Fluttershy walked up to the door of the palatial single storey villa and took a cleansing breath. She and her friends had been back from the charity event at Camp Everfree just a few days, but she had to act. She knocked and waited. A few moments later Vice Principal Luna opened the door. “Hello,” the teen greeted the older woman, “I need to speak to Principal Celestia concerning the language stones.”

Luna thought for just a moment. This was one of the infamous ‘magical’ students at the school. “Fluttershy?” The girl nodded. “Please come in.” She let the former student past her. “Based on what you just said, you must know that Tia is leaving soon.”

“I do, which is the reason for my urgency.” Fluttershy said as she looked around the living room. Luna pointed out the couch and Fluttershy sat down, smoothing out her long green dress. “It is important that I talk to her about this. I want to be sure there is no miscommunication.”

“One moment then,” said Luna, drawing her dressing gown around her. She walked out of the living room and down a hall. She was back in under a minute. “Can I get you a drink while you wait? Tia will be a few minutes.”

“Cold water would be nice, please, if it’s no trouble.” Luna simply nodded and left for the kitchen. Alone in the room, Fluttershy worried what she may have just told Celestia. Since the camp event, she had done nothing but worry if she would get what she needed for Adagio and her sisters before it was too late. Another cleansing breath and she let the determination to succeed fill her.

Luna soon returned with the glass of water and set it in front of the girl. She took a seat on a nearby chair. Her comfy chair that nobody else sat on. While the girl took a sip of the water she noticed the stone around her neck matched one of the ones her sister kept in her collar. Then it clicked, all the Rainbooms had stones, and some of them matched the ones Celestia had. She realized just how far down the rabbit hole she had fallen. Not that many months ago she would have disavowed the very existence of magic. Now she has felt the effects of that magic.

The couch that Fluttershy sat on didn’t face the bedroom hall, so Luna noticed Moonsilver coming down the hall with Celestia, who was completely naked, trailing behind him. She stood and Fluttershy, who realized something was up, quickly stood and turned. Sadly for Luna, the girl seemed to take the presence of a centaur and her naked sister in stride.

“Hello, Moonsilver,” said Fluttershy politely, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I don’t see Rehanos with you. I hope he’s okay.” Since she was a nudist at heart and in practice, Fluttershy wasn’t at all phased by Celestia’s nudity. “Principal Celestia, thank you for meeting with me.” As the two came around, Fluttershy sat back down on the couch and drank some more of her water.

“Luna said you want some language stones,” Moonsilver led off, his sharp Hunter’s eyes spotting the stone around the teenager’s neck, “I see you’re wearing one now. I believe that is one of the Founding Stones.” Moonsilver sat on his haunches and Celestia moved around to sit on the couch. “You know my name it seems.”

“Excuse me, I’m Fluttershy. I’ve spoken with Applejack and Sunset Shimmer about the stones, and your name did come up. And Rehanos told me about you as well.” She held up her pendant. “We got these in the Everfree, and, while I didn’t know at first the name of this stone, it did help me to better communicate with my animal friends. You didn’t speak English to me just now, yet I understood what you said.” She turned to face Celestia. “I thought it better to bring my request to the centaurs through you, as you are an emissary.”

“You have raised me above my station, Fluttershy,” said Celestia with a smile. “I’m but one centaur’s pet.” She turned to Moonsilver as she ran a finger along her pale grey collar.

“That may be so, as I understand the care and feeding of pets,” responded Fluttershy. “Not all my pets walk on four legs. Still, you were the one that introduced the Princesses from the pony world to the centaurs of this world.”

Celestia thought about that. This girl knew far more than she would have ever expected. Luna did tell her about the incident at the dock at Camp Everfree, but this was the first time Fluttershy had been to her house. “How much do you know about the centaurs?”

Fluttershy was ready for this question. She remained determined to finish her mission. “I was probably the first to know about centaurs, but that was second-hand information from my animal friends in the forest. Now a certain bird, Rehanos, was more than happy to chat with me when he found out I could chat with him.” She couldn’t suppress the giggle when Moonsilver did an eye roll. “Then, it is possible that Pinkie Pie always knew. I was the last to know from first-hand information as all my friends kept that information from each other. They tried really hard to keep your secret safe.”

It was reassuring to Celestia to know that those in the know didn’t just spread it around as gossip. Since these girls were a tight knit group it would have foolish to think they wouldn’t share information sooner or later. Celestia wasn’t long for this world though and that would be Luna’s problem. Time to cut the pleasantries, “Why do you want more language stones?”

Fluttershy didn’t answer right away. This was the moment she came here for, but the prospect of failure raised its ugly head. It was still clear in her own mind just how much damage the sirens did to the students – and to the teachers - of Canterlot High. She took another cleansing breath. “I need the stones for Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. Adagio is my pet and I care for her, deeply.”

Of the list of reasons Fluttershy would need the stones, that wasn’t just low on Celestia’s list, it wasn’t even on the list. She thought, naturally, it would be for the other workers at her animal adoption centre, or something silly like for that pet rabbit of hers she had snuck into the school many times. To even consider giving those evil bitches access to powerful Equestrian magic was beyond comprehension. It was so unbelievable that Celestia had a difficult time forming a reply.

Moonsilver, for his part, knew nothing of the names Fluttershy had just mentioned, but he could sense the turmoil in his pet. When that turmoil turned into rage he thought it was time to intervene. When he started to reach out to his pet, it was too late.

