She then pulled out a black Sharpie, and pulled the cap off.
She lightly brushed it on the other side of the pencil mark, and a very noticeable black streak came out of it. She smiled, seeing she found her tool of revenge. She turned back to the sleeping girls, a sinister grin pastured on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Early morning, the Dazzlings and Sunset woke up to the sound of giggling. Adagio sat up, and looked to Pinkie who was giggling at herself in the mirror. She instantly remembered what she had done last night.
"Whats going on?" Sonata asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Adagio got us." Pinkie said, giggling.
"What do you mean?" Aria asked, slightly confused.
"She wrote on our foreheads!" Pinkie busted out in laughter.
"Now, why would you assume it was me?" Adagio asked innocently.
"You're the only one without writing on your forehead." Pinkie pointed out, still smiling.
"...Crap."
"What did she write?" Sunset asked.
"See for yourself!" Pinkie said, bouncing out of the way.
Sunset stood up and went to the mirror. She looked into it, seeing that the writing was backwards in the mirror, so she had to read it backwards. On her forehead, was written, 'The Sun is Shinning on my Butt'.
Sunset blushed brightly before turning to Adagio.
"Really, Adagio?" Sunset asked. "Really?"
"I couldn't think of anything else, okay?" Adagio admitted.
"So you wrote something about my butt?" Sunset said, smiling but still blushing. "I didn't know you liked it."
It was Adagio's turn to blush. "I- I don't!"
"Adagio and Sunset, sitting in a tree!~" Sonata began to sing in a flat tone. "K-I-S-"
"Sonata, if you finish that, I will literally, kill you." Adagio said, blushing madly.
"Lets change the subject here." Aria said with a grunt. "I really don't like this touchy-touchy crap."
"Well then, see what is written on your head." Pinkie said, pointing to the mirror excitedly.
Hesitantly, Aria stood up from her sleeping bag, and made her way to the mirror. She moved the bangs out of her forehead, and began to read the message backwards. Upon her forehead read: 'I love Sonata'.
Aria's face grew red, more out of anger than embarrassment. She spun around to glare at Adagio.
"Do you think this is funny?!" Aria asked, shouting.
"Correction: I find it hilarious." Adagio said, smiling without fear, her own embarrassment forgotten. "Sonata, your turn."
Not fearing anything, Sonata stood up from her sleeping bag and moved to the mirror. She moved her own bangs, and tried to read the message.
"I can't read it..." Sonata said, struggling. "I don't know how you did it, Adagio, but its backwards!"
"I'll read it for ya!" Pinkie said, turning Sonata to face her. "It says: I love Aria!"
Sonata's eyes grew wide. She quickly rushed over to Aria before giving her a tight hug.
"Were like, total lovers!" Sonata said, completely clueless to the meaning.
"No, no no no." Aria said, pulling away from Sonata. "I don't think thats a good idea."
"Aw, why not?"
"Yeah, Aria," Adagio cooed. "Why not? Trying to hide something?"
"No, I'm not trying to hide anything!" Aria shouted, blushing.
A knocking came to the Pinkie's bedroom door. Pinkie winced slightly before hesitantly opening the door. There stood a grey skinned girl with messy purple hair, wearing an oversized Tee Shirt.
"H- Hi Maud." Pinkie welcomed, smiling sheepishly.
"Pinkie, its not even six in the morning," Maud said, speaking in an emotionless tone. "And more noise is coming from your room than your weekly parties."
"Sorry Maud." Pinkie said, putting her arms behind her back. "I guess we got a little excited."
"Whats that on your forehead?" Maud asked, moving Pinkie's curly bangs out of the way and reading the message out loud. "I consume too much sugar." She huffed slightly. "Thats an understatement."
Maud let the bangs fall back into place before walking away. The Dazzlings stared at the doorway in shock, wondering what had just happened.
"What... was that?" Aria asked.
"That was my sister, Maud." Pinkie said, chuckling slightly. "Without her morning coffee. I probably should of warned you about her."
"She's your sister?" Sonata asked. "But she is like, so much different from you! She's the scariest thing I've ever seen!"
"She gets that a lot." Pinkie agreed. "But she's really sweet when you get to know her!"
"Sweet as what?" Aria asked. "A rock?"
"Rock Candy maybe." Pinkie suggested, unsure what else to say.
Adagio sighed. "I think I'll join her with the coffee."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that morning, The Dazzlings' clothes were clean and they had on their normal make-up. They stood outside of a rather elegant looking boutique, looking up at it questioningly. Adagio looked over at Sunset and Pinkie.
"Remind me why were here?" Adagio asked.
"Getting you new clothes, and to visit a friend!" Pinkie said excitingly.
"And which friend is this?"
"Her name is Rarity. She played the Guitar key!"
"You mean the Key-tar?" Sunset offered.
"Apples, oranges." Pinkie said with a shrug. "Their both fruit."
Sunset shook her head and opened the door to the boutique, causing a ring of a bell.
"Just one moment!" Rarity called from another room.
"Yeah, I remember this one." Aria said, unenthusiastically.
Moments later, Rarity came rushing into the main lobby with red glasses on her face, and a tape measure around her neck.
"Hello Darli-" Rarity said before cutting herself off at the sight of the Dazzlings. "Whoa Oh AH!"
"Rarity, before you say anything," Sunset said, trying to calm her down.
"Wha- wh- What are they doing here?!" Rarity asked, stuttering.
"Believe it or not, they're wanting to be reformed." Sunset said, trying to defend them.
"Hold on a second." Adagio said. "We're not WANTING to be reformed. We have no other choice."
"Not helping!" Sunset said through gritted teeth.
"And... What does this have to do with bringing them here?" Rarity asked.
"Well, we were hoping," Sunset began, rubbing the back of her head. "If you could make them new outfits?"
Rarity stared at the Dazzlings for a moment, thinking the offer. Of course, these were the three girls who turned what was supposed to be a Musical Showcase for Charity into a Battle of the Bands for popularity, but the offer was tempting. If these girls were really trying to become reformed, then it wouldn't hurt to offer her generosity.
Rarity nodded. "Very well, I shall do it. Follow me into the back room, and I shall begin."
Rarity lead the girls into the back room, and sat them down at a short row of chairs. She tapped her chin, observing the three girls. She kept their skin color, hair color, eye colors, and how they normally wore their clothes in mind while thinking of the outfits.
"Alright, Sonata, is it?" Rarity said, Sonata nodding her head in confirmation. "Good, come with me behind the curtain, and I will take your measurements."
"Why do we have to go behind the curtain?" Sonata asked.
"For Privacy, of course." Rarity said, taking Sonata by the hand.
Rarity lead Sonata behind a curtain that was on the other side of the room, and closed it behind her. She then turned to Sonata, and took the tape measure off her neck.
"Okay, Darling, please remove your jacket and skirt."
Sonata peeped in response. "Do I have too?"
"Of course, Darling, why are you so hesitant?"
"I'm... not used to that." Sonata said, rubbing the back of her head.
Rarity chuckled. "We're both girls here, I've seen it all before."
Sonata nodded before hesitantly taking off her jacket and skirt. She wore a pink Tee Shirt and blue and white stripped panties. She crossed her arms in a small attempt to cover herself, and Rarity took no notice to this.
"Please spread your legs." Rarity said, kneeling down. Sonata hesitated, but did as Rarity said.
The rest of the time, Rarity kept giving Sonata instructions for easier measurements. On the other side of the curtain, Pinkie and Sunset were chuckling, while Adagio and Aria were staring in the curtain's direction, wide eyed and blushing.
"Are we going to have to do that?" Aria asked, nervous.
"Yep!" Pinkie said, smiling widely. "You better be wearing something under those pants."
Sunset chuckled a bit more. "Don't worry, we've all been through it."
Adagio and Aria slowly turned their heads to Sunset, their eyes still wide.
"She's seen you..." Adagio said, a bit shocked.
"Oh, no no no." Sunset instantly defended. "Its just measurements. Besides, she always reuses the measurements when making new outfits for someone she's already measured. Sometimes she will take a few remeasures if a bit of time has passed, but nothing major."
"Oh, thank the creator." Adagio said, exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I was fearing we would have to go through this every time."
"Okay, you can put your clothes back on." They heard Rarity say.
"Was she...?" Aria asked, her mouth hanging open slightly.
"No, she wasn't." Sunset quickly corrected. "She just has people take off any baggy clothing, such as skirts, lose shirts, jogging pants, stuff like that.
"Next!" Rarity shouted from behind the curtain as Sonata was walking out, blushing harshly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many hours later, Rarity had all three of the Dazzlings' measurements, and created each of them a sketch of the clothes she was making. She even had the bases of their new outfits ready, and she was just making sure they fit snugly before adding any decorations. Currently, she had Sonata wearing the base of her new outfit, which was a pair of blue knee-high boots, casual blue jeans, and a purple jacket.
Rarity even gave Sonata a white tank top to wear underneath the jacket, sense her pink Tee Shirt clashed with the purple jacket. She observed Sonata, looking over the outfit.
"It looks nice, but its missing something." Rarity said, before an idea came to her head.
Rarity quickly rushed over to Sonata's other jacket, which was hanging loosely on one of the chairs. She grabbed it, and rushed over to her electric sewing machine. She never placed the jacket in the sewing machine, but she did something on the touch screen before looking back at Sonata.
"Sonata, dear, could you please take the jacket off for a moment?" Rarity asked.
Sonata complied, and handed the jacket to Rarity. She then placed the new jacket in the sewing machine, and went to work. A few minutes later, she made a satisfied sigh, and gave the jacket back to Sonata.
She put the jacket back on, and buttoned it back up. Then, Sonata observed the new design embroidered just below her right pocket. It was a heart, with an electric musical note on top.
"There, your outfit is complete." Rarity said with a satisfied smile. "What do you think, Darling?"
Sonata continued to look down at her outfit, her eyes beginning to water. She lifted her head to look at Rarity in the eyes. By the time she made full eye contact, tears were starting to stream down her face.
"Oh no, you don't like it, do you?" Rarity said, starting to get worried.
Sonata quickly wrapped her arms around Rarity's neck, pulling her into a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry for trying to make this world adore me!"
"Darling, darling," Rarity said, patting Sonata on the back. "Theres nothing wrong with wanting to be adored. You just went at it the wrong way, thats all."
"I'm Sorry!"
Sonata continued to cry, burying her face in Rarity's shoulder, while Rarity continued to try to comfort her.
"Over reaction much?" Aria mocked, rolling her eyes.
"She's feeling guilt!" Sunset snapped, trying to defend the crying Sonata. Sunset breathed deeply to calm herself. "I cried when I felt the guilt for what I did. I even cried more afterwards."
"Is this world filled with emotional people?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'll remind you that all four of us come from the same world." Sunset said, eyeing Aria.
"Whatever." Aria said, waving Sunset off. "I still think Sonata is too emotional."
Just then, Sonata's sobs came to a complete halt. She slowly pulled away from Rarity, who looked at her in complete shock. She then slowly turned her head to Aria, revealing her mascara running completely down her cheeks, a creepy smile across her face, and her bangs causing a dark shadow over her eyes.
"Oh, Aria~" Sonata said creepily. "You're the one saying I'm emotional, yet you were the one who told the others to go easy on me when we were doing the makeover." Aria's eyes got wide. "Yes, I heard that. Tonight, no one will save you from me~."
Aria leaned back in her chair as Sonata grew closer, her hips swaying as she walked. Sonata put her hands in Aria's lap, and leaned close to her face. Sonata's smile grew larger, and she locked her eyes with Aria's.
"You're mine now!" Sonata said, smiling evilly.
Sonata then stood straight quickly, and turned back to the others, her mascara no longer running, her bangs no longer causing a shadow, and her smile was more innocent.
"Thank you for the outfit, Rarity!"
"Uh... Darling?" Rarity said, a little scared. "What was that about?"
"What was what about?" Sonata asked, confused.
"You just got, like, really really creepy!" Pinkie said, just as scared as Rarity.
"I did?" Sonata asked. "I don't remember being creepy."
"What was the last thing you remembered?" Sunset asked, leaning back in her chair with an eyebrow raised.
"Um... I was hugging Rarity."
"And your not confused to how you're now standing in a completely different place?" Rarity asked, looking at the distance she walked.
Sonata looked around. "Huh, I am aren't I?" Sonata then shrugged. "Oh well."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that day, Aria and Adagio had their new outfits. Adagio had a light purple jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, a black tank top, a golden belt, ripped black pants that went down to her knees, black shoes with golden high heels, golden straps with a golden diamond on them, and grey socks that went up to just below her knees. Aria wore a dark purple shirt with its sleeves going down to her upper arm, a lighter shade of purple sleeveless vest, a black leather spiked bracelet, a black belt with a white, round belt buckle, her signature purple belt with a star and a musical note, black skinny jeans, black boots with two white straps, and dark red heels.
Everyone except for Rarity stood outside of the boutique. Sunset held a bag with the Dazzlings' old clothes in them, and the Dazzlings were looking at each other.
"Wow girls!" Pinkie said. "You all look hot!"
"I gotta admit," Adagio said. "That girl does know how to make clothes. In a good time as well."
"Yeah, Rarity takes her job seriously." Sunset agreed. "She's been practising for years, so its understandable that she could do this in such a short amount of time."
