After Friendship Games, one student was treated the harshest at Crystal Prep: Autumn Flier. He was insulted and beaten. Then, he was met by two people: The Dazzlings. He was given a chance at revenge on them, on CHS, on the world. He took it.
I felt a blow hit my abs, another in my stomach. I threw up and they started to stop.
"Some student... I wonder what would've happened if he was in the Friendship Games..." Cinch said from the corner.
I saw her walk out and my vision started to blur, I felt the Shadowbolts landing blows, but they didn't hurt anymore...
I blacked out and woke up in the nurse's office. I got up and started walking, only to stumble and nearly bash my head against the table. I got up and used it as support until I regained my balance. I kept walking until I started walking straight again and went to my last class. I saw Mrs. Harshwinny upset.
"You're late again. One more late day, and you will be sent to Cinch for punishment." She said.
I just stayed silent and took my seat. I knew my face was bloodied, they all knew about what they did to me, they just didn't care.
The day flew by like any other, and I went back home. My mom was waiting for me with bandages and disinfectant ready to be used.
"I wish we could move, sweetie. But, as long as your father's around, there's no luck on that..." She said.
I was silent as she cleaned my wounds. I went to my room to finish my homework when a drop of my blood dripped on to the paper. I let it be and kept writing. By the time I was done, a quarter of the paper was covered in my blood. I stopped and went to see what was bleeding. I was relieved to see it was just a bloodied nose. I wiped it off in the bathroom and went to my GameBox. I played it until my drunken father came through the door.
"Autimn! Get your ass out here!"
I went out and saw that he needed me to take the trash out. I did it and went back inside to take a rest. I laid my head down on my pillow and started closing my eyes. He started slurring my name again. I went and saw him passed out on the couch, so I didn't even bother to wait for him to wake up. I went back and took my rest. I woke up at 5 and decided to make me something to eat. When I went out, I saw that my mom already made something. I sat down and started eating before my dad came through the door.
"You should slow down, Autimn. You'll choke." Mom said.
I slowed down a little and finished just as Dad stepped in. I went to my room and closed the door. I heard them start to argue, as always.
"He can't just hide in his room all day!" Dad said.
"He needs to be alone! You can't say no to that!" Mom said.
"Why, to keep playing that goddamn GameBox again?!"
I quickly locked my door and took the small console in the closet. I know it's stupid, defending the thing, but it's the only thing that makes me happy here. And in life, for that matter.
I listened as Dad started ramming at the door to open it. I finally hid in the closet and he finally broke through the door. When he didn't see anyone, he left and slammed the door shut. I got out and left the GameBox in the closet for the night. I was woken up by a text at 6 in the morning.
Meet us outside Crystal Prep.
I figured it was Shadowbolts wanting to beat me again, so I grabbed my brass knuckles and headed out. I made it to Crystal Prep and saw two girls leering at me from the door. I noticed that one had literally a bush of orange hair on her face and another had an excessive ponytail with one shuriken-like hairclip.
"Are you the one who texted me?" I asked, holding the phone with one hand and the “paperweight” in the other.
"Yes. My name is Adagio Dazzle. This is Aria Blaze. We have an offer for you." Adagio said.
"Wrong person to talk to." I said.
"No, you are the right one. We saw how you were treated by the Shadowbolts and we want to offer you revenge." Aria said.
I didn't need to hear another word-- I was on board.
"What do I have to do?" I asked quickly.
Adagio pulled out a picture of Twilight-- a geeky student who used to sneak in after school to work in some lab of hers.
"There was a student here. She looked like this. She has something... quite important to us. Find it, and we promise you revenge." She said.
I wasted no time. I hopped the fence and snuck into Twilight's old study room. I finally found a wall with red necklace shards on it. I pushed the wall and saw a small safe. I knew the code because I saw it back when she was still here. I put it in and opened the safe. What I found were three amulets, like the ones I saw in the picture.
This must be it... I thought.
I grabbed it and snuck out before the first bell rang. The girls were still there and I handed them the amulets. Adagio smirked and handed me one.
"Take it. This is the key to revenge." She said.
I took it and placed it on my neck. I felt... something in my body change. I looked at the amulet and saw it glowing red. When I looked up, the girls were gone and a note was there with a phone number on top.
We'll be in touch.
I put the number in my phone before anyone ripped the paper up and placed the note in my pocket. I still realized that the first bus was here, and I still had the brass knuckles.
I might be fine. They would have to dug-out if I'm pinned today. Hell, I wouldn't use them anyway. I thought as I started walking into the school.
I was back home, studing the necklace. Trying to see what it was, I couldn't find an answer. I gave up after an hour and went back to Daring Do. After an hour of playing, I noticed that my phone when off. I looked and noticed that it was from Adagio.
How did it go? The text asked.
I replied by saying:
What does this necklace even do?
It was a minute until she replied.
Tomorrow, at Crystal Prep, we'll show you.
I soon replied again.
It's a deal.
