"What do you mean, they grew BACK?" Sunset shouted. "We had to stop your evil magic, and broke your gems into little bits...but it was all for nothing?"
Standing with one hand on her bikini-clad hip, Adagio smirked. "Don't worry, we've learned our lesson. We decided to...go into a different line of work."
"What are you talking about?" Sunset seethed.
Adagio waved her arm dismissively. "If you really want to find out what I'm talking about...the show starts at three." She pointed at a cinderblock building, with an underwater scene painted on the side in bright colors, and a sign that said 'Flora Da Mermaids Show.' "Ta-ta!" She blew Sunset a kiss, and dove into the nearby pond.
Twilight came out of a snack shop, carrying two hot dogs and two sodas. "Sunset? Were you talking to someone?"
"Yes." Sunset glared at the pond, and at the 'mermaid show' sign. "And I guess we're going to THAT."
"Um...ok? I mean, if you want to." Twilight smiled, thrusting a hot dog at Sunset. "But I think you might be less grumpy if you eat something."
Sunset grabbed a hot dog and a soda, and stomped towards the building. Twilight hurried to catch up to her.
***
After paying the admission price, Sunset and Twilight walked through a turnstile and down a hallway. Around a corner, a stairway led downwards. At the bottom, a large basement had rows of plastic chairs, facing a wide picture window that gave an underwater view of the pond.
"Wow!" Twilight said. "This is amazing!"
Sunset growled, "It's a basement. Haven't you ever seen a damp basement before?" She inhaled. "And it SMELLS like one too. We came all the way to Flora Da to visit a MOLD exhibit."
Twilight touched Sunset's arm. "But in Flora Da, basements are really rare! This might be the only basement within a hundred miles of here! It's because the water table is so high. This basement must be really well sealed against leaks!"
"Twilight..." Sunset snorted. "You really are something. How can you ENJOY something like this?"
Twilight blushed. "I don't know...I guess I just do. It seems like I always have fun, when we do things together."
Sunset looked away, at the window into the pond. "I guess I have fun too. Even if this is just some stupid tourist trap."
Through speakers mounted on the wall, a voice said, "Ladies and gentlemen...presenting...the Flora Da Mermaids!" Canned music started to play.
"Where did they get those tunes?" Sunset whispered to Twilight. "A 'Most Generic Pop Music Knockoffs' clearance sale?"
Twilight shrugged. "Maybe they can't sing so well anymore. Adagio said the gems grew back, but maybe she was bluffing. Maybe she was afraid of us and trying to put up a big, tough front. Like a puffer fish!"
Sunset tried to stifle her laughter. "The things you come up with."
In the pond, three women wearing fake mermaid tails over their legs swam into view. People applauded. A little girl squealed. "Mermaids!" she called out. "Hi, mermaids! I want to grow up to be a mermaid too!"
"I think I'm going to vomit," Sunset grumbled.
"Aww!" Twilight said. "I think it's cute. That little girl is cheering for the Dazzlings, and I don't think they've made her hate anyone at all."
Sunset growled, "Yet."
As music played, the Dazzlings swam in an underwater dance, sometimes separately but in synch, sometimes holding hands and doing group acrobatics.
"Ok," Sunset admitted, "This isn't bad."
Adagio swam up to the glass. She winked at a young man in the front row, and wriggled her hips. She blew him an underwater kiss. The woman sitting next to him looked angry, leaning forward as if to partly block his view.
Aria approached the window's other end, where she positioned herself to offer a view partway down her bikini top. She puckered her lips, as if yearning to kiss the boy she fluttered her eyelashes at. Another couple reacted, whispering angrily at each other.
"Oh," Twilight said.
Sonata waved at the little girl, picked up two stones from the pond's bottom, and juggled. She smiled and wiggled her 'tail' in the least sexy way possible, along with the music's beat.
"At least Sonata doesn't seem so bad," Twilight said.
"Yes. She's too stupid to be good at evil."
Twilight gripped Sunset's shoulder. "Is that really what you think of her?"
Sunset sighed. "No. She...seems nice. I think she really wants the kids to have fun."
Meanwhile, Adagio and Aria flirted with more audience members, seeming to enjoy the bickering. A woman grabbed the man she'd come to the show with, and dragged him out by the arm. Several other people left too, squabbling and complaining as they went.