"I wasn't asking for details." Adagio said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Oh... Sorry."
"Lets get back at my house, and we can get started on Night 2!" Pinkie said, bouncing excitedly.
"Pinkie Pie, you are so random." Sunset said with a slight chuckle.
"You gotta love it!" Sonata said, smiling at the same volume as Pinkie. She then began to hum a repetitive tune before singing in a flat tone. "We're really quite surprised, We get to see you another night-"
The Dazzlings, Pinkie, and Sunset were once again in Pinkie's bedroom, and the sun had long gone down. Pinkie was on her knees on the bed, bouncing up and down, waiting for an opinion. Sunset tapped her chin, while the Dazzlings were just looking at each other.
"Well, we could play a game?" Sunset suggested. "I mean, you've got tons of Video Games, and I'm pretty sure if we look under your bed, we could find some board games."
"That, is probably true." Pinkie said, ducking her head under the bed. "Lets see, I've got Monopoly, Candy Land, Checkers, Life, Chess, Cards Against Humanity-"
"NO!" Sunset quickly shouted, covering her mouth right afterwards. "I mean, I don't think we should do that one."
"Why not?" Adagio asked, suddenly wanting to play Cards Against Humanity.
"Its, uh... very offensive." Sunset said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.
"It can't be that bad." Sonata said.
"No, trust me, it is."
"Okay then," Pinkie said, reaching under the bed. "How about a friendly game of Checkers?"
"Sounds boring." Aria said with a huff.
"Not really." Pinkie said, pulling out the said game. "Its a strategy game. The goal is to jump all the other player's chips with your own. If you reach the other side of the board, then you get a king."
"Again, sounds boring."
A smile curled its way onto Pinkie's lips.
"Are you scared that I'll beat you?" Pinkie suggested.
"What?" Aria asked. "No, of course not! You can't beat me at anything!"
"In that case, I challenge you to a game of Checkers!"
"You think you can beat me you pink ball of sugar?! You're on!"
Smiling, Pinkie moved her night-stand next to the bed, cleared it, and slammed the box on top.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After explaining the rules of the game to Aria, Pinkie set up the board, her as Red, and Aria as Black. Everyone watched intensely as both players carefully moved the chips with the intent of winning. After a few small mistakes, Aria learned Pinkie's strategy.
But, no matter what Aria did, Pinkie was always able to quickly catch up. About fifteen minutes of playing, Aria and Pinkie both had only one chip left, each being a king. Aria had Pinkie cornered with only one place to go, on the side of the board, unable to go anywhere else from there.
Aria kept one space in between them, just to make sure Pinkie didn't jump her. They kept going back and forth, so she knew she had to change something. She took another space back, and Pinkie advanced toward her.
Not thinking, Aria advanced toward Pinkie, closing in the space. Pinkie jumped Aria, and quickly took her chip.
"AH HA!" Pinkie shouted, slamming Aria's chip in the pile of the other black chips. "I WIN!"
"Why did I do that?!" Aria asked herself, putting both of her hands on her head. "I had you!"
"This is why you weren't the leader." Adagio mocked with a chuckle. "You make last minute rash decisions."
"Says the one who dumped the customer's food on him on the first day of the job." Aria snapped back.
"Like you did any better." Adagio said, not fazed by Aria's insult. "You cussed out a customer on your first day."
"It wasn't my fault! He couldn't make up his mind on what he wanted!"
"Now, now." Sunset Shimmer said, stepping in. "Lets not fight. We're here to have fun."
"Yeah, she's right." Pinkie said, not as enthusiastic. "So, anyone else wanna play against me?"
"I will!" Sonata said, trading spots with Aria at the Checker board.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the night went on, the girls took turns against Pinkie. Somehow, she always won, and she wasn't afraid to show it. Sure, a couple of them were difficult, but she stayed victorious.
She defeated Sonata, with seven chips left. Even though Pinkie did brag, She didn't get mad. Sonata showed good sportsmanship, and congratulated Pinkie.
Pinkie defeated Sunset, with two chips left. Despite the close call, Pinkie did celebrate. Sunset gritted her teeth, but remained calm, and held up one thumb.
Adagio on the other hand, Pinkie defeated with ten chips remaining, meaning Adagio only took two chips. Pinkie was about to celebrate, but stopped when she seen Adagio's face turning red.
"Are you okay, Dagi?" Pinkie asked, picking up on the nickname.
"What were you saying," Aria mocked, smiling. "About why I wasn't the leader?"
"Shut it, Aria." Adagio snapped. "She got lucky!"
"With you only taking out two chips? I don't think so."
"Its all right, Adagio." Sonata said. "Its only a game."
"Only a game?" Adagio asked, standing up from her chair. "Sure, its a game, but its a strategy game! I Should be good at something like this!"
"It doesn't matter." Sunset said. "I'm sure Pinkie plays this game a lot, so it would make sense that she's good at it."
"Its true." Pinkie confirmed with a nod. "I play this game with Maud all the time!"
Adagio stopped for a moment, then smiled.
"You know what?" Adagio said, turning to Sunset. "You're right. It doesn't matter. I'm still a great leader, even if I did lose in a little game."
Sunset's eye twitched at the last part, but then decided to not acknowledge it any further. "I'm glade you think that way."
"Yeah, whatever. Its getting late, we should get some sleep."
"I second that." Sonata said, obviously tired. "I'll get the sleeping bags."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, The Dazzlings, Sunset Shimmer, and Pinkie Pie was outside of the Canterlot Animal Shelter. It was a small building, painted yellow with a blue and white cloth stoop above the door. Instantly, Adagio knew she wasn't going to like it.
The only reason she agreed to go along, was because Pinkie mentioned that Fluttershy volunteered there, and Sonata wanted to see the animals. She knew wherever Pinkie would go, Sunset would go, and anywhere Sonata would go, Aria would go. She didn't want to be alone at Pinkie's house, so she decided to come along.
Pinkie Pie bounced through the front door, and a bell rang, announcing their arrival. Everyone else followed Pinkie inside, and soon a girl with long, pink hair and wearing a butterfly hair Barrett came from the back room.
"Hello, Pinkie." Fluttershy welcomed. "I didn't expect you to come here today."
"Well, Sonni wanted to see the animals, so I decided, Hey, why not?!" Pinkie Pie rambled.
"Sonni?" Fluttershy's eyes drifted over to the Dazzlings, and they grew wide with horror. She was about to scream, but quickly covered her mouth so she didn't scare the animals. "W-w-what are they doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see them, its just... its just..."
"Don't worry about it, Shymaster." Pinkie Pie said, wrapping an arm around her. "Their totally cool now!"
"Oh... well, if you say so, Pinkie." Fluttershy said, less than enthused.
"And I do." Pinkie confirmed.
"So, anything we can do around here?" Sonata asked, looking around at the animals.
"I, um, was about to feed Mr. Feathers, the Parrot." Fluttershy said, moving over to a cabinet to pull out a bag of feed. "I guess, you can do it. If you want to, that is."
Sonata happily nodded, and took the bag of feed from Fluttershy. She shyly pointed to Mr. Feathers' cage, which was positioned at the corner of the Shelter. Sonata walked over to the cage, and observed the Parrot.
Mr. Feathers had a white beak, mostly bright red feathers, yellow, green, and blue wings, and his talons were black. He was a beautiful bird, and he seemed to be quiet happy in his cage. He kept eyeing something behind Sonata, but she didn't pay much attention to it.
Sonata opened the bag of feed, and noticed a cup that was inside. She filled the cup as full as she could, and turned her attention to the cage. She eagerly opened the door, and Mr. Feathers flew out of it in a blink of an eye.
It took Sonata a moment to process what had just happened, as she stared into the now empty cage. She was snapped back into reality when she heard Adagio screaming behind her. It wasn't the scolding scream she was used to, but rather a scream of fright.
Sonata turned around to see Adagio running in circles, with Mr. Feathers happily nested in her hair. Pinkie and Aria were holding their sides in laughter, Sunset was trying to hold back her own laughter, and Fluttershy was trying to find something to do to help. Sonata simply shrugged, and continued to pour the feed into Mr. Feathers' bowl.
"We- We have to do something!" Fluttershy said, holding her hair in stress.
"When in danger, fear or doubt," Sonata began. "Run in a circle, scream and shout."
"I've gotta remember that one!" Pinkie laughed.
Ignoring Sonata's joke, Fluttershy kept her attention on Adagio. "Now, um, Adagio. J-Just stay still, and I can get Mr. Feathers out."
"Stay still?!" Adagio screamed. "I've got a bird in my hair!"
"Yes, I know. But if you keep running, I cant get him out."
Finally, Adagio stopped running, but her breathing didn't calm down. Fluttershy reached up into Adagio's hair, and gently removed Mr. Feathers. Once he was out, Fluttershy slowly put him back inside of his cage, and closed the door before locking it.
Mr. Feathers didn't seemed fazed by what had happened at all. He just started plucking at his food as if he hadn't even done anything. Adagio stomped over to Mr. Feather's cage, and pointed her index finger through the bars.
"I hate birds!" Adagio announced.
Mr. Feathers looked at Adagio's finger, and brushed his beak across it. Adagio quickly retracted her finger and glared daggers at him. Fluttershy smiled at Mr. Feathers' affection.
"Aw, he likes you." Fluttershy said, clasping her hands together.
"Well, I hate him!" Adagio declared.
Aria walked over to the cage, wearing an unreadable smiled.
"He's just a friendly little guy, isn't he?" Aria said, putting her hand in the cage. Instead of allowing her to pet him, Mr. Feathers painfully pecked all of Aria's fingers in one smooth swoop. "AH! THE LITTLE PECKER WOOD BIT ME!"
Mr. Feathers Squawked. "Grumpy Bitch, Grumpy Bitch."
"Now I like him." Adagio said, smiling warmly at Mr. Feathers.
"Oh my!" Fluttershy said, covering her mouth. "Mr. Feathers! Where did you learn that language!"
Mr. Feathers just simply looked away, and began to whistle.
"How much for the bird?" Adagio asked after a moment of silence, turning to Fluttershy.
"Oh, well, um." Fluttershy stuttered, still shocked by Mr. Feathers' language. "He's three hundred dollars."
Adagio nodded. "Alright then, make sure no one buys him. I'm going to try to save up some money, and I'll be coming back for him."
"I don't think holding on to him will be a problem." Fluttershy said. "He's been here since he was just an egg. But, um. If you like, I can pay for him."
Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Really? I mean, you'd do that? I appreciate it, but I think I'll feel better if I actually paid for him."
Fluttershy shook her head. "No, if you really are trying to be good, then this will be my gift to you." Fluttershy tried to sound assertive, but failed.
Adagio exhaled. "Alright, fine. Thank you."
Fluttershy smiled, pulled her wallet out of her skirt pocket, and reached for the money inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Dazzlings, Sunset, and Pinkie came out of the Animal Shelter, all of them with smiles on their faces, except for Aria. She kept glaring at the bird inside its cage, being carried by Adagio. She was petting its beak with her finger, giving it complements on its colorful feathers.
"Ugh!" Aria scoffed. "First it was Sonata with the outfit, and now its you with the damn bird!"
"Don't talk about Mr. Feathers like that!" Adagio snapped. "He is just an innocent little creature!"
"Innocent my ass!" Aria snapped back. "It pecked my fingers!"
Mr. Feathers started to whistle innocently.
"You're just jealous because he likes me."
"If you recall, you hated it before he pecked me!"
"And called you a grumpy bitch."
"Grumpy Bitch!" Mr. Feathers squawked.
"Good boy!" Adagio rewarded, petting his beak once again.
"Other than the cussing, I like him too!" Pinkie Pie declared. "Maybe you should teach him some nicer words."
"Hm..." Adagio hummed, tapping her chin. "I wonder how he would react to Sonata."
"He did fly out when I went to feed him." Sonata pointed out. "I think I feel insulted."
"Just try and pet him." Adagio said, holding the cage up to Sonata.
Sonata eyed the bird for a moment before she stuck her finger into the cage. Mr. Feathers eyed the finger for a moment, but eventually brushed his beak against it.
"Aw!" Sonata said. "He likes me!"
Mr. Feathers then stopped, and violently shook his head.
"WOOO!" Mr. Feathers squawked. "Taco Breath! Taco Breath!"
Sonata stared at the bird, and everyone began to laugh out loud, including Aria.
"Okay, maybe the bird isn't so bad." Aria said with a laugh.
"He is officially a part of the Dazzlings." Adagio said declared.
"He can be the Mascot!" Pinkie cheered. "Now, lets get to Night 3!"
Once again, The Dazzlings, Pinkie, and Sunset were in Pinkie's bedroom. But, there was an addition to the group now. Mr. Feathers was perched inside his cage, on top of Pinkie's night stand.
Adagio was hand-feeding Mr. Feathers some nuts when Pinkie spoke up, as usual.
"I have a super duper fun idea!" Pinkie said as she bounced in place, holding something behind her back.
"Not another makeover." Aria groaned. "I really don't feel like having that crap all over my face again."
"Nooooo-." Pinkie said. "Not a makeover, silly!" Pinkie then moved her hands to her front, revealing an empty, glass bottle. "We should play, Spin The Bottle!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Sunset said, holding her hands up defensively. "We're in a room full of girls, and frankly, I like guys."
