“Adagio, why the hell are we even doing this?” Aria complained, eyes rolling as they approached the crosswalk.
“Because. If we wanna get by at this point, we may as well try to make friends instead of enemies.”
Sonata leapt up, her arms around them both, “I like friends now! I used to think they would backstab you, but it turns out they’re really nice to have!”
“Bullshit,” Aria swore under her breath as they crossed the street.
Adagio grabbed the bridge of her nose in frustration, “Would it kill you to be a bit less crass once we get there?”
“Yes.”
“Well look on the bright side, at least we know there’s only going to be seven of us there?”
The Dazzlings had been invited to a sleepover at Vinyl Scratch’s house. The DJ girl was excited to throw her very first one, but given her loud tendencies with her music, her parents had enforced a strict rule of only being able to invite a maximum of six friends. Seemed harmless enough.
“I just hope she’s got tacos! Or pizza! Or anything, really!” Sonata chirped with the enthusiasm of a child being allowed on her first night out, which only annoyed her purple-skinned friend even more.
“Ugggh. I just wanted to read my comics in peace.”
“Aria, the obituaries section of the newspaper isn’t a comic,” Adagio corrected her.
Aria folded her arms. “Hmph. Why did they even invite us? Don’t they still care that we nearly destroyed everyone?”
“Haven’t ya heard of forgive and...uh, what’s the word again?” Sonata started off with a response, but lost her train of thought halfway through.
“Forget,” the orange-haired leader of the three filled it in for her, “forgive and forget. I’m not sure either, but if it’s an opportunity to get on everyone’s good side, then I say we should take it.”
Sadly, Aria’s pessimism was too thick to cut through. “Why? You of all people should be able to recognize that they don’t trust us,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes once more as they stepped onto the sidewalk again, “they’re probably luring us over there so they can humiliate us.”
The blue siren girl tilted her head, eyes wide, “Why in the heck would they do that? We don’t even have power anymore! It’s totes a waste of time to be afraid of us.”
“I never thought I would say this,” Adagio added, “but Sonata’s right.”
“I am? I mean, of course I am, haha!”
Aria’s shoulder was invaded by her yellow friend’s arm, which brought her in closer, “Listen. There’s nothing wrong with being scared of making friends. Heavens knows that I am. But--”
The embrace was quickly broken with Aria removing herself from her friend’s arm. “Scared?! I’m not scared of anything!” Her eyes twitched, “Scared of making friends my ass…” she continued walking ahead, leaving her friends behind.
“Yyyyikes,” Sonata cowered behind Adagio, her knees quivered out of fear. “What’s gotten into her?”
The reality was that Adagio unfortunately had no idea either. Aria was a grump by nature, but this was something else entirely. For now, she settled on petting Sonata on the head, “Don’t worry. She’s just...excited, but you know how it is with her. Can’t really express her emotions that well.”
“Pfff! Is that all? Guess her emotions need to come back to her brain’s train station so they can come out again.”
“No, no--express as in ‘show’. Not like a train.”
“Ohhhhh. That makes more sense. Well we better start moving like a speeding train or else we’ll lose her!”
They all grouped up once more. Vinyl Scratch’s house was just around the corner at the end of a nearby cul-de-sac. It didn’t stand out against the other houses. Just a plain-looking two story abode with a long driveway and a decently sized front yard. It was 8PM. The sun was just about to fade into the horizon and bring about the fall of the night. Darkness would overtake the sunset within the ruined sky.
With their sleeping bags in hand, the trio stopped at the driveway in front of the house with Adagio giving orders before they were able to take a step further. “Aaaand, we’re here. Okay, remember what I told you both.”
“Keep a lid on the swearing, and try to be happy,” Aria responded, her arms still folded.
“If I don’t know what something is, use my smart...phone, thing to search it on Poogle!” Sonata cheered, holding up her smartphone that had a dual-reinforced case to avoid any damage should she drop it.
“Good. Alright then...let’s try and make this work.” Adagio’s hand was jittery as it went to reach for the doorbell. Only after about five seconds did she work up the courage to press it…
WUB-WUB-WUB!
“Oooh, fancy!” Sonata squealed at the custom doorbell ring, “We gotta get that for our place!”
Aria remained unamused.
It didn’t take long for the door to swing open. The blue-haired DJ was already in her subwoofer patterned pajamas, jamming out to music on her headphones.
“Uh, hello, Vinyl. We’re...uh, can you hear me?”
That’s when she realized her music was still on. The girl held her finger up since she needed a moment to turn it off. Once she did, she put the headphones around her neck and lifted up her glasses to reveal her red eyes. “Yooo! Ya made it!”
“Wow, I don’t think I’ve heard you talk before,” Sonata pointed out which earned her an elbow nudge from Aria, “ow, but it’s true!”
“Eh, that’s cuz I usually can’t hear anybody. Well? What’re ya waitin’ for? C’mon in and get your jams on! Everyone’s waitin’ for ya!” Before they could get another word in, Vinyl ran behind, and pushed all three girls inside somehow, only annoying the purple one even more.
After they got inside, they each changed into their pajamas. Adagio’s had orange and yellow stripes with discordant musical notes, Sonata’s had a zebra stripe pattern with an actual zebra hoodie, and Aria had a plain looking set of black pajama pants with a matching black shirt that had skulls on it.
