“Erm, are these the ones you were talking about, Lyra?” Fireside looked away from the short, sky blue skinned girl and towards her mint coloured friend. Said friend was busy shooting up to her feet and spinning around to face the newcomers.

“What the hell are you doing here!?” Lyra demanded harshly, ignoring the stares coming from everyone currently in the tea shoppe.

“Lyra, dear, maybe it would be best to speak a little quieter?” a second girl stepped forward, delicately brushing her well maintained purple hair out of her face with a small pale white hand. “It would probably be unwise to draw anymore attention than you already have.”

“You still haven’t answered her question.” Bon Bon was standing beside her girlfriend, arms crossed as she stared down the group. “What the fuck are you here?”

“Uhm…” a tall, buttercream skinned girl that seemed to be trying her best to hide behind her long mane of pink hair started to speak up. “I, um… I saw you four come in here…”

“Vinyl Scratch!” Octavia whisper-shouted at the girl after the incredibly crude gesture Vinyl just made towards the other girls. “We are in public! No, I am not disagreeing on whether they deserve it or not!”

“Look, maybe we should all take this outside or something?” Fireside stood up, fishing around in her jacket pocket for her wallet. “Why don’t the nine of you go wait outside while I pay?”

A tall, broadly built girl with a stetson nodded and started to drag the rainbow haired one out of the shoppe, the rest of the group following after their apparent leader. Her friends remained behind, looking at one another before pausing on Fireside, the girl motioning for them to go.

“C’mon, Lyra. Let’s go wait outside with those harlots.” Bon Bon muttered, Fireside amazed at both the vitriol of the girl’s tone, and the dark expression on her face. Lyra frowned and looked outside, the other five girls peering into the shoppe nervously, before nodding and following after her beau.

“Go on you two, I’ll pay, don’t worry.” Fireside gave a small smile as she motioned for Octavia and Vinyl to leave as well, only to have the two look at one another, Vinyl making some sort of motion and causing Octavia to let out a weary sigh.

“Vinyl refuses to leave your side, but I shall go and make sure that we don’t have a quintuple homicide on our hands with regards to Bon Bon.” Octavia bowed before retrieving her coat off of the back of her chair and slowly maneuvering her way outside. Fireside watched as Lyra and Bon Bon stood staring at the other girls, all of them obviously uncomfortable at the moment because of it.

“So, uh… who are those girls, Scratch?” Fireside asked once the two were alone at the table, her eyes shifting over to her friend who was busy flipping off the girls outside.

“Those bitches said they were your friends. But they aren’t. They’re traitors.” the DJ spat out venomously, her face contorting in anger as she looked at Fireside. “They’re probably gonna try spouting some shit, but whatever you do, don't. Listen. To. Them.”

The much shorter girl emphasized her point by jabbing a finger into the sternum of Fireside, a hint of her blood red eyes peeking through from behind her purple shades. Fireside nodded slowly, her eyes passing over to the small crowd awaiting her outside. Octavia had come to stand between the two groups, obviously acting as the unfortunate go-between given her stance and expression.

“Any idea what they’re gonna try and say?” she asked as the pair slowly made their way up to the counter to pay their bill, looking down as Vinyl pulled up her headphones from around her neck, her pale off white digits manipulating her phone, causing the loud, heavy sound of medieval war drums to start playing.

“Yeah, a whooooole bunch of shit.” snarled the girl as she gave a vicious grin, before she looked up at her friend.

***

“So is there a reason we all came to Bon Bon’s shoppe?” Fireside asked as the shoppe’s owner closed and locked the door behind her before making her way to the blinds and rolling them shut.

“More space to hide the bodies.” Bon Bon replied humorlessly as she turned to face the five girls sitting around one of the many empty tables in the room, each of them giving uneasy gulps at the girl’s dark threat.

Vinyl paced back and forth, the medieval drums having been replaced by something faster now, her eyes glued on the five girls like an eagle watching its prey from high above in the sky. Octavia stood just behind the girl, her arms crossed as much as her facial expression. Bon Bon strode forward, Fireside amazed at just how much the girl had changed from her usually quiet and demure presence. Just what was about to happen?

“So, um…” Fireside walked forward, grabbing a chair and sitting down in it as close as Bon Bon would allow, facing the other five girls. “What did you girls want to talk about?”

“Well, we wanted to know how you are doing? It’s, um… Well let’s just say that it’s been awhile since any of us have talked with one another.” said the purple haired girl, smiling nervously as her eyes shifted between Fireside and the pacing Vinyl behind her.

“I’m alright I guess? I just got out of my casts earlier in the week, which is nice, makes getting around CPA a lot easier. Plus I can do gym with Aria and Indigo.” Fireside said slowly, watching all five of them carefully before sighing exhaustively. “Look, I apologize ahead of time, but I don’t remember a single one of you. Hell, I’m still relearning things about these four, and we’ve been hanging out since the end of December.”

