Chapters After a long night of moving around and trying to find a place to sleep, the Dazzlings were somehow able to find a cheap motel with a neon sign flickering on and off. After entering the motel lobby covered in filth from the eggs, tomatoes, and any other object thrown at them, they encounter a man who was in his mid-to-late 40s with greying hair and wearing a hawaiian shirt. Adagio says,
"We would like to rent a room, please."
Looking at the three, the motel manager asks,
"Do you have any money on you?"
Reaching into their wallets, they each pulled out whatever cash they had left from stealing and manipulating when they were still a band. Sonata says with a weak smile,
"This is all we have..."
They each pulled out what seemed to have amounted to at least $72.33. The manager took a look at the money and he said,
"Okay. You can all stay here, but if think that you're just gonna sit around the motel like a couple of rugrats, think again. If the three of you are gonna live here, you're gonna have to find jobs. Do you get me?"
"We get you." Aria said.
Being given a key, they were being guided to their room. Walking around the motel and being guided, the manager said,
"I don't often get a lot of guests around here, but if you wanna have any snacks, there's a vending machine outside. If it's a hot day and you need to go for a swim or anything, there's a pool right by your room at your convenience."
They looked at the pool right beside them and it was rectangular-shaped. It was decently cleaned, but could be much better.
"Also, I know that you kids have your smartphones, but if you ever feel like making a call, there's a phone booth right by the lobby as you've already noticed. But then again, you've already did."
They gave each other suspicious looks as they kept moving. Three minutes later, they walked upstairs and made it to their rooms, After he unlocked the door, he let them in. Walking inside, it appeared to be what they expected inside their room. It had two beds, an air conditioner, a TV, a couch, a closet, and a bathroom. They had a low opinion of the room, but it seemed to be decent enough for them to sleep.
"Have you three managed to get yourselves acquainted with your surroundings?" the manager asked.
"I'm sure we can manage, Mr..." Adagio said, trying to figure out the manager's name.
"Rafferty. My name is Mr. Rafferty." the manager said.
"Hmm." the girls said in unison.
Before Mr. Rafferty could leave, he said,
"Remember, girls. You're not just gonna sit around here doing nothing. If neither of you are gonna go to school, you're gonna go to work. I may not know much about you nor why you chose to come here, but if I hear any of you cause any trouble, you're outta here. Do you understand?"
"We understand." Adagio said.
"Good. I'll order you a pizza for the night, but after that, you're on your own. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir." Sonata said in an innocent tone.
"Hmm..." Mr. Rafferty said as he exited the room.
After watching Mr. Rafferty leave, the three started undressing and started cleaning themselves up in the shower. After spending an hour after washing up from the mess they were covered in from the Battle of the Bands, they were finally cleaned up. But seeing as they didn't have their pajamas, they had to wear bathrobes to keep themselves unexposed. Aria grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.
"What a fine mess we ended up in." Adagio lamented.
"And whose idea was it to take over the world?" Aria asked in an annoyed manner as she flipped through TV channels.
"It's not my fault the Rainbooms were more powerful! If you had just stuck to my plan, we would have had at least a sliver of a chance at victory!"
"And what did we get? Three destroyed gems? You really knew what you were doing, Adagio."
"Uh... girls?" Sonata asked.
"Oh, and you think you have a better plan, Aria?"
"Girls?"
"I could have come up with a plan to help us win! But no, we had to listen to our fearless leader!"
"Yes! The one who helped us get through the hard times and tried to help us attain more power!"
"Girls?"
"And where's our power now, huh?"
"Girls!"
"What?!" Adagio and Aria shouted simultaneously.
"I hear a knock at the door." Sonata said.
Dumbfounded by this, Adagio and Aria looked at each other being heading towards the door. After opening it, they see a scrawny kid holding a pizza.
"Hello, girls. I'm, uh... here for your delivery. By the way, your manager told me about you girls and either of you are welcome to join us. We're hiring right now." the pizza delivery guy said.
"Ooh! Can I join?" Sonata asked in an excited manner.
Adagio and Aria turned towards Sonata in a sour manner.
"What? We could have free dinner."
They both rolled their eyes upon hearing Sonata's statement.
"Sure. The boss would have to interview you first though." the delivery guy said.
Looking at the box and the uniform he was wearing, they could already confirm it was sent by Mr. Rafferty. Grabbing the pizza, Aria and Sonata went back inside. But before he could go, Adagio stopped him and said in a seductive manner as she pulled him towards her,
"Thank you for the pizza~."
"Y-You're welcome, Ms..."