“Alright, we’re in, girls. What should we do first?”
“Ooh, ooh! I know, Adag!” Sonata started to wiggle her arms around, “We should join in on the games! There’s this cool thing they play called Forced Objective or Fess Up!”
“...what?”
Aria clarified, “It’s called Truth or Dare. When it’s your turn, you pick one or the other and either have to say some dumb secret or do some dumb action.”
“Sooo exciting!”
Adagio gave it some thought, but denied, “Mmm, nah. That game is a bit pedestrian for me. I think I’m gonna go have a chat with Octavia. Maybe get some advice for my next piece.”
“...” Aria was still busy looking off into space, not realizing that her sisters were staring at her. “What? Something on my face?”
“Whatcha doin’ first, A-A?” Sonata asked with a few jumps of excitement. Her sister was finally going to socialize for a change.
“Umm...watch some scary movies in the living room, with the...ugh, others. I suppose.”
“That’s the spirit! Wooo!” Sonata rushed off to play herself a game of Truth or Dare in the living room. Trixie and Maud Pie were already there.
Adagio gave her sister a nudge. “Just do your best. You’ll start to warm up to everyone in no time.”
“Yeah yeah, sure. The movies better have some gore or else I’m dipping,” she walked off in a huff towards the couch to see what was on TV. When she got there, Vinyl was already putting something in.
“You excited? I got the new ‘Snatcher’ flick!” she waved the DVD case so Aria could see.
That caught her attention, and she took it from Vinyl’s hands. “Holy crap, this is real? I thought they cancelled it.”
“Yeah well, don’t tell anyone but, I maaay have gotten it from a certain friend o’ mine who’s in the DVD business. It’s top secret, yo.”
“Wow...the first Snatchers were good, but the remake was utter trash.”
“Yeaaah, they played it way too safe by reducing the amount of gore and the rating to try and draw in more viewers. They shot themselves right in the foot with that. But this, right here,” she tapped the case with a finger, “this is the unreleased Snatcher 3. The one that never got released due to bankruptcy of the company. How cool is that?!”
As much as it intrigued her, Aria tried to hide her interest. The quickest of smiles showed up on her face before she returned to her default, uninterested expression. “Yeah it’s pretty...dope. Is that the right word?”
“Yeah, see? You’re into it!” Vinyl turned the DVD player on, “Lemme just grab the popcorn. BRB!”
Meanwhile, Sonata had begun playing Truth or Dare.
“Ooh, ooh! Me next!”
Trixie cackled, “Alright then! Truth or Dare!”
“Truth!”
“Okay--the Great and and Questionable Trixie will now ask: Do you and your sisters still sing?”
Maud gazed at Trixie lazily, “Harsh.”
Sonata waved her hands around, “Oh no, it’s fine! We like, don’t really sing anymore since we lost our power. It’s not a big dealio since we’ve found other things to do!”
“Hmph. Not very...juicy,” Trixie shrugged her shoulders and pointed at Maud, “Alright, Maud, your turn!”
The gray girl slowly turned to face Trixie. “Truth or Dare?”
“Dare!” she shouted with confidence.
“I dare you to wear this for the rest of the night,” she pulled out a gray ‘I Heart Rocks’ T-shirt.
Trixie recoiled with horror. “Eww! The colors are so...bland.”
“I know you’d hate it. That’s why it’s the dare.”
“Hmph!” Trixie swiped the shirt from Maud’s fingers, “Gimme that!” And she immediately slipped it on, and stood in front of a nearby mirror. “It’s a little...big, but not bad.”
Sonata clapped her hands. “Woo-hoo! I love this game already!”
Concurrently, Adagio had met up with Octavia in the kitchen.
“Well, I’m rather surprised you made it.”
“Me too, me too. Uh...Aria almost held us back, but we managed.”
Octavia cracked open a bottle of water, “I see, but you’re here now.”
The orange girl felt a bit awkward, but now was the perfect time to pop the question she’d been dying to ask, “Okay, I have to be real with you. I wanna join your music club.”
“Is that so?” she raised an eyebrow while she sipped her water. “Are you truly trying to make amends?”
“Yes...I am. We all are. We’ve seen how terrible we can be, and it burns us to our core,” she did her best to sound earnest, but Octavia didn’t quite believe her yet, “we...we’re sorry.”
The musician of a girl walked past her to take a seat at the dining room table, “I see...well, what do you play?”
“Lots of things. The piano, the drums, the electric guitar,” she extended a finger as she counted each one off.
“Piano, hm? We could make use of a more refined set of fingers for our next song…”
Adagio leaned over a chair with a wide, toothy grin, “Ooh! C’mon, let me in. I can handle any kinda bass, whether hard or soft.”
This made Octavia roll her eyes and give a gentle smile, “Listen. You and your friends seem like you’re trying your best. I admit, it was hard to make friends when I first attended CHS.”
“Really? But you’re Octavia freakin’ Melody! You’re the top musician in the school!” Adagio slumped back in her seat with her arms folded. “Probably the whole damn city…”
“Oho, nowadays, maybe. But it didn’t start off that way, mate. It took me forever to find someone that took me seriously. And it was Vinyl--she adored my composition and from then on, we became best friends. Always sticking by each other and bailing each other out of jams…” She paused, then giggled, “Okay the latter is mostly me saving her, but you get the idea.”
