Monday

When Moonglade next opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the pain in her body had faded. From all the suffering she had gone through in the last three days, this felt so good now.

“I-I’m free. I’m finally free…” Moonglade couldn’t help but laugh.

She turned on her back and looked up at her canopy, something she hadn’t done in the last three days, because of the pain in her butt.

Taking the chance, Moonglade pushed off her bed and stood up, stretching her arms high. Her flexibility was back too.

“I’m okay now!” Moonglade skipped around her room, then ran back to her bed and threw her arms around Mishter Schniffs and Stargaze Sunshine. “I’m all better! The poison wore off!”

“Be that as it may,” Mishter Schniffs said. “You smell. Take a shower then head down for breakfast.”

Moonglade sniffed, then looked at her sweat-stained sheets. She definitely needed a shower.

Putting her plushies back on her bed, Moonglade grabbed her summer attire and got to her bathroom to wash up. She had a nice cool shower, soaping her body up three times just to be sure she was spotless, before stepping out and cleaning herself off.

When she was all set, the young changeling pranced along downstairs, skipping straight for the dining room. She watched as a maid left the kitchens, holding a plate with a stack of pancakes on it.

“I am glad to see you are recovered, Princess Moonglade,” she said as she put the plate down before the young changeling. “Please enjoy your breakfast.”

Moonglade was just about to start heaping syrup on her pancakes when her attention was attracted by the sight of an elegant-looking woman entering the room. She was wearing a lacy pink dress and a matching hat; her skin was such a pale shade of pink it was almost white, and her eyes sparkled like beryls. She was carrying two covered picnic baskets, one in each arm.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re up,” she said in a high, fluttery voice. “How are you feeling?”

“A-Aunty Ivory?” She had to make sure she was talking to the right person first. She only continued after the woman nodded. “Oh, I’m feeling so much better now. But wow. Umm, all that for a picnic?”

“I prefer to think of it as negotiations with food,” the woman in pink replied. “Although, I’m quite sure they’ll agree to my demands one way or the other.”

“Right.” Moonglade eyed the baskets. She remembered that poisoned pink lemonade. “Well, I hope you do get the answers from them. The sirens really need some, uh, fixing.”

“Yes. They’re at the pool right now, I think. Why don’t you join them after breakfast?”

“Oh, sure, Aunt Ivory.” Moonglade stuffed a pancake into her mouth, half of it hanging out as she chewed.

“Cut up your food before eating it,” Moonglade’s aunt advised. “Well, I’m off. I hope your mother managed to pay the park people to rope off the gazebo for me.”

She left the room, and soon after there was the sound of a car starting. Moonglade wondered what the picnic would be like. She had never been on one before. Granted, most picnics didn’t involve poisoned food, but it was the thought that counted.

At least, that was what she told herself.

Picking up her knife and doing as her aunt said, Moonglade finished up the rest of her breakfast neatly, then went for a walk around her first floor’s halls, glad to be able to move around without pain again.

Going over to a window, she looked out and saw the faint shapes of the sirens splashing around in the estate’s Olympic sized pool. It was indeed a hot day, as was expected of summer. Too bad she couldn’t feel the heat.

“I think I will go join them,” Moonglade decided before trotting upstairs to her room to get changed.

Walking into her closet, Moonglade changed out of her summer clothes into a blue and green one piece swimsuit. There was no way she’d be going out there in a bikini or something like that. Those were just much too revealing to wear out in public, at least for her anyway.

After admiring herself in the mirror and deciding that she looked satisfactory, Moonglade picked up a towel and walked down the stairs and out toward the pool. She could smell the chlorine all the way from here, but it wasn’t too unpleasant of an aroma.

“Hey, Moony!” Sonata waved, at the same time, inhaling a mouthful of water. “Pleh. The water’s just nice! Come on in!”

“Mhm!” Moonglade grinned and swapped out her glasses for a pair of matching blue goggles. Then she ran on and jumped, tucking her legs up to her chest. “Cannoooonbaaaaalll!”

And then she plunged right in, splashing water over the three sirens, who began chuckling, with the exception of Aria.

Moonglade resurfaced and pushed her blonde hair out of her face. “Wasn’t that something?”

“It was quite a big splash, I’ll give you that,” Adagio said. Her normally poofy hair was now flat against her face, which made Moonglade smile a little. “Glad to see you’re much better today.”

