A/N: As with the previous story, there are some scenes I wrote ahead of time, but didn't use. These are a few of them.

I wanted to make this its own chapter, but decided it would be better suited here. This is Twilight's nightmare from the beginning of the movie. It was originally going to end once he "disappeared", but I wanted to come up with something to make that seem less dark.


Rainbow knocks on the door to Twilight's room. "Twilight! The bus to Camp Everfree leaves in ten minutes!"

For somebody as organized as she is, it's not like her to oversleep.

"I can't believe I overslept!" she says.

The door opens and we walk in. "I know," I say. "That's not like you at all."

"Don't you have a super annoying alarm clock that goes..." Pinkie makes the buzzer noise from an alarm clock, then lifts Twilight's pillow off her bed. There's an alarm clock under it, buzzing.

"Why is it under your pillow?" Olivia says. "I've heard of being on-time, but not literally sleeping on your clock."

I've heard of being on-time, but this is ridiculous!

"It's so I can hear the alarm more easily," Twilight says.

Okay, what? "That doesn't make sense," I say. "Sound travels faster through air than it does any solid object, even if your ear is against the pillow. You should know this!"

"No it doesn't! Sound travels further, not faster!"

"Whatever. The point is, it'd be easiest to hear if you put it next to your lamp!"

Sunset shuts off the alarm. "Don't worry about that," she says to me. She picks up Twilight's suitcase. "It's gonna be fine," she says to Twilight. "We'll help you pack." They throw a few things into the suitcase, including a flashlight, a cupcake, and a... photo of Rainbow. Gee, I wonder who put that in.

I just realized this is the first time I've been in her room. I look around. Two computer monitors in the corner, a model of the Solar System hanging from the ceiling, a bunch of books, all sorts of awards from Crystal Prep... and an aquarium? I didn't know she had pet fish.

"Let me just get changed."

With that, tour's over. "I'll wait outside." I leave the room, closing the door behind me.

For somebody who doesn't have a whole lot of stuff, her room's pretty big.

"Midnight Sparkle?!" That came from her room. Surely they don't mean that Midnight.

I open the door. Standing... or rather, floating in the middle of the room, is the form Twilight took when she released the magic her necklace container stole back at the Friendship Games.

"How is this possible?! Sunset helped me defeat you at the Friendship Games!" Wait, Twilight's still here? Aren't those two one in the same?

"You and your friends can never truly defeat me!" Midnight says. Does this mean Sunset's demon form is still out there somewhere? And the Dazzlings' true forms?

She laughs evilly, and then the area around her starts disappearing, square... by square... Rarity, AJ, and Rainbow start flickering, then dissolve away. What the hell?!

The same happens to Pinkie and Fluttershy. This is not what I signed up for!

Olivia clings to me in fear as Spike and Sunset disappear. Why did I get involved with this magic stuff?!

Olivia grabs my face and kisses me. Really?! Right now?!

...

Um... Am I dead yet?

Olivia's still kissing me. I open my eyes. It looks like we're outside.

"Mmm!" I push her off. "What was that for?"

"Sorry. I didn't know what was gonna happen, and in case that killed us, I wanted to get all I could out of my last couple seconds. I figured our lips connecting was a better way to go than cowering in fear."

"Well..." I clear my throat. "At least it didn't kill us."

"Yeah..."

Awkward silence. Never thought I'd experience this with Olivia.

"So where are we?" I ask.

We look around. We're standing in front of a house. "Back at my house," she says.

"I guess Midnight teleported us."

"We should get back to Twilight. Make sure she's okay."

We should, but... "No."

"'No'?"

"I was okay with all this magic stuff, but not after what just happened. If Midnight can teleport people in such a terrifying way, who knows what other evil entities could do. Maybe one of them actually can disintegrate us. Let the girls with magic deal with that. I'd rather not put my life in jeopardy without a way to defend myself. The easiest way to avoid that is to stop associating myself with them."

"So... you're not friends with them anymore?"

"Right. You can stay with them if you want, but I'm done with them."

"And your relationship with Sunset... Is that over, too?" I think I saw her smile a bit.

I sigh. "Unfortunately, yes it is." I remove the friendship ring and drop it.

She pulls me into a hug. "Oh, I'm so glad to hear that!"

Uh... "Wh-What?"