"Not that version of Spin The Bottle." Pinkie giggled. "The truth or dare version!"
Aria shrugged. "I'm willing to experiment."
Adagio stared at Aria with cooing eyes. "Well then, you can kiss Sonata when it comes to your turn."
"Truth or Dare version it is!" Aria said, quickly taking a spot on the floor.
The rest of the girls also took a seat on the floor, making a small circle. Adagio even put Mr. Feathers next to her, just to make things more interesting. Aria raised an eyebrow at Mr. Feathers.
"Really?" Aria asked. "The bird is going to join us?"
"He is a very intelligent bird!" Adagio defended. "I'm sure he knows enough words to play."
"I doubt it."
Mr. Feather's squawked. "Shut up, Pigtails!"
"You shut up, you Rainboom Reject!" Aria retorted.
"Go kiss Taco Breath!"
"Save that dare for later!" Pinkie told Mr. Feathers, giggling.
"Don't give him any ideas!" Aria yelled.
"Woo hoo!" Mr. Feathers cheered.
"Ugh! I can't believe I'm arguing with a bird!"
"A very smart bird!" Sonata pointed out.
After a few giggles from everyone at Aria's expense, Pinkie wiped a tear out of her eye and placed the bottle in the middle.
"All right, I'll go first." Pinkie said, spinning the bottle. The Bottle spun in a circle three times, and stopped, pointing at Sunset Shimmer. "Okay, Sunshine, Truth or Dare!"
"Well, I guess I wanna play it safe." Sunset said, before nodding. "Truth."
"Boring!" Sonata said before booing.
"Hold on, I'll make it interesting." Pinkie said, smiling. "Sunset, who do you think about in your private moments, alone?"
Sunset's face immediately turned as red as a cherry, but she tried to keep her composure. Everyone leaned in toward her, making her lean back slightly. Even Mr. Feathers was leaning closer, his head sticking out of his cage.
"Tw..." The rest of her answer was inaudible.
"What was that?" Pinkie asked.
"Twilight Sparkle!" Mr. Feathers yelled out loud, mimicking Sunset's voice.
"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!" Pinkie Pie screamed, bouncing up and down.
"I thought you said you liked guys!" Sonata shouted, smiling ear to ear.
"I do!" Sunset said. "I just... just..."
"How did that even start?" Adagio asked, genuinely curious.
"Hey, one question per turn!" Sunset snapped, immediately regretting it.
"Oh, trust me. We'll find out." Adagio said, a smile creeping on her face.
"Its your turn to spin the bottle!" Pinkie told Sunset.
Sunset Shimmer hesitantly placed her hand on the bottle, and gave it a hard spin. For a moment, the bottle looked like a glass sphere, but eventually slowed down, and stopped on Adagio. She began to sweat heavily as her eyes darted around.
Sunset smiled sinisterly. "Truth, or Dare."
"I-I'm not scared!" Adagio stuttered, proving that she was lying. "D-dare!"
"Adagio Dazzle," Sunset began. "I dare you to go through the rest of the game, without a shirt or jacket on."
"I like that Dare!" Pinkie busted out, quickly covering her mouth.
"For some reason, I am not surprised." Aria said with a straight face.
Adagio ignored all of them. "Why do you want me to go topless?!"
"I never said Topless." Sunset pointed out. "I just said without a shirt and jacket."
Adagio took a deep breath, and walked into Pinkie's closet, shutting the door behind her. Every one watched the closet door, waiting for Adagio to come out. They could hear some rustling, but nothing else.
Moments later, the closet door slowly opened, and Adagio walked out. She had her shirt in one hand, and her jacket in the other. The only thing covering her chest, was a black, frilly bra.
Everyone stared at Adagio for a moment, shocked that she actually went through with the dare. Mr. Feathers whistled at Adagio, and everyone busted out in laughter.
"Mr. Feathers, hush!" Adagio snapped, only for Mr. Feathers to shake his head. "Whatever, this means its my turn, right?"
Pinkie nodded, but continued to laugh. Adagio set her shirt and jacket on the ground, and sat in her previous seat. She took the bottle, and spun it hard.
The bottle spun countless times, before slowing down, and pointing in between Pinkie and Sonata, and to the door where Maud was standing.
"You left your door open." Maud said in her monotone voice. "I could hear you in the kitchen."
"Sorry about that, Maud." Pinkie said. "We were just playing Spin the Bottle, Truth or Dare version! Wanna join? The Bottle landed on you!"
Maud took a few steps into the room, and observed the bottle, which had indeed stopped in her direction. Maud shrugged.
"Sure."
Maud then sat down where the bottle was pointing, and looked up at Adagio. Before she could say anything, Adagio spoke the question.
"Truth or Dare!"
Maud blinked. "Dare."
"Um... okay." Adagio said. "Uh, I dare you to come up with a joke."
Maud thought for a moment. "You."
The room exploded with laughter, and Adagio looked at the expressionless girl with anger. Maud didn't show any signs of fear, waited for the laughter do die down.
"That was a good one, Maud!" Pinkie said, patting her sister on the back. "Now, spin the bottle."
Maud nodded, and did as her sister said. The bottle spun for a few moments, before landing on Aria. Aria just simply shrugged.
"Truth or Dare?" Maud asked.
"Meh, Dare." Aria said.
"Kiss Sonata," Maud said, not missing a beat. "On the lips."
Aria's eyes grew as big as dinner plates, and look at Sonata's. Sonata smiled, and winked at Aria, who's cheeks blushed red. She swallowed hard, and leaned over to Sonata.
She slightly puckered her lips as Sonata did the same. Slowly, she leaned closer and closer, until their lips made full contact. Aria tried to immediately pull away, but Sonata grabbed her by her shirt, and held her in place.
Her eyes darted to everyone who was watching, begging for help. But they were too shocked to do anything, except for Maud, who continued to show no emotion. After a few moments, Sonata finally let her go.
"I give it a seven out of ten." Adagio said, smiling seductively.
"I liked Sonata's spirit, but Aria was a little dull." Maud pointed out.
"Says the human rock!" Aria retorted. "Now, its my turn to spin."
Aria spun the bottle, watching with intent. The bottle slowed its pace, before stopping at Mr. Feathers, who squawked in shock.
"Uh Oh!" Mr. Feathers Squawked.
"Mr. Feathers," Aria said, smiling at the nervous bird. "Truth Or Dare."
"Errrr. Truth!" Mr. Feathers said, not wanting to do anything embarrassing.
"Why do you like Adagio so much?" Aria asked. "I mean, why do you really like Adagio?"
"Uh..." Mr. Feathers looked at Adagio, who watched him with interest. "She's really sexy."
Adagio blushed, and everyone erupted in laughter, expect for Maud, who half-heartedly chuckled.
"Well, that explains a lot!" Sunset laughed. "This isn't a part of your truth, but why don't you like Aria?"
"Grumpy Bitch!" Mr. Feathers squawked.
"I get that, but there has to be more than that."
"Turn off." Mr. Feathers said before whistling, and lowering himself on his perch.
Everyone laughed again, except for Aria, who's face lit up red in anger.
"I'm not a turn off!" Aria snapped at Mr. Feathers.
"My turn!" Mr. Feathers said, before looking at Adagio, expectantly.
"Sure." Adagio said, putting her hand on the bottle.
The bottle spun around a couple of times, and stopped at Sonata.
"Truth or Dare?" Mr. Feathers asked, squawking.
"Um... Truth?" Sonata said, shrugging.
"Lesbian?" Mr. Feathers asked, tilting his head slightly.
Sonata blushed, as she looked around the room. She felt the back of her neck growing warm, and her nervousness only grew when she seen everyone staring at her, waiting for her answer. Mr. Feathers nearly lost his balance on his perch, due to him leaning too far.
"I... uh... actually like both." Sonata answered, turning her head away from everyone.
No one looked to be surprised.
"Meh." Pinkie said, shrugging. "So do I."
"Really?" Sonata asked, looking at Pinkie, a little more confidant.
"Yeah." Pinkie nodded. "I mean, its a little boring, liking just one sex."
"Totally!" Sonata agreed.
"Now, go ahead Sonni!" Pinkie said, pointing at the bottle.
Glad she wasn't alone, Sonata put her hand on the bottle, and confidently spun it. The bottle spun for a few moments, and stopped at Pinkie, who excitedly bounced where she sat.
"Pinkie, Truth or Dare?" Sonata asked.
"Hm..." Pinkie hummed, rubbing her chin. "Truth."
"Have you ever had a girlfriend, and if so, who?" Sonata asked, curious.
"Yeah, I used to have a girlfriend." Pinkie admitted, nodding her head. "Her name was Floating Surprise. We met in Manehattan a few years back while visiting some family.
"Aw, thats so sweet!" Sonata said, hugging herself. "Well, except for the break up."
"Its all right." Pinkie smiled. "She's still a good friend to talk too!"
"Thats great and all," Aria said with a yawn. "But its getting late."
"Yeah, it is." Maud agreed. "Boulder gets cranky if he doesn't get a good night's rest."
"Boulder?" Adagio asked.
"He's my pet rock." Maud informed before getting up, and leaving the room.
"We should get some sleep too." Pinkie said with a nod. "I'll get your sleeping bags."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, The Dazzlings, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset Shimmer were standing outside of a two story house, painted white with blue curls, making it look like a cloud. Adagio was carrying Mr. Feathers in his cage, who was observing his surroundings. Pinkie bounced up to the front door, and knocked on it three times.
A few moments later, a Rainbow haired girl came to the door, wearing blue pajama bottoms and a white Tee shirt with red sleeves and a rainbow lightning bolt on her chest. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before looking at Pinkie.
"Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What are you doing here so early? Its not even noon."
"Because its your turn, silly!" Pinkie said as if it was obvious.
"My turn for what?"
"Like, the Dazzlings are good now, so I want all our friends to see them!"
"The... Dazzlings?"
Rainbow looked behind Pinkie, and seen the Dazzlings standing next to Sunset. She looked back at Pinkie with a serious expression.
"Pinkie, this is a serious question." Rainbow said, and Pinkie nodded. "Have they sang to you?"
"Oh, Dashie." Pinkie said, wrapping one arm around Rainbow's neck. "They can't sing any more, remember? Besides, their magic didn't work on us!"
"I just want to be safe." Rainbow said before removing Pinkie's arm. "Rarity told me that they were being reformed, but I'm not buying it."
"They've been staying at my house. They haven't done anything bad, and we've been having a lot of fun!"
"They've been staying at your house, and haven't done anything bad?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Well, Dagi did write on all our foreheads," Pinkie admitted. "But only as a small piece of revenge."
"We took away their ability to sing, and she writes on your forehead?"
"No, not because of that." Pinkie said, shaking her head.
"Then why?" Rainbow Dash asked, curious.
"I can't say."
"Why not?"
"I Pinkie Promised."
"UGH!"
Rainbow threw her hands up in aggravation, walked in a small circle, and looked back at Pinkie.
"So, what do you want me to do?"
"Well, I was hoping we could hang out for a little while." Pinkie said, still in her happy mood. "So, can we come in?"
"Uh... You and Sunset can. I need to talk to the Dazzlings for a moment."
"Okie Dokie!"
Pinkie bounced into Rainbow's house, and Sunset followed. Rainbow closed the door behind them, and looked at The Dazzlings. Sonata had her hands behind her back, and was drawing circles in the dirt with her foot. Aria simply had her arms crossed, looking at Rainbow, and Adagio was playing with Mr. Feathers.
"Whats with the bird?" Rainbow asked.
Adagio looked at Rainbow, a little startled. "Uh... His name is Mr. Feathers."
"Mr. Feathers?" Rainbow asked. "Not exactly a name I would expect three villains to come up with."
"We're not evil any more!" Sonata complained. "Besides, he already had a name before Dagi adopted him."
"Now that makes more sense." Rainbow nodded. "Him already having the name, not you not being evil."
"Its true." Adagio said. "Sunset promised to help us if we gave up on being Sirens."
"Really?" Rainbow asked. "Thats it? Sunset promised to help you, and you stop being evil. Just like that?"
"We weren't given any other choice." Aria pointed out with a groan. "We got evicted, so we had to stay under a bridge for a couple of days. Under a freaking bridge for crying out loud!"
Rainbow flinched. "Well, I guess that would do it for me." Rainbow sighed. "Alright, come on in."
The Dazzlings followed Rainbow inside, and into her living room, where Pinkie and Sunset were waiting. Rainbow's indoor decorations weren't very fancy, but it wasn't dirty either. She had a white, wooden coffee table, a white sofa, white carpet, and white walls.
Everything seemed to be white inside her house, other than the pictures of her family, and a couple of Wondercolts posters on the walls. Rainbow sat down on the couch, and propped her feat up on the coffee table. She looked up at Pinkie, and shrugged her shoulders.
"So, what ya wanna do?" Rainbow asked. "We can play some video games, go out back and play some football, do some sick shreds on the guitar, or maybe shoot some darts."
"You know," Aria said, her attention caught at the mention of guitars. "I never got a good look at your guitar."
"Now you're talking my language!" Rainbow said, jumping off the couch.
