Before Babs even made it to the room, her phone was ringing and tone reflecting off the wooden hallway walls. Without looking, Babs stopped and pulled it out of her bag of belongings. She didn't bring much, but there was a bit of something in there she treasured most. After pulling out her phone, Babs answered it and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"You actually nagged Magenta?!" Applebloom yelled.

Babs had to pull the phone back a little but answered, "Well actually..."

"I told you Sweetie. She didn't actually nab her yet."

"We actually started dating as of a few minutes ago." The line went silent for a few moments. Babs knew what that meant. Apple Bloom's brain was broken. She pushed open the door and strode into the massive library while Apple Bloom continued to process.

"You're joking." There she was.

Babs giggled and shook her head. "Nope. I think we're goin' on a date tonight." Babs jumped into a blue bean bag by the door and relaxed.

"You have to be joking. We're asking Bright tonight when she comes over."

Babs rolled over and eyed the ceiling. "Yeah, she wasn't here, so... Good luck."

"How's Color Flash?"

Babs turned her head to the door and answered, "Magenta's speaking with some clientele at the moment somewhere around here."

"Wait, you're there with her?" Diamond Tiara asked.

Babs answered proudly, "Yeah, she's letting me camp out. I just hope my boss doesn't call and ask me to come in because he simply saw the paper."

The only sound inside of Magenta's first floor kitchen was the sound of Magenta shaking up a large juice canister in her hooves next to Drawn Out at a marble kitchen table. It was round and large, giving everyone enough elbow room. The kitchen like the rest of the house was expensive. Steel appliances and expensive decorative items. Not to mention some gold.

Magenta set the canister down on the table and said, "Bright and I don't usually use this kitchen. We use the one upstairs on the second floor."

Deep Light looked around at all the fancy decor. The marble, shiny objects, fancy plates and table. As well as the large backyard with a skatepark, swimming pool, a lot of things beyond the wall made of windows next to them. Deep Light gulped and said, "Your home is like a castle."

Magenta shrugged and poured some juice into one of the seven ponies' cups nearby. Then walked around the table and replied, "Eh, my friends say that too. It's a bit too big but I have a reason for everything. Or else I would just be wasting my time. Let's get straight down to business. I'm pretty sure you all got my letter about your fairest wishes coming true: Collaborating with Magenta Streak and Bright Snow. The Gold Sisters. Correct?"

While they all bugged out at the amazing flavor Magenta's juice delivered to their tongues, Brush Tail, a stallion with a red coat, mane, and white striped mane and tail nodded and answered, "Yes, ma'am. We've been anxiously waiting for this day."

"So I can tell. He wants to hear exactly what I'm talking about." Magenta motioned with his hair towards an attentive Light House. Then hopped back into her seat and recklessly tossed the canister back into the sink. "Now. I'm also quite certain you know about Canterlot's... Underground?"

Deep Light nodded and answered, "Yes, I've had multiple encounters with the Canterlot Elite."

"Yeah, well they're at war with the Manehattan Elite. They're waiting for us to slip up so they can—"

Brush Tail raised his hoof and interrupted, "Excuse me, Ms. Streak. But you speak as if you are part of the Manehattan Elite. A lot of ponies say that you aren't. Is that true?"

Magenta made a whine and shrugged, "It's so-so. I am apart of the Manehattan Elite, but I like to stay out of it to the point where I'm not seen. The only time I really use my power is if I am extremely ticked off, or I need something somepony can supply and ask for it, then they ask for an over-exceeding sum. So basically, just don't make me upset and you won't meet... my Manehattan side. So back to the situation. The reason I called you here is because—you are all officially the first ponies to hear this that I don't know very well..." Magenta leaned in and whispered, "Bright and I are leaving Starfire."

Deep Light accidentally spit all over the table while the others had their own forms of surprise. Thus the reason, Magenta reached down and dropped a big ol' box of paper towels in their view. Once she had her air back, Deep Light coughed a little bit and asked, "What did you just say? You're leaving—" She coughed a bit more into her hoof. "You're leaving Starfire?!"