"I know I said I didn't have any feelings for you, and when we reconnected, I didn't. But after you hooked up with Sunset, I realized I still kinda like you."

"Really?"

She looks at me. "What do ya say, Flare? Wanna go back to the way things used to be? No magic, no drama. Just you and me."

Well... Since I'm back to having no other friends, and since I... actually do still like her, now that I think of it...

I smile, then return the embrace. "That sounds like a great idea, Liv." I press my lips against hers.

This is how it should've been all along.


A/N: This is an alternate recap I came up with. Instead of Cloudflare explaining everything to Olivia, he talks directly to the reader.


Pinkie, are you sure this is gonna work?

"Of course it will. I do it all the time. Well, not all the time. Just when the writers want me to."

So how exactly do I do it? Just start talking?

"Mm-hmm!"

*sigh* Okay, here I go... Ahem...

Hey, everyone. My name's Cloudflare, though you probably know that already. I'm 17 years old, turning 18 this summer, and I attend Canterlot High School. I have light orange skin – a shade or two lighter than Applejack's – and short blue-green hair. I've always thought that was an odd combination. Maybe I should dye it brown. Anyway, I wear a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans, except during the summer when they're shorts. I like playing video games, drumming, and hanging out with my friends. I'm the backup drummer for the Rainbooms, and Sunset Shimmer is my girlfriend. My relationship with her this past school year has been... a little complicated.

I'll start from the beginning. During my freshman year, I met Thunderlane, Blossomforth, Flitter, and Cloudchaser. We weren't close friends, but we sat together at lunch and occasionally would hang out after school. Last February, I saw a girl sitting by herself at a nearby lunch table. They told me she was missing part of her leg, and everybody either teased her or avoided her. Sunset essentially ruled the school at the time, and although Blossomforth said she would have no problem ruining the reputation of anyone who was seen with the girl, I didn't think she'd be that cruel. The next day, I saw the girl at her locker. I wrote a note, then slipped it in her locker when nobody was around. After school, we met up, talked a bit, and decided to hang out. Her name's Olivia, and she wears a prosthetic right leg. Her entire leg's not missing – just the area from slightly below the knee on down. Her skin is light grey and she has brown hair. She's really nice, although she used foul language a lot. I think she got all of it out of her system when she blew up at Cinch, because she's cut back on it since then. I'll get to that later.

Because of her rep, we could only go to her house or mine, which I was okay with. Sometime over the summer, I started to fall for her, and we became an item 2 weeks before the school year began. We couldn't have any proper dates, even in the city. I saw some CHS students in the city restaurants every time I walked by them. Eventually, we started going to a place at the same time, but we sat on opposite ends of the building. One day, we held hands as we left Sugarcube Corner – actually called the Sweet Shoppe, but somehow it got that nickname – a move that was really stupid in hindsight. I'm not even sure why we did that. Sure enough, somebody saw us: Sunset Shimmer. She uploaded a video showing the two of us, and then I became a target. I got teased for dating a crippled girl, and she got teased even worse. I could've blocked it out if only a few students did it, but it felt like the entire school took shots at me. I told Principal Celestia, but she kept saying she'd look into it. Nothing was ever done. We decided to break up and hope that would quiet them down. It didn't. It got so bad for her, she transferred to another school. With my friends now wanting nothing to do with me for the same reason they avoided Olivia, I was forced to deal with the torment alone. I spent most of my after-school time and weekends in my house.

A few months later, the school was hosting a musical showcase. The day before the event, a trio of girls known as The Dazzlings showed up in the cafeteria. They sang a song about changing the showcase into a Battle of the Bands, which got everyone arguing with each other except me. They noticed this, and they wrote a note telling me to meet with them. When I did, I told them why I wasn't arguing as well. Then they said they could help get back at the school for the months of torment. When they mentioned Sunset, that's all I needed to join them.

They told me they're called "sirens", and are from Equestria. They're similar, but not quite the same as the sirens from mythology.

"You don't have to explain that."

But what if somebody doesn't know what I'm talking about?

"Then they should stop reading, watch all of the movies, then come back."

Okay, so what else should I gloss over?

"*whisper whisper whisper*"

That's... quite a lot. I might as well just say the sirens were defeated, I became friends with you girls, Olivia returned at the Friendship Games, Sci-Twi stole magic, Sunset stopped her, and I asked Sunset out that night. On second thought, who am I even doing this for? I feel like I'm talking to myself.

