September 11^th, 2019
Tuesday
Cloudy

Morning

play song

Starlight was really happy to see Trixie still dressing like a magician the next morning. Somehow the fact that it wasn’t so revealing made her even sexier in Starlight’s eyes. Or maybe now she felt like she could fully take in how beautiful she was without feeling awkward lusting over her body knowing full well she was dressed provocatively for Blueblood’s sake.

One of the two.

Beyond her attire and overall more positive demeanor, not much else had changed about her. For better and for worse sadly. On one hand, this meant she was still teasing Starlight any chance she could about her crush, playfully flirting with her any chance she could. On the other hand though, Starlight could still tell that in a lot of ways Trixie was pretending. Whenever they were alone in their room, Starlight got to see the true Trixie, as she was still having a bit of a time building up her self-esteem, and despite his number being blocked, it looked like she was still afraid Blueblood would call her.

Thankfully she had Starlight there to take charge.

As they walked to school together, they heard a few girls talking in front of them, “Pep Squad tryouts are starting today! Think you’re going to enter?”

“With Suri as the leader? No way! She’s a witch with a capital B. I hear she’s super strict about who she lets in.”

“Yeah, but being near her combined with the motions would probably make you more graceful overall.”

“Are you saying I’m not graceful?!”

Starlight tuned out the rest of their conversation, letting her mind wander a bit. Joining the Pep Squad, huh?

“Can you dance?” Trixie asked, startling Starlight a bit.

“Kinda sorta,” Starlight admitted, “But I’ve never really been the most graceful person naturally.”

“Really? Cause you’re hella graceful in the you-know-where.”

“That’s different. In there I go off of dream logic, so I can do anything. Out here in the real world though, I don’t know...”

Trixie looked down thoughtfully, “Hey, what if we just use the Akashic Records? Remember that book I found on dancing like Michael Jackson?” Starlight nodded, “Well, I might have gleamed it a bit along with my father’s book. How do you think I did that epic spin?”

Starlight did wonder where she saw that from. She was a huge Michael Jackson fan before he died, and she remembered he’d do really long spins like that in his music videos.

“That was just from reading a bit on his style. Now, imagine what you’d be able to do if you took an entire book on sexy dance moves.”

“I’ve only ever used the Akashic Records to learn more about magic,” Starlight admitted sheepishly, “Anything else… kind of just felt wrong to me…”

“That place is a well of infinite knowledge, and Twilight herself did say we could use that to learn anything instantly. That was how you learned your psychic empathy. Why not this too? It’ll give you an incredible edge. And why shouldn’t you have an edge,” she held up Starlight’s Channeling Ring, “We are witches now, after all.”

There she was throwing her own logic back at her. Still, she raised a valid point. They were witches now, so maybe she should start taking advantage of her magic more.

“Tell you what. Let’s go watch the tryouts today, and you can decide how you want to do it then.”

“You just want to see me dance around in a short skirt,” Starlight said smirking. Trixie looked up with a smile.

“Whaaaaat? Now why would I want that, Starlight?” she asked, obviously feigning oblivion. The two girls laughed and joked the rest of the way to school.

Day time

Math, taught by Ms. Harshwhinny, was a drag as per usual. No small part thanks to how grating Harshwhinny’s voice was. Still, Starlight forced herself to not fall asleep in class and listen to the lecture. She felt like she learned something afterward, like her intelligence shot up to be more alert.

end song

After School

It took a bit to reach the gym. Thankfully she had Trixie with her, otherwise Starlight wasn’t going to find this place herself. She and Trixie sat on the bleachers watching the tryouts, which so far hadn’t impressed anyone. These girls couldn’t dance at all. It seemed that most of them thought they could get by with just their looks.

“Ugh! This is intolerable,” the Pep Squad leader, a dark purple haired girl named Suri, fussed, “I swear, if I have to sit through another talentless bimbo try to dance like Shakira, I’m going to throw a fit.”

“Um… please don’t do that, Suri,” a demure girl with short blue hair begged, “Please.”