“What’s with the lame swimsuit?” Aria pointed at the young changeling. The sirens themselves were wearing a motley collection of this season’s most popular swimsuits, ranging from Adagio’s high-cut two piece to Aria’s tanning one piece. Sonata had gone for a canary yellow bikini that showed off her assets, though she didn’t seem to realize that.

“Lame? What do you mean?” Moonglade looked down at herself.

“I figured you’d wear one of those that your mom does modeling for, or maybe one of Bullet Stopper’s suits. Yours looks more like your typical school swimsuit.”

“I-I can’t wear something like th-that in public.” Moonglade put her arms around her shoulders and blushed. “Muh-much too revealing, don’t you girls think?”

“But you’ve got much to show off.” Adagio smirked, wading over. “You’ve your mother’s looks, you know? You’d have plenty of people wrapped around your fingers if you wore something better. Plus, you’ve got a pretty good body yourself.”

“Me? No way.” Moonglade grabbed at her cheeks and laughed nervously. “Oh, I could never. Really. All those eyes… I’d rather not.”

Aria rolled her eyes, and Adagio crept closer to Moonglade.

“You really need to have more confidence in yourself, Moony. As the daughter of one of the world’s most well-known celebrities, you can’t hide in the shadows. People are going to notice you like they notice your mother.”

“But I just don’t like people looking at me. I cannot do what mother can do. I don’t mind if they don’t notice me.”

Sonata Dusk cupped water in her hands and threw it up into the air. “There’s nothing wrong with people watching you. Right?”

“Yes, there’s nothing wrong, Moony.” Adagio’s smirked somehow managed to widen. “You need to learn to show a little more skin. Your mom can do it. I’m sure you’ve seen her do it on screen.”

Moonglade shook her head. “I think I’m good on that, thanks.”

“Even Sonata’s showing more than you.” Aria waved at her sister, who was now crouched down underwater, just sitting there, with bubbles rising to the surface. “If she can do it, so can you. But whatever, not like I care.”

“Mm, okay.” Moonglade breathed again. “Good to know.”

“Oh, but I care.” Adagio moved even closer, now in arms length. “I find it cute how you can be so shy, unlike your mother, but come on. The blood runs through your veins. It’s easy. You’ve… done things with that Sunny Flare before, haven’t you? As Silver Rose, I mean.”

“Oh yeah, she has,” Aria said flatly. “Ebony Wings all but confirmed it. Nice catch, by the way.” She smirked at Moonglade. “Sounds like you have this Sunny Flare right by the short hairs.”

“S-She’s very forward,” Moonglade admitted, a blush creeping over her face.

“Well, at least we know you’re eating well,” Sonata commented, floating past on her back.

“I muh-mean… it still do-doesn’t c-come naturally to me…” Moonglade rubbed an arm unconsciously. “A-And I haven’t exactly sh-shown a lot of skin to Sunny. I mean, Silver hasn’t.”

“We all have to start somewhere, don’t we?” And then Adagio wrapped her arms around Moonglade’s neck, trapping her.

“Umm, Adagio, what are you doing?” Moonglade squirmed in the siren’s hold.

“We may have fed on negative emotions,” Adagio purred. “But we know very well how to extract positive ones as well. And when you’ve been alive as long as I have, you tend to learn a few things about what people do and don’t like.”

“You don’t say...” Moonglade was growing a touch apprehensive about what Adagio might be planning. She was using the same tone of voice as her mother did when talking about prey. “Y-You know, I’d like to have a s-swim if that’s okay…”

The young changeling tried to move away, but Adagio held strong. “Not so fast, princess. We’re not done here. Far from it.”

Moonglade eeped in surprise as the orange siren laid one hand on her shoulder and another one on the changeling’s right breast, giving it a gentle squeeze through the swimsuit.

“You’ve got such great assets,” Adagio said, her eyes half lidded. “You shouldn’t be hiding them from the world.”

“But I don’t…”

“You inherited your mother’s good looks, and guys love a shy girl. Boys would flock to you if you’d just tease them a little.”

“But I d-don’t want them to flock to me…” Moonglade closed her eyes in embarrassment as Adagio ran a hand down her abdomen, her fingers tickling her skin.