"But you're not. Trust me."

I gotta go, anyway. Sunset wants my opinion on a new song she's writing.

"Wait!"

...

"He's not gonna use this, is he...?"


A/N: I used it here. Does that count?

I'm very disappointed I had to cut this one. It was written shortly after watching the FiM episode "28 Pranks Later". Seeing Rainbow so willing to prank anypony, especially Fluttershy, gave me the idea to have human Rainbow pull a prank on Olivia. I wanted this to happen at the beginning of the day Gloriosa goes mad with power. Unfortunately, once I got to that part of the movie, I had other plans for Olivia, so I couldn't use any of it.


"You are so dead!"

I look at the path to the girls' tents. Rainbow is running from something. "Sheesh, calm down! It was just a prank!"

Olivia is hopping after her. She's not wearing her prosthesis. "You wanna see a prank?! Get your ass over here!"

I sigh. Really? I walk over to them. "What's with the yelling?"

"It's Dash's idea of a prank!"

"Come on!" Rainbow says. "It was pretty funny!"

"No it wasn't! You're no better than the other students!"

"Calm down," I say. "What did she do?"

"She snuck into my tent while I was sleeping, took my prosthetic leg, and put it on the roof of the cabin!"

...

"Go back to the cabin and tell Gloriosa, but don't mention Rainbow. I'll talk with her."

She angrily sighs, then hops back to the tents. I turn around and walk up to Rainbow. "Are you proud of yourself?"

"What? Don't tell me you're upset about it, too!"

"You went too far. She told me the day we got here she was worried about one of the girls sneaking into her tent while she slept. I said our friends wouldn't let that happen. I didn't think one of those girls would be a friend."

"It was just a prank, dude. She's overreacting!"

Overreacting? Seriously? "No, if she was overreacting, you'd be in the infirmary right now."

She chuckles. "You think she could beat me up?"

She doesn't get it. "Why am I even wasting my time?" I walk back to my tent.

I sit on my bed. I know Rainbow can get a little out-of-hand with her pranks, but I didn't think she'd stoop that low. I should make sure Olivia's okay. I get out my phone and call her.

"Hello, Cloudflare." Rarity answers Olivia's phone.

"Rarity? Uh... How is she?"

"She's really upset."

I can hear her sobbing in the background.

"Why would Rainbow think pulling that type of prank on Olivia is a good idea?"

Rarity sighs. "She only thinks about the prank itself and doesn't take into consideration how the person being pranked might react."

"She might've just lost a friend because of it. Even if she apologizes, I can't see Olivia wanting anything to do with her anymore."

"Okay, campers!" Timber announces. "Time to head to the courtyard!"

"I gotta go," I tell Rarity. "Try to keep Rainbow and Olivia separated."

"That shouldn't be too hard," she says. "I already told Rainbow to stay away from our tent."

"Thanks. I wish I could be there for Olivia."


A/N: Up until I started on the epilogue, I had planned for Cloudflare to take part in Trixie's magic show. I tried to think of something spectacular, but also simple for a new assistant to pull off. I eventually decided on a "trick gone wrong" illusion where it would appear that he gets seriously hurt, complete with fake blood. Even with making it clear that he's in on the trick and no harm actually comes to him, I wasn't comfortable using it in a K+ story. I dropped the trick idea, as well as everything to do with him taking part. Below is the only full section I wrote.


The four of us arrive at the docks. There are five picnic tables, two logs acting as benches, a building with two canoes on the side and two sailboats in the water next to it, and a long dock going out to the lake.

"Hey Cloudflare!" Trixie is waving to me. "Get over here!"

"Wonder what she wants," Olivia says.

"Dunno," I say. "Maybe she wants to gloat about beating me at the Battle of the Bands again." She always reminds me at least once a week, and it's a bit annoying. I walk over to her. "What's up, Trix?" I sit next to her.

"First, don't call me that ever again. Second, I called you over because I wanted to ask you something. How would you like to be in Trixie's magic show?"

Really? "Me? How come?"

"You expressed interest in Trixie's performance. She figures it's only fair that you play a part in it."

"What will I be doing? Get cut in half? Disappear from a giant chest? Catch a bullet with my teeth?"

