Magenta was unusually calm about the whole situation. Sea Creature just told her in honest truth the reality behind her and Bright leaving Starfire. That it would get ugly. And Magenta was swirling a cup of red liquid in her hand with eyes full of unreadable thoughts on Sea Creature. Either she didn't care or she was still processing the news.

After crickets finished chirping, Magenta sighed and said, "We'll deal with it when it happens. All of my cards are ready. I'll release the news tomorrow about us leaving Starfire, I have some... More important business to deal with this evening."

Sea Creature's smirk made Magenta blush slightly. And it grew when she asked, "Going on a date?"

Always the weird smirks and sayings. Magenta rolled her eyes and started moving back for the kitchen. "I could never get anything past you. Let Sound Boost know of our decision beforehand but to not let anypony else know. Okay? It would ruin the... Surprise."

Sea Creature rolled her eyes behind the dreads and followed after her into the hall. "Going to embarrass Gold Spoon?"

"Going to devastate Gold Spoon. She apparently doesn't want me to leave, so I'll have to show her I'm serious about this when she's not."

Leave it to Magenta to make a big splash onto the scene. When she first started out with making music, she was obviously nervous. But that was many years ago. Now she's making huge hits and rocking the stages as fast and as hard as she can. Before they reached the kitchen, Sea Creature left Magenta, "I'll show my way out. Do I need to make a post about warning people to pay attention to the Gold Sisters' vlog for 'Big news?'"

Before she entered the room, Magenta shook her head and answered, "No. I'm pretty sure Bright already has something ready. I'll let you know about everything later, alright? Keep the dating thing under wraps for now, okay?"

"I'll probably forget you ever told me about it. See you later."

Magenta nodded her way and walked back into the kitchen where Babs was relaxing with the others, drinking out of a wine glass filled with that red drink she had made nad speaking with a few of the ponies in there. Whatever they were talking about, it was cut when she walked back in and asked, "Okay. Where were we?"

Shovel, shovel, shovel. Dig, dig, dig. Plant, plant, plant. And buck, buck, buck. The warm sun beat down onto the back of Apple Bloom when she bent low and bucked another Apple Tree on her family's farm. Applejack had already finished her part of the orchard with Big Mac. And Sweetie Belle had her own afternoon thing going on. So it was just her.

The bucket she was filling was half-full. And she had around thirty more trees to go as far as her eye could see. Usually, it would be no sweat. But today was different. Her heart was pumping adrenaline. Her head was getting all crazy. What was it? Apple Bloom plopped down and reached up to her head to stroke it back. Eyes closed, she sighed in satisfaction when the sweat was pushed off.

"Are you practicing for Sweetie Belle?" Someone whispered in her ear.

Apple Bloom shook her head and whispered, "No, I'm just not—HUH?!" She whirled around and nearly hit Bright Snow wearing a sweatsuit. And a teasing smile. And sunglasses. Apple Bloom looked her over and stammered, "B-BRight?! What are you... Where..." She looked around and tried to pinpoint Bright Snow's point of entry. There was none that she could find or see. This sneaky little pegasus.

Bright pointed a hoof to the sky and answered, "Where? Cloudsdale. I was with a co-worker slash friend recording a video to get the press off our back before they started."

"Ah, right. The Magenta Seed thing." Apple Bloom turned around and went back to work while Bright watched. "She called us a little under an hour ago and said that she and Magenta were going on a date tonight."

Bright gasped and repeated, "Wait, tonight? So they are actually dating?! Dude, I just told the world they weren't! Ah, c'mon, Maggy!"

Apple Bloom bucked the tree and giggled at Bright's annoying face. It was adorable in a way. She reached out and patted her head. "To be fair, they actually agreed to a date, maybe an hour ago. You literally weren't around to know, so you just went with what you did know. You're going to the Magenta Stages tonight, right?"

Bright coalesced with the fact that she had no idea about Magenta dating Babs and answered with an eager nod, "Yep, tonight. That's the only reason I'm here."

Only reason huh? Apple Bloom smirked and taunted, "Oh so you fancy ponies are afraid ta' get your hooves dirty?"

Bright pointed her muzzle to the sky and answered, "I never said that."