"Dazzle. Adagio Dazzle. But you can always call me Adagio~."
"Right... anyway, I've gotta go. Enjoy your pizza." the delivery guy said as he left.
Closing the door, Adagio turned and saw the the girls were already going at the pizza.
"Hey! Save some for me!" Adagio shouted.
"Why should we? You're always the one trying to watch your weight!" Aria teased.
"It's true. You always did warn us about our figures." Sonata concurred.
"Those were different times, girls! Now that we're no longer a band, we can pig out whenever we see fit!" Adagio said, snatching a slice of pepperoni.
"And how different are we now?" Aria asked.
"I've heard enough of your tone, Aria. When are you gonna shape up and start taking responsibility?"
"Me? I'm not the one who got us humiliated in front of the whole school!"
"Oh, and you knew what would happen when the Rainbooms destroyed our jewels?"
"Girls, can't we just call it quits for the night? It's bad enough we made a laughing stock out of ourselves, but if we keep waking up the neighbors, we're gonna get kicked out! Do you really wanna sleep on the sidewalk?" Sonata pleaded.
Having heard Sonata and knowing that they were getting nowhere with their arguing, Adagio and Aria decided to apologize to each other.
"Look, I know I got us into this mess and I will not excuse the fact that we got our asses handed to us thanks to my schemes, but we will figure this out."
"I know. I may have been a little too pushy after what happened back at the concert, but I was just so pissed that we got humiliated. I know you didn't mean to get us into this mess."
Seeing the two make up made Sonata feel relieved. After hugging each other and eating dinner, they proceeded to watch TV for a little while before turning in. They each disrobed each other and went to bed. Aria and Sonata went into bed on the left while Adagio took the right. They felt nothing but humiliation and anger after the Battle of the Bands, but they were gonna do everything within their powers to make their lives sustainable at any cost. But for now, they turned in, ready for tomorrow.
Author's Note
Hello, everybody. This is my first time doing a story after the Dazzlings lost to the Rainbooms. I know that this is far more different from what I usually write, concerning Spike. But I want to try out different characters and see where I can take this. Anyway, leave me your thoughts in the comment section below and I'll see you on the other side.
As Adagio slept, she was starting to have thoughts about what happened after the Battle of the Bands. The things that happened when the Dazzlings were battling the Rainbooms and suffering their humiliating defeat really got under Adagio's skin. Just then, she heard a strange noise. She got out of her bed and started investigating the source of the sound. She was naked when she started searching. Checking everywhere from underneath the bed to the closets and even the drawers. She couldn't figure out where they were. Just then, she saw a red light coming from the bathroom.
"What the...?" Adagio said, looking at the light.
She went to the bathroom to see what was in there. After going inside, she saw the same gem that was destroyed during their battle against the Rainbooms. It was lying in the bathtub as it glowed. Adagio heard whispers as she moved forward to pick it up. The more she moved towards, the higher and eerier the pitch became. After moving forward a few more centimeters, the gem started to levitate off the ground, startling Adagio as she fell to the ground. Just then, the Siren popped out of the gem.
"Adagio Dazzle!" it shouted.
Adagio tried to escape, but the door was somehow locked. She tried twisting the knob open, but it broke off. She turned around and looked helplessly at the Siren which came closer to her.
"How dare you show your presence to me after your loss against the Rainbooms!"
"I-It wasn't my fault! I didn't know that their lead singer was a princess! You have to believe it was beyond my power of defeating them!"
"Your team's incompetence and folly got us destroyed!"
"I did not know! I wouldn't have gone through with this if you had told me she had alicorn magic!"
"Silence!" the siren shouted.
Adagio quieted down and listened.
"You have failed us! You have ruined us! Everything that we worked so hard for has now been wasted by your bumbling antics as a leader and a sister! From here on out, in the darkest corners of wherever you go, wherever you may deem safe in anywhere else, I will be living on as your shadow! I will live on... in... your... NIGHTMARES!!!!" the siren roared as it charged at Adagio.
***
A startled Adagio woke out of her bed in cold sweat, panting as she tried getting a hold of herself from the nightmare that had just occurred. She looked around carefully to see if the siren was anywhere to be found. After checking everywhere to see if the siren was there, she put all her fears to rest and went back to her bed. But she was too troubled to fall asleep now after what just happened to her. So she just got out of bed and looked out the window, watching every car and person passed by as she sat down. Just then, she felt someone's hand touch her, scaring her out of her wits. She turned around and saw that it was Sonata, awake as well.
"Oh Sonata. Don't you know better than to startle anybody?" Adagio asked with brief, angry undertones.