"Well, definitely not the last one. The show would be shut down before you even got into position and Trixie would probably get suspended."

"Good point."

"I haven't thought of your act yet. Meet me tomorrow at 4:00 PM behind Garnet tent and we'll discuss it further. Don't tell anybody about this. I don't want people thinking I'm taking auditions to be in the show."

"Alright. My lips are sealed."

"Good. Now get outta here."

I stand up, then walk back to Sunset.

"What were you two talking about?" she asks.

"She wanted to know why I was interested in her magic show." I know she'd keep it a secret, but I feel if I told her the truth, it would somehow get back to Trixie. I kinda don't want to tick her off.


A/N: This is an alternate version of Olivia and Cloudflare's discussion about his power. It's told from Olivia's POV, and was supposed to go after their suit discussion. After realizing it would work better at the ball, I moved it and rewrote it from Cloudflare's POV.


"Rarity told me you can't do much to men's suits. It doesn't take a lot to make one look garish. Even your magic pendant thingy is pushing it." I notice it's missing. "Where'd it go, anyway?"

"It's in my pocket." He takes it out. "I don't know if I want to keep it. The girls' abilities are useful, but mine isn't."

"You don't know for sure."

"Course I do! It didn't do anything against Gloriosa!"

"That's because she was protected by Equestrian magic, just like the girls were at the Battle of the Bands."

He sighs again.

He probably won't like this idea, but... "How about this: You hold onto the pendant, and you can practice using your ability on me."

"Practice?"

"The sirens could use their singing to manipulate others, right? And you did the same thing to try calming Gloriosa. Why not figure out exactly what you can and can't get others to do?"

"Well..." He looks uncertain. "I don't know... It would be nice to figure out how this stuff works, but I don't feel right using you as a lab rat."

As I expected. "After what happened yesterday, I don't blame you. I'm giving you my permission, though. I..." I can't believe I'm about to say this... "I want to be your lab rat."

He looks at me in shock. "Wh... Why?!"

"I feel like your mind-control singing can be useful. You just have to figure out how. The best way is to try it out on someone. Anything you can think of, I'm fine with."

"But why are you fine with it? You thought you were losing your mind when it happened yesterday!"

"Yesterday, I didn't know why I was acting that way. And, well... I truly believe you can find a positive way to use your power, and offering myself as a test subject is my way of showing just how much I believe in my BFHS."

"'BFHS'?"

"Best Friend in High School. I'd call you my BFF, but BFFs rarely stay best friends forever."

"I take it you know from experience." He's spot-on. Stupid Sky Writer...

He closes his eyes. I'm not sure why doing that helps people think. I guess it helps you focus on your thoughts. That, and looking up. I wonder which one is more effective...

After a moment, he opens them and sighs. "I don't know..."

"Tell you what. Think it over for the rest of the week, and let me know by the end of camp."

He shakes his head. "You're really persistent sometimes... Fine, I'll give it some thought."

"Awesome! Now, come on. We could use a little more help cleaning up the dock debris."


A/N: When LoE was announced, some thought it could've been a summer trip instead of a school trip. I was honestly hoping it was a summer thing so I could finally continue the first story's epilogue. This is an extended and updated version of it, and it would've happened two weeks before the trip. After the first trailer, any chance of that happening was shot down. I had been thinking about retconning the epilogue for a while, and once I decided to have Cloudflare siren up during the "Gloriosa Everfree" part, I was able to go through with part of it. He still gets a drumset on his birthday, but none of them are surprised by the siren-up. Well, none of his friends.


"Thanks again for helping me clean out the hamster habitat," Fluttershy says.

"No problem. I had a hamster as a pet, so I'm kinda used to this stuff."

"Are you sure you can't stick around?"

"I'd love to, but I have to help Pinkie make muffins for an upcoming party." I check the clock. "Actually, I need to be there pretty soon."

"I never expected somebody would be so busy on their birthday."

I walk toward the exit. "I just think of it as another normal day. Yes, I celebrate it, but I don't like making a big deal out of it."

"I see..."

As I leave the rescue center, I tell Fluttershy I'll see her later. I get on my bicycle and head for Sugarcube Corner. Well, it's actually called the Sweet Shoppe, but most of the students use that nickname. It fits with the whole Wondercolts thing.

Hang on... Pinkie wants me to help her with a party on my birthday. Is she...?