“Ah, but of course you don’t,” Aria said slyly from the side. “You’ve already got a guy you can feed off of. Can’t have him see you two-timing him, right?”

“Ah, yes, Home Run…” Adagio’s hand went around the back and squeezed Moonglade’s butt. Thankfully, her injury had already faded. “Getting some good love from him, I hope? He’s a nice boy, after all. You’ve got all this at your disposition.”

“Ummm…” Moonglade tried to inch away from Adagio, but the siren’s arm repositioned back around her neck and pulled her closer, their bodies now touching. “Uh, well… I-I have been getting a lot of luh-love from him, yes… Maybe a bit too much. C-Could you let go yet, Adagio?”

“Not until I convince you that you’ve got nothing to hide.” Adagio grinned and slipped the hand on Moonglade’s butt under her swimsuit. “And your mother gave you a beating not because you got too much love from him, but because you were giving love to him. Tell us the truth, Moony. You’ve fallen in love with the boy?”

“Jealous, Dagi?” Aria picked up one of the floaties by the side and positioned herself atop it.

“No, I’m not!” the eldest siren barked, squeezing Moonglade’s rear harder for a second, making the changeling yelp. “Just worried our dear princess here has fallen for her prey.”

“I-I, uhh… Ah!” Moonglade stammered, then yelped again when Adagio pinched her butt. “Y-Yes, I… um, I did. I love Home Run. I know I shouldn’t, but I have. I-I mean, after mother’s punishment, of course I’m going to try and change things. I’d like to avoid another beating.”

“That’s too bad you can’t fall in love, Moony.” Sonata splashed past, spitting out water from her mouth.

“Hey, watch it!” Aria hit her on the head when she sprayed her with a mouthful of water.

“Ow, sorry, Aria.” Sonata righted herself and rubbed at her head.

“Umm… yeah.” Moonglade squirmed, still unable to free herself without force. She didn’t want to accidentally hurt Adagio. “Do you think you could let me go yet, Adagio?”

“Uh uh.” The orange haired siren shook her head. “Don’t forget the reason why I’m holding you here. Though I do want to know, are you at all embarrassed when you show off your body to Sunny Flare? Come on, tell us.”

“W-Well… I-I do get embarrassed… but I, uh, Silver Rose haven’t exactly shown ev-everything yet.” Moonglade played with a lock of her gold hair. “But she’s, um, Silver doesn’t want to disappoint her… besides, she’s usually the one being, uh, serviced. By Silver.”

“Aww, it’s so cute when you blush,” Adagio snickered. The hand under her swimsuit soon left, with Moonglade uttering a small sigh of relief. But then it placed itself back on her chest and began massaging her right breast again. “Look at you, having such a lovely chest, only to hide it from Home Run and Sunny Flare. You need to be confident in what you have! This swimsuit won’t do. You should wear something like Sonata.”

Moonglade looked at Sonata’s swimsuit. Her usual skirt probably had more material than the entirety of Sonata’s outfit combined. “Ehehe… I’m not so sure.”

“Yeah, it’s a nice swimsuit, don’t you think?” Sonata hopped about happily in the water. Moonglade couldn’t help but watch her almost free breasts bounce up and down. “Cooling too, since it’s so hot. But you can’t feel the heat, huh, Moony?”

“Mm, no.”

“Just look at that, Moony.” Adagio watched her sister from the corner of her eye. “Look at those melons fly so freely.”

“Melons? Like… watermelons?”

“Breasts, dear Moonglade.”

“Oh.”

“But look! That’s what guys will be attracted to. Wave them in front of Home Run like that…” Adagio turned back to her and her smirk widened. “Such thoughts of you he would have in his head. You haven’t shown him anything yet, yes?”

“N-No, I haven’t. Home Run’s not like Sunny.”

“You don’t have to show him all of it.” Adagio prodded around on Moonglade’s right breast. A little jolt went through Moonglade’s body whenever her finger depressed down on it. Then she pinched the corner of the young changeling’s swimsuit and pulled it. “Come on, show me what you’ve got.”

“Noooo…” Moonglade protested weakly and sank down under the water’s surface.

“Come on, we’re not done yet!”

Adagio still had her arm wrapped around her, but down in a crouch, Moonglade finally managed to squirm out of the siren’s grip and kicked away, swimming to the other side of the pool.

