> Beggars can be choosers
>  by MurlocStalker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Introductions and offers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot is a remarkable city. Clean streets and calm traffic even at night. A vast sea of shops filled with anything and everything that you could ever imagine. It was also something of a rare sight. 

Just at the outskirts of the city was a farm that produced well over half of the apples and vegetables sold in Canterlot. Despite that, there is a nearby farm and quite a few celebrities and rich folk hanging around town. One of the many reasons they had decided to live here is because they got very little attention from the more 'common' people. Most likely it was that most of the citizens respected their privacy, and after a while, had gotten over the initial starstruck phase. 

There were very few homeless people and by that I mean that there are only three. If you find that hard to believe, then I suggest that you just take a stroll through the city yourself. You will not find a single homeless man or woman that lives on the streets and begs for your spare change. Unless you happened upon the three aforementioned poor girls. Not even out of school and already are they without home and family.

The Dazzlings were truly an unfortunate bunch. Once standing on the top of the world, adored as goddesses, with the people eating out of their hands. But it was all taken away from them. Taken away by seven meddling girls who had resisted and defied The Dazzlings. Now they have nothing.

Don't feel too bad for them though. If they had been allowed to have their way, then you would have been their devoted slaves by now. Besides, they’ve had multiple times over been offered food and a place to live but Adagio Dazzle proved to be very picky of whom she accepted help from. In the alleys of the center of town is where we will find these fallen ones.

Sitting in an alley filled with rotten garbage, overused and stinking furniture was Adagio, who could more or less be considered the leader of The Dazzlings. She was sitting in a sofa, waiting for her sisters, Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze, to come back from whichever street they had picked to beg for money at. Adagio couldn't be bothered.

Adagio was but a shadow of her former self. Her larger than life hair, once so well combed and cared for, is now nothing more than a matted and dull mess. Her eyes too were now dull and lifeless. Her clothes were dirty and torn to the point of being unrecognizable. Her sisters were not doing any better themselves.

Adagio stared down at the ground, impatiently waiting for the others to show up. She thought back to the day they lost their pendants, and with them, their powers and voices. This was how she usually spent her time. Thinking back to when it all went downhill. Thinking back to their decisions, trying to point out where they went wrong. Everything seemed to go so well, everything seemed to go according to plan, so why were they the losers and not The Rainbooms?

Adagio snapped back to reality as she hears a rustling sound down the alley. It was Aria who had accidentally walked into a smaller garbage bag. Adagio got up from her seat and met Aria halfway. For a short while they just stood there and stared into each other’s eyes. The tension had been growing between them these last couple of months. Life had been hard and Aria believed that asking for help was their best way of survival. And unlike the many other times where she had ultimately backed down to Adagio's will, she now stood quite adamant in her decision. It was only a few days ago when Aria had explicitly told Adagio that whether she liked it or not, if there came anyone else that offered them a place to stay, Aria would take it, even if the others would not.

Adagio was the first to speak. She sighed and said, “So, any luck?”

Aria put her hand down her pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. “Not much. Barely enough for some cheap fast food.”

“Then let's hope that Sonata had better luck than you.”

“Wouldn't surprise me. Why with that dumb, gullible face, the people will eat that shit without thought or question.” Sonata have always been the one that bring back the most money. Much to Aria's credit, she was not wrong in her assumption. Sonata did very much look the part to be begging. While Aria was mostly just sitting at a corner, frowning and not looking at or acknowledging anyone that passes by, Sonata actively asks for help and pleads to their humanity. She looks to everyone, appearing positively lost, clueless and without hope. Whether this was natural and true was anyone's guess, but true or not, she was doing a damn good job either way.

“ARIA! ADAGIO!” An upbeat and excited voice called out from behind Aria. The two girls turned around to see the girl known as Sonata. “Aria, Adagio, you are not going to believe what just happened to me!”

The two sisters turned their attention to her, looking as disinterested as one could be. “Well I'm not guessing, so why don't you just spill the beans?” Said Aria.

“Okay, so there I was, just sitting there with my cup, begging for some spare change when suddenly this guy walked up to me and we started talking—”

“What's there to be excited about?” Aria interrupted. “Just some random dude who you had a conversation with—OUCH!” Aria was interrupted in turn by a smack to the back of the head by Adagio.

“Maybe, just maybe, she was getting to that before you interrupted. Go ahead Sonata,” said Adagio.

“Okay. So as I said, we started talking for a bit and then he invited me to follow him to any restaurant of MY choice. So we went to this nearby fast food joint and ordered some hotdogs—”

“What? No tacos?” Adagio joked.

Sonata sighed. “I get excited for Taco Tuesday once and suddenly I'm ‘Taco Lady’ for life. EITHER way, we got our hotdogs and we started to talk a bit more. I told him what school we used to be in, I told him a few things about myself and then we started talking about him. Apparently he is new around here and just recently moved. Then he told me that he was in a hurry and needed to go. But before he left, he gave me this!” From her pocket she pulled out something they never expected to see. It was a dollar bill. A one hundred dollar bill.

Aria snatched the bill away from Sonata and inspected it closely, trying to see if there was something about it that looked fake. “He just gave this to you?” she asked and handed it over to Adagio who did the same.

“Yeah, just like that. He must have been in a hurry because I didn't even have a chance to thank him before he was gone.”

Aria turned to Adagio. “What do you think? Think this is a joke?”

Adagio whipped the bill back and forth as if she was fanning herself. “Well, there is only one way to find out, isn’t there?” She said and started to walk out of the alley. The other two followed her until they reached Sugar Cube Corner. While a very simple place, and not with the greatest assortment of pastries and other similar tasty items, it was still widely known that this little place had the best baked goods for miles. Luckily, there was no one from school around at the moment, but they still got some awkward stares and glances. They ordered two baked goods of each owns choice and handed over the bill to Mrs Cake, one of the co-owners of Sugar Cube Corner. She gave it a shocked look when they first showed it to her and then she went to eye them over suspiciously. “Where did you get this?”

“Oh, just some generous citizen that decided that it was in his interest to help us poor unfortunate souls.” Adagio said with a confident smile on her face.

Hesitantly, Mrs Cake accepted the money and gave them back their change and took a seat at the back of the shop. They took a moment to just enjoy the taste of their muffins before Adagio spoke up. “So, Sonata, what did he look like?” Adagio said as she took a bite out of her coffee bean muffin.

“Who?” She asked in her dream-like state as she was munching on her cupcake with green frosting and little candy eyes which made it look like a frog.

“The man that gave you the cash, obviously. You are just the worst sometimes, Sonata.” Aria grunted through tightened lips.

“Am not!”

“Girls. I really don't have the patience for your bickering right now. Just tell us, what did he look like?”

“Well… He was sort of yellow with whitish hair, pretty tall, he wore a blue jacket and yellow gymnastics pants… and that's all I really remember.”

“Huh, it's not of great help, but that should help narrow the numbers down. The fact that he gave you that much money most likely means one out of two things. 1: He has to be rich enough to consider a hundred bucks to be small money if he just gives it away to pathetic beggars… no offense,” she quickly added when she noticed the glares she got from Aria and Sonata. “Or the most likely option, he is just some idiot who does not know how to hold on to his money. Either way, it doesn't matter.”

“What? Why not?”

“I am sure that it was just a fluke. Just somebody with a sudden burst of generosity. You will see, he will just go back to being one in the crowd, feeling like he has done his good deed of the day and just leave us hanging, just like everyone else in this miserable city.”

Those were Adagio's words. For a while, it seemed like she might have been right. No yellow people with white hair and great generosity showed up again. Day after day passed with little to no activity in their begging cups. So far they had been able to sustain themselves on the change from their most fortunate donation. But the money was slowly running out and they feared that they might soon be out of luck. 

One day, Sonata went back to the place she had originally been at when he first showed up. Not to look for him, but because it started to seem like the citizens were avoiding them. Less and less people would come by their usual spots and took ways around them to get to their destination. As a result of this, Sonata, much to the others surprise, suggested that they sit down at the now more crowded spots that came from this avoidance.

First day they had been able to scrape together some more money, which bought them a small meal for the day. The second day, Sonata came running back again like before, bringing with her twenty bucks, allegedly from the same guy. The third day she went back there there was little to nothing to find again. The fourth day she came back with another twenty, again, allegedly from the same guy with the same clothes as the first day he appeared. Adagio started to see a pattern by the sixth day. Considering the choice of clothes he apparently wore every single one of those days he must be going to or coming from a gym or something. And adding to that, it seemed like he was doing it at least once every second day. As she figured this out, she got herself an idea.

By the time of the eighth day in the early morning, Sonata was just about to walk away with her cup when she was held back by Adagio. “Sonata, why don't you pick another place to ask for money at today?”

“What? Why?”

“Oh nothing, I was just thinking that it was about time I contributed to this group as well. And truth be told, I was hoping on coming across that guy that you always seem to get such generous donations and nice conversations from. Which reminds me, what was his name again?”

“Um...” Sonata scratched her head, putting a lot of effort into remembering what the mysterious man's name was. “I’m not sure, we introduced ourselves by names once and then I sort of forgot.” She said with a nervous giggle. “But I think his name was along the lines of “Faith” and something or another.”

“Faith. Okay. Yellow skin and white hair, right?”

Sonata gave a happy and firm nod. “You'll like him, I'm sure of it,” she said and dashed off.

After passing a few streets, Adagio eventually came to the place Sonata had been talking about. Just outside and old industrial building whose premises was now used for a multiple of different shops, everything from tinker shops to auction houses.

Adagio sat down and tried to make herself feel comfortable. Kind of hard when the only surface to sit on was hard stone bricks. The hours ticked by as the sun was slowly rising to its highest point. The direct heat was tiring for the former siren as time went by. Eventually it got to the point where she started to feel drowsy. She was softly and slowly lulling off to sleep before something interrupted her sleepy state.

“And who are you?”

The question itself was not particularly rude in any remark but rather in a tone that expressed great confusion and genuine interest. Adagio rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes and looked up to find a young man looming above her, casting his shadow over her. She took a good look at him and figured that Sonata was close enough but colors were not her strong suit. Rather than yellow, the man before her had the same clothes as she had described but his skin was more golden than anything and his hair looked like strands of silver, combed together in a backslick style with trimmed sides. And his eyes was a bright emerald green, his nose was slightly crooked and a few subtle scars on his face.

“You wouldn't happen to know Sonata Dusk, would you?”

“Actually” Adagio began as she rise back up. “I am Adagio Dazzle, Sonata’s older sister.”

A smile shone on his face. “Ah, yes, Sonata mentioned you. A pleasure to make your acquaintance Adagio, my name is Faithful Servant.”

You certainly would have been one had everything gone according to plan. she thought to herself. “Hi, nice to meet you too.”

“If I may ask, how come that Sonata is not here? I have kind of gotten used to her being a part of the routine by now.”

“Well you know, I figured out your little routine and I decided that I wanted to have a little chat with our ever so generous donor. And of course, I also wanted to give my thanks.” Adagio said in an almost sickeningly sweet voice.

“You figured it out, huh? Good job. So was there anything special that you wanted to talk about?”

“Nothing truly special, I just wanted to get to know you a bit better.”

“Certainly. I was just about to head home but if you want we could stop by my favorite bakery.”

“Sounds lovely.”

Faithful lead her inside the building through the many and long corridors until they reached the bakery. Adagio walked ahead of Faithful and took in the surroundings. Along the right wall was a roof-high stacking of logs, most likely those are simply there for decoration and not for practical use. In the center of the room stood old traditional furniture of wood and iron. And to the wall right beside the logs stood a couple of bookshelves filled with books, both new and old, for the guests entertainment while they enjoy their snack. Faithful said something behind her but she didn't really listen. She just nodded and kept on enjoying the view. It was rustic to be sure, and a bit beneath what she would call ‘her standards’ but after living on the streets for months upon months she had started to respect and enjoy these simple places. They had their own unique charm to them.

“Excuse me, miss.” Adagio turned around and saw a brown skinned man with yellow hair, standing at the counter, wearing a set of baking clothes. Just for the sake of it, he had a chef’s hat on top of his head. “Are you lost?” he asked rather rudely.

“No, I'm not. I was accompanying this gentle—” She turned around and gestured towards the man that was supposed to be standing there but he was nowhere to be seen. “—man.”

“Listen, I don't like throwing people out, but I will do it unless you have any money to spend here...”

“He was here just a moment ago. I-I'm sure that he will come back,” she said and looked outside the door. Again, nowhere to be seen. “Can I just take a seat and wait for him to return?”

The man at the counter sighed and gestured for her to take a chair. She sat down and started to wait for Faithful Servant to return from wherever he went. And she waited… and waited… and waited until the point where she just couldn't stand it anymore! It felt like an eternity spent waiting for him when really it had only been twenty minutes. During these minutes she noticed that the people sitting in this bakery had very displeased looks on their faces and several of them had left after she had sat down. Eventually the man at the counter approached her and ushered her out. Adagio tried to resist but he was adamant in that she was making the guests feel uncomfortable and that she had no place to be here. He was just about to pull her out the door when they heard: “Succulent Chef!”

They both turned around and the man from the counter, whose name she guessed was “Succulent Chef”, grew a wide smile as he saw Faithful stand at the entry. “Faith! So good to see you my friend. Why didn't you call ahead of time, I would have prepared your favorite pie for you!” he said, almost sounding a bit agitated. But nonetheless, he approached him, grabbed his hand and they gave each other a pat on the back.

“Well, I would have, had it been a planned visit. I sort of did it on an impulse.”

“In that case, I'll go prepare that pie for you. Just as soon as I've shown this girl here the way out—”

“Woah woah woah, hold your horses there, Succulent, she is in my company. Didn't you see me come in with her?”

A tint of red spread on his face. “N-no, I was back at the furnace at the time I suppose.” He turned around to Adagio and begged for her forgiveness. She didn't quite feel like it but she thought that it might leave a bad impression on Faithful, so she sweetly told him that everything was alright as he rushed back to his furnace to prepare their orders and a few loaves of bread that was needed in the shop.

Faithful took a seat in front of Adagio and leaned comfortably to the side, keeping himself up on the chair next to him. “Sorry that it took a while, had some important business to attend to.”

“Where did you go exactly? I couldn't find you anywhere.”

“I had to exit the building. Too many people walking around in here and I wanted to keep it private.”

“Understandable. So what sort of business are we talking about?”

“Oh, just some minor complications with some money transfer, no big deal really. But I am interested to know something, if you would care to share that information?”

“Well it depends on the subject but ask anyway.”

“How is it that you and your sisters ended up on the street?”

This was a question she could not avoid. All future help from this guy depended on that she could give him a good answer to this. She could go with the typical sob-story but if she did it too over the top then he would most likely catch on to her lie. Another big risk involved Sonata. It could be that he was asking this to see if their versions were the same, if he had asked this question to her that is, and evaluate them after that. So many things could go wrong but she had to make a bet if they were to continue getting his aid.