"I'm sorry, Adagio. I just had a bad dream." Sonata said.
Hearing this, Adagio asked,
"Was it the same dream as mine?"
Sonata nodded solemnly and sat down near her. Adagio hugged her as they both looked out the window.
"Was it my fault?" Sonata asked.
"What?" Adagio asked.
"Was it me that held you back? Was it-?"
Adagio stopped her from speaking any further and said,
"No. Everything we did together was all me. I had no idea that the lead singer of the Rainbooms was an alicorn from Equestria. And other one, Sunset Shimmer, was a former student of Princess Celestia. We were already doomed the moment they joined forces with one another."
"Even so, everything that we did was for nothing. We made this big plan of taking over the world and we blew it. Why did it ever come to this? I don't understand." Sonata said with tears coming out of her eyes.
Adagio had no clear answer to that. As the leader, she had an answer for everything. But now that the Dazzlings have lost, Adagio had no idea what to say.
"Look, nothing we did was ever your fault. We just had the rotten luck of running into a force that was bigger than us. We could never have suspected that they would be the ones to take us out. And even then, we would have figured out a way to win. For better or worse. But still, I had no idea how bad it would turn out."
Having quieted down a little but still upset, Sonata asked,
"Are they gonna get us?"
"No, Sonata. Those creatures have no idea what we're capable if we stand together. And this isn't the first time this happened to us. We will make this work. I promise that nothing bad is gonna happen to us, okay?" Adagio said as she hugged Sonata.
Sonata quietly cried after hearing that. Even after all the times that they went with suffering, nothing had really changed. They were only trying to survive a world gone cruel and the heavy price they had to pay was losing their gems. The thought clung onto Adagio like a hook on a fish. It was just too much to ignore. Just then, Sonata asked,
"Is it okay... if I sleep with you?"
Hearing this made Adagio blush as she looked at Sonata. Her bright-blue skin made her shiver with lust as she looked at her intensely. But then Adagio asked,
"Why not sleep with Aria?"
"She kicks me when we sleep together. Please? Just for the night?" Sonata begged.
"Well, I-"
"Please...?"
Sonata's eyes were tingling with innocence as she looked at Adagio. The latter was already cornered when the former showed her eyes. Knowing full well that she couldn't say no to Sonata when she made that face, Adagio reluctantly said,
"...fine. But just for tonight."
"Yay." Sonata said quietly.
Getting underneath the covers, Sonata went to sleep while Adagio kept her eyes open for the rest of the night. As she pondered about what they were going to do next, Adagio felt Sonata wrap her arms around her in a loving manner. The gesture creeped out Adagio a little, but decided to leave it alone for the night. Aria, on the other hand, overheard them and just kept her feelings in check while pretending to sleep. They all went to sleep twenty minutes later.
***
The next morning, Adagio woke up to find that Sonata was on top of her. Then she felt something soft and squishy in her hand. Adagio looked down and saw that her hand was on Sonata's butt when she was asleep. Immediately, she took her hands off as soon as Sonata woke up. Looking down in a clueless manner at Adagio, Sonata said,
"Good morning, Adagio."
"Get off me." Adagio said, pushing Sonata off.
She looked around to see where Aria was, but she wasn't there. Just then, she heard the toilet flush. Out of the bathroom came Aria.
"'Morning." Aria plainly said.
They both looked at Aria in a weirded out manner when she came out.
"What're you lovebirds looking at?" Aria teased.
Shaking her head after hearing that, Adagio said as she got off her bed,
"Look... I have no idea what you have to do to make it work, but you two need to find jobs. If not, we're back on the street. Understand?"
"And what about you?" Aria asked.
"I need to get our stuff back." Adagio said as she got dressed.
"What if the manager knows about this?" Sonata asked.
"He won't. Just focus on finding jobs and we should be okay for awhile. Okay? Gotta go!" Adagio said after getting dressed and leaving the room.
"Sheesh..." Aria said as she got dressed.
"That's our boss for ya..." Sonata said, getting dressed as well.
After leaving the motel, Adagio walked around the city to make her way to Canterlot High which wasn't open yet. Having to retrieve their clothes from a school which now hated the Dazzlings was the last thing she wanted to do, but she was no nudist. As she kept moving, Adagio was thinking about how awful she was towards her adopted sisters. She knew that they didn't mean any harm, but their incompetency was the reason that they have been reduced to harmless teenagers. After walking around the city for an hour, Adagio finally made it to Canterlot High.
"Finally. Nobody's here at school yet and I have a chance to get our clothes."
