Pocket Change

Chapter Music

Dazzlings

Aria jimmied a small lock open with an audible click, letting out a content sigh as she did so. She had been at it for a few hours now, practicing opening the locks she had been given in under forty seconds each. To her delight, she had managed to successfully do just that. Now that she had learned this, she was somewhat excited for the next lesson from the thief. It occurred to her at this moment that she didn't even know her trainer's name.

"Aria, will you stop messing around with whatever it is you're doing," Adagio groaned, "some of us are trying to sleep."

Satisfied for the night, Aria put her items inside her duffle bag, pulling it in close so that she could use it as rest support, closing her eyes. As the silence grew in the van, Aria felt a tugging sensation on the base of her hoodie.

Aria languidly opened her eyes. "What is it?"

To her surprise, it had been her older sister trying to catch her attention, not her younger one like she had expected. It was unlike Adagio to act so timidly.

"Hey, uh, is everything alright?" Adagio asked, a hint of concern lacing her voice.

Aria was a bit shaken by this, Adagio had a streak of being callously overprotective in the name of "Doing what's best for everyone," so this was out of the usual.

"I'm fine," Aria said in her usual tone.

"Are you sure? You've been acting...weird." Adagio lamented.

"Yeah, you've been leaving more and staying out way later than usual. You're also a lot quieter," Sonata chimed in sheepishly.

Aria hadn't planned to worry either of her sisters; she made a mental note to act more casual in the future.

"I'm fine, really...it's just that, after we got robbed, it...affected me, you know?"

Aria felt her sisters sit up, Adagio placed a hand on her arm. "We've been robbed before Aria."

Aria shook her head, shrugging off Adagio's hand as she sat up to face her sisters. "I know, but this was different. In the past, we had our magic. We could catch whoever robbed us with ease, sometimes being robbed wasn't even a concern. Now, look at us." Aria said as she waved a hand around the tour van.

Before her sisters could say anything, Aria spoke up again. "And the guy who robbed us? He made a complete fool of me."

"Aria..." Adagio reached out a hand again.

Aria laid back down, rolling over to face the side of the van, stillness consuming the space. A familiar shuffling sound returned, as something Aria hadn't expected to happen took place. Aria was suddenly dragged to the middle of the van, Adagio rolling over her, as her sisters wrapped their arms around her from both sides, saying nothing. She struggled against their grip slightly before giving in. It was a sensation she hadn't known she had missed. Occasions like this were rare, they hadn't even embraced like this when they were first banished from Equestria. It was...nice.

"Hey," Aria uttered.

Her sisters hummed in response.

"I think I want to go back to CHS," Adagio's and Sonata's grips tightened around Aria every so slightly in response.

The Next Day...

Change

That's twice now that I've been caught in the span of a few days. The first time was my fault, but the second...well, that was just cheating. Then again, who am I to decide what's fair?

I'm still a bit sore, but I'm far better off than before. Right now I'm in the middle of finishing up a set of pull-ups. Straining my arms for the last pull-up, I completed it and allowed myself to fall to the ground. The moment I finished, however, I heard a familiar voice from behind. "Hey, you're back. Didn't see you yesterday."

I turned around, already knowing who it was, Flash Sentry. "Yeah, I was feeling a bit," I trailed off as I noticed something bone-chilling just beyond Flash on the other side of the gymnasium, "sick."

"You good man?"

No, I wasn't. Walking through the entrance to the gym was Aria, sporting a familiar compression shirt and sweats. What was she doing here?

Aria looked around the gym wearing a bored expression for a bit before her eyes landed on me, her mouth curling into a fiendish grin. Slowly, yet methodically she began making her way over to me. A sudden snap pulled me out of my horror-stricken state.

"Dude?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. What'd you need?" I asked Flash, still a bit on edge.

"I just wanted to know if you were interested in a game, Rainbow's at it again," Flash said as he pointed a thumb at a very cocky Rainbow Dash performing stretches.

