Cold and mighty ill, the Dazzlings faint against the wrath of a blizzard, only to wake up in the hands of people they would have happily avoided like the plague.
The Dazzlings are caught in a fearsome blizzard while dealing with a terrible illness. They try to reach their house, but the harsh elements and poor health cause them to faint in the snow.
It would have been the end of their story. But, fate had other plans, which involved people that, under normal circumstances, they would have avoided as much as possible.
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Cover Image: By MintyDreams7
Current Spot in the Friendship is Worth It Timeline:
For a brief moment, the Dazzlings nearly had what they wanted: the adoration of a stadium's worth of mind-controlled teenagers, enough magic to spread their wings for the first time in moons nigh-uncountable, and their only competition literally trapped under their boot heels. All they had to do was finish their song, bring the Rainbooms under their control, and spread their voices throughout the world. After that, Humanity would have adored them. Ponies would have been next in line. Their feast would have been exquisite! But, in their long quest for power and adoration, they had made a mistake.
Now, magic-less and reduced to the status of teenagers, Adagio Dazzle couldn't imagine the price of their mistake being any more unbearable as she and her sisters struggled to trek through the cold thick snow on the ground, a product of the terrible blizzard that showered even more of the stuff onto them and the earth around them without remorse. They had the good sense to wear thick Winter clothing, but not even that could stave off the coughing and headaches that frustrated them to no end, not to mention the freezing cold. Sonata sniffed and whimpered while shielding her eyes from the storm with one hand and holding onto herself for more warmth with the other. Aria was hardly better off as she held Sonata by the shoulders to keep her from falling. When those two were not arguing over something for longer than a minute, Adagio thought to herself, then the situation was either that important or that dire. In this case, it was a bit of both. They had to get home to shelter themselves from the storm and quickly at that! Adagio looked over her shoulder to check on her sisters, they were still keeping pace with her. With a quick nod, she turned back to face the path forward. That is, she would, if she could see beyond a few feet. The snowfall was intense enough to produce a fog that was too thick for the girls to see anything that looked remotely like a house from a distance, so they had to press forward if they wanted to have any chance of getting their bearings straight. The headaches and coughing did them no favors in regards to putting their senses to use either, but there was also the increasing fatigue to consider.
"If we don't find warm shelter soon...", Adagio thought out of frustration and a looming panic. Both of these feelings, however, were crushed by her stubborn pride;
"No!", she exclaimed to herself and her sisters as they trudged along, her body refusing to turn around to face them;
"We are Sirens! We've faced storms worse than this in two worlds! We won't be brought low by some mad Human weather and-!"
Her speech got rudely interrupted by a fresh bout of coughing that prompted her to clutch her chest for dear life. It lasted for a few seconds before fading, which allowed her to finish with a bit of a rasp in her voice;
"Whatever curse this pathetic world has placed on us!"
Aria and Sonata, emboldened by her words, ran up to Adagio's sides to hold her steady as they walked together. She looked over at each them in surprise. Sonata gave her one of her giant, overly sweet smiles, while Aria expressed a frustrated glare with the smallest hint of a smirk. With a venomous toothy grin, Adagio gave the storm before her a glare filled with ill intent, as if she were daring it to do its worst. Defiance filling their eyes, the girls continued to stomp through the snow, even as their fatigue grew stronger by the second.
Eventually, the storm gave them a harsh reminder of the Human body's limits in the form of a terribly exhausted Sonata. With a sneeze from her stuffed nose and a whimper that almost sounded like a cry, she slipped off of Adagio's shoulder and face-planted the snow. The other two girls turned towards her in an instant, with Aria kneeling down to turn her body over, so that she could breathe.
For the first time in many an age, Aria showed genuine concern for her younger sister's health and well-being, her perpetual grumpiness dropped in the face of...
"No! This is not happening to her, to us!", she internally declared in protest against what she was seeing before her while cursing the weather that kept raging around them;
"Sirens do not die!"
Sonata was still conscious, but she could barely keep her eyes open. Her breath was short, heavy, and terribly audible as her sisters looked on. Adagio was about ready to give her her Winter hat to ward away the cold as she told them with a small smile and a voice filled with regret;
"I'm sorry... for annoying you two so much..."
Her eyes closed with a flutter before her head tilted to the side, fainting in a way that made it look like she had fallen asleep. Adagio would not have any of this. She picked up her composure as well as the unconscious Sonata and carried her on her shoulders with more strength than she thought she had. With Aria staying close to keep her taco-loving sister from slipping, the two pressed on.
After what felt like an eternity of walking through the world's thickest blanket of frozen water, Adagio started to hear the pace of Aria's steps slow down to a crawl before a sudden rush of moving snow took hold of her attention. She turned her head to check on her, only to find that she could barely keep herself up on her right knee. Even with a fainted Sonata on her shoulders, she could still muster the strength to rush over to Aria, who was coughing even more profusely than before. She looked up at her older sister with the most indignant glare she could possibly come up with before slowly announcing with raspy anger in her voice;
"This... has to be... the most annoying... thing... ever..."
With that, she had unwillingly bid consciousness adieu while falling into the snow via her left side, fatigue and illness claiming her as well.
Adagio's composure nearly fell to pieces, but she kept it together. She would not fall apart here, not while her sisters needed her! Unfortunately, before she could formulate a plan of action, exhaustion had overpowered her physical strength. She fell to her knees while Sonata's body slid down her back. With a fury older than the Human nation she lived in, she internally cursed everyone that had earned her ire, her slowly fading consciousness doing nothing to ease her rage.
She cursed Starswirl, the one who jailed them.
She cursed the Rainbooms, the ones who bested them.
She cursed the Ponies of Equestria and the teenagers of CHS, the ones who would have been their servants.
She cursed herself, the leader of the trio that was now facing a cold end.
Adagio laid herself on her right side on a spot that placed her between Sonata and Aria. The snow was freezing cold, but it didn't matter. Even now, at the end, she would not abandon her sisters. Her last thoughts while she was still awake were of them as she confessed to herself while trying vainly to keep her eyes open;
Adagio woke up with a start, a fierce cough having roused her from her apparent slumber. She barely had the strength and energy to move, so the act of sitting up was a difficult process in of itself. Her splitting headache raged on, but she did notice something cold and wet on her forehead as she moved her upper-body. Unfortunately, she did not notice this in time to stop that something from falling onto her lap with an audible slushy sound. Looking down, she recognized the item to be a small ice bag, although the headache-induced blurriness of her vision made it difficult for her to see this at first. Once the blurriness had eased up enough, she grabbed the bag with her now bare right hand to inspect it further. Judging by the size and quantity of the ice contained within, she had surmised that this was put to use very recently. Placing it back on her lap, she took a quick moment to check herself, starting by running her hands through her remarkably large and puffy hair. It only took her seconds to recognize the signs of her having a terrible case of bed hair. Nothing a good hour or so in front of a bathroom mirror couldn't fix, of that she was certain. Upon further inspection, her nose was still more than a little stuffy, she felt some kind of congestion in her throat and chest, and by the currents, did her stomach growl! At the same time, however, she did not expect that most of her usual meals would be appetizing at the moment, a fact that the queasiness that was paired with the growling made abundantly clear. She wiggled her toes and feet to notice that they were wearing thick woolly socks, which were warm and comfortable, albeit a tad itchy. A minor annoyance that she would take over frostbite any day of the week. With her vision cleared up, she looked at her immediate surroundings to take further stock of the situation. She appeared to be in the living room of a well off family, complete with fancy furniture, a wall-mounted widescreen television, and shelves adorned with family photos and trophies that, if her eyes were not failing her, were awards for academic triumphs: the tell-tale sign that this was the home of an intellectual.
"At least I won't have to deal with a fool...", she thought to herself with relief;
Taking a gander at what she was sitting on, she recognized it to be a large brown couch of reasonable quality. Nothing about this place screamed of the lavish luxury that matched Adagio's discerning tastes, but it would suffice for now. If she had her way, though, she would happily replace the brown carpet... and the positively drab grey wallpaper! A warm thick blue blanket had covered her lower-body, another treat for the senses that she greatly appreciated. She took a moment to really feel the rest of the clothes that now covered her body; a standard t-shirt and thick pants that were almost as wooly as her socks. Poor replacements for the outfits that were more in line with her high standards, but after walking through the closest thing to Tartarus itself not too long ago, a simple set of warm clothing might as well have been luxurious to her. She relaxed into the cushions, allowing gravity to take hold as she basked in her newfound warmth. She figured she could go shopping for more familiar attire with her sisters once the storm-.
"Aria! Sonata!", she yelled out with a hoarse voice before another fierce set of coughs stopped her from doing anything else, her train of thought driven entirely off the rails by her honed sisterly instincts and current illness. As if signaled by her loud predicament, the door to the living room flew open. She could not see who came in, for her eyes were closed tight on account of her coughing fit. The person's feminine voice, however, she could recognize from a mile away;
"Easy there! The coughing will pass with time and care, I promise!"
It was the voice of one of the girls Adagio wanted nothing to do with, if she could help it. The worry it was oozed with annoyed her almost as much as the coughing did. After her body calmed down, she looked up to face her eye to eye. The sight before her filled her with an old anger, only for confusion to take its place. This girl had her voice and much of her looks, and yet, to the once magical Siren's perceptive eyes...
"No... you're not her... you're this world's Twilight Sparkle.", was her response as she raised her right eyebrow in surprise.
It was her host's turn to be surprised, for she asked inquisitively;
"What made you come to that conclusion?"
Adagio pointed at her black thick-rimmed glasses and carefully styled pony tail, an action that she was quick to catch on to as she responded with a short laugh that betrayed a hint of relief before noting;
"Good eye, but for the sake of simplicity, you can call me Sci-Twi, if you wish... Adagio Dazzle, is it?"
She nodded her head before remembering what had previously upset her, which prompted her to try to get up off of the couch before the lack of energy in her limbs had really hit home for her. Sci-Twi gently rested her hands on the sickly girl's shoulders while explaining;
"Your body needs to recover, especially after what you've been through. Rest and good food will help you with that."
Adagio shook her head in protest before explaining with thinly veiled concern;
"My sisters, I need to see if they're-!"
"They'll be fine.", Sci-Twi calmly noted as she attempted to soothe her guest's worries;
"I've given them Mom and Dad's bed to use for now. The girls are checking on them at the moment, they should be coming over here shortly."
This was enough to calm Adagio down enough to lay back onto the couch, although she did wonder as to who was checking on her sea-kin. As much as she wanted to investigate the matter personally, she knew her body was in no condition to let her make the journey. Sci-Twi moved the blanket to have it cover as much of her body as possible while placing the ice bag back onto her forehead. The cold ice made for a respectable reprieve from the raging pain in her head. She could feel the urge to sleep growing, helped along by the gentle pull of gravity. But, there was something she had to ask her host;
"Do you know who we are? What we have done?", she questioned to Sci-Twi, her calm voice and sickly rasp hiding her feelings regarding such things.
With a nod and slight nervousness in her physical mannerisms, she replied honestly;
"Yes, I do. I'm helping you three regardless of that, just so you know."
Adagio's eyes began to flutter as sleep wrapped itself around her mind, silently telling her it was time to rest. The last things she heard before sinking into its embrace was the rushing of footsteps and a young feminine voice that had a distinct southern drawl that spoke in strained annoyance that was barely hidden;
"Should'a reckon'd that their leader would be the first to wake up..."
She had awoken again, this time with no ice bag and slightly less ache in her head. The congestion remained though, much to her internalized dismay. After slowly sitting up, she found that her body's energy had increased! Not enough for her to get up and walk about, but progress was progress, she supposed. Her head felt more than a little groggy, which she chocked up as a symptom of her illness. She looked to her right to see a very different sight this time around. Three girls stood before her, each one rocking a unique appearance. The one on the left had white skin, long purple hair with pink highlights, and green eyes. The one on the right had orange skin, short purple hair, and purple eyes. The one in the middle had yellowish pale skin, light brown eyes, and red hair that probably would have reached down to her knees, if it wasn't held up on the back of her head by an oversized red bow. Their outfits were fine to Adagio's eyes, but nothing to write home about. What had actually gotten her curiosity were two things: the fact that they all seemed terribly familiar to her and that they were giving her a glare that could melt a glacier, as if they were waiting for her to start causing trouble. Adagio could not blame them for this, though. After all, Sirens would always cause trouble wherever they went.
Well, that used to be the case for her and her sisters, but that was beside the point!
After staring each other down for what felt like a minute, she decided to break the ice with a simple question and a raised right eyebrow;
"Have I seen you three somewhere before?"
The trio of girls looked confused at this, though not insulted. It was the red head, who apparently had the southern drawl from earlier, who responded calmly;
"Ah can understand ya' not rememberin' us. Ah mean, you're about as sick as a dog with the flu, so Ah can bet good cider that your brain is foggy like the streets outside are right now."
Adagio could not disagree with that sentiment, but she did not like the mischief in the orange girl's smirk as she suggested with a dash of excitement;
"I say we give her that hint we talked about earlier."
The other two nodded happily in agreement. With a giggle, the green-eyed girl stood in attention, cleared her throat, and declared while trying to sound as professional as possible while pretending to hold a microphone up to her mouth with her right hand;
"Adagio Dazzle, please report to the Principal's Office immediately!"
Adagio's eyes went wide with shock upon hearing the word "Principal" as the gears in her sickly head turned with enough force to clear up the grogginess and connect the dots. She saw these girls before, in the school! In Canterlot High School! Her shock quickly gave way to pure annoyance and frustration. She groaned while grabbing the hair on her head with both hands and raised her head to face the ceiling. She held this position for a moment or two before lowering it back to down along with her hands to face the girls, who were now dealing with a loud case of the giggles and snorts. With an exasperated sigh, she declared with no small amount of disdain in her nasally rasp-ridden voice while giving them an expression of agitation restrained by composure;
"Of course, I would be taken in by a bunch of... what did you all call yourselves again?"
The grogginess in her head returned with a vengeance as she spoke, which did not make remembering such a detail any easier as she guessed;
"Wonder... bolts?"
They had recovered from their mirth quickly enough to hear her words, which prompted the orange girl to correct her with a satisfied grin;
"We're Wondercolts, Adagio. But, Wonderbolts does have an awesome ring to it."
While she held her chin with her right index finger to contemplate the possibility of improving the school's team name, the red head took the opportunity to make some things clear to the ill lady who sat on the couch before her, but not before taking a breath and showing a neutral expression on her face, her voice calm and polite;
"Ah'm gonna be real honest with ya'. We don't like ya' none and we're quite sure ya' don't like us none."
"Heh, she's not wrong.", Adagio thought to herself as she saw her shut her eyes for a moment, sighed, and opened them up. Her neutral expression melted away into one of concern before continuing with sweetness added to every word she uttered;
"Even so, we ain't gonna let ya' or your sisters suffer when we can do somethin' to help."
The eldest Siren's long life had prepared her for a great many things, and dealing with "bleeding hearts" like these girls was one of them. She glared at each of the girls intensely, trying to find any sign of them pretending to give a care. But, all she could see was honest concern in each of them. This confused her enough to investigate with a raised eyebrow;
"But wh-?"
She was stopped in her tracks by the green-eyed girl, who waggled her right index finger while proclaiming;
"We'll have no buts from you, missy! We're helping you three get back on your feet and that's final."
With a hearty laugh, the red head chimed in with a wink aimed squarely at the dumbfounded Adagio;
"We should probably introduce ourselves, y'all. We did meet before, but it's only polite, after all."
She bumped her chest with her fist in a proud fashion before declaring;
"The name's Apple Bloom!"
The green-eyed girl waved at Adagio with a big smile on her face as she told with a hint of dignity;
"My name's Sweetie Belle."
The orange girl gave her a thumbs up as she revealed her name with gusto;
"I'm Scootaloo!"
Adagio was clearly trying to process things in her head, a fact that prompted the girls to run out of the room, but not before Sweetie Belle could tell her as they ran off;
"Give us a shout if you need us!"
It took several deep breaths for the Siren to collect herself enough to ask herself the question she tried to ask the now absent trio of Wondercolts, the same question she wished she was able to ask Sci-Twi;
Why...?
By that point, the brain fog and headache conspired to deny her the ability to fully flesh out that thought, so she decided to sleep on it.