Nah. I already told her I'm not a party person. Besides, I made her Pinkie Promise she wouldn't throw one for me. She has to honor that.

I arrive at the bakery and park my bike. I open the door and Mrs. Cake welcomes me.

"Hi, Mrs. Cake. I'm here to help Pinkie."

"She's upstairs. Second door on the left."

"Upstairs?" Why would she be upstairs? The kitchen's on the main floor. I walk upstairs and find the door.

Wait a second... Seriously, Pinkie? Without opening the door, I yell to the people on the other side. "Hey, Pinkie Pie! If you wanted to surprise me with a party, you should've met me in the kitchen, then sent me up here!"

I open the door, and I can see everyone is disappointed. "Aw... You're no fun..." Pinkie says.

I look around. There are balloons, streamers, and a cake. I appreciate she went with my cupcake birthday cake idea, but still... "Pinkie, I told you not to throw a party for me. You even Pinkie Promised."

"Oh, I didn't do this. I would never break a Pinkie Promise."

"The rest of us put this together," Rainbow says. "You think you could be just a little grateful?"

"Sorry, Rainbow. I told Pinkie that I don't like parties."

"Well, don't think of it as a party," Applejack says. "Think of it as spending your birthday with friends."

"I guess..." Only five of them here. "No Twilight?"

"She would've loved to come," Rarity says, "but she forgot her brother and his wife's baby shower was today."

"Well, family does come first." Awful timing, though. "What about Sunny?"

"She's getting her present ready," Rainbow says.

"Olivia?"

"She's running a bit late," Fluttershy says. "She should be here soon."

"Now come on!" Pinkie says. "Let's get this not-party started!"


***Later that day***

"Why can't you tell me what it is?"

"Because it's a surprise," Rarity says.

"Not even a hint?"

"You already ruined one surprise," Pinkie says. "You're not ruining this one!" Pinkie walks behind me, and my vision is obscured by a pair of hands.

"Come on, is this necessary? I promise I won't peek."

"We don't trust you," all five say.

We continue our walk to Applejack's house... or rather, they continue walking me there. After a couple minutes, we stop, and I hear a door open.

"Okay, ready for your present? One... Two... Two and a half... And... Three!" Pinkie moves her hands and I open my eyes. I see a drumkit. It has a big orange bow on the front of the bass drum.

Oh my gosh! I... I don't know what to say... I walk up to it. The shell is red and yellow.

"So you like it?" Pinkie asks.

Like it? "I love it!"

"I knew you would."

I turn around. Standing behind me is Sunny. I immediately pull her into a hug. "Thank you so much!"

We kiss. "Well, I couldn't have done it without everybody's help."

"How'd you know I wanted one?"

"I know you like playing Pinkie's spare kit, but you can't use that one forever. I couldn't afford this on my own, so I asked the others to pitch in as well."

I look at the others. "Thanks, everyone. This is definitely the best gift I've ever gotten. If I could kiss all of you, I would, but I don't think my girlfriend would be too pleased."

"How about you kiss me once for each of them?"

"That works." Sunny and I kiss seven times. "And one more for you." This one lasts a bit longer than the others.

"Alright, alright. Enough of this lovey-dovey stuff," Rainbow says.

"Aw, what's wrong, Dashie? Jealous?" Sunny teases.

"Me? Jealous? No way! This is getting too mushy for me."

"I'm with Rainbow," Pinkie says. "The story's tagged 'Romance', but don't jump into it at the start. You gotta wait until at least the midway point to keep people reading."

"Pinkie, I don't think that's what she – Wait, story? Midway point...?"

"Don't bother," Rainbow says to me. "It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie."

I really want to figure this girl out, but I'll save it for another day. Right now, I have a drumset to try out.

I wonder if they'll let me do this today. "Hey, AJ. Do you have a speaker dock?"

"Yeah, I do. Why?"

"I want to play a song. I figured since today's my birthday, you girls would finally let me play this one."

"Uh-uh, no way!" Rainbow says. "We already told you you're not playing anything from the sirens while we're here!"

"It's just this one time! Besides, what does it matter?"

"It matters because we're the Rainbooms, not the Dazzlings!"

"I'm the only one that'll be playing! Also, it's partially my song! I wrote the damn drum line!"