After entering the school, she looked around and the hallway seemed to be empty.
"Seems that they're all in class. I just hope the Rainbooms don't see me." Adagio thought.
Moving around the hallway, she walked around the school to search for her sisters' clothes, including her own. Every locker she passed by, she could already feel the anger they held for her if the students saw her now. No matter how many times she would explain her situation or find a way to make up for what she has done, Adagio knew well within her heart that she would never be forgiven for her actions. Shaking that off her mind, she proceeded down the corridor reaching past the mess hall. After the next fifteen minutes of walking around, she finally made it to the library. But little did she expect to see a familiar face. She hid behind one of the shelves the moment she saw her.
"Gah! Sunset?! Here?! Of all places, she had to be here?!" Adagio thought, angrily.
Sunset looked around the library, thinking that there was someone nearby. After a brief moment, she shrugged her shoulders and went back to studying.
"As much as I would love to subject Sunset to all the horrible things that I went through after losing, I have bigger priorities right now. Especially considering my position as of now."
Shaking away her thought of revenge, Adagio slowly snuck her way around the library and went to the quietest section of the library, Upon reaching that section, she found a duffle bag. She went over and zipped it open to check the contents inside. To her relief, their clothes and everything else were still inside. After closing the bag and grabbing it, she snuck her way out of the library with nobody noticing. But before she could exit, she heard the bell ring. Wasting no time, she ran out of the school before anybody had a chance to notice her. Running out of the school with the duffle bug in hand, she made it out of there and nobody, to her luck, noticed. Taking a bus token out of her bag, she went to the nearest bus station and hopped on when the bus arrived.
***
One hour later, she made it back to the motel. Passing by Mr. Rafferty, she proceeded to walk towards her room. But before she could go any further, Mr. Rafferty called out to her.
"Hey! Afro-girl! Could you come over here?"
Feeling that she was in trouble, Adagio went over to his desk. He said,
"i seem to have noticed you didn't find a job yet."
"Oh no, I did. Just haven't gotten-"
"Look. As far as I can tell, you don't seem the type that gets pushed around so easily. I have respect for that. Which is why I have an opportunity for you."
"Hmm?" Adagio wondered.
"I would like for you to run the front desk while I go out and run a few errands. You will be getting compensated for your room, but your payment is limited due to budget cuts as of now. I hope you take this opportunity. Because finding a job in this day and age is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's your choice."
After Adagio thought it over for a few minutes, she asked,
"Are we expecting guests?"
"For the most part, not really. But it would be nice if you could fill in for me while I get my job done. Could you please do this for me? You could use the experience."
Thinking it over for another brief moment, she replied,
"Okay. I'll do it. But if you don't mind my asking, what errands are you running?"
"Super-important errands. Now if you excuse me..." Mr. Rafferty said as he grabbed his car keys.
After watching him exit the front desk, Adagio went behind the counter and waited for guests to check in. One after the other, guests started coming in like ants on a picnic. With her moving around and trying to satisfy her customers, Adagio was doing her best to keep up with protocol and her duties for the next eight hours. Afterwards, Mr. Rafferty came back in and noticed Adagio's frizzy hair and her beat-up clothes with her tired look. It was 6:00 PM.
"You seemed to have worked yourself to the bone." Mr. Rafferty observed.
"I thought nobody would come here! Wasn't this motel chump change when me and my sisters first arrived here?!" Adagio yelled.
"Yeah well, no motel is perfect. Anyway, here's your money. Order another pizza or something." he said as he reached for his wallet.
After being handed the money, Adagio counted the money up to at least twenty dollars.
"You'll get your full payment by the end of the month. But right now, I'm trying to pay the bills. So I need you to be patient for awhile. Go back to your room. You've got a big day tomorrow."
"Thanks, Mr. Rafferty." Adagio said, faking her positivity.
"And please don't feign kindness. It's creepy." Mr. Rafferty said as he grabbed a magazine.
Grabbing her duffle bag, Adagio went back to her room where she was greeted by Aria and Sonata.
"Hi, Adagio! How did your trip back to Canterlot High go?" Sonata asked.
"It's fine. I just got a new job."
"Yeah? And what's that?" Aria asked.
"Yeah! Tell us!" Sonata said with full enthusiasm.
"I got a job at the front desk of this motel." Adagio said with a disappointing tone.
"Really? Tell us about it!" Sonata demanded.
"Hold on. Hold on. What about you? How did your job interviews go?" Adagio retorted.
"Well..." Sonata said as she and Aria scratched their heads.
