Chapters Deep within the confines of Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle, the portal leading to Canterlot High surged with electricity, a purple rift in time and space opening up with a thundering roar. The ground shook as the portal spat out three pony-shaped figures before closing abruptly. The first of the figures, possessing a large ball of orange-and-yellow, curly hair raised a hoof up to her head and groaned.
"Ugh...That was not pleasant" she complained as a small switch in her mind flicked. Rather than a hand, she had a hoof, and she could tell the ground was a lot closer to her body than it normally would be. A small grin formed on her muzzle as the realization hit her.
"Finally. After a thousand years in that wretched hole of a dimension, we're finally back in Equestria" she mused mostly to herself. She took a step or two forward, but was surprised to fumble about at her newly formed body.
"Um...Adagio..." said a worried Aria. As Adagio turned to face her cohort, her jaw instantly made for the floor. Rather than the sirens she had gotten used to seeing a thousand years ago, she instead found two earth ponies that greatly reminded her of Aria and Sonata. "You may wanna look at yourself too" she added as she aimed a hoof towards a nearby mirror.
Adagio hardly even recognized the mare staring at her in the glass. She clumsily trotted up to the image in complete disbelief, placing a hoof on the glance with widened eyes.
"This...This..."
"Isn't what you were expecting?" spoke a voice coming from right next to the gold-colored sire-pony. Turning to face the voice, Adagio found a shadowy figure floating there, the inky blankness taking on the form of an equine, just with no specific characteristics. The Dazzling leader scowled at the figure, then raised a hoof at it.
"You said you could take us back to Equestria, you never said there'd be a catch like this" she yelled, but the figure simply didn't care.
"Exactly. I never needed to mention anything because you should always be expecting a catch" he said.
"Told you so" Aria chimed in, getting an angry scowl from her leader.
"You wanted to return to your home dimension, and here you are. I just didn't want you three getting into any more trouble than you have, so I decided to take advantage of a few factors about dimensional travel and alter your bodies to better suit the environment" the shadow explained matter-of-factly.
"But why make us into ponies?" Aria questioned with an annoyed expression.
"Well, I thought you'd look cute if you were ponies" he answered with a small line in the form of a grin.
"He's not wrong about that, we're adorable!" Sonata stated as she started getting an eyeful of herself in the mirror. Aria simply rolled her eyes while Adagio brought her hoof to her forehead hard. She winced a little at the pain and the shadow just chuckled at her.
"Don't you worry about a thing, ladies, I promise that you're going to love things from this new perspective of yours" he assured them in a Friendly-Floyd manner, only earning further scowls from Aria and Adagio. Sensing the oncoming hostility, the shadow began to fade into the background. "Unless you want things to be worse for yourselves, you'd better learn to play nice" he said with a small chuckle.
"Ugh!" Adagio shouted. "Just perfect. The one chance we get to finally get back to Equestria, and the only guy who could do it turned us into ponies" she continued, glaring daggers at the unholy image staring back at her in the mirror.
Aria simply sighed, completely defeated and without any cares right now. The purple siren had believed she would be upset, but she was all out of hatred and anger after the loss of her powers. A blue hoof suddenly found its way around her neck and dragged her close to a blue mane in a ponytail. Looking over, she found that Adagio had been trapped in it as well.
"Come on, girls, let's make the most of this. I mean, think about the upside here" Sonata cheered.
"What upside?" both of the girls asked in unison.
"We lost our powers, had everyone in school hate us, got kicked out of our hotel, and then came back to Equestria. Everyone who ever knew about us probably won't even see who we are here, we can completely start over with a new perspective" Sonata continued happily as she released her friends. The former sirens simply looked at their dimwitted friend with mixed feelings. They simply exchanged a glance before sighing at Sonata's overly perky attitude.
"Just...just shut up, Sonata" Adagio groaned. Having to put up with all of this nonsense was enough, she didn't need Sonata adding her own two cents. Seeing as how they were back in the most magical place they could think of, the least they could do was try to regain their former powers. Having pony bodies didn't really change anything if they could-
Aria was in the middle of a "pleasant" conversation with Sonata about how their hair somehow looked cuter as manes when Adagio suddenly went wide-eyed. Looking from her point of view, she found a familiar looking purple pony standing at the entrance to the door, flanked by a small purple lizard of some kind. Unlike themselves, this pony had a unicorn horn and...a pair of pegasus wings...
"There's no way..." she breathed. One look in the strange pony's eyes made her experience all kinds of disgust and anger, she knew exactly who this pony was.
"What are...how did you three...why are you here!?" Twilight all but screamed, Spike readily getting set for a fight. Neither of them knew what had happened, but they weren't about to let a couple of criminals get off without much more than being thrown in the dungeons.
Meanwhile, the shadow from earlier returned to his seat by a big fireplace, slowly taking form from the wall and revealing himself to be a rather chaotic looking mess of animal body parts.
"Things are getting interesting" he stated as he took a seat, snapped his claws, and summoned forth a cup of tea. "Now to just sit back and watch the sparks fly between Twilight and her new 'friends'" he added with a sinister chuckle.
Thirty minutes and one big fight later, the three former-sirens all sat on the floor-each of them hog-tied and two of them being gagged-before Princess Twilight Sparkle. Each of the other element bearers sat on their thrones, listening to what Adagio had for her explanation.
