Stuck

A quite dramatic scene played out in Canterlot mall where several teenage girls had gathered...

"PINKIE!" Sonata screamed, tears running down her face, "HELP ME!" She fell to her knees dramatically and held a hand over her heart.

"I'VE GOT YOU!" Pinkie yelled in response, pulling a life preserver from her hair, "GRAB ONTO THIS!"

A few yards away Aria held her palm to her face. The others all had varying looks of annoyance and amusement, but it was obvious Aria was done with the whole situation.

"Okay," The purple siren growled, "Who's idea was this again?"

"Better question:" Sunset started, "How and why did Pinkie have a life preserver in her hair?"

"Well..." Fluttershy began.

One hour earlier

"This is going to be so much fun!" Pinkie Pie cheered, bouncing up and down, "Shopping and friends! Could this be any better?!" She paused for a moment, thinking about her own question. "Oh-OH! We could--"

"No party." Sunset Shimmer held up a finger and pointed it at Pinkie, "We want the sirens to not run away in fear, remember?"

"Oh yeah... Maybe next time, then!" Sunset rolled her eyes good-naturedly as Pinkie began bouncing again.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Rainbow asked, jogging backwards in front of Sunset, "I mean, what if they try something?"

The group of friends was walking towards the Canterlot mall. They were meeting up with the sirens, who had agreed to hang out with them on the condition that they got free lunch out of the deal. Obviously Rainbow thought they had other motives, while the other girls weren't quite sure.

"Like what, Darling?" Rarity asked over Sunset's shoulder, "They have no magic, remember? They're only teenage girls now. And as terrifying as that is, it's certainly nothing we can't handle."

"Well said, Rares." Applejack added, "We can handle 'em. If we can reform Sunset, we can reform th' sirens, too."

"That's the thing, though." Rainbow fell into step with Sunset, "There was only one Sunset--" She placed an arm around said girl's shoulders, "--but there are three sirens!"

"That's a good point." Sunset nodded, "More work this time. And we've seen the hive mentality they have..."

"M-maybe we should split them up?" Fluttershy whispered.

Sunset turned to the shy girl. "What do you mean?"

"W-well, you see..." Fluttershy it turns out had a whole plan for reforming the sirens, and by the time she outlined it her friends had all agreed to it.

"So, y'all know what to do, then?"

"Rainbow and I get Sonata!" Pinkie was practically vibrating in excitement, and Rainbow flashed a thumbs-up.

"Rarity and I get Adagio." Rarity and Sunset shared a smile.

"An' that leaves Flutters and I with Aria." Applejack winked, "We all should meet up at the food court in, say, an hour?"

"Two o'clock." Sunset provided, glancing at her phone's clock.

"Alright!"

"So it's Fluttershy's fault." Aria deadpanned, her left eye twitching slightly. The shy girl 'eep'ed and hid behind Applejack, who stepped in front of her protectively.

"Wait," Sunset cut in, "What about the life preserver?" She wondered if Pinkie had it the whole time, and just kept it in her hair. While it may seem ridiculous, there was a good chance that's what happened.

"I can answer that." Rainbow said, reluctantly. She glanced over to where Sonata and Pinkie were, seeing a crowd around them. She sighed, "You see..."

Moving on...

"You see..."

"Ooh, oohh, let's go look in the Pineapple store!" Pinkie skipped in front of Sonata and Rainbow, directing them to the pure white store.

"Don't they sell, like, computers and stuff?" Sonata asked, confused, "Why would we go there?"

"Good point, Sonata," Rainbow nodded, "We should go to Flaming Issue instead!"

"I love Flaming Issue!" Sonata grinned, "Have you seen their Taco-Cat stuff?!"

"Well, C'mon then! To Taco-Cat!" Pinkie grabbed them both by the wrist and they ran through the mall, over to where Flaming Issue was. The mall was particularly crowded that day, and Rainbow had to apologize several times when they ran into someone. They got weird looks everywhere they went, and Rainbow hoped no one would recognize her.

"Ooh, look! They have Hazard O'clock stuff!" Pinkie and Sonata giggled as they picked up matching yellow stuffed dogs. Rainbow, on the other hand, was looking for Fortunate Idol merchandise.

"LOOK!" Rainbow winced and nearly dropped a figurine when she heard Pinkie's excited squeal. Turning around she saw Pinkie precariously perched on the top of a ladder, reaching for an unknown object on top of a shelf.