The storm raged on with no signs of slowing down, even as Adagio woke up from her nap. Sci-Twi explained to her over a cup of hot cocoa that the weather would not ease up for at least two more days, according to the weather reports. It did not take very long for the reality of the situation to hit home for the former songstress;
"Trapped in a house with three would-be slaves and the Human version of one of the girls who defeated us...", she grimly thought to herself while slowly taking a sip of her steamy chocolatey beverage;
"It's official: Starswirl dumped us in Limbo."
By now, Adagio had regained more energy. Enough to stand on her feet and walk a little, but not quite enough to move around a lot without coughing up a storm or losing her balance. So, while Sci-Twi sat on a chair off to Adagio's right side, the Wondercolt trio were enjoying their own cups of hot cocoa while sitting on chairs that they had placed dead center of the living room, their barely blinking eyes fixed on Adagio. Apple Bloom sat in the middle, with Sweetie Belle positioned to her right and Scootaloo to her left. Their arms were crossed and deep frowns were etched on their faces. An eerie silence filled the room, making the purple scientist a tad uncomfortable in her seat. She would look over at her recovering guest from time to time, but not enough to give her any lasting glares. If the trio of girls felt unease, they did not show it. Adagio, however, was enjoying the quiet and her drink immensely, in spite of feeling the piercing daggers that were the three pairs of eyes aimed at her person.
The simple things, she had learned, were magical in their own ways.
The quiet time, however, would be shattered. At first, Adagio was annoyed by this interruption of her silent enjoyment of a good drink. But, hearing the source was enough to turn that annoyance into surprise;
"This whole 'being sick' thing is totes horrible!", cried a distressed Sonata as she walked into the room, her nasally rasp-ridden voice revealing her stuffed up nose and sore throat. The eldest Dazzling sharply turned her head to see her entering the room alongside a visibly frustrated Aria, who was just as stuffed up and raspy as her younger sister. Like Adagio, they were wearing simplistic outfits. Their hair, like hers, had seen better days. Gone were Sonata's ponytail and Aria's pigtails, which were replaced by long flowing messes filled with split ends. The former made it a point to expand on her complaint while giving the sister next to her a most dramatic pleading expression;
"I mean, how can I enjoy the deliciousness of tacos if my belly says no to them?!"
She grabbed Aria by the collar of her shirt out of intense. raspy desperation;
"They're tacos, Aria!"
Aria gave herself a fierce facepalm before carefully pushing Sonata away while noting begrudgingly with a rasp of her own;
"Ugh... I hate to admit it, Sonata, but I get what you mean."
She had to use both hands to hold Sonata back from giving her the mother of all hugs for that comment. Once her younger sister had settled down, she then pointed an indigent right index finger squarely at Sci-Twi while giving her a venomous glare as she uttered, her grumpiness back with a vengeance;
"How long will your medicine take to work so that we can have a real meal again? I'm already sick of having to eat nothing but saltine crackers and buttered toast!"
She was rewarded for her ranting with a bout of coughing that kept her from speaking further for a bit. Adagio decided to not chime in just yet, preferring to sit back and enjoy the fireworks for a spell while internally composing herself as Sci-Twi nervously answered while raising her hands in self-defense;
"As long as necessary for the medicine to clear up the nausea, cough, and acid reflex! At least you're not throwing up anymore!"
The eldest Dazzling could not help but chuckle while feeling relief over not having thrown up her drink. She declared to her sisters with a toothy grin;
"Figures, it would take getting sick to make you two idiots agree on something for a change!"
The two sisters were so focused on each other and Sci-Twi that they didn't notice Adagio until she spoke up. Once they did, however, Sonata reacted by giving her a tearful pouncing while exclaiming happily in a rapid-fire pace that would almost be a match with that of a certain pink haired party planner;
"DAGI! I'm so glad you're alive! I was so worried about you! I thought we were going to die out there in the freezing snow! Being sick sucks, I hope we never go through that again! I'm just so happy you're okay!"
Adagio was taken aback by this show of affection for a moment before slowly wrapping her arms around the head of her overjoyed sister, the latter's tears and snot staining the front of her shirt. After their recent brush with the end, the eldest sister figured it best to let her have this one. After taking a moment to watch Sonata continue to bawl while repeatedly promising to make her sisters the most yummy tacos in the history of everything ever, she looked over at Aria, who glared at each of them for a second before looking away while crossing her arms to keep up her grumpy exterior. She did, however, allow for the tiniest of smirks to slip through her expertly crafted armor. Adagio's face revealed a neutral expression, but her eyes told a different story that only two people in the room could notice if they looked closely enough; a story of quiet emotional relief. While all of this was happening, Sci-Twi noted in her head with the clarity and calmness of an experienced scientist as she carefully observed each Siren;
"Subjects Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk have regained enough energy and strength to move beyond their beds and have reunited with Subject Adagio Dazzle. All three are recovering from their early-stage hypothermia and acid reflex, each at a different rate, thanks to the medicine and care given to them."
She then thought of a key detail in this situation as she turned her attention to the other trio of girls, their eyes still fixed on ailing Sirens;
"The Canterlot Movie Club has been a major contributing factor in their recovery process, in spite of their understandable contempt towards our guests. Unfortunately, the storm has kept our phones from accessing cellular towers and WiFi, which has made it quite difficult to contact our friends and family about the situation. On top of that..."
She shuddered slightly for a moment before finishing her thought;
"I dread what might happen once the recovery process is complete!"
It took Sonata roughly five minutes of crying and hugging to calm down before The Dazzlings positioned themselves to sit on the couch together, with Adagio in the center, Aria to her left, and Sonata to her right. Now, they were all giving the trio of kids a combined glare of their own, but one filled with curiosity instead of intensity. As frustrated as they were over having to be in the same room as not one, but three Wondercolts and who might as well be the Princess's twin, they knew better than to bite the hands that were helping them. The eldest sister tried to get a read on the trio before her by inspecting their facial expressions. What she saw on the faces of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, to her surprise, was far from hidden or complicated:
Determination, concern, and suspicion.
Years upon years of experience with dealing with Humans allowed her to catch a glimpse of something else on their faces. A subtle sign that would otherwise be unnoticed underneath the obvious feelings:
A sign that these girls were hiding something. As much as she wanted to pry that secret out of them, with more pressing matters to attend to, Adagio decided to let this be for now.
After staring each other down for about a minute, the lead siren asked Sci-Twi while turning her gaze upon her;
"So, how did you get us out of the storm?"
The studious host gave a short nervous laugh while adjusting her glasses for a moment before clarifying;
"While I did take the time to help clean you three up and get you situated into your current lodgings, among other things..."
She then aimed her right arm to point her index finger at the three girls sitting to her right before finishing;
"You can thank the three of them for getting you out of the storm and into the house."
The eyes of The Dazzlings went wide in shock, Adagio's especially! Aria's mouth was agape for good measure, while Sonata covered hers with her right hand in an instant.
It was one thing for these kids to help them get well, but for them to have saved their lives...
"Wait... that means...!", Adagio thought to herself as a great and terrible realization struck her mind with the force of a typhoon, keeping her shocked expression firmly etched on her face. She quickly put that realization aside in spite of her shock, as it was a matter best discussed with her sisters in private later. She figured it had hit them just as hard anyway.
While Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo did their best to contain their smiles over The Dazzlings' silent reactions, Apple Bloom couldn't resist letting a satisfied sideways smirk creep up her face as she asked them slyly;
"Ya'll didn't see that one comin', did ya'll?"
All three sisters slowly shook their heads in perfect unison in response. Apple Bloom chuckled while shaking her head for a bit, her bow bouncing as she did so. After recollecting herself, she noted in a casual manner while gazing at Adagio once again;
"Ah thought not."
It was at that moment that Sweetie Belle's mind formed a thought that she was quick to express to the sisters before her;
"Why in the world were you three walking through a blizzard?"
Scootaloo raised her right eyebrow before adding;
"Yeah, didn't you see the weather reports? They called it the worst blizzard to hit the Crystal Lands all Winter."
Whilst they were locked in their shock-induced stupor, the Dazzlings were able to process what was said to them. So, after taking a few seconds to reclaim a reasonable level of calmness, Adagio was the first to answer, albeit with a deadpan tone to hide her continued disbelief;
"When we had gotten wind of what was coming, we were driving our way back from a gig in Manehatten we had finished up earlier."
Aria let out a short angry growl before adding;
"By the time we had reached Canterlot City's borders, our RV was barely pushing through enough snow to fill an ocean. It finally broke down in the fog, the tough bas-!"
Before she could finish uttering her choice expletive, Sonata chimed in with her own contribution, her voice laced with sadness and her eyes tearing up out of grief over the loss of their vehicle;
"I miss Rose Quartz already! Lots of happy memories were made in that RV..."
She sniffed back the tears and snot before continuing while looking for a tissue;
"So many songs written... So many delicious tacos made..."
Adagio thanked her lucky stars that her younger sisters were still too sick to argue with each other over something as trivial as the name of their RV. She, of course, had had enough of headaches as it was by then. Adagio finished the story calmly with slightly less deadpan in her voice;
"We had to walk through the storm from there and... well, you know the rest."
The Dazzlings recent revelations threw them off for a bit, but now, as far as Adagio was concerned, they were back to utilizing a skill that they had cultivated for many Human ages;
"Show no weakness when you can.", she thought to herself as she spoke while trying, and failing, to breathe through her stuffed up nose, her unsuccessful attempt producing an annoyed frown for a moment before her face reverted back to a composed expression. It was after this that a question from earlier made itself known in her head again;
"Why do they-?"
This time, it was Apple Bloom's turn to interrupt her train of thought before it could reach its increasingly enticing destination. With a hint of her natural excitement shining from her eyes, she happily declared;
"Don't ya'll worry none. If anyone can track down your ride, it's Miss Twi 'ere!"
She sharply turned her head to give the bookworm a dopey smile that exploded with the kind of encouraging warmth that could melt steel beams. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo joined in, their combined grins warm enough to be a match for the planet's core! So, when Sci-Twi took a glance at said smiles, any nervousness she might have felt was quickly disintegrated by the power of unadulterated sweetness. With a quick readjustment of her glasses and a warm smile of her own, she declared concisely to the group of ladies;
"Once the weather clears up enough for me to get a clear signal with one of the Dazzlings' smart phones, I should be able to lock onto the RV's current location. Provided that it has a GPS tracker built in and one of those phones has the correct tracking app, of course."
Her nervousness rose from the dead, albeit in a weakened state, before continuing;
"I don't want to break the law just to find a vehicle."
As much as she hated the very notion of getting help from any version of Twilight Sparkle, Adagio saw an opportunity to resolve at least one problem painlessly, and she was nothing if not opportunistic;
"You'll want my phone then, it has the tracking app you need.", she noted while gagging internally before clarifying;
"It's the one with the hydra on its golden protection case."
Sci-Twi affirmed her answer with a quick nod before noting;
"Ah, the one with the gold paint."
"No, the golden one.", Adagio clarified with a confident tone and toothy manure-eating grin that, together, spoke volumes of her arrogance. Now, it was Sci-Twi and the trio's turn to be shocked, which pleased her greatly. As she chuckled at the sight before her, Scootaloo shook her head in disbelief while exclaiming;
"Seriously?! Those cases are hilariously expensive! How the hay did you-?"
She then quickly each of the sisters a glare riddled with restrained disdain, with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle joining in, before answering her own question with annoyance in every word;
"Oh, of course you would use your Siren magic to steal the case!"
Adagio was always quick to recognize, and take advantage of, a chance to mess with a pathetic Human. Her toothy grin returning with increased strength, she corrected the annoyed daredevil with a chuckle that teetered on the edge of being a cackle;
"I wouldn't say I stole it. I simply..."
She gave the girls a devious wink before finishing;
"Persuaded the fine gentlemen behind the phone store counter to offer a more reasonable price."
This produced a cacophony of groans from all four of the girls who sat before her. The Dazzlings, however, could barely contain their laughter, if nothing else but to avoid another coughing fit. Apple Bloom, in particular, had had enough. She promptly shot up off of her chair and walked over to the kitchen in a brisk pace while holding her head with both hands and declaring loudly;
"Ah'm gonna go get ya'll a snack! Ah'll deal with ya' Sirens later!"
Adagio, by this point, had already guessed as to who she was related to, thanks to her southern drawl being almost a match to that of a certain Stetson-wearing blonde. As much as she wanted badly to have some fun at her family's expense, she figured it best to save that number for after they recovered.
She almost wished she could feed off of the slight venom in Apple Bloom's voice as she walked off. Almost...
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo quickly followed suit while giving Adagio one more glare for the road. She was, by comparison, more than a little pleased with their reactions to her comment, for she reclined on her spot on the coach with a look of immense satisfaction on her face. Aria enjoyed watching the short back-and-forth, if her amused grin was any indication. Sonata, however, was visibly upset by the girls' departure;
"Ohhhh, I wanted to talk with them some more!", she exclaimed in disappointment.
Aria rolled her eyes before asking her younger sibling with a raised right eyebrow and old frustration;
"Why would you want to talk with those Wondercolt brats?"
Sonata turned her head to look around the room they were sitting in before explaining with one of her giant smiles;
"Well, we were freezing to death before. But, now, we're here and getting better because of those girls! The least we can do is try to talk with them."
She looked right at Sci-Twi, who was giving Adagio a look of pure disappointment over her earlier comment before turning her attention over to Sonata. With a giggle, the bubbliest Dazzling added happily while taking the lavender girl's hands into hers;
"You helped save our lives too, Twilight! Thank you!"
She got a genuine smile from Sci-Twi for that show of gratitude, although she did gently pull her hands out of the cyan girl's grasp.
Aria groaned over her sister's agonizing sweetness;
"Oh, if I wasn't already having a splitting headache..."
Adagio sensed it was time to play peacemaker. She spoke to her fellow sirens with as much authority as she could without making herself cough... again;
"Look, Sonata is not that far off the mark. I don't like the idea of being around those brats either. But, we'll be here for a while, like it or not, so the least we can do is be somewhat polite around them, even if it means talking with them sometimes. We don't have to be friendly...",
She used air-quotes when she spoke that last word, her distaste for it as plain as the snow falling outside as she finished;
"to be polite."
She looked over at a visibly disappointed Sci-Twi before clarifying with an air of calculated courtesy;
"What I mean is that, while we're not...
She had to hold back the urge to gag for a second or two;
"Unappreciative... of you girls helping us, we're not here to make friends. We'll stick around until we're healed up, our RV is found, and we have a safe ride home. We'll all be out of each other's hair after that."
With an exasperated grunt, Aria noted;
"Fine by me, I guess."
Sonata looked a little upset, but she held her tongue. Sci-Twi got up and walked over to the door that led to the kitchen before stopping. She then told the Dazzlings with certainty;
"I'll respect your choice on the matter and get the girls up to speed so that we're all on the same page..."
She turned her head and adjusted her upper-body to look at them one more time before adding with heartfelt concern;
"But, take it from me; having a friend just might do you girls a world of good."
She turned right around and left for the kitchen.
The Dazzlings sat in silence for about five seconds before switching the subject, outright refusing to dignify Sci-Twi's comment with a response. Adagio started things off by asking with uncharacteristic hesitancy;
"Girls, I know this sounds crazy, but... do you think... that..."
"I know what you're thinking, Dagi, and it is crazy.", Aria noted with a raised eyebrow, clearly not wanting to entertain whatever idea her leader was suggestion. Adagio would not budge, however;
"Perhaps, but it wouldn't hurt to check now, would it?"
"Seriously, Dagi?!", Aria exclaimed while almost dropping her whisper;
"We have no magic! That thing that you're thinking of is probably gone too!"
It was that moment that Sonata had expressed an idea;
"Well... we haven't checked for it after The Battle of the Bands, didn't we?", she asked while holding her chin with her right hand in deep thought.
Adagio couldn't help but give her a small approving grin upon hearing this from their typically air-headed sister. When she could come up with an idea that was on the mark (which was quite rare), it was usually one that worked out well for them. Aria would never admit to this aloud for the life of her, to say nothing of her expressing even a trace of approval on her face. Still, she knew when she was beat, so with a huff, she declared sharply;
"Fine, we'll do the practice this one time, just to shut you two up."
She rested her hands on her lap and ordered;
"Now, follow my lead."
"My lead.", was Adagio's response. Simple, direct, and commanding in every sense of the word. She would normally be incensed over anyone, especially her sisters, trying to lead the group instead of her, but she was, frankly, too sick to be angry. Aria knew the score, but she figured trying to take the lead (for the billionth time it seemed) was worth a shot. With a shrug, she waited for her sister's instructions alongside an excited Sonata, who was trying to not bounce on her spot on the couch.
"Oh, I haven't done this in too long! It's so relaxing!"