"So, let me get this straight;" Twilight started, "You three were told by some shadow figure that you could return to Equestria, but then he tricked you and transformed you all into ponies?" she continued.
Adagio nodded. "The jerk said there wouldn't be a catch, too" she said as Rainbow Dash gave her an skeptical look.
"And just how do we know you didn't come through the portal to try and take back Equestria?" the pegasus glared at the Dazzling leader, certain that the next thing she said would be a load of bull.
"We didn't have any of our powers when we came in on account of your purple friend here breaking our necklaces, and even if that weren't the case, we're powerless as ponies" she answered in a snarky tone, completely annoyed. Rainbow simply rolled her eyes and resumed hovering as per usual.
"Was there anything specific about this individual, perhaps a personality trait that stood out?" Rarity asked, trying her best to help out during the situation. Adagio closed her eyes and focused on what the shadow sounded like.
"He was really conceited, like nothing anyone could do would hurt him" she answered, giving a little scowl at the floor as the element bearers shared a knowing glance.
"You don't think..." Fluttershy sheepishly asked.
"He totally did" Dash quickly answered, a scowl of her own forming.
"Let's at least hear his reasoning for it" Fluttershy stated.
"There's nuthin' that varmint can say that'll justify any o' this" Applejack huffed. Considering his track record, she had reason not to trust him. But of course, Fluttershy just gave a look and she groaned. "Call him up" she said to Twilight, whom of which had been staying quiet to consider her options. With a sigh, the alicorn focused her magic and flared her horn up in her familiar, magenta aura. A small tornado of magic was the result of her struggles, swirling about in the empty space in the room until a figure could be seen. After the smoke cleared, it revealed a mish-mash creature scrubbing his back in the shower.
"...I'm gonna be myself, no matter what I do" Discord whimsically sang to himself before stopping everything. With a fake scream, the draconequus hid behind his shower curtain and blushed. He glanced over towards the princess with a little sneer. "I see you still haven't learned to give me a heads-up like Celestia told you" he told her.
"And I see you're still messing around, doing whatever you want" Twilight countered as she crossed her fore-hooves across each other.
"Why, whatever do you mean?" the spirit of chaos asked innocently.
"Cut the nonsense, Discord, we know you brought them here!" Dash accused brashly. Discord merely wrapped himself in a towel and quirked an eyebrow.
"Them?" he asked. Dash pointed a hoof at the former-sirens, the latter three now having been allowed to stand normally, Aria and Sonata both un-gagged. Discord then grinned for a split second before putting on an intrigued expression. "Well, well, what have we here? a bunch of sirens playing pony, how unusual?" he walked up to Adagio with a knowing grin, the latter glaring daggers at him.
"I should've guessed you'd be the one. You were always a chaotic mess" the Dazzling leader spat venom as per usual.
"You two know each other?" Fluttershy pondered. Aria nodded.
"Pretty hard not to know about the spirit of chaos and disharmony. I just don't get why he's here though" the former siren stated.
Discord put a hand to his chest and grinned. "Oh, well, I've been reformed in recent times, and I even have friends now, I'm so good" he continued innocently. Unfortunately, his words didn't seem to hold much meaning to them; none of the sirens were convinced at what he was saying, the two of them simply-
"Wait, where did the other one go?" Twilight asked.
"Pinkie Pie ain't here either" Applejack added with a worried gulp.
"So you really controlled people using your singing voices?" Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down enthusiastically.
"Yeah, they did anything that we asked them too, even things we sometimes didn't ask them to, it was so cool!" Sonata answered, joining Pinkie Pie in her happy-go-lucky bouncing.
"It would be so cool if I always got what I wanted, but I can see how that would be a problem, I mean, hello, spoiled rotten much?" Pinkie continued in a sugary blur of words, sharing a thought-if you could even call it that-with her new friend.
"Well, wherever they are, they're someone else's headache now" Aria stated with a glum expression.
"Speaking of headaches, you still never answered why you brought them here?" Twilight said to Discord, whom of which now stood normally with a fake halo over his head.
"I swear to you, Princess Twilight, I had nothing to do with these sirens coming to Equestria. You yourself said that the portal would only open up from here, and it clearly hasn't been thirty moons in the other world yet" he pleaded as theatrically as he could, the only real actress in the room rolling her eyes and raising her nose.
"If you're going to lie straight to our faces, you could at least have the dignity to put up a better show" the seamstress deadpanned. Fluttershy flew up to Discord and looked him dead in the eye.
"Discord....Are you really telling us the truth?" she asked in a tone not unlike a mother scolding her child. Discord simply gave an awkward chuckle and tried to avoid eye contact, but each attempt was thwarted by the pegasus forcing herself into his field of vision every time he looked away. She just kept on pushing those turquoise eyes of hers forward, her brow furrowing itself every few seconds. Sweat started to form on Discord's brow, literally shrinking before her gaze. The element bearers noticed this and grinned; they knew he could never lie to the one friend he ever truly had, and the more she persisted, the easier it would be to get it out of him.
The Dazzlings just sat on their haunches and watched with malicious smirks as the draconequus known for warping reality on a whim just shrank before a single pegasus, and one they knew was really timid due to the way her human counterpart acted.