While Deep Light cleaned up the mess, Magenta kicked her hooves up on her table and answered, "Yep. Bright and I are starting our own label. Starfire tried to make me choose between YouHoof and them. I'm choosing YouHoof. So we're out. I'm already in the process of getting this underway. Bright is looking for new artists and I'm handling all the connections and business. And my first few connections were to the same ponies I promised I would get in contact with a few years back. And here we are."

A slender shaped stallion with a deep green coat, light blue mane and tail, and deep green eyes named Juice Drop asked, "So where exactly do we fall into this? And the Canterlot Elite for that matter?"

Magenta took her hooves down and answered, "Well I want the label's music to be placed into stores. But a few of the stores are in places like Canterlot, where the Canterlot Elite of course have power. A thing they do is if you have a star in Canterlot, you must sell Canterlot products. Things made in Canterlot are immediately 'made to be sold in Canterlot.' If not, they'll hire guys to sort of... Make sure you don't sell anything. I'm hoping to come to an arrangement with Zesty Gourmand about this and see if the Manehattan Elite and the Canterlot Elite can reach a compromise to get my music into their stores without it being such a big issue. I already have my music in those stores, but they're under Starfire's representation. I'm not entirely sure how they did it, but they got my music in there no problem. I think we have a Canterlot Elite chilling with the Manehattan Elite.

"Either way, like I promised once we have everything setup and ready to soar, we'll be doing some signings at these music stores of yours and Brush Tail. Now the reason I called your label here Deep Light is because my label isn't going to be like Starfire with 'exclusive access.' It's going to be an open thing. So when I give out the news that we're leaving Starfire, I'll also be releasing more details about that. About all of this.

"My next meeting is going to be with Zesty and a few of the guys I hire. Just get ready for publicization and exposure soon afterwards. Being Magenta Streak is grand and all, but the attention is a little annoying and something I don't really want to have, but use at my disposal."

Deep Light nodded and said, "We're expecting unimaginable things from you two in the musical world. Bright Snow and Magenta Streak are the top influencers in the musical and dance world. It's a huge honor to be working with such legends."

Magenta whistled and repeated, "Legends, whoo! Wait until Bright hears that one." A ringing sound reached all of their ears, urging them all to look around. Magenta smirked and raised a hoof to her mane. Then reached in and pulled out her ringing phone. "This is seriously the new thing now. A major convenience when you want to look good and have a lot of hair." Answering Babs' call, Magenta greeted, "Hello?"

"Sea Creature's at the front door."

Magenta raised her eyebrow and asked, "Huh? Why? Excuse me , everyone." Hanging up the phone, Magenta rose out of her seat and made her way for the front. Sure enough, Sea Creature was standing right there in the foyer talking with Babs Seed.

When she spotted Magenta, she smirked her way and said, "And there she is, Magenta Streak. Are you busy?"

Magenta shrugged and said, "A little. In the middle of a business meeting, what is it?"

"Just thought I'd have a good word with you for a second. Rumors are flying around the label that you're leaving Starfire. Just came to hear it from the source myself. Are you?"

Without giving her a second, Magenta nodded and answered, "Yes we are. Bright and I were given a bit of an offer from the CEO herself. Either leave YouHoof or leave Starfire. We chose to leave Starfire. So... We're back to being solo acts."

"What about that song we were working on? The one you and I were doing, I just can't take credit for it—"

"Yes you can, and you are. Consider it a gift from myself and Bright for these awesome years."

Sea Creature sighed and looked around the mansion. Sea Creature wasn't telling her something. Magenta could feel it. After a moment, she looked back to Magenta and said, "Magenta... I hope you know if you leave Starfire it's going to go under. And a little ugly."

Magenta shrugged and said, "Possibly. If the right choices aren't made correctly. Want something to drink? Come on." Not waiting for answer, Magenta led Sea Creature and Babs back down her hallway while talking. "I am aware that Starfire may go under because Bright and I are leaving, but I'm pretty sure they'll figure something out."