"Are you afraid to get your hooves dirty?"

"...I don't know. I never had to."

"Let's find out together. Here." Bright eeped when Apple Bloom ducked around her and used her head to push her up to one of the trees. Once she was close, Apple Bloom pointed at it and ordered, "Buck this tree."

Bright scrunched her nose and whispered, "Jeez, what did the tree do to you?"

"No no no, what I meant was kick it and make the apples fall..." She used her hoof to drag a bucket over underneath the branches. "Into here. Buck the tree and make the apples fall in here. I'll demonstrate." Apple Bloom skipped over to another one and swiveled around. Then lifted her rear hooves and bucked super hard into the trunk. It shook for a moment, then apples rained from her leaves into the bucket below.

Bright pointed at it in disgust and asked, "So... That's how you get apples?"

"Yep!" Apple Bloom answered proudly. "All the magic of the taste is in the growing process. Then we have to get dirty in order to sell them. There's an apple tree on our hill too."

Bright followed Apple Bloom's hoof to the single hill overlooking Ponyville bearing the Cutie Mark Crusaders' cutie marks. Then back to Apple Bloom bucking apples in sorrow. "That was a bad day, huh?" She whispered.

Apple Bloom stopped bucking and slowly looked back to the hill in nostalgia. She could still here all the voices of everyone crying. Scootaloo's whimpers when she ran away. Literally the last time they ever saw her as a foal. Apple Bloom sighed and went back to bucking. "The last time we saw Scootaloo... She was crying and ran away. Then we met Magenta Streak. To be honest... If we didn't do our horrible deed, she would have never met you or become who she is today. You yourself said that."

"...yeah..." Bright shook those thoughts out of her mind and asked, "So what exactly happens at these Magenta Stages?"

"Basically?" Another tree bucked, another bucket full. "Singing, DJing, parties, comedy sometimes, it's technically a talent show without any winners or competition. Just fun. Magenta Stages are great ways to relax and unwind. Sweetie gets stressed out at the boutique during the daytime with Rarity. And being unable to talk, she has to use extra muscles to communicate. She's actually being a lot more active then I am considering I don't actually work all day. Yeah, like I have to buck trees, water the plants and plant new seeds. But Sweetie's doing this—" Apple Bloom waved her hooves around all crazy for a few seconds. "—every time she has to talk. She's using her hooves way more than anything else each and every day since she lost her voice."

Bright approached a tree and turned around to give it a shot. She grunted and lifted her rear hooves. Then slammed them against the tree with a shakening bam. Apple Bloom jumped and watched with Bright as all the apples came tumbling down. Then glanced to Bright and whispered, "Amazing first try."

"First try? Please, I'm a dancer, I use my hooves a lot. Like A lot, a lot. Hey, I don't think you ever told us about how Sweetie Belle lost her voice."

Apple Bloom whipped around in surprise and asked, "We didn't?"

"Not that I can recall."

"Oh. Well... When Scootaloo went missing, it devastated the town. But the person who felt guilty the most out of all of us was Sweetie Belle. She knew Scootaloo before I did. And I actually met the both of them together. I never asked how they met really. But Sweetie blamed all the guilt on herself. On a mission heading down the same channel Scootaloo's body flowed into Manehattan, Sweetie Belle fell into the guilt and tried to kill herself. She had a plan.

"A bag with a rope in it, a magic absorber, and guilt. All rolled up into one. Remember that Bridge when we first met? And introduced you guys to Gabby? In the park? That was the same bridge Sweetie was going to drop a rock tied to the end of a rope from connected to her neck. The rope was so tight that it cut into her neck and left a scar. Now she uses a choker to keep it covered up."

Bright figured something like that happened. "I'm really sorry you guys had to experience that."

Apple Bloom shrugged and stated, "Well.... It's life. So!... Are you ready for tonight?"

Bright shrugged and lifted her wings about to take off. "Eh, we'll see. I have one more stop to make before I come back so..."

Apple Bloom nodded and was about to get back to work before she remembered something she heard from Fluttershy. She raised a hoof towards Bright and asked, "Wait, hold on! You know Magenta best, right?"