"Alright, I admit it! I brought the three sirens here from the other world, but you have to understand my reasons; these three were pathetic and powerless!" Discord admitted, much to the annoyance of Aria and Adagio.
"Hey!/Hey!" the Dazzlings protested, only to be ignored as Discord continued.
"They were left with no powers, no survival skills, and nobody who liked them. I simply couldn't just leave them there without doing something about it!"
"But that still doesn't mean you had to bring them to Equestria" Twilight interrupted.
"Oh, and Sunset Shimmer didn't have to become friends with you and the others either, I suppose?" Discord countered, taking the princess by surprise.
"W-well...she was different!" Twilight defended.
"She was in the exact same situation these three-er-two are now, I was just trying to be a good friend" Discord crossed his arms and scowled.
"You could've at least asked for Twilight's blessing first" Fluttershy scolded delicately.
"Or at least tell us what you were planning" Rarity added.
Discord merely lidded his eyes and rested his hands upon his hips. "Even when I'm just doing a good deed?" he sarcastically questioned.
"Eeyup" Applejack deadpanned with an unamused expression.
"I'm writing to Princess Celestia about this. We'll deal with you afterwards" Twilight summoned forth a quill and some parchment, noting everything that needed to be mentioned while keeping a close eye on Adagio. From what she remembered, that one was always the one you had to pay attention to.
A few moments later, Celestia's reply flew in and got unwrapped right away. Twilight read through the contents right away, her expression hardening over a few lines.
"What's it say?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight sighed. "It seems that Princess Celestia wants us to take in the Dazzlings" she answered.
A chorus of "WHAT!?" soon echoed throughout the throne room, both the element-bearers and the former sirens wearing incredibly shocked expressions.
"Apparently, she's putting them on some kind of work-release program by making them learn a lot of the same lessons that Sunset Shimmer is" the alicorn continued with a worried look. She wasn't absolutely certain whether or not she was being serious, which scared her just a little bit. Then again, even if the Dazzlings could somehow get their powers back, at least they could handle them this time.
"You have got to be freakin' kidding me" Aria groaned.
"I'd rather be back in the other world, attending classes at that stupid school than be here as a pony, let alone learning about friendship" Adagio added.
Twilight just shot the Dazzling leader a glare and huffed. Around that time, Spike entered the room.
"Uh...Should we be worried about Pinkie running around with that siren?" he asked nobody in particular.
"Very" Dash quickly answered.
"We'll need to track her down, even her opinion on what we should do with the Dazzlings matters" Twilight stepped off from her throne and walked over towards the balcony, Dash accompanying her soon after.
"I just pray she doesn't get too attached to that one in case things turn South" Rarity stated.
"Let's just worry about finding her before they turn Ponyville upside-down" Dash said as she took off.
"If Pinkie is doing what we think, we should be back in a few minutes. Applejack's in charge while we're gone" Twilight ordered as she flew off, leaving the rest to the farm-pony. Applejack just herded the draqonequus and former-sirens to form a line and gave them a good glower.
"A'ight, ya'll heard the princess, I'm in charge. That means I don't wanna hear or see anything funny, ya got me?" she asked in a strict tone. The Dazzlings merely blinked and looked at her as if she was the craziest thing they'd ever seen. Discord merely gave a short salute with his hand, even doing it with a straight face for that matter. "Good" Applejack smiled and returned to her throne, which was around the time where Rarity stepped off her own and approached the Dazzlings.
"Believe me, it's simply easier to go along with what she says" she whispered as she took her seat back at her throne.
As time passed, Fluttershy decided to break the silence by asking their newfound "friends" about themselves. From there, they all went and introduced themselves. A few comments from the peanut gallery-Spike and Discord-managed to make things a little tense, but Rarity managed to keep things from escalating too far.
"So, Adagio, how's it feel to be a regular pony after bein' human for a millennium?" Applejack inquired, getting an annoyed sigh from the Dazzling leader in response.
"It's not as bad as I thought at first, but it's still not something I like" she answered.
"If we were able to fly or do magic, it'd be a lot better" Aria stated.
"I'm pretty sure we couldn't trust ya with either o' those" Applejack retorted.
"There's a shock" Aria muttered. The only upside to any of this was that these ponies were smarter than they seemed. That much was made obvious by how they could reform Discord. The idea of them being reformed though, that just seemed like an incredibly childish idea that nobody with common sense would try to do. Still, considering the state they were in, it was smarter to simply play along and just wait for whatever judgement was necessary.
A few more minutes of mundane chatter continued until the ones the Dazzlings came to know as Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash returned, carrying the rambunctious pair of ponies behind them in a field of magic.
"Whee!" Pinkie and Sonata cheered as they were dragged in, both of them bouncing enthusiastically and cheering "Again, again!". As if you needed to tell, Aria and Adagio sighed and pinched the bridges of their muzzles.
"Great, Sonata's back" Aria "cheered", the action causing Sonata to trot up and embrace her friend tightly.
"Aw, if I knew you'd miss me, I would've brought you along with me, Aria!" she cooed, much to the latter's chagrin.
"So, Pinkie, was there any specific reason you took..." Twilight started before coming at a loss for a name.