The eldest siren checked on each of her sisters to make sure they were ready before starting them off in a surprisingly gentle whisper;
"Close your eyes and take deep breaths in through the mouth..."
They did just as instructed.
"Hold for five seconds."
They held their breaths in while counting down the seconds internally.
"... and breathe out through the mouth."
As the exhaled, they felt tension they didn't know was in their bodies loosen up a bit. Adagio guided them further;
"Let your breathing return to its natural pattern as you tune into the currents in your blood..."
With practiced ease, each Siren saw in their minds those currents, that flow of blood in their bodies.
"Follow the currents... swim with them all the way down to your heart..."
Like with Adagio, Aria, in her mind, swam with her blood flow to her destination. Sonata, however, allowed her currents to carry her there while imagining herself raising her arms up high as if she was riding on a roller-coaster. Within a minute, they each felt their own heartbeat, which prompted Adagio to continue with her guidance;
"Feel your heartbeat... notice its rhythm... your rhythm..."
Each siren recognized their heart's rhythm and tuned into it whilst they imagined themselves floating on the ocean waters of Equis, with small waves rocking them to the beat of their hearts. Adagio continued on;
"Follow your rhythm... let it take you deep into the depths of you..."
It wasn't long before they each felt the world around them vanish, with only their heartbeats and Adagio's voice to listen to as they, in their minds, began to feel heavier and heavier by the second. They felt no fear as they embraced this experience for another minute before the three of them breathed in instinctively and held their breaths for five seconds before Adagio declared softly with a confident exhale;
"To the depths."
Aria was next to exhale with more calmness than she normally expressed;
"To the depths."
Sonata was the last to exhale with a content smile on her face;
"To the depths."
Through the power of their imagination, they allowed themselves to sink deep into the ocean. Deeper and deeper into the dark they went, leaving behind any thoughts, worries, or cares that would distract them.
There, they sat in silence with healthy postures, stiff as statues, yet utterly relaxed as they experienced a journey only they could see. All was quiet in the living room as Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle returned with bowls of soup in their hands. When they saw the sirens in their current state, they were more than a little perplexed as they sat on their chairs and placed the bowls on their laps. The girls watched them closely for a few minutes while feeling quite glad to catch a break from dealing with Adagio's flaunting of her ill-gotten goods. Before they could say anything, however, the eyes of The Dazzlings opened wide in a rush. The irises in their eyes shrank to the size of pebbles before Adagio perfectly expressed their combined shock with a stunned whisper;
"Oh, sweet seaweed..."
Apple Bloom tilted her head off to the right side slightly before asking;
"Ah beg your pardon?"
Hearing her question was enough to bring the sirens back to reality, which allowed Adagio to shoot a death glare at the trio in front of them before stating with growing anger;
"Not in the mood."
Aria was staring daggers at them as well, but Sonata was not so angry. She glared at them, yes, but she was more surprised than anything. They took a stuffy whiff of the pleasant smell coming from the soup, which made their stomachs growl. Sensing the need for food, Adagio added softly with resignation;
"We'll accept the soup though..."
After receiving their meals, the sisters ate in a furious silence. Thankfully, the Wondercolt trio decided to not press the issue further, at least for the moment. As she ate her surprisingly tasty tomato soup, a certain question popped into her head once again;
While the Sirens' health slowly improved over time, Aria and Adagio's moods did not become remarkably pleasant. True to their word, they held polite conversations whenever necessary, so no insults were thrown around. However, the former was grumpy and standoffish, while the latter was a tad arrogant and almost as grumpy. Sonata, by contrast, was the only Siren who was genuinely sweet to their caregivers, especially to the three younger girls. But, just like her sisters, she was quite reserved when it came to her personal affairs (although she did need to get the occasional reminder to keep her mouth shut from Aria). As for Apple Bloom and her two best friends, while they were quite annoyed with the Sirens in general, they were far more inclined to be friendly with them. They were, of course, about as reserved, with one exception;
"So... I remember something about you three being in a club...", Adagio commented while enjoying a cup of tea. Her stomach, by this point, had improved enough to be able to handle tea and spicy foods, with her sisters not being far off from that point. Their noses were not as stuffed up as before and their throats had all but recovered. Sci-Twi was busy cleaning up her parents' room, so it was just the three sirens and the three girls sitting in the same places as before. Speaking of the girls, they responded to Adagio's comment by looking at each other excitedly before announcing with more joy in their voices than there was snow outside;
"We are..."
They then performed a triple high-five while exclaiming to the skies above, their smiles beaming with pride and happiness;
"THE CANTERLOT MOVIE CLUB!!! YAY!!!"
If their voices were but a decibel higher, they would have inflamed the Sirens' headaches! They still had to cover their ears, though. After recovering from the sudden blast of vocalized cheer, Adagio decided, instead of throwing shade, to ask the CMCs, if nothing else but to take her mind off of her ears ringing;
"Ah, so you're movie buffs, then?"
Apple Bloom responded by pounding her chest with her right fist before declaring proudly;
"Darn tootin'! We may do lots of other fun stuff, but movies are our bread and butter!"
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked no less prideful. Aria, feeling slightly intrigued, chimed in;
"Okay then, what are your favorite movies?"
As for Sonata, she was positively beaming with joy, barely able to hold herself back from interrupting her sisters with a verbal gushing over something as seemingly mundane as movies. The CMCs looked at each other for a moment, as if silently discussing Aria's question with just their eyes. With affirmative nods to one another, they looked back at the Sirens with smiles on their faces. Scootaloo took this opportunity to explain;
"We'll do you one better: Each of us will quote a line or several lines from our favorite movies and it will be up to the three of you to figure out what movies we're referencing!"
Two confident, almost predatory smirks grew on Adagio and Aria's faces, while Sonata's smile was more joyful and less menacing. The eldest Dazzling answered on her sisters behalf with confidence oozing from her voice;
"A test of our movie knowledge?"
Much to the CMCs slight internalized terror, she expressed a soft cackle that served as an echo of the sickeningly villainous laughter that they remembered all-too-well. With a glare that silently told them to "bring it", she finished;
"Good luck with stumping us, movie club. We've seen more than a few movies in our time."
Aria decided to add to her claim;
"Yeah, Humans are utterly dull and pathetic, but at least they make movies that aren't boring!"
Sonata could not contain herself any longer;
"Oh, this is gonna be totes fun! I LOVE watching movies so much! Almost as much as I love tacos!"
Adagio may not have been interested in befriending the CMCs in any way whatsoever, but she could sense that this little game of theirs would at least give her and her sisters some entertainment for a while. With confident smiles etched on every club member's face, Sweetie Belle happily declared;
"Let the games begin!"
Scootaloo was the first one to step up. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle took a few steps back to give her room to perform. As all of this was going on, Sci-Twi had just stepped back into the living room without anyone else noticing. She stood at the doorway to watch what was happening out of curiosity. The Dazzlings watched with intent as Scootaloo took a few deep breaths and belted out as menacing and deep a voice as she could manage;
The Dazzlings were utterly, and visibly, perplexed by what they had heard. Sci-Twi, however, was acutely aware of the source of Scootaloo's line of choice. With a knowing smile and a head shake, she thought to herself;
"Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in this household."
Giggling over the sisters' dumbfounded expressions, Apple Bloom challenged them excitedly;
"Well, go on! Take a guess!"
It took all of five seconds for Aria to exclaim;
"What kind of twisted Human language was that?!"
"It sounded like a dark incantation from ancient times...", noted an exasperated Adagio, who was just as clueless as Aria over what the correct answer was. Sonata's response held no answers either;
"Hmmm... nope, I've got nothing."
Upon hearing all of this, Scootaloo erupted into a jolly fit of laughter while clutching her sides in an attempt to keep herself from losing all control of herself. After about thirty seconds of mirth, she calmed down enough to explain with a smile;
"That was from 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'!"
The Sirens were now both shocked and confused, especially Adagio, who exclaimed angrily;
"Wait a minute! We saw that movie in a theater once and we would have remembered a line like that!"
Sweetie Belle jumped into the conversation with her right index finger pointed up to the roof and a comment as sly as her smirk;
"Unless you've never watched the Extended Edition, which was never released to theaters!"
Sci-Twi could hear the smack of Aria face-palming herself from her spot at the living room doorway. With a frustrated groan, she remarked while giving Adagio an intense death glare;
"Darn it, Dagi! I told you we should have gotten that edition of the film on DVD!"
It was Adagio's turn to glare back at her as she replied out of annoyance;
"We would have, if Sonata..."
She turned her fearsome attention to her younger sister, who looked a bit taken aback by the sudden confrontation;
"Hadn't used too much of our spending money on snacks!"
With an angry pout, Sonata replied sharply;
"Come on, those snacks were for all of us to enjoy!"
"They were a waste of our money!", Aria argued while glaring at Sonata intensely. But, before the two of them could get into one of their innumerable arguments, Adagio interrupted them by switching the topic;
"Anyway..."
She turned her attention back at the CMCs, her predatory grin back in full force;
"You may have gotten lucky that time, but you won't be so fortunate from here on. Who's next?"
With The Dazzlings watching closely, Sweetie Belle mentally prepared herself for a moment or two before blasting out in well-acted disbelief;
"INCONCEIVABLE!"
She then transitioned from shock to politely expressed bemusement as she delivered another line with quiet dignity and a fine-tuned Spaniard accent;
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Hearing this prompted Adagio to cackle with a level of certainty and arrogance that made every club member present roll their eyes in response. She then proudly delivered her answer;
"The Princess Bride!"
Aria chuckled as well before noting;
"To be clear; we never watched the movie, but it's WAY too quotable for us to not know about it."
Sonata, with an hopeful sigh, complained with a twinge of sadness in her voice;
"I want to watch it so badly..."
As tempting as it was to offer the sweeter Siren of the three a chance to borrow her personal copy of the movie, Sweetie Belle decided against it as she sat down on her chair with a defeated expression on her face. Scootaloo patted her on the back to consul her, determined to help her friends as best as she could. Apple Bloom, of course, was as driven as ever. She jumped off of her chair and stood before the Sirens with a fire in her eyes that was unique to her and her two best friends. After mentally stepping into her role of choice, she took a breath and began her performance.
She walked right up to Adagio and leaned in as close to her as she could without making things awkward for the both of them. She was surprised to see the young lady do this, but she was also intrigued. Apple Bloom pretended to hold a smoke pipe in her mouth, the fire in her eyes replaced with a well-practiced uncaring look. She smoked the imaginary pipe and took it out of her mouth before speaking with low methodical tone that had a unique menace to it that her southern drawl had served to strengthen;
"Do ye' fear death?"
That got a raised eyebrow from all three sirens as she continued her act;
"Do ye' fear that dark abyss?"
She tilted her head to her left side;
"All your deeds laid bare...?"
Her head tilted over to her right side;
"All your sins punished?"
Apple Bloom closed her eyes and exhaled before opening them back up, their fire having returned as a big dopey smile signaled the end of the act. She straightened her back and asked the Sirens while feeling especially proud of herself;
"Care to guess what movie that comes from?"
That pride was strengthened by the round of applause she had earned from Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The Dazzlings, not wanting to be bested by these girls in any way, huddled together to quietly discuss their answer.
"I know I heard those lines before...", noted Adagio as she tried hard to remember their source.
Aria tugged on her hair, clearly annoyed by her own shoddy memory;
"Ugh! I'm sure we watched the movie, but I don't remember the scene or the name!"
Sonata's eyes almost sparkled when she exclaimed with a big smile;
"I know the answer!"
Her older sisters gave her incredulous looks as she proudly declared to the CMCs;
"The Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest!"
Reluctantly, Apple Bloom and her friends nodded their heads to confirm her answer was correct, much to the other two Sirens' amazement. Adagio gave Sonata an approving smirk before noting;
"You've been on a roll lately! Perhaps we should actually try those tacos you love so much when we get home."
Aria had gone from shocked to slightly impressed and, finally, to disgusted;
"Oh no, we are NOT trying that overly thin bread with cruddy meat and veggies!", she shouted at her two siblings. It was amazing she didn't cause herself to cough even a little with that outburst. Sonata's joy over being rewarded for helping out quickly gave way to anger as she stared daggers at Aria and promptly shouted back;
"Don't diss the taco!"
Sensing danger, Adagio went right to work on trying to keep the other Sirens from tearing each other apart, leaving the CMCs to watch the verbal chaos unfold. Apple Bloom was feeling more concerned than anything else as she asked her friends;
"Do we act like this too?"
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shook their heads vigorously, much to her intense relief. As for Sci-Twi, who was quietly enjoying the show from afar, she decided to step in to help cooler heads prevail. The rest of the day went off without further incident.
The next morning came with far less snowfall than before, even though there was still metric ton of snow on the ground. The fog had completely lifted, allowing for the neighborhood at large to be visible again. Adagio was the first to awaken from her slumber on the couch. She took a moment to check in on herself; her body had all but healed up, it seemed! Her breathing was clear along with her nose, her headache was gone, and after testing her throat by saying a few random words, she noticed the lack of a rasp. Feeling a little brazen and hopeful, she checked to make sure was alone and tried to sing. The sounds she had made at that point were akin to razor-sharp claws scratching on a chalkboard at the speed of a turtle. She did this for three seconds before stopping out of internal embarrassment, which was quickly replaced by an old fury that threatened to overtake her as she thought back to that earlier revelation she and her sisters had had;
"Ohhh, if it weren't for that little detail...", she pondered with a sneer. Shoving her rage into its usual spot deep inside of her mind, she took better stock of her situation;
"Well, at least we're recovering nicely.", she declared with some relief in her voice. It was then that she recalled something Apple Bloom had said before;
"... We ain't gonna let ya' or your sisters suffer when we can do somethin' to help."
This roused within her a question that she wanted to ask ever since she and her sisters were taken in. This time, she would not be denied for another day.
"Time to get some answers.", she calmly declared aloud as she got up off of the couch and walked with renewed strength to the kitchen, hoping to grab a quick snack before searching the house for a certain trio of Wondercolts. By complete accident, she had found them.
They were all doing their part to cook up some breakfast. Apple Bloom was flipping flapjacks with the skill and enjoyment of a seasoned cook, Scootaloo was happily and carefully chopping up fruits to make a salad, and Sweetie Belle, grumbling to herself out of clear disappointment, was relegated to cleaning up the messes the other two were making. The head Dazzling also noticed on the corner of her eye something that looked like a black mass that sat on the counter to Apple Bloom's left. She figured it was some trash that Sweetie hadn't gotten to yet. Scootaloo noticed Adagio entering the kitchen and put her cutting on hold to talk with her;
"Hey there! We're just making some breakfast for everyone!"
"Pancakes, salads, and some cold milk!", Apple Bloom declared out of pride before adding;
"It ain't a typical breakfast, but It'll start your day off well enough."
Adagio looked over at each of the girls, fixed her gaze at Sweetie Belle as she cleaned the unused bits of vegetables off of Scootaloo's cutting board, and asked out of curiosity;
"So, why is she not cooking up something too?"
Scootaloo responded by pointing her cutting knife at the black mass on the counter for a moment or two before returning to her cutting without saying a word. Apple Bloom shook her head for a bit before going back to flipping. Sweetie Belle's grumbling became a bit more pronounced as she continued her own work. Adagio inspected the mass more closely, only to realize what it actually was, or rather, what it had meant to be.
"Mental note: don't ever let Sweetie Belle cook for you!", she decided in her head while staring in horror at the charred monstrosity that was best not consumed by anycreature, let alone a Human or a Pony. She promptly decided to wait to get her answers during breakfast as she almost ran back into the living room to wait on the couch, determined to get away from that revolting "attempt" at cooking as quickly as possible.
It wasn't long before The Dazzlings, the CMCs, and Sci-Twi were all enjoying their breakfast, this time in the living room at a table that was brought in and placed in front of the couch, with space left for seats at all sides. The Dazzlings sat together on the side in front of the couch with Adagio sitting between Aria and Sonata. The CMCs sat on the side opposite them, with Apple Bloom sitting between Sweetie Belle and Scootalo. Sci-Twi sat to the club's right while watching the scene before her unfold. The Siren sisters' moods had improved compared to the day before, but Aria still kept some of her grumpiness as she remarked;
"This salad is... okay, I guess."
Adagio's critique of the CMCs combined handiwork was more dignified;
"I do know perfectly decent food when I taste it.", she said with a sideways smirk as she took a large bite out of her pancakes to emphasize her point. Sonata, on the other hand, was too entranced by the taste of her food to give any detailed opinions on the matter. One could, however, recognize this much in between her munching, her eyes closed in utter contentment;
"... So tasty.... so yummy!"