"No, no, Magenta you don't get it." Magenta stopped near the doorway and turned back to Sea Creature with a clear question in her eyes. Sea Creature glanced towards the kitchen. Then towards another room and led Magneta to it. Nopony else should have to hear this.

Magenta looked over her shoulder at Babs and motioned towards the kitchen. "Help yourself. Don't get intoxicated."

Babs made a face in front of the room and said, "All of your drinks are nonalcoholic." Then chuckled and walked into the room.

Once Magenta and Sea Creature were in a nearby lounge, she turned to Magenta and said, "Starfire had a bad record in the past as I'm sure you know underneath the leadership of an older pony as CEO."

Magenta nodded and replied, "Yeah, I heard they retired and Gold Spoon moved in."

"Right. Well Gold Spoon is a sort-of... She's a pony who gets what she wants by force. Before you joined Starfire, it was all fun and great. You know, everyone was relishing in their talents and making friends. Even the exclusiveness wasn't that exclusive. Like we could collaborate. But then... You arrived on the scene." Before Magenta could say something, Sea Creature immediately said, "I'm not blaming you or anything, but... Starfire was in a pretty bad place. Until Gold Spoon saw you.

"Next thing you know, Songbird, myself, and Sound were welcoming you and Bright into the label. As well as everyone else. You were doing shows and bits were pouring in, making you and Bright millionaires within a year. But... All of that was downstairs. You don't know what went on upstairs."

Upstairs and Downstairs were what made up Starfire Records. Upstairs were the offices and executives. Managers, CIOs, CEOs, Marketing. Downstairs was the talent. Magenta asked, "What happened upstairs?"

Sea Creature sat down and said, "Gold Spoon happened. She got greedy. She wasn't all business before she saw you. She was playful, little sloppy, a standard pony. Now she's entirely focused on Starfire. All because she saw you. Before you arrived, Starfire wasn't as popular as it is now. I'm talking one show every four months per talent."

Magenta deadpanned, "That's terrible."

"Yeah, seriously. But when you arrived, so did offers. Bits grew, requests grew, and they kept getting bigger and bigger. Starfire grew all because of you and Bright. A lot of bits came into Gold Spoon's hooves because of it. The entire label was eatin' all because you and Bright showed up. Gold Spoon may be fooling everyone else with this 'pick a side' nonsense, but she's not fooling me. Magenta because of you, and you alone, Gold Spoon is getting paid right now. Like, a lot."

Sea Creature reached underneath her wing and pulled out a document that she hoofed to Magenta. She sat down and took it in her hooves while Sea Creature explained. "Ever since Sound Boost told us about what was going on, I did a little research on our CEO. She lives far away from here in Appleloosa and according to record was barely standing on her hooves before you showed. She said so herself in an interview. She barely had anything. Until you showed up. You were her saving grace and I see why.

"Nopony out here can play and rock out like you do Magenta. You and Bright together are a machine giving Starfire the bits of the century. And Gold Spoon knows that. She may have given you a choice, but by law she has to. You two are giving her bits. And you just don't let your only source of income go." Magenta hoofed the document back before she stopped her. "Keep it, you might need it."

Magenta sighed and placed it next to her hip. "Okay, what are you saying, Sea?"

"I'm saying Gold Spoon may have given you a choice but actually she wants you stay, she needs you to stay. Because if she doesn't, then Starfire falls. And she falls. She doesn't want to fall."

"Once again, what are you saying?"

"Gold Spoon can't stop you from leaving. But she has enough power to inadvertently make you return. A little word with YouHoof, a few Manehattan Elite, Canterlot Elite. She can affect your sales and come up with an excuse to make it seem like Starfire are the ponies making you successful. But to be honest, all these partnerships were non-existent until you signed that contract. Hay, you could start your own label and bury Starfire. Maybe even steal their artists. But Gold Spoon wants you to stay. And do whatever it takes to make it happen."

Magenta sighed and repeated, "Gold Spoon would... Jeopardize my career goals for money?"

"Magenta? You are Gold Spoon's gold spoon, you just don't give that away. You try to bargain for it, or take it back by force."

Late update today, but it's okay. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More coming soon!