"Sonata Dusk" Pinkie introduced the siren.
"Right, is there any reason you took Sonata Dusk out into town earlier?" Twilight asked.
"Well, we were both super bored just sitting around, and Sonata wanted to come and see Ponyville, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't let her see Ponyville and-" Pinkie explained before forcefully being silenced by a random cupcake Dash had acquired.
"For once, you did something right" Dash said to Discord, the latter of whom smiling in response.
"Anyway, now that everyone's here, we can go and discuss what we should do with the three of you. Spike, can you make sure none of them go anywhere while we congregate in the other room?" Twilight glanced at her assistant, whom of which saluted her.
"You bet'cha, Twi. Nobody's going anywhere on my watch" Spike boasted, Aria and Adagio snickering to themselves as they tried to hold back their full-blown laughter.
"Good" Twilight led the other element bearers into a nearby room, but not before Pinkie could hug and wink Sonata goodbye first.
By the time Twilight and the others finished their discussion on the Dazzlings was finished, everyone in the room was left either reading a magazine Rarity had left behind or was simply asleep on the floor. Pinkie tapped Sonata's shoulder a bit and she started to stir.
"Mmm...Five more minutes" the drowsy siren begged, only to be tickled by the party pony instead. After a mess of forced laughing, the two shared a hug before smiling at one another once more.
"So, what's the verdict?" Aria asked, wanting to get things over with as fast as possible. Twilight stepped forward and straightened her back, tilted her head up with her eyes closed, and delivered the news in as regal a tone as she could muster.
"After considering all of our options, we have decided to enlist all three of you in our friendship studies. You will learn what it means to have friends, and be properly integrated into pony society. Alternatively, you can choose to be returned to your prison in the other world for as long as you may live" the princess stated.
The former sirens huddled up and worked things over. Sonata wanted to stay there and try to start over, much like she had told them before. Adagio tried to mention a few important things such as trying to get their magic back, but Aria protested against it, claiming that trying to control others and take over the world was her idea, and all that happened as a result was the three of them getting their butts handed to them in the most humiliating way imaginable. A few small arguments later and they managed to reach a verdict of their own.
Adagio turned and faced the six ponies and cleared her throat. "After weighing our options, we've decided that all we can really do now is try and start over here. We're willing to give your lessons a shot and simply see what happens there" she clearly stated, being completely straight-faced on the outside while she was vomiting in her mouth on the inside.
"Excellent" Twilight said, followed by a pink blur rushing over to Sonata. The two mares happily embraced and bounced around in small circles, managing to find a way to get as happy as possible over the idea of them staying to become friends.
"We're gonna die here, aren't we?" Aria whispered.
"Eeyup" Adagio whispered back.
Author's Note
And now begins a series of shenanigan-induced chapters that I will be writing in my free time. Do be sure to expect somewhere between 1000 and 2000 words in each chapter.
The Dazzlings spent the following evening in the guest bedroom, a single lunar guard stationed right outside their door. While the former-sirens had agreed to become students of Princess Twilight Sparkle, they were also a mischievous flight risk.
"It sure was lucky that hayseed managed to remember that from you, Sonata" Aria groaned as she lay on her bed, her mane having been let down and adorned with a small, pink nightcap.
"I know right, she seems really well-organized" Sonata chirped cheerily, completely oblivious to the obvious sarcasm. Aria simply averted her gaze and sighed, wondering why it was that she put up with those shenanigans of hers for so many millennia.
"Anybody is more organized than you two" Adagio deadpanned as she struggled to brush her mane, only to fumble with the brush. The Dazzling leader scowled at the hooves she had and bent down to pick the brush up, only to fumble with it once again.
"Stupid hooves" she cursed under her breath as she gripped the item with her teeth. The handle had a bit of dust on it from being the floor, giving Adagio another reason to scowl. She spat the brush out onto the counter of the dresser.
"Having trouble there, Dagi?" Aria snickered a bit beneath her breath, enjoying the annoyed look she spotted in the mirror. Adagio merely glared at her cohort through the lens and turned on the swiveling stool she sat upon.
"You'd be having trouble too if you were in my shoes" she stated with a tone exactly as annoyed as her expression.
"Nope, I already got someone to brush my hair for me" Aria replied with a quick gesture to Sonata, whom of which happily nodded. "If you want, I can loan her to you?" she joked. Adagio just groaned again and swiveled back around. Aria gave a short gesture and Sonata went over, picking up the brush in her mouth and working on the big mess of orange curls.
"This is only the beginning of the end for these ponies" Adagio gave a conniving look towards the mirror, imagining all manner of schemes within her head.
"Oh goody, the orange pompom with legs comes up with another world conquest scheme, there's a shock" Aria mocked, provoking her leader into glaring daggers at her.
"Don't pretend that you weren't thinking it too. We might not be in our true forms, but we still have complete access to Equestrian magic, we can get our powers back now and-"
"And what, plunge the world into slavery until we get our butts handed to us and banished to the human world again?" Aria interrupted angrily. Sonata dropped the brush and joined Adagio in an open-mouth stare, completely aghast at what their "comrade" just said.
"What are you saying, Aria?" questioned the Dazzling leader.