I was back up by the wall at about 5:30. Class didn't start until 7, so I had time until Adagio and Aria came up. I started ruffling through my bookbag until I found an old picture of me and my ex-girlfriend: Sunset Shimmer. Every part of me hopes that bitch got what she deserved from Flash... I then saw a car with a heart and inside, a vibrated note, on each door park in the parking lot. I saw Adagio and Aria walk out with their necklaces on. They saw me and walked up.
"Hey." I said.
"Hi." Adagio said.
"So, what does this necklace do? I know it does something, the way it glowed red like that." I said.
They answered by sitting down.
"First off, it's not a necklace, it's an amulet. It allows us to drain negative energy from other people when we sing. A place like this has to have lots of it." Aria said.
"Yep, pretty much. But, there's one kid who might not be as easy." I said.
"Who?" Adagio asked.
"I really don't remember the name... I think it was Kyle? Kyle Williams?" I struggled to remember.
Kyle was away with his mom to the country to see his family. I can't imagine seeing the poor kid's face when he learns that Twilight's gone.
"Hmm..." Aria said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Nothing. Just nothing." Aria said.
Man, that girl was weird.
"So, anyway, you get it when you sing?" I asked.
"Yes. But there is another way." Adagio said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"You play the melody. On an instrument, with anything." Aria said.
"Can you give me the beat?" I asked.
Adagio asked me for a pencil. I handed her one and she tapped it eleven times in a certain tune. I took excessive note of it.
"We'll be drawing energy at lunch today. Feel free to join in." Adagio said as she handed my pencil back.
I nodded and noticed that it was 6:30. The first bus would be arriving soon.
I remembered Twilight. She was forced to go to CHS for the Friendship Games. CHS... I feel bad for the girl. That means she met her...
Sunset Shimmer... She probably ruined her chance of winning by ruining her life somehow and caused her to move away. Where? God knows. All I know is not here.
Lucky...
I was walking down the hall to my next class when I felt a sudden blow into my cheek. It felt like a rock, but I managed to look up and saw Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat with their fists balled.
"We're still pissed about the Friendship Games... Let's jump him, Sugarcoat!" Sour said.
I wasn't going to be in the nurse's for lunch today. No damn way.
Sugarcoat lunged first. Something woke up inside me because I blocked the punch like I was Chuck Norris.
"Wha... Sour, get him!"
She threw a punch, but I blocked that one. I started to bend their arms, not hard enough to break them, but enough to hurt. I didn't say a word to them as I threw their arms to the ground and left. I looked back down at Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet.
"You pissed about losing, go see JOEL!" I said to the two.
I knew what they were doing with him... we all did-- that kid acted tough, but he was as much as a victim as I was...
I looked back up and saw the other Shadowbolts staring in either fear or awe.
"Any of you beat me like that again... I won't spare your arms." I said as I walked away.
They quickly moved out of the way as I pushed through them. I looked down and saw that the "amulet" was glowing red.
I think I made new friends today...
I took my seat at lunch and waited for the big moment. I saw Dazzlings a table away. I could've sworn that I saw Adagio wink. But this and everything else in the room was silenced by the Dazzlings standing up and starting to sing. I heard it, and I saw it. I saw the students stop eating and stare in awe at the Dazzlings, like they were famous pop stars.
And to be honest, they sounded like they were pop stars.
I saw what looked like green dust form. No, not dust.
Magic.
I grabbed my pencil and played the tune.
My GOD, the feeling. I saw some of the magic flow into my amulet. It felt better than anything you can think of. It felt like one hundred "Alone Times", only to my entire body. I loved every second of it, I didn't want it to stop. But it did. I looked up and saw everyone starting to wrestle each other. This was when Adagio and Aria moved to my table.
"How was it?" Aria asked.
I was still panting for breath.
"That... was... AMAZING! What was that, anyway?!" I asked.
"That... was slight Equestrian magic." Adagio gasped.
"What?!" Aria asked.
"What's 'Equestrian magic'?" I asked her.
"It's magic from a world of magic. How could it be here?" Adagio asked.
We stood there stunned as Kyle Williams, with his hair ruffled back, took a seat in a lonely table, holding out a form of shuriken that I couldn't see too well, but I could've sworn that it was Aria's second hairclip.
"Um, Aria. Who is this guy?" I asked her as I could see that her face turned pale.
"I... we'll explain later. Just keep low for now." Aria answered as she started picking up her eating pace.
I still stared at Kyle, what made him so intimidating? He was just plain old, 13-year-old Kyle.
Right?
I then noticed that Sugarcoat went up behind him. They started talking and I started getting ready to leap out and save him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Autumn, sit down." Adagio said putting her hand on my shoulder.
"I gotta help him." I said silently.
"You can't!" Aria whispered back.
"I am not letting him get either raped or beaten. He's innocent in all of this." I said.
"We can't afford any risks now..." Aria said.
I saw that Sugarcoat was a bit more forceful as she soon grabbed Kyle and pulled him into an unseen room. Soon, the other Shadowbolts followed. A few minutes later, I heard the blows being hit. Without saying a word, I got up and bolted in. The Shadowbolts looked in shock as I stood there with the door open.
