"Excuse me, miss, but can you give me directions to...?"
Wallflower Blush halted her feet and reluctantly tore her gaze up from the sidewalk to the older man.
A question? Directions? Oh, no...
Her heart immediately began thumping with sweat forming on her green face. Wallflower never really paid much attention to street names and such. She was content on simply memorizing the general paths to get where she needed to go. That way, she could enjoy preoccupying her mind with more important stuff such as gardening or her Naruto fanfics.
Should I tell him that I don't know? Would he think I'm stupid? That I'm inferior? What do I do? What do I do?
"Uh, miss...?" the man asked, noticing her hesitation.
Wallflower's eyes opened wide. Worthless dumbass, tell him something!
"Oh, yeah, that, um, place you want to go is easy to find!" she blurted with faux confidence. "It's just three blocks ahead, turn on, uh, Hidden Leaf Avenue, and there it'll be on the right!"
"Oh," the man sounded gratefully with a nod. "Thank you very much."
He began on his way which only made Wallflower's anxiety rise to critical mass.
Blockhead, those are the completely wrong directions! Are you trying to get him lost? What if he gets into trouble? What if word gets around that you are a crappy direction-giver? Old people will never want to approach me ag--
Wallflower suddenly paused and took a long, deep breath.
Calm down. No one will ever know how hopeless you are. You have the power to fix this, remember?
With that, she reached into her backpack. Her fingers felt the stone which was very smooth except for the stylized carvings including an eye upon it. A gift courtesy of another world.
****************
"Aria, sweetie, pull over there and get us some snacks, would you?"
"I'm not hungry," the tour van's driver stated bluntly.
"But I am," Adagio Dazzle growled from the comfort of the passenger's seat.
Aria Blaze gripped the steering wheel in frustration. She had hoped that learning how to drive the humans' metal deathtraps would grant her at least some ounce of freedom in this world. Oh, how naïve she was. She was treated as no more than a personal chauffeur by her two annoying sisters. She wasn't even allowed to play her favorite tracks by Avril Lavigne, about the only human Aria considered worth anything in this ridiculous world.
Aria didn't feel like arguing with her domineering sibling that night, especially with Sonata Dusk sound asleep in the back of the tour van, cradling her precious toaster. The more time without her airheaded sibling conscious, the better, Aria reasoned. So, she obeyed this time and pulled over at a convenience store.
She entered and took a cursory glance at the front counter, which of course was the usual monument of cigarette cartons and CBD gummies. It amused Aria to remember how only mere decades ago 99% of people smoked Tabaco and marijuana was preached as "the devil's weed". These days there were anti-smoking PSAs everywhere and millionaires being born in the pot business. Aria wished that the silly humans would figure out what they actually valued one day, instead of see-sawing their morals every generation. It made her wonder when public orgies would come back into fashion.
Aria moved on to the snack section. She grabbed her favorite jalapeno chips first. Adagio had requested 'anything as long as it's chocolate', but Aria decided to get a bag of cheese puffs just to troll her. She cringed when she spotted a large display of butter-covered, deep fried Oreos in a can. She was about to step far away, before a thought came to her. Perhaps she could get Sonata to eat them. So, she picked up a can.
With her bag of "goodies" in hand and a few bucks poorer, Aria exited the store only to suddenly bump into another girl.
"Watch it!" Aria snapped. She took in the sight of the stranger. Her hair was in a large ponytail, green eyeshadow accentuated her freckled and yellow face, and wore a risque ensemple which included a skirt so short that it made Aria question if she was wearing anything underneath.
"Fuck, you're like a sluttier version of my dumb sister..." Aria couldn't resist in commenting.
Sour Sweet instantly grew furious and in a gruff tone, spat back, "Yeah, well, SHIT, with your huge pigtails, you look like an EMO version of my smart friend!"
Aria grew a small smirk. She could use a good spar for a moment.
"You're looking pretty trashy there, freckles. Got a hot date or you walking the streets tonight?"
Sour quickly noted the snack bag. "I see that you're stocked up on deep fried Oreos. What, run out of razors to punish yourself with?"
"I can see you getting punished in a back alley tonight..."
"And I can see you crying in bed listening to Avril Levigne tonight."
Aria's eyes narrowed. "Leave Avril out of this."