Bright folded her wings in and nodded. "Yeah, we grew up with each other for years. Never away from each other. We got on the others' nerves... You could say I know her best?"

"So... Rainbow Dash has been feeling down. Like when Scootaloo 'died,' she was deeply depressed and almost followed in the same steps as Sweetie. And now that she knows she's alive, Rainbow's trying to figure out an apology present with Twilight. What does Scootaloo want most in the world?"

Bright lifted her hoof and answered, "A private island, a very expensive wine I can't remember, her own yacht, a studio in the Crystal Empire, to see me go to college, and mom and dad having their own joint doctor practice." Apple Bloom was either broken or her brain wasn't functioning. She just stopped breathing all together. Bright gasped and added, "Oh, and flight. Since she can't fly, I have to grab a cloud and push her up to the sky so we can hangout up there. Even go to Cloudsdale sometimes. But whenever we do, she's always talking like, 'What the buck happened to my wings?' Uhh... 'I'm going to hire someone to make artificial wings,' things like that."

Apple Bloom started breathing again. That was more her league anyway. "So Scootaloo wants flight?"

"Yeah. It'd be a miracle if somepony figured it out."

"Yeah... Definitely."

This was about to get dangerous. Really dangerous. Sea Creature could see that based off the look Gold Spoon was delivering to her, Sound Boost, and Songbird. After she left Magenta's mansion, she got a call from Sound Boost about meeting up with him and Songbird at the headquarters. He never said bring Magenta. He knew she was with her. Which meant they were going to talk about her. And her sister.

He also failed to mention Gold Spoon was the one to call the meeting in her office. So here they all were. Staring into the face of Gold Spoon. On her desk sat three newspapers that were scheduled to be released tomorrow. On the front page of all of them was Magenta Streak walking out the front doors of YouHoof holding a folder. The headline was, "Speculating rumor of Gold Sisters leaving Starfire Records! Beginning of the end?"

Gold Spoon calmly placed her hoof on one of them and whispered, "I want to know if this is true or not. Have any of you heard any of this stuff? It sounds pretty solid?"

Sound Boost and Songbird shook their heads while Sea answered, "I heard she was reviewing her options. I don't know about any options specifically."

Gold Spoon sighed hard and leaned back in her chair, staring at all of them. "I'm pretty sure you have all—including those not here—have realized that Starfire Records received an extremely tremendous boost because of the Gold Sisters. Magenta Streak the producer, singer, and DJ, and Bright Snow the dancer. An amazing duo who dominated the charts as fast as lightning in a single night. And help others under us succeed. If she leaves, she will receive so many opportunities that we, as in Starfire will be pushed back into the shadows. Out of mind. What we need is a compromise. From what I'm reading, we don't have much time."

Songbird stated, "But wouldn't it primarily be her choice still?"

"Yes, of course. But we still want her secured here at Starfire Records. We're the top performing, rated, and overall leading record label in Equestria. And it's because of the Gold Sisters. Without them, Starfire wouldn't exist. So we want to keep her. Especially since she's more valuable now. What I want you all to do is watch her and report what you hear to me. We need. The Gold Sisters. To stay."

Day soon crawled away to allow night to take over. The sky shifted from light blue, to purple, then to black. Allowing the Stars and Luna's moon to shine down onto the cities of Manehattan and Ponyville. The inhabitants moved all daily activities to indoors, leaving only a specific few out the doors. Two of them specifically were Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle leaving the Carousel Boutique as they were.

Sweetie was obviously looking forward to tonight. She was wearing the glittery collar. The one she always wears when excited. As they moved up the street, Apple Bloom asked, "Happy?"

Sweetie grinned at her and nodded so fast it made Apple Bloom think she was really Pinkie Pie in disguise. Then made a single hoof gesture she and Apple Bloom made themselves that read, "Exuberant."

"Happy because Bright's coming or..."

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon literally swooped up out of the darkness and answered, "It's more than likely because we get to hang out with her outside of Manehattan. They never leave that place. Yeah it's nice, but nothing is better than getting out of your mane once in a while. You know?"