Suri sighed, “As long as someone here shows me they can dance, NEXT!”

The next girl walking up caught Starlight’s attention. She had long magenta hair with a white highlight, and wore a light purple and golden dress that was quite short, golden jacket, white high heeled boots, and an honest to God tiara on her head. Her make-up was flawless, light pink lipstick and super light purple eye shadow.

Pinkie Pie may have played a princess in that movie, but this girl looked like the genuine article.

“Let’s see here,” Suri looked at the list, “Diamond Tiara from the Junior class?” the older girl rolled her eyes, “Ugh, just hurry this up so I can get back to my dorm, please.”

The girl, Diamond Tiara apparently, looked up at Starlight and Trixie, giving them a wink. Starlight was surprised by how confident she was, even in the face of a bitch like Suri.

play song

The music started, a slow and almost mysterious beat, and Diamond Tiara started moving slowly to the music. As the tempo increased, her moves became more intense and sexy, but she still kept things slow, only giving it her all once the course came on.

And boy was her best the best they’d seen thus far.

The way she moved her hips, bent forward, throwing her hair (somehow not losing her headpiece) and the sultry smile on her face, almost like she was enticing Suri and the other girls judging her. Honestly, seeing her dance was hypnotic. Her dance was both graceful and incredibly sexy, putting every girl before her to shame.

“That girl is good,” Trixie whispered. Starlight nodded in agreement.

As the music seemed to hit the climax, Diamond Tiara threw everything she had into her dance, completely losing herself to the music but not once losing her sense of grace. As the song came to a close, she gave a sexy pose to the judges, smirking at them in a way that just screamed “I won”.

And based on how far the judges jaws dropped, she might have been right.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Suri cheered, “Finally someone with real talent!” she then caught herself, and cleared her throat regaining composure, “Um, keep an eye out for the results. They’ll be put up on Thursday.”

“Thank you so much,” Diamond Tiara said. She walked away flipping her hair, her walk one that was filled with confidence.

“That girl is on a whole different level,” Trixie breathed out, just as taken aback as Starlight. She really wanted to get to know her better.

play song

“Were you two planning on trying out too?”

Both Starlight and Trixie looked back at the judges, Suri looking right at them narrowing her eyes.

“Oh, Blueblood’s whore and the girl who tried to kill herself. What a pair,”

“Ah, correction, Blueblood’s ex-whore, thank you very much,” Trixie shot back, not missing a beat, “And my friend here has a name.”

“Ah, right. What was it again? Starshine Glitter or something?” Suri asked dismissively.

Starlight thought about calling this bitch out, and part of her felt that she should. Sadly, she wasn’t nearly bold enough to do so, thus resorted to being the bigger person.

“It’s Starlight Glimmer,” she corrected, “And I was considering trying out.”

Suri laughed, “Oh really? Well, if you think you’ve got the guts to try out, come back tomorrow. Try not to get your feelings hurt,” she walked off laughing out loud, the blue haired girl and their friend following closely.

“You have to get in,” Trixie seethed, “Just to shut that bitch up.”

Starlight nodded in agreement. The last thing she was going to do was let that brunette bitch get a leg up on her.

play song

“OMG, she’s like, the worst isn’t she?” they heard behind them. Starlight and Trixie turned around and saw Diamond Tiara walking over to them, “Diamond Tiara. Please, hold for autographs. I only sign those on weekends.”

Despite seeming just as intolerable, there was a gentleness in her demeanor. When she held out her hand, Starlight gladly shook it.

“Starlight Glimmer. It’s nice to meet you,” Starlight said with a smile.

“Trixie Lulamoon,” Trixie introduced herself, also shaking Diamond Tiara’s hand.

“Oh, I know who you are,” Diamond Tiara said, “You’re the daughter of the Magnificent Balazar. I totally saw that thing you did yesterday. Hilarious! Especially when you made that guy run off sneezing.”

Trixie laughed remembering it fondly, “Yeah… that was fun.”