In the tour van, Adagio listened to this back and forth with half interest. An abrupt flash of light soon caught her attention. Before she even needed to turn and look, a sensation shot through her body. A certain tingling which reverberated from her poofy head to her toes far stronger than any orgasm ever could. It was a feeling she had longed to experience every single day.
"Equestrian magic," those desired words escaped her lips.
Adagio whipped her head toward the other side of the street. There she witnessed the scene of some green girl holding up a small object up to a stupefied-looking elderly man. The girl quickly stuffed the object into her backpack and ran off. The elderly man then snapped out of his daze and looked around in a confused manner. Adagio needed no further context to know that she had witnessed the power of an Equestrian artifact.
"Aria!!!" Adagio barked out the window with strict authority. "Enough chit-chat! We need to go!"
Aria rolled her eyes and departed from Sour with a final shot, "Make dat money tonight."
Sour simply growled and stormed off on her original way.
"What is it now, Adagio?" Aria sighed as she got back into the driver's seat.
"We have Equestrian magic to hunt down," Adagio stated intensely.
Not many things could instantly perk Aria's interest as a chance to regain some precious magic. She swiftly started the engine. They needed to catch up with the human with it before she got too far. Sometimes Aria was thankful for her sister's eagle eyes.
****************
Wallflower Blush dragged her feet down the sidewalk in despair. She had to do it again. She shook her head. No, she didn't have to, but it happened either way. How many people had she mindwiped since discovering the Memory Stone? Too many she would care to admit. As much as the guilt tugged at her, she still considered that the knowledge of someone somewhere having the slightest negative opinion of her freaked her out even more.
She shook her head again. Stop dwelling on it, you freak. She tried to think of something else. Magnolias, sweeping valley landscapes, Sasuke x Gaara yaoi...
Those pleasant thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she noticed bright headlights flooding over her. She turned to see a van barreling down the street her way. The side door slid open to reveal a blue girl, now wide awake and grinning wickedly.
Wallflower instinctively began running, but the van quickly caught up. Sonata reached out and violently grabbed her backpack. With the van continuing ahead and the backpack still secure upon her, Wallflower's body was taken off. Her shoes scraped along the sidewalk as she tried to keep up with the vehicle's speed.
"Hey, stop!!!" she cried desperately. "STOP!!!!"
She tried to fight Sonata off, but suddenly another girl with the poofiest hair she had ever seen popped out of the passenger's side window and tried to grab her hands.
At the wheel, Aria grew nervous as she saw that they were approaching a crossway. Her fears were of course confirmed when she glimpsed another car about to drive in front of them. She hit the break. The van loudly screeched to a halt, which caused Adagio and Sonata to let go of their target in order to brace themselves for safety.
Free from her abductors but still at the mercy of the laws of motion, Wallflower tumbled violently to the pavement. Despite the pain of cuts and bruises, she managed to hobble up and get away as fast as she was able.
"Aria, find somewhere to park!" Adagio ordered. "Sonata, come with me!"
The two sisters jumped out of their tour van to pursue their wounded prey on foot.
****************
Sour Sweet angrily huffed along to her destination of Sugarcube Corner. She checked the time to see she was already five minutes late for meeting up with her boyfriend.
He can wait... she shrugged her tardiness off ...or at least he BETTER...
The thing Sour couldn't completely shrug off, however, was her little encounter with the pissy emo. She'd always found it difficult to get over insults. The hope of crossing paths with her again for round two made Sour's blood boil with anticipation.
"HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!"
Sour immediately stopped. A female cry for help on a dark night? Sour's fists gripped with righteous anger and determination. She grinned. It was time to cross an item off her bucket list. She had always wanted to take on an assaulter.
She ran off into battle...
Wallflower Blush pumped her legs as fast as she could. Absolute fear prevented her from looking back toward her pursuers. She let out another scream for help. It was all she could do.
She rounded a corner, hoping that the alleyways might offer her safety. Her eyes widened and her feet screeched to a halt. A dead end. A freakin' dead end.
"Trapped like a tiny mouse..." she heard a sultry, yet pitiless voice come from behind.
Wallflower reluctantly turned and faced the other two girls. Finally having a good look at them, she gasped in realization.