"Um, maybe we should let him," Fluttershy says. "I mean, it is his birthday."

"I agree with Fluttershy," Rarity says. "I don't see the harm in it. He's not a siren." The others nod in agreement.

Rainbow sighs. "Fine..."

"Alright!" Applejack gets out a speaker dock as I look through the songs on my phone. I decide to go with "Welcome to the Show". I'm glad I transferred the original mix to my phone. I set the song to play when someone taps the screen, and I put it on the dock.

I sit down at the kit. I play a short beat to make sure it sounds good. I give a thumbs-up to show I'm ready, and Sunny starts the song.

As I'm playing, I still can't believe I have my own drumkit. As I reach the heavy part, I start really getting into it. It's been three months since I last played this song, and I'm playing with just as much intensity as I did that night.

When I finish, I notice everybody staring in surprise. "What?" I look behind me. What the...

I see a pair of bat-like wings. "Wings..." I put a hand on my back, and I can feel their bases. "Siren wings..." I move my hand to my head. "And pony ears..." I look at the others. "I'm not hallucinating, right? I actually have these?" They nod. "Well... This is gonna take some getting used to."

"Why do you have those?" Two people force their way past the Rainbooms. It's Adagio and Aria.

"Why do I have what?"

"Don't play dumb," Adagio says. "The ears and wings. You're a human, not a siren."

"And these girls are humans, not ponies. Well, most of them."

"What's your point?" Aria asks.

"Twilight's magic rubbed off on them, so I assume your magic rubbed off on me."

"Why are you even still here?" Rainbow asks them. "Didn't you get booed out of town?"

"We only got booed off-stage," Adagio says. "Besides, this is the only place in this world that we know. Why would we leave?"

"Maybe because everybody hates you?"

"They were probably laying low," I say. "It worked for me when I had to endure all that teasing."

"What Cloudfire said," Aria says.

"Cloudflare," I correct her.

"Whatever."

Adagio starts walking toward me with a grin. "How interesting..." She reaches a hand toward my shoulder, and I quickly grab her arm.

"Don't even try. These are my powers now, and I'm keeping them." I stand up, let go of her arm, and walk toward the Rainbooms. "Even if I did give them back, these six would defeat you again, so save yourself more humiliation."

She growls angrily, then grabs Aria's wrist. "We will get our magic back." She drags her out of the garage.

I sigh. "Guess they'll never change. Kinda surprised Sonata isn't with them."

"What were the Dazzlings doing here?" Olivia walks into the garage, then notices my ears and wings. "And why are you ponied up?"

"I'm not sure. I started playing the drumset you girls got me, and then these appeared. Adagio and Aria happened to walk by as that happened." I feel my wings disappear.

"If their magic rubbed off on you," Applejack says, "why didn't you pony up 'til today?"

"Hm..." The Battle, the Friendship Games, the drumset... They have to be connected somehow.

...

Maybe... "Perhaps when the sirens were holding onto my shoulders, a small amount of their magic got transferred to me. When Twilight was absorbing AJ's magic, my hand slipped into it while trying to close the device. After that, my singing voice improved, probably because your magic mixed with theirs. Pinkie's magic most likely rubbed off on her drumset, which was enough to keep the siren magic from activating. Once I played my new drumset, there was nothing holding the siren magic back, and I ponied up with siren wings."

After a few seconds of silence, Olivia speaks up. "That's the most I've heard the word 'magic' in a single conversation."

"That's an interesting theory," Sunny says, "but was that really all it took?"

"That's all it took for Spike to start talking, so why not the same for my singing?"


A/N: As noted before, I gambled on the movie being over the summer. In this scene, Sonata would've made a proper appearance and she & Cloudflare would have a catch-up talk. After I found out it was a school trip, I had to scrap the entire meeting, reducing her appearance in the story to a brief cameo.


Is that... "Sonata?"

The two-tone blue hair, the spiky hair band... "Cloudflare?" Yup, it is. "OMG! It feels like ages since we saw each other last!"

"Says the centuries-old siren. What are you doing here?"

"I come here one weekend every summer. It's a nice place."

"What have you been up to lately?"

"Nothing much. After bending others to our will for so long, it takes a while to get used to living normal lives. Dagi and Aria got jobs at some restaurant. I tried getting a job at Taco Haven. I figured I love tacos so much, working there would be perfect."