“Oh, right. We, er… overheard that you were suffering from amnesia, dear.” the obvious spokesperson of the group continued, only to be cut off by Lyra as she walked out from the washroom behind them.

“More like you bitches constantly did your best to eavesdrop on us!” the mint coloured girl yelled harshly, flinging the crumpled up paper towel in her hand at the back of the purple haired girl’s head. “Don’t think we didn’t notice you all skulking around us all week!”

“Don’t throw that at her, Lyra.” Bon Bon said, a sickening smile coming to her face as she looked at the girl’s before her. “Let me get you one of my knives…”

“What’s gotten into you, Bon?” Fireside leaned forward, tilting towards the girl who just stood there with the smile growing ever wider. “I swear, I’ve never seen you like this before…”

“Bon Bon has a habit of getting like this when those that she deeply cares about are threatened in any way.” Octavia said, her entire focus remaining on the seated girls. “I care to believe that this is the only time that you shall have to pay witness to it.”

“Um, alright…” Fireside reseated herself, studying the five now extremely uncomfortable girls across the room from her. “Well why don’t we start with your names? See if that jogs something?”

“Oh! Of course, dear! I am Rarity, and these are Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.” Rarity pointed to each girl in turn, the rainbow haired girl, followed by the buttercream skinned one and the farmer, before finishing with the girl that was a weird amalgamation of pink and a dead, greyish colour. “We were-”

“Don’t you dare! Say. That. Word.” Octavia tilted her head up as she looked down her nose at the pale white girl, who merely nodded shakily in response.

“We were… Acquaintances?” Rarity more asked than explained, watching Octavia and sighing when the girl eventually nodded her head. “We knew each other at Canterlot High School.”

“Oh? Did she really know you? Did she know that you would betray her the instant you could?” Vinyl shot forward, having to be held back by Octavia from attempting to attack the girl it seemed. “Tell me, Rarity!?”

“Vinyl, please, calm down.” Fireside looked at the girl frowning slightly before looking around the room at her other friends. “That goes for the rest of you as well. If we aren’t going to be civil here then I’m going to leave with these five and go somewhere else.”

That seemed to calm down her overprotective friends, the four of them each slowly nodding in agreement before coming to grab their own chairs and sit beside Fireside.

“Okay, now go ahead… Rarity? Sorry, I’m pretty bad with names.” Fireside’s smile was a mixture of warmth and sheepishness as she scratched the back of her head. “Don’t worry, dear. I’ll make sure these four stay in line.”

“If you say so…” the girl responded, looking entirely unconvinced of Fireside’s statement. “Well, um, alright then. We were acquaintances of yours back at CHS, you see. We hung out, studied together, why, we were even in a band together!”

“Oh? Er, sorry, keep going.” Fireside chuckled and motioned for the girl to continue.

“Look, she said we could do it, so why don’t you just come out and say it, Rares?” Rainbow Dash, at least if Fireside remembered correctly, shot to her feet. “We were your friends, Sunset, even though these four would have you believe otherwise!”

“Well do friends throw away one another like you did!?” Vinyl yelled, the girl finally talking. “And on the flimsiest of reasons at that!?”

“Um, Vinyl?” the glasses wearing girl looked over at Fireside, instantly simmering down due to the look she was receiving. “Please. Shut up and calm down, alright? Sorry, as you were saying, er…”

“Rainbow. Anyways, as I was saying we were you friends, almost your only ones seeing as those four never stepped forward for you either!” the girl gave a cocky grin as she stared across the room at the four girls sat down to either side of Fireside.

“Look, can someone explain to me what you mean by not stepping forward, or being traitors? I feel like everyone is forgetting that I am dealing with amnesia here!” Fireside shook her head in annoyance.

“And it would be best that it stayed that way.”

Everyone turned to look at the girl striding through the suddenly opening door into the sweets shoppe, looks of horror and confusion spreading through their ranks as a second and finally a third entered, each of them instantly recognizable.

“Sirens! What are you doing here!” Rainbow shouted, each of the other four girls beside her shooting to their feet.

“Adagio? Aria? Sonata?” Fireside looked in confusion at her sisters as they entered what she thought was a locked building. “What are you three doing here? Wait, how did you three even get in here?”

“Simple, Sonata picked the lock.” Aria jerked a thumb back at the pale blue girl who was busy stuffing something away into her coat pocket. “Really should invest in better locks there, Bonny.”

“Why are you three here?” Bon Bon asked, suddenly returning to her normal, timid self. “How did you find us?”

“Well, we may as well tell the truth.” Adagio started forward, her hips swaying back and forth in time with her steps as she came to stop behind Fireside’s chair. “Fireside here informed us that she was meeting with these four here, she even invited us to come, but we politely declined. Then Aria over there decided that maybe we should have come, so we drove over to the tea shoppe just as the nine of you were leaving. So, naturally, we decided to follow you.”