Rainbow ran up the stairs, and soon came back down with a gloss blue Axe Electric Guitar. She held it up so Aria could see it, a smile on her face. Aria had the urge to grab the guitar to get a feel for it, but resisted so she wouldn't give a bad impression.
"You know, Aria plays the guitar." Sonata pointed out to Rainbow.
"Oh, really?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow with a confident smile. "I've got a spare guitar upstairs. If you can impress me, its yours."
"You have a spare guitar?" Pinkie asked. "Why didn't you use it instead of buying a new one?"
Rainbow shrugged. "Eh, it doesn't really fit my style. Thats why I used to play my Acoustic. I'll go upstairs and get it."
Rainbow laid her Axe Guitar down on the couch, and went upstairs. Moments later, she came back down, holding a slightly dusty, gloss black Spectrum Electric Guitar. She then handed Aria the guitar, who gladly took it.
"Its been a while since it was played," Rainbow said. "So you'll have to tune it. But before you do, let me get an Amplifier."
Aria nodded, and Rainbow walked to her living room closet. She opened it, and rolled out a small amplifier and some cords. She plugged the Amp into the wall, and hooked it up to the Spectrum Guitar before taking a step back.
Aria strummed each cord individually, and tuned each one that sounded off key. Once she was confident with their strings, she adjusted the knobs, and strummed it again. Once she done this, she knew she was ready.
She let her mind go blank as she let the pick strum against the cords at amazing speeds. It sounded like something that would be in a fighter jet battle scene. She then began to strum the cords even faster, her hand sliding up and down the neck, occasionally gliding the jack.
When she stopped, she looked up to see Rainbow, Pinkie, Sunset, and even Mr. Feather's mouth open. She smiled at this, and went back to playing. This time, it sounded like a heavy metal version of a western intro. Her strumming got faster, heavier, and more metal than thought possible for a single individual.
She finished with a strong, rough glide of the jack. She smiled, and looked back at Rainbow.
"How was that?" Aria asked, confidence plastered across her face.
"How did you do that?!" Rainbow asked, shocked by Aria's performance.
Aria shrugged. "I've been practising sense the early 80's."
Pinkie bounced in place. "THAT WAS SO AWESOME!"
"Why didn't you play the Guitar in the Battle of the Bands?!" Rainbow asked, slightly confused.
Aria scoffed. "Adagio wanted it to be a vocals band. Something to do with elegance or some crap like that."
Rainbow's eye twitched, but she let out a slow breath, and looked back at Aria. "Well, I guess you can have the guitar; I don't play it anyway."
"Thanks." Aria said. "I'll put it to good use."
"Just don't brainwash anyone with it." Rainbow teased. "And take that Amp with you. I've got, like, three others."
Aria nodded, and unplugged the Amp from her guitar and the wall. She rolled the cords up, and leaned the Guitar against it.
"You know," Pinkie said, turning Rainbow's attention to her. "Rarity will probably kill you if she finds out you had another guitar all this time."
"She's always about color coordination." Rainbow said, flopping her hands around. "That guitar is black, and I've got rainbow hair. I'll just say it clashed with my hair, and she'll stop arguing instantly."
"Funny thing is," Sunset said with a chuckle. "She's probably right."
"Of course I'm right!" Rainbow said, pointing her thumb at herself. "When am I ever wrong?" Pinkie and Sunset raised an eyebrow, causing Rainbow to chuckle sheepishly. "He he, okay, I can be wrong sometimes."
"No one is ever always right." Sunset pointed out. "Its only natural to make mistakes."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "How about we play some Video Games before you guys have to go. I've got some killer multiplayer games!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a few hours of constant Video Games and a quick lunch, The Dazzlings, Pinkie, and Sunset decided it would be best to start heading back to Pinkie's house. Rainbow waved them goodbye, showing her seal of approval of the three Ex-Villains. Aria had her new guitar strapped to her back, and pulled the amp behind her.
"That was pretty fun." Aria said, letting her grumpy attitude drop.
"See, we're not bad." Sunset said, giving Aria a light punch on the arm.
"All right, fine. You're not THAT bad..." Aria admitted. "Still pretty bad though."
"Oh, come on." Pinkie said, wrapping an arm around Aria. "You know you love us."
Aria pushed Pinkie's arm away. "No, I'm pretty sure I hate you."
Back at Pinkie's house, The Dazzlings, Sunset, Mr. Feathers, and Pinkie Pie were in Pinkie's bedroom. Aria was sitting on Pinkie's bed, playing her guitar while everyone else watched. The way she played it, it was very enchanting.
It was easy to get consumed in the rhythm, but in a good way. They sat there, watching as Aria's pick glided from one string to another, and as her fingers pressed the right strings at the right time. After Aria strummed her last string and glided the jack, they all clapped for her.
Even Mr. Feathers whistled in approval, flapping his wings at the same time. Remembering something she needed to do, Sunset stood up and began to walk to the door.
"Excuse me for a minute." Sunset said. "Theres a little something I have to get done."
"Alrighty Matey!" Pinkie Pie said, smiling widely.
Sunset nodded, and swiftly grabbed her backpack on her way out the door. She made her way down the hall, aiming for one door in specific. She saw the bathroom door was open, and the light was off, signalling that it was vacant.
She went inside before closing and locking the door behind her. She turned on the light, and made her way to the toilet. She closed the seat, and sat down before rummaging through her backpack.
Sunset pulled out a large, brown book with her cutie mark on the cover. She opened it and went to the earliest blank page. She then pulled out a black pen, and pressed down on the page.
'Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
I have some interesting news for you. About three days ago, I found The Dazzlings living under a bridge. After a little... conversation, I convinced them to follow me to Pinkie's house, where I had planned to spend Spring Break.
Since then, I have brought them to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash (In that order), and I plan on bringing them to Applejack's tomorrow. With every visit, they seemed to get a little different. Sure, they still have a small temper, but they seem to be more appreciative of our help.
Speaking of tempers, during Rarity's visit, Sonata seemed to... change. Aria said something about her being too emotional, and she became very different. She said a few things I do not dare to repeat, and moments later, she didn't remember any of it.
Either way, I would like you to visit them. School isn't open right now, so when you come, just write me a message and I will come to pick you up. Maybe you'll be able to find out why Sonata changed like that.
-Your Friend, Sunset Shimmer.'
Sunset closed the book, and the message was sent. She stuffed it back into her backpack, along with her pen, and walked out of the bathroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, They all stood outside of a red house with purple shingles. To the left, a barn-like garage could be seen, and to the left of the driveway, a barn-like dog house sat, with a happy Border Collie bitting a bone inside.
"Hi, Winona!" Pinkie greeted as she bounced past the Dog House, getting a happy bark in response.
They all went up to the front door, and Pinkie knocked repeatedly. Soon, a girl wearing a Stetson and a blue jean skirt came to the door.
"Well, Ah reckoned ya'd come." Applejack said, neither smiling nor frowning. "Rainbow called me an' told me ya was bringin' the Dazzlings around. Said somethin' about them being reformed."
"Thats right!" Pinkie nodded happily.
"Yeah, they're not bad anymore." Sunset confirmed.
"Ah'd like to believe that." Applejack admitted. "But Ah guess Ah just have some reservations from the Battle."
"I can't blame you." Sunset said. "But they were able to get everyone else's approval."
"An' Ah'm the final test, is that it?"
"No, no, its nothing like that!" Sunset said defensively.
"Calm down, Sunset." Applejack said, holding out one hand. "Ah don't mind at all. In fact, Ah think its a good thing ya brought em' ta me last. Makes things more interestin'."
Sunset sighed in relief. "I'm glad you think so."
"So, whatcha wanna do?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, Ah've got some work thats gotta get done."
"We can help you with that!" Sonata said, stepping up.
"Are ya sure about that, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow. "Its hard work for someone that don't do much."
"Oh, how hard can it be?" Sonata asked, putting her hands on her knees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is inhumane!" Sonata cried out, carrying a basket full of apples to the barn.
Applejack had given all the Dazzlings, Sunset, and Pinkie Pie clothes that would be better to work in. This included, blunt toed cowgirl boots, lose fitting jeans, white Tee Shirts, and button up flannel shirts. But this didn't help their quality of work.
Applejack was on top of a ladder, picking apples as she watched Sonata carrying the basket. She chuckled slightly as she looked over to Pinkie, who was also on a ladder at another tree next to her's.
"Ah told her its hard work." Applejack said to Pinkie.
"Well, you never know until you try." Pinkie shrugged, juggling three apples before tossing them in a basket.
"Can't argue there." Applejack agreed. "Ah'm wonderin' if she bit off more than she can chew."
"Just let her keep going." Aria said, slightly sweating, bringing an empty basket to Applejack. "It'll teach her to know her self boundaries."
"Ah guess Ah can see how that would work, but if she pushes herself too hard, she could get herself hurt."
"Nah." Aria said, shaking her head. "If she pushes herself too hard, then she'll just take a nap in the hay or something." Aria went to walk away, but turned back to Applejack. "Why do you have hay if you don't have any horses?"
"Goats eat hay too." Applejack pointed out. "Ah thought you would know that, considerin' where you come from."
Aria shrugged. "I didn't pay too much attention to what anyone was eating. Just went and got what I wanted."
"Uh, huh." Applejack said slowly with a slow nod.
"Hey, Girls!" Adagio called out, just outside the barn.
"What is it?" Aria called back.
"Sonata fell asleep in the hay!"
Aria looked back to Applejack, chuckling. "I told you so."
"Gosh, darn it!" Applejack shouted as she slowly climbed down her ladder. "That girls gonna wake up itchin' all over. Lucky for her Ah got the goats pinned up, or else they'd be eatin' her hair!"
"Now that, would be funny to see." Aria said with a snicker.
Pinkie, Applejack, and Aria rushed to the barn, and seen Sonata, laying on her stomach in a pile of hay. Sunset was standing beside her, barely sweating, holding a basket full of eggs, and Adagio was next to her, completely covered in sweat, with a pitch fork and a wheel barrel, half-full of hay.
"I was trying to fill this wheel barrel when she just came right over and fell right into the hay!" Adagio complained. "I tried to get her up, but she only grunts!"
"Poor thing." Applejack sighed. "Now she knows how hard its ta be a farm girl."
Adagio huffed. "I'd say."
Applejack nodded. "She needs ta get some sleep. Ya'll can go ahead and head on back ta Pinkie's. Ah appreciate the help."
At sundown, Sonata woke up, scratching herself all over. She rose up from her sleeping bag, and seen Aria, Adagio, Pinkie, and Sunset Shimmer playing a card game. Pinkie and Sunset were sitting on Pinkie's bed, while Aria and Adagio were sitting across from them, laying cards down on the makeshift table between them.
"How did we get here?" Sonata asked, standing up out of her sleeping bag.
"You fell asleep while we were working." Adagio said, not looking at Sonata. "Applejack said we could go ahead and come back here, and thanked us for the help."
"Oh." Sonata said. She looked down, and seen she was in night blue pajamas. Her face lit up and and looked back at the girls playing cards. "Did... one of you undress me?"
"Why are you so embarrassed?" Aria asked, looking at the cards in her hands. "Its not like its the first time we had to put you in more appropriate clothes."
Sonata observed that everyone else were in their every day attire. "Why am I in pajamas and you're not?"
Aria shrugged. "We didn't know how long you would be asleep, so we assumed it would be all night."
Sonata took a step closer to the table, and noticed some of the cards were black, when the rest were white. She didn't know much about cards, but she knew a regular deck was normally all white with a red back, and usually had a picture of royalty. She read the one black card that was laid out on the table out loud.
"What's fun until it gets weird?" Sonata then raised an eyebrow. "What are you girls playing?"
Sunset sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Cards Against Humanity." Sunset answered. "I suggested against it, but they wanted to play."
Adagio shrugged. "I didn't really understand why Sunset was so... disgusted by it."
"None of you seem to be disgusted or laughing." Sonata observed.
"Thats because we, literally, just started playing." Aria sighed.
"Can I join?" Sonata asked, scratching her side.
"Only if you stop scratching." Aria said, a little irritated.
"I have some baby wipes on my night stand." Pinkie said, pointing to her night stand.
Right next to Mr. Feather's cage, was a light blue plastic box with a wipe sticking out. Sonata walked over to the night stand, and started wiping herself down with the baby wipes. Soon, the urge to scratch was gone, so she took a seat next to Aria.
Sonata seen that everyone else had five white cards, so she grabbed the appropriate cards, along with the appropriate amount. Silently, she read her cards.
"Whiskey, Politics, Viagra, Horror Video Games, and Puberty." Sonata then spoke out loud. "Some of these are funny, but some are really freaking weird."
"Do you see what I mean?" Sunset asked. "Its not a family friendly game!"
"So, whats the rules?" Sonata asked, ignoring Sunset's comment.
"The holder of the black cards read them out loud, and the holders of the white cards try to come up with the funniest ones!" Pinkie said excitedly. "Once you picked the funniest one, you put them down in a pile, and the holder of the black cards shuffles them, and reads them one at a time with the black card!"
"I get it!" Sonata said, nodding her head.
"There is a surprise." Aria commented, rolling her eyes.
"Bitch." Sonata snapped back.
"Grumpy Bitch, Grumpy Bitch!" Mr. Feathers corrected.
"Thank you!" Sonata said back to Mr. Feathers.