Both of her sisters rolled their eyes in perfect synchronization at this sight before going back to their food. Sci-Twi kept her eyes locked on the two trios before her while summarizing the situation in her analytical mind;
"So far, subjects Adagio, Aria, and Sonata have yet to cause a major negative disturbance within this household. No doubt, a side-effect of them nearing death's door and being sick in general. Subjects Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle have also handled the situation with care and goodwill in spite of their negative feelings concerning The Dazzlings' past actions. But now..."
She gulped while feeling a hint of dread before finishing her thought;
"All three Dazzlings are well again. Which means that they have more than enough strength to act up in some way. With the CMCs having not seen their families in days, it is a wonder that they do not come off as on edge at this point. I can only hope that the situation does not escalate from here."
As if on cue, Apple Bloom looked over at Sci-Twi after finishing her helping of pancakes and asked her;
"Have we heard from our folks yet?"
Pulling herself away from her thoughts, she answered with a relieved smile;
"I'm glad you asked, because not too long ago, I was able to get bars on our smartphones. We can contact our families and friends again!"
This wonderful news made the CMCs bounce on their chairs while cheering, yelling, and high-fiving each other in jubilation. Apple Bloom, in particular, belted out an Apple Family style triumphant yell;
"YEEEEE-HAWWWWW!"
The Sirens had to cover their ears to protect themselves from the noise, but deep down, they were relieved that they could go home soon. Sci-Twi, while smiling from ear to ear, told Adagio:
"I will need you to open up your phone for me, so that I can track your RV while the signal is still strong."
She then pulled the phone with the golden protection case out from her pants pocket and handed it over to Adagio, who took it into her left hand, turned it on and punched in the pass-code with her right hand, and handed it back over to Sci-Twi.
Once she had the phone back in her possession, she got up off of her seat and told the group of girls;
"I'll be tracking down that vehicle and calling my friends to check in on them. I'll just be a moment."
With that, she walked out of the room and into her bedroom, leaving The Dazzlings and the CMCs alone together.
"It's now or never...", Adagio thought to herself as she took a swig of her milk. After placing her glass back down onto the table, she gave each club member a calm glance. They were glaring at the Sirens, but not as intensely as they previously did. With a breath, the eldest of the sisters finally got to ask their saviors a single specific question with an expression as calm as her voice;
"Why do you care?"
Hearing that question be asked by Adagio got the undivided attention of everybody in the room. Both of her sisters were curious enough to push their food aside and listen in. Aria looked quite perturbed, as if she was readying herself to protest against whatever was going to be said. Sonata, however, showed no such indignation. Instead, it was pure curiosity that showed on her face. All eyes were on the CMCs, who's earlier happiness was dropped within an instant. They showed no anger, no frustration, or even a hint of surprise over the question they had received.
"They were waiting for this to come up...", noted Adagio internally as she explained further;
"You three definitely remember what we did in CHS. Turning you and your fellow students against each other..."
An echo of a predatory smile grew on her face;
"Heck, for a brief moment, you, along with so many others, were turned into our mindless slaves...."
That smile was dropped in favor of an old frown;
"You have every right to hate us for all of that. You could have left us in the snow for the sake of revenge, I know a lot of you Wondercolts would have done the same thing..."
For a split second, she had caught sight of the CMC's hands twitching slightly. Not thinking much of it, she finished;
"So, I ask you again: why do you care?"
With a skill akin to that of a veteran actor, Adagio kept her calm demeanor on point as she spoke, thus keeping any feelings she may have had over the past well hidden from the CMCs. Apple Bloom turned to face each of her friends. Once again, they had a silent discussion which ended with them giving each other affirmative nods before she turned back to calmly glare at each Siren, who all glared back at her. With a deep breath and a less-than-stellar memory playing in her head like a scene from a film, she gave her the honest truth;
"Ah know Ah speak for all three of us when Ah say... that terrible things can happen if we stop carin'."
There was no joy in the eyes of the Canterlot Movie Club. No happiness in Apple Bloom's voice. No excitement on their faces. Just a solemness they shared. Her words were punctuated with a calm yet emphatic statement;
"End of story."
Adagio looked as closely as she could to find any sign of deception on their faces, but she found nothing. Aria's grumpiness weakened a bit, but she kept her internal feelings on the matter hidden. Sonata, however, appeared to be genuinely worried for the girls who sat before them. There was nothing else for it in Adagio's mind;
"Those girls ARE hiding something... and it haunts them."
Sometime after lunch, the girls got some good news: The remaining Rainbooms were able to dig themselves out of their houses! But, with so much snow still on the roads and sidewalks, it would be some time before they could get to the Sirens' RV, let alone to Sci-Twi's house. Her parents and Spike, who were doing holiday shopping when the storm had hit, were about as fortunate. Thankfully, with the return of Internet and cellular service, they could contact their families easily enough via their phones. So, the CMCs made it a point to pull their smartphones out and set up a group video call with their families and friends via the social media app Bedlam, all while sitting on their chairs in the living room. The Rainbooms were quick to take part in this, alongside Sci-Twi's parents Twilight Velvet and Night Light, with Spike chilling on the mother's lap. Sci-Twi sat next to the CMCs with her own smartphone in hand. The three young ladies explained the situation to the attentive group, with Apple Bloom taking the lead;
"We were helpin' Miss Twi with one of her experiments outside when the storm hit us like a ragin' bull in a rodeo show! Thankfully, we were able to get into the house before it could do us any lastin' harm. She was prepared for the long haul, let me tells ya'!"
Sweetie Belle chimed in with the dopiest smile on her face, happy as can be over being able to see her big sister Rarity again;
"I know, right?! She has comfy blankets, warm drinks, good food, emergency power generators, the works!"
Scootaloo added a point of her own with a grin and excitement filling her eyes;
"Not to mention the most important thing to have during a blizzard..."
The trio yelled out in cheerful unison;
"MOVIE STREAMING SERVICES!"
Scootaloo then added with a pout;
"Well, we would have had those services earlier, if we had Internet access!"
All of that got a boat-load of laughs from the folks in the group video call and headache-induced groans from The Dazzlings, with Sci-Twi being quite thankful for having the good sense to mute her smartphone to prevent audio echo. Applejack, talking from her bedroom in Sweet Apple Acres, showed the movie club some love;
"Ya'll have been doin' mighty fine, given the situation!"
She gave Sci-Twi a friendly wink before adding gratefully;
"Don't think Ah forgot about ya' carin' for the youngins', sugarcube!"
With a tip of her Stetson, she told her sweetly;
"Much obliged, Twi."
"My sentiments exactly, darling!", exclaimed a jubilant Rarity from her finely decorated room, who went on to explain with her flare for dramatic theatrics very much on point;
"I was positively mortified at the mere thought of something terrible happening to my dear Sweetie Belle on account of this dreadful weather! You have my eternal gratitude for watching over her and her friends, Twilight."
Sci-Twi's heart was getting warmer by the second and she had no intention of complaining as she nodded happily. Rainbow Dash, her room filled with cloud cutouts, rainbow art, and messes, butted into the conversation with the confidence that she was known for;
"I knew the squirts were in good hands, but I'm glad to see that I was right!"
While the room was filling with friendly and familial joy, The Dazzlings sat on their chairs while listening in on the conversation. The moment they had heard that the Rainbooms would be talking to the CMCs, they made sure to move their chairs as far away from them as possible. It was not fear that drove them to stay away, more along the lines of a mutually shared annoyance over that color-coded group of friends.
They really didn't want to deal with the girls who had beaten them, if they could help it!
Of course, the three sisters were not fools, or at least, in Adagio's mind, she was not a fool. She knew that eventually, someone was going to mention what the CMCs had done. She figured that there was no need for them to be in the conversation this time. Sure enough, Apple Bloom was the first to bring up the proverbial elephant in the room;
"Ah'm not sure if ya'll are gonna handle this part well...", she said with no small amount of nervousness in her voice. All three club members looked as nervous as she sounded. The Sirens kept their eyes fixed on Apple Bloom, wondering how she would break the bad news. Sunset Shimmer, who spoke from her Shimmer Code streaming room, which depicted a cozy bedroom from behind her thanks to her green screen, told them with that understanding voice that had always soothed them in the past;
"Trust me, CMCs. With everything we've been through, whatever you're gonna tell us is probably not gonna freak us out."
The others nodded in agreement, which gave the trio enough confidence to go into a quick club huddle before returning to their phones. Apple Bloom, with a solemn sigh, took her smartphone and aimed it right at the Sirens, who gave the folks in the video call quiet piercing glares.
Every Rainboom and parent present, save for Sci-Twi, gasped at the sight before them. Their reactions were along the lines of;
"What in tarnation?!"
"Good heavens!"
"We heard about them from Twilight, but to see them in our house..."
"Oh my..."
"What a twist!"
"I... did not expect that!"
"What the heck are they doing in there?!"
Rainbow Dash's response came in louder than the others, which prompted Apple Bloom to turn her phone back to face her before she tried to cool everyone's heads down;
"Now hold on just an apple-pickin' moment! We can explain this one!"
Sci-Twi jumped in nervously with a verbal assist over the cacophony of loud voices;
"Let's all calm down for a second before tempers start flaring!"
Unfortunately, not even with help from an increasingly concerned Sunset could they get cooler heads to prevail, as many of the Rainbooms were talking over each other to get their thoughts in. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, in particular, were more concerned with the young ladies' well-being, with Pinkie Pie wondering aloud what kind of parties the Sirens would like and Fluttershy being too spooked by the noise to speak clearly. Twilight Velvet and Bright Light were trying to see if their daughter was hurt. Spike, however, had had enough. With a frustrated growl and three angry barks, he made the whole group shut up. With all of the attention on him, he took a breath and explained;
"I know you're worried. I am too, but let's at least hear the girls out before we do anything else, okay?"
The CMCs mentally decided to give Spike lots of belly rubs later, with Sci-Twi promising him a delicious treat for stepping in when he did. Her parents and the other Rainbooms looked quite apologetic over the whole thing, with Applejack expressing their feelings accurately after she took off her hat to place it on her chest;
"We're sorry, sugarcubes. We're just plum shocked, is all. Let's hear what ya'll have to say, ya' hear?"
The others gave affirmative nods, which prompted the CMCs, with help from Sci-Twi, to explain what had happened up until that day.
With the story told, the other folks in the call sat in silence for a good minute. The Dazzlings watched closely, waiting patiently for the inevitable call for them to be kicked out post-haste. It was, after all, what they would do to their enemies. What came next, however, was something else entirely. Fluttershy, with a voice as soft as a velvety pillow, told the CMCs and Sci-Twi with a beautiful beaming smile that shined brightly in her animal-filled living room;
"It was so wonderful of you to save their lives."
Rainbow, albeit reluctantly, agreed with the sentiment;
"Yeah... I don't like those Sirens... but you saving their lives was pretty awesome."
Next came a proud and dramatic Rarity;
"Such bravery! Such goodwill! Oh, if you girls were here right now, I would happily hug you all!"
Pinkie nearly exploded with joy and laughter;
"You did something that was super-amazingly-magnificantly-stupendously-absolutely-cool! When we're back together, I'm gonna throw a "Canterlot Movie Club and Sci-Twi Saved the Sirens!" party to celebrate!"
Confetti spontaneously exploded from both sides of her video feed and scattered about throughout her room, as if to hammer home the point. The hearts of every CMC member in the room were being filled with so much love, it was a wonder they were able to keep their composure through it all! Sci-Twi was in a similar situation as well, as revealed by the ear-to-ear dopey smile on her face. Applejack's response was heart-warming in its own right, especially to her little sister;
"Ah'm mighty proud of ya'll.", she said with a big grin on her face while she put her hat back on. With familial love in her eyes, she told Apple Bloom;
"Ma' and Pa' would be proud of ya' too, little seed."
"That's it, Ah'm givin' that lady an Apple hug when Ah' see her!", Apple Bloom thought to herself as she tried very hard to hold back her happy tears. Spike showed his appreciation for the combined efforts of the CMCs and his beloved owner in the best way he knew how: he licked Twilight Velvet's phone camera while barking happily. The others giggled while watching Velvet try valiantly to keep the phone away from the joyful pup. Aria and Adagio, however, could barely resist the urge to gag over the audacious display of intense sweetness before them, while Sonata was too busy trying to keep herself from crying tears of joy over the sight to even think of gagging.
The Sirens would have to compose themselves right quick, however, for Sunset had taken that moment to ask the CMCs;
"May we speak with The Dazzlings, please?"
They managed to settle themselves in time to express looks of calm as Apple Bloom aimed her phone at them, allowing them to see The Rainbooms, Spike, and Sci-Twi's parents all giving them polite glares that hinted at suspicion, some more so than others. The three sisters, Adagio especially, were surprised that they were not being thrown under the bus. Still, good fortune had come to them, and they would not waste it. They waited patiently for someone to speak, only for Sunset to break the ice;
"I have to say... I'm impressed.", she said with a gentle smirk filled with goodwill;
"You could have been total pests during your stay. But, you've shown good behavior so far."
One must always act with proper nobility, even when among rivals and enemies.
After thinking of her response for a moment, Adagio told the group plainly with a grin that bared her teeth;
"If the situation was different, Sunset Shimmer, then we would be total pests."
Aria crossed her arms and added with an annoyed grunt;
"We may not like you Sonic Raindorks and Wonderdolts..."
She gave the CMCs a quick death glare before turning her attention back over to the video chat and finishing with a shrug;
"But, we'd rather not freeze to death."
Sonata briskly nodded her head in agreement;
"Oh yeah! I don't want us to be turned into Siren-cicles!", she declared with a frightened shiver.
Some of the folks in the video chat nodded their heads in acknowledgement of the sisters' words, with Rainbow Dash being the only one to keep her head as steady as her glare. Applejack chimed in with an honest comment and a knowing smile;
"Ah'll chock that up to simple survival instincts, then."
Her grin still prominent, Adagio answered the farmhand thusly while giving her incredibly large hair a dignified flick;
"You may chock that up to whatever you wish."
That got the whole video chat group to raise their eyebrows. Not a single person in that group turned their eyes away from the Sirens and they kept their eyes fixed in return. After about five seconds of what was a seriously intense stare-down, Rarity decided to break the tension before it could get any thicker;
"Well, with that out of the way, I suggest we speak with Twilight and the CMCs for a bit longer before proceeding further, darlings."
Apple Bloom, who along with her friends and Sci-Twi, was watching The Dazzlings like a hawk, turned her phone over to her face. Having been taken out of the conversation, much to their relief, the Siren sisters took this opportunity to sit back and relax for a spell. Adagio couldn't help but feel quite agitated as she thought to herself with contained frustration bubbling inside;
"Ohhh, if we were all together in the same room..."
After a few minutes of catching up and discussion, it was decided that the Rainbooms would do what they could to dig themselves out of the snow. As soon as they could travel by car, they would go after the Sirens' RV to dig it out as well, conduct repairs if necessary, and bring it to Sci-Twi's house. Her parents, who would assist the girls alongside Spike, revealed that Shining Armor and Cadence were effectively trapped in their homes by thick walls of snow, so they could not help for the time being. It was also agreed upon by the group that Sci-Twi and CMCs would continue to watch over The Dazzlings until they could get their RV back as well as a means to return to their home. The three movie buffs knew they wouldn't have to throw anyone out in the cold, but a certain wound in their hearts was stinging just enough to temper their happiness. As for The Dazzlings themselves, as frustrating as it was to deal with the girls who had defeated them in a musical performance, they were also surprised that those same girls would allow them to stay in the house of one of their friends.
Within striking distance of said friend and their younger sisters, no less!
Such was a topic that the Sirens found the time to discuss later on that day. While the CMCs were helping Sci-Twi do chores around the house, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were sitting on the large bed in the bedroom of Twilight Velvet and Night Light. At this point, their old outfits were cleaned up, so they were wearing them with pride and relief, having gotten annoyed with wearing the awfully basic ensembles from earlier. Aria started off the discussion with annoyance and confusion in every syllable;
"Why didn't those Raindorks just have the movie club brats throw us out?"
She looked at each of her sisters before adding;
"I mean, other Humans tried to get rid of us during those few times when we got caught using our magic, remember?"
Hearing that caused Adagio and Sonata to laugh, the former laughing the hardest. After recovering, Adagio noted while feeling nostalgic;
"How could I forget? Those idiotic Humans honestly thought they had bagged a bunch of witches! Witches!"