They soon stopped in front of a large one story building that served as a luncheon in the daytime. But turned into a small soundspot at night. It was surrounded by other businesses only, no homes. They would be unheard for miles around. A few other ponies were already out waiting for the doors to open. A few had on special clothing and carrying instruments while more ponies had other things to showboat. Apple Bloom breathed in the air while they slowed their speed And was about to say something before a familiar voice did. "So this is where you guys hang out?"

Apple Bloom eeped and whirled around to face Bright Snow. But... It looked nothing like her. She was wearing a light blue farmer's outfit and had somehow dyed her mane and tail to a black color. It was still shiny, just darker. There was a dark leather choker around her neck littered with diamond dust, sparkling in the night that adorned her smile.

Sweetie Belle grinned at her and made a few fast hoof signs that Bright interpreted. She nodded to her question and answered, "Well I can't just walk in and say, 'I'm Bright Snow' right? Is this the place?"

Diamond Tiara turned back to the building and answered, "Yes. They call this Purple Sky. All of them have different names. This one is just a little more active though because Magenta made her impact here. What's your alias?"

"Snow Light." She walked around Apple Bloom and made for the front doors of the building. Now let's go scout some talent. I'll let Purple Diamond know I'm here." She reached up into her mane and retrieved her phone while the others caught up. Then dialed Magenta's number.

Magenta had her own plans. When they were little, she would stick with Mom while she got ready for her date in the upstairs bathroom with their father. She knew exactly how to apply makeup. She did it all the time whenever she had a show. But Goldhoof wanted to do it. And Magenta couldn't fight her on that. So here she was sitting in front of her bathroom mirror while Goldhoof walked around her with the most giddiest of smiles on her face.

"Ohhh, my filly's first date~!" She sang. Loud and proud. Magenta was sure Babs was giggling downstairs.

Magenta rolled her eyes and groaned silently, "Moommm, could you please? Not while Babs is downstairs."

Goldhoof sat on Magenta's right and picked up an eyeliner with her teeth. "Oh alright," she replied. Then brushed Magenta's right eyelid. "You'll be fine dear. I'm just really excited. You have never been on a date before. Not that I know of. But here you are, about to have the best date night of your life. Try not to have sex on the first night though okay? That can always ruin things."

Magenta just decided to let that one slide and asked, "So... Where are you guys going to be?"

"Upstairs."

"Uh huh. I'll believe that when clouds can talk to me."

Goldhoof sighed around the brush and set it back down. Then smiled at Magenta through the mirror. She was wearing a really pretty orange dress that had sequins. She had it personally made years ago, but never actually had a reason to wear it except to award shows. Awards she's never won. Her and Bright's cabinets were still blank.

Goldhoof coalesced silently, "Fine, I'll be in the living room nearby. Also, word of advice, your goal with her is to make her happy. Never sad. So always be happy for her even when she's not, okay?"

Magenta took that bit of information to heart. Mom was really into romance anyway. It would be foolish if you didn't listen to the guru. Magenta smiled in gratitude and whispered, "Thanks, mom."

"Anytime, dear. I love you, Magenta."

"I love you too, Mrs. Goldhoof." The two shared a deep affectionate muzzle before Magenta's phone rang from the counter. She let her mother go and quickly grabbed it with a sense of urgency. "Bright," she muttered. Then answered and put it to her ear with a, "Yeah, what's up?"

"I'm at 'Purple Sky,' one of the Magenta Stages with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon. We're going inside in a few minutes."

Magenta nodded and replied, "Awesome. Remember, inconspicuous behavior. We don't need any press coming out here."

"Of course. I have the cards ready inside my wing to pass out. I'll be home later in the morning."

"Great. And please be safe."

"You too. And are you seriously dating Babs? I just made a video with Carolid saying how you weren't!"

Magenta seethed through her teeth and answered, "I'm about to go meet her downstairs right now. Sorry, Bright."

"...It's okay. Just rock her world. Make her scream."

"Bright..."

"Just kidding. Have a great date. I'll figure something out in the morning. Talk to you then."

This will be added onto tomorrow evening. It's still the weekend so I'm not really in a rush. Enjoy this chapter while you can. It's going back down tomorrow morning at eight so keep your eyes on your feed!

Any typos, quote the sentence containing it below, please!