Adagio let out a sigh, as if what she was about to say was something hard to talk about. “Well you see, we had very strict, but at the same time, uncaring parents who would not accept anything else but the best from us but they refused to lift as much as a finger to help us. When we got expelled from school they disowned us and threw us out. We have not had contact since then.”

He gave a nod at this, but something told her that he was not quite buying it yet. “Understandable that you would like to sever ties with them. But how come that you were expelled? Did you do something wrong?”

“Besides having pretty poor grades, we were actually pretty much the schools ‘bad girls’. As I am sitting out there I question why we even acted like that.”

“The explanation might not be that difficult. Perhaps your bad attitude was a result of your parents neglect. A very typical reason by my experience.”

“How would you know?”

“While I've never been a bully before, I’ve had a lot of experience with them.”

“Such as?”

He smiled gently and stared deeply into her eyes as if he was searching for something within them. “The day you tell your full story, then I will tell mine. Deal?” he said and extended a hand.

Adagio chuckled. “Are you doubting me?”

“Not necessarily, but something tells me that there is something more to this story. More to you, Adagio. And I would love to learn more once you are ready to share it. Now, are you gonna leave me hanging or are you gonna shake it?”

Adagio let out a sweet giggle and shook his hand. Shortly after, they received their orders. They spent about twenty more minutes just talking about different things, most of it was just of a very uninteresting nature or about her life on the streets. But it wasn't a complete waste. Adagio did feel like she was making some form of impression on him, and if her hunches were right, it was of a positive nature. They took off, offering their thanks to Succulent Chef. As they reached the exit of the building Faithful asked if he may accompany her back to her ‘home’. Of course she said ‘yes’ and they shortly thereafter ended up in the slums they now called home. Adagio took immediate notice of his discomfort as he was clearly disgusted with their circumstances. They sat around and waited for the other girls to return.

Aria was the first to return, and she was quick to get her fists up in the air, ready to defend herself, fearing that he was an intruder of some sort. Adagio calmed her sister down in time before she did something irrational. They got introduced to each other and Aria quickly joined them in waiting for Sonata. It took a while but eventually she returned as well, a very somber look on her face. But she quickly brightened up at the sight of Faithful. Apparently she had barely been able to scrape together anything and she had a few cruel things said to her during the day.

I swear, if he is another 'buyer', I’m gonna thrash him up! Aria thought.

“So, any special reason that you wanted to meet all of us here?” Aria asked rather rudely.

“Why yes, Aria, there is,” he said, clapping his hands together and taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. “I have seen and heard of the life you have been living for the last couple of months, and I am revolted. Absolutely revolted, and I will not permit it to go on for as much as a moment more.”

“What are you saying?” Sonata asked.

“I'm saying that I want you three to move in with me.”
> Genuine or calculated?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Their reactions were slow but clear. Sonata's jaw dropped to the ground, Adagio stood there with wide eyes and Aria grew a very suspicious frown. Aria stepped in front of Faithful and said: “I hope you are serious right now. We are not in the mood for any bad jokes right now.”

He just chuckled. “This is not a joke. I want you girls to come and live with me. My house is big enough to fit the three of you, I have enough money to support you and heart enough to not want to leave you out here.”

“Will we get new clothes?” Sonata asked with hope building up in her chest.

“Certainly! I can't allow you to go and walk around in these rags. I will make sure that you will have everything you need to make it through.”

Another moment of silence. Sonata let out a loud squee and threw herself at Faithful. She hugged him and repeatedly exclaimed her thanks. Faithful seemed slightly uncomfortable with this sudden closeness, something which Aria took notice of and helped to pry Sonata away from him. Aria then whispered into Sonata's ear: “Calm yourself. You don’t want to scare him away, do you?”

Sonata looked as if she had just realized something horrible. She straightened up and apologized to Faithful for intruding on his personal sphere.

“It's fine, Sonata. Really. I was just a bit surprised and taken back but everything is well and dandy. So what do you say girls? Will you come along?”

“Hah, you bet that we are co-” Aria was interrupted by Adagio.

“May I speak to my girls for a moment first?”

Aria glared daggers at her sister, Sonata looked shocked but none of their expressions could compare to Faithful's look. His look of shock and confusion was worth spending money to see. “Um… Sure? I mean, yes, of course. I'll just, uh… Wait for your answer over here.” he said and walked to the entrance of the alley, giving them some space to talk to each-other in privacy.

Adagio pulled her sister further in to the alley to distance themselves as far away from him as possible. Aria eventually tore herself away from Adagio's grip. “Adagio, what the hell!” She exclaimed. “We have a chance again to get away from here and you are just going to squander it again?”

Adagio stared fiercely at her, but Aria didn't budge. “Watch your tone with me. Listen girls, I'm just not too sure with this guy. Do you really think that it is smart to just accept help from some random stranger that we know next to nothing about?”

“But he is so nice! Almost sickeningly nice. I'm sure with just the right words and actions we could still make him do anything we want.” Said Sonata in an attempt to win Adagio over.

“Unless that nice attitude is just a facade. What if he just wants to bring us to his home only to imprisson us and do god knows what to us?”

“Come on now, Dagi, no one named Faithful Servant would ever do something like that.”

“We can't judge his entire character on his name alone, Sonata. There are some weird and sick people in this world, and we can't be sure that he is not one of them simply based on a name.”

“While I agree that we shouldn't be too quick to judge based on his name” Aria began. “I still don't think that this is an opportunity that we can miss. If we say no now then it is possible that he will cease to be so kind with us. I say it's worth the risk. We need to get out of here, we won't last much longer.”

“We are not going anywhere unless I say so.”

“Tough shit, lady, cause guess what? I'm going, whether you like to or not. I am done begging for peoples spare change, I am done living on the streets, I am done sleeping on the ground with an empty stomach, I AM DONE BEING YOUR SLAVE!” Aria screamed and kicked a nearby trash bin. “I don't care if you don't come along. I don't care if we split up for the first time in a thousand years. I am getting out of here and not you or anyone else can stop me.”


Meanwhile, while they were arguing, Faithful stood patiently around the corner and waited for them to end their discussion. Or maybe not discussion as much as it had turned to outright arguing filled with loud voices and kicks and punches to inanimate objects. Faithful sighed. This was not what he had had in mind when he gave them the offer. At the time he felt like he was doing the right thing in offering them a place to live, but now, honestly, he was starting to regret that he ever said it. His offer seemed to tear them apart and that was the last thing that he desired. Sonata could now also be heard in her protests and every harsh word they said to each other pained him. Aria and Sonata seemed adamant to come along but Adagio didn't seem to trust him or, if he heard that right, think that he was deserving of housing them to begin with.

Maybe I should just leave, before things get worse. he thought. He was just about to walk away when he came to think of something else. But if I leave, then Sonata and Aria might get angry at Adagio and blame her for me leaving. He just wanted to bash his skull open against the wall next to him for tearing up a family like this.

He had to think of something, anything that could fix this situation. Sonata and Aria wanted to come with him apparently, but Adagio would rather stay on the streets than come along. So what could he possibly do to change her mind?

Then he got an idea. It was a sort of horrible idea. Not in the sense that it was a bad idea, more in the sense that it would be awful to do something like that to a person. It would be sort of like manipulating her but something told him that horrible as it may be, it had to be done. For the remainder of their argument, he was all the while standing there and trying to come to terms with himself that it was for the better.


“Okay, so maybe I have not been contributing enough to our group. I apologize for that. But this is not the solution to our problem. There must be some other-” Adagio said.

“Forgive my language but fuck your apology. This has always been the solution to our problem, you have just been too stubborn to realize it.” Sonata said angrily. Adagio and Aria still couldn't get over the fact that Sonata held an equal volume as them and even more so that she was actually using swear words. They were seeing a whole new side of Sonata today and Adagio did not approve. She just wanted this damned argument to be over and done with.

“I'm with Sonata. Yes, we most likely deserve better than what he can offer us, but whatever it is that he can give has to be better than this crap. So what is it gonna be, Adagio? Are you in or out?”

Adagio groaned and rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger. “You know what? … Fine! Let's just go talk to the guy, and get this over with, shall we?” Adagio said with a huff and stamped forward. The two sister followed her, Aria looking rather pleased and Sonata was so giddy with excitement that she could barely contain it. They rounded the corner and found Faithful leaning against the wall, a confident smile on his face. “So, girls, have you come to any decision?”

Adagio looked behind her to take one final good look at her sisters. This might be the last time she sees them in a long while. “I think so, yes.” Adagio said.

Faithful looked concerned but something about it felt fake to Adagio. As if it was just a ruse. She could be wrong but she now felt even less secure about this man than she already did. “What is it, Adagio? You look distraught.”

“Well… You see, we have come to the agreement that we should part ways. They will go with you, but I will stay.” As she said this, Aria and Sonata moved past Adagio and took place behind Faithful. For a moment he smiled but then he went back to his worried looks as a turned his attention back to Adagio. “Wait, you are staying? But why?”

“I just don't feel comfortable following someone I barely even know to his home, even if you have proven to be very kind and generous.”

Faithful sighed in feign defeat but Adagio didn't seem to pick that up. “Very well, I understand. I wish you luck in your endeavors, Adagio.” He said and extended a hand for her to shake. She grabbed his hand in her and she gave him a light shake. “But before you leave, I just want you to know, my offer always stands. So if you someday were to change your mind, know that you will always have a spot reserved in my home.”

Adagio felt the urge to smile but she refrained from doing so. “Noted. Take care of my girls now.” she said and started to walk away. She rounded the corner and took a good look at the alley that was her home. She took in details she had not taken in before, smells she had not noticed before. It was now that she realized that she was alone here and that no one would be coming. It seemed far more spacious than it did before, and she hated it, even more so than she already did, that is.

She went forward to take a seat on her couch before she felt something touching her shoulder. She quickly jerked around, only to see Faithful there. For a moment, she got angry. He was supposed to go and leave her alone! Why is he coming back? “What is it?” She asked bitterly.

“It just came to my attention that you do not know where I live.”

“So?”

“So, I thought that you should. I have accepted that you will not live with me, and that is okay. Well, no it's not really, but I'll just have to accept that fact. But I thought that in the least, should you ever regret your decision, it might just be a good idea to know where to go. You don't have to come in or anything, just see where it is.”

Adagio was about to retort but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. If things really came down to the worst and she has nowhere to go, then even she would be able to put her pride aside for her own survival. But right now he seemed to be the only one in town willing to help, so the least she could do was to see where he resided. That and it would feel good to know exactly where the girls had gone in case she ever felt like visiting them. If they wanted to or if he permitted it that is.

“Very well, I will come along. But only to see where, I'm not going in.” She said.

“Excellent. Just follow me.”

They walked out from the alley and rejoined with Aria and Sonata. “Då drar vi, tjejer. Allons-y!”

Aria turned to Sonata. “What the hell did he just say?”

“Allons-y? It's French for Let's go”

“Where did you learn that?”

“From some nerd back in school.”

Faithful had taken the lead and was showing them the way through the streets that would lead them to his home. All the while he wore a very proud and pleased smirk on his face. Everything was going according to his plan. All that was left to see was if Adagio would bite the lure.


After about ten minutes of walking, they finally arrived at their destination. And it was more than any of them could have hoped for. It was far from an apartment. It wasn't even really a house. If I may quote the words of Aria: It's a fucking mansion! And indeed it was. A two floored, green colored, building with a massive front yard with small mowing machines rolling around and constantly cutting the healthy green grass to an appropriate length. But with a house that was so big that it could house several families, it begged a very obvious question: “Do you live here alone?” Sonata asked.

“I do.”

“But this place is huge! You could fit half the school in here.”

“Well, this was intended as a family home, but there was some complications and now I live here by myself. Well, me and my pets.”

Sonata squee'd. “You have pets too?”

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, yes, but I am not sure if they will be to your liking. It's usually the case with most girls."

They all walked up to the front door, all except for Adagio who just stood still and admired the house. It was not quite the castle she deserved but it was close enough to it.

“My guess is that you will want to have a bath or a shower first. I will show you where they are and then I will present you with a new set of clothes.” He inserted the key into the lock, and twisted it. Aria and Sonata was quick to enter and admire the inside of the building. Faithful turned around and walked down the steps until he stood in front of Adagio, blocking her view of the building and thus snapping her out of her little trance. “I suppose this is where we part ways?” he asked.

“Huh, what?”

“You know where to find me now, you have seen my house, that's all you wanted to do, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose...” Adagio said as she rubbed her arm and looked down at the ground.

“Unless...”

Adagio looked back up at him. “Unless what?”

“Unless you would allow me to tempt you for a bit, once again.” he said smiling smugly. “Maybe just take a shower while I wash your clothes and prepare us some lunch? Then after a full stomach and a relaxing wash you can leave if you so want to.”

Adagio was about to protest and deny his offer until he moved out of the way, baring the humongous house to her adoring eyes again. Again she found herself stuck in place. This was the sort of place most people dream of owning, and she would be lying if she said that she did not feel at least to some extent the want to live here. Her gaze trailed down the building until her gaze reconnected with Faithful who was standing by the door.

No, she was not going to fall for this. She would turn around and just walk away from here. She is better than accepting help from some stranger. She raised her leg and took a step.

.

.

.

The only problem was it it was in the wrong direction. She took another step, and another, each of them leading her towards the door. Eventually, she stood on the welcome mat just in front of the entrance. She took a deep breath and turned her head to look at the grinning face of Faithful. “Very well, I'll take you up on your offer, but after that, I'm leaving.” She said and stepped inside.

“Whatever you say, Adagio.” he said and followed her inside.

He gave the three girls a little tour around the house. He showed them the kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms, all of which was huge. “And if you look outside the window you will see my backyard.”

Sonata was quick to rush to the window. The three other girls looked out and became quite pleased. It was a big yard, lush green grass, just like the front yard, two big trees and some bushes and a large pond. After the short tour, Faith led the girls to the different bathrooms so that they could wash up.

There were a total of four bathrooms in the house. Everyone took their own and prepared for a shower. Adagio took a moment to question why the flying fuck she was even here to begin with. There had just been something about Faithful that had lured her in. He seemed so sincere in his concerns and yet there was something about him that seemed so manipulative. Every time she had decided to go away he had done or said something that kept her put and made her follow his lead. She was being manipulated, she knew it and despised it. She turned and took a quick look around.

It was a rather spacious bathroom. One bathtub and to the side was a place where she could shower. On some hooks on the wall was a few bathrobes hanging, dry, comfy and ready to be used. She started to undress. It felt kind of relieving to get rid of those dirty, torn rags which she had been wearing non-stop for the last couple of months. Once all her clothes were off she took another look at herself in the mirror. She looked malnourished. Her ribs were clearly visibly, her stomach was sunken in and her once plump and full breasts looked almost deflated. It had been so long she had seen herself in a mirror and now that she had she regretted it. There was some obvious lines and marks of dirt on her body. “How the mighty have fallen” she whispered solemnly. She was just about to step into the shower when there was a knock at the door.

“Adagio?” Faithful called out.

Adagio groaned. Can't I get one minute of privacy and peace? She thought. “What is it?”

