Back to School

by Thunder Roller

First published

After making friends with The Rainbooms, The Dazzlings must face the consequences of their actions while trying to prove to their classmates that they have changed.

So much has happened during Spring Break. Sunset Shimmer found The Dazzlings living under a bridge, people found love, and The Dazzlings decided to become reformed. At first, they weren't going to go back to school.

But time has changed, and so have they. The Rainbooms and The Dazzlings came up with a plan to prove to the school that the three ex-sirens have changed, and they are determined to make it work. Sounds simple, right?

But what about Sonata's little problem...

Author's Note: If you notice any mistakes, please let me know and I will fix them as soon as possible. Also, if you want to see anything happen in this story, please let me know and Lightning Bolt and I will consider it.

Co-Author: Lightning Bolt
Editor: Cloudfilly
Backup Editor: Sunatta

Sleeping Arrangement

View Online

At the Canterlot High School statue, The Rainbooms (minus Twilight) and the reformed Dazzlings allowed their laughter to subside before they started gathering their things. As Sonata was bending over to pick up one of the mall bags, she shot back up with her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Whatever is the matter?" Rarity asked, raising a concerned eyebrow. "Did you forget something?"

"No, we all forgot something!" Sonata said, putting her hands on Rarity's shoulder.

"What, new pencils?" Sunset asked. "I'm pretty sure we got that."

"No! Where we're going to stay!" Sonata said, motioning toward herself and her fellow ex-sirens.

"You could keep staying with me!" Pinkie suggested.

"And keep sleeping on your floor?" Aria asked, crossing her arms. "No thanks. I'm starting to get back cramps."

"None taken." Pinkie said with a shrug.

"Well, Ah do have an extra room at the farm." Applejack suggested.

"Uh, no offence Applejack." Rainbow said, putting her hand on Applejack's shoulder. "But I don't think they would want to stay in the room in the barn, sleeping next to the cows and possible on chicken crap."

Adagio shivered. "No thanks. I don't want to get my hair messed up."

"You're starting to sound like Rarity." Rainbow said with a grin. "Maybe that would be a good idea."

"Hey!" Rarity said, wrapping her arms around Adagio. "Her hair is a masterpiece!"

"And full of volume." Aria said with a teasing grin.

"What about you, Rarity?" Applejack asked, looking to her fashionable friend. "Do you have any extra rooms?"

"I wish I did." Rarity said apologetically. "I only have my room and the room Sweetie Belle sleeps in."

"Rainbow?" Applejack asked.

"I do, but after that party, my parents won't let me have friends stay the night, let alone live there."

"Flutters?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh!" Fluttershy said, lowering her head. "My house is very small, and the guest bedroom is far too little to hold three."

"Well, Ah guess Ah could call Twilight." Applejack suggested.

"But she just went through the portal." Aria said, motioning toward the Canterlot High Statue.

"No, darling." Rarity said, putting her hand on Aria's shoulder. "A lot happened when you girls disappeared. This world's Twilight used to go to Crystal Prep, the rival school to Canterlot High. After the Friendship Games, she transferred to our school."

"Then why didn't we meet her?" Adagio asked, confused.

"She went to stay with Dean Cadence for Spring Break." Sunset explained.

"She went to stay with a Dean for Spring Break?" Sonata asked, confused.

"Dean Cadence is married to Twilight's brother."

When no one else said anything more, Applejack pulled out her phone, dialled Twilight's number, and put it on Speaker Phone.

"Hello?" Twilight's voice said after a few rings.

"Howdy, Twilight." Applejack said with a smile. "Remember when we told you about The Dazzlings?"

"Hello, Applejack. Yes, I remember. I have the pendents."

"You have our pendent shards?!" Adagio said in shock.

"... Who was that?"

"That was Adagio. Sunset ran into the Dazzlings at the beginin' of Spring Break, and we ended up becoming friends with them." Applejack explained. "But, they got evicted from their apartment, and now we're trying to find a place they could stay. Ah was wonderin' if you have any room for them at your place."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't." Twilight said apologetically. "Even though I used to go to a 'rich kids school', my house isn't very impressive. Sunset's is though! Its plenty big!"

"Thanks Twilight." Sunset said her voice tinged with annoyance. "Thanks for selling me out."

"Oh, sorry, Sunset." Twilight said. "I guess you didn't tell them about that. If you want your pendents back, I can bring them to Sunset's place later. I've gotten all the research I can from them."

"What did you find?" Pinkie Pie asked, leaning toward the phone while seemingly defying gravity.

"Well, you would think that you could learn a lot from them. First of all, they are Rubies, finely polished, and one of them had a strange smell. Kind of like tacos."

"That is from Sonata accidentally spilling tacos seasoning on it." Aria pointed out.

"That would explain it. Anyhow, I could find a faint aura about them, but it slowly vanished. I managed to trap it in my device, but all of that was erased after the Friendship Games."

"That might have been what turned you into the She-Demon!" Pinkie suggested.

"Thanks, Pinkie." Twilight said with a groan. "Anyhow, that was all I could find. At this point, they are just regular rubies. I located a jeweller, and he said he could fix them, for a price. Took my whole allowance."

"You fixed them?" Adagio asked. "You didn't have to do that."

"Well, after I found all I could, I figured that there was no point in keeping them how they were. Besides, I kept getting cut on them. I have them labelled by how I found them on the stage. One, two, and three. If you can figure out where you were standing, then the respective ones can be given to their proper owner."

"How was it labelled?" Sunset asked. "I remember where they were standing."

"Number order from the audience perspective."

"Then one is Aria, two is Adagio, and three is Sonata." Sunset said from her memory.

"Good, then I'll replace the number labels with their names." Twilight said. "I'll bring them by your place at Three."

"Thanks, Twilight." Applejack said. "See ya later."

"Bye everyone!"

Applejack ended the call and stuffed her phone in her pocket.

"Well, Ah guess this means ya'll be staying with Sunset." Applejack said with a smile. "Where they gonna sleep, Sunset?"

"I have an extra room, if you guy's don't mind sharing." Sunset offered. "If not, one of you could sleep on the couch?"

"I will sleep with you, Sunny." Adagio said, placing an arm around Sunset's waist. "You don't mind, do you?"

"That way, Ari and I have the room all to ourselves!" Sonata said, hugging Aria. "All to ourselves..."

Aria chuckled. "I'm not that easy, Sonata."

"Rats!"

"So how about it, Sunset?" Rainbow asked, grinning. "Sleep with your girl, or kick her to the couch?"

Sunset was nervous. She didn't mind the Dazzlings sharing her home, but sleeping in the same bed with her new girlfriend felt like asking too much. Her friends had knowing looks on their faces, and she didn't want to be rude. She sighed, and nodded.

"Alright, Adagio can sleep with me." Sunset said, almost regretting it instantly. "Just try to keep it down with the make-outs, okay?"

"No promises." Aria said, pulling Sonata in close.

"Things have just escalated quickly." Pinkie said, blinking twice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After they left the school, they swung by Pinkie's place to grab Mr. Feathers, Aria's guitar, and The Dazzling's old clothes. Pinkie offered to drop them off at Sunset's place, but she refused, saying that she didn't feel comfortable with her going that far out of her way. Then, they left Pinkie's house, and made their way to Sunset's place. Along the way, they crossed the bridge, and followed the river. As they continued, the river grew wider and wider, until it grew into a lake.

Bright blue water, freshly cut lawns, nice looking homes, boats out on the water, a friendly old lady in a rocking chair on her porch, and all in all, a pretty nice neighbourhood. In fact, she lived next to the friendly old lady. In a small, white, two story house with a small front porch. Her lawn was freshly cut, and her bushes were trimmed. They walked up the stairs onto the porch, Sunset fishing her keys out of her pocket.

"Sunset!" A creaky old voice called out.

Sunset turned to look, and saw that the friendly old lady was leaning on her railing, waving her hand.

"Yes, Granny?" Sunset called out.

"I had my grandson come by and cut your lawn for you!" She said with a smile. "I offered to pay him, but he refused, saying he owed you!"

"Yeah, he said his tire was worn out, so I gave him some money to replace it!"

"He said you gave him some Garden Gnomes!" Granny said, a little confused.

"I gave him those Gnomes after he helped me fix a light switch!" Sunset called out.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that!" A new voice said, making the girls turn their heads.

"Hey, Air Guitar!" Sunset said with a smile.

Coming up the stairs onto Sunset's porch, was a teenage boy with shaggy blond hair, a red sleeveless shirt, distressed jeans, and workbooks with white paint on them. He seemed friendly, but also looked like he caused a lot of trouble. He stopped on the stairs, giving a toothy grin.

"Hey, Sunset! Who are the babes?" Air Guitar asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Their taken." Sunset said, lightly punching him in the arm.

"Alright! You're pimpin'!" He said, nodding his head.

"Boys will be boys!" Granny called out.

"She's not 'pimpin'." Aria said, crossing her arms. "We're moving in with her."

"Thats cool, thats cool. So, which one of these babes are yours?" Air Guitar asked, raising both eyebrows few times.

"Adagio." Sunset said, thumbing toward her girlfriend.

"Whoa, I was only kidding." Air Guitar said, holding up his hands. "But if you're into that, its cool."

"I am, and it is cool." Sunset said with a chuckle.

"See ya, I gotta tell everyone!" Air Guitar said before running away.

"Who was that?" Sonata asked, confused. "He's weird."

"Thats Air Guitar." Sunset said, still chuckling. "He calls himself 'The Neighbourhood Watch'. Any news, he spreads it around like wildfire. Even though he seems weird, he's really helpful. In fact, he helped me move in.

"Even though I wasn't very nice about it. Thankfully, he took it with a grain of salt. He always does."

Sunset unlocked her front door, and lead The Dazzlings inside. The walls were painted with a yellowish color, and her furniture was red. She had a couch that faced toward the wall, where a T.V. set. She had a few pictures hanging on the walls of her and her friends doing things together, and a hardwood coffee table in front of the couch with a red doily laid across it.

"Nice place." Adagio said, looking around.

"Air Guitar helped me with most of it." Sunset said, nodding. "Even though I was mean to him about it, I didn't want to change it."

"You would be crazy to do so." Adagio agreed.

Sunset then chuckled. "You should've seen what the neighbourhood was like when I first moved in."

"What do you mean?" Sonata asked.

"Well, I was kind of a hermit. I didn't leave the house unless I was going to school or getting groceries. They had this crazy rumor going around about me."

"What was the rumor?" Aria asked.

"It rained a lot when I first moved in, and they thought I caused it. Then, it stopped raining for a long time, and they thought I caused that as well. But after The Fall Formal, I started interacting with the neighbours more, and that rumor vanished."

"That wasn't nice of them." Sonata said, lowering her head.

"What did you expect?" Sunset asked. "A teenage girl who lives by herself comes to the neighbourhood, doesn't talk to anyone, and crazy weather patterns come out of nowhere? That kind of thing is bound to attract attention."

An upbeat, humorous musical chime sounded around the house, causing Sunset and Sonata to laugh. Adagio and Aria just simply looked around, somewhat confused on the choice of doorbell chime. Sunset walked to the door, and opened it, revealing a tall, muscular man wearing tan cargo shorts and a white sleeveless shirt. He had short brown hair, and stood with his hands behind his back.

"Hey, A.R." Sunset said, still chuckling due to the doorbell. "Whats up?"

"Air Guitar just told me three girls moved in with you, and you're dating one of them. I didn't believe him, so I've come to see for myself."

"Yeah, its true." Sunset said with a nod.

"Huh." A.R. said with a nod. "Well, I can't hate someone for liking the same thing I do."

"Uh... Thanks?" Sunset said, a little confused.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to meet them."

"Oh, Sweet!" Sonata shouted. "Sunset has Cool-Aid! Dibs!"

"Looks like they decided to take the tour themselves." Sunset said, looking back into the house. "I get that you want to meet them, but they really haven't had the chance to settle in yet."

"AWESOME!" Aria shouted. "PIZZA!"

"Gotta go, bye!" Sunset said, quickly shutting the door and running toward the kitchen. "DON'T EAT THE PIZZA!"