Pinkie Pie cleared her throat. "Has everyone picked their cards?" Everyone nodded in agreement. They each set down one card, and Pinkie shuffled them before reading them out loud. "Okay, the black card said: What's fun until it gets weird?
"Here is what you girls picked: Being touched by your friends in inappropriate places." Everyone giggled silently. "A bunch of idiots playing a card game instead of interacting like normal humans," Everyone busted out loud in laughter. Once the laughing calmed down, Pinkie continued. "Puberty, and Being Tickled below the belt."
Everyone chuckled a little at the last one."I have to say, the winner is: What's fun until it gets weird? A bunch of idiots playing a card game instead of interacting like normal humans!"
"Yes!" Aria shouted, pumping her arm.
Pinkie then handed the black card to Aria.
"Why did you give her the card?" Sonata asked.
"At the end of the game, the one with the most black cards wins." Sunset explained.
"Oh."
"Now, I'll give the black deck to Sunset." Pinkie explained. "We keep going like this until everyone has gone twice. If there is a tie, we will keep going until someone has more cards."
Sonata nodded. "I get it."
Sunset cleared her throat when she picked up a card. "Listen, son. If you want to get involved with BLANK, I won't stop you. Just steer clear of BLANK." Sunset then looked up from the card. "I suggest picking up two more white cards, just in case."
Everyone nodded and picked up two white cards. After a few moments, they all placed down two cards, and Sunset shuffled them before reading out loud.
"The first couple says: Masturbation, and Sandpaper." Everyone busted out loud in laughter. Once it died down, Sunset read the next two cards. "Kinky Sex, and Rusty Chains."
Everyone chuckled at the first one, but it wasn't very loud. So, Sunset went ahead and read the next two. "Taco Bell, and Locked Bathrooms." Sonata laughed loudly, but no one else seemed to get it.
"Sonata, you keep giving away your cards." Adagio pointed out.
"I can't help it!" Sonata snapped back. "It happened to me before."
"I'm not even going to ask." Sunset said, before reading the next card. "Two chickens shitting in a box, and being a... OH MY GOD!"
"What did it say?" Adagio asked, curious.
"I... I just can't." Sunset said, giving Adagio the last card.
"Being a motherfucking box." Adagio read out loud before busting out in laughter. "I thought mine was funny, but this just takes the cake!"
"Where?!" Pinkie asked, looking around.
"I mean this one has to be the winner." Adagio said, still smiling about the card.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Sunset said, covering her face with her hands.
"I win this one!" Pinkie said, taking the black card. "Dagi, your turn."
Adagio picked up the black deck, and took the top card. Upon reading it to herself, a sinister smile grew on her face.
"Oh, I think I'm going to like this one." Adagio said before reading her card out loud. "When I'm alone, I like to BLANK, to pleasure myself."
"Oh, I have the PERFECT one!" Pinkie said with a smile.
Everyone looked through their cards, and placed down their choosing in a pile. Adagio picked up the cards, and shuffled them before reading the first one out loud.
"Okay, When I'm alone, I like to BLANK, to pleasure myself. The first one says: Go on a Ferris Wheel." Adagio looked up with a straight face. "I think someone here doesn't get the joke."
Sonata looked down, not saying anything. Adagio shook her head and continued to read. "The next one says: Watch Tentacle Porn." Everyone chuckled slightly at that one. "Nice, very nice. The next one says: Make good use of an empty wine bottle."
Everyone laughed out loud, including Adagio. "Okay, okay. The last one says: Bring whips and chains to a whole new meaning." Aria started to laugh out loud, and everyone turned their heads to her. "Aria, I think you need help."
"Hey, it was funny!" Aria snapped back, still laughing slightly. When no one joined her in the laughter, her face lit red in embarrassment. "It was funny, Damn It!"
Adagio rolled her eyes. "What ever you say, Aria. The winner goes to the wine bottle." No one claimed the card. "Well, who had the wine bottle?"
Blushing madly, Sunset raised her hand. Adagio smirked, and waved the black card. "Oh, so you like wine bottles, eh?"
"N-no! It was only for the card!" Sunset said, trying to defend herself.
"Oh, I think differently. If you like, I can help you with that little fantasy of yours."
Sunset swiped the card from Adagio. "I don't need your help, thank you very much!"
"So, you do like wine bottles?" Adagio mocked, still smiling. Sunset tried to come up with something to say, her cheeks still as red as cherries.
Adagio reached over, and caressed Sunset's cheek with the back of her hand. "Its okay, Sunset Shimmer. I like to have a little fun from time to time as well."
Still smiling, Adagio pulled her hand back and gave the black deck to Aria. She gave Sunset a final wink before Aria drew the card at the top of the deck.
"The card says: When you get right down to it, BLANK is just BLANK."
"Well, this is going to be really fucked up." Pinkie Pie said, looking at her cards.
Everyone picked their two cards, and set them down in a pile. Aria shuffled them, and pulled the first two cards.
"Okay, the first couple says: Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and A deathtrap."
"ITS A TRAP!" Pinkie Pie said out loud, her eyes going wide.
"Um... Okay." Aria said, before reading the next two out loud. "Math, and Mental Abuse."
Sunset chuckled. "I can agree to that."
"Amen, sister!" Sonata said, pointing a finger at Sunset.
"The Monster under your bed, and Ronald McDonald." Everyone laughed at this one, but not uncontrollably. Aria snickered, and read the last two out loud. "Hand Lotion, and Masturbation Aid."
No one could hold back their laughter, and Pinkie slammed her fist down onto the table. Aria held up the black card with a grin on her face. "Okay, who likes Hand Lotion?"
"I do!" Sonata said, snatching the black card.
"Really?" Aria said, surprised. "I would of thought you would of had the Ronald McDonald one."
"Glad I didn't!" Sonata said, waving the black card.
Aria slid the black deck to Sonata, and she drew the card on top. She read it for a moment before reading it out loud with a smile on her face.
"Okay, the card says: What is something you don't want to find in your soup?"
There was a couple of glances at the people next to them before the read their cards. Moments later, they all sat down their cards. Sonata sloppily shuffled them before reading the first one out loud.
"Okay, the first one says: Pubic Hair." Everyone gagged at that one. Sonata composed herself before reading the next one. "Fish Semen." Sonata looked up at Pinkie Pie, who was whistling innocently.
Sonata shook her head, and read the next one. "Horse Meat."
Sonata looked over to Sunset Shimmer, who was looking at everyone suspiciously.
"I don't know who you are, but I will find you, and I will kill you." Sunset warned, looking at everyone.
Sonata shook her head and read the last card. "Chicken feathers." Sonata looked up at everyone with a 'really?' look on her face. "Okay someone most likely just put this one down just to play something."
"So...what card won?" Aria asked.
Sonata picked up the black card and looked at everyone. "Who had," Sonata took a moment to calm her stomach before continuing. "Pubic Hair?"
Adagio raised her hand with a small grin.
Pinkie Scrunched up her nose. "That card was gross Dagi!"
"I know, but I just put what I didn't want to find in my soup!" Adagio defended, taking the card.
"I take you speak from experience?" Aria snickered.
"NO!" Adagio snapped back.
"Okay, so who's next?" Sonata asked looking around.
The girls played the game for a few more hours, jokes were made, people were offended, but at the end, Pinkie won the game with seven cards, causing her to cheered loudly. Once she calmed down, everyone, except Sonata changed into their pajamas and went to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At midnight Sunset heard a vibrating sound. She looked around for a moment until she seen her bag had a slight lavender glow to it. She quietly got out of her sleeping bag and tip toed over to it. Sunset opened her bag and seen the book she uses to contact Princess Twilight was glowing.
Sunset Shimmer picked it up and left the room. She walked down the hallway until she reached the bathroom. She seen the light wasn't on so she knew everyone in the house was still asleep. Sunset opened the door and walked in.
She closed the door, turned on the light, locked the door, and sat down on the toilet and opened the book to the page that had new writing in it.
"Dear Sunset Shimmer,
I am proud that you have given the Dazzlings a second chance. I hope everything went well at AJ's today. Also I really do hope that they are changing for the better. But, you have me curious... how different did Sonata become just by one of Aria's comments? I want to find out myself.
Spike and I will be arriving at Canterlot High tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Can't wait to see all of you again.
-Your friend, Twilight Sparkle."
Sunset closed the book with a sigh before leaving the bathroom. She made her way back to Pinkie's bedroom, and slipped into her sleeping bag before welcoming a silencing night's sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At 8:29 a.m. The girls, along with Mr. Feathers, were standing near the Canterlot High statue, waiting for Twilight to show up.
"When did she say she would be here?" Aria asked, getting impatient.
"8:30." Sunset said. "Just be patient. She'll show up any moment now."
Once Sunset finished her sentence, a blinding white light came from one of the statue's panels. As quickly as it started, a lavender girl with purple hair and a white blouse came flying through the light, soon followed by a purple and green dog. The girl and the Dog tumbled on the ground for a moment before coming to a stop.
The girl lifted herself up and rubbed the back of her head.
"Ugh! Does that thing always have to fling me out?!" Twilight Sparkle asked before standing. Twilight turned, and seen the girls, staring at her. "Um... Hi?"
Before Pinkie could bombard Twilight anymore, Aria slapped her hand over Pinkie's mouth, instantly making her go silent.
"She gives me a headache sometimes." Aria said with a sigh. "I never knew someone could be worse than Sonata."
"Um... Okay." Twilight said awkwardly. "So, uh... Have you girls been having fun?"
"It has its ups and downs." Adagio said before petting Mr. Feathers. "Isn't that right, my little birdie?"
"Oh, you have a Parrot?" Twilight said, walking up to Mr. Feathers' cage. "Whats his name?"
"Mr. Feathers. I've never seen a more well-behaved bird."
"Well-Behaved my ass!" Aria screamed.
Twilight's head instantly turned to look at Aria, but before she could say anything, Mr. Feathers had something to say.
"Pig-tail slut!" Mr. Feathers shot back.
"I'm..." Twilight said, having trouble finding words. "Confused."
"Well, Twilight." Sunset said, putting a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "This world has a bit of a larger vocabulary than Equestria. I'm mean, sure, Equestria has insults. But this world's insults are a lot worse."
"I'm not a slut, Chicken Fingers!" Aria snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Mr. Feathers.
"Bad Breath!" Mr. Feathers said, shaking his head violently.
"I'm not sure I want to learn this world's vocabulary." Twilight said, taking a step back from Aria and Mr. Feathers.
"Yeah, probably not." Sunset agreed. "Watch this." Sunset turned to Mr. Feathers with a smile. "Mr. Feathers, what do you think about Sonata?"
Mr. Feathers started to flap his wings violently. "Taco Breath! Taco Breath!"
Twilight chuckled. "Okay, I can see a lot has happened while I was away. Maybe you can fill me in."
"Yeah, I can tell you all about it when we get back to Pinkie's house!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, Sonata couldn't handle the farming work, so she collapsed on a pile of hay when I was gathering Chicken Eggs."
Twilight chuckled at this. Sunset had pulled Twilight away from the rest of the group, and they were currently in Pinkie's kitchen, sitting at the middle island.
"What did Applejack do?" Twilight asked.
"Well, she appreciated the help." Sunset said. "But she understood the Dazzlings weren't really physically built for Farm work, so she let us leave early. I think she got Big Macintosh and Applebloom's help."
Twilight nodded. "That sounds like her. But, do you remember when I told you that I was curious about Sonata's condition?"
Sunset shivered before nodding. "Yeah, I remember."
"Well, I remember you told me it happened during Rarity's visit. What exactly happened?"
Sunset sighed. "Rarity made them new outfits, the ones you seen them wearing. Sonata was extremely thankful, and even apologized for the Battle of the Bands. She got very emotional, and started to cry into Rarity's shoulder.
"Aria made a comment about Sonata being too emotional, and she just... snapped. She had mascara running down her cheeks, her bangs created a shadow over her eyes, and she wore a very sinister smile. Even the way she walked became scary.
"She went up to Aria, who was very scared at this point, and threatened to do something to her that night. Obviously, nothing happened, but it was still very creepy."
Twilight tapped her chin as she thought. "And you said she didn't remember any of it?"
Sunset shook her head. "No, she didn't. When we told her about it, she just shrugged it off like it was nothing!"
"I think I have a theory, but I can't be sure unless I actually see it. Has it happened after that?"
"No, it didn't. So far, she's been the same, normal Sonata."
After that, a loud, fast thumping sound came from the stairs. Twilight and Sunset quickly rushed to the stairs, and seen Aria running down them.
"SAVE ME FROM THAT DEMON!" Aria screamed.
A sinister chuckle soon followed. "Don't run from me, Aria~" Sonata said, walking down the stairs as her hips swayed. "It'll only make things harder than it has to be."
Twilight squinted as she struggled to make out Sonata's facial features. She could see Sonata's creepy grin, and the mascara running down her cheeks. But she couldn't see her eyes in the shadow of the stairway.
Aria hid behind Sunset as she used her as a human shield. Sunset looked at her, angrily.
"Aria, what did you do this time?" Sunset asked sternly.
"Nothing, I swear!" Aria said, swiping in Sonata's direction. "She's getting closer!"