"Almost a shame they didn't figure out how our magic worked in time...", Aria added with a smile filled with vile satisfaction. That smile quickly turned back into one of her classic frowns as she noted with a grunt;
"That doesn't answer my question though."
Sonata held her chin with her right hand, lost in thought for a moment or two before suggesting innocently;
"Maybe they're actually trying to be nice to us? I mean, we've seen their music videos, they're all about being totes sweet to people."
This comment angered Aria enough to give her younger sister a mean-spirited glare before almost yelling out;
"Nice my non-existent scales, you idiot! They're-!"
She was stopped by Adagio's left hand being firmly placed on her right shoulder. The eldest Siren then gave Sonata a few gentle head pats before telling her with sweetness akin to that of a dotting sibling;
"Oh, Sonata. How many times must we teach you? No one shows goodwill without there being a catch. Something for them to gain."
With her face expressing an annoyed pout, Sonata countered;
"Well, there wasn't a catch when she showed us goodwill."
For almost five seconds, every Siren was silent as an ancient memory rose to the surface of their minds. Neither Adagio or Aria could blame Sonata for making that comment. Aria would not dare admit that she was right. The youngest sister, however, took the time to enjoy the happy memory that played out in her mind. After pulling themselves back to the present moment, Adagio acknowledged with some level of reluctance;
"Okay, most people don't show goodwill without there being a catch."
Aria gave her older sister a manure-eating grin and told her with a laugh;
"It's not every day you actually agree with me on something."
"Only when you're making sense.", Adagio explained with a wink. She then raised her right index finger to point it up at the ceiling;
"The Rainbooms see something to gain from letting us crash here and getting our RV back to us."
She raised her middle finger alongside her index finger;
"The Canterlot Movie Club sees something to gain from saving our lives and putting up with us."
Her ring finger was raised to join its two partners;
"Sci-Twi sees something to gain from helping them."
She lowered her hand to have it rest on her lap and exhaled in exasperation while closing her eyes;
"One... beautiful exception aside..."
She opened her eyes back up to glare at Sonata before finishing calmly;
"Humans always seek to get something from their actions. It's how they work."
Her pout still in full display, Sonata slowly nodded in agreement, which prompted Adagio to declare;
"The CMCs may have told us why they care, but there has to be more to it than that."
She crossed her arms and lowered her head in thought;
"The real question we must ask ourselves is this: what do all these girls stand to gain from helping us, of all creatures?"
Aria then decided to bring up one last outstanding item;
"What about that thing we just found out about? You know, the thing that shouldn't even-?"
Adagio interrupted her with gritted teeth and an annoyed whisper as footsteps could be heard coming closer to the bedroom door;
"Not here!"
As if on cue, the bedroom door was loudly knocked on three times before it was opened, revealing Sci-Twi, dressed in her usual outfit. The trio reacted by looked over at the lavender girl who stood before them. With a warm smile that barely hid her nervousness over being around three girls that had a checkered history with her friends, she told them;
"I wanted to let you know that the CMCs are getting ready to start up a movie. They have asked if you could attend."
The Sirens looked at each other for a brief moment before turning their attention over to Sci-Twi, who remained visibly composed. Adagio, with a smile, told her;
"Well, we've got nothing better to do."
Aria jumped in with a question that was on the minds of each Siren present;
"What's the movie?"
Sci-Twi answered simply;
"You girls will get to pick the film, if you attend."
That part really piqued their interest, a fact that Adagio was quick to express;
"Well, I see no harm in letting those girls sample our tastes in movies."
With a quick snap of her right hand's fingers, she had her sisters stand at attention as she got up off of the bed with them. They then followed Sci-Twi out of the room.
Once the Sirens arrived at the living room, they found that the table placed in front of the couch was carrying all sorts of items ripped right out of a theater's concession stand: buckets of popcorn with red & white stripes on the buckets, butter and kettle-corn dispensers next to the buckets, assorted boxes of candies containing many different flavors and types, several big bottles of soda with large cups placed next to them, and of course, enough napkins to clean a whole kitchen table several times over placed in a box. Adagio looked over at the CMCs themselves, who were busy double-checking each item on the table to make sure they hadn't missed anything, and asked them aloud;
"I take it you grabbed all of this stuff before the storm had hit?"
The trio of movie buffs turned to face The Dazzlings and nodded with excitement all over their faces. Scootaloo happily declared with no small amount of pride;
"Movie Club Rule #25: Always be prepared for a movie screening, no matter where you are!"
With a sideways smirk, the eldest Siren asked, in the hopes that she might catch a crack in the club's armor;
"Well then, what's the format for our film? DVD? Blue-Ray?"
She looked over at the large widescreen television that was set up a few feet in front of the table. It was one of those TVs that could be hung on a wall, so it was placed on the wall to the right of the front door. She saw no sign of any DVD players or Blue-Ray players near the TV. She figured out the answer, but the CMCs announced it in joyful unison before she could say it;
"Digital streaming!"
"You're not making this easy for me, movie club... I like that!", Adagio noted to herself, her smirk still on display as she led her sisters to the couch. Three seats were placed to the right of the couch and one seat was placed to its left. This allowed the CMCs to sit to the right of the lounging Sirens, with Sci-Twi sitting to their left. Adagio, being the leader, made sure to sit between Sonata and Aria. The youngest sister was sorely tempted to grab the bounty of sugary goodies and munch on them, only to get a gentle yet firm poke on the left side of her head by Adagio, who told her sternly;
"Now now, sea-sister. Wait until the movie starts, then we can chow down."
With a whine and a grumpy "humph", Sonata crossed her arms and pouted in frustration. Aria could barely contain her chuckling as she carefully sneaked a candy bar off of the table, only to get a firm bonk on the back of her head from Adagio, who didn't even have to look at her to aim her hand accurately. With her grumpiness back on point, Aria returned the candy bar to its place on the table and pouted just as hard as her younger sister. Looking as satisfied as she felt, Adagio then asked their hosts;
"Who has the remote and what streaming services do we have?"
Apple Bloom tossed the remote over to her after turning on the TV and setting its menu to the streaming section. She the answered with anticipation filling every word;
"We've got HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Disney+, Showtime-!"
"Oh! Oh! Let's try Disney+!", exclaimed Sonata, who's frustration was melted away by her sudden explosion of joy and anticipation. Aria, however, as bemused;
"Ugh, if I have to watch Frozen for a tenth time..."
With an amused cackle, Adagio noted;
"Don't forget, Aria: Sonata is banned from making us watch Frozen and Frozen 2 after the 'Let It Go' Incident."
The grumpiest Siren around face-palmed as the memory of that cold fiasco rose to the forefront of her mind. Her comment was just as indignant;
"That was a terrible use of our magic."
"Ah don't wanna know...", Apple Bloom thought to herself while feeling a twinge of terror as she and her friends watched the siblings go at it. Sonata pulled herself out of her joy-induced stupor to tell her sisters while feeling quite agitated over what they were talking about;
"No, I'm not picking that movie and the less that's said about that incident, the better!"
Sci-Twi picked that moment to chime in, hoping to cool their heads down a level or two;
"Well, what movie do you want to watch?"
Adagio handed the remote over to Sonata to let her decide. It took her a minute or two to navigate the menus on the Disney+ service before she found not one, but five movies that caught her eye;
"Look, girls! They've got ALL of the Pirates movies on here!", she exclaimed out of sheer unbridled happiness. Adagio was surprised and intrigued to say the least, with Aria not being far off in that regard.
"Well now, that's a fine catch!", Adagio noted with a smile before explaining;
"We've seen the first two films and have heard some good things about the third one. But, I did not know about those other two."
"Color me interested.", Aria admitted before asking;
"But, which one should we watch? I say we go for At World's End."
Sonata would not have that. At all. She turned right around to give Aria a fierce glare before telling her pointedly;
"Oh no, we're watching Dead Man's Chest! We've only seen it once before!"
It was Aria's turn to glare at her sister as she countered angrily;
"But we haven't seen At World's End yet! I want to change that!"
"No! Dead's Man's Chest!", yelled out Sonata, who would not be denied.
"At World's End!", Aria yelled back with just as much stubbornness.
"Dead's Man's Chest!"
"At World's End!"
Sweetie Belle, not wanting to have this screening be ruined by pointless bickering, tried to verbally intervene;
"Do we get a say in this?"
"NO!", cried out Aria and Sonata in perfect unison while giving the CMCs and Sci-Twi menacing stares, which caused them to keep their mouths shut tight. A few seconds later, they went right back to bickering. Adagio was, frankly, sick of her sisters' poor behavior. So, with two brisk movements of her hands, she tightly grabbed their arms, which was more than enough to get their attention. Sensing this, she gave each sister a glare that could make milk curdle in its carton and told them with controlled anger;
"I was being patient with Sonata, since she's been on a roll as of late. But, seeing as how you two can't stand to not start a fuss over ridiculous things, it has become my job to pick the movie for us."
She took the remote right out of Sonata's right hand and, with a few button pushes, highlighted her film of choice while announcing with a calmer tone;
"I suggest we watch the first movie: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It's been many years since we last saw it, so I figure a refresher won't hurt."
Aria grumbled to herself for a moment before admitting;
"Yeah, I suppose it has been a long time since we saw it in theaters..."
"I mean, it is a fun movie...", noted a disappointed Sonata.
Seeing that the matter was resolved, Adagio looked over at the CMCs and Sci-Twi while declaring politely and internally holding back the urge to slap her kin in their faces;
"You'll have to excuse them. They're idiots."
"And here I thought my arguments with Rarity were bad...", Sweetie Belle thought to herself as Apple Bloom rose up from her seat, walked over to the space between the table and the TV, and turned to face the group. By this point, all three Sirens had calmed down and were now paying attention along with Sci-Twi and the other movie club members. With a breath and an smile, Apple Bloom addressed the other girls excitedly;
"Now, with the film selected, let's get a couple things straight before we press the almighty play button: Besides The Dazzlins' and yours truly, who 'ere has seen 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'?"
Sci-Twi, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all raised their hands, with Scootaloo noting with a giggle;
"You had the three of us and our big sisters watch the original trilogy in one sitting, remember?"
All three club members had a good laugh over the fond memory of them enjoying those movies with their sisters while wearing awesome pirate costumes before Apple Bloom said with a wink aimed at her two best pals;
"Okay, so Ah don't need to give a synopsis then."
With a giggle of her own, Sci-Twi explained herself;
"Shiny and I watched the first movie together when I was a little girl. I haven't seen the other ones though."
The young farmhand was about ready to explode with giddiness as she happily told her lavender friend;
"Miss Twi, Ah would be pleased as punch to have ya' watch a screenin' of Dead Man's Chest with us one day! On that note..."
She ran back over to her chair, planted her rear on it, and told Adagio with absolute gusto;
"Let's get this movie started!"
Without any further ado, the lead Siren pressed play on the remote to start the film.
It wasn't long after the film began that some of the viewers started making a comment here and there. Sci-Twi started things off while using much of her self-control to keep herself from rambling about the intricate details that go into making classical sea-faring ships;
"What is it about women that makes having them on ships bad luck? Superstition borne from the era this film was set in?"
Seeing the opportunity, Adagio responded with a soft cackle, her predatory grin on full display as she kept her eyes on the film;
"Ah yes, seafarers were quite superstitious back then. Having women onboard, in truth, did not bring bad luck. But... let's just say that the three of us didn't need magic to cause a bit of chaos at sea..."
It took all of three seconds for Sci-Twi to realize what she had meant, thus producing a look on her face that combined horror and disgust. Satisfied with the thought of giving her host plenty of horrible things to think about, Adagio returned her full attention to the movie. While the lavender scientist was trying to bring her mind's focus over to more pleasant concepts, such as the infinite expanse of variables that is the universe, Aria decided to ask the CMCs with a raised eyebrow;
"I'm surprised you're not telling us to be quiet, like in the theaters."
Apple Bloom responded by looking over at Aria and saying confidently;
"Movie Club Rule #10: Ya' can make a comment or two while watchin' a film, but don't run your mouth."
With a shrug, she went back to enjoying the movie. Before long, the movie reached the scene depicting the talk between Captain Barbossa and Elizabeth Swan in his quarters. While the movie was entertaining to the Sirens up to this point, it was this scene that would truly grab them.
They watched intently as Barbossa pulled a gold medallion out from his tattered coat and showed it to Elizabeth while asking her;
"You don't know what this is, do ya'?"
Just hearing that line caused their memories of watching this scene for the first time to come flooding back, which encouraged their eyes to remained glued on the TV screen as the scene played out;
"It's a pirate medallion.", stated Elizabeth.
"It's Aztec gold...", responded Barbossa, who went on with the wide eyes of a man who had been through Tartarus;
"One of one-hundred and eighty-two identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortes himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he reaped upon them with his armies. But the greed of Cortes was insatiable..."
Adagio could feel the echo of a stinging sensation within her chest whilst she watched, a feeling shared by her sisters, though they were too focused on the film to fully recognize its presence;
"So, the heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse..."
Unconsciously, every Siren present raised their right hands up to a spot on their chests close to their necks and slowly closed their hands into fists, as if they were holding onto some unseen object for dear life;
"Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity."
The CMCs, being avid movie buffs and fans of the Pirates series, were too enraptured by the story playing out before them to notice the strangeness that was the Sirens' behavior. But Sci-Twi, who had made it a point to check on The Dazzlings from time to time during the show, had caught that behavior. Knowing of both The Battle of the Bands and the one Time Twirler timeline that involved these girls, she made sure to keep this oddity filed away in her mind for later. In fact, she made a mental note of it for good measure;
"Subjects Adagio, Aria, and Sonata appear to have been reminded of their old gems by the scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl that formally introduces the actual curse to the story. While I have not seen any signs of danger from what seems to be a shared unconscious action on their part, this does remind me of a fact revealed by the Time Turner Incident..."
She gulped out of rising nerves and went back to watching the film to head them off before the Sirens could notice that they were being watched. She finished her thought with a deliberate breath to sooth her concerns;
"The Dazzlings do not look back on The Battle of the Bands fondly."
At that moment, a thought occurred to her: one that she asked herself on more than one occasion whenever she thought of this trio of ladies;
"But then... why haven't they tried to exact their revenge on the girls? A lack of the required magical resources, or perhaps... some other reason?"
Those questions were kept as part of the growing pile of things she would not forget to investigate as the girls watched Barbossa offer a frightened Elizabeth in a joking fashion;
"Apple?"
The girls enjoyed the rest of the film without incident, with each of them occasionally making comments about moments that caught their eye. Once the movie was finished, it came time to reflect on what they had seen. With most of the snacks having been devoured, the girls settled on discussing the film over what remained of their soda. Apple Bloom, being the biggest Pirates fan in the room, couldn't help but gush over the motion picture while holding a cup filled with grape soda;
"Ah'll never not enjoy that film. It may not be my favorite of the trilogy, but it always finds a way to grab me, Ah tells ya'!"
Scootaloo, while enjoying a swig of root beer, nodded her head out of a excitement before happily declaring;
"Will Turner is so awesome! He'll do anything to save his lady from danger and he can kick butt with his sword!"
She then put her cup down, stood up, and performed several well-practiced sword-swinging motions that were as hilariously exaggerated as the fighting noises she was making with each swing for full effect. After that, she sat back down and enjoying another swig while listening to Sweetie Belle's take on the film;
"Elizabeth is great too. She can't fight in this film, but she's got enough smarts to save herself from trouble."
She enjoyed her cup of orange soda before adding;
"Even when she's in distress, she's no damsel. Know what I mean?"
Adagio, who made sure to hold back the urge to poke fun at Scootaloo's earlier ridiculousness, raised her own cup of root beer at Sweetie before noting in agreement;
"I get what you're saying. I have a lot of respect for characters in films who are not written specifically to be one-dimensional victims for the heroes to rescue."
She looked over at Apple Bloom and asked out of curiosity;
"We didn't hear you say a thing about the character from this film that you enjoyed the most."
With a giggle, the young Apple answered honestly;
"That would be Captain Jack Sparrow."
That response made Adagio's eyes grow slightly wide for a moment before she pressed the matter further;
"Really now? I had expected one of the more respectable sorts to be your speed, like Norrington or Elizabeth's father."
Apple Bloom responded with a hearty laugh before explaining;
"They're both great characters, Gibbs and the like too! But, Ah've got me a soft spot for those characters with layers, ya' see."