“And everyone in the school’s heard about you, Starlight,” Diamond Tiara said turning to Starlight, “Don’t worry though, I’m not like Suri. I don’t put down those less fortunate than I. I prefer to lift people up from on high,” she continued, placing a hand on her chest.

“Thanks, I… think…?” Starlight said/asked. This Diamond Tiara was hard to read. She didn’t seem like a bad person though. Just really in love with herself.

“You’re trying out tomorrow, right?” Diamond Tiara asked, “Just give it your all, okay? Seriously, you can’t do much worse than those other girls that came before me. I’ve seen how you carry yourself. You’re almost like a Queen,” she flipped her hair arrogantly, “Almost.”

Again, she wasn’t sure if this girl was lifting her up or also being a bitch.

“Strong opinions of one’s self aside, you were amazing,” Trixie said, “Where did you learn to dance like that?”

“A combination of ballet, and watching way too many music videos,” she looked around making sure no one else was listening, “And I might have ordered a video on exotic dancing.”

“Seriously?! But, you’re only like seventeen!” Trixie cried in shock. Diamond Tiara laughed.

“I know, right?! If Daddy knew about that, he'd have a fit for sure!” Diamond Tiara said just a bit too perkily. Still, Starlight couldn’t help but feel like despite having a very skewed sense of morality, she couldn’t help but feel a sort of connection form between her and Diamond Tiara.

play song

play song

“Well, I better get going. Daddy still doesn’t know I did this, so he’s expecting me back at the mansion. I’ll be there rooting for you, Starlight~” Diamond Tiara sashayed away, flipping her hair again as she left.

“That girl is a character for sure,” Trixie said.

Starlight was inclined to agree, but like with Trixie, she could kind of sense something behind that confidence. Something in how readily she seemed to do something that would have gotten her into trouble. Well, there was no point in staying at school any longer, so Starlight and Beatrix began making their way back to the dorm.

Late Night

play song

After letting Celestia know they were going into the Phase to look for a book, the two witches went to sleep wearing the Channeling Rings, appearing in the main lobby of the Akashic Records. To their surprise, Twilight’s wisp flew down in front of them.

“Ms. Tia mentioned you were looking for books, right?” Twilight asked. Starlight told Twilight what she was looking for, immediately able to feel her deadpanned glare even through the wisp, “Seriously? You’re going into the Phase for that?”

“Look, there’s this bitch in school who’s totally going to give Starlight a rough time unless she’s able to shake it like Beyonce. You’re a girl, so you know how it is, right?” Trixie asked.

“I was home schooled my entire life. That, and I have a genius IQ, so regular High School is beneath me,” Twilight explained, clear pride in her voice. Trixie folded her arms giving the most adorable pout.

“Well you’re just a special little snowflake, eh Twi-Twi?”

“Twilight! My name is Twilight!” Twilight fussed, her wisp bouncing up and down, “Ugh, anyway, are you serious about doing it like this?”

“I am, if for no other reason than curiosity,” Starlight shrugged. She did want to show Suri, but she more so was doing this to test the true limits of the Akashic Records.

“Well, I can definitely relate to that. Fine, give me a second. You’re looking to be able to dance sexy, right?” Starlight nodded, and Twilight got to work, apparently typing on her keyboard, “Alright, follow me.”

Twilight floated off, going deeper into the Phase past the door leading to Elysium. She stopped in front of a shelf that had a number of books on dancing.

“So it depends on what kind of sexy you’re going for. Do you want cute sexy?”

“No way,” Trixie shook her head, “That’s not going to get Suri’s attention. Starlight needs to be hot.”

“Okay, so something a bit hotter. How about pole dancing?”

Both Starlight and Trixie’s faces turned beet red, “Are you crazy?!”

“What? You said hot, and that’s one of the hottest things I see here.”

“We want hot enough to make boys sweat when they see her, not hot enough to set off the sprinklers!”

“Okay okay, got it. So we’re not trying to turn Starlight into a porn star.”

“Jesus Christ…” Trixie rubbed her eyes. Starlight didn’t want to admit that she was slightly interested in that book.