"Stop. Leave him be. You need to let anger go, you see ME." I said as I closed the door.
"No. Cinch ordered us to get him." Lemon Zest said.
I was now trapped, in a room with about 7 people who want to beat my brains out of my eyes. I saw that Kyle was bruised and unconscious.
"Yeah, he didn't take much. Weakling." Sugarcoat scoffed as she kicked his stomach slightly, triggering a jolt from Kyle.
That was it. I threw a punch at one of the Shadowbolts. I was too slow, they punched back. Just as I started blacking out, Adagio and Aria opened the door.
"Let. Him. Go." I heard Aria say as I saw that she had some form of a weapon.
They backed away from me. I stood up and saw that the Dazzlings now had paper-clip shanks. I slowly got up and Aria handed me a shank.
"You're not going to beat me anymore." I said as I coughed up blood.
The Shadowbolts then nodded as soon as I said it.
"You're pissed, I get it. But guess what? You don't always have to win. Tell that to Cinch." I said as I picked up Kyle to bring to the nurse's office.
We closed the door and I dropped Kyle to the nurse's. Without saying another word, I got up and limped out the door.
"Shouldn't you get that looked at?" Aria asked me.
"I'll be fine. It's the same everyday." I said.
I could tell that Aria was shocked about this. Adagio was too, but not as much.
"W... what do you mean 'everyday'?" Aria asked.
I was trapped. I had to tell them; I wanted to.
"After the Friendship Games were a tie, the Shadowbolts AND Cinch were all-around-pissed. At first, Sugarcoat and Sour Sweer payed Joel a visit. Joel's one of the Shadowbolt Juniors. Cinch still has that damn tape... After that, they paid ME a visit. Beat me until I couldn't bleed. After, they kept on doing it; I still have some bruises." I said to them.
I then saw Aria do something that confuses me to this day. She turned around and put her hand on her eyes.
She started to cry...
Adagio stepped up and sat down.
"Is there something we can do?" She asked.
"...No. There's nothing you can do." I said.
"But there's something you can do." Adagio said holding my amulet.
"How do I do it?" I asked.
"Play the tune. When they start beating you, play the tune. It'll stop them."
"How?" I asked.
"It causes them to turn on each other, giving you the time to go. But if you're cornered. The amulet will draw the negative energy for you. You can use it to defend yourself." Adagio said.
I noticed that Aria was still crying.
"Aria? You okay?" I asked.
When I put my hand on her shoulder, she turned around and held me in an embrace. I didn't know what else to do but hold her back. We stayed like this until the bell rang.
"We should go. We'll be late for class." Aria said to me.
I nodded and we went to our classes. I went to Mrs. Harshwinny and she was clearly shocked to see me. On time, and covered in my own blood.
"Hi, Mrs. Harshwinny." I coughed as I went to my seat.
"Um... good afternoon, Autumn." She simply said.
I grabbed a few tissues to wipe my face off so I could see through the blood. I placed the tissues in the trash can.
"Uh... Autumn, I think you should see the nurse." Harshwinny said.
"I'm fine." I coughed back.
"Autumn... I insist." She said.
"You said if I was late again, I would go see Cinch. She gets me in the office, I'm dead." I said; possibly more brutal then I intended.
Then, I saw Kyle walk down the hall with Cadence by him. She looked at me and probably told Kyle to wait in her office. She walked in and asked for me. I couldn't say no to Cadence, I just couldn't.
Her husband would force me.
I got up and limped to see Cadence in her office.
"Sit down before you fall down." She said to us.
We sat down and I finally started to notice things about her office.
"You two are here because you are bloodied. Is it your blood, Kyle?" She asked him.
"...Yes." I said.
"Autumn?"
"I don't know if it's mine, or one of the Shadowbolt's knuckles on my face, Cadence. It's most likely both." I said.
"Now, Kyle, do you want me to call your parents to pick you up? You don't have to be here. I'll talk to Cinch about it." Cadence said.
All Kyle did was nod.
"Autumn? Do you wanna go home?" She asked me.
"No. My home is as just as bad as here." I said.
"What do you mean by that? Autumn, what do you mean?"
I was silent. I got up and walked out of the office and into the bathroom to wash my face off. I looked up and saw Trenderhoof, one of the Shadowbolts. He was silent, so I was. I finally finished and I limped back into Harshwinny's class. I took a seat with a clean face, but it was soon bleeding again.
"Autumn, please..." Harshwinny said.
"I'm not going to the nurse." I said.
"Why?"
"Because I'm DONE being beaten everyday! If they wanna beat me, they're gonna have to bleed me DRY!" I said back.
"Autumn--"
"NO. I know that you know. Why do you care all of a sudden?" I asked.
"Because I heard of what happened."
"Yeah, you do know. You always HAVE! WHY DO YOU SUDDENLY CARE ABOUT ME, HARSHWINNY?!" I screamed.
In the aftermath, I was sent home due to what they said was a mental breakdown. When my mom asked me what happened, I just slammed the door and locked it.