She placed her cup on the table and raised both her hands up to her chest, with her palms opened wide and angled horizontally to resemble weights on a weighing scale. She then elaborated;
"Jack's a thievin', lyin', murderin' pirate, so he ain't all that good."
Her left hand was lowered a bit while her right hand was raised to be higher than her left before she went on;
"But... he's more than willin' to do the right thing if it benefits him, so he ain't all that bad."
Her left and right hands' positions were switched, so that the right was higher than the left. With her dopey smile itched on her face, she placed her hands on her lap and finished while looking Adagio square in the eyes;
"Characters with layers make a girl think. It's why Ah like 'em so much."
She would never admit this aloud, but Adagio was tempted to show Apple Bloom a respectful smile at that moment. She didn't expect one of the sisters of the Rainbooms to hold such a nuanced opinion when it came to films! Thankfully for her pride, that smile was held back. But, even though she chose to keep up appearances by raising her chin up while giving one of her hair's numerous curls a dignified twirl, she did allow herself to give the girl some props;
"Well, at least, unlike most Humans, you have some measure of appreciation for cinema."
Aria seconded that notion, albeit in her own Aria way;
"Yeah, your taste in movies ain't trash, I'll give you girls that much."
Sonata, after downing her own cup of regular cola (the third one so far), exclaimed excitedly;
"Oh, that movie was so much fun!"
But then, as she looked at each of the CMCs, she had a question in mind that was too interesting for her bubbly mind to keep inside;
"I'm wondering though, what's you girls' favorite Pirates character?"
Scootaloo answered first with the speed and excitement of a fangirl running with a full tank of happiness gas;
"WILL TURNER!"
Sweetie Belle belted out her answer with similar excitement;
"ELIZABETH!"
All eyes turned to Apple Bloom, who reclined onto the backrest of her chair before telling the Sirens with a smirk;
"Before Ah give my answer, let's hear Sci-Twi's, who has been awfully quiet so far."
The scientist had been silently listening to the conversation while drinking her cup of orange soda. Upon being addressed, she nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise before composing herself enough to respond with a sheepish smile;
"My favorite is Gibbs. He makes for a fun storyteller to listen to and he's one of the most respectable pirates in Jack's crew."
That got a giggle from Apple Bloom, who nodded her head and told Sci-Twi;
"Ah can see why ya' think that, Miss Twi. Ah could listen to ol' Gibbs tell all sorts of tall tales about the seven seas and never get bored. But, if ya'll ask me..."
She looked over at each of the girls, who waited with bated breath for her answer. She told them with honesty in every word she uttered, the kind that would make her big sister proud of her;
"Ah reckon my favorite Pirates character is Davy Jones."
That really got Adagio's curiosity!
"My memory of that character may be a tad off, since we only saw Dead Man's Chest once, but last I recall, he was a full-on villain!", she noted with raised eyebrows. The other Sirens gave Apple Bloom just as much attention, since they were equally curious. With an ear-to-ear smile, the redhead explained happily;
"A villain with layers, Adagio, and oh Nelly, does he have 'em! Ya' need only listen to his theme song to get a sense of what he's like!"
She looked up at ceiling with a nostalgia covering her face as she added with admiration;
"What a fine song for a fine villain..."
Aria, having remembered the song in question, chimed in with a smirk of her own;
"Yeah, I remember being impressed with how cool that song was when I heard it in the theater. It was the one song that could make the organ not sound boring!"
Hearing this allowed Adagio to remember both the song and the scene that it was connected to, which got her to realize something that she explained at that moment as she kept her eyes on an excited and focused Apple Bloom;
"I get what you mean. The song expresses a combination of malice and sorrow that, now that I think about it, describes Davy Jones without any need for singing. It makes me wonder how I had forgotten about it until now."
Sonata's take, by contrast, was much simpler;
"I just liked how the organ sounded."
"Never change, Sonata...", was Adagio's internalized response as she gave Aria a death glare to stop her from attacking their sister for making such an overly simplistic comment. Apple Bloom could barely contain her joy as she exclaimed to the Sirens;
"While officially, Davy Jones' theme song has no lyrics, a fan had written lyrics for it that are simply amazin'!"
The head Siren couldn't help but admit this to herself; she didn't see that one coming!
"Indeed?", she asked, just to make sure she wasn't being made the butt of a joke, with a hint of excitement in her song-loving heart.
The CMCs all nodded their heads in brisk excitement before Sweetie Belle asked The Dazzlings;
"We can sing it for you, if you want!"
Adagio couldn't help but cackle a little while Aria expressed a more venomous smirk and Sonata instinctively covered her ears with a rare grimace on her face;
"We've heard you sing before, girls, and we were not impressed.", the eldest Siren said, happy to poke fun at their young hosts. That jab provoked a trio of frowns and death glares from the CMCs, aimed squarely at every Siren in the room. Apple Bloom expressed their shared anger best with a restrained growl;
"We were not ourselves back then and ya'll know why, Sirens..."
Sci-Twi, sensing danger, tried to cool her friends' heads down while the three sisters returned to showing neutral expressions, with Sonata lowering her hands back down once she was sure all was well;
"It's alright girls. I would love to hear you sing!"
That bit of positive encouragement was enough to bring the club members' smiles back to replace their frowns. With their anger retreating into the deeper recesses of their minds, they looked at each other, took a breath for a moment, and nodded before turning to face the Sirens. Sweetie Belle then gave them her rebuttal on the club's behalf;
"We've gotten so much better at singing since then!"
Scootaloo, being the bundle of energy that she was, exclaimed with a fist pump in support of her friends;
"Yeah!"
The three pals then gave each other one of their signature fist bumps in joyful solidarity. Recognizing that they would not be easily dissuaded by verbal barbs alone, Adagio relented, if nothing else but out of a desire to see them fail as hilariously as they did on stage years ago;
"Okay, okay, you can sing the song."
After clearing their throats, the CMCs took a deep breath and exhaled to steady themselves. Sci-Twi, having heard them perform this piece several times before, sat back with a knowing smile on her face, ready to enjoy the performance to come. After a few seconds of silence, Sweetie Belle began to sing.
Or at least, she was about to sing, when her smartphone's ringtone blared out her own rambunctious take on a lullaby for all to hear;
Hush now! Quiet now! It's time to lay your sleepy heads! Hush now! Quiet now! It's time to go to bed!
Poor Sweetie's face turned bright red out of sheer embarrassment as all three Sirens laughed their rears off at the sight. As her two friends and Sci-Twi gave them indignant glares, she pulled her smartphone out of her pocket, pushed the answer button on it to stop the ringtone, and raised it up to her right ear while saying;
"He-hello, Rarity!"
Whilst she made conversation with her sister, the Sirens recovered enough for Adagio to explain with a smirk and a surprisingly polite whisper;
"Pardon us, girls, the timing was just too perfect."
That got her a snarl from Apple Bloom and a grunt from Scootaloo. Sci-Twi kept her glare up for a moment longer before switching her attention over to Sweetie Belle. A few seconds later, the young songstress exclaimed with immense joy, her embarrassment completely forgotten about and her face back to its natural color;
"That's wonderful news!"
That got everyone else's attention as she quietly listened to her sister speak further. After about fifteen more seconds, she lovingly declared;
"We'll see you soon. I love you!"
With a giggle, she hung up the phone, stashed it back into her pocket, and announced to the group;
"With help from a local snowplow, the girls, Spike, and Twilight's parents have been able to get through the worst of the snow and reach the Sirens' RV!"
She gave the sisters themselves a hopeful look before adding;
"They're taking it over to Rainbow Dash's garage to get it fixed up right now! They'll be here before we know it!"
Sonata had effectively exploded with joy and relief;
"ROSE QUARTZ LIVES!!!!", she yelled out while thrusting her arms to the ceiling in glorious triumph. After that, she leaped over to Adagio before she could react, wrapping her up in a bear hug that made her wince a little. This prompted her to give the youngest Siren a glare not too far off from that of a tigress preparing to pounce on her prey. Seeing the unbridled joy on Sonata's face, however, caused her anger to melt away. So, instead of pouncing, she managed to pry her right arm out from her cheerful sister's vice grip and patted her on the head while giving off an annoyed expression. Aria shook her head after facepalming with her right hand, but not even she could hold back the tiniest of grins. Internally or not, every Siren present felt relief at that moment.
"We're going home soon...", Adagio expressed to herself. She then looked at Sci-Twi, who was beaming over her friends' announced success. When she turned her gaze over at each of the CMCs, she saw them hug each other with gusto, their unique brand of joy, excitement, and hope on full display. Such things, as usual, made her gag inside, but a thought occurred that she did not expect or hate as her classic predatory grin returned with a vengeance;
"I guess I'll see those brats make fools of themselves another time."
It took the rest of the day and half of the next day for Sci-Twi to get a phone call from Sunset Shimmer, who told her that they had gotten the Sirens' RV fixed up. The scientist was about to ask if she needed any help with getting the vehicle's keys, only for Sunset to reveal that they had found them. Turns out, they were placed next to the toaster on a table in the RV's kitchen area. The Sirens themselves, who were standing in the living room along with the CMCs and their shared host, were bemused by the revelation. While Adagio settled for a quick facepalm, Sonata got a swift smack to the back of her head by a perturbed Aria while claiming with a frustrated groan;
"You were supposed to be on keys duty, Sonata!"
After taking a moment to ponder while expressing a look of sweet innocence mixed with confusion, Sonata replied;
"Hmmmm... I could have sworn I had picked them up before leaving..."
The CMCs did a fine job of holding themselves back from laughing at The Dazzlings' collective expense, although Apple Bloom did allow herself to shake her head a little. They knew better than to be mean to people. Aria gave her younger sister a piercing glare and thought to herself out of annoyance;
"That girl is the wor-!"
At that moment, the memory of seeing Sonata closing her eyes while laying in the snow played out in Aria's mind with a vividness that could not be ignored. This was enough to drive her to hold her usual insult behind her teeth, but only just. Keeping up her judgemental glare in silence would have to suffice... that time, at least. Adagio kept her eyes on each of her sisters. She was ready to break up yet another argument, but seeing Aria turn silent gave her reason enough to relax. She turned her attention to Sci-Twi, who had just finished her phone call with Sunset, and told her calmly;
"It was a stroke of good luck that the key was not stolen..."
She gave Sonata a quick side-eye before looking back at their host and finishing;
"By some lowly thieves in the night. When can we expect your friends to arrive with Rose Quartz?"
With a quick adjustment of her glasses, the young scientist took a deep breath and looked over at the Sirens, who were looking back at her expectantly. Sonata's face was filled with excitement, Aria showed her normal level of irritation, and Adagio kept up a veil of calm confidence on her face. Sci-Twi turned her focus over to the CMCs, their eyes practically bursting with hope as they looked at her happily with bated breath, Scootaloo almost bouncing in anticipation. With a bright smile, Sci-Twi she gave them her answer. A single word was all that was needed;
"Today."
Within an instant, the living room was absolutely flooded with cheer, relief, and a kind of pandemonium that only the CMCs could create! Apple Bloom belted out one of her family's innumerable songs while square dancing with well-practiced skill and playing air banjo at the same time, Sweetie Belle joined in on the singing while standing on top of the now cleared out living room table and pretending to brandish a mic, and Scootaloo straight up did a cartwheel over to the couch and leaped onto it face-first while exclaiming;
"AWESOME!"
As for the song that was being performed with roughly a hundred levels of youth-fueled sweet Apple gusto, it went something like this;
"Raise this barn! Raise this barn! One-two-three-four!
Together we can raise this barn! One-two-three-four!"
As for the Sirens, Aria allowed herself to reveal a tiny smile over the good news for all of two seconds before having to cover her ears with an annoyed grimace. Adagio, having the tougher set of ears of the two, quietly watched the chaos unfold before her with the smallest hint of relief in her confident smirk while feeling quite calm, given the situation. Sonata, however, was so overcome with joy that she jumped into the impromptu performance to square dance, albeit poorly, with Apple Bloom, who was surprised but not at all upset by this sudden turn of events. She and Sweetie Belle kept singing in an energetic harmony;
"Up up up go the beams! Hammer those joints work in team! Turn 'em round quick by the right elbow!
Grab a partner! Here we go!"
Scootaloo, by this point, was break-dancing to the rhythm of her friends' singing after jumping off of the couch. Aria could barely stand to watch the spectacle unfold, let alone listen to the unrelenting positivity being expressed through song, without feeling sick to her stomach. So, she instead opted to walk over to Adagio, who's eyes were fixed on said spectacle. She took a quick glance at Sci-Twi, who was too fixated on the kids' behavior while giggling and clapping over their jubilation to notice what the purple-haired Siren was doing. With a level of vocal volume that only her elder sister could hear underneath the cacophony of excitement, Aria told Adagio with absolute seriousness;
"You have our blessing, sea-sister."
Adagio nodded her head in confirmation of her sister's words, her gaze not moving an inch. Her smirk grew ever so slightly as she carefully exited the living room without making a single sound. It was sometimes difficult for her to tell what had been more useful to her and her sisters as a survival tool throughout the ages: their magic, their manipulation skills, or their stealth skills.
Upon entering the bedroom of Twilight Velvet and Night Light as quietly as a mouse on the hunt for the almighty cheese, she got down on one knee to reach under the large bed with her right hand. After feeling around for a few seconds, she found her target and pulled it out before standing back up to inspect it. It was Aria's purse, which had colors that matched her teal & purple hair. With care, Adagio unzipped the purse to dig through its contents. Buried underneath its owner's personal effects was a white piece of paper that was neatly folded several times over. It was just the right size for it be kept hidden within Adagio's hand, which was perfect for what she had in mind. After zipping the bag back up, she placed it on the bed and walked back out of the room, the paper held tightly and out of sight in her right hand.
By the time Adagio had returned to the living room, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had just finished singing 'Raise this Barn", with Scootaloo and Sonata having finished their dancing. Their combined performance had earned them a heartfelt applause and a bright smile from Sci-Twi, to which they responded by taking a respectful bow and expressing giant smiles. With her predatory grin on full display, Adagio made it a point to send the CMCs a choice comment;
"I will admit, your singing has somewhat improved."
The club members' smiles grew a little, but they had taken a most juicy bait;
"It's no longer headache-inducing."
Just like that, their smiles instantly turned into annoyed frowns, which pleased Adagio greatly as she expressed her satisfaction with one of her favorite venomous grins. Yes, she wasn't going to outright insult the kids in accordance with her earlier claim. But, she had no problems with finding, and exploiting, any verbal wiggle room she could find. Sensing danger, Sci-Twi stepped up to defend her young friends while choosing to ignore the back-handed nature of the Siren's compliment;
"I, for one, enjoyed your singing!", she declared with a bit more confidence than she thought she had at that moment.
Aria, with an annoyed grunt, spoke candidly with a glare that could break glass aimed perfectly at Sci-Twi's eye-wear of choice;
"Your taste in music clearly needs work."
Taking the diplomatic approach, Adagio stepped in to calmly keep heads from butting;
"Now now, Aria. Every has their own musical preferences."
"However wrong those preferences may be.", she thought to herself out of internalized annoyance as she went on;
"Besides, we haven't heard the kids sing the Davy Jones song yet and I'm still intrigued by the idea."
Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree's star in the night upon hearing this, with her two friends reacting in a similar fashion. With excitement fueling every step, they lined themselves up to face The Dazzlings in the living room while standing in front of the table. The Sirens looked at them out of curiosity, with Adagio and Aria mentally readying themselves for what they were certain was going to be delicious ammunition for future verbal barbs. Sonata, being Sonata, was just excited to listen to good music, if her gleeful expression was anything to go by. Before the CMCs could begin to sing, however, Sweetie Belle raised her right index finger to the roof while exclaiming;
"Hold on!"
She pulled her smartphone out of her pants pocket, set it to silent with a few screen touches, and placed it back into her pocket before declaring happily;
"Now, I'm ready!"
After taking a deep breath to steady themselves, the trio of friends inhaled audibly, preparing to sing the first part of the song. Just before they could start to harmonize, however, the doorbell rang. This interruption, while stopping them in their tracks, did not annoy the girls in the slightest. In fact, it had made them feel hope and joy that they could not help but express through excited giggles as Sci-Twi ran up to the door. After unlocking it, she opened it up with the six girls behind her watching intently.
The mere sight of the young lady with blonde hair standing on the other side caused Apple Bloom to drop all pretense of politeness. Running up to her with the speed of a charging bull, she declared with absolute familial love and sparkles in her big orange eyes;
"APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK!"