“Are you crazy?” Celestia shouted, not bothering to even try and hide her fury. “They mind raped me! They tried to mind control the whole school, and you want to give them that power back?” Celestia fell silent when Moonsilver forcibly grabbed her upper arm.

Luna took the moment of silence to add her thoughts to the mix, for she too had been affected. “They mind controlled me also, and my Leelee, yet I doubt that Fluttershy is under their power as she is one of those that defeated them.” She also laid a hand on Celestia’s other arm. “Sister, I don’t think she would be here to repeat that episode.”

Celestia, quivering with rage, anger and bitterness, squeezed her eyes shut, and slowly she unclenched her teeth. When some semblance of calm was restored she said softly, “How can you possibly know that?” Adagio Dazzle was the source of her nightmares, of her depression and her self-loathing!

When Celestia started shouting, Fluttershy’s first thought was flight. However, the needs of her pet kept her rooted on the couch next to the screaming woman. Watching the other two take hold of her didn’t reduce Fluttershy’s fears in the slightest. Luna’s words let her take a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and Celestia’s question was very reasonable. “Adagio has been wearing my stone every night she spends with me. The first time it allowed her to sing again. She questioned me letting her use the stone, and I told her if she turned evil, I’d rainboom her.” She drained her water glass, and none of the others had any immediate questions.

“Before she touched the stone, her singing voice could be compared to a cat fight,” continued Fluttershy when none of the other three looked like saying anything. “Touching it allowed her to sing like she could with the stones the originally had. The difference was there was no compulsion. There was no draining of energies of any type. Positive or negative. The stone gave her back a voice she thought lost forever.” Fluttershy laid her hand on Celestia’s, “I’m attuned to this stone. I can’t just give it away. I love my pet and will move mountains for her. She, and her sisters, deserve to have their voices back.”

Celestia though shook her head. The wound those sisters inflicted was still raw and they ran very deep indeed. One of the many things that had piled up on her back which led her to that fateful trip up to Eagles Point. “How can you be so sure?” Celestia had learned just how powerful Equestrian magic could be and she didn’t want the slightest risk of what it could do to this world. Even if she was leaving, she wouldn’t leave that mess for Luna to clean up.

Fluttershy squeezed the hand she held. “I’m very sure. The stones the sirens had were Equestrian magic.” She held up her pendant again. “This stone is Equestrian magic. They are not the same magic. Even Adagio admitted this pendant is older magic than even she had, and she has been around for a millennium. Princ… Celestia, trust your heart and then ask Moonsilver if these stones can do evil?”

Moonsilver watched Celestia open her eyes and look at him. He could still feel the conflict inside her. “These stones were created to provide harmony between the centaurs and the world around them.” Fluttershy’s laughter rendered him silent as he, along with the sisters turned to look at her.

Fluttershy’s laughter turned to a smile, and she didn’t wilt under the stares of all three. “Princess Twilight wrote a lot about harmony, and Sunset Shimmer was always talking about harmony. The power of friendship is based on harmony. I think harmony is the best possible description of these stones. They could bring harmony to the sirens. Harmony to replace the despair they currently have.”

Moonsilver nodded, “Yes, which was the intent of the stones. It works on humans as well as it worked for centaurs. These sirens are not human, but Equestrian?”

Fluttershy’s smile faded. “Yes, they are from Equestria, but they were not ponies. They are sort of a sea serpent, dragon mix. They were very destructive and were banished to this world by a pony named, Starswirl the Bearded. They kept their Equestrian magic in their stones and took from humans the negative energy they fostered. Adagio explained it like who we take meat from animals. To them, humans were just cattle to be cared for so they could continue to feed from them.”

“What has changed?” asked Celestia, her tone acidic.

“When my friends and I destroyed their stones, they each fell into depression,” said Fluttershy. “Each sister tried to cope with it in their own way. Sonata and Aria managed to overcome and adapt. Adagio though, she was coping through self-destruction and heading for suicide. Aria brought her to me, and I’ve been working to turn that around. Discovering what these stones could do for them gave me hope that they could all find joy in living.”

“Do they know about the portal?” asked Celestia, wholly unswayed by the news that Adagio had been close to suicide.

“I will be telling them about a chance to return to Equestria.” She squeezed Celestia’s hand, “It would be unkind of me to not tell them. I think each have a life, for what it is here, but with the stones they could have a life here with meaning.” Fluttershy let go of Celestia’s hand. “I wouldn’t stop Adagio from going through if that is what she chose to do.”

Celestia snarled, her naked fury returning in full force. “Then they would be free to destroy the very home the centaurs are trying to return to!”

Fluttershy shook her head. The more Celestia snarled the more she thought of her as a silly bear. She could deal with bears. “As I told Adagio, if she turned evil I’d rainboom her in a heartbeat. I have every confidence that Princess Twilight would be able to deal with some sirens it they thought they could make another try to control Equestria.” Fluttershy quickly pointed a finger at Celestia and lightly pushed it between her breasts. “Isn’t the power of friendship about redemption and reconciliation? Don’t you believe that power will work on any creature, even a siren?”