The former siren thought hard on Octavia’s words. Someone to rely on. Someone who never betrayed you. That sounded nice. “Wow...you two must be pretty close.”
“Eh, somewhat. Yes…” she blushed as she gave her response.
With Aria…
“Alright, talk to me,” Vinyl flopped down with some popcorn, “You seem pretty messed up, Aria. So I think I can help.”
“Tch, you wouldn’t understand,” the violet girl turned away.
In retaliation, Vinyl waved the bowl in front of her. The smoky, buttery popped corn was too delicious to ignore. “C’mon...tell Vine what’s uuuuup.”
Aria leaned back against the couch and let out a silent groan of defeat. Her older sister had a point, after all. “Fine. I just...I dunno…” she grabbed a fistfull of buttery goodness from the bowl, “I just find it difficult to live.”
“Difficult? How so?” Vinyl lifted up her shades to expose her red eyes. She was intent on listening to Aria and wanted to show it.
Aria was about to explain her situation, but felt it would be easier to cover up the fact that she was a siren from a land of pastel talking miniature horses with a story of being at a different school beforehand. “At our old wor--school. At our old school, everybody feared us. We were the queens of the world. But we got arrogant and had to come here. That’s when we lost our power to Sunset and the others. But...part of me misses being on top. Walking around and seeing everyone fear me with every step,” she munched on some popcorn. “Stheeing eveffyone quiffer in fear…” she swallowed as she finished her sentence, “It was so much fun.”
“Ah...I can’t say I relate, sis. But you know what? I think you need to let out that rage in a healthy, satisfying way,” Vinyl tossed popcorn into her mouth.
Aria was confused. If she couldn’t stomp on people and do what she wanted, then how? “Um...like, how the heck am I gonna do that?”
“Prank calls, sister!”
“...Prank...calls?” the former siren grumbled in her seat. “Sounds pretty pedestrian.”
“No, no. It’s a classic sleepover ritual, yo. Trust me.” Vinyl took out her cellphone, and tapped on it, “Just gotta adjust my caller ID to appear as unknown...alright, let’s kick it.”
Aria simply shot the DJ girl a look of confusion as she dialed the phone. “...What in the heck are you--”
“Shh, shhh…” Vinyl put it on speaker, and waited with excitement as the phone rung.
Someone on the other end picked up. “Hello?”
What would follow made Aria’s eyes go wide in amazement. Vinyl performed a pitch-perfect representation of Dean Cadence’s voice. “Hey Shining?”
“Oh--uh--Dean Cadence! Hi! I was just...organizing the notes for the school football team!”
“Oh that’s fine. I just wanted to tell you that,” Vinyl changed her tone to something more sultry, “my parents aren’t home, and I’m dying to see you.”
“Oh, uh...I’ll be right there!”
“See ya, hun.” Vinyl hung up and immediately started to cackle. Her voice back to normal now, “AHAHA! Can you imagine the look on their faces when he shows up to her door?!”
Aria gave a quick giggle, “Hehe. Not bad. But how about we up the ante and go for something more local…” she said as she turned her head to look out the window. One of Vinyl’s other neighbors across the street was Button Mash. “Got his number?”
“Yoo...that’s completely insane,” her eyes went from amazed to excited in no time flat, “I love it!”
Aria would take out her phone, and dial the number…
Across the street…
“Okay guys, let’s begin,” Button Mash sat on the couch with a controller ready. “High speed with the punchline…”
“No beef in the lunchline. Can’t believe we can finally get some time to ourselves,” Sandbar stretched his fingers as he got his ready.
“If you wanna know the time…” Pound Cake slid down the stair rail, and landed in the game room right with the rest of the, “For once. It’s been torture keeping Flurry off my back to let me come see you guys.”
“It’s crunch time.” Rumble leaned against the wall, casual as ever. “Damn right. Scootaloo just won’t stop bothering me for her little Crusades.”
“Oh you think that’s bad?” Button Mash debated, “Sweetie Belle is always trying to get in my house!”
“Pfff! At least she’s your size,” Sandbar commented as he pushed up his glasses, “Yona is huge. I mean, I love that about her, but the way she hugs me can cause major damage.”
“Bruh. My girl is literally the daughter of the Dean of Crystal Prep!” Pound Cake ranted, “If I make one wrong move, that could mean the end of my social life.”
“Maybe. But at least you get those special things she always brings back from her field trips,” Rumble walked over and took a seat on a nearby chair. “So what’re we playing tonight, gents?”
“I figured a bit of Smash, a bit of Kart, maybe some Zombies.”
“Sweet! I call dibs on the Ray Gun,” Pound Cake announced, “I know all the secret passages.”
Sandbar coughed, “Ahem--more like secret ways to get us killed--ahem!”
“Shit, in all fairness, I haven’t played Zombies in forever. So I might die too,” Rumble commented with a shrug.
Just then, Button’s mother entered the room with a massive tray in her hands.. “Salutations, gamer crew! Who wants chicken nuggets?”
Button facepalmed, “Mom, we’re not 12 anymore.”
