Aria woke up the next morning because of Sonata's loud snoring, like usual. Her ass was still sore and it immediately reminded her of the terrible event last evening.

She rubbed her butt cheeks and swore vengeance upon her sadistic elder sister. Not that she would ever do such a thing.

She also smelled cigarette smoke and that made her want to smoke as well.

With an annoyed groan she finally got up and looked at her ass in a mirror. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight. Strokes over strokes went all over her ass and it certainly looked like Adagio has put real effort into her punishment. After all, she still kinda felt it.

“Celestia dammit, Adagio! How am I supposed to get laid the next few days!? Everyone will think that I'm into erotic spanking, which I'm NOT! Not as the receiver anyway...”

Aria dressed into comfortable everyday clothing and unlocked the door. She really didn't want to face Adagio, but she couldn't lock herself away for all eternity.

Aria Blaze peeked around the corner into the kitchen. Adagio was sitting at the kitchen table, wearing her headphones and reading glasses while she scribbled something on a notepad. Aria hesitated; she was considering just going back into her room. After last night's punishment, she wasn't ready to face her sister just yet.

Aria was jolted from her thoughts, however, when her sister addressed her.

“Good morning. Sleep well?” Adagio asked.

Aria stepped out into the doorway a little bit, but didn't meet her sister's gaze. She looked down at the floor, nervously shuffling from one foot to the other. What did her sister have in store for her this morning?

Adagio put on a gentle smile and pointed to the chair opposite to her.

“Sit down please. I won't bite you” she assured her purple younger sister.

Aria reluctantly did as she was told. She still felt ashamed after the previous evening. Most of all, though, she dreaded having to face Sonata after all the terrible things she had said to her.

“Want some coffee?” Adagio asked her, still gently smiling.

Aria nodded and Adagio poured her a mug. She wondered where her sister was going with this.

“Smoke?” Adagio offered.

Aria took the proffered cigarette, and Adagio lit it for her. She was puzzled by how nice her sister was being to her. It was as if the night before had never happened.

“Thanks, I guess...” Aria mumbled.

“You're welcome. Anyway, I still need to set some things straight with you. First of all, you will apologize to Sonata as soon as she gets up. And it had better be sincere, too. Understood?”

Aria didn't like it, but what was she supposed to do against it? It was practically an order coming from Adagio and after last night, she didn't feel like she was in any position to refuse. She sighed and hung her head.

“Yes, ma'am” she said, put down her coffee and took another drag on her cigarette.

“Don't call me that, it makes me feel old. I may be by far older than any of these silly humans, but so are the two of you. Anyway, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. I want you to start acting your age and stop picking on Sonata. A bit of friendly teasing every now and then is fine, but lately you've been downright cruel to her. That's going to stop from now on or you will face the belt again, I can promise you that much. The choice is yours and yours alone.”

Aria said nothing in reply, and Adagio continued her lecture.

“How would you feel if someone treated you the way you've been treating Sonata? You wouldn't like that much, now would you?”

Aria put out her cigarette and stared down at the table.

“Look at me when I'm talking to you. Sonata is the most fragile of the three of us, so you need to be more mindful of her feelings. I know it's in our nature to spread discord, but we need to maintain a bit of harmony within our own little family. We won't achieve much if we're always at each others throats over trivial things like fruit punch or tacos, especially not after what happened last night.”

Aria thought about what Adagio was telling her. She had to admit that her sister was right.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. She wanted their pendants, their power back just as much as Adagio did, and she wasn't just going to roll over and die.

The Rainbooms had taken away what she loved most, what all of the Dazzlings loved most - singing. Back in Equestria it was their special talent, even before they discovered the ancient tome with the instructions on how to create and use the crimson pendants. The more she thought about it, the more it made her blood boil.

The snoring coming out of Sonata's room, which both of them had long ago learned to tune out, suddenly stopped. A couple seconds later, they heard a loud crashing noise.

“What in Tartarus was that?” Aria asked.

“Go check on her, and then bring her here. I need to explain to you two my plan to restore our amulets…” Adagio ordered, “… or rather, to create new ones.” she added thoughtfully.

Not really wanting to face Sonata yet, but unwilling to contradict Adagio, Aria sighed and reluctantly went to her younger sister’s room and knocked at the door.

“I'm okay! It's open!” Sonata answered.

“Sonata, it's me. May I come in?”

The silence that followed felt like an eternity to Aria, who was already on edge. Finally, Sonata opened the door. She stared at Aria blankly for a moment, but then her face brightened right up.

“Sure, come on in!” she said cheerfully.

Aria would never be able to fully understand what in the name of Celestia was going on in her younger sister’s head. She cautiously took a few steps into Sonata's room, which looked like it had been ravaged by a tornado, careful not to tread on any of the junk strewn about – especially not on any of Sonata's used sex toys. Aria had no idea how her sister could be so completely and utterly shameless.