Fluttershy’s finger pushing against her chest was like a bucket of cold water being dumped on Celestia. The hatred was washed away and shame was all that was left behind. She didn’t realize how much she was harbouring that hatred until it was gone. Celestia had to force herself to look into Fluttershy’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

The young girl wasted no time turning her finger pointing into a tight breast squishing hug. “Forgiven, for it is a lot to take in. I trust my pet and can only ask that you trust me.” She felt Luna and Moonsilver join the group hug. Fluttershy wasn’t one to gloat in victory, but she did let it fill her with joy. Her pet would get what she needed to survive this world. That hope was what she need to let the love between them grow.

~ ~ ~

Adagio Dazzle didn’t hear the car pull up outside her house. Between the noises of the large fan that was directing cold air straight at her naked body and the black and white TV rambling about the record temperatures that the city was enduring, she didn’t hear anything else. ‘I know about the temperatures, idiot weatherman!’ she thought sourly as she drank her latest bottle of cold water from her fridge.

As she walked up the cracked path in her light white sundress – which was transparent when the sun was behind her – Fluttershy was giddy with excitement. It was five days since she had first met with Moonsilver and Celestia, and she finally had in the glove box of her car, in a bag, the things she had requested!

Fluttershy was very curious as to why her girlfriend had not come out to the car when she pulled up, surely she had not forgotten about the dinner date? Cautiously she pushed open her front door and drank in the wondrous sight of her naked and sweaty girlfriend laid on her couch. The bandages were off her wrists and the stitches had all healed!

“Hey,” Adagio heard her door open but she didn’t bother to get up or open her eyes. There were only a handful of people who would enter without knocking and they had all seen her nude already. “If you're here on the rob, help yourself but leave me the couch and the fan. If you're not a villain, be a sweetie and don't block the fan.”

Seeing that Adagio was laid with her eyes closed, and her TV was on quite loud, Fluttershy used all the stealth she possessed to sneak up on her girlfriend. She didn’t have to try too hard. With all the background noise, she could have played a drum and still crept up on her. When she got within striking distance, Fluttershy simultaneously kissed Adagio’s mouth and slipped her fingers in her bare pussy. “Hmmmm Ma'am...” still with her eyes closed, she opened her legs and purred like a kitten into the kiss.

“Did someone forget what we are doing today?” Fluttershy asked with amusement rife in her voice once she broke the kiss and sat back on her haunches.

“No,” Adagio finally deigned to open her eyes and she cast her girlfriend a look she approved of, because from her position, the sun was behind Fluttershy through the window and her white dress appeared translucent. Damn her underwear! “I didn't forget, but it's sooooooo hot!”

“Wrong,” Fluttershy corrected her with a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose, “I'm sooooooo hot. Outside it is warm, and you are being silly.”

“Fine,” Adagio swung her legs over the edge of the old couch and she stood up, but only because her lover was blocking the cool air from the fan. Now she was up, she did a few stretches to get the blood flowing. “Where are we going again?”

Fluttershy giggled, though at the same time she admired the view of Adagio’s chubby ass as she stretched in a vain attempt to touch her toes. It was a doomed enterprise and she only reached her knees. “Aria is on a raw fish binge so wants to go to the Sakura Sushi Bar. I like fish too.”

“Alright,” Adagio said as soon as she finished her stretches, “Fish I can do. Let me go get a dress on and I'll be ready.”

“The new blue dress, no underwear.”

“Pfft,” Adagio threw back over her shoulder, “What underwear?” without a backwards glance, she sauntered off up the stairs to her room and, just ten minutes later, she came sashaying her way back down wearing moments later in her new blue dress, which was considerably shorter than the one that Aria had given her, the hem only reaching midway down her thighs, and her sandals.

While Adagio had been upstairs, Fluttershy had taken it upon herself to turn off the TV. Now she was back downstairs, the teen walked over and she ran her hands up and down the short blue dress. “I trust you but I do need to verify,” she giggled, “Come along pet, the fishies await.”

“Yes Ma'am, I'm coming along!” Adagio giggled as she followed Fluttershy out of her house, shielding her eyes against the light of the sun as she did so, “So how's the rest of the hero squad doing?”

“I think Dashie can finally sit down again without flinching,” Fluttershy laughed as she closed and locked her girlfriend’s front door. “The rest are doing well. I'm thinking of doing an activity with all of us. Just needs a name. Something…Dozen.”

“The Clean Dozen ?” Adagio offered with a smirk on her face as she reached Fluttershy’s pink beetle and got in the passenger’s seat. “How about the Churchgoing Twelve. The Puritan Eleven Plus One?” she giggled, and her giggles got louder and louder with every eye roll she received, “Although I can be dirty on occasion.” Adagio waited until the car was moving before she spoke again, “So Fast Blue got in touch yesterday.”

“She didn't tell me that,” Fluttershy commented as she pulled up at a set of lights and smiled when she recognised the young girl Waterfire cross the road with her adopted raccoon Recycle poking his head out of her backpack, “And Dirty was vetoed by Rarity. Pinkie was hoping for Depraved, and Sunny likes Dynastic.”

Adagio cocked her head in thought, “How about Perverted, Deviant or Degenerate Dozen?” she offered up when the lights changed and the car moved again. “And yeah, I was surprised too. Seems she needs help with history to get her grades up in the last minute so she can go to some college or university.”

Fluttershy laughed out loud at that, “Yes, she does, and her Mistress gave her a deadline. Sorry, but I wasn't going to suggest you. Did it go okay?”