“Could you throw your clothes out here?”

“Why in the world would I do that?”

“So that I can wash them, of course.”

Adagio reluctantly tossed her clothes outside, carefully making sure that the door covered her now naked body. “Thanks! I'll make sure that a new set of clothes will be outside the door by the time you are done.” he said and walked away.

Adagio stepped into the shower and started to twist and experiment with the wheels to find the perfect temperature. “Too cold… Too hot.” Eventually, she found just the right temperature, stepped in and allowed herself to be completely engulfed by this amazing feeling. She had almost forgotten what it feels like to be in the water. Every droplet on her body felt like heaven as it cleansed away all the dirt and shame and indignity from her. She let her hands wander across her body, working to get every single speck of dust away from her form. She drew her finger through her hair, feeling the formerly silky soft strands now being bristly and rough. She looked to the side and saw a selection of shampoo and conditioners. She picked a few brands she remembered using and started to wash her hair with it. It would take a while before her hair was returned to its former glory but she already felt some results from the care she was giving it.

She was not certain how long she had remained in there but she knew that it was a long while. She just couldn't get enough of the water. The only thing that stopped her from continuing enjoying it was the fact that the water slowly started to lose its heat until it was to cold to be enjoyable anymore. Besides, she was clean long ago. She stepped out of the shower, took one of the towels that was hanging on the hook and started to dry herself off. She looked in the mirror again and was a bit more pleased with the view. Not much had changed but it was nice to at least look clean and see her hair starting to regain its vivid orange color again.

She opened the door and stuck her head outside, looking for those clothes that she had been promised. And just as promised, just by the door frame was a pile of clumsily folded clothes. She took them back inside and started to get dressed. The clothes consisted of some loose-fitting sweatpants and a hoodie. While it was far from an attractive attire, it was at least better than wearing nothing. She put on the clothes and made her way out of the bathroom. She went down the stairs to find Faithful and the girls again. She found them sitting around the dining table, feasting on some burrito looking thing. Faithful turned around and saw Adagio. Their eyes met for a moment they just stared at each other. He then looked away and towards the frying pan at the end of the kitchen.

“I prepared something quick and easy. Grounded beef, or taco meat as I like to call it in this case, and tortillas can be found on the counter. Just take some and dig in.”

After taking some food and sitting down at the table, the girls, except for Adagio, and faithful returned to talking about various matters.

“Hey, Faith?” Sonata asked to get his attention.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you have these clothes? I mean, it's kind of strange that a lonely man owns girls clothing, isn't it?”

“Yeah… Sonata's got a point there. Mind explaining that to us?” Aria said with a hint of suspicion.

“Well, I wasn't always lonely.” he answered.

“No?”

“Nope. The clothes you are currently wearing belong to my niece. She lives relatively close by, she goes to Canterlot High School for a fact. She has just not bothered to come and get her things yet. She is kind of lazy like that.”

“What's her name?” Sonata asked.

“Atropa Belladonna. Would you possibly know who she is? I mean, she is in the same school you went to. Blue-purple skin and leaf-green hair?”

“Nope.” all three said in unison.

“Oh well, no big deal either way.” he said and nonchalantly waved his hand. “Moving on, I think it is time that you girls picked a room to live in. You know where the rooms are, just go and pick a room. But make sure to check drawers and such first. If they contain something, then that room is taken.”

Excited and with much energy regained, Aria and Sonata took off up the stairs, hurrying to pick their favorite room, leaving Adagio alone with Faithful. “Come with me, Adagio.” he said, stood up and walked away. Hesitantly she followed him through the house until the came to a smaller room, or at least it felt smaller due to all the machines that filled it up, that almost reeked of different brands for cleaning clothes. He opened a machine that was beeping and out from it he pulled out her clothes which he handed to her. She accepted her clothes and for a moment she just enjoyed holding them, feeling the warmth and sensing the fresh smell of them. She then realized how silly she is and straightened her act. “Thank you.” she said.

“I wish you all the luck in the world, Adagio.”

“Huh?”

“You have had a good shower, (seriously, I'll have to pay a good penny for that hot water) you have been fed and I have washed your clothes for you. I suppose this is the point where you leave us.” he said solemnly.

“Yeah… I guess it is.”

He gestured back towards the hallway. They walked back towards the door. She put her shoes back on and was just about to head out the door, when: “Aria! Sonata! Adagio is leaving!”

Oh, you manipulative little shit! She thought. She was convinced now that he knew exactly what he was doing, that he was trying to pull at her strings. She turned around and found both Sonata and Aria standing on the second floor, Sonata looking anxious and Aria looked as stoic as ever. They might just be the one thing that could definitely convince her of staying. She looked down at the floor and said: “Good bye girls. Take care.” she said and opened up the door and took a step outside.

“Remember, Adagio, my door will always be open for you.”

“I will. And thank you.”

“May God be with you, Adagio Dazzle.” he said and closed the door. Adagio turned and stared at the spot where he had been standing. She had felt suspicious about him just about all day, but those words were the ones that she felt was truly genuine and caring. Those words carried so much care and hope for her that she just couldn't help but feel touched. Everything seemed calculated and prepared to her but those? Those sounded like the words of a man that had given up and was sincerely wishing for her best.

She stood there, out in the middle of the walkway and looked back and forth from the house and back to the city, where her alley would be where she would spend her days, continuing to live a miserable excuse for a life and this place, where she had the chance, even if just flickering, to be happy again. But that would also require her to swallow her pride and fully accept the help from someone else than herself. It would mean to place herself in a spot of weakness. She took one final look at both places, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and made her decision as she walked away from the fancy life she had been offered.
> Everything changes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faithful stood and watched Adagio from the living room window, quietly praying that she would make the wisest decision. He would eventually find himself disappointed as she turned away from his house and walked down the street and back to the city. He cursed himself for not being able to make his offer tempting enough for her to actually accept it. Sure, she had obviously been interested and tempted, but that was not enough for him. The fact that she left was nothing short of a failure on his part. With a sigh of defeat he went back to the stairs where the other two girls stood and stared at the door, as if they believed that Adagio would re-enter at any given moment.

As soon as he stepped back into the room their attention shifted to him. He rested his hands on his hip, looked down at the floor and tried to make himself exhale all the disappointment and negativity that he felt and renew himself with happier thoughts and ideas. “I'm sorry girls, but it would seem that Adagio will not join us.” He looked up at the girls on the second floor.

Aria was as stoic as ever, not letting it on for as much as a second that she was bothered with what had just transpired, if she was even bothered to begin with. Sonata too seemed to try and appear as if nothing bothered her about this but she was not quite on the same level as Aria. Sonata did well to hide it but you could still notice how her eyes would close for longer periods of time and how her breath was uneven and shaky.

He sighed again. “Listen girls, I am sorry that things did not turn out as we might have hoped-”

“Hah! Speak for yourself, buddy. If you ask me, she was starting to become a bit more trouble than she was worth.” Said Aria.

Faithful was about to say something about her more than rude remark but he decided to let it go for now. “Yes, well-” he coughed into his clenched fist. “Despite all that has happened I think it is about time that we sat down and had a little chat about the rules.”

“Rules?” The both of them half-exclaimed.

“Certainly. What? Did you honestly believe that I was just going to invite you all into MY home, without setting up some base rules for you all to follow and allow you to just roam and do whatever you liked? Heh, don't count on it. Now get down here and let's talk.”

Sonata quickly made her way down, not in the mood to put up any resistance against the man that had just recently given her more than she could have hoped for. Aria followed suit, but she wasn't just going to accept anything that he demanded off of her.

He led them into the living room and asked them to take a seat on his yellow leather sofa. Three sofas of the same color and size surrounded a square glass table, held up by four statues that looked like this sort of weird cross between a dragon and a dog. On the wall there was a wide-screen plasma TV and beneath it a smaller table with three boxes standing on it, all with cables that connected them with the TV. To the left of the room, right next to the window stood a fireplace which seemed really out of place, as if it had not been taken into account during the actual building of this place and was rather a last minute idea thrown in without any real thought of how it would look. Other than that, there was nothing that was particularly noteworthy. It just looked like your average living room with no special flourishes.

They all took theirs seats opposite of each-other, Aria looking rather annoyed with her frown and folded arms, Sonata looking giddy and excited while Faithful sat down feeling nervous, still looking confident and sure about himself. He clapped his hands to get their attention. Attention which he already had but none the less. “Alrighty then, lets get down to it. I would first of all like to say that I am very happy to have you girls here and I hope that you will enjoy your stay.”

Both of the girls gave him a short nod, one more happily than the other.

“Now, with that said, I think it is just about right that I enlighten you about some of the rules and limitations that there comes along with this little arrangement. First of all: As you will from this day forth live here for an unspecified amount of time, you are practically free to come and go as you wish as long as you tell me where you are going. There is a curfew up at 11:00pm though and I expect you to be back here by then. But do also remember that curfew does not equal bedtime. You are allowed to stay up for as long as you wish. Does it sound agreeable so far?”

Again they nodded.

“Excellent! Next, as it stands there are four doors which you are not permitted to open. Two of them are the bedrooms that belong to me and my niece. The third door is right next to the stairs and leads to the basement-”

“What's down there?” Sonata asked.

He chuckled a little and smiled softly. “Nothing that would interest you, I am sure. It is basically my work room. It is from there that I take care of my business. And lastly the glass door that leads to the backyard is above all, off limits. I may take you girls out there some time but as it is now, you are not allowed to go out there, especially not without me there. Understood?”

Once again they gave a nod.

“Wow. You girls are really accommodating. And lastly, every Sunday I will be out between 10:00 to 13:00. During these times I would prefer for you to be home here until I get back.”

“What are you doing at those times?” Aria huffed, apparently displeased that she had another limit to the “come and go” rule.

“Nothing interesting, so I won't bother you with the details. But as long as all of this is okay with you then I think we will have little trouble living with each other. So, any questions before I go shopping for dinner?”

Sonata raised her arm high in the air. “When are we going to get new clothes?”

“Well… I suppose that we could get some by tomorrow, but I only know of one place that is open on a Sunday around these parts… Very well, I'll cancel my appointment and we'll go and get some clothes.”

“Yay! What's the name of the shop?”

“Carousel boutique. A bit expensive at times, but I can easily afford it, especially for you girls.” 

“What sort of entertainment is there around here?”

Faithful raised his hand and pointed towards the three boxes on the table. “I have TV with a couple of good channels on it, two gaming consoles, an Xbox and a Playstation and all relevant games can be found in one of the drawers right there. And I would imagine that there is some fun stuff to do in the city as well. I wouldn't know what, but you are free to discover that for yourself.”

A subtle smile started to spread on Aria's features but was quick to realize it and made sure to eliminate her sign of satisfaction. “Sounds good, I guess.”

“Well then, anything else?” Faithful asked and looked to and from the two girls. When neither of them had anything else to say, he clapped his hands together and rose up from his seat. “Well then, since all seems to be in order, I think it is about time that I go and buy the stuff we need for dinner. Does chicken and curry sound nice to you girls?”

Aria's mouth was watering at the mere thought, but she did a fair enough job in hiding it. Sonata on the other hand could barely contain herself. “Heh, I'll take that as a yes. Well then, take care and I'll see you soon.”

Sonata and Aria remained sitting casually on the couch, giving him a friendly wave off as he exited the door and went into the city.

With big curious eyes and a happy/mischievous grin Sonata turned to look at Aria. “Wanna go check out what's in the basement?”

Aria grinned in return. “Let's.”


Adagio was still on the road back to her “home”. Her walk was slow and her mind was in a state of chaos. Not a fragmented piece of her decision to walk away had made any sense. There was a man back there, offering them food, drink, clothes, warmth and a roof over their heads. So why had she turned away from such an irresistible offer?

“Because he might be a creep that wants to hurt us, that's why. How would it have been sensible to stay?” She spoke out to herself, though still keeping her voice down. It still didn't avoid the attention of those walking past her.

But if he really is dangerous, is it more sensible to leave our sisters alone with him? She thought in return.

“They are grown up. They can fend for themselves.”

Even though they have never been able to handle anything without magic before and have never been without my leadership.

She was now back in her old alley, again feeling the emptiness of it all. She was just about to go forward to slump down on the old couch when she saw something stir in the dark. Two figures rose up from said couch and approached her. She got herself ready to run. “Who are you?”

The two figures turned out to be men in about their middle thirties. The one on the left was a rather intimidating looking man, very muscular, unusually tall, short shaven yellow hair and deep blue eyes. The man on the right was very similar to the other man when it came to body shape but was about one and a half head shorter and had brown hair as supposed to yellow and instead of blue eyes, they were gray. “Hello there, sweetcakes. We have been waiting for you.”

Adagio eyed them with suspicion. “Waiting? What for?”

“Well you see, darling, we have been waiting for a while now to find some entertainment in this town. Sure, there are bars and a couple of events here and there, but that is just not enough for us.”
The other man grunted his agreement.

“And what do you want me to do about it?”

The two men looked at each other with surprise. Then they simply chuckled and returned their gaze towards Adagio. “Come on now. I'm sure that you are a clever girl. What could we possibly want from you if not your womanly features.”

“My featu-… You two would do well in leaving right at this moment before I'll have the police hounding you down.”

“Whoa whoa whoa there lady. We are not doing anything wring here. We are just looking for some fun. We'll make it worth your while. Fifty bucks for five minutes or less.”

“I'm gonna need more than five.” Said the bigger one.

“I swear, if the two of you do not get away from here, right this instant, I will start running and screaming.”

The shorter man raised his hands in the air in defeat. “Very well, very well, we're going. Come on, Heavy. We'll be back though, just so you know. Eventually, all street girls turn to the realm of entertainment.”

“I'd love to see that statistic.” Adagio said before she moved out of their way as they left.

Growling, she walked up to the couch and slumped down on it, slowly drifting off to sleep. The loss of her sisters and the rejection of such an offer had taken a surprisingly heavy toll on her. That or she knew that at this point there was nothing else she could do than sleep. And just as she was about to fall asleep there was one thought that came to her mind. It was not Faithful Servant, it was not even her sisters. It was the seven school girls that had foiled their plans.

“Damn them. Damn them all.”
> Unpleasant First Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Faithful Servant had walked through the door, Aria and Sonata sped up from the couch and towards the basement door. Sonata reached forward to pull the door open, but was quickly pushed to the side by Aria. “Out of the way, I got dibs on this.”

“When did we do dibs?” Sonata asked meekly as she rubbed her arm on the spot where Aria had pushed her.

“I always got dibs on the new stuff.” Aria retorted.

Aria grabbed a hold of the door handle and pulled the door open. Behind the door, as far as what could be seen, was nothing more than a staircase leading downwards, the steps growing darker by each step until they were completely engulfed by shadows and with large cupboards hanging along the wall.

“Wow, this goes deep.” Said Sonata that peeked from the corner of the door. “No way that we can go down there. It's too dark, we can't see anything.”

