Rarity slowly walked her way though the mall, holding Applejack's hand as they passed several stores and people. As Rarity admired the different selections of stores, Applejack just wondered to herself why anyone would need so many clothing stores when just a few would get the job done. They eventually made their way to the fountain, where they met with Aria and Sonata. When Sonata saw them approaching, she jumped off her seat and quickly dashed over to them with Aria walking slowly behind.

"Hey guys!" Sonata exclaimed to them with her signature adorable smile.

"Hello darling," Rarity responded with a smile. She looked over at Aria, who just nodded to her, then looked around for the others. "Where's Adagio and Sunset?"

"They'll be here soon...maybe," Sonata replied to her, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, we can wait for them, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are going to be late as well," Rarity told her, checking her nails on her free hand.

"What are they doing?" the blue siren asked.

"Rainbow needed help on something for school, so Fluttershy said she would help her, although they should've been done by now," Applejack responded.

"Maybe they're having some fun together," Aria said, a smirk forming on her face.

Rarity and AJ blushed slightly, thinking about the possibility of that. "I doubt that. Rainbow maybe, but not Fluttershy," Applejack said to her.

"Such a shame," Aria replied. Another smirk appeared on her face as she thought up a question for the couple. "What about you two?"

"W-What?" Rarity asked, fidgeting with her purse on her side.

"Have you two spent any nights together, getting to know what's under each others clothes?"

The two girls blushed deeply as Rarity looked away and AJ rubbed the back of her head. Applejack cleared her throat in a stressed manner before responding. "Well...um...you see..."

"I'll take that as a yes," Aria said to them, which they both nodded to, continuing to blush.

Sonata gave a short giggle at how embarrassed they were. "Don't be embarrassed, I'm sure we've all done it by now."

"Could we move on to another topic?" Rarity asked, pulling the top of her shirt.

"But I was about asked where you did it," Sonata said disappointed, making the deep blush return to the girls faces.

"Sonata, you took it to far," Aria said condescendingly, making Sonata turn to her.

"I did?" she asked confused, making Aria face palm.

Rarity was about to bring up a new topic when she felt her phone go off in her purse. She pulled it out and looked to see that Midnight had texted her. "Girls, Twi wants us to meet her by the donut shop, and we shouldn't keep her waiting."

The others agreed, and they started to walk in the direction of the shop. Sonata looked down and saw the couple in front of her holding hands, and it gave her a idea. She calmly slipped her hand into Aria's, intertwining their fingers together. Aria was taken by surprise by this, and looked down at Sonata. The blue girl looked at her with a loving smile, which Aria returned. The purple siren gently squeezed Sonata's hand, making Sonata give a short giggle.

Midnight stood by the donut shop, holding a glazed donut in her hand. She took another bite out of it and gave a joyful laugh after she swallowed the bite. 'Oh how I've waited to taste one of these. The smooth texture, the soft body, the delicious taste, this is almost as amazing as having my magic back!' she said in her head. She walked back to the stand and bought four more, after she finished the first one. She walked away from the stand and began to eat one of them, as she noticed the others walking up to meet her. She waved her hand as they approached, using the other hand to nibble on one of the desserts.

"Hello darling," Rarity greeted her.

"Hi Rarity, have you tried one of these donuts?" Midnight asked, taking another bite.

"Yes, I have...are you sure you should be eating all that sugar?" Rarity asked, pointing to the three and a half donuts left in her hand.

"It's fine Rarity, there just so delicious!" she exclaimed with all her excitement.

The others looked at each other and just shrugged it off, and preceded to walk away from the stand, with Midnight nibbling away at her treats in the back. As they walked off into the mall, Aria got a text from Adagio saying that she and Sunset were near the entrance of the mall. After everyone else heard the news, they shifted their way to the destination. They found the two girls sitting on a bench, making out. Rarity cleared her throat as they approached, making them stop. Sunset blushed slightly, while Adagio looked rather annoyed at being interrupted.

"Hello darlings, sorry to intrude," Rarity greeted them.

"Hey guys..." Sunset said to them, getting off the bench.

"Couldn't keep it at home Adagio," Aria said tauntingly. Adagio merely flipped her off as she stood next to Sunset.