“To be quite frank, I don’t mind at all,” Sandbar stated with another adjustment of his glasses, “I receive enough high-class food from school. It’s nice to kick back and enjoy something more casual.”
Rumble nodded, “What he said. Thanks Ms. Mash.”
Pound also showed his agreement, “Yup! You’re cool, Ms. Mash!”
“Yeah, thanks, mom.”
“Oh thanks, boys.” She placed the platter on the coffee table in front of them, “I’ll be downstairs watching my movies. Don’t hesitate if you need anything.”
“Got it!” All four said together as the mother left.
Button swiped one, “Weelll...I guess if you guys are cool with it, so am I. Now then, let’s--” His phone rang.
“Is that the Xevious theme?” Sandbar leaned over, “Excellent...I need that for mine.”
“Shh,” Button opened his phone, “Hello?”
“Button Mash...I’m home alone and I need you to comfort me. Please. I’m so scared.”
It was a scarily accurate Sweetie Belle on the other end. “Huh? What? What’s going on?”
“There’s a g-g-g-ghost! Me and my sister are too afraid to fight it!”
“What?! I’ll be right--” Button Mash was about ready to rush out the door until… “Wait a damn minute. You’re not afraid of ghosts. And your sister’s fought demons! Who is this?!”
“Uhh, bud,” Sandbar tapped his shoulder and pointed out of the window.
Rumble handed him a pair of binoculars, and he could see clear across into Vinyl’s house where Aria spoke. Her lips matched the words that followed.
“B-but...I need you. You’re a big strong boy who--”
“Ohhh. You think you’re real funny huh?! You think you’re funny?!” Button leaned out of the window and shouted across the street to which both Vinyl and Aria could be seen laughing.
Of all people, Pound Cake had to restrain him. “Bro, I’m all for a fight, but this one isn’t worth it.”
“Hmph. Maybe. C’mon, let’s play Zombies.”
“I must say, the level of tactical prowess on her was quite impressive. I’ve never heard someone mimic a voice so well,” Sandbar commented.
Back at Vinyl’s place…
“Oh man...oh man...hah…” Aria had laughed so hard that she cried. “Okay...that was some funny shit.”
“I know, right? See! And just like that, you’re smiling. Sometimes you just gotta let loose with some light teasing. It gets you in the right mood. Especially when I get a musical block and can’t think of a song. I just go bother Tavey and it’s funny.”
“Huh...I guess I could do the same to Sonata,” she looked over at her blue sister. Sonata was now doing a handstand with a bucket on her head due to a dare. “...Heh, she never ceases to amaze.”
“Alright, that was fun. Now it’s time to break out the food,” Vinyl stood up and went to her turntables in the middle of the room and turned on some moderately loud music, “Pizza’s on in three...two…”
DING-DONG-WUB!
“I’ll get it,” Octavia went and answered the door, “Terrible apologies for the awful doorbell.”
“Heeeey!”
“How much--Flash?”
Indeed, Flash Sentry now had a job delivering pizzas. “Oh, uh, hey Octavia. Can’t really talk. I’ve got loads of deliveries to make. Can you believe how many sleepovers are happening right now?”
“...Is that so?” Octavia mulled over the negative implications of that statement. Was Flash that unpopular to where he wasn’t invited to anyone’s sleepovers? Ouch. If it wasn’t for the fact that this party was girl’s only, she would’ve invited him. So she decided to turn it into something positive, “Oh well...that means more business for you, then. How much?”
“60 dollars.”
Octavia paused. Just what did her friend order? Guess she’ll find out when she went inside. “Okay, here you go.”
“Thanks, and here you go,” Flash handed her the boxes, “Have a good time.”
“You too!” She went back inside and shut the door with her foot, “Vinyl...just what did you order?” There were about 7 boxes in her hands.
“Ohhh, well I wasn’t sure what to order, so I kinda got one of everything and some wings.”
“Everything? Does that include…”
Vinyl sighed, “Yes....I got the one with the icky anchovies for you.”
“Ah! So you do care about my tastes.”
The DJ girl rolled her eyes, “Don’t rub it in. Just sit the boxes on the dinner table.”
Adagio had remained seated at the table the whole time, and observed the events that had transpired. “So you felt bad for the guy, huh?”
“Hm?”
“Flash? I mean, ever since Twilight left and rejected him, he’s been kinda the butt-end of most negative moments and jokes. Even more so than us,” she said, referring to herself and her sisters.
This surprised Octavia. To hear a genuine word of sympathy from a former supervillain? Well, if Sunset could overturn her demonic side, so can she. “I’ve noticed. I almost feel sorry for him.”
“Almost?”
“This may sound harsh, but he’s spent far too much time in pursuit of Twilight to ever gain any real friendships. If you ask me, he’s brought his troubles upon himself.”
Adagio swiped a pizza slice, “I mean, when you put it like that…” she bit down, and immediately regretted her life’s choices. “Blech...anchovies. Who the hell…”
“Hmph! It’s an acquired taste!” Octavia protested as she took a slice for herself and munched on it. “Mmm!” Her smile disgusted the orange girl.
“...I think I’m gonna barf…”
Vinyl came in and rubbed her hands together, “Alright, let’s see what we got.” The boxes were all separated. Meat lovers, veggie, pepperoni, anchovy, and the dreaded pineapple.