"Why bother trying to get our powers back when all that's going to happen is we get banished to another world all over again, it's completely pointless!" she argued. Her friends merely continued staring at her as she hopped off the bed and approached Adagio. "I don't know about you, but I am NOT about to waste my time, only for everything to end exactly the same as it did before" she stated with as much venom in her voice as a king cobra. "I'm not crazy about this whole 'friendship lesson' hing either, but at least that one won't end in total disaster" she whipped her head back and returned to the bed, leaving her former friends to just stare at her.
"How...how can you say that?" Sonata all but wept. There were more than enough tears in her eyes for even Adagio to feel bad for her.
"Easily, especially when you have someone like Adagio ordering you around for what feels like forever" Aria responded.
"So you think that trying to survive was my fault?!" the former-siren screamed. Aria sat up on the bed and glared at her.
"Survival is easy when you're a siren, but when you're human, it's a totally different scenario altogether. Had I never met you, then I'd probably still be a siren, simply living out in the ocean where I belong" she answered.
"The only place you belong is the worthless gutter we were left in before all of this!" Adagio bellowed angrily. The guard outside tapped on the door and inquired if everything was okay. Considering how loud they were being, it's surprising to not hear Twilight or Spike asking it.
"Everything's fine!" both the louder sirens yelled in unison. Sonata may have not been the sharpest of the shed's many tools, but even she knew that things weren't actually fine there. If she didn't do anything about it, then things would probably be even worse.
"Guys, come on, we can't let any of this get to us" she tried to reason, only for both her friends to take her words wrongly.
"I'm not letting anything but the truth get to me, and the truth is that my life would be so much better without her!" Aria yelled. Adagio was so angry, she nearly galloped right over towards the insubordinate, but Sonata got in her way.
"What do you think you're doing, Sonata?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"I know that look in your eyes, Adagio, but I'm not about to let you hurt Aria" she said as she looked her former leader right in the eye. Her legs may have been shivering a bit, but that didn't shake her resolve. Adagio saw the fire burning in her eyes, and she was actually impressed by it. Adagio had never seen this side of Sonata before, and honestly, she thought she'd never see the day she did. With one last glare at Aria, she mentally spat at her and just retired in the other bed without so much as a word.
Aria and Sonata were nervous, but it only got worse as she just shut up and appeared to go to sleep without anything to say or anything to do. While Sonata thought that something had gone wrong, Aria merely kept her composure and did the same she did. It was going to be a bit tricky, but she'd eventually find a way to get some sleep. Still, she'd have a much easier time than Sonata; for one thing, her bed was situated right between the others, and for another, she knew better than to assume Adagio would just let something go. If she managed to get any sleep that night, it probably wouldn't be enough.
Meanwhile, a certain baby dragon headed out towards the balcony adjacent to the throne room. Just as he expected, Twilight was standing there with her hooves leaning on top of the railing.
"So, did you have trouble sleeping, too?" Twilight suddenly asked, taking Spike by surprise.
"Yeah, but are you up for the same reason I am?" he asked the princess, only for her to sigh and agree with him.
"I just don't know what Discord was thinking, bringing them here. After everything with Tirek, I just can't trust him" she worried, looking towards the town below.
"I can't really trust him either, but just look at the positives here; he made the Dazzlings into ponies to keep them from using their magic, and you've been looking for an excuse to be a teacher on the magic of friendship. I say it's a win-win" he placed a hand on her back and delicately stroked her withers, hoping his words had sunk in. Twilight's expression brightened just a little bit, but she still didn't seem certain of anything.
"Well...*sigh* let's just sleep on it. I can't really teach them if I'm asleep, now can I?" she sarcastically asked before heading back. Having known her for so long, spike knew better than to think she was able to relax. If anything, all he really did by talking about all of that was make matters worse. For now, all that could be done was wait until morning and see what happens from there.
Author's Note
I originally planned to have Adagio go on a long-winded speech on how they could get their magic back, but I decided to have Aria interject right away, just to get the ball rolling. I don't know if I dropped in in-between there, but I'm certain that someone will tell me whether or not I have.
The next morning, the Dazzlings were called to the breakfast hall to join Twilight and Spike. Sonata was an utter mess, her mane being heavily disheveled and her eyes having bags underneath them. Aria and Adagio looked a little messy themselves, but at least they actually looked rested.
"Did you have a nice rest?" Twilight asked, trying to get the ball rolling. Nobody answered. They instead simply took awkward glances at different times, never once saying anything. For that Twilight knew about them, the Dazzlings were not the kind of individuals to keep silent about anything. Something was definitely up. One of her guards came right up and delivered breakfast to the large table, everyone taking their time enjoying the first meal of the day.
"So...Is there any real reason you guys are keeping quiet, I mean, there was never a time where you didn't stop talking back in the other world?" Spike inquired. Aria put on a scowl and aimed it right towards the young drake. "Jeez, sorry I asked" he muttered as he just took a bite out of a gem. Aria's expression softened as she turned her gaze towards Sonata, showing a slightly worried look at her. Twilight noticed this, but just didn't say anything about it.
"Well, this seems a lot worse than yesterday" Discord mused as he suddenly poofed into the room. The Dazzlings' attention was instantly brought to the draconequus.
"Uh...Morning, Discord" Spike greeted awkwardly.