“Well, if you want something that I’m sure will surprise everyone, why not Belly Dancing?” Twilight suggested, “I doubt anyone at school’s going to actually be able to dance like that professionally.”

“We sure as hell saw a bunch of girls try to belly dance,” Trixie said rolling her eyes, “What do you think Starlight? Go for belly dancing?”

“I dunno,” Starlight said thoughtfully, “Pole dancing is sounding really nice.” The deep red Trixie’s face turned made saying that so worth it.

“W-what?! Starlight, come on! That’s way too sexy, and you know it!” she cried, turning to the side, “Even if I kind of want to see that myself…”

Starlight laughed, deciding to go for belly dancing ultimately. She was going to choose that one, but she wanted to get a rise out of Trixie.

The book floated down to Starlight as she held out her hands to claim it. She opened the first few pages and started looking at it, feeling the information meld with her being. Looked like she had the perfect body for it, and since her typical dress hugged her figure so nicely all of her moves would come through.

“What do you think?” Trixie asked, “Think this will work?”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure it’ll work,” Starlight smirked. Suri wouldn’t know what hit her.

“If it doesn’t, you could always still go for pole dancing,” Twilight pointed out.

“We’re not turning Starlight into a pole dancer!” Trixie cried, once again her face red with embarrassment. Starlight was definitely coming back for that book later.

For research.

September 12^th, 2019
Wednesday
Cloudy/Chance of PM showers

Morning

play song

This time when Starlight and Trixie approached the gate, they saw Diamond Tiara waiting for them. She gave them a smirk before walking over to them.

“So, still gonna tryout?” Diamond Tiara asked Starlight, who immediately nodded, “Great! I was hoping you’d say that. I heard Suri talking about you on the way in just a bit ago. Seems someone thinks you’re going to embarrass yourself.”

“Oh, is that so?” Trixie asked with a knowing smile, “Well she’s in for a surprise after school. Starlight’s got a few hidden talents, after all.”

Starlight giggled to herself, almost impishly. She loved being a witch.

“You’ll be there watching, right?” Starlight asked Diamond Tiara.

“Well duh! I like, totally have to be there to see the look on Suri’s face right before you melt it clean off!”

The first bell rang, alerting the girls it was time for homeroom. This promised to be a really good day, all things considered.

After School

play song

Starlight and Trixie met Diamond Tiara right outside the gym, and the three of them went over to the sign in sheet. Starlight was about to sign her name, but Diamond Tiara stopped her.

“No no no no no, you don’t want to sign your name yet,” Diamond Tiara said, confusing Starlight, “You want to go last. That way, all the no talented pleebs can go first, making you look even better.”

“That’s why you went last yesterday?” Starlight asked. Diamond Tiara gave an arrogant laugh, the kind only a true rich girl could give.

“But of course~! They’re all going to humiliate themselves anyway, so at least give them the pleasure of getting it out of the way!”

“You sound like you’re doing them a favor,” Trixie said deadpanned.

“Well it’s either that or make them wait to humiliate themselves,” Diamond Tiara shrugged, “Trust me, they already know they’re terrible. They’re just hoping that if they shake their tits and asses enough they’ll get by on their good looks.”

As she said that, two girls walked by them and signed their names. Just based on how they were dressed, even Starlight could tell they were desperate.

“Just follow my lead, and you’ll make it in for sure, alright?” Diamond Tiara asked. Starlight turned to Trixie, who shrugged, silently saying “why not?” Starlight chose to follow Diamond Tiara’s suggestion and waited until it looked like no one else was coming in before signing her name.

Just as Diamond Tiara predicted, most of the girls couldn’t dance at all. There were a couple of outliers, but they were scattered, and overall Suri didn’t look impressed in the slightest. It did have the side effect of making Starlight more confident in her dance coming up, though.

“Looks like you’re next,” Trixie said in the seat above Starlight, “Ready for this?”

Starlight took a deep breath and nodded. Despite gaining the knowledge from the Akashic Records, she was still really nervous.