“Ooh, pineapple. Trixie adores pineapple!”
“You too?” Sonata asked, “Pineapple is like my second favorite vegetable.”
“Uhh...isn’t pineapple a fruit?” Trixie questioned her as she took a slice, “I mean, the word apple is literally in there.”
Sonata had begun to eat her slice crust-first. A sin against pizza eating rules. “But like where are the seeds? I learned that fruits have seeds and veggies don’t. Yet ya don’t see pineapples fulla seeds, do ya?”
Trixie wasn’t sure how to answer. “Well, no...but they’re still fruit!”
“Oh really?” Sonata shot her a challenging smirk as she wolfed half her slice down, “Proof it!”
Adagio put her palm to her forehead. “Not this again…”
At last, Aria arrived to smell the wonderfully heated disks of cheese and meat, “Okay, I can get down with this...but hey, has anyone seen the rock girl?”
“Maud?” Octavia asked, “No. I figured she’d come with us for pizza. Maybe she went to the bathroom?”
Vinyl snickered, “Or maybe she went off to find Boulder a girlfriend or something.”
The girls stopped and laughed at the little joke.
Even through 20 minutes of eating and chatting, Sonata and Trixie’s debate continued on.
“Aha!” Trixie pulled up the answer on her phone, “Says here they do have seeds, but they’re usually tiny and beneath the peel.”
“Huh, guess you were right. Oh well, it’s still good on pizza. I dunno why people hate it so much.”
“Tch, the Amazing and Awesome Trixie cares not for the opinions of others--holy cow!”
Sonata leaned over her shoulder. “What? What?”
“100 likes on my pineapple pizza eating photo on GramInstant!” She flipped her hair elegantly, “Truly I am the Fabulous and Famous Trixie.”
“But like, I thought you said you didn’t care what people thought about you?” she responded with a blank expression.
Trixie put her arm around the blue girl, “Sonata dear. As you get older, you have to ignore the aptly dubbed ‘haters’ and focus on yourself and how good you look?”
“Haters? But people had a good reason to hate us...we nearly destroyed your school…” she looked down at her feet, ready to sob.
The magician practitioner realized she had overstepped and gave Sonata a hug, “Oh no, I didn’t mean…” she sighed. “Great. How am I supposed to fix this?” “Once everyone forgives you, you can start focusing on your real friends. Not the fake ones who hate on what you do.”
She sniffled, “Real friends?”
“Oh heck yeah. Look at me. I grew up not even knowing who my dad was and was teased for it a lot. Something I couldn’t even control. How jacked up is that?”
Sonata’s sad face turned into an upset frown. “Super jacked up. They have no right to tease you!”
“But you know what I did?”
“What?”
“The Proud and Glamorous Trixie pushed forward! She didn’t worry about those haters and look at her now. She’s easily the most popular girl in school! ….Behind Sunset and her friends, but still.”
Sonata looked at her with a starry set of eyes, “Woah...you’re really cool, Trixie. Do you think I could help you with your stuff in the magic club?” Then she backpedaled with a shy rub of her arm, “I mean...if you’d let me.”
“Trixie would be happy to have an assistant!” Her face lit up, “I’d be happy to!”
“Yaaaay!”
Their celebration was interrupted by the host of the party herself. “Hey guys. Have ya’ll seen Maud? It’s been a half an hour and she’s not in the downstairs bathroom.”
Adagio would reply first, “Did you try her cell?”
“Nothin’. I’m getting worried…I’m gonna check upstairs.”
Trixie decided to use this moment to prove how brave she could be to Sonata. “Trrrrixie volunteers!” she ran up to the steps.
“Are ya sure?”
“Oh trust me, I’m a professional,” she shot a wink at Sonata who let out an excited squeal. The magician girl proceeded up the steps.
Vinyl sighed and sat back down on the couch. Aria was there, still chewing on slice after slice of pizza. “Damn, fam. You’re going to town on that stuff.”
“Okay listen, pizza is a weakness of mine. And I’ve been thinking about what you said.”
“Oh?” she lifted her shades again, “About what?”
“About finding an outlet for my rage. I’m considering joining the soccer team.”
Vinyl gave a wide smile, “Sick, me too!”
“Wait...what? But isn’t your thing music?”
“Eh,” she shrugged, “every now and then I need to take a break from the beats. If you spend too much time on one thing, you’ll get hella burnt out. And nobody wants that…” she folded her arms with a distantly annoyed look in her eyes.
By now, Aria had become more in tune with Vinyl’s personality. Because of that, she felt more compelled to ask what was going on with her. “You alright?”
“Yeah, sure,” she said casually. Anyone could tell that this wasn’t true.
“Maybe I should try relating to her?”
“Hey...I know what that’s like. Sometimes I focus too much on what’s wrong in the world that I can’t stop and smell the flowers once in a while. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think the world sucks. But maybe if I focused on something else…”
The DJ snickered, her plan had worked. “Now yer gettin’ it! Try and find other things to do. Soccer sounds like fun. And hey, if we do well, we could land contracts in the future.”
“Heh...these legs were always suited for kicking,” Aria commented and looked down at herself, “mainly in self-defense. But knocking some balls around always sounds like a fun time.”