Settling In

View Online

In Sunset's kitchen, The Dazzlings were sitting at the table with Mr. Feathers in his cage, their heads hanging low. Sunset paced back and forth in front of them, shaking her head from time to time.

"Really?" Sunset asked, taking a moment to glance at The Dazzlings. "Really?"

"We were hungry." Sonata defended, not making eye contact with Sunset.

"We ate at the mall!" Sunset said a little too loudly.

"But it was a long walk!"

"Fifteen minutes at most!" Sunset said, throwing her hands in the air. "None of you looked tired when we got to my porch! What changed between your walk from the living room and to the kitchen?"

"Three steps." Aria muttered under her breath, crossing her arms.

"Its obvious that I'm going to have to set up some rules." Sunset said with a sigh. "I assumed that I wouldn't have to because of how well behaved you were at Pinkie's, but apparently I was wrong."

"Rules?" Aria asked, looking up. "Really?"

"Rule number one, no raiding the kitchen."

"She's serious, isn't she?"

"Rule number two, don't talk when I'm talking."

Aria humphed.

"I don't like this either, Aria." Sunset said with a sigh. "But I have to take precautions. If any of you could go around doing whatever you want, we won't have any food left in the kitchen, and we would go hungry."

"Alright, 'Mom'." Aria said, rolling her eyes. "What are the other rules?"

"Rule number three, no fighting."

"Uh, hello?" Aria asked, raising her hand. "Sonata and I are together now."

"Yes, but even couples have their spats." Sunset said, nodding. "Rule number four, there are three meals a day. Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper. You can have a small snack between lunch and supper, but it has to be something small. I will buy some snack cakes and a few other things that can be used as a snack, but nothing more than one of those."

"That seams reasonable." Adagio said. "Anything else?"

"Yes, now that all of you are living with me now, I expect weight to be pulled. I can't go around cleaning up after all of you, so if you make a mess, you need to clean it. That includes keeping your room clean." Sunset said, looking to Aria and Sonata. "I'll also set up some chores for you three."

"Chores?" Aria asked in disbelief. "We're not kids you know!"

"Like I said, everyone needs to pull their weight. Some might call this 'earning your keep'. To be fair, everyone will have a chance to do each chore at least once until we find out who does what the best."

"Alright, who does what?" Adagio asked, tilting her head.

"I'll be cooking for the first week. Adagio, you'll do the dishes, Sonata, you'll be doing the laundry, and Aria, you'll keep the floors clean. This includes sweeping, moping, and vacuuming."

"Ugh, I hate moping." Aria said, crossing her arms.

"But you're so good at it." Adagio cooed as she pinched Aria's cheeks.

"Don't touch my face." Aria grumbled as she smacked her hand away.

"Only I can do that!" Sonata said happily as she pinched Aria's other cheek.

"Not even you." Aria said as she smacked Sonata's hand as well.

"Aww..."

"Anything else?" Adagio asked, leaning back in her chair.

"Just keep Mr. Feather's fed, watered, and keep his cage clean. Other than that, I really can't think of anything else."

When no one said anything else, Sunset nodded her head proudly and walked out of the kitchen. But she was still close enough when she heard Mr. Feather's say something.

"Damn, what a bitch."

"Hey!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening Sunset was in the kitchen, making a nice supper for everyone. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and sweat peas. For a while when she first came to this world, she had a hard time eating meat. Of course, she didn't know what it was at first, but when she figured it out, she had a hard time staying away from it. She eventually gave up and started eating it again.

Sure, she still felt bad about it at times, but she found comfort in learning that humans were Omnivores. She learned this by finding that she had canines in her mouth, and confirmed it by reading books on the subject. She hoped that The Dazzlings also knew this, seeing that they have been around for a thousand years. More than likely, they did know. She had seen them eating meat after all.

She pulled out four plates from the cabinets and set them out on the table, then put out an equal portion on each plate. When each plate was full, she saw that she still had left-overs, not being used to cooking for four people. She sighed then placed the left-overs on the counter. At least there was more in case someone wasn't full. She paced over to the kitchen door and called out.

"Supper's ready!" With her hands cupped around her mouth.

She then saw Aria and Sonata racing around the corner, struggling to beat each other into the kitchen. Sunset narrowly dodged the two as they ran past her, quickly taking a seat at the table. She simply shook her head as Adagio calmly walked past her.

"Are they always like this?" Sunset asked.

"Only on the days that end in 'Y'." Adagio said with a chuckle.

Sunset shared the laughter as she went to one of the empty chairs, seeing that Aria and Sonata had already started eating.

"Dis eh eally ood!" Sonata said with her mouth full.

"Sonata, don't talk with your mouth full." Adagio said, laying a napkin on her lap.

"Ah, Onata!" Aria agreed, also with her mouth full. "Don alk wih our mough ull!"

"Smart Ass!" Mr. Feathers shouted from the living room.

"Did he really just hear her from in there?" Sunset asked, confused.

"Bacon Bitch!"

"I guess that answers that." Adagio said with a chuckle.

"I wonder just how many words he knows." Sunset said while tapping her chin. "I could ask Fluttershy, but even she was surprised that the largest portion of his vocabulary being curse words."

"I wonder if one of them is pussy fart." Sonata said after swallowing, causing Sunset to drop her fork in laughter.

"Sonata, ha ha ha!" Sunset said while laughing. "Thats not funny, ha ha ha!"

"Then why are you laughing?" Sonata asked, tilting her head.

"Sonata, pussy fart is two words." Aria said dully.

"Can we please stop talking about pussy farts at the table?" Adagio asked with a serious tone.

After taking a moment to compose herself, Sunset straightened up her shirt and once again attempted to eat.

"Adagio is right, we shouldn't talk like that at the table." Sunset said before giving a small chuckle. "Anything else, just not that."

Sunset picked up some of her meatloaf on her fork, and brought it toward her mouth. But just before she could bite down on it, her doorbell rung. Normally, it would be funny, but now it was just aggravating. With a small grunt, she put down her fork and got up.

"I'll get it." Sunset said, walking out of the kitchen.

A small part of her wanted to yell at whoever rung her doorbell, but that side of her was locked deep inside and wasn't getting out anytime soon. She still felt bad for yelling at Twilight at the Friendship Games. As calmly as she could, she went to her front door and opened it, seeing Granny on the other side, accompanied by Air Guitar, A.R., and Star Gazer. Star Gazer was the overly-friendly neighbour, a little shorter than Air Guitar, wearing blue jeans, a black Tee Shirt with stars all over it, and was a little on the heavy side. He had more facial hair than he did on the top of his head, but that wasn't really saying much since he only had a buzz cut.

"What are all of you doing here?" Sunset asked, confused.

"Oh, we just wanted to give your friends a little 'Welcome to the Neighbourhood Gift Basket'." Granny said as A.R. revealed the gift basket from behind his back.

"Even though one of them is a little more than a friend, eh Sunset?" Air Guitar said with a grin.

Sunset couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, I guess so Air Head."

"Air 'Guitar'." He corrected.

"Bullshit!" Mr. Feathers shouted while flapping his wings.

"Did that bird just cuss?" Granny asked, peeking past Sunset.

"Yeah, Adagio adopted him from the Animal Shelter." Sunset said with a nod. "We didn't teach him."

"Adagio, the girl with the really wild hair?" Granny asked with a smile.

"Yeah, thats her." Sunset nodded.

"I really don't know today's fashion, but maybe she should consider getting it cut." Granny suggested.

"I don't know... I kinda like it like that." Sunset said with a shrug.

"Well, can they come out so we can give them the basket?" A.R. asked, holding it up.

"You're really looking for an excuse to see them, aren't you?" Sunset asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I just don't want to be that guy who hears all about someone and never sees them." A.R. defended, a little taken back.

"Alright, alright, I'll go get them." Sunset said, holding up her hands.

Leaving the front door open, she went into the kitchen, seeing that Sonata and Aria had already finished eating. Looking at Adagio's plate, she saw that she wasn't even close. Probably just taking her time to be lady-like.

"Hey, girls." Sunset said, getting their attention. "Theres some people who want to see you."

"If its the police, I didn't do it!" Aria said, holding up her hands.

"Uh... what?" Sunset asked, confused. "No, its just some of the neighbours."

"Oh, thank goodness." Aria said in relief.

Even though Sunset was still confused, The Dazzlings got up from the table and passed by her, heading for the living room. She shook her head to help straighten her thoughts and followed, seeing that the neighbours had already came inside.

"Are you the three girls who just moved in?" A.R. asked, holding up the basket.

"Nah, we're just visiting for an extended period of time." Aria said, rolling her eyes.

"Are those cookies?!" Sonata asked, taking the basket from A.R.

"Uh, yeah." A.R. said, slightly confused. "Granny cooked them."

"Maybe I should introduce myself." Star Gazer said, getting the girls' attention. "My name is Star Gazer. If you girls need anything, you can count on me. And I mean, absolutely anything."

"So if I asked you to paint the sky yellow, you would do it?" Adagio asked sarcastically with a small grin.

"Well, I don't know if I can do THAT, but anything within reason... And possible."

"I'll keep that in mind." Adagio said, patting Star Gazer on the head like he was a dog.

"And what's your name?" Sonata asked, looking up at A.R.

"My name is A.R. It stands for ArmaLite." A.R. informed with a nod.

"You mean, like the guns?" Aria asked, intrigued.

"Exactly. Thats actually why I shortened it to A.R. Most people thought that I would have an entire armoury of weapons because of my name. Which, isn't far from the truth, but I don't like being profiled like that."

"I so hate those people." Aria agreed.

"Hey, what's this?" Sonata asked, holding up a small blue box.

"Oh, those are laxatives, honey." Granny said with a wave of her hand. "Just in case any of you gets constipated."

"Wow, ew!" Air Guitar said, holding up his hands. "T.M.I.!"

"Everyone gets constipated from time to time, Air Guitar." Granny lectured. "Its always nice to have a way to fix the problem. Even if the girls don't get constipated, its always good to have something and not need it, than need it and not have it. Need I remind you of that one time when-"

"Moving on!" Aria said quickly.

"Yes, thank you for the gift basket." Adagio said with a thankful smile, more for the change of subject.

"Its no problem at all." A.R. said with a nod. "I added a few bottles of Pepper Spray in there, just in case."

"Like I'd need it." Aria said dully. "I can open up a can of whoop-ass if it comes to it."

"What if you don't see it coming?" A.R. said, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it, Aria." Sunset said, putting her hand on Aria's back. "I keep some Pepper Spray with me at all times."

"See, this girl knows whats right." A.R. said, waving his hand to Sunset.

"Its for Air Guitar so he doesn't try anything funny."

"One time!" Air Guitar said, holding up his index finger. "Just one freaking time!"

"And you regretted it, didn't you?"

Air Guitar wanted to argue, but he simply settled for grumbling to himself. Sunset giggled at seeing this, knowing that she had won this battle. Before anyone could say anything else, the doorbell rang once again. Sunset walked to the door and opened it, seeing a worried Twilight Sparkle.

"Sunset, I am so sorry!" Twilight said, holding up her bag. "I tried to come sooner, but the bus was running late, and then there was a flat tire, and we had to wait until someone could come to fix the tire, but then he got a flat tire on the way-"

"Twilight, Twilight." Sunset said, putting a hand over Twilight's mouth. "Don't worry about it. Yeah, you're late, but its not the end of the world."

"I know, but I hate being-" Twilight quickly cut herself off when she saw that Sunset already had company. "Please say you weren't composing a search party."

"No, I wasn't." Sunset said with a good natured sigh. "Some of the neighbours wanted to give the girls a gift basket."

"Oh, thats nice." Twilight said with a smile.

Sunset stepped to the side to let Twilight enter, which she accepted. Instead of giving the Dazzlings their pendents back like she planned, she simply sat down on the couch to wait for everyone else to leave.

"Hello, Twilight." Granny said with a wave. "Its been a while since you've been back here."

"Yeah, I've been kinda busy lately." Twilight said sheepishly.

"You really should come around more often." A.R. said with a smile. "I can show you how to use a Bo Staff!"

"You know Twilight isn't a violent person." Sunset said with a small punch to A.R.'s shoulder.

"Yeah, but everyone should know how to defend themselves."

"But a Bo Staff?" Sunset said while raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit advanced?"