I sat on my bed, knowing that my face was bleeding. I soon found some bandages on the nightstand. I decided to use them to stop the bleeding. I hear my mom knock on the door.
"Autumn, please. Tell me what's wrong."
I was silent for a few minutes until I answered.
"You know what's wrong. You always knew. You just don't CARE." I said.
"Autumn, I do care, I do."
"Then why is HE with us, mom?" I asked.
"Because he has nowhere to go, sweetie." Mom said.
"SO WHAT?! He's beating you, beating me because he HAS NOWHERE TO GO?!" I asked angrily.
My mom was silent until I heard footsteps. She left my door.
Thank God.
I noticed that the time was 2. School ended a few minutes ago. Then, my phone went off.
Heard you had an outburst. You okay? Aria texted me.
I'm fine. Just riled up, that's all. I replied.
You wanna come over and talk about it? Aria asked.
I knew that I had to get my face cleaned if I was going. I tore the bandages off and saw my mom in the kitchen, with the chair still ready.
"What made you change your mind?" Mom asked me.
"...I wanna see some friends later."
My mom pounced back.
"You made friends?! Oh, I knew it'll come! Who is she, who is she?!" Mom jumped with joy.
"She's not my girlfriend! Not after Sunset..." I said.
"Oh, right. I get it, it's hard to find a new love after the last one took your virginity and then dumped you."
In that moment, I turned so pale, I looked like the wall.
"You know about that?" I asked.
"I'm your mother, of course I knew. You were 17 and asked to spend the night at your girlfriend's house, do you think I was stupid?" She asked me.
"Okay, that was dumb." I said.
"You can go. Just pack the Trojan again; just in case." Mom joked.
I laughed it off and told Aria that I'll be there before 5.
K see you there. Aria said back.
I drove until I found the address. I parked the car and knocked on the door. Aria answered and let me in.
I saw that the house was empty, but still pretty decent for two 18 year-olds. It had decent flooring, a nice hallway, and two rooms parting at the end.
"Where's Adagio?" I asked.
"Hmm, most likely screwing some guy for money." Aria said.
"Wait, Adagio's a hooker?" I asked with my face turning slightly pale.
"No! She just..."
"Does sex for money?" I asked.
"Yeah. Can we talk about something else?" Aria asked with her face turning red.
"Okay... how about this house? How did you get the money?" I asked.
Aria looked at me and rolled her eyes.
"Oh, right, your hooker sister." I mocked.
Aria then kindly nudged me on the shoulder while starting to crack a smile.
"So... what's the plan?" I asked.
"What?" Aria asked.
"How do we take over the world with these? Sure, Russia's occuppied with that Rabies strain, but what do we do after we take over Crystal Prep? How about the military?" I asked.
Aria was silent for a moment. I could tell she had no idea what to say.
"...So, you're in it for the long haul, huh?" She asked me finally.
"Yep. I'm with you guys. You helped me become... somewhat better, so I'm with you guys in this plan. So, what's the plan?" I asked.
"Well, Adagio has the idea of taking over Crystal Prep first, then we go for CHS. She figured if we had an army, we could do it." Aria said.
CHS...
"Uh... not sure I agree with you there on taking over CHS." I said.
"You think we should leave it alone?" Aria said.
"No... I think we should destroy it." I said.
Aria's face went from questioned to shocked.
"What?! Why?!" She asked me.
I couldn't talk about Sunset... I just couldn't yet.
"Because, my ex-girlfriend is there." I said.
"Who is she?" Aria asked.
I was trapped now, I either had to tell, or she'd figure out.
"Her name was Sunset Shimmer." I said.
Aria then turned pale white.
"W- what do you mean Sunset Shimmer?" Aria asked.
"Sunset's just a slutty bitch who uses others for her own gain. I should've known it wouldn't have ended well... Anyway, I met her about a year ago. It was one-sided, but I didn't care. Then, one day, she invited me over to her place for the night. One thing lead to another, and... A week later, she dumps me for some douche-bag named Flash Sentry..." I said, clenching my teeth near the end.
Aria went from pale to confused.
"What? You know her, did she get you expelled too?" I asked.
"No. In fact what you told me was the exact opposite of her. In fact, she--"
"That's bullshit. All of it, it's just a lie to get people to like her in a new way. Every part of her is still that bitch who slept with me." I said bitterly.
"Autumn... if she was still that, she'd be one of us. You know that, right?" Aria asked.
"And what, risk everyone hating her and moving here to Crystal Prep? Not a chance." I said.
"...Okay, I do see that..." Aria said.
"Aria, I know you and Adagio are different from that." I said.
"How?" Aria asked.
"Because you came to me, I didn't come to you. Now, let's try to lighten up the mood." I said as I was able to find a board game on one of the shelves.
"Monopoly, huh? You're on!" Aria said with a smirk on her face.
We were deep into the game, at least 2 hours in. I just needed Free Parking and I'd win. Aria, however, finally got it.
"Yes! Told you I'd win." Aria said smugly.
"Okay, okay. So I doubted you a little bit..." I chuckled.
We were silent for a minute until Aria scooched next to me.