The little girl didn't notice any of this, because she was fascinated by Sonata's antics. Sonata lifted a crawfish from the mud, and coaxed the creature to walk from one hand to the other, starting and stopping in time with the music.
"This is silly," Sunset said. "And kind of horrible."
The music ended. "Show's over, folks," the recording said. "Don't forget to visit the gift shop on your way out." The Dazzlings waved goodbye, bowed, and swam away.
The audience exited the basement, some hurrying, some lagging a little. Soon, though, the basement was empty save for Sunset and Twilight.
"Well," Sunset said. "I suppose it could have been worse."
"Yes," Twilight agreed. "I'm sure it could have been."
What Sunset and Twilight had thought was a closet door opened. "Our most devoted fans!" Adagio smirked. "Since even before we were the Flora Da Mermaids. And you traveled halfway across the country just to see little old us!" She walked into the room, her hips swaying. "Why are you still here? Were you hoping to get a special private show?" She leered.
"Adagio." Sunset frowned. "Why are you here?"
"I WORK here, my MOST DETERMINED PRACTICALLY A CROSS-COUNTRY STALKER. Me and the other two Dazzlings own this building. Maybe the question should be, why are YOU still here? You haven't even bought another ticket."
Aria entered the room. "Yes, Sunset. What ARE you doing here? Can't you get enough of us?" She approached the two visitors, and touched Sunset's head, playing with her red and blonde streaked hair. "I can feel how excited you are, Sunset. How you're practically...burning up with desire."
Adagio's lips touched Sunset's cheek. "Aria is right. Sirens feed on emotions. You can't hide anything from us. When we're so close to you, you're...practically naked." Adagio's lips moved down to Sunset's neck. "Mmm. You are SO delicious, Sunny. Let us eat you up. You know you're hungry for it too."
Sunset flushed bright red. "No!" she shouted. She lurched sideways, grabbed at Twilight's wrist, and pulled her friend towards the stairway. "Let's go, Twilight. Let's get out of here!"
In the closetlike doorway, Sonata whined, "Aww! Why didn't I get to play? I wanted to tease Twilight! She seems really nice! And super repressed, too!"
As Sunset dragged Twilight up the stairs and out of the building, Twilight struggled to keep up. "Sunset? Sunset, are you ok?"
Sunset didn't answer until they were outside. "How DARE they?"
Twilight took a deep breath. "It's ok, Sunset. Don't let them get to you." She hugged Sunset. "Don't let them keep you angry. Just remember you're better than that."
"No," Sunset said. "It's not just that."
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.
"It's because...they're kind of right. I am...burning up. Full of...you know."
"Full of what, Sunny? Are you ok?" Twilight looked into Sunset's eyes. "You don't really have the hots for them, do you?"
"Well," Sunset said.
"Oh my goodness. You don't really...I mean...?"
Sunset's hands gripped Twilight's shoulders. "Twilight...I have a confession. I do have the hots for someone...but not THEM. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Um...forgive you for what?"
Sunset said softly, "The way they wanted me to feel about them...that's how I feel about YOU. That's how I've felt about you for MONTHS." Sunset pushed Twilight away. "I have no right. No right to hug you like this, while the way I really feel about you is....is...not 'just friends.'"
Twilight giggled. "Sunset? Sonata said something, while we were leaving. I don't know if you heard."
"She...um...something about you being repressed?"
"Yup." Twilight smiled. "Maybe I DO need someone to help me come out of my shell, so I can admit how I really feel." She grasped Sunset's hand. "I want to hold hands with you, more than I want to hold hands with anyone else in the whole world. That's how I feel about you."
Sunset's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yes, really. And maybe, someday...or some NIGHT...maybe a little more than just holding hands."
Sunset blushed pink. "A little more? Like...nuzzling?"
"Sure," Twilight giggled. "That's an Equestrian thing, right? You should show me how it's done. You could even nuzzle with ME a little." Twilight giggled again. "Oh, Sunset. I've never seen you look like this before."
Sunset stepped closer to Twilight. "That's because no one else can make me feel like you do." Sunset's nose touched Twilight's.
Twilight glowed with joy. "I am SO happy. Nuzzle me like a real pony. Nuzzle me a LOT."