“Ugh, don't be such a scaredy cat.” Aria said and reached in to the left. When she retracted her hand she held a flashlight in her hand. She handed it over to Sonata, and reached in again to take another for herself. “There, now we will see everything. Come on, we gotta scope this place out before that Faith guy comes back.”

The two sisters started to make their way down, being very slow and careful with where they put their feet as the steps were quite small and did not offer much room to stand on. “What do you think is down there” Sonata asked.

“Probably one of those “man caves” that I've heard about. Considering everything, I wouldn't put such a thing above his price range.”

“And the cupboards?”

Aria suddenly stopped. She took a look to her right at one of the cupboards and she could feel the curiosity well up inside. She looked up at Sonata with a grin. “Well, let's find out, shall we?”

Sonata stepped down until she was right beside her sister. Aria grabbed hold of the two doors and started to pull. When they did not open they assumed that they were simply locked. But Aria decided to give it another go. She pulled again, much harder this time around, and the doors popped open. Aria dropped her flashlight, which tumbled down a step or two. While Aria went to pick it up, Sonata stayed and used her own to light it up, to see what was inside.

“Aria… I think we should get out.”


Faithful walked down the aisles, picking out the right ingredients for tonight’s dinner while also picking some other stuff that could be of use later or, simply choosing some tasty items to munch on tonight.

With a shopping basket full of groceries, Faithful stood at the candy selection and picked some candy for himself as well as, at least, attempting to make a good bag for the girls as well. A sort of trial and error, see what they like and don't. 

He just stood there, minding his own business, when he heard quick steps coming up from behind. Dismissing it as just some excited kid running to get his candy, he returned to what he was doing.

He regretted that decision dearly.

Suddenly, he felt a powerful smack to behind. Shocked at first, and then a little angry, he turned around to face his assailant. “What th-” He did not have the chance to finish his sentence as a fist connected with his most prized jewels.

“Haha! That's what you get for groping me all the time!”

“Goodness darn you, Little Grace.” Faithful groaned as he fell down on he knees. “What have I told you about striking men in that particular area?”

“Not to do it. It was payback though, no worse than you constantly grabbing my stuff!”

Faithful started to get back on his legs, hos voice growing more stable. “Oh yeah, it's worse. So much worse. And would you be so kind as to not shout such things in public?”. Faithful was now fully standing as he looked down on the girl in front of him.

Little Grace is a good friend of his, standing barely three fourths of his size, dry, slightly curled brown hair and tanned yellow skin and kind, warm brown eyes. “So, what are you doing around here?”

“Buying groceries, what else? Getting the stuff I need for dinner tonight. That and a bit of snacks for us.”

“Us?”

“Well, I have these girl-”

“A GIRL!?” Little Grace cried out excitedly. “You have a girl over?!”

Faithful was taken back a bit at her sudden outburst but still tried to maintain his cool. Something that proved to be somewhat difficult. “W-well, yes but it's not-”

“Oh, this is great. After five years I was starting to fear that you would be lonely for the rest of your life.”

“Gee, thanks. But it is not like that, Grace. It is not a date or anything of the like, they are simply my guests.”

“Wait… They?”

Faithful went on to explain the situation and the events that had transpired earlier. Although he left out the part about Adagio's involvement in the story.

“I see… So two strangers now live beneath your own roof. Do you really think that they can be trusted? What if they are thieves and makes off with your valuables in the middle of the night?”

Faithful scoffed. “I don't think they would as much as dare to think about such a thing. I don't know much about their character yet, but I do know something. They are desperate. This is their best shot at survival and they are not going to risk messing it all up.”

“For your sake I hope that you are right. I'd hate to see you hurt or stolen from.”

“Yet you insist on hitting me and stealing away all my chances to become a father.”

Little Grace just laughed it off. “So, the girls are left alone at your place then? Risky. What do you think that they are doing?”

“Well, I do hope that they are simply watching some TV or anything of the like. But if I had to make a more realistic guess, they are probably trying to breach the limitations I put up for them.”

“What will you do if they have broken any of your rules?”

“…”


Aria stood next to Sonata as she held up her flashlight to light up the cupboard. She reached inside and grabbed hold of one of the items inside. The leathery yet firm feel of it was an odd feeling as she had never held anything like this before.

Her hands wandered on to the next item. Her fingers traced the cold metal. She grabbed on to the chain and gave it a few powerful yanks. It held. It was the real deal. The more she saw of these dreadful items, the more she feared that there might be some point to Sonata's words.

“I need to see more...” Said Aria.

“You what?” Sonata responded.

“I said that I need to see more before I decide anything.” Aria growled. She slammed the door's shut and moved on to the next cupboard. The next one was far easier to open up. The items that resided inside did little to soothe her racing mind. All the chains, straps and masks of leather only served to unnerve the girl all the more.

She turned her eyes away from the items that resided inside and looked down the stairs. It wasn't much of a way down by now, but the further down she began to make her way, the colder it got. It felt like a mini-winter down bellow.

Sonata hesitantly followed her sister while her whole body just cried out to her to just drag her sister by the collar and haul ass out of this place. Whatever was down there, it could not be anything good.

When they were past the stairs they started to look around for anything that resembled a light switch. Sonata eventually found it… right next to the stairs.

It was a medium sized room with nothing in particular in it. All there was was two high and wide shelves with large plastic drawers. Sonata walked past a couple of them while Aria stayed behind for a bit while she tried to find some sort of heat regulator. She quickly found it, and she was not pleased with what it said. “45 Fahrenheit? Really? Let's turn it up to 70, get a bit comfy up in here.”

She turned up the heat and she slowly started to feel the comfortable warmth return to the room. “There. Sonata, found some-”

“AHHHH!”

“Sonata!?” Aria turned on her heel and ran sprinted towards Sonata. Sonata stood in front of a pulled out drawer, shaking from tip to toe, her face pale and hands covering her face.

“What's the matter?” Aria said as she fussed over her sister.

“T-t-there-There's something in there!” She shrieked and pointed towards the drawer.

Aria approached it and looked inside. Not much to speak of, other than that it was obviously an animals “cage”. There was a pile of straw, a bowl of water and one with food and a newspaper substrate. She tried to find what was causing Sonata such distress but nothing really stood out. She then proceeded to mess a bit with the straws and then she heard something.

It lasted for just a moment and it was low as all hell, but she was sure that it was there. She continued to rummage through the straw when suddenly something jumped out at her. Aria shriked and appropriately skipped back.

After a couple of moments of nothing happening, Aria started to make her way back to the drawer. She looked inside and what she saw wasn't all that bad in retrospect. The thing looked like some sort of snake it was rather thick, graceless and sported a pair of small legs. It stood there, mouth wide open, hissing at her and flashing a bright blue tongue at her.

“It's not so bad. Little fella kind of has it's own charm.” Said Aria and waved her sister over. Slowly, Sonata approached the “cage” again and took a look at the creature.

“It doesn't seem to be all that happy to see us.” Said Sonata.

“No, not really.” Aria shrugged and pushed the drawer back into place again. “I would guess that there is more of them in the other drawers.”

“...Kind of weird, isn't it? That he has some sort of mini zoo in the basement but on the way down he has… THAT kind of stuff inside the cupboard?”

Aria was about to respond to Sonata's question but then they heard something. The sound of the front door being unlocked and opened. 

The two girls entered a state of panic. “Is he home already?” Whispered a scared Sonata.

“Could be, but it seems too soon. Either way, we have to get out of here.” Aria whispered back.

The two girls slowly began to make their way up the stairs. Soon enough, they stood by the door and peered outside, trying to catch a glimpse of the person who entered. While they could not spot anyone they did take notice of something else.

There was a pair of shoes that they did not recognize as theirs or Faithful's. They were high-heeled and knee high and next to the shoes was an open suitcase.

They were just about to walk out the door when they heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs to the second floor. The two sisters shied back, not desiring to be seen. Down the stairs came a girl with purple-ish skin and green hair, with her arms full of clothes and a few other items.

“Aria, I think we're being robbed.” Sonata whispered.

“Somewhere along those lines, but she is not taking any valuables, is she?” Aria said and looked up towards her sister

“Should we do something?” Sonata looked down at Aria.

“No, it might just bring about more trouble. We'll just stay hidden until-”.

Aria was interrupted as the door swung open. The intruding girl now stood right in front of them, staring at them, frozen just lime them.

“Um… Hi.” Said Sonata.

Panic flooded the intruders gaze and movements. She ran towards the hall, quickly and gracelessly put on her shoes, grabbed her suitcase and made off with it. She ran out the door and disappeared from sight.

Aria got up, pushing Sonata out of the way, and ran towards the door and pulled it open. Down the walkway and just by the gate she could see the silhouette of her running off into the distance. Only moments later, came another one but this time running towards the house. As the figure approached and the lamps cast their light upon it's features did they realize that it was Faithful Servant.

“Aria! Sonata! Who was that? Are you well?” He asked, seemingly in a state of worry.

“We don't know, we were just chilling around when suddenly someone walked in through the front door. I think she took off with some stuff.” Sonata answered.

Faithful waved a dismissing hand. “Stuff be damned, I asked if the two of you are well.”

“Uh… Yeah, we're, * Cough * we're good.” Said Aria.

A smile spread upon his face. “Good to hear.” he said and pulled up his bag with groceries. “Take this to the kitchen. I'm just going to see what our thief took.”

They did as he said and took the bag into the kitchen while he started to search around the house for missing items. “Girls! Do you know if the thief went downstairs?”

Sonata stiffened. Aria on the other hand was cool as ice and made sure to give him a satisfactory answer. “We're not sure, we were mostly just hiding.”

Aria gave Sonata a thumbs up as if to say It's all good. What accompanied next was not so good though.

“ARIA! SONATA!” Faithful cried out.

The two girls cringed.

“Yes?” Sonata called out.

“GET DOWN HERE!  NOW!”

Aria turned to her sister, and much to her exasperation, she was was holding up a thumbs down.
> Forgiven But Not Pardoned
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk slowly made their way downstairs. Every step they took just served to increase the fear in their already anxious minds. At second thought, Aria and Sonata should have known that he would find out that they had broken the rules. The cupboards are still open and it is quite warmer than when they first went down there.

As they came down the stairs, Faithful didn't even spare them a glance, he was too busy checking the drawers. As they stood by the bottom of the stairs, they simply waited for him to speak.

A minute passed without him even addressing them. After looking into one last drawer, he sighed and closed his eyes, leaning forward against the shelf. Another minute of nothing passed. Sonata was deathly afraid of what was going to come next and Aria herself would be lying if she said that she was not afraid too.

Faithful finally turned his gaze towards the two girls. Sonata flinched when she saw how his gaze burned. It was unlike anything she had seen from him before. It was far worse than anything Adagio had ever given them. He was furious. Trying to save the situation, perhaps cool him down a bit, Sonata was first to speak up. “Faith, we-”

“Silence.” said Faithful in a low tone. He sounded calm, yet anger was dripping from every letter. Sonata let out an Eep and hid behind her sister. “You will not speak until I say so.”

“B-But-”

“What did I just say?”

Silence fell over the room. Once he had assured himself that he had their full and undivided attention. “Girls… I'm very disappointed. I had the utmost faith in you. I took a risk by taking you in and an even greater one in leaving you alone… Tell me, girls, did I make a mistake in taking you in? Have I been too harsh?”

“No! It was no mistake, you have been so nice to us. Also, you haven't been harsh at all, you have been so… so… Aria, what word am I looking for?” Said Sonata

“Lenient?” Aria answered.

“Yes! That! You have been so lenient with us. You haven't been harsh in the slightest.”

“Yet you deliberately disobeyed me. Not an hour has passed and you have already seen it fit to break one of my very few rules. Is this what I can expect out of the two of you? If that is the case then you have no place here.”

Sonata gasped and Aria attempted to maintain a calm exterior, trying to not lose her cool. “Hey, Faith, it was a mistake, nothing more or less. We're sorry that it happened. We promise that it will not happen again, and if it does, you may throw us out in an instant.”

Faithful just let out a sigh and crossed his arms. “Such was the arrangement to begin with, yet you still saw it fit to break one of the very few rules I set up for you. Do you even realize what you have done?”

“Um...” They muttered, uncertain of where he was going with this. All that they knew was that it wouldn't be any good.

“By raising the temperature in this room, you have awoken every single lizard in here. Lizards that need their hibernation in order to breed, and since they won't breed, we will not get any babies, and if I don't get any babies then I can't sell them, and if I can't sell them then I won't make a profit. In short terms, just by raising the temperature in the room, you've just cost me a considerable amount of money.”

“W-We're sorry, Faith. Really.” Sonata stuttered.

“Sorry doesn't quite cover this blunder, Sonata… You couldn't even handle the most basic rules.” He groaned. He looked at them straight in the eyes, his gaze ice cold “There will be consequences for this. Such insolence must be punished… You will go to your rooms, and once inside, I will lock the doors. You will not get out for the rest of the day, and to boot, there will be no dinner for you.”

The two girls could immediately feel their stomachs churn with hunger at the mere thought of going without food. “Come with me.” he said as he walked past them and made his way up the stairs. The girls followed suit, Aria a lot more reluctant but at this point she didn't dare to say anything against Faithful.

He led them to their rooms, and true to his word, he locked them inside. Aria was first. Then when it was Sonata's turn, she hesitated, turned and asked: “What if I need to go to the bathroom?”. 

Faithful's answer was less than friendly: “Then soil yourself for all I care. You are not leaving this room.”

He never raised his voice. That was the worst part for Sonata. In her experience, to keep a lowered voice while yet speaking as he did could only mean that he was thoroughly disappointed with her, or worse, maybe he hated her. She hadn't known him for all that long, yet the thought of him being mad at her was something that sent an uncomfortable feeling through her body. Was it because she was genuinely afraid of him being mad at her, or was it simply because she feared what it would mean if she crossed the line one time too much?

Faith locked the door and Sonata could hear his footsteps getting less distinct the further he went. Sonata sighed and turned around. It wasn't the worst punishment to be stuck in this room. It was rather nice. It had a queen sized bed, some large closets and drawers and a big TV attached to the wall. Next to her bed was the nightstand that had a lamp, a couple of books and the remote for said TV.

Sonata walked forward and slumped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, contemplating her choices. She thought about the uneasy feeling she felt when Faithful scolded her. Did she really care about what he thought of her? Adagio and Aria had been just about the only ones she ever cared for in her life. She swatted these concerns away from herself, justifying the feeling that it was merely due to that she did not want to lose this life that she had now.

An hour or two ticked by as Sonata was just waiting for her punishment to be over, and at this point, she was really starting to feel the restlessness. She needed something to do. Anything really. Sonata looked to the nightstand, eying the remote to the TV. Better than absolute boredom. Sonata thought as she grabbed hold of it and flicked the television into activity. Sonata flipped through the variety of channels, trying to find something with even the slightest amount of entertainment value.

Immediately she ended up on a news channel. Sonata groaned. The news were more often than not just the ramblings of inconsequential matters, fear mongers who prayed upon the uncertainties of the everyday person as well as reports on catastrophic events which was of little interest to her.