"Pinkie, be careful!" Rainbow ran over to the ladder and grabbed it just as it began to wobble. This gave Pinkie enough time to reach up and grab whatever item she was after and swiftly climb down the ladder, bowing as a few patrons clapped.

"Don't you know ladders are for employees only?" Rainbow sighed as her words went unheard by the pink and blue girls.

"What is it?" Sonata asked, holding the item. It looked like a pink donut at first, but it had loops and a rope tied around it.

"It's a life preserver!" Pinkie grinned, "It's soooo cool!"

Rainbow face-palmed. All of that for a lousy ring of rubber?

"This could come in handy one day!" Pinkie giggled, and the other two made no objections as she went to buy it.

"Honestly," Rainbow said to Sonata, "What is she talking about?"

"I have no clue, but you guys are a lot of fun! In fact--" Sonata was interrupted by a cry and the incredible noise that a falling ladder made on the other side of the store. Both stood in awe as Pinkie rushed by them, pulling them along.

"Let's get out of here!"

"I heard that crash, too!" Rarity said, "Remember," She turned to Adagio and Sunset, "When we went to TMG?"

"Yeah, I remember." Adagio snickered, "That was just after bacon-hair here got in a fight with a rack of CDs."

"Ugh, not this again!" Sunset growled turning to Adagio, "I swear, someone pushed me into that display!"

"Uh-huh. A likely story." Adagio smirked and crossed her arms. Sunset felt heat in her cheeks as the siren looked at her, and soon realized the others were watching them as well.

Seeing Adagio's smug grin and the curious looks on the others' faces, Sunset sighed. "Fine, here's what really happened..."

Fighting

"Fine, here's what really happened..."

Sunset, Rarity, and Adagio walked along in an awkward silence. Sunset tried to get a conversation going a few times, but Adagio seemed dead-set on ignoring her. Fluttershy had been right about at least this Dazzling. Adagio seemed lost without her backup.

"Should we go to Too Many Games?" Sunset asked, hopefully.

"Sounds fine by me. Adagio?" Rarity gave a hopeful smile to the siren.

"Hmph, whatever." Adagio shrugged, seemingly uninterested. Sunset and Rarity shared a look before setting off in the direction of the store. When they got there Sunset paused in front to look at a display of used CDs while the other two went in.

"Whoa, Distorted Tour!" Sunset grinned when she saw the discounted CD just out of reach. Carefully she leaned her weight on the side of the case, reaching for the CD. She had just gotten the edge of the CD's case in her grip when she felt someone shove the small of her back and swipe her feet out from under her. She had no time to suspect foul play because in one swift motion she landed flat on top of the display case.

With a crash and a yelp, Sunset found herself on the ground surrounded by CD cases and promotional posters. Rarity rushed over to her and helped her up while several employees began picking up the display and setting it back up. Both girls received several dirty looks for their troubles, and Sunset limped off to the side with Rarity.

"Are you okay, dear?" Her friend brushed her off and straightened her hair.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Sunset sighed, "I think someone pushed me."

"Who would do such a thing?"

Looking around, Sunset frowned. "Could have been anyone, I guess. Where did Adagio go?" Both girls glanced around, and became a bit frantic when they couldn't find the siren. Sunset spotted a mop of orange hair and they headed towards it, and luckily it was Adagio.

Laughing.

"What's so funny?" Sunset scowled, knowing full well why the siren was laughing.

"You are." Adagio grinned, "I mean, I'm an instigater and all, but not even I would pick a fight with a display case!"

Rarity giggled a bit at the idea, and Sunset crossed her arms. She had a sneaking suspicion that Adagio knew more about the accident, but before she could say anything, a large 'Bang!' sounded somewhere near by. A few moments later everyone began rushing out of the story, and the three girls were pushed out with them.

"What was that?!"

"Was that a bomb?"

"I just don't know what went wrong!"

"We're under attack!"

People everywhere shouted as they all tried to figure out where the noise had come from. A few security guards attempted to calm everyone down, but the mob mentality had already taken over.

"Let's get out of here!" Sunset said, grabbing Adagio by the arm and following Rarity as they began to run.

"I have a feeling one of our idiots is behind this." Adagio frowned.

"Please don't use the term "Idiots", it's not very nice." Rarity frowned.