"Well, yeah, but..." A.R. couldn't think of an argument, so he simply humphed while crossing his arms.

"Anyhow, we just wanted to give this gift basket and welcome you three to the neighbourhood." Granny said before leaning to Adagio and whispered. "I experimented a little when I was your age, so the lesbian thing doesn't really bother me."

Adagio's jaw dropped with mixed emotions of shock and disgust, but this didn't bother Granny. She simply smiled and followed Air Guitar and the others out of the door. Sunset waved as they left and closed the door behind them. When the door was secure, Twilight stood back up with a smile on her face.

"So, you girls want to see your pendents?" Twilight asked, holding up her bag.

This snapped Adagio back into reality as she and the other two girls rushed to Twilight. She pulled out three familiar red rubies with new black leather bands attached to them. Each pendent had the name of their owner taped to the ruby. The girls couldn't believe their eyes. They looked good as new, like they were never even broken.

"I'm sorry, but I don't really know your girls names." Twilight said sheepishly.

"I'm Sonata!" Sonata said excitedly, holding out her hands for Twilight to place her pendent.

"I'm Aria." Aria said, just holding out one hand.

"And I'm Adagio." Adagio said, not holding out either hand.

One by one, Twilight gave back their pendents. None of them wasted any time as they put on their pendents. They didn't feel the same anymore, no longer brimming with the power they once held. No more magic, no more negative energy. But that didn't matter to any of the ex-sirens. It was the sentimental value that the pendents held that made it so great to have once again. But something was still missing. It wasn't the magic, or the power. It was something more.

I Say Goonight!

View Online

Adagio noticed it, Aria noticed it, but Sonata didn't seem to care. Or maybe she was too busy smothering Twilight with hugs to notice. Luckily Sunset was too busy trying to pry Sonata away from Twilight to notice Aria and Adagio's disappointed looks. But what were they expecting? Twilight did say that the energy was gone during the call.

But deep down inside, they were hoping that there would be a small lingering essence. Just a small taste of the missing link. Adagio ran her index finger over the gem as she started to go deep in though. What was the missing link? Was it the fact that they were untouched by harm before the battle of the bands?

Was it the fact, that from the moment of birth, the three of them had the pendents? Did they get so used to not having the pendents during the months of their disappearance, that they didn't feel the same? So many possibilities, but no solid conclusions. Not a single clue. Nothing made sense.

"A little help here?" Sunset asked, snapping Adagio out of her thoughts.

"Come on, Sonata." Aria said, pulling Sonata off of Twilight. "I know you're happy, but your suffocating her. I used to wish for that."

Twilight gasped, allowing air to re-enter her lungs. "Wow." Twilight heaved. "I didn't know that these meant so much to you three."

"You have no idea." Adagio said, putting on a fake smile.

"Sorry about that." Sonata said, rubbing the back of her neck while putting on a sheepish smile.

"Its fine." Twilight said, waving her hand. "But I gotta run. My Mom wants me home before it gets too dark."

"Alright, be careful." Sunset said as Twilight walked to the door.

"I will." Twilight walked over the threshold, closing the door behind herself.

"Okay, maybe now I can eat." Sunset said as she started walking back to the kitchen, followed by Adagio.

"I might as well finish too." Adagio said with a shrug.

"Yeah, if you two are done eating," Sunset said while turning to Aria and Sonata. "I'm sure you can find something on the T.V. to watch."

"Do you have the cartoon channel?" Sonata asked, clapping her hands.

"It came with the package deal." Sunset said with a nod. "I never really watched it, so you'll have to flip through until you find it."

This didn't seem to put down Sonata, as she ran toward the couch and quickly found the remote. Aria sat down beside her, and Sunset simply chuckled before continuing her walk to the kitchen, finally able to finish her meal. It was a little cold, but food was food to Sunset. As long as it didn't make her sick, she would pretty much eat anything edible. She often found herself thankful for her high metabolism.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though Adagio had ate more than Sunset before she could even start eating, Sunset finished her meal before her. Come to find out, Adagio really paced herself while eating, chewing her food thoroughly before swallowing, and swallowing before taking a sip of her drink. Not really the eating habits of an ex-villain that someone would expect. Sure, Sunset was well-mannered at the table, but Adagio really took it to the next level. Sunset wasn't quite sure why she didn't notice this before, but how often do you watch someone eat?

Not that Sunset was watching Adagio eat. It was just something she noticed during short glances. But in a way, it was intriguing. Aria and Sonata didn't have table manners like Adagio, but why not? Did Adagio one day notice how they ate and not like it, so she started eating in a more dignified way?

Or was she trying to set an example for them, but it never worked? She did tell Sonata to not talk with her mouth full. But did she only do this because she only felt like a guest in Sunset's home? Maybe she should do something to make this feel more like home to the three. Surprising how someone's eating habits can rise so many questions and conclusions.

When she had finished eating, Sunset took her empty plate and empty glass and set them in the kitchen sink. She then made her way upstairs and to her (and now Adagio's as well) bedroom. Like all the other rooms, the walls were yellow, her blanket over her bed was red, her pillows were red, the coverlet was yellow, the doilies on her nightstand and dresser was red, and she had pictures of her and her friends on the walls. She walked to her closet, and pulled out four backpacks, and lied them on the bed. The first one was her own.

A simple brown backpack with her symbol stitched on it. It wasn't as fancy as others she seen, but it functioned just fine. The other three had no decorations, but she got them just in case her primary backpack started to get torn. One was yellow, one was black, and the last was light blue. It was obvious which one would go to which, although the yellow seemed too bright for Adagio.

But she planned for them to be temporary, so it wasn't like it mattered too much. Slinging her own backpack on her shoulder, she took the other three in her hands and took them downstairs and into the living room, where she had the new school supplies sitting in the corner. Sitting down, she divided the school supplies four ways, and placed them in their appropriate places in the backpacks. Once she was done, she took the blue and black backpacks, and walked to the couch where Sonata was watching cartoons while Aria had fallen asleep. Sonata was so fascinated by the cartoon cat that was doing magic tricks, she didn't notice Sunset standing next to her.

Sunset stood there for a moment, waiting for Sonata to notice her. When this didn't work, Sunset cleared her throat. Still no response. A light cough. Still no response.

She tried kicking the couch lightly, but only got a small stir from Aria. She tried a more direct approach.

"Sonata." Sunset said a little loudly.

The magic cat pulled a rabbit out of a hat.

"How did she do that?" Sonata asked no on in particular.

With it now being obvious that there would be no polite way to get Sonata's attention, she settled with dropping the blue backpack in Sonata's lap, startling the seemingly young ex-siren.

"Here are your school supplies." Sunset said before Sonata could say anything.

"Uh... thanks?" Sonata said after blinking.

"No problem. When Aria wakes up, whether it be on her own or when its time for bed, could you give her this?" Sunset asked, setting the black backpack down next to Sonata.

"Yeah, yeah." Sonata said, now only paying attention to the cartoon.

"So this won't be sitting here in the morning?" Sunset asked, crossing her arms.

"Yeah."

"It will be there, or you'll give it to her?"

"Yeah."

Deciding to just forget about it, Sunset grabbed her backpack and Adagio's before heading to the kitchen. When she got there, she found that Adagio had started the dishes. The fact that Sunset didn't have to tell her to do so was a good sign.

"Hey, Adagio." Sunset said, getting her attention.

Adagio turned away from the dishes to look at Sunset. "Yeah?"

"I just put all of our school supplies in our backpacks." Sunset said, setting Adagio's on the table. "I had some spares in my- our closet. They're only temporary until I can get you three more suitable ones."

"Its fine, Sunny." Adagio said with a smile. "I'll take it up to our room when I'm finished here."

Sunset nodded. "Okay, its the last door on the left."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset spent the next few hours texting her friends on a group chat on her phone while sitting in the recliner in the Living Room, like she normally did when she wasn't watching T.V. The difference this time, was she had three other girls in the house. Aria stayed asleep on the couch, Sonata watched more cartoons, and Adagio spent most of her time listening to Sunset's MP3 player. She took a short glance to the time on her phone, noticing that it was getting late. She said a quick 'Goodnight' to her friends, and shoved the phone in her pocket.

"Alright, everybody." Sunset said, standing up and stretching. "Its time for bed."

When she didn't get a reply, she turned and saw that no one was paying attention to her. She walked to the chair Adagio was sitting in that she pulled in from the kitchen, and waved her hand in front of Adagio's face, getting her attention.

Adagio pulled off the headphones. "Hmm?"

"Its getting late." Sunset said. "Why don't you go put up the music and slide into bed."

"Eager to get me into bed, aren't you?" Adagio said with a seductive smile.

"I'm just saying that if we're going to school tomorrow, we'll need our sleep!" Sunset said quickly while blushing. "Besides, I'm not going to do that this early in a relationship!"

"Who said I was talking about that?" Adagio asked while keeping her smile, tapping Sunset on the nose. "You're a little pervert, Sunset Shimmer."

Not giving Sunset a chance to reply, Adagio stood up and began her walk up the stairs. Shaking her head, she walked over to the couch. She had already learned that it was very difficult to get Sonata's attention while there were cartoons on, so she didn't bother trying her previous tactics. As a wise man once said 'The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, expecting different results'. Instead, Sunset grabbed the T.V. remote off of the side table, and walked around the corner where she couldn't be seen.

She then started flipping through the channels while listening.

"What happened to the cartoons?!" Sonata asked loudly. "Stop it T.V.! I said stop it! Go back to Captain Bravery! ARIA!"

"Ugh, what?!" Aria asked, stirring from her sleep.

"THE T.V. IS HAUNTED!"

"Stop shouting, Sonata!" Aria said loudly.

"But the T.V. is haunted!"

"Are you sitting on the remote?"

"No, I haven't moved for at least three shows!"

Sunset then walked back into the Living Room, holding the remote in her hand.

"Sunset, your T.V. is haunted!" Sonata shouted, pointing to the T.V. that was now showing Westerns.

"No, she has the freaking remote." Aria said while face-palming.

"Its time for bed, girls." Sunset said as she turned off the T.V. with the remote.

"But Captain Bravery was about to rescue Princess Buttercup!"

"There will be a re-run next week." Sunset said, setting down the remote. "But for now, its time for bed."

"But I'm not even" Sonata yawned. "tired."

"And you'll be tired in the morning if you don't get any sleep." Sunset said, walking toward the stairs. "Aria, can you make sure Sonata gets to bed after brushing her teeth?"

"Yeah, yeah." Aria said, standing up.

Satisfied, Sunset made her way to the upstairs bathroom, seeing that Adagio was now walking out.

"You just missed something funny." Sunset said with a grin. "I made Sonata think the T.V. was haunted."

Adagio chuckled. "She's easy to prank. Before our pendents were destroyed, I got that fake toilet paper that can't be torn, so she started yelling at it. But Aria got tired of it and threw a real roll at her."

Sunset chuckled as well. "I saw one of those in the gag shop. I'm surprised Pinkie didn't pull that on us during the sleepover."

"We've all seen what it looks like, so I doubt we would of fallen for it anyway." Adagio said with a shrug. "I'm going to get the bed ready."

With a nod, Adagio walked away. Sunset took to brushing her teeth, soon accompanied by Sonata and Aria. While brushing her teeth, Sonata seemed more sluggish than before. Apparently the bright screen on the T.V. was the only thing keeping her awake. Sonata finished first, rushing so she could get to bed, and Aria rushed simply because she didn't care.

Sunset finished not long after Aria, and made her way down the hall. As she was about to go into her room, she heard Aria's voice.

"Sonata, get up so I can prepare the bed!" Aria said loudly.

"Goodnight!" Sonata said just as loud.

"Sonata, I said-"

"I say goodnight!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite what Sunset expected, Adagio wasn't 'touchy', that night. She respected Sunset's personal space, and never once suggested anything sexual while in bed. She didn't hear any commotion coming from Sonata and Aria's room either, so that was a good thing. Not that she would of told them NOT to do anything. She just didn't want them to be loud, or talk about it the next morning.

Sunset fell asleep easily, having sweet dreams about flying over the mountains like a Phoenix.