After flicking through countless other channels she ended up on a channel of cartoon shows. For moment, Sonata's interest was peaked, holding for a moment to see what the channel had to offer. She was quickly disappointed. Rather than simply enriching or entertaining her, Sonata could just feel herself getting dumber with every passing second of watching it with their condescending attitude.

Sonata began flicking through it all once again, this time with much frustration, pressing so rapidly that sometimes the remote would register several presses as a single one. The interrupted sound of dozens of channels that flickered by resulted in a blur of noise that only served to further annoy the former siren. It was then that something stuck out to her. Something differentiating from the rest of the programming, but she had already clicked past it. Slowly clicking backwards in hopes of finding that channel again Sonata soon found the channel which had peaked her interest.

It was a channel seemingly dedicated to music, the artist currently on screen being a rather young and slender woman, singing what every pop artist these days seem to sing about: love. It wouldn't be so bad if only the artist would put even the slightest bit of effort and originality into her work.

What she couldn't take away from her though was how well she actually sung. Her tone was impeccable, her voice was soft and soothing, bringing about a sense of calm and comfort. Excluding the text, it was a wonderful and near perfect ballad. Sonata adored her for it, envied her for it.

Hated her for it.

Sonata glared at the screen, seething with rage towards the woman who at this point and time dared to have a better voice than her. She was about to shout the most obscene of curses at the image of th woman when it was suddenly over. She made a bow and exited the stage she stood upon, leaving an empty stage on the screen for a couple of seconds with some narration over it. Sonata's expression changed to one of loss and confusion. Without a source for her to still be mad at it all changed. It was as if the woman ceased to exist the moment she left the screen.

She looked down at her hands which reached up to gently touch her throat. She tried to let out a few soft notes, but each of them fell flat and horridly coarse. There was confusion. Confusion as to why things were as they were, why it had to happen to her and her sisters of all people. Then the hate returned. But it was not directed towards the singer. It was not against Starswirl the Bearded or even the seven girls which had stopped their plans. She experienced self-loathing. She hated herself. After minutes of silently cursing herself for her ineptitude and most minuscule flaws, her disposition changed once more.

With these horrid words out in the open, it was as if they were gnawing upon her consciousness, attempting to break her sanity. Her rage and hate subsided. Sonata felt as if her eyes were about to pop right out of her sockets, sa if something was pressing up against the back of her eyes, urging to be let out.

A sniffle escaped her breath. That sniffle was followed by another louder one, and so it continued until tears started to flow from her eyes. Sonata buried her head into the pillows, trying to stifle her sobs. She simply remained there and cried to her hearts content. She did not know how long she had remained a such, all she knew was that she needed to get this pain out of her, and something told her that this was the best option.

There was a sound. She did not know what it was, nor did she really care what it was. It got louder but she did nothing still. She just lied there, buried in pillows and blankets. Then came a sensation which she could not ignore. She felt something on her shoulder. She slowly turned her head around, peering at the foreign object. It was a hand. She followed the trail of the arm and eventually found herself looking at the worried expression of Faithful Servant.

He didn't say anything, something which she appreciated at the moment. Any form of reassuring words at the moment seemed futile to lift her spirits. Faithful allowed his gaze to wander up and down her frame, taking in the sight of this miserable girl. He then looked towards the now open door and gave nod which suggested that she should follow him. He rose up from the bed and headed towards the door. Sonata remained hesitant at first, but she eventually complied and followed him.

They walked down the stairs and in to the kitchen, the scent of curry and chicken stroking her nostrils. She already felt like she was in a slightly better mood. Faithful seemed to have taken notice of this as he gave her a soft smile before he returned to the pot. Though it looked and smelled wonderful already, Faithful appeared to still be working on it, adding a couple more ingredients.

The two of them remained as such. A comfortable silence. Sonata sat quietly on her chair, wiping away one or two straying tears whenever she ended up in the same head space as previously. After a few good minutes of silence, it was finally broken by Faithful. “Do you know why I decided on curry this evening?”

Sonata was confused by his question. If anything she would have expected him to say the traditional “Are you ok?”, “Is something bothering you?” or even “Is there something I can help with?” This seemed like a completely out of nowhere question. “I… I don't know.” she half stammered.

“I have actually been feeling rather down today. I typically struggle a bit with depression among other things, but with my failure of keeping your family together, I was emotionally devastated.” He spoke softly. Sonata felt almost a bit flattered that her family seemingly mattered so much to him. She was about to say something when he continued. “For that very reason, I chose Chicken and curry. Did you know that curry contains a spice known as turmeric which actually directly helps to fight depression? Chicken is also excellent for promoting good mental health. In other words...”

Faithful scooped up a bowl of rice, chicken and curry and handed it over to Sonata. “It makes one feel better. A stroke of luck really.” He said with a smile as he sat down at the other end of the table.  Sonata took the bowl and raised close to her face as she took in the smell of the food before her. She sat it down and started to tenderly eat from it. The slight spice combined with the mild sense of the yoghurt he had added previously pushed her taste buds into ecstasy. She was about to take another bite when she felt a new thought at the back of her mind. She looked up at Faithful and said: “Thank you.”

Faithful ceased his own consumption and looked up at Sonata. “You are quite welcome.” He said. “In retrospect, it was probably a very poor idea to send you all to your rooms without something in you first. Considering… well, the circumstances.”

“But you are putting me back in my room later?” She asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer.

“Sadly, yes. I don't want to be cruel Sonata, I want you to understand that. I want all of us to be able to live peaceful and happy lives here, but I need to be able to trust you girls.”

“We're sorry Faith. We really are.”

Faithful gave a focused gaze straight into Sonata's eyes, causing a bit of n uncomfortable feeling for the former siren. After a few short second, his gaze softened and his features were joyful once more. “I know you are, Sonata. I do. And while I do appreciate your regret, this is still a pretty big blunder, and one that I can't simply ignore. Especially after such a short time of knowing each-other. I will admit, I was overly harsh as some points, such as the “soil yourself” comment. I have no excuse for that. It was not right of me. But despite it all, feel assured in the fact that things will return to normal by tomorrow. We are still going to Carousel Boutique and getting clothes for you girls.”

“So… we are forgiven?” She asked hopefully.

“Heh, Forgiven, yes. Pardoned? Not yet.”

Sonata let out a disappointed “aw”, which only served to amuse Faithful. They continued small talking in between bites for a little while, re-filling their bowls if they still felt hungry. It was then that a nagging question which Faithful had been thinking of could no longer be contained. “Sonata, please stop me if it is uncomfortable, but may I ask what it was that had you so upset?”

Sonata froze for just a moment before turning her full attention towards Faithful. “Why do you want   to know?” She asked.

“You live under my roof now. I want both of you to live well and enjoy your time here. A bit of an “issue” that I have is that I can't ignore people in need or poor mood if I feel like there is something I can do about it. So unless it is too personal, what had you so distraught?”

Sonata pondered his question for a short while, contemplating whether she ought to tell him or not. She figured that she had to build up relations again, gain his trust and acceptance again. To that end, it could prove useful to tell him of her pain. However, a part of her did not wish to impart such information to him, feeling as if it was her business and no one else's.

“It's… I saw a singer on the TV. She sang a song and I… I just miss it.”

“Miss what?” Faithful asked, confusion coating each word.

“Singing. I just miss being able to sing. Sing for real, you know?”

“I'm afraid that I don't quite understand. Do you mean that you can't anymore?”

Sonata nodded. “It happened when-” Sonata interrupted herself. She was just mere moments away from spilling the beans. She needed to recover quick! Think of something that could explain her previous statement. Anything! “I mean… I don't exactly know when or how. It was during a band competition in our old high school. Maybe I was always bad and only realized it by then? I am not certain anymore. Despite it all, I still miss singing and being able to enjoy it.”

Faithful sat still and nodded through the story Sonata told. When she was done he made a simple request: “May I hear a small piece?

“W-wh-what? Hear a piece?”

“Of course. I would like to hear your voice if it is not too much to ask. I would like to understand where you are coming from.”

“Um… I-I suppose that I could.” she said as she stood up from her chair and took  position befitting of a songstress. Legs a bit apart, straight legs yet slightly bent knees, straight abdomen and a clear throat. She began her song, more of a melody rather than a song, letting out small and almost inaudible tones. Yet even so she could hear how flat and teeth grindingly bad it was. She stopped mid melody as she could not bare to expose herself to more of her voice. She looked up at Faithful to see his reaction to her voice.

Faithful sat quietly, humming something to himself. “Hm, I see. And you think your voice is a problem?” He asked.

“I… Of course I do. What's the point of music if you can't entertain others?” She asked.

“Entertain yourself?”

Sonata was stumped. It was such a simple answer, yet it felt like it held far more weight than it would seem. “M-myself?”

“You think only the talented ones can enjoy their own voice? If you aim to please others with your music, then you are already set to fail. If you do it to please yourself however, what could possibly stop you?”

Sonata was not sure how to answer that question as she had never pondered such an idea previously. It seemed a bit flawed, but she couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what it was. “But what if I want to get good for myself then?”

“Then I could help you with that.”

Sonata absolutely beamed. “You mean that you can teach me?!”

“Me? Hell no, just wait until you have heard my voice. You'll think you have the voice of an angel in comparison. But I can get you some singing class if you want. You know, practice.”

“Would you really do that?!” She asked, radiating like the sun itself.

“Of course. It might take a while to find something good, but when I find something suitable, we can take a look at it if you want.”

Sonata darted forward, taking Faithful's hand in her own two and squeezed tightly. “Thank you!” she said as she let go of his hand and embraced him in a tight hug. She then realized what she was doing and quickly backed off. “Um… sorry about that.” she said, stroking her arm in embarrassment.

“It's alright, Sonata. I'm just happy to see you in a better mood.” Faithful said as he looked up at the clock. His smile disappeared. “I'm sorry Sonata, but it seems that it has been long enough. Time to get back to the room.” 

Sonata just continued smiling. “It's ok. I can just get some sleep or something. You have given me a new hope for the future.” she spoke in an exaggerated fashion.

Faithful chuckled ever so slightly. “Well, until then, let me recommend some channels for you to watch in the meantime. Try out Netflix, BBC or HBO. Let me tell you, Quality ass programming.” he spoke as they walked up the stairs, a bowl of curry and chicken in his hand for Aria.
Sonata stepped through the door and Faithful locked it up behind her. As soon as she was gone from sight, his smile waned. What's with these girls and not being honest? He thought to himself. No matter, sooner or later I will have a straight answer. 
> Rejection
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following morning was less uncomfortable than one would have imagined. Aria was ever so slightly bitter wen she earned of that Sonata had been allowed out of her room for a while. Sonata on the other hand was in high spirits. She had been ever since Faithful had told her that he would find her singing classes. Faithful seemed perfectly content with life, humming a little melody to himself as he was making toast. Sonata appeared to be enjoying the melody whilst Aria seemed to grow infuriated by it, though she did nothing to speak out against it.

“Well girls, today we have a big day ahead of us.” Faithful spoke merrily. He then proceeded to spin around and wave his arms like an over the top performer. “Today, we shall make your move official! You shall have clean clothes of your own, you will ultimately be allowed to re-paint and redecorate your rooms. The whole town shall know of your presence!”

Sonata and Aria seemed a bit concerned at this statement. They hadn't done well to garner allies or friends during their time in Canterlot High, and thus dreaded the idea of them figuring out where they are located, fearing what they might do if they knew.

Faithful took notice of their concerned expressions and did his best to dissolve their worries. “At ease, girls. I do not mean it literally.”

“We know.” Aria spoke grumpily. “It's just a not too comforting thought to have one's position known to the world. We haven't exactly made amends to our family or former school mates.” Aria said low, poison dripping from those two final words.

“I understand. None the less, I think it is in our best interest to try and enjoy ourselves this day. AS you very well know, we are first going to stop off at Carousel Boutique to get you those new clothes. I just know that you girls will love it. The seamstress at that place is a true professional as well as very accommodating to her customers. It's typically her I go to when I want new clothing.”

“Do you know this woman?” Sonata asked.

“Not as well as I'd like to. All I know is that she is the most hardworking individual I have ever known. She is quick, efficient, talented and diligent like few. Well, that and that she is still in high school.”

Sonata and Aria shared a look. “Um, which school?” Aria asked without looking at him.

“Canterlot High. Not exactly the best of them from what I have gathered, but when it comes down to it, she knows how to pull through. Honestly, I don't think she needs to continue her education. She has her fashion, she is good at it, and to boot, she has many connection amongst the higher ups of society.”

“You seem pretty familiar with her. More than you let on. What's her name?”

“Rarity Belle. Why are you asking? Do you perhaps know her?”

Aria resisted the urge to growl at the very mention of Rarity's name. She knew which one that was. Pristine white skin, purple hair and an obnoxious fancy attitude. “Not to any greater extent.”

Faithful took notice of the slight strain in her voice. However, not wishing to start something, he kept his mouth shut regarding that and went along as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “Well, you are going to get to learn a lot more about her, because the majority of our day will be spent there. After we are done there I thought that maybe you would like to tour the city for a bit? Try and find some hotspots for entertainment?”

Aria beamed up a bit at that, enjoying the idea of finding some awesome bar or club around. Who knows, if she is lucky then maybe she can find herself some sort of arcade as well. Sonata found little interest in the “Hotspots” of the city, having never really found anything truly entertaining about them. The stench of sweat and alcohol was an immediate turn off at any given bar or club.

“Either way, hurry along and finish up your breakfast. We are leaving shortly.” He spoke as he grabbed his toast and headed upstairs.

Sonata leaned in towards Aria. “What do you think? Can we really go there?”

“We don't have any other choice. He said that it is the only open shop at a day like this, what's more, if we refuse he will start to get suspicious and ask questions. And I can't honestly say that I have faith in your ability to keep a quiet mouth Sonata.”

“Hey! I can for sure keep our secret… well, secret!”

“Heh, like hell you could. I bet that you were even on the brink of letting it slip what we are last night.”

“Thats… not too far from the truth.”

“See! No matter where we go or what happens, he will get suspicious. At least if we follow we may end up with fewer questions.” Sonata nodded in response to this.

They heard the sound of footsteps down the stairs as Faithful came down, this time more appropriately dressed for leaving the house. With a shirt which carried the print of a most odd red symbol. It was familiar from somewhere to Aria, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. Then he simply wore some adequate jeans. Nothing special about them, just typical jeans. “Ready to get going, girls?”

Sonata and Aria got off of their chairs and headed towards the door with him. “Born ready.”

It was a beautiful day outside, white fluffy clouds sprinkled across the blue sky. It was considerable warm. Not quite so warm that it was unbearable, but enough so that a jacket of any sort was out of the question. 

The way towards the boutique was a largely uneventful one. That was, until they reached closer to the city center. This place had been their most common place of begging, with so many people passing by, it was near impossible to not get at least a few pennies.

The center practically came to a halt. No matter what the people were doing, all of their attention was directed toward the three of them. Some only took quick glances and moved on, some remained for a bit and stared, while the rest of them started to whisper inaudible words of concern. The people who looked were all the people whom had seen them during their times of begging, as they had become quite the usual sight after a time. Now they were walking through the streets as if they were normal upstanding citizens.