"And a good morning to you too, Spike. So tell me, Princess Twilight, what exactly have you got in mind for our little friends here this morning?" Discord asked as he leaned against the table.
"Well..." Twilight started, though she wouldn't be able to answer properly. "I mostly thought about us just introducing them around town, maybe seeing a bit of what Ponyville had to offer" the princess answered, a little unsure about how she approached it.
"If it's anything like the place we used to be in, I'm sure it'll be a dump just the same" Aria stated as she averted eye contact.
"Hey!" Spike stood up on his chair, super mad.
"Yeah, I said it. What are you gonna do about it, shorty?" Aria challenged with a scowl. A blue hoof suddenly placed itself on her shoulder. Turning around, she found Sonata practically begging her with her eyes not to go down the road she was on. With a sigh and a shake of her head, the former-siren suddenly just gave up on the subject and looked into an arbitrary direction.
"Well, if only all of you could be so enthusiastic" Discord rolled his eyes.
"All I'm saying is to show Ponyville a little bit more respect. Besides, you're gonna be living here, so there's no real need to dis the place" Spike stated as he crossed his arms across his chest. Aria merely scoffed and averted her gaze. Why should she really have to care about some town she knew nothing about? She lived in the sea her whole life-not counting her life in the human world-, so it was only natural that she knew pretty much nothing of the land.
'Oh, to be back in the sea again' Aria thought with a small, wistful smile.
"Well, Ah can see this is goin' well" stated a familiar voice. Turning her head, Twilight found it to be Applejack, striding in with a bit of a chuckle.
"Thanks for coming here so early, Applejack, I'll be needing your help to get this first lesson out of the way" the princess bowed her head at the sight of the farmer.
"Happy to be involved, Twi. So, how're they doin'?" Applejack responded, Adagio raising an eyebrow.
"They've been about the same as they were yesterday, though it feels like they're being especially hostile towards each other today" Twilight explained, Adagio scowling in the background.
"Uh, We're right here, you know" the Dazzling leader reminded. Discord just placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back as a means of comforting her.
"Yes, you are, but the grown-ups are talking now, so try to keep it down" he condescended, causing a big scowl to appear on her face. Sonata perked up a little at that, easily amused by how Discord had managed to put Adagio in her place with little more than a flick of his wrist.
"Anyway, the here is that you three are to learn the same things about friendship that I did, and the start of it all is honesty" Twilight stated as she returned her attention to the former-sirens. She had a bit of doubt that the tree would have any interest in learning to be friends with the same people they had tried to enslave millennia ago, but it was better than the alternative if what Discord had told her was true.
"Honesty's probly the most important thing fer ya to be, but that's mostly just how Ah was brought up. Bein' honest lets ya get closer to others, whereas lies only get ya in trouble. Rule of thumb here; try ta be as honest as ya can be, and it'll get ya farther" Applejack explained in a relatively cheery tone.
"You do realize just how bad it is to be honest about everything right?" Aria started. Applejack quirked her eyebrow and tilted her head slightly, almost as if she had just heard something in a different language. Aria recognized the look from experience and sighed. "People'll just get angry with you if you wind up telling them something they don't wanna hear, or you could get yourself in trouble by admitting something you're not supposed to tell someone" she elaborated, the gears turning in Applejack's mind to make her shy away slightly.
"Well, ya don't hafta be honest about things, ya just can't flat-out lie to your friends or family fer no good reason" Applejack corrected, only to have Aria's eyes roll in her direction.
"Yeah, you should've lead with that one" she answered.
"Seriously, even Sonata could've known better, and she's-" Adagio turned and found no sign of her former cohort.
"-Not here..." Twilight sighed and pinched the bridge of her muzzle with her hoof.
"You didn't see 'er wander off, didja, Discord?" Applejack inquired, the spirit of chaos merely shaking his head.
"I have to admit, I didn't. Either Sonata's really crafty, or she can teleport the same way Pinkie does" the draconequus answered, slipping through dimensions halfway and poking his head out next to Twilight while his tail swished nearby Aria's head.
"Your speech probably bored her so much that she left to do something fun, which I would know because that's what I want to do" Aria all but spat.
"We should probably go get them before they wreck the town or something" Spike offered, stepping down from his seat and heading over to the princess.
"Nah, they're probably just doing something silly" Discord answered.
Pinkie was right in the middle of aiming Sonata, head-first, into a direction near the mountains with her party cannon.
"Ooh, this is gonna be so much fun!" Pinkie squealed, nearly bouncing as she calibrated the angle.
"I know right, this'll be awesome!" Sonata chirped, just as giddy.
"Like a whipped-cream fight or something" Discord zapped a can of whipped cream into his paw and shook it a bit before it exploded all through the room, disappearing through Twilight's magic.
"Alright, the main thing we're trying to teach here is that you should be more open about yourself and others, which in turn will help them get closer to you" Twilight summarized as best she could while trying to avoid scowling at everything she would have to fix later on.
"Whatever" the remaining Dazzlings answered.
"Well, that was easy" Discord deadpanned as he leaned down onto Applejack's shoulder, whom of which calmly brushed him off.
"Nothins' ever this easy, Discord. These two have got a lot more to honesty than just this" Applejack stated with a furrowed brow.