"The Dazzlings," she murmured. "I remember you. You tried to take over Canterlot High!"
"Oh, a CHS student?" Adagio Dazzle asked with half-interest.
"Funny, I don't remember ever seeing you at the Battle of the Bands," Sonata Dusk noted.
Wallflower meekly shrugged. "Well I did kinda erase my clarinet performance after missing a few notes..."
"'Erase', huh?" Adagio asked with a smirk. "That wouldn't have anything to do with that stone in your backpack, would it?"
Wallflower stiffened. They knew about the Memory Stone? That's what this was all about? A renewed sense of concern overwhelmed her. Wallflower wasn't as stupid as she often considered herself. She knew that wielding the Stone had many bad possibilities. One could get away with any crime in broad daylight by simply mindwiping the witnesses. She would be lying if she said that she herself had never been tempted with such power.
Adagio stepped forward and held out her hand. "I'll take it that you know what we want. Now give it!"
Wallflower clutched her backpack. Oh, she could 'give it' to them alright. All she needed to do was to whip out the Memory Stone and these two would forget all about her and she could make a quick escape as she always did. She just needed to be --
"Hey, what's going on?!"
Wallflower, Adagio, and Sonata looked toward the unexpected new voice. There they saw another girl with righteous anger within her eyes. For a moment, Sour Sweet was a bit disappointed that there seemed to be no aggressive males involved, however the sight the cowering green-haired girl was enough for her to stick around.
"Excuse you?" Adagio asked pointedly.
"I heard some cries for help," Sour announced. "You two bothering that girl?"
Wallflower was taken aback. Someone... was trying to help her? In that moment of shock, she had forgotten all about using the Stone to escape.
"Um, this is none of your business, so, like, go away," Sonata said in her most threatening tone, which of course being her, was completely ineffective.
"Not until you two back off."
"After you," a fifth and final voice chimed in.
Sour didn't need to turn to see who it was. The pissy emo. Round two had come sooner than expected. She decided to act quick. These three weren't going anywhere without a fight.
Sour swung herself around, fist out. In an instant, Aria Blaze grabbed her fist effortlessly. Sour and Aria's eyes locked. In a swift motion, Aria's straightened hand jabbed itself into Sour's throat. Sour jerked back, coughing and wheezing from the hit. Aria lunged at her for a punch, but Sour managed to cross her arms to block it in time. However, the force of the blow did cause her to stumble back a bit.
Sour's heart raced. Shit! The fight's just begun and it's already looking like she might be the toughest bitch I've ever fought...
Aria jumped and began coming at her with a flying kick. Sour managed to dodge, and with a grin, punched her vunerable stomach. Aria landed and in retaliation, gave Sour an even harder punch to her own stomach. Sour doubled over in pain for just a second before Aria grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back up. Once up, Aria butted Sour right in the forehead. Sour fell to the ground and immediately felt the force of Aria's foot sink into her stomach.
"Think I'm not above kicking a stupid human when it's down?" Aria said in casual tone as she next struck Sour in the ribs.
"Gotta admit," Sonata said from the sidelines, "it's been a while since we've seen Aria in action."
"Such fond memories," Adagio sighed with a smile.
"Oh, oh! Remember when she got married in the Middle Ages?"
****************
SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE - 1450s
The three sisters were relaxing in their comfy, hay-lined wagon. The sky was clear, the soft breeze soothed them, and the air was fresh as it wouldn't be tainted with pollution for many more centuries. However, their peaceful ride through the country was soon accompanied by cheers and merriment. The three glanced curiously over the side to spot what looked like some sporting event taking place alongside the road.
"Over there, driver," Adagio ordered.
The only reaction from the driver in question was the green flash in his eyes from being under the Sirens' spell, followed by his operating of the reins so that the mules would pull over.
The sisters hopped off the wagon and proceeded to push their way through the assembled crowd. Up in front, they saw a roped-off arena. Inside was a man and woman, both clad in full-bodied, white outfits with red crosses painted onto their chests. The man was waste-deep in a hole and wielded a large club with a point carved at the end. The woman was circling him, swinging a piece of cloth which appeared to have a large rock wrapped inside.
"You, toothless peasant," Adagio addressed the man beside her. "Explain this form of entertainment."