One man even separated himself from the crowd and approached Faithful and the girls. “Good morning to you, sir.”

Faithful assumed what the man's intent was, but he still greeted him with a smile and a welcoming gesture. “Good morning to yourself, Mr. I trust that the day has been treating you well so far?”

A small chuckle escaped the man's mouth. “Quite well.” the man said, but with those words, his demeanor changed. “Listen, I will admit that I am not quite aware of the circumstances here, but why are you aware of their little… predicament?”

Faithful seemed unchanged by his question, still maintaining a calm smile across his features. “I assume that you are referring to their previous homeless state? When they were living as beggars?”

“Exactly, I was just… Wait… you said “Previous homeless state”? You mean that they are not any more?”

“That is correct, my friend.” he Faith spoke as he gestured for the two girls behind him. “I have given them a home, food and about to get them new clothing so that they can go on with life as they ought to. Now, if you excuse us, we have an appointment with a tailor.” Faithful said as he attempted to resume his walk. The stranger would have none of it though.

“Sorry sir, but did I hear that right? Have you taken them to your own home? Is… is that really wise?”

Faithful hesitated for a moment. He slowly turned around to look at the two girls whom he housed. With this question, thoughts arose from the previous day, but he was quick to swat them away. “I once considered that as well. That perhaps just some tip on the streets would have been enough. But we both know that it is not a sufficient life for anyone. I could not just go along my merry way when I could do something to help. You need not concern yourself, Mr. I have set up very strict rules to ensure their obedience. More than that, should the thought ever hit them to rob me, everyone of authority will quickly know of it. Isn't that right, girls?” he said, his face serious which quickly changed into a comforting smile when his face was out of the man's sight.

“Yup. He has been sure to establish appropriate rules for us to follow. It's a bit hard to follow all of them, but I think it is just a hazing phase.” Aria spoke kindly. With centuries of experience regarding manipulation and temptation, Aria was no stranger to acing sweet when the time called for it.

“May so be, but one never know with these street rats. One moment they are tame and the next-”

“Hold up! I'm gonna stop you right there, mister. I can understand your worry for my safety and the integrity of my home, but I will not stand by as you throw such language toward my wards. Question my methods, question my sensibility all you want, but do never make the mistake of insulting my wards in such a fashion ever again. Got it!?”

The man backed of for a bit, hesitant to go on regarding the subject. Seemingly deciding against it, the man grumbled something and made his was back to the crowd. The gathering then seemed to slowly thin out as they continued on about their daily affairs. “Sorry about that, girls. Some people are not as accepting as they ought to be.”

“It's ok, Faith. You defended us, that's all that matters.” Said Sonata.

“Heh, thanks for playing along there, Aria. The man would never have been satisfied if I went with honest words regarding the rules.”

“No worries, I wanted to get away from him as quick as possible too. Shall we get moving then?”

Faithful nodded as they proceeded down the path. After a short while and a few more unwanted glances, they eventually came across the shop in question. Beyond it's odd coloration, it was overall, very similar to the rest of the buildings in the area. “Well then, shall we enter?” He spoke and without waiting for an answer, he stepped through the doors. The two girls were hesitant but they soon followed him inside.

The boutique was a marvel of interesting and unique clothing as well as some more typical articles. Sonata wasted no time in diving into the racks and searching for something to her liking. Aria was a bit more careful with what she was doing. It felt like taking charity from n enemy if she did this. But then she figured that they were actually going to pay some fat bucks for these clothes, so that idea was suddenly thrown out the window.

“Rarity? Rarity!… MISS BELLE!?” he called out in the building. Rapid taps of feet against wooden flooring could be heard as someone was darting down the stairs. Mere moments later there was an elegant woman with wavy purple locks at the stairs who suddenly beamed when she layed her eyes on Faithful Servant. “Faithy-Dearie!” She cried out and dashed forward and grabbed his hand between her own. “It's such a joy to see you again, darling. What can I do for you? It's been far too long now.”

“A pleasure to meet you again too, Rarity. I am actually here to purchase some garments. It is gonna be a big purchase this day.”

“Purchase? But Faith, my dear, didn't you read the sign?”

“What sign? There was no sign when I entered.”

“Urgh, must be Sweetie again. She has come to enjoy teasing me like this recently.”

Faith coughed into his hand. “If this is a bad time then I can always return some other day.”

“Oh don't be ridiculous, Dear. You're here now. What sort of seamstress would I be if I didn't do my job when a customer arrives? So what can I help you with? A new tux? Some new athletic garments? Maybe something a bit more casual?”

“Well, I'm not the main focus this day.”

“No?”

Faithful moved out of Rarity's sight, and she was only barely able to contain her gasp. “Um, Faith, dear? May I speak to you for a second, upstairs?”

“Uh, certainly.” he spoke as he turned to the former sirens. “You two take a look around and see if you find anything that feels good or fits. Preferably both.”

And with that he followed Rarity up the stairs and into her own private household. They reached a door and she signaled for him to stay put. She opened the door and sneaked in. He could hear a subtle conversation through the door, accompanied by an ear-shattering “WHAT!?”

Eventually the door opened up once more and Faithful was urged inside. Once he got in, he was immediately met by the sight of a couple of girls of varying skin tones and hair styles sit on the floor, the bed and by the desk, staring at him intensely. “Okeeeeey. Tell me, Rarity, should I be concerned that a good I am surrounded by six High School girls in your bedroom?”

That little comment earned him a slap on the shoulder from Rarity. “What was that about? You are usually such a gentleman.”

“Well, this is odd for me as well.” he spoke as he rubbed his arm. “Alright. So what is this about?”

“Darling. Do you really think that it is a good idea to be associating yourself with those girls?”

“Oh for- Not you too.” he sputtered in exasperation. “I get it, they were homeless, they may not be trust worthy because of it. I've heard it already, so if that was it, I will make sure that they find something suitable.” he spoke as he was about to exit the room. 

A cyan skinned and rainbow haired girl blocked his path. “And you are..?”

“Rainbow Dash.” she answered.

“Hm. Short and straight to the point. I like it.” Faith said as he tried to make his way past her. She did not budge. He sighed. “Is there something important you want to tell me? Cause if you are just here to tell me what to do or not to do then I would prefer to just leave.”

“Faithy, please, just hear us out.” Rarity pleaded.

“We do not want to cause trouble for you.” said a girl with red and yellow hair. “We just want you to be aware of what you are getting yourself into.”

“…I suppose you know them then? They told me that they were from Canterlot previously to being homeless, though I suspected there was more to it than they were letting on. So…” He trailed off as he began sitting down on the floor. “How about you just tell me the whole story?”

The girls looked back and forth between each other. “I am not sure that you would believe us.” said the fiery haired girl. 

Faith simply leaned forward and said: “Try me.”



“He's been gone for a while now...” Sonata said as she picked out her last piece of garment which she desired. 

“Yeah… I'm willing to bet money on that those bitches are trying to turn him against us.” Aria responded as she hanged back an assortment of clothes which she found fairly uninteresting. “Remember Sonata, whatever they may have said about us, it is important that we keep our cool. We mustn’t act like whatever he has learned has any substance to it.”

“But what if they told him about us being sirens?”

“As if they would do that. He would accuse them of being insane before short. Besides even if he did buy it we could always-” Aria shut herself up as she heard footsteps coming downt eh stairs again. Down from it came Faithful, cheerful as always, with Rarity in tow, her too being seemingly happy about life. “Well then, darlings, I assume that you have picked out what you want?” 

“Um… Yes?” Aria answered as she put down her picked out clothes on the counter. Sonata was quick to do the same. Rarity began scanning the items in quick succession, the numb er on the register growing steadily higher and higher. Once everything was scanned, Aria and Sonata could barely believe the amount he was about to pay. “A-Are you friggin kidding me!?”

“What's the matter, Aria?”

“That's such a hefty amount! Are you really going to pay that?!”

“Why wouldn't I? Trust me Aria, I can afford it. Besides, you are not gonna find better attire anywhere in this city.” he spoke as he drew his credit card.

“Thank you for your business Darling, always a pleasure. Come by for just some tea sometime.”

“I will! Take care, Rarity.”

On the way home they traveled in absolute silence. Not a single word was spoke. Sonata wanted to break this silence, finding it worrying and uncomfortable. She then noticed an alleyway which she recognized. “Faithful, wait!” said Sonata.

“What's the matter, Sonata?” Faithful responded.

“This way leads to our old alley. It would probably still lead to Adagio. Can we get to go and see her?” Sonata asked. Even Aria herself would be lying if she said that she didn't want to assure that Adaigo was still alive and well.

“I don't see why not. Go ahead and visit. I'll be waiting here.”

Without hesitation, and with zero questions, Sonata darted in to the alley, Aria in tow, in search for Adagio. When they eventually reached their intended destination, they were met with a most unusual sight. Adagio was there in all her glory, but in front of her stood two strange men whom seemed to be talking to her

“Ok, we get it. One day was too quick to chagne one's mind on. We'll be back later. Much later this time.” The shorter man spoke as he and his friends began making their way out of the alley, walking in the opposite direction from Aria and Sonata. The two girls slowly began walking towards Adagio.

“Fucking idiots.” Adagio growled.

“Dagi?” Sonata asked tenderly.

Adagio spun around, layin her eyes upon her two sisters. Adagio smiled for a moment and began to approach them, when a thought struck her. They are with Faithful, remember?! She thought. Adagio halted just a few feet away from her sisters. “Hey, Sonata. Aria.”

“Hey.” Aria replied, unsure of how to handle the situation or what to say. Sonata had an overwhelming urge to just go forth and embrace her sister, but considering everything, she decided against it for now.

“How are you?” Adagio asked.

“We're good.” Aria answered, raising one of her bags of clothes. “Just got done with some shopping.”

“I see… Has he been treating you well?”

Deciding against worrying their sister regarding yesterday's failure, they kept it to themselves and Sonata answered: “Yes, he has been absolutely lovely so far.”

Adagio smiled. “Glad to hear it.”

A few quiet minutes passed by. Neither parties knew what to say or how to handle the situation. In retrospect, maybe the two girls should have planned this visit a bit better. “Is Faithful here?” Adagio asked.

“Y-yeah, he is at the end of the alley. Wanted to give you some space.” Aria answered, though slightly uncertain of the exact reasons why he stayed behind.

“That… That was kind of him.” Adagio responded. “Send him my regards.”

“We will.” Sonata said.

Once again, silence fell over the dark alley. Sonata couldn't stand the silence. It felt as if every passing quiet second ate away at their breaking relationship. Sonata eventually stood unable to keep it within anymore. “It's not too late, Dagi.”

Adagio looked confused for just a second at Sonata's statement.

“Faithful is a very kind man. You'll see! I'm sure that his invitation home still stands. You just hve to come with us back. We'll be together again, as we were always meant to be. We will have good food every day, nice rooms of our own and even clothes whenever we need them.” Sonata spoke, and with each passing syllable, one could hear how Sonata's heart was breaking, how the sorrow was welling up again. “Please, Dagi.”

Adagio looked down at her feet in shame. “I can't.”

“Yes you can! You just have to walk back with us and-”

“I said that I can't!” Adagio exclaimed.

Tears welled up in Sonata's eyes as she turned heel and ran back to where she came from. Aria looked at Adagio with a stare that could only be one thing. Contempt. “Not even for her, huh?” Aria spat as she followed her little sister back to Faithful. When they got back Faithful Servant stood patiently waiting for them. At first he smiled at the sight of them, but it quickly changed when he saw Sonata's disposition. Before he could ask her what the issue was, she had already flung her arms around him and started sobbing into his chest. He allowed her to remain where she was, quietly stroking her hair, trying to soothe the upset girl. He did not pry for information. Not from Sonata nor from Aria. When Sonata had started to calm down, all she had to ask was: “Can we have curry tonight again?”

“As much as it takes.” said Faithful. He looked at Aria for assurance that the choice of repeated food did not bother her. Luckily, it would seem lie it didn't. Together, they made their way back home. As they entered the building, Sonata went to her own room to calm down for a bit while Aria took opportunity to grab the TV and start playing on the consoles. And whilst both the girls took to their own means of coping with Adagio's rejection, Faithful was quick to sit down by his computer.

Let's see what the net can teach me about Sirens.
> Confrontation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One month has passed since the second parting of the siren sisters and the more than odd… revelation regarding the three girls that these days resided beneath his roof. The two girls had easily begun settling into the rules of the household. Aria had proven able to find just her kind of entertainment in town, and Sonata was apparently more than content with watching television with the recommended channels and services. In the meantime, something was eating away at Faithful. Ever since the six girls had spoken to him regarding the girls in his care he had come to question every single one of his decisions up until now.

Ever since he heard from them that Sonata, Aria and Adagio were actually mystical creatures known as Sirens. Aquatic, equine-like beings whom hypnotized their prey by song, and apparently, the three girls had attempted to take over the world through the means of their voices. He got little more information than that, and as such, he made attempts to study a bit regarding Sirens as they are known by in this world and see if there is any connection. What he found only served to give him anxiety. IF there was even just a speck of truth to the youngster's words, and by account of the “real world” legends, then the song wasn't their only means of hypnosis. They could also easily seduce and control a man with looks and personality alone.

Could it be that they have controlled him from the very beginning without him knowing so? The doubt gnawed at Faith's psyche. They couldn't have though, right? After all, he would have supposedly, “broken” their control when he punished them for breaking one of his rules. But what if  that was them permitting it? What if it was just a one-time thing? Even the legends tell of men who could temporarily break free from their hypnosis during certain circumstances. He thought to himself regarding the possibilities.

With a heavy sigh, he got up from the couch. He turned off his TV and began making his way to his own room. It was nothing special compared to the other rooms in terms of decoration beyond the various banners and posters from different games and shows which was plastered on his walls. He sat down at his desk and computer, booting it up and began playing some of his favorite games. The sound of a bird's tweet was heard. It was a group of his friends which was inviting him into a group chat.

Putting on his headphones he accepted the invite. His ears felt like they were being blown off as an ear-shattering “WAZZUP!” rang through the headphones. Faithful reeled back and let out a groan of pain and discontent. “For fuck sake, guys!” Faithful called out. Howling laughter echoed through the headpiece. “Alright, who came up with this idea?”

“Me!” called a cheerful and feminine voice.

“Darn you, Little Grace!” Faithful cried out in a comedic fashion. “Anyway, what's up everyone, and what are we playing?”

“We were thinking of Overwatch for the moment. Thanks for introducing me to it, guys. It's damn fun!” spoke Succulent Chef.

“How's our brother doing back there? We hope that you haven't lost your touch.” came the voice of a man.

“Good to hear from you again, Sarge.  I could frankly say the same. Isn't the internet a bitch all over in Finland? Speaking of which, how was the trip?” Said Faithful.

Sarge, or more appropriately, Crescent Sergeant is one of Faithful Servant's oldest and most faithful friends. They had known each other ever since their school years, and had stayed in touch ever since.