"So, what took you so long to respond?" She asked.
"...Had to get my face cleaned up first." I said.
"By your mom?" Aria asked.
"Yeah. She was in college to be a doctor, but she wasn't able to get the job. When she learned about the Shadowbolts, she always had the things ready to stop the bleeding. Better than that school nurse, let me tell you." I said chuckling.
By the look of Aria's face, now wasn't the best time for jokes.
"So... let's talk about your family. Do you girls have anyone?" I asked.
"No. Not anymore. We had a sister, her name was Sonata. She was, I don't know how else to say it, retarded. She always acted like everything was just a big game. Sometimes, I needed that." Aria said.
"What happened to her?" I asked.
"After the Battle of The Bands, we were homeless. We were holding up in a homeless shelter when we left. Without her." She said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because Adagio said we needed to cut her loose if we were gonna take over the world. I still miss her, but there's no finding her now." Aria said.
"I'm sorry. The way you described her, that reminded me of my sister." I said.
"What happened to her?" Aria asked.
"She went to CHS too. She stayed while I was at Crystal Prep. When I was there, I knew that she and Sunset didn't get along. When I went to visit her one day, I found a note. It said: 'Autumn Flier, you are my brother. I love you and I don't want you to do what I did.' I looked downstairs and I found her. On the ground. In a pool of her own blood. Gun inside her hand." I said.
Aria then placed her hand in mine. I didn't know what to do but accept it. She then put her head on mine. I heard her start to cry with her head on my shoulder. I held it there and I felt the tears fall down my eyes. We stayed like this until we just couldn't cry anymore. We then heard a knock on the door.
"Aria? Autumn? It's me. Let me in, please." Adagio said with panted breath.
"Told you so." I said in her ear as she got up to answer the door.
I wish I wasn't in a laughing mood with what she said when she entered.
"What is it?" I asked her.
She turned at me and I saw a tear fall down her cheek.
It's been 2 days since my mom's murder. Apparently, my father, in a drunken rage, beat my mother until she fell out of the window and into the concrete. They took him for questioning and I was sent to my home to gather my belongings. They asked me if I had a place to go, Adagio and Aria said I could move in with them.
I said yes on the spot.
I unplugged the PS4 and stuffed it into a bag. I grabbed the games along with it. I saw an old photo of me, my dad, and my mom. I pulled the photo out of the frame and ripped my father out of the picture. I put it back into the frame, and into my bag. I finally grabbed as many spare clothes as I could.
"You ready?" Aria asked me.
"I'm ready." I said as I placed the bag on my back and headed back to the truck.
"What happens now?" I asked Aria.
"I don't know, what do you want to happen?" Aria asked.
"First thing's first: I'm NOT going to Crystal Prep tomorrow, the next day, or ever again. I'm done being beaten from them. If any of them touch me after this, I'd kill them." I said to Aria.
"I'll stay home too." Aria said quickly after I finished my sentence.
"Okay... why?" I asked.
"Your mother just died, I don't want you to... have any thoughts." Aria said.
Aria...
"I... alright." I said.
We got into the van and Aria drove us back... home.
"After we take over the world, I wanna find him." I said.
"Then?" Aria asked.
"...Then, I'm gonna kill him."
After we went back home, Aria volunteered to share her room with me. I didn't try to debate, and I started setting up a side of the room for me. I'm not going to say that it was a mess, but it was pretty stuffy. I found a good place to set a bed, but until everything else was brought in tomorrow, I had to share a bed with Aria.
Good God...
I found an outlet for the PS4 for when the T.V was brought in. I placed my bag in front of it and I started looking through my bag.
"Um... Autumn?"
I leaped back and saw Aria with a controller for me.
"You can take that T.V. if you want..." Aria offered.
Me and Aria were deep into a round of COD: Zombies. Aria was doing pretty good, actually...
"Did you play this before?" I asked.
"Sonata always did. I was forced to watch her play, and she always wanted me to play with her, so I-- CRAP!" Aria said as she was pinned.
I ran to get her, but the zombies got me first.
"Well, good game?" I asked.
"Yeah. Good game." Aria smirked.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing..." Aria said.
"Hey! Want to eat or what?!" Adagio called out.
"We should go." I said.
"Sure." Aria said.
We both headed out and started eating.
"Look, Autumn, about your mother--" Adagio started.
"I'm fine. Just don't mention it yet..." I said as I took a bite.
"Okay..." Adagio said.
"How about Sunset?" Aria asked.
"Fire away." I said.
"How did you two meet? How were you drawn to her?" Aria asked.
"Well... I met her on my first day. I was 16 at the time. She started talking some shit, but I thought that I saw right through her. I thought that we had a connection. But after she left me for Flash, the whole thing came apart... She started blackmailing me to keep our night a secret. One day, I was ratted out on dating her. I was soon kicked out after some things Sunset did and blamed me on. Now..." I said.
Aria didn't say a word. She held me in an embrace. Adagio joined a second after. We held it for what seemed to be an hour. I noticed that Aria was holding the tightest for some reason...