“She is a blank slate!” Adagio sighed in frustration and she rolled her eyes at the memory of her meeting with Rainbow Dash. She had at least learnt what her name was. “Honestly, the blue wonder's head is like an echo chamber,” she laughed, though it wasn’t a mean, nasty laugh. “Unless you want to know about any sport in the history of ever, or the minutia of every Daring Do book ever written. Then she's a mine of information. I saw her paper and did you know she wrote "Adagio did it" for almost every answer?”

Fluttershy nodded her head as she drove. As it happened, she did know that her best friend had answered that to every question in her original exam. Still, she didn’t like the way that Adagio wasn’t using her name, so she called her out on it. “She has a name that is more than a skin tone, my love.”

“Rainbow Dash then,” Adagio sighed and conceded defeat for the moment. “I've never met anyone who's tried so hard to be so dumb. She actually said, "Reading is for eggheads and studying is lame and uncool.".”

“It’s in her nature,” Fluttershy sighed and shook her head at her friend’s foolishness, “She’s more worried about how she’s perceived than how she really is.”

“I can teach her,” Adagio sounded very confident, because she was. Very confident. “I have two whole months!”

A look of intense sadness flashed across Fluttershy's face when she heard her girlfriend say that, but in a matter of seconds her warm light-up-the-room smile returned. “I'm sure you can. And here we are. I've been here before.”

“You okay there, baby?” Adagio asked as Fluttershy pulled up and parked outside the restaurant. She gave it a look over and tried to cast her mind about in case she had eaten there before, but try as she might, she just couldn’t remember. “I don't think I've been here before, so this should be fun!”

On the sidewalk, Fluttershy took hold of Adagio’s hand and she held it like a hurricane might blow through at any moment and sweep her away. That, or a magic portal… “I think I'm learning to love you, Adagio.” Unconsciously, her hand squeezed tighter, because she didn’t want to let her go.

“So why the sudden sad face?” Adagio asked before getting up on the tips of her toes and kissing Fluttershy’s lips.

Delicately, Fluttershy sniffed and, with her free hand, she hoisted her bag up onto her shoulder. “It’s my face, I can wear it how I want. Saying it will freeze that way is... false,” she forced out a giggle, because she was convinced that after she told Adagio what she had to tell her, she would be single again.

When they entered the restaurant, as it happened, they were the third and fourth to arrive, Aria and Chestnut were already there. Much to Aria’s chagrin, Chestnut enthusiastically waved them over to their table. “Look who’s on time,” Aria snarked, “I need to record this for history.”

Adagio responded to her sister’s sarcasm with a well-aimed raspberry. “Ha, de ha. You should know by now I'm never late. I arrive exactly when I mean to.”

Fluttershy giggled at that, because she was reminded of a book she read years ago. “My pet is most timely, Aria.”

As Fluttershy and Adagio sat at the table, Sonata and Wallflower both walked in hand in hand and they sat, filling out the last two remaining places. “We're here!” Sonata squealed excitedly, which made Aria roll her eyes again, “The funzies can start now!”

“Hey Sonny, Wallflower,” Adagio, in stark contrast to her sister’s grumpiness, waved happily at the two newcomers. It helped that the restaurant had full air conditioning and that it was directed right at the back of her neck. Heaven. “How are the plants liking the heat?”

Before Wallflower could respond, Sonata laughed, “My Wall-e is drinking a lot more fluids.”

“Totally!” Wallflower snickered, the gardener wisely choosing not to mention that Sonata had originally driven to the Taco Towers, which was why they were the last two to arrive at the sushi place. Besides, they weren’t that late. “I had to ‘personally’ water both of our gardens. That's why we're a bit late.”

“Um, if you use a hose, you can drink water in the garden. Might work better.”

Wallflower laughed at Fluttershy’s comment, “I'll keep that in mind, thanks Fluttershy.” It might help, particularly how she watered her gardens.

“Oh yes,” Chestnut added, joining the conversation seeing as how Aria wasn’t going to any time soon, “I must thank you Fluttershy, for putting us in contact with Rarity. That woman is a godsend!”

“Rarity squeed and fangirled about the autograph for hours,” Fluttershy chuckled at the memory and, when Sonata and Wallflower were both seated comfortably, she opened with what she really wanted to say, her real reason for organising the six way dinner date. “I have some presents for the sirens, I hope you don't mind that too much, Chestnut and Wallflower?”

Chestnut Magnifico didn’t mind that in the slightest, “What makes Mistress happy makes me happy!”

Wallflower shrugged, “Nah it's cool,” she wasn’t concerned, Sonata had given her a present when she had jumped her in the flowerbed at home.

“Oh?” Adagio Dazzle though was intrigued, as were her sisters, even the eternally sullen Aria. “And it's not even my birthday!” she exclaimed, though if she was honest, she wasn’t entirely sure when her birthday actually was, she had lived for so long.

“I don't have an Equestrian calendar anyways,” with that, Fluttershy reached into her bag and, far more nervously than she cared to admit, she pulled out three small plain black jewellery boxes and she passed one to each of the sisters in turn. “The chain and setting is platinum, so I doubt anyone is allergic to it,” she added for the sake of saying something to allay her nerves.

“What's this?” Aria Blaze looked suspiciously at the box she now held in her hands.