Sarge began to chuckle. “Well I for one am a military man. I get constant shooting practice. Anyway, picking Bastion.”

“You're such an asshole for picking that guy.” Said Little Grace. “I'm going with Zarya if any of you are rolling heal.”

“I can go with Anna on this. But we all know why you pick her.” Said Faithful in a joking, yet mocking tone.

“What? I can't like strong girls in video games?”

“You can, but you don't have to be some muscle beast in order to be good or strong.”

“Leave her be, Faith. We both know that she just wants to munch on that carpet of hers.” Sarge answered.

“Oh, you know it, boi.” Said Little Grace.

“...Don't say that. By the way, Faith, how are things going with your new girlfriends?”

Faithful sighed rather loudly. “I suppose that you told them, Grace?”

“I did. Was that bad of me?” She asked innocently.

“I suppose not. Quite frankly, I need you guys' help with something. Something related to that topic.”

“What's the problem, bro?” Sarge asked.

“I am getting hysterical and paranoid over here. Ever since Rarity and her friends told me something related to the girls.”

“Which is?”

“Apparently they were more than just Canterlot's bad girls. They were, or are, monstrous creatures from another world. I know that it sounds insane, but-”

“Wait, monsters from another world?!” Little grace cried out. “Please, for the love of god, don't tell me that they are called The Dazzlings.”

“I...I am not sure. That could have been their group name. I just know them as Sonata and Aria really.”

“Faith, I am telling you this as your friend. You need to get them out of your house right away. There is no telling what they will or can do to you.”

“Are you serious, Grace? They can't possibly be so bad that they need to be thrown to the street.” Sarge protested.

“You don't know shit about them, Sarge. My little sis was there, she experienced it first hand.”

“Then tell me what happened, and let's see if your stories add up.” Faith told her as their game began.

Whilst shooting and owning foes, they kept up their conversation. As their battle was reaching its end, so did their argument. At every accusation thrown towards the girls, Faithful did his best to protect them, to defend both his actions and theirs based upon the information which had been granted to him by the girls. In the end, it just seemed futile as even Sarge appeared to be taking Grace's side.

“I'm telling you, Faith, you need to get rid of them. They are just going to use you.”

“...I need a break. I'll see you guys later.” And without further warning, Faithful Servant switched off his computer and began walking out of the room. As soon as he opened up the door and turned for the right, he noticed Aria standing by the door, leaned back against the wall in a nonchalant fashion. They said nothing. They just stared at one another, almost as if they were waiting for the other to back away. “What did you hear?”

“I heard you talking to someone. About us.” Aria answered.

“Good. Then go fetch Sonata. We are going to have a talk in the kitchen.” Faithful spoke as he walked past Aria and down the stairs and into the kitchen. After a few short minutes, Aria came into the kitchen, stoic as per usual, with a concerned looking Sonata in tow. “Thanks for coming, girls. There is just something I really need to get off of my chest.”

“No worries. So what is it that you want to ask?” Aria asked.

Faithful gestured towards the chairs, silently asking them to sit down. After they had all taken a seat by the table. Faithful began rubbing his eyes, a habit of his whenever something he was doing either felt stupid, embarrassing or both. “So, girls… As you very well know, a few days ago at Rarity's shop, I was dragged upstairs for a chat. I think you both know pretty well what it was that we were talking about.”

“You were talking about us. About our time in school.” Sonata answered.

“We did. And by their own testament, you girls are… were, quite a lot more than you were letting on.”

“We told you from the very beginning, Faith. We were the school's bad girls. Worst of the worst.” Aria told Faithful as if this was all obvious and needless to bring up.

“Yet there is more to it than just that, isn't there?”

“Like what?”

“… Just let me be straight forward about this, and I would prefer a fully honest answer regarding this. Are you girls really from some other world?”

Sonata was the first to speak up after a few moments of awkward silence. “Faith, I don't want to be mean, but do you even realize how crazy that question sounds?”

“Oh, definitely. I feel insane for even considering this an option for discussion. I feel like I belong in a straightjacket for bringing this up. But all the same, this needs to be said, and this needs to be talked about, regardless of the insanity, otherwise it will drive me nuts. So tell me, are you from another world than this? Are you some sort of mythical seas creatures?"

Aria and Sonata just looked at each other for a moment. No signal was needed. No nod, no wink no nothing, because they knew exactly how to handle the situation. 



Adagio sat in the corner of a street, only a ragged blanket to help and keep her warm in face of the encroaching autumn cold. Adagio held up her cup, quietly begging for any spare coin they might have. One man who stopped temporarily by opened up his wallet to search for any change. Finding nothing, he shook his head apologetically and moved on. Adagio stretched her hand out towards the man who was leaving, just moments away from begging him to come back. Adagio had grown ever more unfortunate after her last rejection of the prospect of joining Faithful and her sisters. She could feel her determination falter. She had begun to consider the prospect of joining them being a more fitting destination than starving, alone and cold.

Coming to grips with that there would likely come no one less for today, Adagio packed up her things and retreated to her dump of a home, her strides lacking any semblance of the pride and confidence from the past month.  She huddled back to her corner and buried herself into her reeking couch and wrapping her blanket around herself in an attempt to keep warmth. As she covered from the winds there, flashes of past memories flew by her. Times with her sisters and the many plots and times they shared together. She could feel a pressure behind her eyes, something attempting to push it's way out. She would not allow it. Not even alone would she permit herself to be so weak.

"Miss?"

Adagio got up in a flash and turned her whole body towards the direction of the voice. She felt anger, distaste and only a slight bit of fear. Before her stood the same two men as before. The scumbags whom had attempted to try and purchase her "services". His voice was been softer than previously, almost sweet when he spoke this time though. Adagio rose up and attempted to strike a pose of confidence and strength, only to utterly fail as her body seemingly refused to obey. The world spun and she nearly toppled over herself, had it not been for the intervention of a large pair of arms catching her. She looked up from the slowing whirl to find the gray-eyed man holding her in his arms. "It's ok. I mean you no harm." He spoke softly as he helped her back to the couch. "Forgive us for frightening you."

Adagio did not utter as much as a word as the man aided her descent to the couch. Once she was down on stable ground, she looked at the two men before her, now seemingly awfully helpful compared to their previous behavior. "What do you want?"

"We only want some time with you. Nothing has changed. But we see the error of our approach the previous times." Spoke the bigger and burlier man. "We were rude and our offer was too beneficial for one side only. We realize that, and we apologize for not considering your end of the spectrum."

"Awfully well spoken for a muscle berg." Adagio retorted. "But your purpose is still the same, so my answer is the same as well. Leave, or else."

"Yes, we are here for the same thing, but I would like to think that we are more considerate now." Spoke the gray-eyed man as he sat down beside her. "Listen, we saw you out there previously. We know your situation, and let me tell you; You are not gonna be able to make it much longer like this. You need help."

"I won't stoop down to taking help from useless garbage."

"Then don't accept help. But accept work for an agreeable sum." He spoke as he rummaged through his pocket. In the corner of her eye, Adagio took notice of something which looked like a handle protruding from one of his coat's inner pockets, however, the thought was easily pushed aside as after some slight struggle, he pulled out a bundle of money bills and held it in front of Adagio. "One thousand bucks. All yours if you just spend some time with us. That's all we ask. No strings attached, no further demands, just some time of entertainment for both of us and then this is yours. Simple as that."

Adagio couldn't help but feel astonished by the amount before her. She felt tempted to accept the money, but she knew what that would entail. She was about to speak, but she couldn't.

Something within her stopped her.

She tried to speak the words. To force out the rejection of the prospect, but she couldn't. The hunger she felt kept her from uttering those words, the cold kept her from uttering them, the stench kept her from uttering them. Some ungodly reason was keeping her from sending them their way.

"...A couple of ground rules first."



"So... that's your story?" Spoke Faithful.

"It is. We're sorry that it isn't what you expected, but it is honestly all there is to it." Sonata replied, trying to sound as soothing as just humanly possible.

"No magic, no nothing? I'm just gonna go and assume that all of my friends and their friends, in turn, are absolutely crazy?" faith groaned as he buried his face in his hands. "God help me."

Sonata was mere moments away from reaching forth and trying to comfort her host, but she was interrupted by him suddenly rising up from his seat and heading towards the front door. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"Heading out to get some air, maybe catch up a bit with my friends. I'll be back in a bit. I have my phone on me, so if you need to reach me, my number's in the home phone." He spoke, and with that, he left.

Faithful traversed the city of Canterlot, not really having any particular destination in mind to arrive at. The bustle of the active city served quite well to distract him from his occupied mind. Either side of the spectrum he took part in felt absolutely mental. If he were to believe Aria and Sonata, that meant his friends were either lying or they were crazy. On the other hand, if he took his friend's side, then he was crazy to believe the nonsense and sending young girls out into the harsh life of the homeless.

He needed further input before he made a decision of what to do. After about forty minutes of just mindless walking, he came to the conclusion that asking around at the School of Canterlot and see what the alleged victims had to say. If Grace and Rarity's story was correct, then the whole school would know of it, and a whole school could hardly be wrong about this, right?

As he began to make his way to Canterlot High, he came by a place a bit familiar ahead of him. It was the way which led to Adagio's alley. Suddenly conflicted of where to go, he pondered the options. On one hand, he could just go ahead towards the school and it would reduce the risk of an infuriated Adagio. But then again, who was he more likely to trust, some school youngsters he didn't even know, or a woman whom had belonged to the group and thus would have a lot more insight. With just the right words, he might be able to lure out the truth from her.

Making up his mind, he headed in towards Adagio's place, ready to grab the bull by the horns and get his answers straight from the source. As he closed in to her spot, he began to hear voices. Adagio's was in there, but more than that, there were two other voices, that of men unfmiliar to him. He was about to turn around the corner to her dump of a place, when he heard the voices again, thus pressing himself agains the wall and keeping himself out of view.

"One thousand for a couple of minutes of entertainment along with the rules we established. Do we have ourselves a deal?" Spoke a soft and smooth voice.

"Let's just get to it." Spoke Adagio, immediately followed by the rattling sound of a dumpster coming into contact with something. Faithful turned the corner and the sight before him was enough to send him into near shock. Adagio stood there, leaning her body over a nearby dumpster, her dress pulled up and thus exposing her thankfully still clothed rear, with a foreign man positioned right behind her, with his hands positioned around the zipper.

"Adagio..." Faithful spoke up, drawing the attention of everyone gathered in the alley. "What in the hell is happening here?"

Gently pushing the man behind her back, Adagio rose up a bit as she saw Faithful stand before her. "Faithful, get out of here. You are not welcome here." She demanded, trying to make him leave. "This has nothing to do with you."

"You're right, but it has everything to do with you." He spoke and took a bit of a passive and unthreatening stance, trying to calm down the now seemingly aggressive men. "Adagio, please, stop this, Let me help you. Come with me."

"I have told you this before, and I am telling you it again, I am not coming. I will not stoop so low as to accept help from low-life."

"Adagio... You are selling yourself." He spoke, his voice growing almost desperate, but still kept in check. "You are giving away your body for money. One can't stoop lower than this. You've reached the bottom, now you can only go upwards. Come with me and we can come with some sort of arrangement. I understand how you feel, I know what you are going through-"

"You don't know anything! You don't know anything about me. You know nothing about my sisters. You k now nothing, Faithful!"

Still keeping his stance, Faithful slowly began to approach them. "But I do, Adagio." He spoke as an idea struck him. "Your sisters has told me everything. I know where you come from. I know about what you have done to survive." As he said these words, he could see the hesitation in Adagio's eyes, her stance softening. "I can't say that I have everything grasped yet, but I know more about you than you might think? And with that in mind, I am still willing to do everything it takes to help you and your sisters back to your feet. So please, just trust me. Just this once." he spoke and extended a hand towards her.

Adagio still hesitated to accept his help. She needed to know more. Had they really told him everything? She needed to know! "What was our group at the school called?"

"The Dazzlings. You used your voices to hypnotize the school."

Adagio was flabbergasted that he knew this, but it was not enough. "Whe-Where did we come from?"

"Equestria, a land of equines and all sorts of creatures, you among them. The beautiful and magnificent sirens. Ask me anything else regarding all that, I will know it, so please, trust me. Trust me as your sisters did, take my hand and follow me. I will get you back on your feet, I can make you and your sisters strong and independent again. Please..."

Adagio felt her resolve shattering. She extended a hand forwards to reach his, but she was suddenly tugged backward by a powerful grip. "She is going nowhere. We have an arrangement, and she has already taken our payment. We will have our due."

Adagio was about to retort, but Faithful got there first. "I understand. Adagio, give them back their-"

"Not good enough. Do you have any idea how much time we have wasted on waiting for this bitch to crumble? We will have what is owed us, and if you get in the way," From the man's inner pockets he pulled out a knife of considerable size, it's sharpened edge gleaming against the faint light. "We will just have to remove you."

Suddenly the situation got a lot more dire. Any mistake on his end could end the life of himself or Adagio. And one of the possibilities scared him to no end. "OK, very well, I get it. You have been waiting and you don't want your time to be for nothing." He spoke as he drew out on the time, trying to think of some way to convince them to leave. He couldn't take them on by any means. With a knife and a man nearly twice his size before him, fighting was no option. Then he came to the idea of what could be done. The only thing he could do. "How about that I pay you for your trouble? Ten thousand bucks for you to spend however you please, along with the return of the money you paid? Sounds good?"

"Am I expected to believe that you are carrying that much money on your person? Give me a break." Spoke the colossus of a man.

Without a word, he slowly pulled out his cell phone from his pocket. "See this? I have a mobile bank in this thing. It contains my entire account inside it." With a few swipes of his hand, he managed to open the app up, with which he showed them the amount in it. The two men were astonished by the amount of money he had at such easy disposal. "Ten thousand, just like that, if you just walk away from here. You even have my solemn swear that I will tell no one about what happened here."

The two men looked at each other, and with a nod of understanding, they returned their gaze towards Faithful. "The whole account. Give it to us and the login codes, and then we will leave."

Adagio was about to protest, for whichever reason, she did not know, but once more, Faithful beat her to it. "Of course. Just... give me a moment. I'm gonna write down the codes and passwords to it in the notes, so you can always open it." After he had done as he promised, he extended the phone towards the man who proceeded to let Adagio go and approach Faithful, taking the phone in hand. "And you will tell no one?"

"No one will know, I swear. Just take this, and leave her be." Faithful replied.

The man took the phone from Faithful and put it into his pocket. He extended his hand once more for a handshake. Not wanting to cause offense at such a delicate moment, he grabbed it in a firm grip. A knowing smile was shared between the two.

"Just to be safe though."