Sunset felt a bit left out, so she frowned as well. Just then, the power overhead flickered out. They heard screams and shouts from various storms before some kind of back up generator kicked on, and it was bright again.

"Well, that could have been worse." Sunset smile. Adagio's lips twitched, but before she could say anything she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie's screams. They all shared a panicked look, and ran to the source of the shouts.

"Wait wait wait." Rainbow looked to Applejack, Fluttershy, and Aria. "What have you three been doing this whole time?"

"Harassing all of you." Aria said simply. The others went wide-eyed at this confession.

"Actually, Flutters'n I lost track of Aria right after we all split up." Applejack admitted, "We've been looking for her."

"What do you mean, 'harassing us'?" Sunset glared at the purple siren, who smirked.

"Well..."

Aria Reveals All

"Well..."

"Okay y'all, let's go do somethin' fun." Applejack grinned.

"What do you suggest we do?" Fluttershy smiled at her friend.

"I dunno. Got any ideas, Aria? ...Aria?" The two looked around and found themselves short one siren. Applejack face-palmed.

"Great! Already lost her."

"We'd better start looking for her... Maybe she would be in the pet store?"

"Good'a place as any, I suppose..."

In fact, Aria had ducked into Flaming Issue not long before. She didn't really want to hang out with any of the Rainbooms, and was determined to avoid them altogether.

Well, except for one Rainboom, who was leaning over a display of CDs... A little fun couldn't hurt...

Aria saw her chance, and when Sunset leaned over Aria pushed the small of her back and kicked out her left foot, turning Sunset into a kind of lever that soon toppled over.

Aria was gone before Sunset could even look up. She watched from a good distance away as Rarity came over and helped Sunset up. Aria felt a tinge of--was that jealousy?--as she realized Rarity truly was Sunset's friend.

Maybe it was best for the Dazzlings to befriend the Rainbooms. It might make their lives better, like it did Sunset's... But that was really no fun. Aria liked her delinquent behavior, and she wasn't about to stop just because some magical teenagers told her to. They were all a bunch of loosers. Speaking of which...

"Losers." She snickered to herself as she saw Sonata and Pinkie nearby. She realized Rainbow would be close as well, and kept an eye out. She was almost spotted by Rainbow Dash, but Pinkie provided a distraction at just the right time. Aria smiled as Sonata and Pinkie seemed so amused by a simple ring, but shook her head and scowled.

Not befriending them.

Pinkie walked by, too distracted by the life preserver to notice Aria. The purple siren, however, saw a chance to cause some real trouble. With some quick thinking she knocked the ladder over onto a large display, causing a domino effect though out the store. The sounds was incredibly loud, and caused many people to rush out of the store.

Aria laughed to herself as she jogged to keep up with the crowd, disappearing.

"You're a real jerk." Sunset crossed her arms and scowled, looking almost like she was pouting.

"Don't take it personally, Bacon," Adagio rolled her eyes and gestured to the other siren with a flick of the wrist, "She's always like that. Towards humans, at least."

"Humans are the worst." Aria agreed.

"Stop calling me bacon." Sunset told Adagio. Said siren only smiled.

"SONATAAAAA!" Pinkie pulled on the life preserver she had tossed her new friend, "I'VE GOT YOU!"

"Oh, right," Rainbow said, "And then Sonata got stuck..."

"On th' escalator...?" Applejack raised a brow, "She knows she could just start walkin', right?"

It was true. Pinkie and Sonata had fled out of Flaming Issue and gone straight to the escalator. When the power went out, however, the escalator stopped, leaving Sonata to believe she was 'stuck'.

"I told you our idiots were up to something." Sunset blushed as Adagio nudged her side.

"Well," Sunset glanced around for a clock, "Anyone else hungry?"

The others nodded and began walking back to the food court. A few arguments broke out as they walked away, ignoring the rest of the people in the mall.

Meanwhile, Pinkie finally pulled Sonata to the top of the escalator, and with an eccentric flair she dipped and kissed her. The applause from the crowd drowned out their friends' bickering. When they were done and the crowd dispersed, Pinkie realized everyone was gone.

"Where did everyone go?"

"Who cares!" Sonata grinned, "Let's go have some real fun!"

Author's Notes:

I don't know how, but in the process of writing this I became a fan of Sunset/Adagio.

Why me?

Also... Please don't take this fic too seriously. It in no way reflects my other works... Okay, maaaaaybe a little ;3