"They're safe." Sonata said inching closer. "Its you I want. After all, I'm too emotional, too weak, the worst person alive, I believe your exact words were."
"Sunset, what got her out of it last time?" Twilight asked in a hurry.
"She just, snapped out of it herself." Sunset said, unsure what to do.
Feeling uncomfortable, Sunset broke free from Aria to stand next to Twilight. Aria glared daggers into Sunset's eyes.
"Traitor!" Aria accused.
Seeing Sonata inching closer, Aria started to back away before tripping, and falling onto the couch. Sonata chuckled, and crawled on top of Aria, one knee between Aria's thighs. Sonata placed one of her hands on Aria's chest to keep her down, and allowed her body to rest on top of Aria's their faces inches apart.
"You're mine now!" Sonata threaten.
Before Sonata could do anything else, her eyes blinked rapidly, and her mascara streaks seemed to disappear. Sonata looked around, and noticed the position they were in, especially her hand.
"Um..." Sonata said, slightly confused. "Were we... doing something?" She looked to her side, seeing a shocked Sunset and Twilight. "Uh... Is this exactly what it looks like?"
"Sonata," Aria said, getting her attention. "Get off me, or you're dead."
"Okie Dokie!" Sonata said, jumping off of Aria before skipping up the stairs.
"Okay, Theory Confirmed." Twilight said with a nod. "I believe she has Multiple-Personality Disorder, also known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. It seems to be activated when she feels a mass of negative emotion pointed at her."
"How does that make any sense?" Aria asked. "She's a freaking Siren! She feeds off of negative energy!"
"Used to be a Siren." Twilight corrected. "And I'm talking about a different kind of negative. Yes, she did feed off of negative energy, but it wasn't directed at her. Let me ask you, how long have you been insulting her?"
"Ever sense we got to know each other." Aria answered. "But you don't think I have anything to do with it, do you?"
"Well, her other personality is always pointed to you, so you have to be involved in one way or another. If I'm correct, you are the actual cause."
Aria was sitting on the couch in Pinkie's living room, while Twilight and Sunset were standing in front of her. Twilight had just explained what she believed was wrong with Sonata, causing her to become a different person. Aria didn't want to believe it.
"How the heck do you think I'm the reason for her 'Multi-Consultancy Disorder' or whatever?" Aria asked, waving her hands as she tried to repeat Sonata's problem.
"Multiple-Personality Disorder, and I'm not assuming that you are the cause directly." Twilight corrected. "I'm saying that the years of constant negativity is the cause. It just so happens that you were the main source of that negativity."
"Your level of negativity wouldn't be such a bother to someone with a normal life-span, but since you two have known each other for a thousand years, it built up and up until she couldn't handle it any longer."
"That is pretty much the 'beating around the bush' version of saying I am the cause." Aria deadpanned.
"Look, we're not getting anywhere with this." Sunset said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Why don't you just tell us the first time it happened."
"Thats not a bad idea." Twilight agreed. "If we can learn when it first happened, then we can get a better understanding of why she has the disorder."
Aria sighed and placed her elbows on her knees. "Well, if were going to do that, then I guess we have to go back to 1969."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was Woodstock, August 16th, 1969. Most people were wearing brightly colored clothes, some were shirtless, and a few didn't wear clothes at all. Up on a stage, a band of hippies were playing slow music.
Aria, Sonata, and Adagio were in the back of the large group of hippies that were standing in front of the said stage, not really paying much attention to the music, except for Sonata. Aria was wearing jeans that were tight around her waist, but were very lose around her ankles, a lose Tie-dye, long sleeve shirt, and a brown headband around her forehead. Adagio was wearing ripped blue jeans, orange sandals, and a tie-dye T-Shirt, while Sonata wore tie-dye pants, tie-dye, long sleeve shirt, and a tie-dye headband.
Sonata swayed back and forth to the music, waving her arms while she did so. She was really enjoying herself, but Adagio and Aria were not so much.
"Ugh! Why did we have to come to this stupid event?" Aria asked, rubbing her temples. "I swear, if I have to listen to this damn hippie music for another hour, I'm going on a killing rampage!"
"Just give it time, Aria." Adagio said, aggravation apparent in her voice. "If we're going to fit in with everyone else, then we have to go to their events. The last thing we want is for another Salem Witch Hunt."
"But we caused that!" Aria snapped. "It was the best meal we had sense before we were banished!"
"I know, but we got very close to being discovered. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be burned at the stake."
"Just give in to the music, girls!" Sonata said, wrapping her arms around the two. "Its not so bad when you learn to enjoy it!"
"Yeah, not going to happen." Aria said, pushing Sonata's arm off her. "I can't see why you like this stuff."
"Its so groovy!" Sonata answered, attempting to help Aria to understand. "Like, for realzies!"
"For Realzies?" Adagio asked. "Sonata, you didn't eat their brownies, did you?"
"Mmmm, maybe a couple." Sonata said, not really caring. "That really nice guy by the bus gave me some."
"You mean that broken down bus with the Tie-Dye design?" Aria asked. "Why did you accept his brownies? That guy wasn't wearing anything but pink womens underwear!"
Sonata shrugged. "It didn't do anything. I mean, it tasted a little weird, but thats it."
"Sonata, it probably had weed in it!" Adagio snapped. "You know, that green stuff we told you to stay away from!"
"It didn't do anything!" Sonata said, a little louder than normal. "It wasn't green, it didn't smell, it only tasted weird! Thats all!"
"Thats because its cooked in it you bird brain bimbo!" Aria shouted to Sonata. "Its cooked in so the cops don't suspect anything you stupid, good for nothing, pathetic excuse for a Siren!"
Sonata took a step back from the two, her eyes beginning to water. She let her hands drop, no longer swaying to the music. She lowered her head, her eyes hidden by her hair.
They could see her lips quivering, and her body shaking slightly. Her quivering soon turned to chuckles as her mascara began to run down her cheeks. She brought her head back up, but most of her face was still hidden by the shadow casted by her bangs.
"Why do you have to be so mean~?" Sonata asked, taking a step closer to Aria.
"Oh, great. It was also laced with Acid." Aria remarked, rolling her eyes.
Adagio shook her head. "No, if it was laced with Acid, she would be ripping her clothes off while running in circles."
"Well, it had to be laced with something; She's even worse than before." Aria said, taking a step back from Sonata.
Sonata quickly closed the gap between them, their bodies less than an inch from each other.
"Worse, or better?" Sonata asked, her grin growing bigger.
"Get away from me, you psychopath!" Aria said, attempting to push Sonata away.
As soon as Aria's hands made contact with Sonata, she swiped her hands away. Sonata grabbed Aria by the collar of her shirt, and brought them even closer together. Their faces were so close together, all Aria could see was Sonata's tear filled eyes.
"You know, I'm getting real tired of your shit, Aria." Sonata said, her grin growing even bigger. "All I try to do is make things a little more interesting, and all you do is insult me."
"Then stop being so damn stupid!" Aria said, trying to push Sonata once more with no avail.
"There we go again. Consider this your warning. I might not be so considerate next time." Sonata said before letting go of Aria's collar.
Aria took a step back away from Sonata, but she didn't follow. Sonata continued to stand there, but her gaze seemed to become distant. Her grin disappeared, and her body became limp.
A few moments of Aria and Adagio staring at her, she fell to her knees, and was soon followed with the rest of her body falling face first into the dirt. Adagio and Aria rushed to her, and shook her in an attempt to wake her up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We had to take her back to the Hotel we were staying at at the time." Aria explained. "She woke up the next morning, not remembering yesterday at all."
"What did she remember?" Twilight asked, having pulling up a chair with Sunset.
"She remembered us going to Woodstock, but nothing after that." Aria said, shaking her head. Soon, realization sunk in. She planted her face into her hands with a heavy sigh. "Ah, shit. I AM the reason for that bimbo's change."
Sunset got up from her seat and sat down next to Aria, wrapping on arm around her shoulder.
"Its okay, we all make mistakes." Sunset said, trying to comfort her. "You couldn't have known that would happen."
Aria pushed Sunset's arm away and scooted away from her.
"I didn't ask for your sympathy!" Aria half-shouted.
Sunset recoiled slightly and arched an eyebrow. She was about to say something when she seen Twilight shaking her head. Aria stood up and began to walk away.
"I need time." Aria said, walking out of the room.
Aria made her way into the backyard, and sat down on a beach recliner that pointed toward the sunset. She closed her eyes, sighed deeply, and leaned back. She tried to clear her mind, but it kept rushing with guilt.
What was going on? She normally wouldn't care if she caused something like that, but now... She just didn't know. Did she actually care about that air-headed wanna-be hipster?
She felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck, but she didn't open her eyes. She felt that soft, smooth skin for a thousand years. She didn't need confirmation on who it was.
"Are you okay, Ari?" Sonata asked with a concerned voice.
"Leave me alone for your own good." Aria warned, not moving.
"Hmm..." Sonata hummed, as if she was thinking. "No."
Aria sighed. "Just go away before I-" She stopped herself, remembering exactly why she wanted to be alone. "Just go, okay?"
Sonata let go of Aria, and before she thought she was alone, she heard the sound of metal grinding against the concrete walk-way. It stopped right beside her, and was followed with a flopping sound. She opened one eye and seen Sonata had pulled up another beach recliner, and was sitting right next to her.
Aria groaned and closed her eyes again, pretending that Sonata wasn't there. A few moments had passed, and she felt Sonata's hand wrapping around her own. She could feel her working with her fingers, struggling to make them weave with hers.
She didn't attempt to help her, but she didn't attempt to stop her. In all honesty, she liked the feeling of Sonata's hand in her own. But she wasn't going to admit that.
If someone seen them, she could just claim to have fallen asleep. She wasn't sure about the feelings she had for the blue haired girl next to her, but she wasn't going to make any hasty decisions. After all, anything is better than that other personality of hers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They laid there for a while, Sonata holding her hand. But soon, Aria could feel the cold air brushing against her skin. She opened her eyes and noticed the sun had fully set.
"We need to get inside, Sonata." Aria said, getting out of the recliner. But she didn't get a respond. She looked down at Sonata, and seen she had fallen asleep in her recliner. "Great, you're going to make me carry you."
With a groan, Aria slipped her right arm under the bend of Sonata's knees, and her left behind her back. Instinctively, Sonata wrapped her arms around Aria's neck. Aria carefully carried Sonata inside the house, and up to Pinkie's bedroom.
When she entered, she could see everyone else getting ready for bed (or floor, in most of the cases), and Adagio was placing a thin blanket over Mr. Feathers' cage.
"Could someone lay out Sonata's bag?" Aria asked, standing in the doorway.
Sunset turned to face Aria, and was slightly startled at the sight. "Um... She fall asleep coming up the stairs or something?"
"Something like that." Aria said, not wanting to tell the whole truth. "Bag. Now."
Sunset nodded and laid Sonata's sleeping bag out. Aria laid her down, and zipped it up around her. Carefully, she slipped the pillow under Sonata's head.
"You two were outside for a long time." Sunset pointed out. "Anything happen?"
"Not really." Aria lied. "She wouldn't stop bothering me while I was just wanting to be left alone, so I let her take a seat next to me. We didn't really say anything after that."
Sunset nodded. "Well, at least nothing bad happened."
Sunset stood up and walked to her own sleeping bag. Aria quickly looked around, making sure no one was watching before moving one of Sonata's bangs out of her eyes.
Adagio sat on top of a tall hill, looking out toward a beautiful sunset on a cloudless evening. The grass was just tall enough to wave in the breeze, adding the the beauty. In the distance, there were no buildings, only trees, none of them blocking her view of the horizon.
She looked down at herself to see she was wearing a white dress that came down to her ankles, and she was barefoot. She felt her hair, noting that she wasn't wearing her spiked hair band. She laid her hand down on the ground, and soon another hand touched hers.
She looked to over and seen Sunset Shimmer sitting beside her, her hand on hers. Adagio took a moment to observe Sunset, seeing she was also wearing a dress, but hers was red fading into yellow as it went down to the seam around her foreleg. She was also barefoot, but Adagio could see her shoes, as well as her own, laying down next to her.
Finally, Adagio's eyes went to her face. Sunset was wearing a gentle, loving smile, her eyes glimmered as she looked into Adagio's. She looked deeply in love.
The breeze picked up and Sunset's hair started to flow, looking longer than normal. But Adagio didn't care, she only wanted the moment to last. She wanted to stay there and gaze into Sunset's eyes until the end of times, and longer.
Despite Adagio's wishes, Sunset turned her face to look ever to the setting sun. Adagio turned to look as well, but it still wasn't as beautiful as her own sunset next to her. She felt the girl next to her scoot closer, and Adagio wrapped her arm around her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adagio woke up with a beam of the early morning light escaping through the blinds of the window, shinning directly on her eyes. With a silent groan, she sat up and decided she was going to move her sleeping bag somewhere else when she went back to sleep. She looked around, and seen she was the only one who had woken up.
Her eyes fell onto the girl she had dreamed about, and felt a strange sensation in her stomach. It was almost like fluttering, or maybe a gentle, soft churning? Either way, she wasn't sure how to feel about it.
She realized that she had been staring at Sunset, and felt sort of guilty about it. She wasn't the sort of person to stare like a creepy stalker, so she quickly got up and went downstairs, still in her pajamas. She seen Maud standing in the kitchen, making coffee.