Principal Celestia's Office

View Online

Sunset Shimmer awoke to a gentle ray of sunshine beaming in through the window. It was early in the morning, but late enough for the sunrise to create a beautiful scene outside of Sunset's window. She wasn't normally a morning person, but she was feeling particularly good on this one. She glanced over to her clock, seeing that it was only six. Being ever so careful, she slid out of the bed as to not disturb the sleeping ex-siren beside her.

She then made her way down the stairs, and into the kitchen. She and The Dazzlings needed a good breakfast, especially with what they'll be dealing with when they get to the school. After a moment of thinking, she pulled out some; raw bacon, a carton of eggs, a loaf of bread, a box of grits, and a carton of orange juice. As she began to prepare the meal, the sound of shuffling approached the kitchen. With a turn of her head, she saw a sleepy Sonata stumbling into the kitchen.

"I'm surprised to see you up this early." Sunset said with a smile.

"I heard you walking down the hall." Sonata said with a yawn.

"Oh, sorry." Sunset blushed, and her tone became apologetic. "I tired to be quiet."

"I need coffee." Sonata began walking to the coffee maker.

"I've already got orange juice out." Sunset said, pointing to the table.

The only response she got from Sonata was a blank stare before she turned her gaze back to the coffee maker. Sunset simply shrugged and got back to the task at hand. But after a moment, she noticed that Sonata was still standing there, staring at the coffee maker. At first, Sunset thought Sonata fell asleep standing up, but her eyes were still open. Well, half-lidded would be a more accurate term.

"Sonata?" Sunset asked. "What are you doing?"

"Making coffee." Sonata mumbled.

"Well, shouldn't you turn it on?"

"... I don't know how."

"Haven't you made coffee before?" Sunset asked, walking up next to Sonata.

"Adagio normally did." Sonata said, shaking her head. "Aria did a few times, but it was mostly Dagi."

Sunset chuckled at the nickname. "How about I make the coffee this morning. I can teach you another time."

Sonata nodded and sat down at the table. Sunset then got the coffee started before getting back to the breakfast. Time passed by in silence, but she kept an eye on the coffee, knowing that Sonata really needed it. When it looked full enough for a cup, she quickly finished the cooking before pouring a cup for Sonata.

"How do you like your coffee?" Sunset asked, looking to Sonata who looked like she was on the verge of falling asleep.

"Good."

"Good how? How much creamer and how much sugar?"

"Good."

Shrugging, she simply made the coffee how she liked it. Two tea spoons of creamer and three tea spoons of sugar. After she set the mug of coffee in front of Sonata, she moved on to making the plates. Two pieces of bacon per plate, two pieces of toast, a small pile of scrambled eggs, and a small pile of grits. She decided to let the other two girls decide if they wanted coffee or orange juice, sense Sonata did so anyway.

She then set the plates on the table, one in front of Sonata, and one at the three remaining empty seats.

"I'm going to go wake up Aria and Adagio, they need to have breakfast if they're going to school." Sunset said as she finished setting the table.

"Okay." Sonata said with a nod, more awake than before.

Nodding back, Sunset made her way upstairs, first going to her and Adagio's room. Adagio laid on the bed, cuddling with Sunset's pillow. She looked so innocent, and so very cute. Her usually big, poofy hair, now messed up in an array of chaos. She wore a pair of Sunset's pajamas, but due to her tossing and turning, her shirt was slightly lifted, showing her stomach and cute little belly button.

Sunset stood there, silently awing at Adagio's cuteness. She didn't want to wake her up after seeing this, but she knew that she had to, or else her breakfast would get cold. Hesitantly, she gently shook Adagio's arm while whispering.

"Adagio." Sunset whispered into her ear. "Its time to get up."

"Mmmm a few more minutes." Adagio groaned back.

"Your breakfast will be cold in a few minutes." Sunset whispered again.

"I'll heat it up in the microwave."

"It won't be as good then."

"Mmm fine." Adagio said after a moment, sitting up in the bed.

"Good." Sunset nodded. "Any advice on waking up Aria?"

"Flip the bed." Adagio said with a grin. "That normally does the trick."

"You flip her bed to wake her up?" Sunset asked with a puzzled expression. "No wonder she's so grouchy."

Saying nothing else, Sunset walked across the hall, and into the room where Aria was sleeping. On the bed, Aria slept face-down. Her hair was in a tangled mess, that can only be described as an afro. Sunset stifled a laugh as she pulled out her phone and took a picture. Which she quickly sent it to Pinkie Pie with the caption: 'Aria's bed-head'.

She stuffed the phone back in her pocket before proceeding. She first tried to wake her up like she did Adagio, but to no avail. She shook Aria harder, but got no results.

"Aria! Time to get up!" Sunset said loudly, but still got no results.

Aggravated, Sunset crawled up on the bed, and began to jump up and down. The force caused Aria to jump in shock, her eyes snapping open. She quickly steadied herself before pulling out a pair of earplugs from her ears.

"What the heck?!" Aria shouted as Sunset crawled off the bed.

"You're a heavy sleeper." Sunset answered, making space between her and the grumpy girl. "Why do you sleep with earplugs in? You know thats not healthy, right?"

"Its the only way I can get to sleep with Sonata's snoring." Aria humphed.

"I was wondering how you would get to sleep with that." Sunset said with a nod. "Oh well, breakfast is ready."

Seeing Aria grabbing a pillow, Sunset quickly ran through the door, shutting it behind her. Despite the door already being closed, she heard the pillow hitting it, making a soft thump.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After breakfast, the girls got cleaned up and properly dressed, wearing their new outfits. Even though Sunset wore her 'bad girl' outfit during Spring Break, she decided on wearing her own new outfit. Blue jeans, high heel boots, a blue blouse, and a sports jacket. When they were cleaned up, Adagio fed Mr. Feathers as Sunset placed all of their backpacks on the couch before she checked the time on her phone.

"Alright girls." Sunset called out. "Its time to go."

Hearing this, Mr. Feathers tried to fly out of the cage, only to be stopped by Adagio.

"No, Mr. Feathers." Adagio said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but you can't come to school with me."

"Aww." Mr. Feathers squawked in sadness.

"Fluttershy brings all sorts of animals in her backpack." Sunset suggested.

"No, it would be too small." Adagio said while slumping her shoulders. "I want to bring him, but he would get cramped in there."

"True." Sunset nodded. "Maybe we can find a way, but later." Sunset walked up to the cage. "Don't worry little guy, she'll play with you when we get back."

With that being said, Adagio closed the cage, making sure to lock it before they walked out the front door. Seeing Granny in her rocking chair on her front porch, Sunset called out.

"Hey, Granny!"

"Yes, dear?" Granny called back.

"Can you ask Air Guitar to feed Mr. Feathers while we're away?"

"I sure can!" Granny called with a nod. "Have a nice day at school!"

"We'll try!"

Satisfied, Sunset pulled a spare key out of her pocket and placed it under a small rock that was beside her porch steps. She always did this when Air Guitar was going to be in her house while she was at school or somewhere else. Having done that, they began their trip to the school. It wasn't a very far walk, but still far enough to get a little exercise. Soon, the school came into sight.

As it was still a little early, there wasn't that many students on the school grounds. But it didn't take long for those who were there to see Sunset with the Dazzlings. They began to whisper to each other, wondering what they were doing together. As they got closer, Sunset began to get small hints of what they were saying.

"What are THEY doing with her?"

"I thought she had changed!"

"Wasn't she the one who defeated them?"

"Maybe she had planned this all along!"

"Those pendents! Weren't they destroyed?"

Ignoring the comments and hushed questions, they continued to the statue, where Sunset met with all her friends in the morning. They saw Pinkie Pie, hanging off of the neck of the concrete stallion, so they made a slow jog to her.

"They're gonna get it now!"

Turning to the other side of the statue, they saw the rest of the Rainbooms, waiting for them, including this world's Twilight.

"There you guys are!" Rainbow said with a smile. "What took ya so long?"

"Oh, you know, teleportation doesn't exactly work here." Sunset said, grinning. "Did we miss anything?"

"Nah, everyone else pretty much assumed it was a normal day so far." Applejack said, shaking her head. "Did ya run into any trouble on your way?"

"I heard a few people whispering, but nothing else." Sunset answered. "Maybe we should go to Principal Celestia before everyone turns on us."

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this." Sonata said, rubbing her forearm. "I don't think we're wanted here."

"Its going to be okay, darling." Rarity said, giving Sonata a short hug. "Just remember the plan."

"Plan? What plan?"

"Maybe they turned the Rainbooms on us!"

"See what I mean?" Sonata asked, waving her hand toward the students who were close enough to hear. "We're not wanted!"

"They get close enough, they'll have something to fear." Aria said, crossing her arms.

"You can't say that!" Fluttershy said as her eyes grew wide. "If they hear you, then they'll never trust you!"

"I'm just saying, they try anything, then I won't be responsible for what happens." Aria said, standing protectively beside Sonata.

"Lets just get going." Twilight said, urging the group to get moving.

Getting the point, The Rainbooms and The Dazzlings walked into the school. There were only a few students on the inside, but they noticed them even faster than the students on the outside. They stayed out of the group's way, but the glares made it clear that the Dazzlings were indeed, unwanted. They made their way to Principal Celestia's office, who's door was already open. Sunset peaked inside, seeing Principal Celestia sitting at her desk, looking through paperwork.

Sunset knocked on the door, but Principal Celestia didn't look up.

"Come in." Principal Celestia said after a short moment of silence.

Due to the tight space, only Sunset and the Dazzlings walked inside, closing the door behind them for privacy.

"What can I do for you?" Principal Celestia said, still not looking up.

"Principal Celestia, we need your help." Sunset said after a moment of hesitance.

Finally, Principal Celestia looked up. Her eyes widened with shock, but she quickly regained her composure and showed no more emotion.

"And how can I do that?"

"We would like it if you can re-enroll Adagio, Aria, and Sonata." Sunset said nervously. "I know they did a lot of bad things at The Battle of the Bands, but they've become reformed, like me."

"Yes, they did." Principal Celestia nodded. "Can you prove that they have changed?"

"I have the other girls outside." Sunset thumbed toward the door. "They've helped a lot with changing them."

"Okay." Celestia nodded again. "Can you tell me the whole story?"

"Its kind of a long one." Sunset forced a chuckle while rubbing the back of the neck. "But I'll try to make it short. It all started when-"

Sunset told the entire story, including how she found them, what they told her, the difficulties they ran through, the fun they had (leaving out the inappropriate parts), and even the part where she allowed them to live with her. Celestia listened carefully, looking for any signs of lying. When she didn't see any, she spoke up.

"I see." Celestia said, standing up. "If they are truly changed like you say, then I would be glad to help in any way I can. But it won't be easy. You see, them re-enrolling this late into the year will cause some difficulties. If they attended another school while they were away, then it would have made things so much easier.

"Their 'influence' from before aided me in enrolling them. But since they don't have that now, it will be a battle just to make it happen."

"But you can re-enroll them, right?" Sunset asked, eyes full of hope.

"Yes, I can. But like I said before, it won't be easy. I'll do my best to help, but I'm going to have to lay down some strict rules. If I find any evidence that they haven't changed, they'll be expelled immediately. No second chances."

Celestia shot the Dazzlings a stern glare, causing them to cringe. But it was over as soon as it started, Celestia going back to showing no emotion.

"Thank you, Principal Celestia." Sunset said with a grateful smile.

"I'll be giving them your schedule, Sunset Shimmer, just to make things a little easier. I'm trusting you to keep them out of trouble. I'll email your teachers, telling them to write down their grades on paper until I can properly enroll them. Now, while you're here, is there anything else?"

"Yes." Sunset nodded. "Could you let us know when the school is hosting another charity event?"

"Why would you want me to do that?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're hoping to prove to the other students that they truly have changed, and to do that, we need them to help with the charity event."

"I see." Celestia nodded. "You're hoping that if they are seen helping make the world a better place, then the students will be convinced that their intentions are good."

"That's the idea." Sunset smiled.

"That, I can definitely do. In fact, I know the animal shelter is a little low on funds. So, if I call them, then we can schedule a charity event to raise money. We can make it to where the students can play with the animals, giving them the attention they need and deserve."

"That's a great idea!" Sunset said, filling up with excitement. "When do you think this can happen?"