“You can do it,” Diamond Tiara said giving Starlight a pat on the shoulder, “Break a leg.”

Coming from her, Starlight wasn’t put at ease hearing that. Still, she could tell that Diamond Tiara was genuinely rooting for her.

Starlight walked onto the middle of the gym, waiting for Suri to tell her to start.

“Well, looks like you had the guts to show after all,” Suri taunted, giving Starlight a smirk that sent a chill down her spine, “On the bright side, you’re last, so you can’t possibly humiliate yourself worse than everyone else.”

“Can you play the music?” Starlight asked seriously, “I’d like to start, please.”

play song

Suri raised her hands in surrender, playing a very active beat on her radio. Immediately Starlight started moving to the music, letting her instincts guide her. She didn’t want to focus on Suri right now, so instead chose to lose herself to the music.

She was amazed by how easily she found it to move.

The music wasn’t the kind one would typically belly dance to, but that was okay. That kind of added to her excitement. In the Akashic Records, she also read a book on modern dancing, thus her dance was a combination of modern and belly dancing.

During the rap sections of the music, she switched to more of the modern dancing style, still relying on belly dancing to know how to move her hips. In her head, she imagined that she was dancing solely for Trixie, which seemed to inspire her even more. At one point before the chorus, she briefly turned to Trixie, winking at her. Based on how Trixie's face turned red, it had the desired effect.

Toward the end of the song, she got a little more bold, throwing her hair around a bit, bending forward and slowly coming up, and at one point even walked over to Suri’s desk and arrogantly flipped her hair almost in her face like Diamond Tiara would. At the end of the dance, she turned her back to the judges and looked at them, hands on her hips seductively, and even blew them a kiss.

Oh my God, I have no idea how good I did! I hope I didn’t just make a fool of myself!

Suri, the blue haired girl Starlight eventually learned was named Coco, and the third girl, all had wide eyes looking at Starlight. No one was saying anything, which did not help Starlight’s confidence at all. She was either extremely good, or ungodly bad.

After a few more seconds of silence, Coco gave Starlight her answer by clapping. The third girl that was still unnamed followed, and even Suri couldn’t hold in her applause.

“Okay. I stand corrected. That was impressive,” Suri said, trying her damnest to not say that Starlight blew her away, “Um, results will be up on the bulletin board tomorrow after school.”

“Thank you,” Starlight said, bowing to the judges before walking over to her friends, swaying her hips a bit as Morgana crept out from within her subconscious. Both Trixie and Diamond Tiara had the same shocked look on their faces.

play song

“That… was… um…” Trixie stammered.

“I take it you liked it?” Starlight asked, leaning in close to Trixie with probably the sexiest smirk ever, with how Trixie covered her eyes with her hat to hide how red her face was.

“Mm hm! I-i-it was good! It was really good!” Trixie chirped. That confirmed it. If she didn’t have a crush on Starlight before, she definitely got her attention now.

Starlight was not upset about this in the slightest.

“Oh, my, God,” Diamond Tiara breathed out fanning herself, “And here I thought my dance was sexy. I should have come to you for pointers first.”

Starlight shook her head, “Don’t sell yourself short. You were really hot yesterday. I’m sure you’ll make it in.”

Diamond Tiara flipped her hair arrogantly, “Damn right I’m in. But… thanks for the compliment.”

Despite her keeping the same bratty demeanor, Starlight could tell Diamond Tiara appreciated her words.

“They better put you in too,” Diamond Tiara said, “Together, we’ll take over the entire Pep Squad for sure!”

“Are you seriously going for that?” Trixie asked, both she and Starlight afraid of the answer.

“But of course! Always aim for the top! That’s what Daddy always tells me!” Diamond Tiara said with an arrogant laugh. She was clearly a spoiled brat, but Starlight could definitely feel her genuine kindness behind the slightly bitchy exterior. She felt a little closer to Diamond Tiara.

Diamond’s phone rang, stealing her attention. Starlight wasn’t surprised in the slightest that it had diamonds etched all around it.