Sonata plopped back down on her bed and sighed.

“Just five more minutes until I have enough energy, then I'll come to get breakfast, alrighty?”

Aria sat down on Sonata's bed. She was unsure what to say first. She didn't really want to apologize to Sonata, but she was too afraid NOT to do as Adagio had told her. She didn't want to have another run-in with one of her big sister’s belts ever again.

“Listen, Sonata... I... uh, wanted to apologize to you for my behavior yesterday. I was really angry after what happened at the Battle of the Bands, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I don't really know what to say... I’m sorry. Please forgive me?”

Sonata didn't say anything at first, but all of a sudden she leapt to her feet and embraced Aria in a genuine sisterly hug.

“Okey dokey! Apology accepted!” she said cheerfully. This was one of Sonata's greatest strengths. She just couldn't stay mad for more than a few hours most of the time, or a couple of days at the absolute most. Aria breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her back.

“I know I haven’t been very nice to you lately, but I want you to know that I love you just as much as Adagio does” Aria added.

“Oh I know that, silly! That was just Aria being Aria! I love you too! Now let’s eat!” Sonata answered her.

She finally released Aria from the hug and turned toward the exit. As Sonata carelessly headed for the door, she slipped on one of her dildos and came crashing to the floor.

“OW! I'm okay!”

That would explain the noise we heard coming out of her room earlier, Aria thought to herself. She helped her sister to her feet, and they carefully left Sonata's room together. Once in the kitchen, Sonata got herself a heaping bowl of fruit loops, poured in some milk, and sat down to eat.

“Did Aria apologize to you?” Adagio asked her. Sonata looked up, still chewing a big mouthful of cereal, and quickly nodded before swallowing and continuing to devour her breakfast. Aria lit up another cigarette, sat down, and leaned back in her chair. She felt much better now. Maybe she had deserved that punishment…

Adagio put down her pen and spoke up.

“I'm glad you two made up. We need to be able to rely on each other, for better or worse. Anyway, I wanted to explain my plan for getting our amulets – and thus, our power – back.”

She readjusted her reading glasses and held up her notepad.

“We need to give this Sunset Shimmer a closer look – or rather, an investigation. From all we heard about her, she's a former Equestrian just like us. I don't know how she got here in the first place, but we're going to find out. For right now, she's our primary target. We need as much information about her as possible. My guess is that there must be a portal to Equestria somewhere in this town. After all, that purple bitch has been to Earth twice and I highly doubt that she was banished here.”

“Hey! I'm purple too!” Aria complained.

Adagio just rolled her eyes.

“You know who I mean. Anyway, that's all you need to know for the moment. Aria, I know of a very good private investigator whose office is nearby. I want you to go and hire him to spy on Sunset Shimmer for us.”

Adagio reached behind her, opened a drawer, and pulled out a wad of cash. She handed it to Aria, who took a long drag from her cigarette as she looked at the stack incredulously.

“That's $5000. Hire Blood Hound. He's the best private sniffer I know. He's expensive, but he’s worth every penny. Tell him that Adagio Dazzle sent you and that he should report directly to me.”

Adagio tore a piece of paper off her pad, wrote down Blood Hound’s address on it, and gave it to her sister. Aria just looked at the money and the paper in bewilderment.

“Like, right now?”, she asked.

Adagio smacked her forehead and gave Aria an annoyed look.

“No, next years Christmas! Of course right now! The sooner we hire him, the sooner we get the intel we need to deal with that bacon-headed cunt!”

Sonata, who had just finished her fruit loops, piped up.

“What about me? Do I get to go with Aria? Follow Sunset Shimmer around and take pictures of her? Go on a mission to capture her so we can interrogate her in our secret lair?”

Sonata struck a pose like a secret agent from a TV show and pointed her finger at her sisters like a gun, making little “pew, pew, pew” sounds and pretending to fire it.

Adagio just stared at Sonata until she stopped. She pointed dismissively toward Sonata’s room.

“No. You'll stay here and clean up that disaster. I'm sick of it” Adagio replied.

“But that's so boooooring!” Sonata whined.

“No ‘buts’! Move your little ass and clean it, and for the love of Celestia, put your sex toys away when you’re not using them! If you don’t clean your room, I will, and if I have to do it then all of the junk lying on the floor is going straight into the garbage!”

Aria couldn't help but giggle at Sonata's expense.

“She's right, Sonata. Your room is the worst.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, I'm surprised you can sit down at all today!” Sonata shot back.

Adagio groaned and smacked her forehead and glared at the two of them. Aria flinched, took the money, and went to her room to dress up and do her hair. The last thing she wanted was to provoke her older sister again.