As Aria continued to taunt to Adagio, Rarity felt her phone go off again. She pulled it out to see who texted her as Sunset and Sonata held their girlfriends back from starting a fight. Rainbow had texted her that she and Fluttershy just arrived outside the mall. She put her phone away and turned back to the group, just in time to see Sunset, Applejack, and Sonata physically trying to hold back Adagio from beating Aria, who was regretting going so far in her taunting, while Midnight stood on the side and munched on her last donut. Rarity rolled her eyes and stepped in between the girls and explained that they need to meet up with the last two girls. Adagio calmed down, and the girls let go. The group began to walk again, but not before Adagio gave one last threat to Aria.

"About time," Rainbow said to the approaching group when they got to them.

"Says the one that was late," AJ remarked to her.

"It's my fault, sorry," Fluttershy said to them, shifting her eyes away from the girls.

"It's alright darling. Now that everyone is finally here, we can begin to shop for the summer!" Rarity exclaimed to them all.

"Wait, where's Pinkie Pie?" Applejack asked, making the rest realize she wasn't with them. A burst of confetti appeared to their right, and Pinkie rushed up to them.

"Here I am!" she said to them, throwing more confetti in the air.

"Where were you?" Applejack asked.

"The party store silly, you think I wouldn't go there as soon as I came," she responded with an enthusiastic smile.

"Alright...well now that all of us are officially here, we can now start to shop," Rarity explained to them again.

"Mind if we join you?" a voice said from behind all of them. They turned around to see the Shadowbolts, with the voice belonging to Lemon Zest.

"You wish to do what darling?" Rarity asked.

Sour Sweet moved to the front of the group to explain. "We want to join you."

"Why?" Rainbow asked, crossing her arms.

Sour Sweet's sour side was about to answer, but she fought it back and regained her smile. "After our little dinner session last time we met, we decided that we want to try spending more time with you guys."

"Why," Applejack asked, not really buying it, and neither was Rainbow. The two stood next to each other with crossed arms. While they did let them eat with them that one time, neither one of them trusted the Shadowbolts.

Sunny Flare saw that Sour Sweet was about to give a sour answer, so she stepped up to answer. "Because despite being from rivaling schools, and having a not so great past, we actually enjoyed being around you guys last time, so we want to try again."

The Rainbooms and Dazzlings looked at each other, and after a few moments of thinking, Rarity responded to them. "I think that sounds like a splendid idea."

"Perfect!" Sour Sweet replied with her smile.

Rarity motioned for them to join with them, and as they walked up, she started to explain her plan. "Alright, we have all day, so we don't need to rush around, but let's have everyone meet back here for dinner. Does that sound good for everyone?" The others nodded, making Rarity smile. Once she was finished talking, the group split in two. The first group consisted of Rarity, AJ, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Indigo, Sugarcoat, and Sunny Flare. The second group was Adagio, Sunset, Midnight, Aria, Sonata, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest.

The first group preceded into the summer clothing store that dealt more on the fancy side of things, which didn't make Rainbow Dash nor Indigo Zap very thrilled. The two of them stood towards the entrance, watching the others shop around. Rainbow was surprised AJ was with them, but then she noticed her helping Rarity out, looking very confused. She let out a laugh, which made Indigo look at her confused. Rainbow pointed at AJ, and Indigo shared her laugh.

"So Indigo, how's the sport teams at Crystal Prep doing?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh there doing great, better than anything CHS has," she replied with a confident grin.

"Oh really, what makes you think that?"

"We got a new gym coach, some dude named Sombra. The guy acts like he's training an army, but damn does it get results."

"Huh, sounds interesting. What's he like?"

Indigo shook a little as she thought about him. "Dude freaks me out honestly, there's just something about him that feels off."

"I wish CHS would get a better gym coach, the one we have now sucks."

"Explains a lot," Indigo said to her mockingly.

Rainbow got a little ticked at that, but soon smirked as she thought up her retort. "At least we don't have a creepy drill sergeant as a coach."

Indigo gave a small laugh at that. "Alright Dash, I'll give you that one."

The two continued talking about gym and sports, but stopped when Sugarcoat joined them.

"Hey Sugarcoat, find anything?" Indigo asked.

Sugarcoat pushed up her glasses before answering. "The contents of this store do not match what I desire, so the answer to your question would be a no."

Indigo just smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder. "Whatever you say Sugarcoat, maybe Rarity can help you find what you desire."

"Perhaps, I'll check with her after we disembark from this establishment," she said before turning back and joining the others.

Indigo smiled in her direction, while Dash stood tilting her head with a confused face.

"So ah...is she always like that?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah," Indigo replied, turning back to her.

"How do you deal with that all the time?"