“Hello?” she said turning her back to Starlight and Trixie, “Hi Daddy! Guess what I did~ I joined the Pep Squa-” she was cut off by someone speaking very stoically, “Y-yes, I passed the test, but-” her father continued speaking, whatever he was saying making Diamond Tiara wilt more and more, “Yes Daddy. I know. I won’t let it interfere with my studies,” she sighed, “Yes. I’ll see you at home. I-” the person hung up, “love you…”

She looked at her phone somewhat darkly. Starlight turned to Trixie, who seemed to share her concern. Starlight slowly reached for Diamond Tiara, placing her hand on her shoulder.

He didn’t even notice…

That was not what she expected to feel. While she knew that she was sad about something, based on her heart it felt like she was on the verge of tears. She turned back around to Starlight and Trixie, just as upbeat as ever.

“Well whatever. I’m still going to become Queen of the Pep Squad,” she said flipping her hair arrogantly, “Starlight, let’s both do our best, alright?” Starlight nodded, hiding how concerned she was, “See you two later~”

Diamond Tiara walked off, flipping her hair again as she sashayed away like a super model as per usual. Starlight looked down folding her arms seriously.

“What did you feel?” Trixie asked. Starlight told her what she felt from Diamond Tiara, and how much it concerned her, “Hm… we better tell Twi-Twi and Ms. Tia about this. She might have a Dungeon.”

Starlight nodded, resolving to do whatever it took to help Diamond Tiara. If she did have a Dungeon, she and Trixie needed to do something about this.

Late Night

play song

After filling both Celestia and Twilight in on things, Twilight got to work searching The Phase for Diamond Tiara’s signature. After a while however, she shook her head.

“Nope. Nothing’s coming up,” she spun her chair back toward the group, “No Dungeon is appearing under the name “Diamond Tiara”.”

“Then maybe it’s a false alarm?” Trixie asked folding her arms thoughtfully.

“I don’t know. Her sadness felt really potent,” Starlight said, “She felt almost like how you did when I touched you the first time, just not as urgent.”

“Well, my computer doesn’t lie,” Twilight said leaning back in her chair, “That girl doesn’t have a Dungeon.”

“Not yet, at least,” Celestia said, standing by the window with an air of tension hanging over her.

“Ms. Tia?” Twilight asked. Celestia turned to Starlight and her friends with a grave expression.

“We still don’t know how Dungeons manifest. For all we know, she could be showing the early signs of one forming. If that is the case, her life could very well be in danger. Tomorrow night, I want the three of you to start looking into Elysium.”

That was sudden. Starlight kind of wondered why, but she figured it was because it felt like a shared Dungeon.

“Even though we only have two Persona Users?” Trixie asked.

“As long as the three of you support each other like you’ve been, you should be fine for the most part,” she looked to the side concerned, “I would like to get at least one to two more Persona Users before we start climbing too high, but for now, this should be fine. I have a theory that place might be intimately connected to the Nightmare Epidemic, and if so, the sooner we make progress the better off we'll be.”

“We can do this,” Starlight said confidently, surprising everyone there, “I… I believe in us.”

Trixie smiled hearing that and stepped forward, taking Starlight’s hand, “If she’s confident, then I believe we can do this too.”

Twilight sighed rubbing her eyes, “Well, it’s not like my vote would matter too much in this anyway, so I guess I’m in too.”

“Your vote does matter to me, Twilight,” Starlight said smiling at Twilight, who averted her eyes away from Starlight.

“W-well, thanks I guess, but either way I’d be outvoted. Besides, whatever Ms. Tia says I’ll follow.”

Celestia smiled warmly at all three of them, “You seem to be getting along much better these days. I feel confident you three will be fine in there.”

Starlight could feel it too. Despite Twilight being Twilight about it, she felt a lot closer to her team as a whole.

Starlight and Trixie said goodnight to Twilight and Celestia and went off to bed, resting to make sure they’d be ready for tomorrow.

Fool Arcana: 2/10 - Level Up!
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