“Haha! That’s right, gimme some, sister!” Vinyl held out her fist.
Aria was confused. “Uhh…?”
“Fistbump. You...ya bump fists.”
“Ohhh…” she gingerly put her fist against Vinyl’s. “Like...that?”
“Ehhh...not bad!” she decided to spare Aria’s feelings and let her have this moment. It worked out since the violet girl actually smiled at her. And they continued to sit and watch the movie together...
That is, until one of their friends came in. “Girls, we have a problem.” Octavia walked up, her fingers tapped against each other nervously, “I can’t find Trixie anywhere!”
“Wait, what about Maud?” Vinyl asked.
“That’s just it! I can’t find her either!”
Two people were missing now. This rightfully incited concern with the remaining girls. Sonata in particular was sad that her new friend disappeared.
“Aww...b-but we were gonna be magician buddies. I hope she’s okay.”
“Calm down. No one’s hurt,” Vinyl assured them, “At least...I hope not. But for now, nobody leaves this room. There’s something...or someone in my house. And I ain’t gonna let that shit fly.”
Adagio chuckled, “How brave of our fearless host.”
Aria shot her a disgusted look. One that was very different from her default disgusted expression. Complete coldness in her eyes for daring to talk about her new friend.
“Vinyl, if this is a prank, it’s not funny!” Octavia had none of it. She shot her best friend an accusing look.
“Moi? Are you serious?! Why would I pretend to kidnap my party guests?! You think I want to drive everyone away?!”
Sonata slipped between them. “Okaaay…let’s not fight, eheheh...we need to focus on finding our friends.”
“But how are we gonna do that if we don’t leave the room,” her orange sister commented, “Just sit here and pray they come back to us like stray dogs?”
“Now isn’t the time, A-dawg,” Aria sneered at her older sister.
“Sorry, sorry. Look. How about we--”
All the sudden, darkness surrounded them. Under the cover of nightfall, it became nearly pitch black in the whole house.
“AHHHHH!” All the girls let out high-pitched squeals of fear.
“Okay...t-that makes it official…” Vinyl muttered with a shaky tone of voice, “S-someone’s in here….okay...h-head count. Sound off everyone.”
“I’m here,” Aria said.
“Right here!” Sonata shouted.
“Yup,” Adagio replied.
That was it. No more voices. Which meant…
“T-Tavey…?” she whispered. Nobody could see it but her fear slowly contorted and mangled into an expression full of fiery hatred. “Okay that’s it. Whoever’s done this...they’re gonna get my foot shoved so far up their--”
“V-Scratch, relax…” Sonata put her arms around her, “We’ll find them...don’t worry.” This seemed to calm the DJ down for a moment.
“Alright...but what are we gonna do?”
Adagio rolled her eyes, “Call the cops?”
Aria scoffed, “Great plan. Except my damn phone is dead. No signal.”
The girls all pulled out their phones. All dead. No way to contact anyone.
The elder siren sister groaned, “Shit. Now what?”
Across the street…
“Yo! Watch it, the horde is coming!” Button shouted.
“I have the bow, just hang on!” Pound yelled.
Rumble frantically pushed buttons right along with them. “Chill, chill...yo, Sandbar where’s that damn...ah!”
“I’m out of ammo you fool! Don’t pester me!”
They all died. Round 115.
“Yes!” Button cheered with a pump of his fist, “Best record yet, guys.”
“Everyone,” Sandbar stood at the window with the binoculars, “Come look.”
The three boys followed behind him and looked out of the window.
“Seems their power went out,” he continued to explain, “I see no lights throughout the house whatsoever.”
“Aw damn,” Pound took a good look at the house, “Think we should go check it out?”
Rumble sighed, “Man, I thought we would focus on each other for a while.”
Button Mash, of all people turned his game off and opened his closet. “Pound’s right. If they’re in trouble. We need to help them.”
Sandbar adjusted his glasses with an impressed look in his eyes, “Well, Mr. Video Game himself is willing to put his passion aside for a moment. I’m surprised to see it.”
Rumble went behind Button Mash to get a better look at what he had in his closet. “Whatcha getting, bro?”
“Our gear.”
“Excuse me?” Pound Cake joined them.
“...I don’t know if I like the sound of this,” Sandbar commented.
From within the closet, Button Mash procured four paintball launchers, and tossed one to each of his friends before he took one for himself. “Saddle up, guys. This game just got real.”
The four headed downstairs, where Button’s mother continued to watch TV. “Hm? Where are you boys headed?”
“Oh, just outside for some paintball in the street. Heh, c’mon guys!”
“Hey, if a car comes, then get out of the way. And stay near the house, boys,” she pushed a button and massive strobe lights turned on in front of the house, which lit up the yard clear as day against the 10PM darkness, “And get back inside before midnight.”
The four spoke in unison with halos above their heads, “We promise!”
Then, they stepped out onto the front lawn. Vinyl’s fully blacked out house before them.
“If we get in trouble,” Sandbar cocked his weapon, “It’ll have been nice knowing you all.”
“Let’s go!” The impatient Pound Cake ran ahead, not willing to wait up for any of them.
Rumble gave a disappointed groan, “Just like in the game, always the first to rush in…” and he took off next.
“Oh this’ll be fun…” Button Mash ran off next.