The grip turned hard in his grasp, making Faithful cringe in pain. Then came the piercing pain. He gasped and fell to the ground. Adagio stood paralyzed on the spot, the shock preventing her from uttering a sound or moving a muscle. And in the midst of the confusion, the two men took off like the wind, leaving the man and woman behind, not a trace of them having been there beyond the stab wound in Faith's abdomen.
> The Alarmed and Harmed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adagio stood petrified at the sight. Before she had the chance to do so much as speak or move, everything was over. The men were gone with the wind, and Faithful Servant was now curled up on the ground, a small pool of red forming beneath him as his lifeblood fed the ground. Once it was all over and reality clicked in her mind, there was but one thought which circulated in her mind: Run.

Adagio took tentative steps towards Faithful with the intent of walking past him and taking her leave before things became complicated. She was about to walk past him when she heard the sound of groans and whimpers. Her resolve shook with the might of an earthquake. Quivering, Adagio turned her head down to the man at her feet.

He looked so feeble and meek in this state, a big change from his previous state of being. Yet, despite the sight of the man in this sorry state, it was not enough for her to want to take any risks. Her head screamed at her to make the run for it, to take flight and not look back. Every fiber of her body told her to do so, yet something else told her to remain. Something which showed sympathy, something which looked beyond herself, something that...

Adagio sunk to her knees and grabbed hold of Faith's sports jacket and started to tear it up into a long strand of fabric which she began to try and persuade Faith to take in his own hand. Faith opened his teary eyes to look up towards Adagio, the pitiful look branding itself into her mind. "Take this, try to halt the bleeding. I'll be right back with help, but you'd better be alive when I do." Adagio spoke, her voice absent of any hints of hesitation, but steeled and determined. Faith nodded ever so barely as he took the piece of clothing and held it firmly against his wound.

Adagio rose back up to her feet and started running. She ran as far and as fast as her tired and starved legs could carry her. She hurried through the pathways and crannies until she reached the streets of Canterlot city, looking to and fro, trying to find someone that could be of aid. There were plenty of options, despite the time of the day as it was encroaching upon nightfall. She approached a man, hastily explaining her predicament, yet the man walked on as if he had heard nothing. She knew with high probability why he moved away, yet it still irked her. She turned around to find someone else when she found the prime candidates.

Ahead of her, carelessly strolling down the street, were the very people she could have lived a hundred lifetimes without seeing again, and yet, there they were, and with limited options, she scurried towards them. As she approached, she could see how they had taken notice of her by now, the cyan girl with the chromatic hair readying a stance. As she got closer, she slowed down, hands raised as to try and show that she meant no harm to them.

"You have two seconds to get away this instant, Dazzling." Rainbow Dash spoke calmly, yet hostility dripping at the edges, ever so bluntly.

"Feel free to try that later, but right now Faithful needs your help. Come, hurry."

Rarity was quick to step forward, her words oozing with worry. "Faith is in trouble? What happened?"

"Any more explaining and the pavement will soon be colored thoroughly red. Just hurry!" Adagio shouted as she began to run back towards Faithful. The girls stood hesitantly on what to do, but two of the Young women were Quick to spring to action. Sunset Shimmer and Applejack were swiftly at Adagio's heels, the rest of the Girls right behind them. "You'd better have a good explanation for us later," Sunset spoke.

"Later" Adagio spat back.





Sonata paced back and forth in the living room, all while Aria was spending her time trying out one of the video games on the PS. Aria seemed thoroughly entertained, while Sonata could not for the life of her come to peace, phone clutched firmly in her hand. At this point, the sun had lowered itself beyond the horizon and the moon now stood high upon the night sky. "I don't get it, why hasn't he returned. He’s not answering or anything. Aria, should we be worried?"

Aria simply shrugged her shoulders. "Eh."

"Aria! What if something has happened?" Sonata sputtered, her mind going in all sorts of directions.

"Like anything could ever happen around here. We live in one of the most obnoxiously nice places on Earth. The worst that can happen is that he gets taunted for a bit. Most likely because of us. Now stop your pacing, it's driving me mad."

"I should go and look for him."

"Like hell you are. If he catches you outside during curfew then we are in deep trouble. Besides, why do you even care?" Said Aria.

Sonata turned on her heel,walked up to Aria, and smacked the controller out her hands. "Why do I care? Because we have food, a roof, and clothes thanks to him. Because he’s the only damn person here to care about us! Because-" Sonata silenced herself. She realized that she could not make enough sense in Aria's eyes to convince her of anything. While Sonata had come to care a bit more for the man, why would she go so far as to say such things? She then found the single explanation that made the most sense: "Because we are just his wards. If anything happens to him, then we’re right back out there again."

Despite it all, Aria remained unconvinced, staring intently at the TV screen, controller back in hand. "Sonata, again, this is the nicest city in the country. There is no way that anything or anyone has done something to hurt him. Just sit your ass down and-” Aria turned around, interrupting herself when she saw Sonata with the home phone pressed to her ear once more, dialing Faith’s number. Aria sighed and returned to her game.

Sonata stood in the corner of the room while fiddling anxiously with the phone’s cord. As the beeps from the phone progressed, her anxiety escalated to new heights. Just as she was about to give up on the whole ordeal, there was an answering click on the other end. She immediately pressed the phone hard against her ear. “Faith!?” She cried out before she could stop herself.

“Sonata?” answered a voice, familiar yet not the one she was looking for.

“Sunset Shimmer? Where is Faith? Why do you have his phone?!” Sonata exclaimed, catching the attention of Aria, who suddenly became rather interested.

There was a silence on the other end, only audible sound being murmurs. Then Sonata heard a sigh. “Sonata, do you have a spare key laying around somewhere?”

“What? Yes, there is, but how is that important!?” Sonata shouted back, growing aggravated by the lack of a proper answer.

“I figured that you might want to be with Faithful at this time. Listen Sonata, Faith has been in an accident and is currently at the emergency ward in Canterlot Hospital. It’s a bit off, but I’ll send Rainbow Dash to pick you up, ya hear?”

Hospital? Emergency Ward? These words circulated through her head and almost sent her reeling. Sonata leaned up against the wall, quivering with fear. What could have happened? Was it too serious? Would he-?

Apparently she must have stood like that for some time, as she heard the rustle of the phone changing hands before a very familiar voice spoke to her. “Sonata, pull yourself together and get yourself over here this instant.”

The voice snapped Sonata out of her fearful stupor. “A...Adagio?”

Adagio’s voice audibly softened. “Yes, Nata, it’s me. Listen, you and Aria need to hurry here right away. Grab the key, lock the door, and get moving here. These girls will provide transport. Once they arrive, get in and follow, OK?”

“Y-Yes Adagio.”

“Good. We’ll see you soon.” She replied, and with that, there was the click of the other phone hanging up. It took a bit for Sonata to respond. A minute after the call had finished, Sonata took determined steps towards the hall, getting dressed for the cold night, Aria not far behind, while not having heard all of the conversation, figured out enough to just go along with what was happening. The two girls quickly scurried outside, locked the door and awaited Rainbow’s arrival.

It did not take long for the chromatic haired girl to appear. The way to the hospital was silent. Rainbow made attempts with herself to try and speak up, but always decided against it. As they arrived, they hurried through the large, winding corridors until they reached the emergency ward. Once there, they met up with the other girls, and more importantly, Adagio. Had it been under any other circumstance, this could have been a pleasant reunion. Alas, fate had other plans.

“Dagi, please tell me, what happened to Faith?” Sonata Asked.

Adagio stepped forward and placed a soothing hand on Sonata’s shoulder. Without a word, Adagio led Sonata to one of the nearby seats and signaled for her to take a seat. Hesitantly, Sonata complied.

“Sonata, I am going to be blunt with you, Faith has been injured quite badly. Now, before you freak out, you’ll be happy to know that the nurse have reported that the wound is not too severe and he will live through this.”

“What kind injury? How did it happen?” Aria butted in.

The very moment the words left Aria’s mouth, something shone in Adagio’s big fuchsia eyes. Something which neither Aria nor Sonata had ever seen in her before. However, while they had never seen it before, they knew what it was. “He… He was stabbed.”

“S-Stabbed?! How?” Sonata cried out.

Adagio looked back and forth between her sisters and the girls behind her, and as she did, the glint in her eye grew. “He tried to help me. There were these two jerks who approached me, trying to get to me. He stepped in and tried to help me out of it. Then they-”

“Ladies?”

Everyone turned their heads towards the voice. Before them stood a grown woman, pink hair tied into a bun and a petite nurse cap resting on her head. She approached Sonata and Aria and extended her hand. “Hello there, I am nurse Redheart. I assume that you are friends of Faithful too?” Aria and Sonata tentatively shook the nurse’s hand and nodded in confirmation. “Pleasure to meet you. I am here to inform that Faithful has been moved to PACU. He is conscious, well, maybe a bit tired, and he may receive visitors now.”

The girls rose from their seats and began to follow Nurse Redheart. Then she stopped. “Actually, if I may ask, is there a woman named Adagio among you?”

Adagio stepped forward. “That would be me.”

“Would you mind staying here for a bit?”

Adagio’s eyes grew in surprise. “I am not allowed to visit?”

“You are, but Faithful asked for the chance to speak with you in private. Just remain here and we’ll eventually come back for you.” Spoke Redheart as she led the other girls onwards.

Adagio stayed put, simply following the other girls with her gaze until they were out of view. Slowly, step by step did she return to her seat. It did not take long for her to grow impatient. Bored. Worried. What was she supposed to say to the man? What could she do or say that wouldn’t prompt an agitated response?

He may appear to be a kind individual, but take into account all which has transpired: The loss of his bank account, a knife to the gut, and almost left for dead . With everything piled up together, how could his life get worse than it currently was for him? Would it reflect in his words? She began to pace. She could’t explain it, but she was legitimately concerned for what would transpire. Was it because of her sisters?

No, of course not. They would not be too affected by this. At worst they might just get some stricter rules to live by. So why was she so affected by this? Adagio looked down the hallway which led out from the hospital and her gaze lingered there. Unmoving, nothing coming to mind or tongue, the subtle, distance sounds of the active hospital being the only thing keeping her from drifting in nothingness. “Perhaps… Perhaps I should...” the sole words that escaped her mouth, her eyes still glued to the corridor.

It was then that an image came to mind. The sight of Faith. On the ground and bleeding, meek and pitiful… helpless. Her body shivered, as if frightened by the memory. Another image followed. It was of her, standing over Faithful’s curled up body, pondering the possibility of running away. It was as if something stabbed her in the chest. The pain lingered and even escalated. Adagio closed her eyes and turned away from the hallway, returning to the corridor which led to PACU and leaned against the wall, and as she did this, she felt the pain subsiding. What is going on with me? She thought to herself.

Adagio was thrust back into reality when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Nurse Redheart who beckoned for Adagio to come with her. “He is ready to see you now.” she spoke as the other girls returned from their own visit. Adagio nodded in answer, her heart’s pace quickening. She followed down the corridor, the scent of sanitizers growing heavier with each step. Adagio stepped through the doorway and walked down the aisle until she came to the window, a hospitalk bed positioned by it where Faith rested, looking out to the horizon. He turned his gaze and head towards her. He still looked weak and not so little tired. She could not bear to look at him, so she looked down to her feet. Silence passed by the two of them, before Adagio spoke up. “I don’t know what to say to you right now. I don’t even know why you-”

“Are you well?”

Adagio raised her head and looked at Faithful. His disposition was soft and his eyes shone with nothing but concern and kindness. Did he seriously just ask that? “What?”

“Are you well? You seem distraught.” He repeated.

Adagio was stunned. Here he was, stabbed in much due to her, laying in bed with a bandaged stomach, and he was concerned for her? She tried to scour him once more for any signs of deceit or trickery, yet she could find none. “Heh, shouldn’t I ask that?” she asked with a fake laugh.

He smiled. “You could, but we both know what the answer would be.”

A small grin spread across Adagio’s features. “Jokes, huh?.. I’m sorry for what happened.” She spoke before she could halt herself.

“Nothing to be concerned about. I live, and so do you. Nothing unfixable has occurred. All will be well in time.”

“What about your money? How will you support yourself, much less my sisters without that?”

“That wasn’t my only account. I have more, with substantially greater sums contained. I’m just glad that you are safe now. Glad that you didn’t go through with it.”

So much concern for her. It was maddening for Adagio. “You should never have intervened… You wouldn’t be here, no injury, the girls wouldn’t have to worry and I could have lived on for some time longer.”

“And allow the great Adagio Dazzle to lower herself to such levels? Never gonna happen.”

“It is not for you to decide what I do or not.” Adagio spoke in a low tone, more of shame or sorrow rather than anger.

“True, though it doesn’t stop me from being concerned or caring.”

That stabbing sensation returned for a moment. “You shouldn’t care so much. It is not in a person’s nature to care so much about strangers. You could have just trotted on without a care in the world and just leave me.”

“Call me a freak of nature then. I would have done it again. I would do it again.” He spoke, his smile and kind eyes never fading for as much as a second, but also making room for confident determination.

Adagio didn’t know what to say. There was but one word that stuck out: “Why?”

“Because you are valuable, Adagio.” That was it. It was all. He spoke of it with such ease and simplicity, as if he was talking to an ignorant child who didn’t know better. Words as such had never been uttered to Adagio before. Not unless they were under her control like back in the olden days. Unlike those brainwashed fools, this was genuine, this was sincere.

“So… What now?” Adagio asked, uncertain of where to carry it from here.

“Well, Sonata and Aria will still live in my home, though I have asked the other girls to keep a bit of an eye on them. I won’t be able to return home for at least a week. The doctor’s here wants to keep an eye on me so I don’t develop an infection. Until I can leave, they’re on their own.”

“You’re just leaving them to their own behests?”

“Not fully. Like I said, the other girls will help me keep an eye on them. All the same, I need to establish some form of trust with them if they are going to live beneath my roof. Call it foolish if you wish.”

“It is foolish.” Adagio spoke, a wider smile plastered to her face, arms crossed beneath her chest. “But it’s also astoundingly kind and thoughtful.”

“Which part?”

“Everything… Perhaps it was foolish of me to leave them behind too.”

Faithful’s features grew curious. “What do you mean?”

“That it was foolish of me to leave my sister behind, that it was stupid of me to turn my back on your help. That I was dumb to walk away from it all. That-”

A short chuckle interrupted her. “Alright, that’s enough self-loathing for a day.” They both shared a little laugh out of that. A few moments passed of comfortable silence, everything ill and vile having left the room, leaving only the two of them to feel satisfied with their exchange of words. Then Adagio’s feature grew a bit more serious, as did the tone of her voice. “Faith, if the offer still stands, I’d like to take you up on it.” she spoke finally.

Faithful’s eyes grew wide for a moment before relaxing and softening once more. “I’d be happy and honored to house you, Adagio.” He spoke as he extended his hand to her. She grabbed hold of it in her own and shook it lightly. “I look forward to getting to know you, Miss Dazzle.”

“As I do you.” Adagio answered, letting go of his hand. It was then not long until the doctor finally arrived and told Adagio that her visiting time was over and that she had to leave. Adagio and Faithful said goodbye and Adagio took her leave. As she returned to the girls, she quickly received a hug from Sonata and a curious look from Aria. “I’m coming home, girls.” Adagio announced.