"I say we should just put them to work at the apple orchard for a while. They're earth ponies after all, they can take a little hard labor" Spike suggested with just a tad of venom in his tone. Twilight beamed right up to that idea, mostly because it would give her some time to handle some no-doubt more important matters.
"Anything to get out of this castle" Adagio stated as she flicked her mane.
"We'll need to get Sonata first, keep her and that pink pony from causing something stupid to happen" Aria added, which was soon followed by a big explosio in the background, shaking the castle for a few seconds.
"You mean like that?" Discord looked through a pair of binoculars at the wreckage of what used to be a city street, showing the former siren a moment later.
"Yep, just like that. I kinda expected it to have something to do with tacos though" Aria stated bluntly. Twilight just sighed and looked up at the spirit of chaos, whom of which nodded and snapped his claws. A split-second later, the damage was repaired, and Pinkie and Sonata were both zapped right back in the room, happily jumping up and down, cheering "Again, again!".
Applejack let out a sigh. "It's gonna be a long harvest" she deadpanned with a slump of her shoulders.
Author's Note
Not exactly my best work, but considering this is something I'm not used to doing specifically, it's the best I can really do, especially considering it's almost 12:30 AM by the time I'm posting this.
Like it or hate it, I don't care, just let me sleep.
Some time passed noon, Granny Smith had just finished laying out a few sandwiches and a few bottles of apple juice as her grandchildren-and some other ponies the princess had dropped off-had come back to the house.
Adagio and Aria were both uncomfortably sweaty, and covered in dirt. Sonata and the others though didn't seem to mind. If anything, they looked as though they liked it.
"Nice work out there, girls, ya work a lot harder than Ah thought ya would" Applejack complimented as she wiped away some sweat from her brow.
"We've got a bit more work experience than you think. What did you think we were doing before Discord came to us?" Adagio rhetorically asked. Applejack said nothing and smiled, thinking that words would probably just-
"Ah thought ya'd just be bumming around someplace" Applebloom deadpanned with a small glimmer in her eye.
...Oh, the innocence of youth.
"Applebloom, you know that ain't no way ta treat a helping hoof" Applejack feigned a smiled and reprimanded the filly through clenched teeth. She always knew that honesty was best, but there was a difference between being honest and blunt, and poor Applebloom was about as blunt as a bowling ball.
"But didn't you say they were just here on a work release program from jail?"
"I said that Princess Twilight wanted to...Ya know what, just drink yer juice"
Applebloom merely shrugged her shoulders and did as was told, especially considering how everything made on the farm was to die for. The former sirens soon joined in, Adagio trying her best to keep her frizzy pom-pom of a mane from getting in her eyes. The fact that they didn't have immediate access to hair spray was just appalling, and the fact that she never got the chance to bring it up was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Then again, she really had more problems to deal with, such as finding a way to restore her powers and get back her cronies. Then again, maybe she was simply better off without them from the start. She was always the pretty one, always the only one thinking, pretty much the only one who ever actually made any actual effort when it came to everything...
"Adagio, was it? You doing alright there?" Saying that the Dazzling leader looked mad was an understatement. There were fighting, snarling bears that looked happier than she did at this moment
"It's probably just the heat, or the sweat from her hair finally getting down to the roots" Aria snidely commented as she sipped her juice in peace. Not having to hear constant plan after plan was a serious perk, and not having to hear Sonata's gibberish was a bonus on top of it.
Adagio merely scowled and looked away, not wanting to make a scene in front of so many others. Sonata wanted to try and help them out somehow, but she didn't want to become the new target of their frustrations. If there was anything that she could do, she would definitely do it.
*Light bulb*
"Hey, didn't you say there was a lesson we had to learn here?" Sonata beamed up right away and looked towards Applejack with a big grin on her face and a gleam in her eyes.
"Oh yeah, Ah almost fergot about that" Applejack got up and smiled at the others, clearing her throat slightly before continuing.
"In order to build a proper bond, everything starts with a little trust. The best way ta get somepony else's trust is to be honest with 'em. Ah noticed you two had some real sparks between ya when ya got here, and Ah can only see things have gotten worse since then. If something's buggin' ya, then go ahead and let 'er rip" she told the feuding sirens with a sensitive grin.
Naturally, Aria and Adagio simply scoffed and looked elsewhere. Applejack slanted her eyes and leaned a little closer to them.
"Yer not going back to the castle unless ya tell each other how ya feel" the farmer ordered, not wanting to take any of their nonsense. The other two looked at her as though she were crazy, then Aria sighed and turned to face Adagio.
"Being honest, I really don't like how you're so pushy or demanding" the pink-and-purple mare deadpanned. "You bark out orders that either don't make sense or are based on your thinking you're some kind of invincible goddess" she added with a small grin if you looked at her just right. Adagio just took a deep breath and hen looked her former-subordinate in the eye.
"Well, I really don't like how you also have to doubt everything that I say and do, since it gives me a massive migraine and takes away from my work" the Dazzling leader stated matter-of-factly. Now it was Aria's turn to scowl.