Sandbar refused to run. “I’d rather be asleep by now. But I suppose it can’t be helped. Let’s get this over with,” he took off with something more akin to a brisk jog.
Button was already giving orders, “Okay Rumble, on three you’re gonna kick the door in. One……….two…….”
Inside…
“Okay...if we stick together...nothing else should go wrong, right? Hahaha…” Sonata suggested.
“Y-yeah...sure…” Adagio did her best to avoid sounding afraid, but she was far beyond that now. With no phones and no way to find out where their friends were, it was tantamount that her sisters would be kepts safe.
Aria took deep breaths. “It’s okay...we’ll be fine...we just need to stay together...and search the house for our friends. Okay Vinyl?”
Vinyl was too angry to give a proper response. “Hm.”
BANG!
The sound of the front door being broken into boomed through the house. The girls all screamed again.
“AHHHH!”
In a heated panic, they scattered in random directions out of fear of being captured by whoever was at the door.
Aria in particular had taken shelter in one of the second floor bedrooms. But curiosity got the better of her. “I need to know just who it is…”
That’s when she heard voices from downstairs.
“Girls? We’re here to save you!”
“Come on out! We just need to see the fuse box so we can get the power back on!”
“Button...and the boys from across the street? Oh thank god. We’re saved!”
Aria ran out to the steps. “Boys! I’m up here!” But she was too late. All she saw was their weapons that flattered to the ground. Whoever had captured everyone was super fast! “No...no! Adagio! Sonata! V-Vinyl!”
No responses. Everyone had gone missing and now the purple girl was all that remained.
“I’M HERE!” she shouted loud enough for it to echo around the house, “YOU UGLY MOTHERFUCKER! COME GET ME I’M HERE!”
“Shit...goddamn that worked in the movies didn’t it…?” After her fit of rage, she leaned against the railing of the second floor in a huff of sadness mixed with annoyance. “You took away my sisters, my new friend, some innocent boys...What...what do you want from me?”
That’s when she heard rustling from outside…
“What?” Aria raced down the steps and hurried out the back door. The outside garden and pool reflected the blue hue of the night sky almost perfectly. There was nothing out of the ordinary that she could see so far, but her rage and sadness had nearly overtaken her. “Grrr...come on out you bastard! If you’re gonna kill me, at least have some balls!” she cracked her knuckles. This wasn’t the first time she had been forced to throw hands, so intimidation was second nature to her.
She stepped off the rear porch and into the yard. There was a gazebo where Vinyl usually practiced her music on the far end of the yard, along with a toolshed. Aria chose to check the gazebo first, and peeked around it. “Hmmm…”
From behind her, she wouldn’t realize that someone had been watching her the entire time. Someone atop the shed with a bow and arrow!
DINK!
“Ah!” An arrow with a suction cup attached to the tip had lodged itself into the gazebo’s wooden pillar, just next to Aria’s head. She jumped out of the way of the next one, and landed in the grass nearby. “Who the hell?”
When she looked up, she’d finally lay eyes on the culprit. A slender figure in an all black overcoat with a clown mask.
“C-clowns...shit…” she shuddered in place. Her fear of the honking performers was crippling, but she wouldn’t let that hold her back. She took a deep breath. “Come down here and face me you coward!”
They didn’t listen. All they did was aim another arrow down at the purple girl.
“Okay...so that’s how you wanna play...let’s play…” Aria got ready. Her fingers outstretched and twitched, as if ready to grab something.
The arrow was launched, and flew straight at Aria. But right before it struck her, she grabbed it out of midair and flung it right back at the person who shot it with twice as much force.
“...!” It struck them right in their creepy clown mask’s eye. Now they’d be stuck trying to remove it for a moment or two. This gave Aria the opening she needed.
“Hyaaaaah!” She ran at the shed, and rammed into it with her elbow hard enough to shake it. This sent the masked figure down in a tumble and into the dirt. They’d get up, only to be met with several punches to the gut and face from Aria.
“This is for my sisters….and my friends...you piece of shit! Where are they?!”
They didn’t answer. They simply held their hands up as a plea of peace.
But Aria wasn’t going to be fooled again. For a moment, it seemed like she would accept their offer. “Okay then...fine…” but at the last second, she grabbed the person’s hands and spun them around. Then she put both arms around their body and flipped them over her head and onto their back for a classic suplex maneuver.
“AGH!” A scream came from behind the mask.
Aria stomped her foot on their chest. “Time to see the sicko behind the mask. Then you better tell me where my sisters and their new friends are,” she removed the mask, and to her surprise, it was someone she knew from school! “Rainbow Dash?!”
The rainbow-haired girl had been dazed from the onslaught of attacks. “Yikes...guess that’s what I deserve…”
Aria lifted her off the ground, and shook her. “Where are my sisters?!”
“Ove-e-er th-e-e-ere!” Rainbow pointed to the shed, “Scoots!”
Scootaloo came out from behind it, with a sheepish smile and unlocked it.
The shed door opened and everyone exited. Maud, Trixie, Octavia, Vinyl, Adagio, and Sonata were first. Followed by Rumble, Pound Cake, Button Mash, and Sandbar.
“Ugh! Finally! I was getting cramped in there,” Adagio complained as she stretched.