Adagio opened her box and she smiled, a smile that seemed to go on for miles. In the box, resting on a soft pad, was a white geode, set in a clasp and chain, an exact duplicate pendant to what Fluttershy was wearing around her neck. Instantly, she knew what it was and she knew the significance of the gift. It was beyond words. “Oh boy...Ari, you're about to be very happy!” slowly, Adagio lifted hers out first, followed seconds later by the other two, who wore similar expressions of wonder. “Fluttershy...where...how did you get these?”

“A friend of a friend made them,” Fluttershy smiled, her nerves giving way to a very self-satisfied feeling that blossomed in her breast, “Put them on and sing for us.”

“Sing?” Aria asked, acidic sarcasm dripping from her voice, “Don't be fu…” she noticed the distinctly frosty look that Chestnut shot her way, “Silly.”

“Trust me girls and trust her.” Adagio lifted up the pendant and she placed it around her neck so that it rested under her yellow collar and, unlike all the times she had worn Fluttershy's gem, she felt all glowy inside. “Oh…Ooooh my...” unbeknownst to her, she didn’t just feel glowy, she actually was glowing. A white glow emanated from the geode and grew until it encircled her head.

Fluttershy giggled at the display, while Sonata and Aria watched open mouthed, “Getting attuned to the magic is a rush. That’s why I couldn't leave mine with you, Adagio.”

“What...” taking the plunge first, Sonata slipped the pendant over her head and immediately the white glow that had affected her older sister encompassed her as well. “Ooooh seas and oceans...that was a head rush!”

“You said sing,” Aria said as soon as she had her geode in place. While she had been affected by the attunement process like the other two, she had been determined not to show it. She had a reputation to protect. “You really want us to sing?”

“Don't make me get all Mistressy on you,” Fluttershy said, her tone of voice stating quite clearly that she was ready, able and prepared to follow through with her threat.

“Girls,” Adagio started once the head rush had worn off, “You remember ‘Under Our Spell’?” when they both nodded, she continued, “I'll start, you two come in on the second line, okay?” Adagio Dazzle then took a deep breath, and she sang, just like she had done so many months ago, on the band stage. “Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh, You didn't know that you fell, Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh…”

Aria and Sonata were both completely stunned by what they heard. Without thinking any more about it, the two younger sisters joined in with Adagio on the second line, singing, “Now that you're under our spell…”

Adagio then took the lead, while her two sisters easily slid back into the supporting harmony role they had provided for so very long. “Blindsided by the beat, Clapping your hands, stomping your feet, You didn't know that you fell…”

“Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh,” sang Aria and Sonata, all three singing the next line, “Now you've fallen under our spell, Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh!”

“We've got the music,” Adagio was getting into the groove of the song by that point, she stood from her seat and swayed her wide hips in time to music only she and her sisters could hear, “Makes you move it, Got the song that makes you lose it, We say "jump", you say "how high?" Put your hands up to the sky!”

After that, Aria and Sonata both stood as well, joining Adagio in the hypnotic hip-swaying dance routine they had made famous at the Battle of the Bands. Watching the show, Fluttershy felt no magical compulsion whatsoever, beyond the almost physical need to seize Adagio by those deadly swaying hips and ravish her then and there, but she had a geode, so she forced herself to closely watch Chestnut and Wallflower to make sure they were not being negatively affected by the song.

“Listen to the sound of my voice, Soon you’ll find you don’t have a choice. Captured in the web of my song, Soon you’ll all be singing along…” As Adagio sang, and swayed her hips, and gestured to her little audience, Chestnut and Wallflower did sing along, though she showed absolutely no negative affects at all, and by the end of the performance, both of them ended up whooping and clapping, drawing looks from the other diners.

After the performance, Fluttershy waved for a waiter to come over. “You three do harmonize very well!” she squealed happily, trying very hard to put the image of those hips out of her mind, but all she could see was those hips.

“We have sung together for over a millennium, Flu...Ma'am,” Adagio commented, though now they had sang together like that, she wanted nothing more than to keep on singing.

Fortunately for Fluttershy – and her rampant libido – the waiter appeared at their table. That at least gave her something else to focus on other than Adagio Dazzle’s fat hips. “My pet and I will start with the Edamame,” she ordered, the dominance easily entering her tone, “Then Miso Soup, and Sashimi platter for two, and a bottle of Gekkeikan Plum Wine please.”

Aria then ordered Maguro Nigiri, which was a lean cut of tuna for herself and Chestnut while Sonata requested the cooked shrimp for her and Wallflower. Aria then requested Amareican beer while Sonata asked for the sake. Once the main course started, Fluttershy cleared her throat, “There is something else, something I need to say to the sisters.” She then took Adagio's hand in hers, “They are going to close the portal so that the current magic leak into this world doesn't continue.”

Aria shrugged and snorted, “So what? We can’t use it anyways.”

“Our magic was in the gems we had,” Sonata added.

“What they said,” Adagio sighed, “For a long, long, long time we didn't even know there was a portal. But yes, we can't use it.”

“The stones I just gave you were created by centaurs, Equestrian centaurs, to be exact.” Fluttershy noted the smug look on Adagio’s face and she remembered back in the Burger Joint, she had identified the source of the magic by smell and taste alone, “The Princess in the pony world has fixed the portal so all Equestrian life can cross back. The centaurs here are returning to Equestria.”