"Well, I really hate how you think your plans are perfect and never do anything to really stop them from the beginning"
"And I hate how you never do what I tell you"
"Well, I-" Aria stated before Sonata suddenly shoved a rolled-up sandwich into her and Adagio's mouths. The two looked at her, both glaring. The looks that they got from the Apples though were more confused than anything else.
"Not what Ah would've done ta stop 'em, but Ah guess it works" Applejack chuckled as she scratched the back of her head. Aria and Adagio simply took one last glare at each other before calming down and trying to chew down the rest of the food lodged in their muzzles. Secretly though, they plotted to get Sonata back later on during that evening.
"Ah don't really think they got out what they needed to" Applebloom wondered with a slight tilt in her head and a small chuckle she had been holding back.
"Trust me, they got what they needed out of the way" Applejack commented dryly, barely able to keep much of an open mind about them. They just fumed all kinds of negativity towards another, it made it seem really unlikely they'd be able to get passed it.
"Well, what does being honest have to really do with anything anyway?" Aria inquired after finally taking a hard swallow.
"It's all about trust between ya. Like Ah said earlier, there ain't no better way ta get somepony's trust than bein' honest with 'em. If ya hold something back, then they won't trust ya, and it puts pressure between everypony. Really, the point Ah'm tryin ta make is that if ya wanna get passed this and be friends, then ya have to get your anger outta the way and open up your heart a little" Applejack explained, taking a moment to catch her breath a moment later.
Adagio certainly didn't think much of being friends with others, much less did Aria for that matter. Sonata, however, took in a lot of the information and really started to get into it. For the first time since yesterday, she was able to smile genuinely and not feel any worries on her shoulders. The former-siren took in a deep breath and felt sighed with a wide smile going from ear to ear.
"Wow, this feels great. Come on girls, you try it too!" she practically cheered, clapping her fore-hooves together happily. Her fellow sirens merely raised their eyebrows at her, thinking she had been huffing paint fumes or something. Still, she just continued to beam at them, the purity in her eyes practically blinding them both. Sensing there was no other way they could get out of this, they simply closed their eyes and did a deep sigh together. It worked, in a way. They both felt slightly better, slightly more calm about things. Still, one good glance at one another, and there was still some tension in the air.
A few minutes of awkward silence and a shadow passing overhead later, and Princess Twilight descended down right away, carrying a quill and a clipboard in her aura.
"Status report on the Dazzlings?" she asked bluntly, shifting into her study mode with a small glisten in her eyes.
""Well, Ah think they're doin' better than this morning. Still really tense though, even with Sonata tryin' ta break it up" Applejack answered with a whisper. The Dazzlings themselves simply looked at them plainly. Aria sighed and glanced up at the sky while Adagio leered at them from her seat. Sonata just kept a happy grin to herself and breathed in the fresh scent of the nearby apples.
"Fascinating. So, what is their problem exactly?" Twilight asked, not taking her eyes off of her report paper.
"Well, it looks like Aria and Adagio are practically at each other's throats over something. Ah dunno if we can find a way ta resolve it without one of 'em ending up six-feet-under" Applejack told her with a worried expression.
"Hmm..." Twilight placed the tip of her quill against her chin and thought about it for a moment. "I guess we can always just save that for Pinkie, she's good at problems like this one" she thought aloud as she finished scribbling down something or other on the clipboard.
"You mean we get to spend a whole day with Pinkie?" Sonata gasped, bounding up to the purple pony princess with a grin that could make The Joker jealous.
"Well, yes" Twilight answered, taking a half-step back as Sonata got in her face even more.
"For realsies?" she squeaked, Winona whining from a good distance away. Twilight simply nodded and then backed away slowly as Sonata simply to transform into a happy, giggling, jumping blur.
Aria sighed again and planted a hoof onto her forehead. "Great, now we've got that to deal with all day" she groaned.
"And all night" Adagio groaned a moment later.
"Well, I guess I should leave you to your bucking then" Twilight stated as she just took off right there, leaving Applejack stunned at how she could just do such a thing. The Dazzlings got up at the same time as the other Apples, then headed out towards the orchard again. Adagio glared one good time at Aria, whom in turn glared back. Adagio wasn't all that certain that she could trust Aria, and everything she practically spat at her earlier only made her seem even more distant. It also made her feel a lot angrier with how it reminded her of last night as well. Without even thinking about it, Adagio turned to a nearby tree and revved up her body, getting ready to buck it.
"Adagio, wait, don't!" Applejack practically yelled as she tried to warn the former-siren, but it was too late; her hooves made contact and knocked the tree around a little, a small buzzing noise appearing just above her as her pupils shrank. The next thing she knew, something fell down and got stuck on top of her head, and several angry buzzes filled her ears quickly as pain started shooting all throughout her body. Adagio screamed and flailed her body around, galloping full-speed into tree, after, tree, after tree.
Aria was practically rolling on the ground, laughter filling the entire orchard as tears started to form in her eyes. Applejack just gave her a worried look as the latter just kept on laughing and laughing. A couple of minutes later, and she stopped, getting up with a smug grin across her face.
"Oh-ho-ho, you can't pay to get something this good" Aria said scornfully as Sonata and Applejack ran off after Adagio.
Author's Note
God, this took forever to write. I mean, I've been suffering from the single worst block for practically a month straight, and this was pretty much the best that I could come up with.