"I could ask you the same thing about Fluttershy?" Indigo asked, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but we're dating, and last I checked, you two aren't...or are you?"

Indigo shook her hands in a defensive fashion. "No, no, we're not dating, we just hang out a lot."

"...Alright, whatever you say Zap," Rainbow said, turning back to the shopping girls, who were now approaching them.

On the other side of the mall, the second group was at one of the swim suit stores. Adagio was browsing the different ensembles, until she noticed a particular one. She grabbed it and carried it over to Sunset.

"Sunny, how do you think this would look?" she asked, holding the bikini up to her.

Sunset looked it over and scratched her head. "Dagi, don't you think it's a little to...skimpy for the beach."

"Who said it was for the beach," Adagio replied with a seductive smirk, making Sunset blush.

Sour Sweet was browsing different sets of clothes, when Midnight walked up to her. "So Sour, how's your bipolar nature going?"

Sour Sweet looked at her from the corner of her eye and sighed. "Fine Twilight."

"Is it though, you've always had trouble with it."

"Why do you care?" Sour asked, anger on the end of her words.

"I was just wondering if I need to avoid you like everyone else in your school does," Midnight said to her.

Sour Sweet felt some hurt in her heart after hearing that. When she turned to respond to her, Midnight wasn't there. Sour Sweet looked around, and finally saw her standing at the doorway, nibbling on another donut. Sour was starting to walk towards her, when Lemon appeared next to her.

"Hey Sour, which do you think is better, the green one or the pink one?" she asked, holding up two different bikinis.

Sour calmed herself down and turned to her best friend. She looked the two of them over carefully, and finally decided. "I like the green one." But her frown returned and ruined the moment. "Matches your seaweed hair."

Lemon couldn't help but be slightly hurt by that, and Sour noticed it once she came back to being sweet again.

"Lemon, I didn't mean it! I think your hairs great!" she said, trying to repair what she said.

"I know Sour, thanks for your help," she said with a smile before walking back towards Sonata.

Sour looked down at the ground ashamed, and walked towards the entrance, where she stood alone.

Back to the first group, Sunny Flare was looking at some diving gear, when Pinkie appeared next to her and examined the gear.

"Thinking about going scuba diving?" Pinkie asked her.

"Well, maybe, I might try it this summer, always wanted to try," Sunny responded to her.

"It's a lot of fun! I went one year with my sister Maud, and we saw all kinds of fish, and it was amazing! Well except for that run in with the shark, but the chances of doing that is really slim, so don't worry about that, especially if you have a sister like Maud who can fight off a shark, I mean you might have someone like that but I don't know. But you definitely need to try this stuff out!"

Sunny Flare just stood there and tried to take everything in she just heard in that short amount of time. "Ok...I'll remember that..."

Pinkie just smiled to her and started recommending what type of gear was best.

As the day went on, the girls stopped for dinner, and while at dinner, Rarity got another idea.

"Adagio darling, I understand that your having a movie night this Friday?"

Adagio looked up from her food and swallowed her bite. "Yeah, we haven't had one in a while...why?"

Rarity put her fork for her salad down and looked over at the siren leader. "What if we invite our new friends to it?"

Adagio looked around at the Shadowbolts, who were just as surprised as the rest of them were at the idea. "Um...I guess they can if they want."

The Shadowbolts looked around at each other, before looking at Sour Sweet for the final decision. Sour looked around at everyone before issuing her answer. "Sure, why not."

Rarity and Sunset gave a smile, since Sunset was also on board with the idea, while everyone else just went along with it.

As the week progressed, it soon became Friday, and the Shadowbolts had arrived at the Dazzling's house. Before they got out of the car, Indigo asked a question.

"Why are we doing this again Sour?"

Sour turned around to face Indigo in the back. "Because, if we're going to get them to Trixie, they need to trust us, and with friendship comes trust, so if we just be nice and friendly to them, they'll go much easier."

Indigo crossed her arms and muttered under her breath. "Your one to talk about being nice."

It was just loud enough for everyone to hear it, including Sour Sweet, who turned back to her in a not so happy mood. "What did you say Indigo?"