Adagio swiftly cut across Aria, who had a ‘what the fuck’ expression on her face, “All...Equestrian life can cross back? As in, us three?”

At that, Wallflower and Chestnut both shared a look between them, a look that Fluttershy mirrored on her face. A look of despondent sadness. “Yes,” she said softly, on the verge of miserable, “You three too. It would be unkind of me to not tell you. Sunset thinks they will open a new portal so pony and human can cross with no leak. I don't know if the new portal would let you three cross.”

Adagio felt Fluttershy squeeze her hand almost to the point of it being painful, and at once she understood the look of sorrow on her girlfriend’s face. “I know what I think, but what do you think, girls?”

“What the actual fuck!” Aria exclaimed, all the possibilities of returning home running through her head. She could swim again!

Quietly, Sonata took Wallflower’s hand, “Would you follow me?”

Wallflower didn’t even pause for breath before she gave her soulmate her answer. “I would, in a heartbeat, Sonny.”

“With your gardening skills, you would most likely be an earth pony on the other side,” Fluttershy guessed, not that she was an expert or anything like that, “From what I remember, Sonata would be a dragon / sea serpent hybrid like we all saw at the Battle of the Bands.”

“Our natural form, you mean,” Adagio stated, to which Fluttershy nodded her head.

“What about our magic?” asked Aria, who was seriously giving a lot of thought to finally going home after all this time. Judging by the look on her face, Chestnut was thinking about Aria leaving her, too.

Fluttershy though shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know if the stones will be restored or not. If you do go through, I know all the Princesses will watch you on the other side.”

“To blast us, you mean?” Aria asked bluntly.

“I was ready to blast you when I gave you these geodes,” Fluttershy pointed out.

Adagio made her mind up. Really, for her, there was no choice to make. “I'm not going.”

“Why not?” Aria demanded.

“Would you follow her through, Fluttershy?” asked Sonata curiously.

“I will not leave this world, but if they reopen the portal, I'd be willing to visit.”

That sealed it, as far as Adagio was concerned. “I gave up on Equestria centuries ago, Ari. I have no desire to encounter that crusty old idiot Starswirl again.” She then looked at Fluttershy, who looked like she couldn’t believe what she had heard, “Besides, this world has a unique kind of magic I love.”

Aria glanced at Chestnut and she hated the tight knot that swelled in her chest at the thought of leaving her beloved. “Yeah, you got a point, Dagi.”

Chestnut smiled a most relieved smile, “You're staying, Mistress?”

Adagio chuckled, “Besides which, one does get used to such things as hands and opposable thumbs…”

“And feet, right Dagi?” Sonata interrupted, earning herself a long, loud raspberry from her older sister.

Smirking, Fluttershy slipped off her sandals and she rubbed the toes of her left foot up Adagio’s legs under the table. “I don't think I have a big enough collar, either.”

Shivering at the touch of Fluttershy’s perfectly pedicured perfect feet, Adagio’s mind was definitely made up, if it wasn’t already. If it was a choice of swimming in the Celestial Sea and making Fluttershy do her sad face or staying and experiencing her feet every day, there was no choice at all. “I'm definitely staying.”

Feeling like she could walk on clouds, Fluttershy leant in and kissed Adagio’s lips, “Thank you.”

~ ~ ~

Adagio Dazzle stared at the pale blue door. The closed, unresponsive, pale blue door. She had been staring at this particular pale blue door now for the past ten minutes. She lifted up her hand and knocked, for the fifth time, on the door. This time though, she knocked louder. “What a way to spend a Saturday…” she muttered to herself as she knocked again.

Then, she heard it. A distinct buzz saw noise that sounded like the loudest chainsaw Adagio had ever heard. She rolled her eyes, for she knew instinctively what it was. Centuries of living with Aria told her what it was. Snoring! The damned girl was asleep! Grunting with annoyance, Adagio smoothed down her new dark green dress and she pushed the door to see if it was open.

To her great surprise, it was!

Hefting her backpack full of notes back onto her shoulder, she quietly shoved open the front door. Immediately, the world’s loudest chainsaw became even louder. Tiptoeing into the living room, Adagio found the house’s sole occupant asleep on the white cloud style couch. Then, she caught sight of the scene of messy devastation before her eyes. “By the Oceans...there's something unknown to science in here I'm sure...” she muttered as she walked into the living room.

Adagio didn’t bother trying to be stealthy. She was sure that one could have led a marching band through the house and the snoring athlete would not have woken up. Indeed, as she stood by her side, Rainbow Dash, dressed in shorts and a tank top, was so deep in sleep she was drooling on the empty cider bottle and the pizza box under her head.

Somehow, Adagio knew she had to wake this…creature, up. She was wondering how to do that when she spotted an empty crisp packet – one of many - on the floor and she just could not resist. Besides, it was either that or ice taken from the freezer on her tits and her crotch. Grinning evilly, she blew up the empty foil packet and held it right next to Rainbow Dash's ear. Then, after a silent countdown from three to one, she burst it with her other hand.

The resulting BANG! was admittedly louder than Adagio had anticipated.

Shocked out of her peaceful slumber, Rainbow Dash easily reached the ceiling, where she pushed herself push back down to the trash covered floor. On the way down, she assessed the unknown threat that had dared to wake her up from her well-earned nap. “What the hell, Adagio!?” she fumed on her bare feet, “What did you do that for!?”