"Why, milady, it is a property dispute between man and wife," the peasant explained, his gummy smile bright. "Trial by combat, it is. The man is dropped in the hole so the woman can have a fighting chance. Great show to behold."
Aria rubbed her chin with interest. "So you are saying that if the wife wins, she gets all of her husband's belongings?"
"Tis the law," the peasant confirmed, nodding.
The peasant went wide-eyed as Aria abruptly snuggled up to him with a sensuous smirk.
"Interested in marriage, good sir?"
Just a mere few days later, this same crowd would be looking on in sheer terror as Aria ripped her screaming husband up from his hole and begin pummeling him with BOTH the pointed club and wrapped rock.
****************
"To think only a half-dozen husbands could get you so much prime real estate in those days," Adagio said nostalgically.
Sour was now back up and the two enemies began to trade blows to the face. Sour was frustrated that none of her hits seemed to phase her opponent much. Meanwhile, Aria's punches were torture. Sour could feel her face throb, particularly around the eyes and mouth. She surely must have a blackeye and a split lip.
Wallflower's legs shook as she watched. She felt horrible for letting this go on for as long as it had. Just because she was glad to have someone stand up for her for once. She needed to stop this now.
She held up the Memory Stone. With a mental command, the Equestrian artifact released its great flash. Sour and Aria stopped in mid-punch. Wallflower beheld the four dazed and frozen girls before bolting towards the nearest cover there was. As repulsed as she was to do so, she jumped straight into a dumpster.
It was another moment before the girls began to regain their senses. Each looked around in total confusion.
"Oh, what the FUCK?!" Sour groaned as the pain hit her at once. She fell to her knees.
"Just what are we doing in this disgusting alley?" Adagio asked.
Aria peered down at the wounded Sour. "Uh, kicking this girl's ass, apparently."
Sour shot right back up. "Oh, I HIGHLY doubt that."
Aria smirked. "You're clearly the one who's been trashed more than me."
Sour gritted her teeth. She knew this pissy emo was right. The fact that she couldn't remember how she got like this scared her, however. Was this some kind of episode?
Adagio diplomatically cleared her throat to gather attention. "Well, whatever she did, it appears that you taught her her lesson, Aria." She waved Sour away. "Now off with you."
Sour's anger began to rise again, before Sonata stepped over with a friendly smile.
"Hi, I'm Sonata Dusk," the blue girl introduced herself cheerfully. "Sorry my sister had to kick your butt for whatever reason."
Sour rolled her eyes. "Well, at least ONE of you girls aren't so bad."
Sour then sighed. Whatever had happened, it was over. She could accept a loss. Besides, there always round two to look forward, wasn't there? So without another word, Sour turned and walked off with a slight limp. If anyone asked what had happened to her, she could always just blame her boyfriend.
She knew he wouldn't mind.
"Figures you couldn't stand up to me!" Aria gloated loudly as her opponent left. "One thousand years of fighting experience is hard to handle! So don't feel too bad!"
The Dazzlings started on their own way before a faint rustle caught Sonata's short attention. Inside the dumpster, a bottle was sticking straight up into Wallflower's back. She tried to adjust her body as quietly as possible. She knew she had failed when Sonata's head popped into view, peering down at her.
"Hey, what are doing in th --"
Wallflower swiftly used the Memory Stone to mindwipe Sonata once again. Gently, she nudged the dazed blue girl on the forehead. Sonata stumbled back and then proceeded to wobble over to her sisters as she slowly regained her senses.
"Next time you pick a fight, find a more sanitary location, won't you?" Adagio scolded Aria as she glanced around the filthy alleyway.
"Wait, there was a fight?" Sonata asked. "When?"
Adagio and Aria both gave her an annoyed glare.
"Let's just go find our van, shall we?" Adagio stated simply.
"Maybe it's down by the river," Sonata suggested.
"Worst siren..." Aria groaned.
Wallflower waited several minutes before coming out of the dumpster. She sighed in regret and held up the artifact which had caused all this trouble. There were times that she wanted to rid herself of the thing, but she was too afraid. Too afraid of disappointment, of rejection, of people. Guiltily, she returned the Memory Stone into her backpack.
She prayed that there would never come a day when she took the power she wielded too far.
THE END