"Nothing Sour!" she said as she quickly got out of the car. Sour just rolled her eyes and got out with the rest. They all walked up to the door and knocked. Sonata answered the door, and let them in with a smile. The shadow group walked into the house and followed Sonata to the living room, where everyone else was waiting. Rarity was the first to great them, a warm smile on her face as they entered the room. Rarity talked with Sunny Flare, while Lemon stayed with Sonata, and the rest looked for spots to sit. Adagio and Sunset had to supply more seating for them, which came in the form of two more love seats and one beanbag. Indigo and Sugarcoat took one of the love seats, while Sour Sweet sat in the other one. Before Sunny Flare could claim the spot next to her, Lemon took it, happily sitting next to her bestie. Sunny Flare looked down at the beanbag and sighed, before plopping down on it.

As everyone got situated, some more conversations started. Indigo began to chat with Rainbow again, talking over sports. Despite what Indigo may have implied in the car, she actually was taking a liking to being friends with the Rainbooms, especially since she finally had someone to talk sports over with that wasn't stuff like archery or roller derby.
Lemon Zest had found a friend in Sonata, which wasn't surprising since Lemon liked her quirky nature. Sunny Flare did enjoy Rarity's company, since both of them had a eye for fashion. Sugarcoat was never a social person, always had Indigo to do it for her. Sour Sweet wasn't great at making friends either, but she sort of had a connection with Adagio, since both of them were leaders. Despite what their mission was, the Shadowbolts were becoming actual friends with the others.

While all of this was happening, Midnight just sat back and watched. She hadn't expected the Shadowbolts to be apart of this, but she wasn't disappointed they were now becoming friends with them. She wanted to get back at them as well, and if everything went smoothly, they were in a perfect position for it.

Sonata put the movie in and returned to her seat next to Aria, resting her head on her shoulder. As the movie went on, Indigo brought her arms up as she yawned and stretched. When her hands fell back down, one of them fell right onto Sugarcoats. She immediately pulled it off, both of them having a small blush from the awkward contact.

The movie got rather boring after the second act, so boring that Lemon was having trouble staying awake. Her eyes kept going shut, then flying back open, then shutting, then opening. Eventually they closed for good, and she was out of it. Her head slowly fell to the side, landing on Sour Sweet's shoulder. Sour glanced over at her and noticed that she had fallen asleep. She just shrugged and let it happen. Towards the end of the movie, the action burst back in, and the loud rock music woke Lemon back up. She wondered why the TV looked sideways, then she realized why. She removed her head from Sour's shoulder and kept looking at the TV, not really wanting to make any eye contact after that awkward situation.

Once the movie was done, the different parties got ready to leave. The Shadowbolts were the first to want to leave, and with their goodbyes being said, they were out of the door. Sour drove Indigo and Sugarcoat to Indigo's vehicle, since Sugarcoat usual just rode with Indigo everywhere because they lived close to each other. Sunny Flare was next to be dropped off at her car, and then Sour drove towards Lemon's house. Once there, Lemon turned to Sour Sweet.

"Thanks for the ride."

"Your welcome, anything for my best friend," Sour said with a smile. Lemon was about to get out when Sour stopped her with a question. "Lemon...do people avoid me because of my...condition..."

Lemon sat in her seat and looked at her friend, seeing the look of pain in her eyes. Lemon knew the answer was yes, but she didn't want to tell her that. "Sour...it doesn't matter what others think of you..."

"Tell me Lemon," she said calmly, but when Lemon started to say something else, her calm nature left. "Tell me!"

Lemon sighed before looking to her friend. "...Yes...they do..."

Sour Sweet looked down at the steering wheel for a couple minutes silent, before looking back at Lemon Zest. "You won't ever avoid me, will you?"

Lemon brought Sour into a hug, giving her a warm embrace. "No, I'll never avoid you Sour. Your my best friend, you have been since we were kids. I stuck with you then, and I'm going to stick with you now."

Sour pulled away from the hug and smiled at Lemon. "Thank you Lemon."

"Your welcome," she replied with her own smile. Lemon exited the vehicle and walked to her house as Sour drove away.

Indigo pulled up to Sugarcoat's house, stopping just in front of the door.

"Thank you for the assistance of traveling," Sugarcoat said to her.

"Your welcome, I like our car rides," Indigo responded with a smile.

Sugarcoat gave one of her rare smiles, and pulled Indigo into a hug. Indigo was at first confused, but it quickly turned back into a smile as she wrapped her arms around her. They hugged each other for a couple minutes, until Sugarcoat pulled away. She said goodbye to Indigo before getting out and walking to her door. Indigo just smiled towards her direction before driving away.

Author's Note

Chapter 9, still a game of guess the Shadowbolt couple, and Midnight loves donuts now apparently