"I'm not sure, but if it works, then it will be soon. I'll make sure to let you know when I have it scheduled."

"Thank you, Principal Celestia."

"I'm happy to help. If you think of anything else, my door is always open."

Celestia quickly printed out schedules for the Dazzlings, and showed them out the door. When the door closed behind them, their friends began asking them questions.

"How did it go?" Rarity asked.

"Are they re-enrolled?" Twilight asked.

"Has a charity event been planned?" Fluttershy asked.

"Girls, girls, girls." Sunset quieted them down. "Everything went fine. Celestia is going to give them a chance, she is re-enrolling them, and she is going to try to schedule a charity event with the Animal Shelter."

"Oh, thank goodness." Pinkie Pie said, exhaling a large amount of breath. "I was worried for the worse!"

"Well, as long as everyone else keeps their distance, everything should run along smoothly." Sunset said with a smile.

"Yeah, they don't want afro there to snap their necks." Pinkie said, pointing to Aria.

"Hey!" Aria snapped with an angry glare. "How did you know about that!"

"Sunny sent me a picture!" Pinkie said holding up her phone that showed a picture of Aria sleeping with her afro hair. Everyone busted out in laughter as Aria glared at Sunset, who smiled innocently.

Attack of the Feather

View Online

Once the laughter had subsided, the girls made their way to their lockers to put away all of their currently unnecessary supplies. Due to the Dazzlings not yet having their own, Aria shared with Rainbow, Adagio shared with Sunset, and Sonata shared with Pinkie Pie. It was a tight fit for those three lockers, but they managed. Not much longer after that, the halls began to get crowded. Or, that's how it felt as multiple students surrounded them, taking pictures, making mean comments, and making rude suggestions.

It wasn't the kind of attention the Dazzlings wanted before, or now. It wasn't like the paparazzi on the red carpet, taking pictures and begging for autographs because of adoration. This was like the paparazzi trying to catch a famous celebrity doing something bad to ruin their reputation. Of course, their reputation was already ruined, so this was just in the wound. Turns out, people don't like being manipulated and hypnotized.

"Crawl back into the hole you've been hiding in!" One boy sneered.

"We don't want your TRASH in this school!" A girl shouted.

"How about a game?" Another girl suggested. "Its called GO FUCK YOURSELF!"

Shocked and terrified, the Dazzlings backed up to the lockers, trying to make as much space between them and the angry crowd. Aria kept herself in front of Sonata, trying to appear brave. But even she found herself trying to backup more than she could. Adagio was obviously terrified, holding up her left arm in an attempt to protect herself if they were to start throwing things. But Sonata had the worst of it.

All that negative energy, directed at her, her girlfriend, and the rest of her friends. With all of that, she felt like she was in a cold, dark room with the only light being pointed directly at her. No hope of escape, no love, no happiness, nothing...

Sonata began to cry, shaking with fear, and her head hung low. Aria looked back at her, seeing this. She turned back to the crowd, now seeing that the Rainbooms had made a human barrier between them and the angry students.

"They need to get out of here!" Aria shouted above the angry mob.

Rainbow turned to look at Aria, and saw Sonata behind her, crying. Even though Rainbow has never seen Sonata's other personality, she has heard about it, especially the negativity part. She then turned back to the crowd.

"If you guys don't get out of here and leave them alone, I'll beat all of you so bad that you'll be eating lunch through a straw!" Rainbow threatened, sweating nervously. 'Get out of here before it's too late!'

Her fellow Rainbooms looked at her with confusion. Rainbow nodded her head toward Sonata, telling them to look at her. When they did, they saw exactly what had Rainbow riled up , except for Twilight, who only seemed confused. The rest of the girls got the message, and joined in.

"Get outta here before ya'll tussle with a farm girl!" Applejack warned.

"My speed can work for more than just parties!" Pinkie added.

"I may be a lady, but that won't stop me from slapping all of you!" Rarity threatened.

"Please leave..." Fluttershy whispered.

"We've dealt with magic before!" Sunset said loudly. "Do you really want to mess with us?!"

The mob looked to each other, letting what Sunset said soak in. Knowing what she said to be true, they quickly dispersed, leaving the two ex-rival bands alone. When they were sure that they were gone, they quickly turned their attention to Sonata.

"Are you alright?" Sunset asked as Sonata continued to cry.

"Sonata, don't listen to em'." Applejack said assuringly. "None of em' know an apple from a orange."

"Darling, you can't let them get into your head." Rarity said soothingly.

Sonata turned and planted her face into Aria's chest, crying into her shirt. Aria held up her hands, unsure what to do. She looked to her friends, but none of them said anything. So, she settled with gently patting her head and holding her in an unsure hug.

"Ah think this is gonna be harder than we thought." Applejack said, looking to her friends.

"At least she didn't change." Rarity said. "That would've made it a lot harder."

"Change?" Twilight asked, confused.

"We didn't tell you?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh boy..."

"Well, you see..." Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her head. "Sonata has a condition called Multiple... multiple... Whats it called?"

"Multiple Personality Disorder?" Twilight suggested.

"Yeah that!"

Sunset sighed. "I really thought that our influence would help. After all we did for the school, they still didn't listen to us. To make matters worse, we had to use our experience with magic as a threatening tool."

"Well, um... that was mostly you." Fluttershy said quietly.

"Thanks Fluttershy..."

"I'm sorry."

The bell then rang, signaling that class would begin soon.

"I guess we should get going." Twilight said, looking up to the bell on the wall.

"You guys go ahead." Aria said before glancing down to Sonata. "I'll take her to the bathroom to clean up. I think her showing up to class with ruined mascara would raise some questions."

They all nodded in agreement and left for Class. Going by memory, Aria lead Sonata to the bathroom. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, she pulled her inside. By the time they got there, her crying had subsided to nothing more than sniffles. Aria pulled a rag out of her backpack and proceeded to clean Sonata's mascara.

"Why do they hate us so much?" Sonata asked after a moment.

"We did a lot of bad things, Sonata." Aria said plainly. "Though, I hoped that it wouldn't get like that this quickly."

"Were you expecting this to happen?"

Aria pulled the rag away from Sonata's face to look at her. "No, not really. Well, kinda. I didn't expect it when we were still sirens, or when we went into hiding. But when we agreed to come back to school, I did, just not this early. I thought it would work it’s way up to it."

"What did you think would happen?... this early I mean."

Aria shrugged. "I just kinda thought that they would talk behind our backs, like the pathetic, weak beings we originally thought they were."

After a moment of silence, Aria continued to clean off the ruined mascara. When it was done, she pulled out the make-up kit from Sonata's backpack and began to apply it to her. While she was applying it, Sonata asked another question.

"Are they going to kill us?"

Aria's hand jerked back. "What?!"

"You know, like they would have at Salem."

"No Sonata!" Aria said a little too loudly. "That way of thinking is long gone. They don't resort to violence like that, or at least not like they would have back then."

"But what if you're wrong?"

"Then we'll leave." Aria sighed. "I don't think it will come to that, but if it does, we'll pack our bags and go somewhere that doesn't know what we did." Aria put the make-up kit down. "Look, Sonata. You have nothing to be afraid of. Yes, they do hate us now, but we have a plan, remember?"

Sonata nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Good. Even if the plan doesn't work, the worst they'll do is bully us for a while, then shun us, then they'll forget about it. Maybe we'll have to kick a few asses along the way, but it will eventually fade. However, if the plan does work, then they'll see us as friends, or at least acquaintances. Like they view Sunset Shimmer."

"She had to defeat us to be accepted." Sonata said quietly.

"Yes, but she didn't exactly have a charity event to her advantage... Well, the Musical Showcase was supposed to be a charity event, but... You know... That's not the point. Like Principal Celestia said, when people see us trying to make the world a better place, they'll see we have changed, and they'll forgive us. Problem solved."

"I don't think it will be that easy."

"Probably not, but nothing good comes easily. You have to fight for it. Trust me Sonata, things will get better."

Sonata looked up at her with a hopeful smile, making Aria feel warm. She couldn't help but smile back, even if she didn't want too.

"Now shut up and let me fix this."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few hours weren't much better than the mob in the hallway. The only thing that stopped an angry mob from forming in the classrooms was the fact that the teacher was there. But, that didn't stop them from throwing paper balls at the Dazzlings when the teacher wasn't looking. There were times when the Dazzlings had enough time to concentrate on the assignment, but that never lasted long. Eventually though, Lunch had come.

Sunset informed them that Lunch was the time where she could avoid being bullied, so this gave them something to look forward too. When they had gotten their lunch, they sat down at the Rainboom's usual table.

"Well, this day hadn't gone according to plan." Rainbow said as soon as she sat down.

"It'll get better, I'm sure." Adagio said, but didn't sound as certain as she hoped she would.

"That's the spirit." Rarity said with a forced smile.

"I'm starting to feel party pooped." Pinkie said, her hair not at it's usual volume.

"Come on, girls." Sunset said assertively. "We can't let this get us down."

"We ain't try ta let it, but it ain't as easy as we made it sound when we planned it."

"We knew it wouldn't be easy." Sunset pointed out. "We just didn't anticipate how hard it would be. A little bump in the road is all this is."

"If the little bump is a pothole the size of a house, then you're right." Fluttershy said, sounding defeated.

"Girls! For crying out loud!" Sunset said with a loud groan, startling the entire group. "They're our friends now, and we can't be all mopey because a few people out there don't like them! We have a plan, and we're sticking with it! We can't do that if we get weak knees on the first day!"

"Whoa." Rainbow said as her eyes grew wide. "Sunset, I've never seen you taking charge like that before."

"... Look, I'm sorry." Sunset said with a sigh. "I just really want this to go well, and seeing all of you like that got me aggravated."

"It's okay, Sunset." Twilight said, patting her on the back gently. "I know I don't know them as well as you girls do, but I can see this means a lot to you."

"Yeah, it does." Sunset nodded.

At that point, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Curiosity getting the better of her, she took it out and saw she got a text from Air Guitar.

"Oh, what's this?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Air Guitar was walking down the side-walk as he whistled a tune. Granny had called him and said that Sunset needed him to feed Adagio's bird while they were away. It wasn't the first time Sunset had asked him a favor while she was at school, and most likely wouldn't be the last. It didn't bother him though. He was glad to help any way he could.

When he approached Sunset's house, he looked around to make sure no one was watching, and fetched the key from under the usual rock. He spun it around his finger as he walked up to the door, and slid it into the lock. With a turn and a satisfying click, the door unlocked. For some reason, Sunset never locked the door knob. Saying something about it being able to be unlocked with a card or something like that.

But that was okay. He was the Neighbourhood Watch, and as the Neighbourhood Watch, he looked out for everybody's security, including making sure that nobody got their houses broken into. In this area, it wasn't very common, but he kept a lookout anyway. It was his job... even though he didn't get paid for it.

He turned the doorknob and walked inside. With a flip of the switch, the room illuminated. He walked inside and closed the door behind him. He walked around for a moment, searching for any signs of anything being stolen or misplaced. When he didn't see anything, he went back into the living room, seeing Mr. Feather's in his cage at the corner of the room.

"Hey, bird dude!" Air Guitar said as he approached the cage. "Nice day, isn't it?"

Mr. Feathers didn't say anything.

"Polly wanna cracker?" Air Guitar said with a grin.

Mr. Feather's neck feathers began to rise.

"Why are you doing that?" Air Guitar asked. "Are you cold or something?"

When he didn't get a response, Air Guitar walked to the thermostat and turned it up just a little.

"There you go, should start getting warmer soon. Don't want Sunny's girlfriend's bird being cold."

Mr. Feathers growled.

"Are you hungry, dude?" Air Guitar said as he approached a bag of Wild Bird Seed that was sitting next to the cage. "I may not know much about birds, but this stuff looks good. Well, for bird standards... I think."

Air Guitar scooped a cup full of the Wild Bird Seed and moved to the cage. With a smile, Air Guitar unhooked the lock and opened the door. That was the last thing he remembered when he found himself on the floor, his face full of talons.

"What the heck, dude?!" Air Guitar said as he tried to pry Mr. Feathers away from him. "Get off of me!"