"Um... Aria? You're kinda getting a little tight here." I said.
"Hu-- OH! Sorry..." Aria said as she and Adagio quickly let go.
Well, there goes that moment.
After we ate, I decided to call an old family friend.
"Frank?" I asked.
"Autumn? What is it?" He asked.
"Mom died a few days ago." I said.
"Yeah, I know. I wanted to talk to you about that. You're always welcome to live with me." Frank said.
"Thanks, but I already live somewhere else." I said.
"Well, if you can, can you look for Scootaloo for me? I- I know that I ask every phone call, but... please?" Frank asked.
With everything happening, I comepletly forgot about Scootaloo. According to Frank, he abused her in an orphanage before he "found Jesus".
"You got it." I said.
"Thank you." Frank said as he hanged up.
"Who was that?" Aria asked, nearly scaring the crap out of me.
"Aria! That was just an old family friend. Frank." I said.
"Well, sorry for scaring you. I just wanted to say that we should turn in. Big day tomorrow..." Aria said.
"Yeah, Adagio deciding we should start making plans and all..." I said as I yawned.
I turned around and quickly remembered that we'd have to share a bed.
"Um... you take left, I take right?" I asked with my face quickly turning red.
"Sure..." Aria said.
After we got ready, I went in first. I faced the wall and Aria went in next. As soon as the feeling of her back hit me, I felt flushed.
"Please try not to crush me back here." I begged.
"Sure..." Aria said.
We tried sleeping for at least an hour, but no luck.
"You still up?" Aria asked.
"...Yeah." I said.
"Autumn?"
"Yeah? I asked.
"Can... can you turn around for a minute?" Aria asked.
"Alright." I said as I turned around.
What I didn't expect was the long peck on the lips from Aria and the embrace that followed.
I was stunned. Aria just... she just kissed me. How could I react? I opened my mouth and tried to say something, but I didn't have to. She was already dead asleep, still in the embrace. I tried to escape the embrace, but failed. Actually...
Her breath was kind of soothing...
I rested my head back on her sholder and closed my eyes as easily as I could. Before I could stop it, I fell asleep like a rock.
I woke up, still in Aria's bed, but no Aria in sight. I got up and quickly smelled one of my favorite food:
Bacon?
I got up, got dressed, walked out, and saw Adagio at the oven and Aria at the table, giving me some happy (Lusty?) look.
"Aria? You okay?" I asked, trying to cover up the act from Adagio.
"Don't bother. She told me about her move last night. And depending by the fact of where you walked out a few seconds ago, I think you didn't complain..." Adagio said.
My face turned into a ripe tomato as I took a seat. After I took a seat, I took in a moment to consider my surroundings: A house, without a father who was too lazy or too drunk to do anything. I felt... normal for a change.
Then I remembered that my mother had died about one week ago. Adagio noticed my change in tone and moved closer.
"I never got to say it, but... we are truly sorry about your mother. We wish we got to meet her..." Adagio said sadly.
I was silent as Adagio handed me a plate. I took a bite, not expecting much, but instead found heaven inside meat.
"Man... this is good, Adagio. Did you make this yourself?" I asked.
"Yes, actually. Before we found Canterlot High, we had to go through many, many jobs in order to get more power. But that was nothing compared to the Equestrian Magic we felt around... um..." Adagio struggled.
"Kyle. Kyle Williams, I think." I said.
Aria quickly snapped out of the look and more of a paranoid one.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"This... Kyle. I think he's... the one." Aria gulped mid-sentence.
Adagio almost dropped the pan on the ground.
"The-- THE WHAT?!" Adagio screamed.
"The one... who's going to try to stop us. You still know, right?" Aria asked paranoidly.
Why am I being left out of the conversation?
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Kyle. I thought it was him... he's... he's..."
"He's what, Aria? What is he?" I asked.
"He's... he's our half-brother." Aria said.
"Okay, so--" I quickly remembered that they were Sirens.
"There's a prophecy about him. It goes that he'll either be our greatest ally, or our most dangerous foe..." Adagio said.
"Wait, Kyle? He can't hurt a fly." I said.
"It must be a disguise, or a cover-up." Adagio said.
"Who was his dad?" Aria asked.
"I... I never met his dad. I heard about someone named Henry Williams dying in an orphanage fire about a year ago." I said.
"Henry... it might be him." Aria said.
"Well, until we know who he is, let's just try to ignore it." I said.
"Autumn, we all felt Equestrian magic from him! Anything's possible, now!" Adagio said.
"He doesn't know where we live, and he's held by--" I quicky thought about him and the Shadowbolts.
"There's nothing we can do. It's you or him." Adagio said coldly.
"...I know." I said back.
After the Kyle scare, Adagio volunteered to go to school today. Aria wanted to stay here with me, again. I took a seat in the living room and turned on the T.V. Aria joined in soon after I found the news channel. We were silent for several minutes, until Aria looked at me.
"What do we do now?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"If Kyle's who we think he is, what do we do?" Aria asked me.
"I don't know. He'll probably join us. If not, we gotta stop him." I said.
"How?" Aria asked.