Aria's here now, I don't know what she's planning, but I doubt I can stop her. I might as well take my mind off things. "Yeah no, I'm down for a game or two." I stammered out.

It's been maybe fifteen minutes since the game started and Aria has yet to stop watching me. She's sitting in the bleachers, watching me, studying me. I snuck glances over at her during key points in the game, and her expression only ever changes whenever I do something. It's a look of pride or confidence? I can't quite place it.

This game's going far different than last time. Although I'm a bit sore, I'm completely outperforming my past self since I last played. Rainbow Dash seems to be genuinely going all out this time, but her teammates are becoming more discouraged as a result.

After a while, the game ended with an overwhelming victory; 30 to 18 in our favor. My team ran in my direction, crowding around me as they cheered my name. Many high fives were exchanged, leaving my hands a bit in shock. The celebrating didn't last long though. Through the praise, we all heard someone clear their throat rather loudly.

The team turned around, revealing that it was Aria who had been standing there waiting. "Mind if I join?"

Flash looked at her then back at the team. "Um, I don't think we have any room on our team."

Aria shook her head and pointed over at a deflated Rainbow Dash on the ground, a few teammates walking over to the bleachers. "I meant her team."

"Sure?"

Aria walked over to Rainbow Dash, to have a conversation I couldn't hear. Rainbow Dash's face went from one of defeat to confusion, and finally to one of confidence. Aria stuck her hand out, which Rainbow Dash took as she stood up. I had a bad feeling about this.

I advanced slowly as I dribbled a basketball while Aria made it a point to stay on me. I picked up speed, performing a Eurostep delay, behind the back crossover only for the ball to vanish from my possession. Whipping around, I noticed something strange. Aria was now dribbling the ball, but her movements were familiar. They were...mine.

This pattern went back and forth. Each time the ball was stolen, I threw in more moves that I was sure would throw her off, but she never wavered. It wasn't until I switched over to more of a free-form style that I broke through her nigh-impeccable defense. After getting a few points ahead, Aria had already adapted scoring a few points of her own. I'm sure to the rest of our teams, it looked more like a 1 on 1, but she was really pressing me.

I couldn't help but smirk at her impressive display of skill. So this is what overwhelming talent looks like... I guess I'll have to close the gap before she can adapt.

The game had ended with a score of 31 to 26 just in time for the class period to end. We all celebrated and all that jazz; I had attempted to get out of there and head to lunch before Aria noticed. Needless to say, she's following me now. I slowed down a bit to match her pace.

"Aria, what are you doing here?"

"What, can't I go to school?"

"I'm pretty sure you and your sisters dropped out."

"And we came back," Aria stated nonchalantly.

I walked through the cafeteria doors, letting out a defeated sigh. "Alright fine, but why are you following me?"

Aria simply shrugged in response before she started waving just beyond me. It was her sisters who were already seated at a lunch table. "See ya around, Change," Aria said smugly.

Wait, she didn't know my name until now? Of course...the cheering.

After acquiring my lunch, I turned away from the server only to stop dead in my tracks. All the way across the lunchroom was Rarity with her hands folded in front of her face as her eyes bore into me. Did she recognize me? No, it couldn't be. wearing completely different clothes and I had a mask on at the time.

As Rarity stared at me, her friends seemed to notice her strange behavior, looking over in my direction as well. Rainbow Dash waved enthusiastically beckoning me over. Her sportsmanship was so overbearing it would be rude to ignore her, but Rarity was right there, and all of her friends were staring at me.

Feigning composure, I walked over to their table, taking a seat beside Rainbow Dash who promptly nudged me the side with her elbow. "No need to be so shy, that's Fluttershy's job."

The girl I assumed was Fluttershy sank into her seat a little, her cheeks flushing red.

I twirled a fork around between my fingers. "These your friends?"

The answer was pretty self-explanatory as everyone at the table introduced themselves. Twilight, I knew for sure had some magical nonsense going on. I was at the Friendship Games when everything went to hell. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna tried to convince the student body that it was all practical effects, but I doubt half of us are that naive.

Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the first to ask me anything. "Um, what's your name?"

Crap, if I lied, Rainbow Dash would think something was up, she already knew my name. But if I told the truth, Rarity would know for sure that I'm the same individual for yesterday... screw it, she probably already knows.

I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet on this one. "It's Pocket Change."

Rarity's expression changed to one of satisfaction upon hearing this.

"So, you finally decide on joining the team, or what?" Rainbow Dash asked expectantly.

As a matter of fact, I had. "Yeah, I'm down. Registration is after school in the gym, right?"

"That's what I like to hear! Yeah, it's after school in the gym."

I should get going, Trixie's probably waiting. "Well," I said as I stood up, "it was nice meeting all of you. can't keep a friend waiting too long."

"Goodbye, darling, see you soon," Rarity called after me.

I simply gave a contented wave and smile, when really, I was feeling pretty tired. I need to relax a bit with Trixie.

As I reached the Theater room door, I heard something that instantly sent me into fight or flight. It was Trixie screaming for help.

I placed my tray on top of the waste disposal bin and rushed inside the theater room only to see Trixie hanging from the ceiling beams by her cape with her eyes shut tightly. How the hell did she get up there? Trixie has a fear of heights, what was she trying to do?

"Hang on Trix! I'm here!" I yelled as I ran toward the stage, vaulting over the ledge and surveying the situation.

Trixie was at least ten meters off the ground. A fall like that with no directional momentum other than downward definitely wouldn't end well. As a parkour enthusiast, this was something I was very familiar with. Looking around, there didn't seem to be any obvious way of getting Trixie down safely. The only way to save her would be to pull her up from the beam itself.

"Trix, how long can you hold on!?"

"I-I don't k-know!" She stammered out.

Well, crap, it was a race against an invisible clock. "Alright, hang tight!"

Running to the back of the stage, I began searching for some way to get up to the stage lights. In my desperation, I spotted a ladder that just so happened to lead to scaffolding that seemed to lead all the way around to Trixie. Climbing them as fast as I could, ran all the way around to where Trixie was and peered over the ledge.

"I'm gonna pull you up now, alright?"

Trixie vigorously nodded her head, eyes still closed. Leaning over the edge, I extended my hand out, gripping the edge of the cape caught in between the girders. As I began pulling up, my heart sank as the sound of fabric tearing filled my ears.

"What was that?!" Trixie yelled.

I couldn't tell her, she would only panic and that wouldn't make the situation any better.

"Nothing Trix, just try to reach out to me," I urged.

While still holding on with one hand, Trixie extended a hand out to reach my own. In one motion, I released my grip on the cape from one hand, and reached out, grabbing her hand in my own. Unfortunately, at that moment, the cape tore completely, causing Trixie to violently panic, pulling me over the ledge with her as a result. In an instant, we were falling to our demise. I pulled Trixie into a hug, placing myself between her and the stage floor.

Wait a second, I might actuallly die from this... oh well. I'd rather it be me than her. Not to be a downer, but I never exactly saw my life going anywhere good. Don't get in twisted, it's not like I wanted to die, I just wouldn't be all too upset if I did.

I closed my eyes, accepting my fate, but after a few seconds, all I heard was a faint wind chime-like sound of sorts. I opened my eyes, wondering if I had maybe gone to the afterlife, yet I was still holding Trixie while looking up at the stage lights. I swore I could almost see a faint blue glow just in front of my face, but it vanished before I could fully make it out. Once the glow had vanished, Trixie and I had fallen the remaining distance of about two feet, knocking a bit of air out of me.

The sound of the theater doors closing caught my attention. As I shakily lifted my head, I caught a hint of indigo hair slipping through a crack in the doorway.

Rarity? Did she save us?

My thoughts were interrupted by the quiet whimpering of Trixie, her grip still tight and her eyes still shut. I tapped her back a few times. "Trix, it's fine now, but...you have some explaining to do."