Mr. Feathers continued to flog Air Guitar's face while screaming a war cry. Air Guitar then rolled over to his stomach and covered the sides of his head, making Mr. Feathers incapable of scratching his face any further. Mr. Feathers then settled for flogging his back, shredding the back of his shirt. Seeing this as a chance to escape, Air Guitar quickly got up and bolted for the door.

But Mr. Feathers was faster, beating him to it and holding his ready talons up in the air.

"I'll get you!" Mr. Feathers screamed.

Air Guitar could swear that he saw light gleaming off of Mr. Feather's talons, showing just how sharp they were. He quickly turned around and ran the other way. Mr. Feathers chased him all over the house, knocking over chairs, tables, shelves, and knocking pictures off the walls. When they reached a bedroom, Air Guitar tried to close the door on Mr. Feathers, but he managed to fly in before the door could shut.

He then ran to the bed, and pulled the blanket off. As Mr. Feathers tried to flog him again, Air Guitar tossed the blanket on top of him, sending him crashing down to the ground. Mr. Feathers repeatedly flapped his wings, trying to get the blanket off of him. While he was distracted, Air Guitar ran out of the room. Halfway down the hall, he silently cursed himself for not closing the door.

But it was too late now. There was no way he was going back, he might of gotten free by now. Air Guitar ran into a closet at the end of the hall, and shut the door behind himself. While inside, he took down some winter jackets from their hangers and proceeded to cover himself with them. If that bird knew how to open doors, then he wanted some form of protection from him.

He sat quietly, listening for any sign of Mr. Feathers. After a few moments, he thought he heard something in the kitchen below. It sounded like knives being sharpened. Could a bird sharpen knives? He didn't know.

But if it was an intruder, then he prayed that he got out before the bird got to him. No one deserves being attacked like that. When the sharpening sounds were gone, he could hear quick wing beats, like Mr. Feathers was flying frantically. This meant that he didn't know where Air Guitar was. While he was temporarily safe, he dug his phone out of his pocket, muted it, and began to text to Sunset.

'Sunset, S.O.S.'

He sent it, and a few moments later, Sunset texted back.

'Whats wrong?'

Air Guitar quickly typed.

'Adagio's bird is trying to kill me! Send help!'

'What am I supposed to do? I can't call the police over a bird :/.'

'Do it anyway! I would of already, but it would hear me talking!'

'What exactly happened?'

'I opened the cage to feed him and he just came at me! No warning signs or nothing! I managed to get away by throwing a blanket on top of him, but I don't know how long it will be until he finds me! Please send help!'

'Sorry Air Guitar. I don't know what to tell you. If you can, please put him back in the cage, or try to escape. Just don't let him outside, okay?'

'HELP!'

After that, Air Guitar didn't get any more texts. He knew he couldn't escape without help, and there was no way he'd even attempt to put Mr. Feathers back in his cage. Sunset didn't want the cops called, which he could understand, but why couldn't she call for help? Is it that she didn't know WHO to call? Knowing that he had no other option, he began writing another text to someone different.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Who was it?" Adagio asked, tilting her head.

"Air Guitar." Sunset answered as she stuffed the phone back into her pocket. "Apparently Mr. Feathers attacked him."

"Oh my!" Fluttershy said, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He just doesn't know what to do." Sunset nodded.

"What exactly do you do if a bird attacks you?" Rainbow asked, confused.

"Well, it mostly depends on the situation and the type of bird. With Mr. Feathers, I would suggest asserting dominance and giving him a time out."

"I told him to try and put Mr. Feathers back in his cage, or try to escape." Sunset nodded. "We'll just put him in his cage when we get home, if he hasn't already."

"Any idea why he would act like this?" Adagio asked, looking to Fluttershy.

"He's probably upset about something." Fluttershy suggested. "Did anyone say anything to him that would make him angry?"

"He did try to go to school with us this morning." Adagio pointed out. "I told him he couldn't come and kept him in his cage."

"That's probably why." Fluttershy nodded. "If I were you, I would explain to him why he couldn't come. But maybe we can work something out."

"Yeah, but not until we have this whole situation taken care of." Twilight nodded.

Everyone turned to Rainbow as she began to cackle while holding her sides, trying not to bust out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but doesn't anyone else think that this is kinda funny?" Rainbow asked, keeping a grin.

"What do you mean?" Sunset asked.

"I know I've never met Air Guitar before, but imagine him running around with Mr. Feathers pecking at the back of his head."

After a moment of silence, everybody started to chuckle at the mental image.

"Okay, I guess that is kind of funny." Sunset agreed with a nod.

Pillow Armor

View Online

Back at Sunset's house, Air Guitar sat in the closet, hastily texting someone on his phone. The scratches from Mr. Feathers were now starting to get sore, but he couldn't tend to them in such a tight space. As he texted, he thought back to the destruction downstairs. He knew Sunset would be mad at him for it, and he would most likely have to pay for the damages. Maybe he could convince her to go easy on him, since he was being attacked by a bird.

Just now he realized how silly it sounded. He set an image for himself as a brave, confident, and handsome young man. But here he was now, scratches all over his face and back, cowardly hiding from a bird that looked like some kid colored him with every color in the crayon box. He winced as he felt his pride being ripped from his heart. He looked to his phone, regretting sending a text for help.

Why couldn't he have just gotten a funnel and poured the feed in?

His phone light blinked as he received a text from the person that he had just asked for help.

'Really? Attacked by a bird?' The text said. 'ROFL'

'Don't laugh at me!' Air Guitar texted back. 'I know you're not busy today, so just come and put the damn bird back in the cage!'

'Alright, alright. I'll come and do YOUR job.'

After that, Air Guitar didn't receive any more texts. He slid the phone back into his pocket and began to wait. What if his rescue had as much trouble as he did? Could they both fit in the closet? Thinking of the size of his rescue, he knew that they could not.

So he came up with a plan to bolt into another room while Mr. Feathers was distracted, and wait by the door in case he came running. He moved the jacket that was on top of his head and pressed his ear to the door, listening for any sounds. At first, all he could hear was Mr. Feathers' wings flapping. But after a few moments, he heard the front door open, accompanied by the voice of his rescuer: Star Gazer.

"Here, birdy birdy birdy!" Star Gazer shouted, soon accompanied by sound of the front door closing.

"Dumbass." Air Guitar said under his breath.

Mr. Feathers' wing flapping became more erratic as he flew down the stairs, giving Air Guitar the chance he needed. He threw the closet door open, throwing the jackets off of himself. He then ran into the closest bedroom to himself, which was Sunset's. He shut the door behind himself and pressed his ear to the door. As he expected, he heard the sound of wood cracking, glass breaking, screaming, and cooking pots hitting the floor.

Soon, he heard running up the stairs. He opened the door just enough to see Star Gazer running toward him. Air Guitar threw the door open, giving his friend a place to run to. But wanting to stay safe, Air Guitar grabbed the same blanket from before.

"Star Gazer, duck!" Air Guitar warned.

Star Gazer heard Air Guitar loud and clear, and obeyed the warning. As he ducked, Air Guitar threw the blanket, once again hitting the bird, and sending him crashing down to the ground. While Mr. Feathers was down, Star Gazer ran into the bedroom with Air Guitar, and shut the door tight. But this wasn't good enough for him apparently, because they moved a dresser in front of the door. When the deed was done, they both leaned against the wall, and slid down until they were sitting on the floor.

"I shouldn't of underestimated that bird." Star Gazer said as he breathed heavily.

"It’s okay." Air Guitar nodded. "I did the same thing."

"And you know what I just realized?" Star Gazer asked, looking to Air Guitar.

"What’s that?"

"We could of grabbed him while he was under the blanket."

Air Guitar's eyes grew wide with realization. There were two things that ran through his head at that point. First, he wasn't as smart as he thought he was, and the second, he decided to express out loud.

"Fuck."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Star Gazer and Air Guitar sat there for a short while, contemplating their mistake, and trying to think of something that they could do. It was now two against one, but they had already learned to not underestimate Mr. Feathers. They could try to capture him with another blanket, but Air Guitar didn’t want to test his souring luck a third time. This left them with two options.

Either hurt the bird to catch it, or call in more help. But with Mr. Feathers being Sunset's girlfriend's bird, hurting it was out of the question. So, Air Guitar once again pulled out his phone and called A.R. After a few rings, A.R. answered.

"Hello?" A.R.'s voice said.

"A.R., Star Gazer and I need your help." Air Guitar said into the phone.

"What can I do to help?" A.R. asked.

"Star Gazer and I are trapped in Sunset's house with Mr. Feathers on the lose. We need you to come over and catch him for us, without hurting him."

"Mr. Feathers? Isn't that Adagio's bird?"

"Yes, it is, and he is being very unfriendly." Air Guitar said with a sigh.

"What do you mean, unfriendly?"

"He attacked me." Air Guitar answered. "He scratched up my face and back, and trapped me in a closet. I texted Star Gazer, who came over to try and help, but was also attacked. We are now trapped in Sunset's bedroom with Mr. Feathers still on the loose."

"... You were defeated... by a bird?"

"Don't underestimate him!" Star Gazer practically shouted into the phone. "He may be small and colorful, but he is very dangerous!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around it." A.R. said. "I mean if it was a hawk or an eagle, then it would be more understandable. But Mr. Feathers is a Red Macaw. A parrot."

"Just get over here and help us!" Air Guitar shouted.

"Alright, alright! Geez. I think I have a net laying around that I can use."

"See you when you get here." Air Guitar said, ending the call.

"He's doomed." Star Gazer said as Air Guitar stuffed the phone in his pocket.

"Don't say that." Air Guitar said, shaking his head. "A.R. is our last hope. Or at least until Sunset gets home."

"What makes you think he won't attack her?" Star Gazer asked, crossing his arms.

"Sunset has more experience with Mr. Feathers." Air Guitar pointed out. "Maybe he just thinks we're intruders and is trying to protect Sunset's things. Some animals are territorial like that."

"You have a point there." Star Gazer nodded.

There was then a moment of silence as the two tried to listen for A.R. At first, they heard nothing more than eerie silence. But then, they heard the soft sound of the front door opening slowly. While Star Gazer tried to call out the bird, it appeared that A.R. was trying to be stealthy. After the front door closed, they heard nothing else.

After a few, horrifying moments, they could hear glass breaking, along with the sounds of muffled wing flaps. Hope began to rise in their chests, as they silently prayed that A.R. successfully caught Mr. Feathers. But when they heard footsteps rushing up the stairs, their hope vanished. Instinctively, they moved the dresser and opened the door, and A.R. rushed in, wearing a broken net around his neck. The three of them then quickly closed the door, causing Mr. Feathers to crash into it.

"Don't. Say. A word." A.R. warned as Star Gazer and Air Guitar stared at him.

"How did that happen?" Air Guitar asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He caught the net in his talons and threw it back at me! Then he started flogging me!" A.R. said, throwing his hands in the air.

Air Guitar looked at Star Gazer for a moment, then they started laughing.

"We need to come up with a plan." A.R. said, ignoring the laughter as he took the net off. "First, let's look at what we've got in here."

After the laughter subsided, the trio began looking around the room and put what they thought was useful onto the bed. When they were sure they couldn't find anything else, they gathered by the bed and A.R. began searching through their findings.

"Let's see, we've got metal coat hangers, a metal rod, some jackets, a bunch of pillows, extra boot strings, a shoe box, duct tape, pepper spray, and... a red bra?" A.R. looked up at Air Guitar with a puzzled expression.

"Don't look at me." Air Guitar said.

"Star Gazer?" A.R. asked, shifting his gaze.

"It could be used as a double barrel slingshot!" Star Gazer said with a smile, as if he had just won the Nobel Peace Prize.

"One, you need help." A.R. said with a serious expression. "Two, its not very elastic, and even if it was, the accuracy would be terrible." A.R. then picked up the bra and handed it to Star Gazer. "Go put it back where you found it."

"That's the closest you'll ever get to touching real hooters." Air Guitar said with a grin.

"Bite me." Star Gazer grumbled as he went to go put the bra back.

"Alright, I think I've got a plan." A.R. said as he piled the pillows on the floor. "We're going to duck tape these pillows to my body, acting like soft armor. I'm going to bend one of these metal coat hangers into an 'o' shape, tape it to the opening of one of these pillow cases, and tape that onto the metal rod, turning it into a makeshift net. I'm then going to cut open one of these pillows, make eye-holes in it, and wear it like a mask to protect my face."