Adagio dropped her shoulder bag full of history notes on the now vacated couch. “I can't teach you if you're asleep, Dash,” she deadpanned.

“You can't teach me if I have a heart attack, either.”

“Oh well,” Adagio shrugged, “I know first aid,” she then smiled at the grumpy teenager, “Though I get the same response as if you were asleep.”

“Studying is a lame waste of time!” Rainbow Dash groaned as she sat back down and stretched her legs and arms, “I should be doing something cool and awesome, like training for university sports.”

“Which you won't get to do unless you study,” Adagio rolled her eyes loudly and she pointedly flicked the pizza box onto the floor so she can sit down. Teaching this…human – she was being diplomatic – was far more difficult than even she had anticipated. “Before we start, how in the name of all the oceans do you do it? How do you eat all this junk and remain that fit? I so much as look at a burger and I put a stone on!”

Rainbow Dash compared the difference in their respective physiques. At about five foot, they were roughly the same height, though that was where the similarities ended. Rainbow was lithe, toned and athletically ripped, where Adagio was – fat would be cruel – generously chubby. The athlete flexed her arm, “My meta...abelism, whatever. My body is as awesome as me!”

Adagio shook her head. Rainbow had muscles in places she didn’t even have places. That was just the way of it. “Alright!” she exclaimed, trying not to think on the fact that just one of her legs equalled both of her pupil’s, “So, what do you remember about the second world war from our last session?”

“That's easy,” Rainbow grinned, still in her rather heroic pose, “It was after the first one!”

“Ugh…” Adagio face palmed. She had developed a very long fuse, having lived with and taught Sonata, but this human was rapidly getting onto her last nerve. It was like she was proud to be dumb! “I was hoping you'd say, 'Adagio did it', because then I'd have an excuse to put my foot in your face.” She sighed, “You seriously don't remember anything else? Dates, places, notable battles? We were at this for three hours!”

“Um, we won? And it was in another country?” Rainbow really tried to drag anything else up from the blank void that was her memory but she came up empty. Then, she rubbed her butt. The pain and the welts might have been long gone, but the memory persisted. “I don't need another lesson in you didn't do everything wrong.”

Adagio burst out into a fit of giggles, “SO wish I could've seen that. Anyway! Today we'll go over it again,” she ignored Rainbow’s shoulder slumping groan, “And I know you'll learn this time.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow didn’t sound convinced, “That was what you said the last time and the time before the last time and the, um time before that time...” she trailed off and awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.

“Ah, but this time I have....flash cards!” Adagio patted her bag, enjoying the look she got in return, “And a plan. I need to ask you a few things though first, okay?”

“Flash Cards?” Rainbow said the two words like they were a dirty, filthy swear word, “That's a Twi thing. I can't sit around and read cards!”

Adagio knew full well from talking with Fluttershy that Rainbow couldn’t just sit and look at text. That’s why she had her plan. “I know you love to run, but why? What is it about running you love so much?”

“Running sets me free,” Rainbow answered honestly, and for the first time, a real fire and vitality shone in her eyes at the thought of running. “I can see things, do things, help others and no one even knows. That makes it extra cool!”

“You're that fast?”

“Totally! I can put a crumb in a bird's beak when they’re flying by.”

“So...suppose I was to spill water above a Daring Do book, you'd catch it before it hit the pages?”

Rainbow Dash grinned at the challenge that was being laid before her. She knew that Adagio knew how much she prized her Daring Do books. Of course, it was a challenge she was going to accept. “Maybe, might just move the book, or direct the water to hit the person that spilled it on purpose.” She then zipped to her bedroom and came back with a pristine condition first edition signed by A.K. Yearling Daring Do and the Jade Palace, and a cup of water. “Want to try?”

“Sure. I'm game.” Adagio took the book in her left hand and she opened it to the contents page where it had been signed. She didn’t know how much this book was worth, but she knew it was a lot. Then again, it wasn’t her book. She then took the cup of water and tipped it up on the page.

Rainbow moved so fast that time appeared to slow down to a crawl. She pulled the cup from Adagio’s hand, caught the water and replaced the cup so that the water would splash onto her face. Then, she moved the priceless book out of the way and waited to watch the results happen. “I thought you were going to pour it on the book?” she asked, holding the dry book up victoriously.

“Phhhbt…” Adagio wiped her wet face with a hand, very sure that Rainbow had moved so fast she hadn’t seen her. “That...was actually impressive!”

Zipping back to her kitchen, Rainbow reappeared and threw a towel at Adagio before pointing both her thumbs at herself. “Awesome.”

“Hmm...” as Adagio towelled herself dry, she fancied she had the workings of a plan all sorted in her head. She just needed to ask a couple more things. “And what do you think about when you run, Miss Awesome?”

“I try not to. I just take things in. Make minor changes if needed.”

That was what Adagio had assumed, she just had to be sure. “Finally, is there a track near here? I'd to see you run. Really run, see if you're as good as you make out.”

Airily, Rainbow Dash waved a hand like she was brushing off the challenge, such as it was. “Thing is I'm so good you won't even see me!” she boasted, sticking her tongue out just to emphasise her point.

“Then prove it, unless...you really aren't that good after all?”

“You're all like 'prove it' as if I really have anything to prove to you,” Rainbow shrugged her shoulders and tried her best to maintain the air of nonchalant…ness, but inside she was desperate to rise to the challenge and smash it into the ground. “I'm up now, thanks to you, so let me get some running shoes on and we can go.”