She pounced on Applejack with all of her heart and soul, giving her as tight an Apple Hug as she could, a show of love that the elder farmhand happily reciprocated with a wide grin of her own after getting down on one knee. She was wearing full Winter gear, including a woolly light-blue hat with ear covers in place of her usual Stetson, winter coat, gloves, and so forth. This whole ensemble made the hug extra warm and snugly to her young sibling, who was giggling uncontrollably through happy tears at this point. With a bit of gentle silent encouragement, she carefully dislodged Apple Bloom from her person, allowing her to step into the house to make way for;
"RARITY!"
Sweetie Belle practically leaped into Rarity's arms as soon as she could reach her, much to her older sister's delight. She was wearing one of her more dignified winter outfits, including a rather tall and fluffy white and purple winter hat that nearly fell right off of her head when Sweetie had attacked. It took the two happy Belles a moment or two to separate so that Rarity could walk in as well. This allowed a certain prismatic streak to zoom through the doorway and directly into the waiting arms of Scootaloo, who knew exactly who was coming for her;
"RAINBOW DASH!"
The daredevil joyfully declared the name of her sister-in-heart as the girl herself stopped right in front of Scootaloo, got down on one knee and pulled her into a hug faster than the eye could blink, her own Winter gear as colorful as her hair. The two laughed out of relief and happiness along with the other pairs of siblings. Sci-Twi was also overjoyed to see her friends again as she greeted each of them while being careful not to ruin their familial reunion. But, there was more laughter to come as a certain pink party planner came bouncing into the house with boundless glee while making the room shine with her beaming grin;
"Twily, we're hoooooome!", declared Pinkie Pie, her Winter hat being as bouncy as her hair.
With a head-shake and a smile, Sci-Twi gave Pinkie a hug, not wanting to put a damper on things by correcting her. It was at that moment that a gentle barely audible voice came from the opened doorway;
"Um... may I come in?"
With some mania-inspired encouragement from Pinkie, Fluttershy came walking into the house as well, with her beloved pet bunny Angel Bunny sitting quietly in her coat's front pocket, his usual grumpiness on full display. She, too, got a hug from Sci-Twi. Whilst enjoying being in the presence of their elder sisters for the first time in days, the CMCs were happy to see their friends again. But, there was one Rainboom out of the seven who they wanted to see just as badly as they wanted to see their sisters. The one Rainboom they respected the most.
She was the last to walk in and the poor girl didn't stand in the house for longer than a second before all three CMCs cried out in pure unrelenting happiness;
"SUNSET!!!"
Like a trio of pastel bullets, they bolted over to Sunset before leaping onto her to give her a giant triple hug! The Human-Pony girl laughed her rear off as she wrapped her arms around her young friends while trying very hard to not fall flat on her back. Sensing the opportunity, the other Rainbooms joined in on this display of goodwill and love to form a group hug that warmed their spirits with ease. A single cough would stop the cheer in its tracks, however, causing their eyes to grow wide for a moment. They were all reminded of a less-than-stellar fact:
The Dazzlings were in the living room.
The Rainbooms and CMCs broke out of the hug to turn around to face the Sirens. Adagio, the one who coughed to get the other ladies' attention, gave the group a calm but piercing glare. Aria, true to form, expressed no end of silent grumpiness at the sight before her. Sonata showed a wide happy grin as she waved at them with her right arm. They had watched the reunion in silence, but not so much out of fear but out of a well-honed sense of caution. As much as the revoltingly positive sight annoyed Adagio and Aria, they didn't want to risk causing a major problem for the group. Sonata had no issues with the reunion whatsoever. In fact, she had to hold back her own happy tears over the sight of it. Besides, there was one good reason why The Dazzlings refused to cause trouble for the Rainbooms at that specific moment:
Six of them could use magic, while they themselves could not. Even without the Equestrian Princess around, the three Sirens were not in a position of power because of Sunset being there with her pals, and even Sonata, as ditzy as she was, knew that.
The stare-down between the two groups created tension that could be cut with a chef's knife. Most of the original five Rainbooms were not happy to see The Dazzlings, as shown by their frowns and defensive postures. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash instinctively kept their sisters close to their sides. Fluttershy tried to hide behind her long flowing pink hair. Pinkie, being her incredibly positive self, waved back at Sonata while giving the trio before her a most welcoming smile with happiness sparkling in her eyes. It was all Aria and Adagio could do to keep their gagging internalized. The CMCs kept their eyes locked on the Sirens, waiting for any sign of trouble from them to appear. It was Sci-Twi who broke the tension by walking over to stand between the two groups and told them nervously;
"I-I suggest that we all go outside to show The Dazzlings their RV, okay?!"
After about two seconds of silent contemplation, the ladies in both groups nodded affirmatively in unison, much to the bookworm's relief.
It wasn't long before the Sirens were escorted out of the house by the Rainbooms after they had put on their cleaned up Winter clothing. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as cold that day as it was when they had nearly bitten the dust. It took them all of ten seconds to be graced with a much-awaited sight that made Sonata gasp and promptly explode with joy;
"ROSE QUARTZ!", she yelled out to the high-heavens as she ran through the snow to give the newly repaired RV a hug and several quick kisses. It was clear to Adagio and Aria's eyes that, much to their surprise, it wasn't just given the bare-minimum repairs needed for it to be road-worthy: it was completely fixed up! The scratches it had accumulated through regular use were buffered out, the old tires were replaced with fresh ones, the windows were cleaned up, and the paint job was retouched where necessary. It wasn't just like new, but it was a fine sight prettier than it was when they left it, as far as the two sirens gazing upon their vehicle were concerned. As far as Sonata was concerned, by comparison, she had gotten a dear friend back, as made evident by the cute happy noises she was making with her eyes shut as she hugged the side of the RV where the main door was located, her mind filled with joy. Right then and there, her nose caught the whiff of a smell, a familiar smell that caused her eyes to shoot open. She sniffed twice to be certain of what she was smelling, only to gasp at she had discovered. This smelly smell, this wondrous aroma, could only come from...
"Give me the keys.", Sonata deadpanned out loud to no one in particular, her face as frighteningly neutral as her voice. Sunset, who carried the keys in her pants pocket, knew precisely what was up. With anticipation in her smile and every step, she walked over to Sonata, who's eyes were glued onto the door before her. She then carefully took the Siren's right hand, which was outstretched to hug the door, and placed the keys into it. Sonata instantly grasped the keys, stepped back a bit, aimed the keys at the door's lock, and used them to unlock it. With absolute gusto and more strength than her figure had suggested, she threw the door open by making it slide to her left with one swift motion, revealing the main area of the RV that contained, among other things, a toaster, a small kitchen table, the usual dressings and items fit for a mobile kitchen, some fancy purple carpeting underneath the table that had no place in a mobile home, and a large white bag sitting on the table that gave off a scent that called to Sonata's mind like a sweet melody guiding one to their happy place. With an adorable squeal and a brisk hop into the RV, she grabbed the bag and cried out in pure relief and absolute joy;
"TACOOOOOOOOS!!!"
It took Adagio, who watched Sonata's behavior from a distance alongside Aria, all of two seconds to figure out what had happened;
"By the tides, the Rainbooms bought her tacos...", she thought to herself out of annoyance. She was genuinely happy for her youngest sister, who had lamented over missing out on her favorite meal throughout much of their stay at Twilight's house. Adagio being Adagio, however, she would not admit this out loud. At least, not when the Rainbooms and the CMCs were within earshot of her. Aria's grumpiness nearly doubled in strength along with the intensity of her scowl as she complained with a groan;
"Ugh, we're not gonna hear the end of it from her, are we?"
They watched as Sonata bounced out of the RV while holding the bag of tacos in her right hand and danced with glee in the snow. She even started to sing taco-themed songs that she made up as she went. Poorly. Like a cat with a sore-throat trying to sing like a person. Everyone else present covered their ears to ease the pain while grimacing profusely. The dancing, Adagio could handle, but the singing was a flat-out no for her. She quickly walked over to the dancing Siren and, in a rare showing of sisterly gentleness, told her sweetly in a tone that could cut through the ear-splitting vocals;
"Sonata, how about you eat your tacos before they get cold?"
Hearing this stopped the taco-lover's singing and dancing entirely, prompting everyone else to uncover their ears in relief. She looked over at her older sister and, with a giant ear-to-ear grin that was normally seen on the face of a girl who just got the Christmas present she always wanted, exclaimed;
"That's a totes-wonderful idea!"
She then opened up the bag and rummaged through its contents with speed, excitement, and adorable giggles. After another gasp, she declared excitedly;
"There's enough tacos in here for the three of us and then some!"
"I swear, I can have the biggest mouth sometimes!", Adagio internally decried with a facepalm to her forehead as she remembered a certain suggestion she had made about her and Aria trying out tacos. She also reminded herself to be ready to defend herself from a surprise Aria ambush later. Right after making her comment, Sonata's eyes perked up along with her already large smile, which suggested that she had an idea. An idea that she quickly agonized over on the inside as she suddenly began to pace back and forth with a strained expression on her face. Sensing the short reprieve from her sister's taco-fueled mania, Adagio walked over to the Rainbooms, who were watching the situation unfold from afar, and asked them with a raised eyebrow and suspicion in her voice;
"What made you girls want to give even one of us anything at all?"
Rarity, with a touch of dignity in her smile and mannerisms, responded thusly;
"Consider the tacos a peace offering from us, darling. A long overdue one, I might add."
Applejack took the chance to add with a sigh as Rarity and the rest of their friends closely watched the conversation unfold;
"Ah won't lie to ya'll: we didn't even try to reach out to ya'll after the Battle of the Bands. We figured ya' wanted nothin' to do with us after what happened."
She then allowed herself to show Adagio an expression on her face that she didn't immediately expect to see from the farmhand: a frown born from a kind of regret that was not at all acted. Deciding in her head to clarify things, if nothing else but to avoid future annoyances, she responded with an equal amount of honesty;
"You guessed correctly and we take no offense. You wanted to move on from us and frankly, the feeling was mutual back then."
There was no frustration or agitation in Adagio's voice as she spoke. Whatever negative feelings she had over the Rainbooms and the Battle of the Bands, she kept them inside to keep up a polite appearance. She saw the regret slowly fading from Applejack's face whilst she gave her a courteous nod. What replaced the regret was a smile as strong as the happiness in her green eyes. Rarity's expression was similar, albeit with a layer of dignity added to the way she was standing in the snow. Rainbow Dash, in stark contrast, had her arms crossed with suspicion in her glare. But, a tiny smirk could be seen forming on her face regardless. Pinkie Pie was all cheer and no agitation, simple as that. In fact, she was even bouncing in place! Fluttershy was far more reserved. She gave Adagio a warm smile while trying to hide behind her long hair and Rainbow Dash. Sci-Twi expressed a most polite grin, a gulp from her betraying her persistent nervousness. Sunset, however, was more relaxed, as made evident by her confident, knowing smirk. The lead Siren used all of her experience with dealing with manipulators to catch so much as a single sign of trickery from the girls who stood before her. To her surprise, she found nothing of the sort. It was as if they were genuinely trying to be good to them, but experience was telling her to keep a sharp eye and ear out for a catch. Before she could look more closely, Applejack declared;
"Well, from what we've heard, the youngin's went and invited ya'll to one of their movie screenin's."
The farmer's smile got a hint of slyness added to it before she asked;
"Ya' wanna know what that means, missy?"
Adagio pondered the question for about three seconds, which was three seconds too long for Rainbow Dash, who told her with a slightly annoyed tone;
"Get your sisters over here, we want to show you something."
Oh, how the eldest sister hated being ordered around by some common Human with a hairdo more ridiculous than Aria's goth phase outfits! Still, she knew better than to poke a magical bear, let alone six of them, and she had no clue as to whether or not Sci-Twi had magic too. Besides, curiosity was overriding her anger that time anyway. With a shrug, Adagio called for her sisters to join her. Aria was watching Sonata's pacing closely, if nothing else but to be ready for whenever she decided to do something stupid. Once the call was made, she answered it by walking over to Sonata, firmly grabbing her shoulder for a moment to get her attention, and motioned her to go to Adagio with her. With a nod, she followed her elder sister to their leader while holding the bag of tacos tightly in her hands. Once all three Sirens were standing together in a row, with Adagio in the center, Aria to her left, and Sonata to her right, Rainbow Dash gave the other Rainbooms a quick glance, as if she were giving them a silent signal that only they could recognize. The group broke in two as the girls took several steps back away from each other, allowing the Sirens to witness a scene that was simply delightful.
They saw the CMCs, clad in full Winter gear, playing with Spike in the snow in front of Sci-Twi's house, with Twilight Velvet and Night Light watching from a short distance. The three young pals were happy as can be, giggling and smiling as they threw snowballs at one another without a consciously known care in the world. Spike, with little barks and yelps, tried to chomp on the snowballs as they flew over his furry head like cold round bottle rockets. At that moment, the free-for-fall was dead even and could go either way, with each club member dodging and throwing snowballs with skill and gusto while seeing no need to build up snow forts or defensive walls. For the Rainbooms, this sight was a treasure among many they held close to their hearts. For Aria and Adagio, it was a sight worthy of gag reflex. But, they kept the urge to gag in check to keep up appearances, settling for showing their shared annoyance on their faces and nothing more. Sonata, as those two expected, gushed over what they were seeing in a heartfelt manner;
"Awwww, they're having so much fun together!", she cooed with a beaming grin while attempting to hold her hands together for added effect before remembering she was holding a bag of tacos and promptly lowering them to her sides in a sheepish fashion. That would have gotten her a smack to the back of her head by Aria, if she wasn't just beyond striking distance. That fact alone made the purple-haired Siren groan audibly. Adagio was tempted to stop Sonata herself, but she figured she'd show her some mercy. This time. If the CMCs and Spike had heard the cooing, they didn't pay it any mind as they kept on playing. The Sirens heard footsteps to their right, which interrupted Sonata's gushing. They looked in that direction to notice Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity walking up to them to stand with them in a row. Applejack stood at Sonata's immediate right side, with Rarity to the right of Applejack and Rainbow Dash at the far-right. Adagio figured the other Rainbooms were not too far behind her and her sisters. Without further delay, Aria asked out of curiosity and annoyance;
"Ugh, what does this display of lameness have to do with your stupid question?"
After expressing an emphatic 'hmph' and stiff upper-lip, Rarity responded with surety while keeping her gaze locked on Sweetie Belle, who had just pelted a speeding snowball right onto the gut of a giggling Scootaloo;
"More than you think, Aria darling."
"Don't call me dar-!", was the grumpy Siren's attempt at an angry demand before she was interrupted by the fashionista, who waggled her right index finger at her while uttering abruptly;
"Save your comments for after our explanation, if you please?"
This got Aria to shut up, much to Adagio and Sonata's pleasure. The former allowed a devious smirk to grow on her face over this, while Sonata tried to hold back her giggles. All of this only added to the purple-haired Siren's agitation, but she figured that the end-result of her making a scene would be even more annoying, so she clammed up while crossing her arms to silently express her continued indignation. This prompted Applejack to elaborate on her point while keeping a firm watch on Apple Bloom, who helped Scootaloo avenge her gut by unleashing a flurry of snowballs upon Sweetie Belle alongside her;
"Ah was raised to be an honest gal, same for that there little sister of mine. So, Ah'm tellin' the honest truth when Ah say that ya' Sirens had gone and hurt us all when ya'll were in CHS, them youngin's included."
All three of The Dazzlings glared at Applejack, Adagio with a raised eyebrow.
"Why mention what we already know, Human?", she thought to herself as Rainbow Dash jumped in to add while keeping her eyes on Scootaloo as she tanked every snowball thrown at her without so much as flinching while making a neutral expression almost on the level of that of Maud Pie, much to Sweetie Belle's well-acted horror as Spike stood ready to defend her;
"The squirts ain't too happy with what you had them and the other students do back then and they've been scared ever since: scared of you coming back to get revenge on us all."
"Heh, I don't blame them for that.", Adagio admitted in her head before Rarity pointed out calmly;
"Yet, in spite of their understandable negative feelings over your past misdeeds, when they found you three freezing in the snow, they saw fit to save your lives. Not only that..."
Applejack saw her cue and promptly acted on it with a smile;
"But when they recognized how good ya' were behavin' compared to what they had imagined in their heads, they went and invited ya' to a movie screenin'."
Deciding to take a break from enjoying the snow-filled free-for-all that raged on before her, the farmhand turned her gaze back at the Sirens, gave them a sly grin, and told them truthfully;
"Normally, they only invite people they know to their screenins'. People they can trust to not be jerks to folks when watchin' a film."