"Morning." Maud said, only taking a quick glance at Adagio.
"Good Morning." Adagio said, sitting down at the Kitchen Counter.
Maud Shook her head. "No, if it was a good morning, the coffee would of made itself."
Adagio chuckled silently. "I can agree with that."
"Why? I'm the one making it."
"I just know the burden of making coffee. I was the one who made it before we got evicted."
"Why were you the one who made it?" Maud asked. "Couldn't the three of you just take turns?"
Adagio shook her head. "No, Sonata always burns the coffee, and Aria only made black coffee."
Maud turned and raised her eyebrow, a rare occurrence of emotion for the girl. "Burn the coffee? Don't you mean make it too strong?"
"No, I mean burn the coffee. I don't know how she does it, but she does."
Maud turned back to the coffee, seeing it was finished. She pulled out two cups from the cabinet and poured the black liquid into them. She added creamer and sugar into one of them, and gave it to Adagio, leaving her own coffee black.
Maud then sat down at the table with Adagio, and looked into her mug.
"So, what are you doing up so early?" Maud asked. "You normally wake up after Pinkie."
"Damn sun found a way past the blinds." Adagio answered with a grunt. "That, and a really weird dream."
Maud blinked. "Pinkie has those a lot. I normally just dream about rocks."
"I wonder why." Adagio said sarcastically. "What kind of dreams does Pinkie have?"
"It normally has something to do with chocolate rivers and mountains made of sugar. Sometimes shes riding a cupcake boat topped with whip-cream."
"Uh..." Adagio said, unsure what to say. "Thats... interesting."
Maud shrugged. "Not really. You wanna talk about your dream?"
Adagio thought about it for a moment. "I'm not really sure if I do or don't."
"Your choice."
Adagio sighed, knowing Maud wasn't much of a gossiper. "It was about Sunset." Maud took a moment to look toward the stairs, but Adagio ignored this. "We were sitting on top of a hill, watching the sun lay itself to rest.
"She laid her hand on mine, and we stared into each others eyes. After a few moments, we turned back to the sunset, and she scooted closer to me, and I wrapped my arm around her. When I woke up, I seen Sunset sleeping, and I felt something inside of me.
"I'm not sure what it was, and I'm not sure how I should feel about it."
A slight movement on Maud's face drew Adagio's attention. At the corner of her mouth, there was a slight twitch, as if she was trying to grin.
"That explains a lot." Maud said.
"What do you mean?" Adagio asked.
Maud held up her index finger, and began to twirl it, signalling for Adagio to turn around. She did so, and seen Sunset standing there in her pajamas, blushing madly. The only thing that escaped Adagio's lips, was a slight, embarrassed moan.
"Well, you two have a lot to talk about." Maud said standing up. "There is coffee if you want some."
Maud left the room, leaving Sunset and Adagio alone in the awkward silence.
"Uh... Good morning?" Adagio said in false hope that Sunset didn't hear her.
"... Good morning?" Sunset said, unsure if she should sit down, get coffee, or turn around and act like nothing happened. She decided on the second.
Sunset shyly walked to the coffee maker, and poured herself some coffee, adding extra creamer and sugar. She took a seat at the table away from Adagio, hoping a wall would appear between them.
"So... Adagio said, drumming her fingers against her mug. "Did you sleep well?"
"Well, I did read somewhere that everyone has a gay dream at least once in their life... I've lived a pretty long time, so I guess I was pretty long due for mine."
"... I guess so." Sunset agreed. "I'm just... shocked that it was me. I mean, I guess it makes sense. We did make some gay jokes to each other a few times. Maybe thats what triggered it. But still."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Just, please, promise me you wont tell anyone." Adagio pleaded.
"Trust me, I won't. After all, I was part of your dream. So, I'm kinda involved, even if it was involuntary."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later on that day, everyone was awake and dressed. Nothing was planned, so they just lounged around, and watched TV. Twilight was trying to figure out how the remote worked when the phone rang.
"I'll get it!" Pinkie announced, bouncing out of her seat and rushing to the phone that was in the kitchen. Pinkie picked it up, not looking at the Caller ID. "Pie residence!" Pinkie sang into the phone.
"Pinkie, this is Mrs. Cake." The voice said. "Do you remember when you last babysat Pumpkin and Pound Cake?"
"Of course I do, silly!" Pinkie said happily. "How are they doing?"
"They're just fine." Mrs. Cake answered. "My husband and I were just wondering if you were free to babysit them again today. We had an unexpected situation come up and we have no one to watch them."
"You betcha! I don't have anything planned today, so I'm as free as a bird! Well, except for a caged bird. I'm as free as a wild bird! A caged bird isn't exactly-"
"Thank you, Pinkie!" Mrs. Cake interrupted. "We'll drop them off at your house in about fifteen minutes."
"See you then!" Pinkie said before hanging up the phone.
Pinkie Pie smiled excitedly and bounced into the living room, where everyone was at. She bounced in the doorway until she had everyone's attention.
"Are you okay, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "You look like you just consumed a whole bag of sugar."
"I have good news!" Pinkie said, her smile not fading. "We're going to have babies!"
Aria raised an eyebrow. "Um... Pinkie. Is this your way of saying you're pregnant?"
"No silly!" Pinkie Pie said. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake are bringing their kids for us to babysit!"
"Alright, fine," Sonata said, closing her eyes. "But one of YOU are going to change their diapers! I'm not going anywhere near any diapers OR puke!"
Pinkie raised an eyebrow, and Aria took notice to this. "Poor Sonata had a bad experience when she had a job at Discord's place."
Adagio grinned. "Aria, I didn't know you've grown sympathetic for Sonata."
Aria blushed. "Shut up!"
"That reminds me!" Pinkie said, jumping in between them. "Adagio, you should totally bring Mr. Feathers down here when they arrive! Pumpkin loves birds!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pinkie had quickly baby proofed the house... the whole house. After that, She stood in the front yard until Mr. and Mrs. Cake arrived, Mr. Cake holding both children. They were instantly excited when they seen Pinkie, holding out their hands and laughing while Pinkie made funny faces.
"I'm assuming you remember their feeding and sleeping schedules?" Mrs. Cake asked.
"Yes I do!" Pinkie said, taking Pumpkin and Pound in her arms. "I've been keeping a supply of baby stuff in case you needed an emergency baby sitter again! That includes food, milk, toys, blankets, diapers, cleaning supplies, medicine, and more!"
"Well, we actually brought some stuff with us, but its good that you did that." Mr. Cake said with a smile. "I know you did good last time, but are you sure you can handle it?"
"Don't worry, I've got help this time, so it will run extra good this time!" Pinkie said, still making funny faces.
"Oh, and who's helping you?" Mrs. Cake asked.
"Just some friends, and Princess Twilight!"
"I still can't believe that other worlds exist." Mr. Cake said. "If you didn't have witnesses, I would of thought you tale was just a dream. It wouldn't be the first time you mistaken a dream for reality."
"Very true, but we've got to be going." Mrs. Cake said as she and her husband began to walk back to their car. "We don't want to be late!"
"Bye!" Pinkie shouted before walking back inside where everyone was waiting. "I've got babies!"
Sunset walked up to her and began to coo. "Aw, they're so adorable!"
Pumpkin reached up to Sunset and booped her on the nose, making a small popping sound. This caused everyone to d'aw (Minus Aria) before surrounding the two babies in Pinkie's arms.
"Alright, someone take them." Pinkie said. "I've got to get their milk ready."
Sunset took Pumpkin in her arms, and Sonata did the same with Pound. Pinkie then left into the kitchen while everyone else adored the two children.
"She said Pumpkin liked birds, right?" Adagio asked. "First, which one's Pumpkin?"
"The one with the orange hair and blue bow." Sunset answered. "I'm holding her."
Adagio nodded and walked over to Mr. Feathers' cage, which was positioned in the corner of the room. She opened the cage door, and Mr. Feathers flew out, and landed on Adagio's shoulder, taking a moment to rub his beak across her cheek. Pumpkin seen this and began to laugh excitedly.
"I guess she does like birds." Adagio said with a smile, walking back to the small group.
Mr. Feathers leaned toward Pumpkin and observed her closely. Pumpkin watched him with interest, occasionally reaching out to him, but he was just out of her reach. She grunted a few times, and Adagio moved closer, unsure what she was going to do.
Once Mr. Feathers was in her reach, she rubbed her hand against his feathers, feeling the smoothness of his well groomed texture. When her fingers rubbed against his wing, he instinctively flapped his wings, and she accidentally pulled out one of his blue feathers. This caused a small prick of pain to Mr. Feathers, and he jumped off Adagio, flying around the room.
After a few laps, he dove into Adagio's hair, hiding out of sight.
He moved Adagio's hair out of his way like curtains. "Demon Child, Demon Child!" This caused a burst of laughter from Pumpkin and Pound.
"Now, Mr. Feathers." Adagio scolded. "It was just an accident."
"Bull Shit!" Mr. Feathers said before closing her hair, like curtains.
"Mr. Feathers!" It was Twilight's turn to scold. "A child's mind is like a sponge. We don't want their first words to be a curse word!"
"How do you know about cuss words?" Aria asked. "When we first said them in front of you, you were confused."
"I studied up a little." Twilight answered with a shrug.
"The Milk is Ready!" Pinkie called from the kitchen.
The group walked into the kitchen, and sat at the table. Pinkie brought two bottles of warm milk, handed one to Sunset, and took Pound in her arms. The two brought the nipples of the bottle to the babies mouth, and they gladly took them.
Adagio watched as Sunset cradled Pumpkin in her arms as the child sucked the milk out of the bottle. She handled Pumpkin with such care, such gentility, such beauty. Even with the black leather jacket that made her look like a bad girl, she acted with such grace and carefulness.
With a gentle sigh, she leaned her head into her hand, her elbow keeping her propped on the table like a kickstand. She watched the girl act like a mother to the small child, a sight to behold. It wasn't until moments later did she realize everyone heard her sigh, and was now staring at her, even the girl she was watching.
She blushed and quickly leaned up.
"I was... daydreaming. Sorry." Adagio tried to cover up.
"Bullshit." Mr. Feathers repeated, sticking his head out of Adagio's hair.
"Thats it, you're going back in the cage."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Adagio returned Mr. Feathers to his cage, and put a blanket over him for good measure, she didn't even bother returning back to the kitchen. She went into the Pie's backyard to get some fresh air. She couldn't believe she embarrassed herself like that, letting her emotions get the best of her.
Sure, she was always the one to get what she wanted, but she was changed now. She wanted self-control to be one of the things she changed about herself. To no longer want to get everything she wanted.
But there was something about Sunset that made her crave the girl. All her life, she always liked males. She always like the muscular, strong arms and the rough faces with battle scars.
And there she was, craving soft, non-muscular arms and a clean, feminine, flawless face by the name of Sunset Shimmer. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her, but in a way, she liked it. She liked wanting her, but she also wanted Sunset to want her.
She heard many quotes about love, but never paid much attention to them. There was one she remembered: 'Love is a Double Edged Sword. It can be your greatest ally, or it can be your greatest enemy'. Right now, it looked to be at even grounds with her.
With an aggravated sigh, she roughly sat down in one of the beach recliners and pinched the bridge of her nose. That is when she heard the back door open, but she didn't care who was there right now. As long as they left her alone, she would leave them alone.
"Hey Adagio." Said the girl Adagio was just thinking of.
"Hey... Sunset." Adagio said, not looking up.
"Beautiful sunset we are having this afternoon." Sunset said, sitting on the ground next to her. "The setting sun has always had a way of calming me down in stressful situations."
"Why are you here?" Adagio asked, leaning back in the recliner. "I would think I'd be the last person you would want to be near right now."
"I just felt like you needed someone right now." Sunset answered. "Someone to talk to. It would be kind of embarrassing if I asked someone to do it, so I took it upon myself."
"How can I talk to you right now?" Adagio asked. "I must seem like a real creep to you, having had a dream about you, and staring at you like that. Why would you want to talk to me, even if I needed it!"
"Because I'm worried about you." Sunset said, putting her hand on Adagio's. "Even more worried than when I found you under that bridge. I don't know if what you're feeling like now is a crush, or something more.
"But I want to help you, in any way I can."
"Why would you do that to yourself?" Adagio was starting to tear up. "You know what I want, but if you don't feel the same way I do, then you would just be hurting yourself!"
"I wouldn't be hurting myself." Adagio looked into Sunset's eyes, and seen she was beginning to tear up as well. "You're not the only one who's been trying to hide your emotions. I didn't realize it at first, but I do feel something for you.
"I'm no expert on love, or friendship, but I do feel something, Adagio. I don't know what it is, but it is a positive emotion. Maybe, just maybe, if we give a relationship a try, we can make it work."
Adagio got out of the recliner and sat on her knees in front of Sunset. She could see Sunset's tear-filled eyes were full of hope, hope that Adagio couldn't let down, even if she wanted to. She pulled Sunset into a tight embrace, tears of joy now flowing down her cheeks.
"Of course we can make it work." Adagio said. Even though she couldn't see Sunset's face, she knew she was smiling. "We can do this, together."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back inside, Aria watched Sunset and Adagio hugging through a window. It was heart touching, even for the stone-hearted girl she was. She wanted to smile, but her pride wouldn't allow her to do so.