"What about your eyes?" Air Guitar asked.

Without saying a word, A.R. pulled out a pair of sunglasses, and put them on with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


About fifteen minutes later, it was all complete. A.R. was covered head to toe in pillows, the sunglasses protecting his eyes, and wielded the make-shift net in his right hand. Under the pillow on his head, he wore a smile of confidence. Turning his head to look at Air Guitar, he found that the pillow had been duct taped to his shoulders, limiting his head movement. He knew this would be a weakness, but he could understand why it had been taped down.

"Alright, open the door." A.R. said with confidence.

Star Gazer hesitantly moved to the door, and opened it. Mr. Feathers didn't fly in, so that was a good sign. When A.R. had left the room, the door was immediately closed behind him. He shifted his torso in order to look around. Some picture frames had fallen from the wall, and the door was covered in scratches.

He could see the blanket laying on the floor, so he lightly kicked it, seeing if Mr. Feathers was hiding under it. But he found that it was clear, so he moved on. He checked every room upstairs, but it was void of the Red Macaw, and some rooms were still untouched. So, he moved on to the downstairs, where most of the damage had been done. There were holes in the walls, chairs had been broken from where they had been fallen on, broken cups laid on the floor, pots had been turned upside down, and all in all, it looked like a war zone.

When he entered the living room, a piece of cloth fell on his head, blinding him. He then felt thuds hitting his facial area, but the pillow had protected him. He swung the make-shift net at his face, pinning Mr. Feathers to himself. That is when the bird began to scream.

"Let me go, you fucker!" Mr. Feathers shouted.

"Sounds like somebody needs a timeout." A.R. said mockingly.

"I'll give you a time out you son of a bitch!" Mr. Feathers shouted back.

A.R. then attempted to grab Mr. Feathers in his free hand, but found the pillows limiting his arm movement. Instead, he leaned forward and let the piece of cloth fall onto the net, trapping Mr. Feathers in it. He then quickly grabbed, trapping Mr. Feathers inside. Just as he thought he had won, Mr. Feathers used his talons to cut a hole in the make-shift net, and flew back out. A.R. lifted the net up to observe the hole, seeing it was a clean cut.

He looked up, and saw Mr. Feathers flying overhead. He once again attempted to lift his arms up, but it was made impossible with the pillow armor. No, he would need some help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was one heck of a day." Aria groaned as she, Adagio, Sonata, and Sunset walked down the side-walk to their home.

"At least nothing major happened." Sunset said, trying to liven up the mood.

"Your idea of 'major' is really messed up." Aria said, glaring to Sunset.

"Well, yeah, this morning didn't really start that great." Sunset sighed with a nod. "But it did seem to ease up as the day moved on."

"Let's just get home and forget about the whole ordeal." Adagio said looking back to the girls.

"At least it's better than the bridge." Sonata said, trying to be optimistic.

"Anything would be better than the bridge." Aria agreed, but still wasn't happy.

The girls soon approached their house, but when they got onto the porch, loud thudding sounds could be heard. Curious, Sunset opened the front door and a multicolored blur shot past her. She then looked back, seeing Mr. Feathers now nesting in Adagio's hair. Sunset then looked back into the house, seeing what looked like three large marshmallow men standing in the living room, staring back at her. Instinctively, Sunset grabbed a wooden baseball bat that she kept next the front door and got ready to swing it.

"Wait, wait wait!" One of the marshmallow men said, holding up his hands.

"Air Guitar?" Sunset asked, lowering the bat. "Whats going on?"

"Could you help me get this pillow of my head?" Air Guitar said with a sigh, lowering his head.

Curious to what he had to say, Sunset stepped in, now seeing the mess her house was in.

"Wait, what happened here?" Sunset asked as her jaw dropped.

"We tried to catch Mr. Feathers." Star Gazer said, trying to lift his hands. "It didn't turn out so well."

"Wait, if he's Air Guitar, and your Star Gazer, then who is he?" Sunset asked, pointing to the third man.

"A.R." Air Guitar answered, "Now how about helping me out of this?"

Reluctantly, Sunset helped Air Guitar out of the pillow armor, and he proceeded to help the other two out. When they were pillow-less, the three of them sat on the couch as the girls sat down in the seats that were not broken.

"Okay, start from the beginning." Sunset said, crossing her arms.

"It started when I was in the upstairs closet, texting you." Air Guitar said with a sigh.

"Always knew you were in the closet." Aria said with a chuckle.

"Aria, we're lesbians." Adagio said, turning to her friend.

"Which is why it's okay for me to make these jokes."

"Anyways." Air Guitar said, raising his voice. "When Sunset couldn't help me, I texted Star Gazer. He wrestled with the bird-"

"Mr. Feathers." Adagio corrected.

"He wrestled with Mr. Feathers, more than I did, which broke a lot of things. I rushed into Sunset's bedroom, and let Star Gazer in. When we were in there, we decided to call A.R. for help. He was a bit reluctant, but came anyway. He tried to catch Mr. Feathers in a net, but got it broken over his head."

"It would've worked if he hadn't thrown it back at me!" A.R. said, glaring at Mr. Feathers, who kept a close eye on the three of them.

"Anyways, we came up with a plan to catch Mr. Feathers, which involved tapping pillows over A.R.'s body, and making a makeshift net."

"By the way, you need a new pillow case." A.R. said, pointing to the broken make-shift net on the ground.

"I'm going to need a lot of new things." Sunset groaned as she looked around. "Go on."

"Well, that plan didn't work, so we all put on pillow armor to try and catch him." Air Guitar continued. "We were hoping to get him back in the cage and clean this up before you got home, but..."

"It didn't work." Sunset nodded. "Is that everything?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Air Guitar nodded. "So, how fucked are we?"

"Oh, very fucked." Sunset glared at them. "Especially you, Air Guitar. I gave you a simple job, and you somehow managed to mess it up. Why didn't you just use a funnel to pour the feed in?"

"I didn't think about that until all this already happened." Air Guitar admitted.

"Well, you're going to pay for all the damages, and replace everything that is broken."

"Which leaves you." Adagio said, pulling Mr. Feathers out of her hair. "Why did you attack them?"

"Intruders!" Mr. Feathers defended.

"Maybe he just doesn't like guys." Sonata suggested with a shrug.

Adagio raised an eyebrow at Sonata before looking back to Mr. Feathers.

"Is that true?" Adagio asked.

Instead of saying anything, Mr. Feathers looked back to the three men on the couch. It was obvious that he was still angry.

"I'm going to get him a treat." Aria said, standing up.

"Why?" Sunset asked, looking up at her.

"For attacking these three shit-heads. He's proven his worth in my book."

"I'm out of here." Star Gazer said, getting up and heading for the door.

"What about the mess?!" Air Guitar asked.

"I got attacked by a bird, got my pride shattered, and now she's going to feed him a treat for attacking me?! I'm outta here."

Job Search

View Online

After Star Gazer walked out of the front door of the house, Sunset chased after him, said a few choice words, and convinced him to help with the clean-up. Luckily, the bedrooms were left untouched, so the girls didn't have to stay at someone else's house while Air Guitar, A.R., and Star Gazer fixed the mess. Due to all of the damage, it took two weeks to fix everything and replace the un-fixable. There were holes in the walls to patch up, doors and walls to repaint, cups, plates, coat hangers, pillows, carpet, and duct tape to replace. Cleaning up was the hardest part of the job, but none of it was very easy.

After the two weeks were up and everything was done, Sunset sat on her couch to relax before going to her weekend job at the local supermarket, thankful that she no longer had to look at any eyesores. With a deep breath, she leaned her head back and rested her eyes. Just as she got comfortable, a knocking came to her door. There was only one person that she knew who would knock instead of ring the doorbell, so she got up, and walked to the door. Opening it, she saw the person she expected, Granny.

"Hey, Granny." Sunset said with a smile. "How can I help you?"

"Sunset, dear." Granny said, also smiling. "Air Guitar just told me what happened a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah, the bone-heads already fixed everything." Sunset chuckled. "It isn't that big of a deal. It's all in the past now."

"Not yet, it isn't." Granny disagreed, shaking her head. "I feel horrible for what my Grandson did."

"I should've known better than to ask him to feed Mr. Feathers." Sunset also disagreed. "But in truth, I have done WAY worse."

"That doesn't matter, Sunset. I want to make it up to you." Granny said, reaching into her flowery decorative purse.

"Granny, you haven't done anything wrong." Sunset discouraged. "You don't have to do anything."

"No, Sunset, I insist." Granny said, holding out a small wad of cash in front of Sunset. "This here is two hundred and fifty dollars. The amount it took to fix your house."

"Granny, I didn't pay for the repairs." Sunset said, waving her hand. "The boneheads did."

"Yes, but you should've never been put in that situation to begin with."

"I can't-"

"SHUT UP AND TAKE THE MONEY!"

Sunset was startled by the sudden outburst. But it wasn't Granny who shouted. Walking on the side-walk across the street, was a little kid around the same age as the Crusaders. He wore a red T-shirt and blue jean shorts. At the moment, he was looking toward them with his hands cupped around his mouth to act as a mega-phone.

After staring for a moment, the kid turned and continued his walk.

"Who was that?" Sunset asked.

"Loud Mouth." Granny chuckled. "He is A.R.'s nephew. But he has a good idea, Sunset. Because I'm not leaving until you take the money."

Sunset sighed in defeat and accepted the money.

"Fine, but I'm going to repay you for this."

"Just continue being the good neighbour you are." Granny said with a smile before turning around, and walking away.

Sunset shook her head, and took out her phone to check the time. Urgency struck her at seeing how late it had gotten.

"Oh crap! I'm going to be late!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, Sunset had left for work, and the Dazzlings were lounging around lazily in the living room. Aria was looking at the newspaper, Sonata was watching T.V., and Adagio seemed to be deep in thought.

"Can you believe these idiots?" Aria asked, snapping the two girls out of concentration to look at her. "The mayor is wanting to raise the taxes in order to make the city a more 'Sophisticated' society. The city has an Academy for crying out loud! How more sophisticated can you get?! What is she wanting; Everyone to wear tuxedos and dresses?

"Talk about old world!"

"Well, what do you suggest she does?" Adagio asked.

"Leave things the way they fucking are. The economy is the best it has been in over a hundred years, the prices are at an all time low," Sonata tilted her head. "It means things are more affordable. And it is very rare to find a homeless person, and if there is one, then it means that he was too lazy to get a job."

"Which brings me to something." Adagio interrupted.

"Adagio, you’re interrupting my rant." Aria groaned.

"You can rant later. What I want to talk about is important."

"Don't you say that every time you want to talk?" Sonata asked.

"Thank you!" Aria said through a half-hearted laugh.

"Well, I mean it this time." Adagio face-palmed. "Sunset has done so much for us, it isn't funny. She took us off the streets, gave us a comfortable place to live, helped us to make some friends, and is working her fingers to the bone to not only make us accepted amongst our fellow students, but to keep food on the table as well. I think we should give her something in return."

"Like what?" Aria asked. "A big 'Thanks for Everything' party?"

"Have you been hanging around with Pinkie Pie too?" Sonata asked.

"Not as much as you." Aria snapped back.

"Girls!" Adagio said, standing up. "What I'm talking about is us getting jobs!"

"Wait a second." Aria said. "The last time we got jobs, it failed miserably."

"Yes, but this time it isn't urgent." Adagio pointed out. "This time we can take our time, find something we really want. Something that suits us, and we will be good at. Not just some fast food joint, or a recipe for disaster."

"Too many little kids." Sonata said, shivering at the memory from Discord's Place.

"Exactly." Adagio nodded. "Canterlot isn't a small town. There are endless possibilities. We might have to test the waters first, but I have no doubt that we can find something good. Maybe even something we can make a career out of."

"Or we can just skim the 'Help Wanted' ads here in the paper." Aria said, finding the job section and putting it down on the coffee table.

"That works too." Adagio said, sitting down on the couch.

"Let's see." Aria said, skimming the paper. "Stocker at Dollar Store?"

"Next!" Sonata exclaimed.