“And you felt the need to break into here?” Fireside looked at her sister in worry. “Why?”

“Because while those five may talk about being your friend, these four are right about them not being.”

“But how could you know that?” Fireside slowly stood up, looking across her shoulder at the five girls then back to Adagio. “...What aren’t you telling me?”

“Well as you know now, we showed up at CHS and studied there for a brief time,” Aria looked around the room carefully. “And we ended up hearing about how those five treated you. Now, we didn’t exactly know it was you at that point, but given what we’ve been able to find out, it seems like your four friends here are telling the truth about those five betraying you.”

“Um… Can we leave now?” Sonata said softly as she stayed by the door, eyes pausing as she looked at Fireside, a weak smile coming to her face as she waved adorably.

“I want to hear what those five have to say.” Everybody turned their eyes to Fireside at the girl’s comment, shock and awe replacing fear and dread. “I trust you girls with my life, you’re my sisters after all, but I want to hear their side of the potential story.”

“I don’t see why not.” Adagio said after a few moments of thought, a smile slowly coming to her face. “I would love to see what these five have to say about that time.”

“It’s your turn to talk.” Fireside said as she turned back to Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and the other three girls.

“What do you want me to say? I said it all already! We were your friends, we played in a band together, heck, we beat those sisters of yours and saved the world for god’s sake!” Rainbow threw her hands up in the air.

“Saved the world?” Fireside peaked an eyebrow as she listened to Rainbow Dash’s tirade. “Pray tell what you mean by that.”

“Simple! You, me, these girls and Princess Twilight stopped those three when they brainwashed the rest of CHS! They tried to use our magic to take over the world, and if it wasn’t for you then we would have lost!” the teen scramble around her various pockets and pulled out her phone, tapping away at it before tossing it to Fireside, the girl catching it reflexively. “Watch those! It’s proof that what I’m saying is the truth!”

Fireside gave a bemused look as she looked down at the phone, pressing the play button with her thumb. The screen flared to motion as the Rainbow Dash on the screen started to levitate, a blue aura surrounding her as wings and horse ears sprouted from her back and head respectively, the girl playing the guitar that she held in her hands the whole time.

Her thumb swiped the screen to the left, causing the video to change to what looked like a live performance, the shaky screen zoomed in on the six girls playing on what looked like a top of a hill. She recognized them as the five girls in front of her, as well as someone that looked like Twilight when the girl let her hair down, and each of them sported horse ears of their own, with Rainbow, the pink one, and the Twilight look alike also sporting wings. There was some kind of weird stage thing behind them, with someone inside that she couldn’t see.

They were all more or less on their knees, looks of dogged determination on their faces as they stared at something behind the camera. Suddenly “Twilight” turned around making a motion to someone behind the six girls, eventually leading to a seventh girl walking forward and joining the others. She was tall, with amber skin and long, wavy hair of intermixed red and yellow, and she held a mic in her hand. The video cut off before anything else happened.

“Hm, well the effects are good, I’ll give you that.” Fireside said as she threw the phone back to its owner, smirk spreading across her face. “But I’ll pass, sorry.”

“W-what!?” the five girl’s looked dumbfounded as Fireside smiled back at them, even as Rainbow answered for them. “B-b-b-but you gotta believe us! You had the proof right there in your hands!”

“What I had was some obviously shopped videos.” Fireside responded, shrugging lazily. “Girls randomly floating in the air? Let alone what looked like horse ears and wings? Seriously, what's next? Oh! How about that me and my sisters come from a world inhabited by tiny little horses that can fly and use magic!”

“Seriously though, I appreciate it that you kept it somewhat civil, but I really should get going. Tomorrow's Monday and I gotta get some worksheets done yet. Probably would be best to not try to contact me given how much my sisters and friends here seem to not like you.”

“And what if we don’t stop?” Rainbow yelled as Fireside started to leave the store.

“Well, I can’t stop you, but Bon Bon there looks like she can. Ciao!” Fireside waved as she approached the door, only to pause and spin on her heel. “Oh! And if I hear from either any of those four or my sisters that any of you have been harassing them, I will make Bon Bon seem like a living saint. Oh! I’ll get a hold of you later, Octavia!”

The two groups of girls watched silently as Fireside left the building, following Sonata while Aria brought up the rear, leaving only Adagio in the shoppe, looking at the two groups.

“I suggest you listen to her request,” she said as she turned away, pausing to look over her shoulder with a malicious grin. “That is, if you really think of her as your friend.”

Author's Note

And scene end~

The stage has been set, and while the gauntlet has been thrown down, whose to say what the Rainbooms will decide to do? Will they honour the request of ~~Sunset~~ Fireside, or will they try even hard to prove that they were her friends in the past? And will Fireside give them their chance?