She wasn't sure what they were saying to each other, but she knew that they were definitely dating now. She moved away from the window, and leaned against the wall. Seeing the display reminded her of how she felt for Sonata, even though it didn't need to.
Aria could hide her feelings from others, but Sonata was now always on her mind. Day in and day out, her mind circled around her air-headed friend. Her friend that she wanted more of.
She wanted to be more than friends with Sonata, she was certain of that now. She just needed the inspiration to do something about it, and seeing the display, she had all the inspiration she needed. It was time to change things.
Aria pushed herself from the wall, and headed into the living room. All she had to do was get Sonata alone with her, and let her lips do the talking. That can be taken in two ways.
Luckily for her, Sonata was alone, watching TV. Everyone else was probably in the kitchen with the Cake Twins. She took a quick glance at the TV, and seen she was watching cartoons... nothing new there.
She sat down next to Sonata on the couch, and propped her feet on the coffee table. She wrapped her arm around Sonata, and pulled her close.
"Um... Aria?" Sonata asked, slightly confused. "What are you doing?"
"What I want to do." Aria said plainly.
"... I'm confused."
"I know you are." Aria turned to look at Sonata, and confusion was very obvious.
To end her confusion, Aria leaned over to her and forcefully pushed her lips against Sonata's. She held her position for a few moments, Sonata not even fighting back. Finally, she pulled back and went back to her original position.
"So..." Sonata said, blushing. "Does that mean we're going out now?"
"Duh." Aria answered.
In the living room door way, Pinkie stood there, very confused. She took a few steps back, and walked away.
The next morning, everyone was at the kitchen table, having breakfast. Sunset held Pumpkin in her arms while Adagio sat next to her, wearing a warm smile. Sonata held Pound, and sat very close to Aria, who didn't seem to mind.
Pinkie seemed very confused, after seeing Aria force kiss Sonata, and seeing Adagio stare at Sunset in a romantic way last night, but everything seemed fine. Sure, she was happy that everything was okay, but she felt like there was a lot of information she was missing. She didn't mind not knowing some things, but this was just too much.
"One, Adagio looked at you funny last night, two, Sonata is sitting less than three inches by Aria, but she doesn't seem to care."
"Bawa!" Pound shouted before Sonata hugged him.
"Oh, that!" Sonata said, perking up. "Aria and I are totally going out now!"
"Lawa!" Pumpkin shouted.
"You didn't have to say it like that." Aria said scruffily, yet smoothly.
"I didn't know that." Adagio said, still smiling. "Looks like Sunset and I aren't the only ones going out now."
"Hold on a second!" Pinkie said, grabbing a glass of water, drinking it, and spitting it out. "WHAT?!"
"Are you okay, Pinkie?" Twilight said, a little concerned.
"Not only do I owe Rainbow fifty bucks, but I'm the only one still single!" Pinkie crossed her arms, and slammed her head on the table.
"Ooooh." Pound gooed.
"You made a bet with Rainbow?" Sunset asked, not sure if she should be offended or not.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm still single." Twilight said, patting Pinkie on the back.
"You're a Princess, that don't count." Pinkie said, lifting her head up for only a moment before slamming it back down again.
"If you slam your head one more time, you'll get a concussion." Aria said with a small chuckle.
"Haha!" Pumpkin laughed.
"Hold on, how does me being a Princess have to do with anything?" Twilight asked, slightly offended.
"Duh, because you can totally get any guard you want!" Pinkie said, bouncing up, completely over her being single.
"I don't want to abuse my power like that!" Twilight half-shouted, blushing.
"You wouldn't be abusing your power!" Pinkie said with a huge grin. "I bet any of those guards would love to get hooked up with a Princess!"
"Gaga!" Pound seemed to agree.
"While that may be true, I want someone who would like me, for me." Twilight said, crossing her arms. "Not because I'm a Princess."
"So, a guy like Flash Sentry?" Aria said with a smirk.
Twilight blushed harder. "Well, yes, but I hardly even know him. He works in the Crystal Empire, not in my Castle."
"Oh, the Crystal Empire is back already?" Sonata asked. "Took it long enough."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Did you have anything to do with the Crystal Empire's disappearance?"
"No, we didn't have anything to do with that." Adagio said with a shake of her head. "We just watched... and laughed." Adagio said that last part while rubbing the back of her neck with guilt, earning a comforting hug from Sunset.
"Well, everything worked out." Twilight said with a sigh. "Sombra has been defeated, thanks to Spike. He was able to get the Crystal Heart to Cadence when I wasn't able to. He's a hero in the Crystal Kingdom!"
"Did someone say my name?" Spike asked, coming down the stairs.
"Bahahaha!" Pumpkin laughed.
"Hey, Spike!" Twilight said, waving her hand. "I have a little question. Why didn't you say anything sense we got here?"
"I've been talking." Spike said. "I've just been hanging out with Mr. Feathers for a while. That dude is hilarious! Though, he does say some things that I'm not quite sure what it means."
"And you're not going to until you're older." Twilight said with authority.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever 'mom'." Pinkie chuckled slightly. "Whats for breakfast?"
"For you, dog boy," Aria said. "Dog food."
"Yuck!" Spike pretended to spit. "That stuffs gross! Is there any treats around here?"
Maud nodded, and retrieved a bag of doggie treats from a cabinet. She then poured them in a bowl and set it down on the floor. Spike happily ate from it, and left the girls to their conversation.
"So, whats the plan for today?" Aria asked curiously.
"Well, school starts back again tomorrow." Pinkie Pie said with a tap of her chin. "So I guess we're restocking up on school supplies."
Sunset nodded. "Makes sense, which is strange for you. I could use more paper and pencils. It wouldn't hurt to get a couple more notebooks."
"I'll call Rarity." Pinkie said, going toward the phone on the counter. "No doubt she'll want us to pick out some clothes."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The entire gang was walking to the Canterlot Mall, having already dropped off Pumpkin and Pound back to Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Rainbow seemed less than happy about school starting back, and having to get new school supplies.
"Ugh, do I have to?" Rainbow said, dragging her feet.
"Yes." Rarity said, slightly lifting her nose in the air. "As many paper airplanes you've thrown, no doubt you need more paper. And that pencil crossbow you made? No wonder you kept asking to 'borrow' pencils."
"Hey, don't judge the bow!" Rainbow snapped. "That thing was cool! It was made of pencils, and it shot pencils!"
"If you were going to shoot pencils, you should of at least made sure they weren't sharpened!"
"I'll admit, that was a bad judgement call. At least it didn't hit anyone."
"The teacher wasn't so happy about having to pry it out of the chalkboard."
"It was pretty amazing how it went so deep." Pinkie Pie chirped in. "But why did we still have a chalkboard? I mean, the school can easily afford those Promethean Boards."
"Yes, it would be better than those screeching chalks." Rarity said with a small shiver. "But we shouldn't get off subject."
"You just wanna keep bitchin' at me." Rainbow complained.
"I wouldn't call it 'bitchin'." Rarity said with a shake of her head.
"You ARE bitching." Aria said, chucking.
"Ah agree with Aria." Applejack said, smiling. "Ya are bitchin' quite a lot."
At that point, they were now entering the Canterlot Mall. It was like a small city inside, with wide, tailed floors, hundreds of people roaming the open areas, many small stores on the sides, and a second floor right above that held more stores. To people who weren't used to going into malls, it was quite a sight to see.
But most of girls were used to seeing the sight, except for Twilight, who was amazed by it.
"This is amazing!" Twilight said, looking around. "Its like a city within a city!"
"Cityseption!" Pinkie chirped.
"What?" Rarity asked. "Don't you have malls in your world?"
"No, we don't." Twilight said, shaking her head. "We have market areas, but no malls."
"Well, here at the mall, you can find pretty much anything your looking for." Rarity said as if she was a sell's person. "Sometimes they even have a sale on vehicles."
"You mean that automotive carriage thing?" Twilight suggested.
"Exactly." Rarity nodded. "Anyhow, I think we should split up into groups of two. That way we will get everything faster. Rainbow and I will get ten packages of paper-"
"Why me and you?" Rainbow asked.
"I need to make sure you don't make an army of paper airplanes." Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. "Anyhow, Sunset and Adagio will get ten packages of Pencils, Aria and Sonata will get ten trapper-keepers, don't worry darlings, I'll give you the money, Twilight and Applejack will get ten three-subject notebooks, and Fluttershy and Pinkie will get ten packages of red, black, and blue pens.
"Hold on a second." Twilight said, a little nervous. "I'm glade to help, but you know I won't be attending this year, right? I have too many responsibilities in Equestria."
"Of course, Darling." Rarity said, putting her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "We just need you in this so we can get things done faster. Besides, we're getting supplies for you as well, just in case you need to come back.
"You know, just in case we have another little disaster we need your help with."
"Oh, that makes sense." Twilight said with a nod.
"Good, when we're all done, lets meet up at the food court. Now, lets go shopping!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little while later, everyone got ten packages of everything they needed. They met up in the food court, just as Rarity instructed. Fluttershy and Pinkie got there first, then Twilight and Applejack, then Aria and Sonata, then Sunset and Adagio, and Rarity and Rainbow were the last ones to get there, only because Rarity was complaining about the horrible design of the store.
"Everyone got everything?" Applejack asked, looking around, causing everyone to nod in confirmation.
"Good." Rarity said with a nod. "Now, I think we should go to the clothing store to pick out some new outfits."
"Hang on a second." Adagio said, holding up her index finger. "I couldn't help but notice, you asked us all to get ten of everything."
"Thats because there's ten of us, darling." Rarity pointed out.
"I get that, but Aria, Sonata and I said we weren't going back to school." Adagio said with a straight face.
"Oh... um... you see..." Rarity began to stutter, but then inhaled deeply, and exhaled. "I was hoping maybe you could change your minds."
"And why would we do that?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You've all came a long way. Yes, I did hear you girls were going to get a career in instrumental music, but I was hoping you could at least finish high school, and maybe go to collage. There are collages with musical classes, and some collages that specify in music.
"Maybe, just maybe, if you go to one of those collages, then you might be able to re-learn how to sing."
"It isn't that simple." Adagio sighed. "Back in Equestria, if our gems got destroyed, then we lost our ability to sing forever."
"Actually," Twilight cut in. "I think I see where Rarity is going with this, even though she doesn't know everything about your pendents. Back in Equestria, your gems were a part of you. But here, your gems became pendents.
"There may still be hope that you can sing again!"
Adagio sat up, shocked at the realization. She looked over to Aria and Sonata, and seen they were just as hopeful as she was. She took a deep breath, and looked back to Rarity.
"Alright, I'm convinced." Adagio said. "I'll go back to school."
"I hope you're ready for what I went through." Sunset mumbled, only heard by Adagio, who rubbed her on the back in comfort.
"I'll go back too!" Sonata chirped.
"Eh, what the hell." Aria said, hiding her smile.
"Yay!" Rarity exclaimed, clapping her hands. "You won't regret it!"
"For a while, they might." Sunset said, just loudly enough for everyone in the group to hear. "No doubt, they'll get the same treatment I did."
"But that will pass." Fluttershy said, trying to be helpful. "We just have to prove to everyone that they've changed."
"I got lucky." Sunset pointed out. "There might not be another villain attack for them to fight."
"Maybe we can throw a huge party!" Pinkie suggested.
"If the other students know what the party is for, they might not show up." Sunset said, quickly shooting down Pinkie's suggestion. "I know I'm sounding like a downer here, but I just want them to know what to expect."
"Maybe if they see that you're going out with the leader, they'll realize they've changed!" Rainbow suggested.
"Maybe some of them, but that won't get all of the students. There's going to be a few that think I've been mind-controlled."
"Well, at least it'll be a step." Rainbow mumbled.
"Maybe they can participate in charity events." Fluttershy said, inspired. "Think about it, would the old Dazzlings do anything like that?"
Everyone stopped, and looked at Fluttershy.
"Darling, thats a great idea!" Rarity said happily.
"Really?" Fluttershy with with a smile.
"Absolutely!" Pinkie half-shouted.
"I think this will actually work!" Sunset said, much more happier than before. "The school has lots of charity events that goes on through out the year! All we have to do is wait until the next charity event, and have Adagio, Sonata, and Aria participate in it!"
"I'm in." Adagio said, smiling.
"Me too!" Sonata said, smiling even wider.
"Whatever." Aria said with a shrug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little while later, the whole group was at the Canterlot High School statue. Twilight was holding Spike in her arms, standing in front of the said statue.
"I am really pleased with what I've seen when I came here." Twilight announced. "Sunset wrote to me, telling me that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata was being reformed. I'll admit, I was a little skeptical at first, but I've seen more than enough to know that they've really changed.
"I'm also happy that I didn't have to fight anything when I came here." Twilight chuckled lightly. "Its nice to catch up with you girls instead of having to focus on defeating someone... no offence."
"None taken." Sunset said with a smile, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata nodding in agreement.
"Until next time, girls." Twilight said before walking through the portal.
As Twilight was walking through, they could hear Spike asking about what a cunt was, followed by Twilight yelling at Spike in disapproval. Everyone laughed together, Adagio making a mental note to give Mr. Feathers a treat.