"We'll worry about it when it goes down. Let's just plan the domination for now." I said.
"...It's not that I'm worried about." Aria said.
"...I know." I said.
"I'm sorry I jumped you like that. It was just... in the past few days, I felt a lot of things I never felt before. I couldn't figure it out until I saw Adagio run in and say that your mom... in that moment, I learned, that it was you. And last night... that was my breaking point." Aria said.
I simply lowered my hand and placed it in hers. She jolted slightly, but she soon relaxed.
"How do you feel about it?" Aria asked.
"How do I feel? I don't know. The last time I was in love, it was with... I know you're not like her in the slightest. It doesn't matter if you're evil, it doesn't matter if you left your sister. You came to me; and to be honest... I felt something too. Something that I didn't feel with Sunset. Somthing I never felt: I felt... SAFE. I couldn't figure out why until that night: I felt safe... because of you." I said, holding her hand tighter.
I turned my head to face her. She then moved slowly towards me. I did the same.
I woke up next to Aria. It was at least an hour after we... well...
You know.
"You up?" I asked Aria.
"Yep." She said without budging.
We were silent, until I asked
"What do we do now?"
"Huh?" Aria asked.
"What are we now? Friends? More? Less? What are we now?" I asked.
"What do you want us to be?" Aria asked.
"I... I don't know wh--"
"ARIA?! AUTUMN! I'M BACK!"
Crap...
Ohcrapohcrapohcrap!
"Lock the door!" I whispered.
"It is!" Aria said.
"Go, hurry! Get your clothes on!" I whispered.
"You two here?" Adagio asked.
"Yeah, just... give us a second!" Aria said.
We clustered our clothes on and opened the door.
"Hey..." I said, panting for breath.
"You alright?" Adagio said.
"Yeah, we're fine." Aria said.
"We just woke up, that's all..." I said.
I could tell she saw through that, but didn't say anything to save our embarrassment.
Adagio told me that they didn't care about my dropout and they were partially sorry for my loss.
"As much as I don't want to say anything about this, there is a silver lining to this..." Adagio said.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Now there's nothing to stop us from making out plan--"
"NO. What do you mean by that?!" I asked.
"Look, Autumn--"
"I'm NOT talking about this! She just died, you BITCH!" I said as I went back into our room.
"Autumn, wait!" Aria said as she ran in and closed the door.
She panted for breath and closed the door completely.
"I get that it does mean something, but she was my mother, god damn it! Just tell her to wait, alright? I can't use the amulet right now, and we have all of the time in the world, okay? Just... please." I begged.
"Autumn..." Aria said as she embraced me.
I held her back, and before I knew it, we were on the floor, holding each other as my eyes were starting to water. I felt myself chocking up and I wrapped my head into her shoulder. We stayed there for what seemed to be hours until Adagio knocked.
"Are you two okay in there?" She asked.
"We're fine." I said as I noticed that Aria had fallen asleep.
She's so cute when she's asleep...
I placed her on the bed and I walked out.
"Um... sorry, about calling you a bitch like that. It's just... I..." I started.
"No, no. It's alright. I was practically asking for it. Besides, I guess, in the end of the day, there is no bright side in this. I'm so sorry for what I said to you. Especially right after..." Adagio said.
"Don't apologize. You said you were there, trying to talk my dad out of it? My mom knew who you were, she said I told you-- and I did-- that we could help each other. You helped me, and now I have to return the favor." I said.
"You don't have to do anything--"
"No. I know I don't have to, but... I want to. I want to do this with you two. I want to change things; I don't care how people'll think about me. I have nothing left but this..." I held up the amulet.
"...And you two." I said.
Adagio nodded and went up to probably go to the bathroom.
But instead, she kissed my cheek.
"Why did she do that?!" I asked Aria after Adagio left for work.
"I don't know. I don't really care, either..." Aria said.
"What?! How could you not care?!" I asked.
"Look, after we take the world over, what then? We need to set up laws, rules. Maybe... there're a few we can cut out." Aria said.
"So, you want polygamy to be legal?" I asked.
"Look, if she makes a move on you, just say what you want to say. Not what you think I would want you to say." Aria said.
"Look, Aria... when you two found me, I had nothing left. I... if you won't really care, if Adagio asks... I'll accept." I said.
Aria's look didn't change. She just kissed me again.
"Just invite me..." She whispered in my ear.
I was still coming to terms with what Aria said. She wants... me, her, and Adagio-- her own sister-- to...
Damn.
She sat next to me and I realized something.
"Hey, Aria." I said.
"Yeah?" Aria asked.
"Where does Adagio work?" I asked.
"Oh? She's a waitress." Aria said.
"Where...?" I asked, but I already knew the answer.
"Hooters." Aria said.
"Yeah, I knew it." I said.
Aria chuckled and bumped my shoulder.
"This is weird..." I said.
"What is?" Aria asked.
"Laughing a week after my mother was murdered. It feels weird, but I can't stop it." I said.
"Autumn... don't think about it. When our mother died, back in Equestria, we didn't have time to think about it. We just... did it. Look where that got us. We live here, we're planning to take over a weak world..." Aria started.