Sonata squealed, “Aw, I thought it was fun!”
“Oh thank god you’re alive!” Aria ran over and hugged them both with each arm around one of their necks.
This surprised the two of them for a moment. “Uhh...Aria, are you alright? I thought you hated showing your feelings,” the eldest sister teased as she gave her a hug.
“Yeah, normally you’d be all ‘Ugh don’t bother me’ and stuff!” Sonata added with a small imitation of her violet sister’s voice, “But you really care about us enough to fight somebody?”
“Shut up. Of course I do,” Aria replied with a hint of disgust, “You two are all I have. If something happened to you both I’d...well, I dunno. But it wouldn’t be pretty.”
“Awww, hear that Adagio? She does care!”
“Finally. It only took us getting kidnapped to bring it out of her.”
“I...gah! You both are insufferable.” She folded her arms and looked away with a rosy blush on her cheeks, “But I guess there’s worse things in the world.”
The boys were already on their way out, as they wanted nothing to do with what had transpired here.
“You mean to tell me Rainbow was how we got beat so easily? She needs a nerf immediately,” Pound grumbled.
Rumble waved at Scootaloo as he left, “Eh, wasn’t so bad. At least I got a chance to schedule my next date with Scoots. And beyond that, it felt cool to storm a house like we did in the game.’
Sandbar nodded, “Yes, while it was a bit annoying to be taken out so swiftly. I do admit, the rush was rather nice.”
Meanwhile, Button Mash chose to make a final statement to the girls before he left, “You’re gonna pay for that, Dash!” and he grouped up with his friends, “Now I gotta explain to my mom how we got so far. Anyone have the time?”
Vinyl had overheard their conversation as they left, and went to confront Rainbow, “So wait...you used your superspeed and swiped everyone and brought them out to my shed? Not cool, man!”
“Hey! You gotta have a good slumber party crash under your belt if you wanna get in the yearbook!” she sat up and rubbed her head.
Octavia jumped in, “Well I hope this is a lesson to you, given the way Aria attacked you on our behalf.”
Maud also added her take on the situation. “Boulder’s not mad, he’s just disappointed,” and she went right back inside.
“Hmph!” Octavia left in a huff.
Trixie simply stuck out her tongue at the cyan-colored prankster and followed them inside.
The Dazzlings meanwhile approached her with less annoyed expressions.
“I’m sorry, alright!”
“Oh no, don’t be,” Adagio said with a wry look in her eyes, “because of your antics, I’ve grown closer to these other kids. So thanks, Rainbow Crash,” she teased with a giggle before she followed the others.
Sonata nodded, “Yeah! Tonight was a lotta fun! While we were in the shed, Trixie and I discussed her next show! We’re gonna perform in the park!” and she performed a cartwheel towards the house, which left Aria alone with her.
“Listen...what you did was crazy, idiotic, and absolutely insane,” she lectured the rainbow girl and gave a smirk, “but now...I feel like I’m starting to warm up to this idea of friendship. So I won’t suck out your soul. This time.” She hissed with massive fangs.
“Ahhh!” Rainbow got up and grabbed her orange friend’s arm, “Scootaloo! Let’s get outta here!” And they hightailed it out of the backyard.
Aria giggled to herself and removed the set of fake vampire teeth. “I still got it…”
In the weeks that followed….
Trixie and Sonata started to perform magic tricks for the enjoyment of everyone in class and those they could find on the street.
Adagio had formed a small group with Octavia Melody and her bandmates. It was a perfect way for her to earn extra money on the side.
Aria joined the school soccer team. Being the most athletic of her siblings, it earned her extra credit, and thus, extra time to spend with her sisters once they had finished with their new weekly hobbies.
The three met up together after school one day.
“Well...looks like we’ve found our callings, huh?” Adagio put her arms around her sisters. Sonata smiled wide and Aria rolled her eyes with a frown. “Tavia’s band is really fun to be a part of. Plus you get paid to play music. Who would’ve thought?”
“Mm-hmm! Being Trixie’s assistant is really fun too!” Sonata bounced in place, “We get to make people smile in awe at our tricks and she splits her profits with me!”
They both looked at Aria.
“What?”
“Well, come on. How’s it been?” Adagio asked.
“Soccer? Well, Dash is really good on the field. And so is Vinyl. They’ve been helping me. It’s...a good way for me to relax off of what bothers me sometimes,” the annoyed frown became a small smile.
Sonata squealed in delight when she learned of her older sister’s new exploits, “That’s the spirit, sis! This calls for a celebration!”
Adagio counted the money in her sparkling wallet. “...I’ve got just enough for us to head out for tacos. Who’s in?”
“MEMEME! Last one to the taco stand is a rotten eeeegg!” Sonata rook off.
Aria sighed and gave her sister a nudge, “Alright, I’m in. Just try not to eat half of ‘em. Your ass is fat enough as it is, A-dawg,” she snickered and started to run after her younger sister.
The oldest Dazzling nodded before she realized what Aria had said. Her pupils shrank. “There ya go--wait, what?! My ass is of perfect size you---ooh I’m gonna get you!”
“Let’s go, Sonata! I bet I can get there first!”
“Oh you’re on!”
The girls raced there, with Adagio running after one of them in particular. “Ariaaaaa!”
)