"You didn't get it?"

"I got it, but I quit. They wouldn't let me have free tacos or even an employee discount! The nerve of them!" she says with a pout.

"Why didn't you ask them about that in your job interview?"

"They were doing it 50 years ago. I assumed they still did it today."

Good point. "Well, good luck in your job search."

"Thanks."

"Speaking of 50 years ago, have you heard this story about Gaea Everfree?"

"Yeah, Timber tells it every year."

"Is there any truth to it?"

"I don't think so. We never came out this far when their great-grandparents were alive, but I haven't sensed anything out of the ordinary."

"That's a relief." Oh right, I almost forgot. "Also, I saw Adagio and Aria last week."

"Yeah, I heard Dagi grumbling about meeting you."

"Why weren't you with them?"

"I stopped hanging out with them. The only reason I stuck around after we were banished was because we were the only sirens in existence. Dagi is okay, but Aria would get on my nerves." Aria got on Sonata's nerves? From what I saw, it was the other way around. "We still live together, but we're not on speaking terms. So what about you? I know you have our magic."

"Yeah, but I can't do anything with it. I can sing, but I can't get people to do what I want." I scroll through the pictures on my phone.

"Couldn't you sing before?"

Where is it... "I've never been a good singer. Not as bad as you girls without magic, but not good enough to win any karaoke contests." There it is. I show her the picture of me with siren wings and pony ears.

"Hm... The wings look nice on you, but the ears..."

"I'm not a fan of them, either. My girlfriend likes them, though."

"I noticed the ring. So you and your old flame got back together?"

"Well... Not exactly. You know about the Friendship Games?"

"The competition between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep that CHS has never won?"

"Yep. Turns out when she moved away, she started attending Crystal Prep. We reunited during the Games, but we decided to stay just friends."

"Aww... But you two spent so much time together..." She sounds disappointed.

"Yes, and we also spent so much time apart. Besides, after the Battle, I started to fall for Sunset Shimmer, and I asked her out after the Friendship Games."

"Sunset Shimmer?" She looks confused. "Didn't she discover your past relationship, force you to break up, and make you hate the school so much, you were immune to our singing?"

I sigh. "I haven't forgotten all that."

"So why are you dating her?"

"That was the old Sunset. The new Sunset's smart, talented, pretty, and really fun to be around."

"Does your ex still have feelings for you? The two of you only broke up because you thought it'd stop the teasing, right?"

"Like I said, we spent a long time away from each other. I didn't feel that spark when we reunited, and neither did she. We agreed that it wouldn't work out, but we could stay friends."

"I see..." Sonata's being real chatty today. It's hard to believe she used to be a siren from Equestria. "Speaking of friends..." She glances down at her feet. "I've been thinking about what you said after the Battle. To be honest, those two were never really my 'friends'; more like 'acquaintances'. That's why I don't hang out with them anymore. I tried making friends with some of the students at your school, but they didn't want anything to do with a former siren. Since you're the only human we've had in our group, well... I want to take you up on that offer." She smiles and holds out her hand. "Can... Can we be friends?"

I don't know... She's not a siren anymore, but neither is Adagio. That didn't stop her from threatening to get their powers back. Making me think Sonata's changed could be part of her plan.

Then again, this is Sonata Dusk, the girl who didn't know an apple from a grape. If this is part of Adagio's plan, she would've let it slip by now, at least from what Sunny told me. Besides, would Adagio really trust Sonata with something like this? I know Aria wouldn't.

"Cloudflare?"

Perhaps she has changed her ways. "Okay." I shake her hand. "I'll give you a chance."

Her smile grows wider. "For realzies?"

I nod. "Everybody deserves a second chance, and I did mention being friends back then. Just don't try any funny business."

"Wouldn't dream of it! So what should we do first?"

"Uh..." She seems a little too excited about this. "Well... I kinda need to get back to my other friends."

"Oh..." she says, disappointed.

"How about we meet up on Tuesday at Taco Haven around noon?"

She perks up. "How'd you know I always go there on Tuesdays?"

"Lucky guess?" She doesn't remember telling me tacos are her favorite food?

"Well, Tuesday's perfect! I usually eat there by myself, so it'll be nice to have someone to talk to."

"Alright. See ya then."

"Bye!"

I walk back to the others. I hope I didn't make a mistake doing that.