Aria took the city bus. Thankfully, no one recognized her – it was a weekday, so everyone who had been at the Battle of the Bands was at school right now. She idly watched the Canterlot cityscape pass by, and after half an hour she finally reached her stop. It was at the edge of the city, practically in the suburbs. She pulled out her phone and checked the GPS. Blood Hound’s office was only a couple blocks away, but she decided to smoke a cigarette anyway. Just as she was coming up on her destination, an old man addressed her.

“That's very bad for you, miss! My son died of lung cancer, you know...”

Aria cut him off very rudely.

“Mind your own business, you old coot, I don't give a fuck. Now get lost!”

The old man was too stunned to say anything at first, staring at her with his mouth agape. After getting over her shocking rudeness, he turned away and walked off in a huff, muttering something about “kids these days.” Aria finished her cigarette, then dropped it on the sidewalk and stomped it out. After checking her GPS one last time to make sure this was the right place, she walked up to the building and pressed the buzzer.

“Yes? How may I help you?” a woman’s voice came out of a speaker.

“Is this the office of Blood Hound? I want to hire him.”

“Just a moment please”, the woman said.

A loud click indicated that the door had been unlocked, and Aria pushed it open and went in. Following the signs up a flight of stairs, she found herself standing in front of a door with a plaque that read 'Blood Hound,' and underneath his name was inscribed 'Private Investigator since 1984'.

She tried the handle, but this door was locked as well.

“Seriously? What is this, a fucking bank vault!?” Aria asked nobody in particular.

She knocked loudly on the door, and a woman’s voice responded.

“Coming!”

The door opened, and a friendly-looking old lady stood before Aria.

'About fuckin' time', Aria thought.

“Do come in. My husband is a bit busy at the moment, but I’m sure he’ll be able get to you within the next hour or so. Please, have a seat,” the old woman said, indicating a row of chairs lined up along the wall.

“AN HOUR OR SO!? Are you kidding me? Look, I ain't got time and I definitely ain't got the nerve to sit around here waiting for your boss, or husband, or whatever!” Aria yelled.

The old lady furrowed her eyebrows and replied in a more serious, less friendly tone.

“I’m sure your time is valuable to you, but he’s making some time-sensitive calls for one of his cases right now, and I can't rush him – not for you or anyone else.”

Aria rolled her eyes and pulled out the money Adagio had given her to hire Blood Hound.

“Look, I've got here $5000 in cash, and there’s a lot more where that comes from! I’m sure whatever the hell he’s doing right now, he can spare 10 minutes to talk to me. Right. Fucking. NOW!”

The old lady reached out for the money in Aria’s hand.

“Ah ah ah! No touching until I see Blood Hound!” Aria said, putting the money back into her handbag.

The old woman gave her a sour look, then went to her desk and whispered something into an old intercom system. Aria strained to hear the conversation, but couldn’t make anything out until the woman finally stopped whispering.

“All right dear, I’ll send her right in,” she said.

“Blood Hound will see you now, Miss...?”

“None of your business”, Aria replied coldly.

The woman shook her head and muttered something incomprehensible. Aria ignored her. Not even bothering to knock, she opened the door and barged right in. She recoiled in shock from what she saw next.

“Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!” Aria yelled.

Blood Hound was sitting at his desk glaring at her. He was the old man she had met on the street!

“If you weren’t paying in cash, I'd throw you back out onto the street. My fee is $2500 a week. Take it or leave it.”

Aria rolled her eyes, pulled out the wad of cash, and threw it onto Blood Hound's desk.

“Here. $5000. Adagio Dazzle sent me. You report...”

Blood Hound cut her off.

“I know. Status reports every day, plus immediate reports of anything unusual.”

Aria nodded.

“Good. What do you want me to do?” Blood Hound asked and pulled out a notebook from his drawer.

“I need you to spy on a teenage girl by the name of Sunset Shimmer. I don't have a picture of her, but I can describe her to you. Her hair is red with a yellow streak, like fatty bacon, and she has tan skin and green eyes. She usually wears a leather jacket and an orange skirt. Oh, and she attends to Canterlot High. I think that should be enough, and I don't really know anything else about her, anyway…”

'Or at least, nothing that you would believe anyway, even if I told you' she thought to herself.

“We want you to keep watch over her and gather every single bit of information you can.”

“I know my job!” he snapped. “Now if you’d be so kind, get out of my office and never show your face here again!”

Aria shrugged and left without another word. She just wanted to go home and take a nice hot bath. She hated dealing with these stupid, inferior humans. All most of them cared about was money. They’d do almost anything for enough of it. It was a convenient way to get what she wanted, but it just felt so dirty. She would much rather control them with magic. Hopefully Adagio’s plan would take care of that soon enough…

Aria didn’t know how her sister planned to fix their amulets, or why it mattered how Sunset Shimmer had come to this world. She did know that Adagio was the most cunning member of her family, and she trusted her to get their magic back. Aria was looking forward to crushing those detestable Rainbooms beneath her heel like the insects they are.

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