"Yeah, when Adagio gets back, tell her that we should start planning." I said.
"You got it." Aria said as she was reading a magizine.
We were gathered in the kitchen, planning the assault.
"Okay, so, with the gang you somehow came across and hypnotized, we can go straight to the gates after school. When they come to school that day, we do it. We sing and the students will be as good as ours." I said to them.
"Okay, but what if someone sees?" Aria said.
"Screw it. The world's going to learn sooner or later." I said.
"Hmm... you have a point. So, I was thinking on what our laws should be, and I hit a problem: How about rationing? How can we grow our own food? We don't know the slightest about farming." Adagio said.
"Didn't that 'Applejack' character farm?" I asked.
"Yeah, but we can't control them, or Kyle." Aria said.
"We need to get Kyle on our side, and fast. Is there any chance you can track him or something?" I asked.
"Yes, I think so. It'll take me a few days back, but it'll work." Adagio said as she started to sing a different melody.
She kept playing and her eyes turned black when she opened them. She kept playing as she was trying to work out the scene.
"What do you see?" I asked.
"It... looks like a living room. I see Kyle talking to... is that Miss Chrysalis? Wait-- what is she--" Adagio gasped and she was knocked out of the vision.
"What did you see?!" I asked.
"Kyle... he... Chrysalis... this is bad, Aria. This is VERY bad!" Adagio cried.
"Oh, she did NOT!" Aria said.
"She did." Adagio said.
"What happened?! What the hell did you--" I realized it.
Chrysalis molested Kyle.
"There was nothing you could do." Aria said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"We could've brought him with us..." Adagio said.
"We'll be fine." Aria said.
"But the prophecy! It said that he must lose his virginity to us, not some phedophile!" Adagio said.
"You weren't really going to do it, were you?!" Aria asked.
"Well, someone had to!" Adagio said.
I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but better than Aria sleeping with Kyle...
"How about Sona--" Aria started.
The room was silent as Adagio scooched up.
"Someone had to, and you have Autumn." Adagio said.
Aria sighed and sat down.
"Let's go." Aria said grimly.
"Let's go what?" I asked.
Aria turned to face me. She pulled something out of her pantleg and tossed it to me.
It was a pistol.
"Let's go take over this damned world."
We were in the truck, driving near Crystal Prep when the radio flickered.
"This is the Emergency Channel, broadcasting on all known frequencies. The Russian Rabies Outbreak has managed to reach the U.S. This strain is known to cause aggression in the recently deceased. I repeat, America has been struck with..." The radio broke up.
"Damn..." Aria started.
"We can build the walls up. We can." I said.
"Stop the truck." Adagio said.
We stopped and Adagio took off her seatbelt and got out.
"Whoa, what are you doing?!" I asked.
"Kyle will stop us. I will not let that happen to me." Adagio said as she ran into the dawn.
"ADAGIO!" I called.
"Shh! They're here!" Aria said.
The bus rolled up and students walked out.
"Now what?" I asked.
"Easy: We wait." Aria said.
"Wait for what, rabid zombies to kill us?!" I asked.
"No. We wait until the end of the day, when the first few busses are out, and we move in, and take them over... by force." Aria said.
"You and me. Rulers." I said as I took her hand.
She turned and kissed me.
"I think we can waste some time..." Aria said as she held out the box of Trojan.
"Don't mind if I do..." I whispered in her ear as I grabbed one from the box.
As soon as I did, I was pinned to the back of the truck by Aria.
Adagio was running to the only place she knew of. The place where she might survive.
Canterlot High.
She ran and banged on the doors. Cars were parked out the back.
"Help! I saw a horde of them follow me!" Adagio cried.
The doors swung open and a hand stretched out to take Adagio in. She looked and saw Sonata, holding her hand.
"Thank you." Adagio said as she took the hand.
The day was over. We saw Kyle walk on to the bus and drive out.
"Now." Aria said.
I revved the truck and drove up to the gates. We saw what seemed to be one of the Infected leap past the gates and attack a teacher. I drew the pistol and shot the Infected and the bitten teacher. I noticed that he had a blowhorn. I grabbed it and handed it to Aria, who started to sing. Once we were sure that everyone was hit, I grabbed the bullhorn.
"Students and teachers of Crystal Prep! The Zombie War is upon us. We can only survive if we pull TOGETHER! If you want to survive, if you want to fight, FOLLOW US, LIKE YOU FOLLOWED CINCH!" I cried.
People came running out and praised us.
"Use the busses, then the dumpsters! Build up that wall!" Aria said as she snatched the bullhorn.
The power that was sent into the amulet...
I wonder what it'd be like with Adagio's on me as well...
I put the spare amulet on my neck and I felt an adrenaline rush of power. I collapsed to the ground for a moment, until I took the other amulet off.
"Autumn! Are you okay?!" Aria asked.
I answered by chuckling, then laughing, and then, finally, cackling.
I had all I wanted, and more.
And I had to make it work, because this is the Zombie War...