"I agree." Adagio nodded.

"Alright, Poop Scraper at the Zoo?"

"Next!" Adagio and Sonata said in unison.

"How about Cosmetic at Canterlot Day Spa?" Aria suggested.

"Now, that sounds like something I can sink my teeth into." Adagio said with a smile. "I think I do my make-up beautifully."

"Here we go again." Sonata whispered into Aria's ear.

"I can be the talk of the town!" Adagio said, with a star in her eye. "Why, I could make every woman in Canterlot look like a Runway Model!"

"Then why don't you work with Rarity at her boutique?" Aria asked, resting her chin on her fist. "You know, model her dresses for her?"

"I don't like the idea of being a human manikin." Adagio shook her head. "No, being a Cosmetic will do just fine."

"Ookay." Aria said, turning back to the paper. "Sonata, how would you like to be a Dog Walker?"

"Oh, no no no." Sonata said, shaking her head vigorously. "Last time I did that, I had to walk a Great Dane. He saw a squirrel and I was being dragged for at least half a mile!"

"I'll put that down as maybe." Aria chuckled. "How about... nope, next one."

"What was it?" Sonata asked, leaning closer.

"You don't wanna know." Aria quickly said. "How about a crash test dummy?"

"I already do that for you two." Sonata groaned, rubbing her head at the memories. "Next one."

"How about the guy who gets attacked by police dogs for training purposes?"

"I got roped into that thirty years ago." Sonata complained.

"Alright, alright, let's be serious." Adagio said.

"I am being serious." Aria said. "Look, it's right here!"

Adagio leaned in closer, seeing that Aria was telling the truth.

"Why in the world would someone put that in the paper?" Adagio asked out loud.

"I feel sorry for the person who actually accepts that job." Aria said, shaking her head. "Oh wait, no I don't."

"Because they might actually deserve it?" Sonata asked.

"No, because it would be funny to watch." Aria chuckled.

"It wouldn't be funny!" Sonata shouted. "When I had that job, the suit nearly came off!"

"They did make those suits cheaper back in the day." Adagio nodded. "Oh, wait, doesn't Pinkie work there?"

"Being the guy who gets attacked by dogs?" Sonata asked, confused.

"No, Sugar Cube Corner is looking for an assistant baker/Cashier." Adagio clarified, pointing to the ad. "Help Wanted, Assistant Baker/Cashier for Sugar Cube Corner Coffee Shop. No prior work experience needed. Just Call, Apply Online, or Come in. Located at blah blah blah."

"That's something you might could do." Aria said, turning to Sonata. "They would train you and everything."

"And I get to work with Pinkie!" Sonata said, beaming with excitement. "Oh, it's going to be so much fun! We could throw parties, blow up balloons, and-"

"I think you have the wrong idea." Adagio interrupted. "An assistant baker helps the main baker in preparing sweets. You know, like cupcakes."

"Oh, well that still sounds fun." Sonata said, holding her smile.

"Good." Adagio nodded. "What about you, Aria? Do you see anything that you might like to do?"

"Most of these jobs are shit." Aria shook her head.

"Well, what about this?" Adagio said, picking up the paper. "A furniture Salesperson?"

"Like I said, most of these jobs are shit." Aria groaned.

"Okay, okay, let's get serious." Adagio chuckled. "Hey, this might be something you would be interested in. Apparently Canterlot Radio needs a part time host."

"In what?" Aria asked.

"It's not very specific. It's just a short little segment where the part time host gets to talk about whatever he or she wants."

"You could use that time to rant about something no one has the guts to rant about!" Sonata suggested.

"I'm sold." Aria said.

"Don't you want to hear about the-" Adagio asked before she got interrupted.

"No, shut up cheese puff, I'm sold." Aria interrupted. "As long as I get to rant about stuff, I'm good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After deciding what jobs they wanted, the Dazzlings parted ways to apply for them. The Beauty Salon and Sugar Cube Corner Coffee Shop weren't as far away from the house as Canterlot Radio Station was. Adagio and Sonata could simply walk to them, but Aria had to take the bus, something she wasn't very happy about. Aria got stuck on the back of the bus, sitting next to a large man who insisted that he sat by the isle. He was so big, he seated just from breathing.

Aria could swear that she heard the seat screaming for help. If it wasn't bad enough that she was squashed by the window by a large man who sweated a lot, she was also stuck behind a man who probably hasn't taken a bath in years, who also had his window down. It was hot, stinky, uncomfortable, and just plain sucked. After thirty minutes of this torment, she finally came to her stop.

She didn't hesitate to crawl over the large man, and ran out of the bus, immediately inhaling the fresh air. After the bus drove away, Aria looked to her destination. At the top of a small hill, stood a brick building with a tall antenna with multiple dishes going up it, pointing in different directions. She figured that if she were to try to climb to the top of it, it would take her fifteen minutes. Not that she would try.

She walked to the top of the hill, and in through the glass doors. The lobby had black and white tiles, and white brick walls. There were many bulletin boards on the walls, as well as fliers for different upcoming events. If it weren't for those, she was certain she would get snow blindness if she stayed in for too long. To her right was a wooden desk with a woman sitting behind it, with her feet propped up, talking on the phone.

She wore a black T-shirt that sported Canterlot Radio's logo, A stallion with headphones on, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. She had wild, brunette hair with blond highlights, and creamy skin.

"Yes sir," She said on the phone. "I'll get those papers in tomorrow morning. I'm sorry, but I've got to let you go, someone just came in." Not waiting for a response, she hung up the phone and looked up at Aria. "Thanks for coming in. That guy always has a bug up his ass."

"Uh, yeah." Aria said, confused. "I'm here to apply for that job."

"Oh, are you?" She said, taking her feet off of the desk and leaning forward. "I've got an application right here. My name is Creamy Record, by the way."

"Aria Blaze." Aria nodded.

Nodding, Creamy Record took a piece of paper off her desk and handed it to Aria.

"I'm kind of surprised to see someone responding to that ad." Creamy said. "I thought no one reads the paper anymore."

"Did you only put it in the newspaper?" Aria asked, taking a pencil off of Creamy's desk to fill out the application.

"Yeah, the boss was too cheap to do anything else." Creamy nodded. "I suggested that we mention it on the radio, but he didn't want to do that. The only reason he even agreed to put it in the paper is because the staff wanted the segment. A time to just talk about anything, ya know?"

"Don't you guys do that anyway?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah." Creamy shook her head. "The boss filters what we say. I say he's a fucking dictator."

"Who's your boss?" Aria asked.

"His name is Blueblood." Creamy groaned. "He thinks that he is the shit because his mom is a politician, and his aunt is a High School Principal."

"Do you want me to kick his ass for ya?" Aria suggested with a chuckle.

"I bet you could do it too." Creamy laughed. "The son of a bitch doesn't lift a damn finger out of fear of getting sweaty. But I like you, so try to actually get the job."

"Fine." Aria said, continuing to fill out the application.

Once Aria was done, she handed the application back to Creamy Record, who observed it.

"Well, given that Blueblood doesn't even want this, he'll be happy to hear that it will only be a weekend thing. I can't find a single reason why he wouldn't hire you."

"I'm still in school, so I can't exactly be here on the weekdays." Aria shrugged.

"It's alright, Aria." Creamy waved her hand. "Why don't you head home and relax. I'll call you when you get the job."

"When?" Aria asked, confused.

"If he doesn't hire you, I'll kick his ass personally."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sonata happily walked down a familiar street, humming a tune as she passed by other pedestrians. Other than the trouble she gets at school, she didn't have a reason to not be happy. After all, she was going to get a job working with Pinkie Pie, the second person to accept her and her friends. It didn't take long for the particular Coffee Shop to come into view, and looking into the window, it appeared that Pinkie was working. Her excitement becoming renewed, she rushed into the Coffee Shop, immediately catching Pinkie's attention.

"Sonata!" Pinkie exclaimed, rushing toward her and embracing her in a hug. "I haven't seen you since, like, Yesterday! How are you?!"

"I'm doing great, Pinkie!" Sonata said happily as she returned the hug.

"What can I do for you?” Pinkie asked as she broke the hug. “Would you like a cupcake, or a slice of pie, or maybe some hot coco?"

"All that sounds great, but I'm actually here for the job." Sonata smiled.

Pinkie's eyes grew wide as she let out a long gasp. Even after all of the air entered her lungs, Pinkie held that position for a moment. Growing worried, Sonata lightly tapped Pinkie's forehead, not knowing how else to check on her friend. Then, without warning, Pinkie grabbed Sonata's hand and rushed her into the kitchen, startling Mrs. Cake, who was currently decorating a wedding cake.

"Mrs.Cake!Sonatawantsajobhere!Youknow,theoneweputoutintothepapers?Cansheworkhere?Pleasepleasepleasepleeeeeeease?"

"Pinkie, slow down!" Mrs. Cake pleaded. "All that I understood was my name and you saying 'please'."

Pinkie took a few calming breaths before she continued. "Sonata wants to be the Assistant Baker/Cashier. The job we put out in the newspaper. Can she work here? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeeeease?"

"Pinkie, Pinkie." Mrs. Cake said, holding out her hand. "Sonata will have to fill out an application, and I'll have to run it by Carrot Cake before we make a decision."

"Did someone say my name?" Mr. Cake said, walking into the room with Pumpkin and Pound Cake in his arms.

"Wah!" Pumpkin and Pound Cake said together when they saw Sonata.

"Hello again, you two!" Sonata said, walking up to them. "Have you missed me?"

"Son!" Pumpkin said.

"Nata!" Pound completed.

"I guess that's a 'yes'." Mr. Cake chuckled. "I assume you're one of Pinkie's friends?"

"Yes she is!" Pinkie said, wrapping an arm around Sonata. "Her name is Sonata, and she's wanting to be the Assistant Baker/Cashier!"

"Does she, now?" Mr. Cake asked, smiling. "Has she filled out an application yet?"

"No, not yet." Sonata shook her head. "But I would really really really like to have the chance to work with Pinkie and see these cute little babies more often."

"Well, Mrs, Cake and I own this shop, so we can hire whoever we want." Mr. Cake smiled. "But we do have a protocol, so how about you fill out an application, and we'll call you with our decision?"

Sonata nodded. "Okay, where can I find an application?"

"I'll get it for you!" Pinkie said, running off.

"While we're waiting." Mr. Cake said, putting Pumpkin and Pound Cake in a playpen. "How would you like to try one of my new recipes before I put it on the menu?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just like the Coffee Shop, Canterlot Day Spa was within walking distance. It didn't take Adagio long to reach it. The building was two stories tall, had cream colored walls, and a purple roof. There was a short row of bushes on each side of the glass door that separated her from the spa's interior. With a deep breath, Adagio walked inside, being greeted by the sweet honeysuckle aroma.

The inside walls were painted a light blue, with the floors being painted somewhat like clouds. No doubt the design was to make the customers feel like they were in heaven. After a moment of taking it all in, she was greeted by a woman with light pink skin, blue hair that was pulled back by a white hair-band, and wore a white oriental gown.

"Hello, and welcome to Canterlot Day Spa!" She said in a prench accent. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Oh, no." Adagio said, shaking her head. "I was actually looking to see if I could get that Cosmetic job."

"Oh!" She said happily. "I didn't know someone would apply so soon! Well, my name is Aloe. My twin sister, Lotus Blossom, also works here. She will be happy to hear someone has applied!"

"How many people work here?" Adagio asked curiously.

"My sister and I normally take care of all the girls ourselves, but after Spring Break, we have been getting more work than we can handle! That is why we put a help wanted ad in the paper. But Bulk Biceps takes care of all the men. Thankfully we don't get that many men, so he is able to handle it."

"Bulk Biceps?" Adagio asked, starting to get nervous.

"I know, his name is intimidating, but he is actually quite sweet... if you can get past the shouting."

"I... I, uh." Adagio said, her eyes scanning for Bulk.

"Oh, honey, do please calm down." Aloe said, putting her hand on Adagio's. "He doesn't shout out of anger. He just doesn't know how to be quiet. Come, how about I give you a nice massage to calm your nerves, then you can fill out the application."

"Oh, alright." Adagio said, trying to calm down. "But no happy endings."

"Your loss." Aloe shrugged.