Rarity chimed in again with her usual brand of dignity;
"Simply put, dears: they took a chance on you all."
Rainbow Dash, albeit reluctantly, hammered home the point;
"I hate to admit it, but... you Sirens didn't waste that chance."
The eyes of all three Siren sisters went wide, especially Adagio's, who couldn't help but feel more than a little frustrated. But, they all calmed down within moments as the eldest sister thought to herself with a quiet chuckle;
"Those little puddles of seabed mud were testing more than just our movie knowledge... not bad."
Before Aria could grumble aloud about being played for a fool by a bunch of children, Adagio noted to Rainbow Dash with a devious smirk;
"I wouldn't celebrate too soon, Human. We just might cause those brats trouble later on down the road."
Rainbow glared intensely at her while expressing a smirk that was filled with confidence that only she could bring to a situation;
"Or... you might not.", she responded with a chuckle of her own, surety shining brightly in her eyes as she took several steps closer to Adagio, who did the same as she asked while keeping her own smirk on point;
"What makes you think that we won't?"
At this point, both of the faces are within inches when Rainbow Dash replied;
"I don't know."
That got her a look of genuine confusion from Adagio, which was her signal to add while turning around move back over to where Applejack and Rarity were standing, her back facing the eldest Siren as she talked;
"Call it a feeling from the inside."
Hearing that drove the confusion right out of her as she chuckled internally before thinking to herself;
"A gut feeling... She's not one to play it safe, is she?"
Aria came to a similar conclusion, but she was more inclined to hide such a revelation through annoyed grunts and an angry expression than through quiet contemplation. They were so focused on their own reactions that they did not pay any mind to Sonata. Listening to the conversation was enough for her to make a decision in her head that, to her, could not have been more important at that moment in time. Without a word, Sonata walked over to the CMCs and Spike, who had just sat down on the snow to take a quick break from their dramatic battle for snow-based supremacy, with the taco bag held tightly in her right hand. The Rainbooms, Twilight Velvet, Night Light, and the remaining Dazzlings looked on with a mixture of curiosity, confusion, and (in the case of Aria) sheer annoyance. She was about to protest against what her youngest sister was doing when Adagio raised her hand up to Aria's face, silently telling her to back off and watch without moving her gaze away from Sonata. The angry Siren knew better than to go against Adagio whenever she did something like this, so she backed off and watched. Sonata stopped to stand close enough to the CMCs for them to notice her. The trio stood up to stand a few inches away from her, with Spike walking over to stand next to Apple Bloom while glaring at the Siren. The young Apple was the first to speak up with her head tilted to her right and her bow bouncing in the wind;
"What are ya' up to, missy?"
From the moment she started walking up till now, Sonata held up a look a utter seriousness on her face, something that was extremely rare to see from the normally care-free Siren. She got down on her right knee while using both hands to keep the taco bag from touching the snow as if it were as sacred to her as something akin to a family heirloom. She then opened up the bag, rummaged around in it with her right hand for a moment or two, and pulled a single wrapped taco out from it. Like the rest of the tacos, this one was given extra wrapping to account for the Winter weather, so it was still quite hot. But, after eating roughly more tacos than a fast-food place typically had in stock, Sonata's right hand could take the heat. Adagio and Aria expected her to eat the taco, while the Rainbooms, Spike, Twilight's parents, and the CMCs had no idea what to expect. What happened next surprised them all.
Sonata reached out to Apple Bloom with her taco-filled right hand, offering it to her in utter silence. The sight of this drew a rare gasp from Adagio, who covered her mouth with her left hand to keep herself from revealing anything out of shock, the note from earlier still held discreetly in her right hand. Aria's mouth was agape as she stared in awe of the scene before her. A single thought was in both of their heads;
"Sonata hasn't shared her food with a Human since..."
There it was again, that memory of theirs that was as old as Human history.
A place. A voice. A person. A reminder to them of a different time.
An olive branch can grant you new allies and keep your rivals guessing.
Right then and there, Adagio and Aria's shock was replaced with calm understanding and patience as they watched their sister with the utmost care. The Rainbooms were stunned to see any of The Dazzlings be this nice to the little ones, but they were far from unhappy about it. Applejack gave to Sonata a wink and an approving smile, Rarity placed her right hand on her heart while beaming to show her own heartfelt support, and Rainbow Dash crossed her arms while letting a good-natured smirk slip through her defenses. Pinkie Pie's was the most intense reaction, for she bounced up into the air repeatedly out of sheer joy while blowing into party horns that she had pulled out of her cotton-candy hair. Fluttershy's reaction, by stark contrast, was the most reserved. A simple smile and and a look of pure sweetness in her eyes had sufficed for her. Twilight Sparkle gave Sonata a cheerful nod of approval, while Sunset looked at each Siren with a satisfied smirk. Twilight Velvet and Night Light also showed their support while also keeping their eyes locked on the Sirens to be safe. The CMCs were surprised by Sonata's gesture at first, only for their giant-sized smiles to appear within seconds. Spike didn't show any signs of disapproval, but he sniffed a bit while keeping an eye and a nose out for any trouble. The young ladies looked at each other as if having a silent talk before nodding their heads. Apple Bloom looked back over at Sonata and asked her happily;
"Now, Ah wanna make sure Ah have this right: Ya' wanna share your tacos with us?"
The blue-haired Siren nodded her head, her serious look refusing to leave her face as she did so. Somehow, the CMCs' smiles grew even more gigantic as Apple Bloom happily declaring while slapping the right side of her right leg jovially;
"Well Ah'll be a monkey's uncle, that's mighty sweet of ya'!"
Without further ado, she graciously took the taco from Sonata's hand. Right when this happened, the seriousness on the Siren's face melted away in favor of a giant teeth-baring grin that was filled with relief and exuberance. With giggles aplenty, Sonata passed out two additional tacos, one for Scootaloo and one for Sweetie Belle, both of whom were happy to take. Without losing a step, she stood back up, skipped through the snow over to her elder sisters without a care in the world, and tried to tempt them with excitement in her voice;
"There's still three more taaacooos!"
She raised the taco bag up to her chin with both hands while giving them her best puppy dog eyes. Those eyes alone were enough to make Aria and even Adagio shake in their decorative boots, but it was rarely enough to break their combined resolve as they glared back at her not with anger, but with quiet determination that would, they hoped, give them enough time to think of a way out of this with their pride intact. Sadly for them, however, Sonata had gotten reinforcements from the CMCs, who ran up to stand at her sides, with Scootaloo on her left and Apple Bloom & Sweetie Belle on her right. They then unleashed upon the two Sirens their own puppy dog eyes. Spike, by this point, had run over to Twilight, having seen enough to know that, as of that moment, the Sirens were not a threat to his friends. The combined visual assault laced with severe adorabetes was enough to make Aria grumble inaudible obscenities out of frustration as she turned to show her back to Sonata as if retreating from a losing battle. Adagio, however, tried valiantly to keep her composure and glare from breaking apart while trying desperately to think of a solution to her current problem, even as she started to make all sorts of little noises with her mouth that gave away the building cracks in her willpower. Just hearing the noises was enough to make Rainbow Dash snort multiple times as she tried to hold back her laughter, if nothing else but to avoid getting another one of Applejack's many, many friendly jabs to her arm. Adagio knew exactly what giving in meant in this specific case;
"I DID say we would try out tacos, but that would mean eating with THEM!", she thought herself out of deep agitation whilst willing herself to not give the Rainbooms the satisfaction of a glare aimed at them. Just then, however, inspiration struck the lead Siren's mind, which pushed her to calm herself down enough to stop making those annoyingly cute noises. Sure, sharing a dinner table with the Rainbooms would be annoying to her, but doing so would give her an opportunity, one that involved a certain note she still kept safe on her person. So, with a significant amount of reluctance, Adagio Dazzle swallowed her pride;
"Fine... let's eat.", she declared with a barely contained groan. Sonata and the CMCs rewarded her with big hugs that were quickly given to a furious Aria as well whilst all four of them shouted in joyful unison;
"YAAAAY!"
Adagio and Aria were surprised that they were not dealing with headaches again.
By the time the dinner table was prepped for the food, the folks in the house were surprised to hear a knock on the front door. Sci-Twi opened it up to find a sight that nearly made her squeal out of pure delight. Before she could, however, the voice of Cadence happily said to her in a sing-song voice;
"Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake!"
Twilight knew the words of this short saying that was only said between them by heart as she and her old babysitter finished in well practiced unison;
"Clap your hands and do a little shake!"
Without hesitation, the two hugged it out while giggling like little kids, with Shining Armor hugging them both out of relief to be home with his family at last. It was enough to make Adagio gag on the inside as she looked on alongside her sisters. The Rainbooms and CMCs, however, gushed over the lovely sight before them, with Spike barking happily as he joined the group hug. Without further ado, it was time to eat! For real, this time!
The meal prepared by Twilight and her parents was chicken, cottage cheese, biscuits, and some blueberry pie. Left-overs, to be clear, but they were no less tasty. The CMCs and The Dazzlings, of course, had their tacos, but they saw no harm in partaking in the prepped meal. After everything that happened, they all could use some warm filling food by that point. It wasn't long before everyone was chowing down, with Aria and Adagio taking some bites out of their chicken before deciding to give their tacos a try while they were still warm. Sonata, who was scarfing down her meal like a hungry hippo, saw this and was quick to put her food down to cheer her sisters on with stars in her eyes;
"You got this, girls! Eat those tacos!"
Suddenly, much to both Sirens' surprise and nervousness, everyone else's eyes were on them as they made ready to bite. Sonata was positively giddy by now as they slowly moved their tacos up to their mouths, opened them, and took large bites into the assorted meats and veggies that filled their tortillas. Soon enough, they managed to chomp through their tortillas before starting to chew the food in the mouths while getting a good sense of the taste they were dealing with. All was silent as Sonata watched her sisters chew their food some more with bated breath. After a few seconds of chewing, they swallowed. No throwing up or nausea: a good sign to Adagio and Aria, who waited for a bit before the former declared with a quick flick of her puffy hair, her face and voice filled with her usual composure;
"Not bad... Not bad at all."
Aria looked away from the dinner table with a grunt before Sonata inhaled audibly and shouted out in glee;
"MY SISTERS LIKE TACOOOOOOS!"
The group cheered in celebration, while Aria and Adagio sat in silence whilst looking at their tacos as if they had just ingested poison into their systems. While, yes, the tacos were NOT terrible to their taste buds, they both shared the same dreadful thought;
"Now, we'll never hear the end of it from her!"
The dinner, mercifully, continued on from there. As the folks ate and chatted it up, The Dazzlings saw fit to talk movie-related stuff with the CMCs, as it was, to them, the one thing that the former could stomach to discuss with the latter. It wasn't long before the movie buffs saw a chance to actually sing the Davy Jones theme song, this time with a much larger audience. No Siren present, save for a tear-stricken Sonata, would dare to admit this aloud, but the Canterlot Movie Club genuinely impressed them with their singing that day, which expressed the multiple layers of emotions that the song was known for with skill and heart. Once the performance had ended and dinner was nearing its end, Adagio took the opportunity that presented itself before it could fade away. She was sitting to the left of Sci-Twi, which made her job easier. She took her note out of its secret location between her thighs with her right hand and stealthily slipped it onto the scientist's lap. Sci-Twi took notice of this while she ate. With curiosity in her eyes, she put her fork away to grab the note with both hands. Before she could unfold it, Adagio gently placed her right hand over the note, which prompted Sci-Twi to look at her with a hint of nervousness on her face. The Siren told her calmly while expressing a sly grin that strengthened the knowing look in her eyes;
"Don't open it... until you absolutely need us."
Sci-Twi couldn't decide what made her nerves shoot up more: Adagio's request, that sly grin, or the foreboding nature of that soft chuckle she had let out as she returned to her meal. Still, her logical side won out over her nerves: however nervous she made her feel, that Siren was offering a way to get help from her and her sisters. Twilight was not one to ignore or toss away a tool that she knew would have some use at some point. So, she stealthily placed the folded note in her pants pocket while mentally deciding to talk with her friends about it later. Adagio enjoyed her meal with a bit more gusto while maintaining her dignity and poise, a confident smirk taking its rightful place on her face as she chomped on her taco, which became tastier than it was beforehand.
Once the meals were gobbled up, The Dazzlings walked over to their RV to inspect it while the Rainbooms, the CMCs, and Spike watched them closely As they did this, Pinkie ask them while scratching her head out of confusion;
"For some reason, I remember you three having a van. What happened to it?"
Turns out, that confusion may have been an act, if the quick wink to Sunset was any indication. She responded to this with a quick wink of her own, none of which was noticed by the Sirens. Adagio, who was checking the front seats at the time, explained as she did her work;
"You probably saw it on our tour photos. We had Rose Quartz sent into a shop to be given a complete upgrade and overhaul after we saved up enough touring funds."
Aria was inspecting the kitchen area when she added;
"We needed the extra space."
Sonata, who was checking the back of the RV, sniffed while noting with happy tears like a loving parent;
"She grew up so fast on us..."
Eventually, Rose Quartz passed the inspection, which meant that it was time for the Sirens to make ready to depart. After working together to hold Sonata back from tackling the CMCs out of tear-filled sadness long enough to calm her down, Adagio and Aria gave the trio a glare that was more polite than what was expected from them. The eldest sister spoke to them first with dignity and some small hint of bite in her words;
"I will admit, sharing a roof with you three Wondercolts was..."
She took a deep breath to steady herself before finishing with barely restrained bite;
"Not unpleasant."
She then lowered her upper-body to give each CMC member a more up-close glare before declaring on behalf of her sisters and herself;
"You three brats are not too bad..."
Her predatory grin returned with a vengeance along with a little more bite in her voice;
"For Humans."
The CMCs gave The Dazzlings warm smiles that oozed with friendliness as Apple Bloom responded honestly;
"Ah'll admit, ya'll handled yourselves way better than we thought ya'll would."
Her two friends nodded in agreement as she angled her upper-body and angled her head to lean closer to Adagio face before making a declaration of her own;
"Ya'll ain't too bad yourselves..."
She then delivered a nigh-perfect imitation of Adagio's predatory grin and almost as much bite;
"For Sirens."
The lead Dazzling did not expect to see her trademark grin from the outside-in, especially not on Apple Bloom's face! But, this was not even close to being enough to break her composure as she responded with added venom and a larger smile;
"Careful now, little Apple. There is much you don't know about us Sirens."
Apple Bloom replied in kind;
"Well, there's much ya'll don't know about us Humans either."
Everyone else looked on, whether it be out of curiosity or concern. Feeling satisfied after having a little bit of verbal sparring fun, Adagio straightened her body back up, looked over at The Rainbooms, who were standing just behind the CMCs alongside Spike, Cadence, and Twilight's family at this point, and gave them a knowing smirk that made them wonder about her future moves. She then told them with calm anticipation;
"We'll see each other again soon..."
She looked back down at the confused CMCs while keeping her smile on point;
"Sooner than we may think..."
That got a raised right eyebrow from all three club members as all three Sirens looked at the group of perplexed Humans with confidence on their faces. It was clear to everyone present as to who knew exactly what was up and who was in the dark. With a right hand raised to the sky and one emphatic snap of her fingers, The Dazzlings turned around to walk into their RV, the keys having been given to Aria earlier. Without another word, Adagio stepped into the driver's seat and, when the other two sisters were seated, started the engine, pulled the vehicle out of the driveway, and drove off onto the road and made a left-hand turn out of sight. As the group of girls looked on in silence while standing in the snow, Sci-Twi pulled the folded note of her pants pocket and gazed down at it. As she did so, she couldn't help but think to herself;
"After much study during this unexpected turn of events, I can safely make this conclusion: The Dazzlings are a mystery that will take more than a couple of encounters to solve..."
As Adagio kept her eyes on the road while trying her best to ignore her sister's usual spat of bickering, she couldn't help but think back to her short stay with the CMCs;
"Terrible things can happen if we stop carin'.", was the thought that crossed her mind the most as she drove in silence. She recognized that those girls were being open with them when those words were uttered, perhaps more open than they would be with most people. A part of her wanted to tell them a little something about what she and her sea-kin had discovered while they had recovered in Sci-Twi's house. But, she thought better of revealing such an important detail. With a grin born from nostalgia, she thought of sound advice from somebody that she and her fellow Sirens used to know;
A lady has to have some secrets... until she wishes to reveal them.