She spent the rest of her pool time swimming away from Adagio Dazzle, and then played some with an inflatable ball, before getting out. The wind blew on her wet skin and she shivered, grabbing a towel. She and her kind might be heatproof, but they still had to deal with the cold. Moonglade dried herself off the best she could, then went back into the house for a proper shower.

“We’re not done, hmm, Moony?” Adagio called to her, drying her orange hair.

Oh, we’re done, Moonglade thought as she scurried up to her room. I’m not changing my swimsuit.

After showering and changing back into more casual clothes, Moonglade burned a few hours on her Neighstation, playing Finest Fantasy. She managed to get to the part with the Pale Sorceress, but shut it off after three hours because her eyes were getting tired.

Just as she was putting the controller away, there was the sound of a car pulling up next to the house. Moonglade excitedly ran to the window and looked out at the driveway to see her aunt’s car stopped there, with Silver Platter getting into the driver’s seat.

Her aunt, still dressed as the woman in pink, got out carrying her two picnic baskets and wearing a smile of severe smugness on her face. There was a spring in her step and it looked as though she was trying not to skip.

“I wonder how her picnic went. It must’ve been good that she’s smiling like that.”

Moonglade headed downstairs and ran along to find her aunt, who was setting her baskets down in the kitchen.

“Aunt Ivory, you’re back! How did it go?” Moonglade skipped up to her aunt and grinned.

“That’s not my persona’s name, but whatever. The picnic went swimmingly, I’ll have you know. Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight have agreed to my demands and have given me their word that they will help repair the sirens’ gems.”

“Wow, they agreed, just like that?”

“Well, no,” Moonglade’s aunt admitted, taking out the excess food and putting it into the fridge. “I had to twist their arms a little, but in the end they saw things my way and gave in.”

“It was the pink lemonade, wasn’t it?” Moonglade fished it out of the picnic basket and shook the jug, peering at the pink liquid inside.

The older changeling smiled and took the pitcher from her niece, before giving her head a gentle rub. “Clever girl. Anyway, it will only be a matter of time now and the sirens will have their powers back!”

“And Sonata and Aria will stop squabbling right?” Moonglade helped remove a stack of bread from the picnic baskets and put them in a box by the counter, beside a similar stack of cheeses.

“Well, squabble less, sweetie. So, how was your day? Did you have fun in the pool?”

“Well, I guess I mostly had fun in the pool.” Moonglade flicked her still semi-wet hair behind her back and adjusted her black hairband. “Adagio was trying to get me to show more skin.”

“Hmm, was she now?” Moonglade’s aunt said, pouring herself a glass of lemonade before tipping the rest of it down the sink. “Well there’s no need to rush it. You show as much skin as you’re comfortable with, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Aunt Ivory, erm, or whoever you’re supposed to be right now.” Moonglade gave her a warm hug. “Though, even my usual swimsuit shows a bit much with my legs. Maybe I should wear some swimming shorts with it next time.”

“There’s such a thing as overkill, sweetie.”

“But you know…” Moonglade pulled at the end of her shorts. “The swimsuit doesn’t cover my legs at all. It’s like I’m just walking around in a pair of panties.”

“Well your skirt that you normally wear isn’t too long itself.” The elder changeling nudged her niece. “You’ll be fine, sweetie. You’re more covered than a lot of other girls already.”

“O-Okay then…”

“Now, I have to go break the good news to the sirens!” She swiveled around excitedly after finishing with her packing. “I’ll see you for dinner, sweetie. Then I’ll go more into detail what I did.”

Moonglade nodded and watched her aunt leave the kitchen, calling out the sirens’ names. She was glad about the news herself. If they could fix the gems, they would fix the sirens too. Perhaps Adagio may even stop teasing her to reveal more skin.

Keep hoping, Moonglade. Maybe it’ll come true.

Back in her room, she noticed her Moonglade and Silver Rose phones were filled with strings of messages, all from Home Run, Sunny Flare and even Canvas Splash.

“Oh. I wonder what they all want.”

Moonglade knew she needed to distance herself a little from Home Run, so with great strength, she picked up her Silver Rose phone first and opened the messages. The first few were from Sunny Flare.

Heyya Silver i was wondering if you want 2 go out 2moro? We could go to the mall get smth to eat?

U know, smth more normal than… what we keep doin

Take ur time i know ur still recovering from ur sickness

I just really want to see u

I hope ur havin a good time today

<3 u Silvy

“Huh…” Moonglade scratched at her head. Sunny wanted to meet Silver tomorrow for a date. Moonglade didn’t see any problem with that. In fact, it seemed like a good idea. She could look for a present for Home Run too. “Killing two birds with one stone. Go for it, Silver Rose.”

Moonglade quickly typed a reply back, that she was excited to go on another date with Sunny and that they could go to Canterlot Mall for lunch.

And Sunny wanted to do something normal. Aunt Ivory wouldn’t have any problems against that, and if Sunny did want to go somewhere private, perhaps she would be able to politely decline this time.

Looking next to Canvas’ messages, Moonglade found a row of pictures with Canvas standing close to various iconic structures of Prance, along with one where she was pretending to be trapped in a box or something by a man in a striped shirt and white makeup on his face. Moonglade got a short giggle from that, then replied to them.

Looks great Canvas! Glad ur having fun! Hope to c u soon!

And now finally, the moment she had been waiting for, but also trying to resist, Home Run’s messages.

Swallowing, Moonglade picked up her phone and flicked past the lock screen to her new messages. Home Run didn’t have much, but reading what he had made Moonglade’s heart flutter.

“Stop fluttering, heart. Stop it!” she hissed to herself. “You can’t be in love with him.”

Hi Moonglade. How r u doing today? Much better i hope?

So i wanted to let u know, Pinkie Pie is organizing a bday party for me, yea i know, a little much right? So anyway she wanted to invite u, since ur my girlfriend and all. Do u think u could make it? Itll be on Thursday of course, about 1pm

I would love it if u could come, but let me know!

“A little birthday party, huh?” Moonglade sighed happily. She really wanted to just be with Home Run, but then she corrected herself and sat up straighter. “You need to stop being so in love with him, Dea! Do you want another spanking from mother?”

“Yeah, you do not want another spanking from her,” Mishter Schniffs said from the corner.

“I wasn’t asking you,” Moonglade snapped at him.

A birthday was a special event and if she was really his girlfriend, then she had to at least show up. Moonglade was supposed to be in love with him anyway, in a sort of way.

“Love really is tough…” Moonglade grumbled and thumbed in a reply.

So much better now thanks! Glad to be rid of that sickness. I would love to be there but i better check with mother first just in case. Ill update u later ok?

Moonglade added a row of hearts and kissing faces at the end, then leaned back on her bed and sighed loudly.

“Things just can’t be easy, huh?” she asked her plushies, who looked back at her with blank eyes. “Thinking of mother… I haven’t seen her since she hit me. I wonder where she is.”

“Probably filming a movie.” Schniffs put a hoof on Moonglade’s forehead. “Moonglade’s mother is an actress, by the way.”

“Fancy,” Stargaze Sunshine said. “And you aren’t going to grow up to be like her?”

“No chance.” Moonglade pushed her plushie’s hoof off and covered her eyes with an arm. “I’m no good with attention. I wanna do something else when I grow up. Something that doesn’t involve people looking at you all the time.”

“Maybe you could be a diver?” The stuffed unicorn tilted to the side. “You could dive all the way down to the bottom and see all kinds of life there.”

“I don’t know, I’m not very good with the dark and unknown either…” Moonglade rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, I don’t have to decide now. I still have a few years to go before I start working.”

“With your mother’s finances, I doubt you even need to work.” Schniffs patted her on the forehead again.

“But I want to lead a normal life. And that means working too.” Moonglade flipped herself around and pulled her plushies in for a hug under her chin.

“You’re lucky your mother’s not around to hear that,” Mishter Schniffs remarked.

“Oh, shoot!” Moonglade whipped around and darted her eyes left and right. She didn’t know how her mother had listened in on her, so having a hidden mic in her room wouldn’t be too far fetched of an idea. “Umm… I uh, I want to be a good little changeling.”

She hoped that would be enough to throw her mother off the trail. However, she remained slightly nervous. Three days ago, her mother had claimed that ‘In this realm, she knew all’. Whether that applied to just the house or the entirety of Canterlot, Moonglade was still unsure. She didn’t want to risk a second beating, not at all.

From now on, she had to be careful of what she said. At home, outside, everywhere.