Adagio allowed the teen to look around the disaster area of a living room for just a moment for where she dropped them last before she picked up a pair of white running shoes from under the fallen pizza box, “Looking for these?”

“Um, yeah, thanks,” taking them from her, Rainbow dropped to her ass on the coffee table and slipped on the shoes. “So how are you and Shy getting along?” It was more of a courteous question more than she was genuinely interested. Although, now she had asked, she did want to know.

“We're getting along great, thank you,” Adagio stood and smoothed out a non-existent wrinkle in her dark green dress. “She's a fantastic Mistress to Jubilee, and outside of that, I have no complaints about my girlfriend, either.”

“Shy is fantastic, no question. Just, well, I never took you to be a pet, that’s all.” She looked at Adagio and found her eyes drawn to the many white scars on her forearms as well as the two recent ones on her wrists, “Still we all have our thing. The track is about quarter mile away, you going to make it?”

Adagio rolled her eyes at the athlete who was literally bouncing on her feet she was that desperate to get running, “Yes, I can make it,” she stuck out her tongue, “The pet stuff helped me through a dark part of my life, something I'm still dealing with, as you know,” she giggled, “And when I'm done being her kitten, I get to play with my Mistress's feet!”

On the way to her door, Rainbow Dash froze in mid-step. “No way!” there was no way she had heard what she thought she heard.

Adagio’s look went all dreamy when she thought about her Mistress’s feet. “Fluttershy has the sexiest feet I've worshipped in a very long time. A very, very long time…” and just like that, she was right back to where she had been all morning, laid on the floor with Fluttershy’s feet in her mouth, first one then the other.

“Yeah,” Rainbow cocked her head and put some thought into it. “I'd put her at three. Twi is my number one of course. Rarity has the best manicured toes, though.”

“You're into it too, huh?” Adagio smiled, at last she had something in common she could talk to the athlete about.

On the way to the track, both women walked side by side at a slow easy walk. Rainbow had intended to just blitz Adagio and leave her in her dust, but now she had something to talk about! “Yeah, depending on what she's been doing, you can get all kinds of interesting flavours. Hit the tickle spot just right and they are putty in your mouth.”

“Damn right. Me, I like it when Fluttershy's been working all day at the animal shelter and then she comes and picks me up from the Burger Joint. She keeps the same shoes and socks on just for me. If I've been really good, I get to lick Mistress's feet clean for her. If I've been bad...” Adagio shuddered, unable to complete her sentence.

“Tabasco,” Rainbow put in, seeing as how they were swapping war stories, “I was like, naughty naughty once and she soaked her toes in the stuff, and Twilight wouldn't let me pull away until I’d licked every drop from her. I had to get between her toes and everything.”

Adagio found herself laughing. Now they had a common subject, she discovered that Rainbow was remarkably easy to talk to. “Fluttershy hasn't done that to me yet. She made me sit on my hands on the toilet and watch her slowly clean her feet in the bath. Had to stay still until she was done.”

“Harsh,” before she knew what she was doing, Rainbow was hugging Adagio. Her, hugging Adagio Dazzle!

“I know right?” Adagio raised her eyebrow and playfully socked Rainbow on her shoulder, “Think I'd have preferred the tabasco, personally.”

“Ya think?” Rainbow returned the punch to Adagio’s shoulder, “I could say something to Twi, who could say something to Shy and you can get back to me on that. So,” she asked when they got to the running track, “What happens now, I just run? What are you going to do?”

“I'm going to hold up these flash cards,” Adagio pulled a small stack of fifty eight by eleven inch cards from her bag. She had spent a lot of time getting these cards ready, and she dearly hoped they would work. If not, she had no idea where to go. “I don't want you to look at them or do anything other than run.”

“Yeah, I get it, I get to do the hard work. So, no messing with you each time I pass?”

“Hard?” Adagio raised her eyebrow again, “I thought running was easy to you?” she smiled broadly, “It depends what you call 'messing'. Lift up my dress up and you'll get a look at my goodies. No underwear!”

“You'd have to stuff your toes up there,” Rainbow grinned as she did her pre-run stretches. She lifted up her leg, reached behind and grabbed her foot, pulling her calf to her thigh several times before she repeated it with her other leg. “I'm good for about thirty minutes and then I need a water break.”

As soon as Adagio got ready by the side of the track and angled the first card to show that she was ready, Rainbow Dash was gone. Literally gone. All that Adagio could see of her was a rainbow coloured streak. “I think I'm actually starting to like her,” she said to herself and held out the first card that read, “The Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945".

After no time at all, the card slipped from Adagio’s hand and it floated down to the track. “Damn, that was fast…” Adagio mused as she held out the second card, "The Nazi invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939 was the final straw for the British".

Seconds later and the second card floated from Adagio's hand. That served to give her an estimate on how long it took Rainbow to complete a lap. Very quickly she held out the third card, “Chamberlain declared war on Germaney at 11:15 on 3rd September 1939”. All the while she crossed her fingers in the hopes this worked.

The next twenty eight minutes and thirty seconds proceeded in the same way. Adagio would hold up a card, a flash of rainbow light would whizz past and the card slipped from Adagio's hand and she would hold up another, and so on. After Rainbow Dash slowed down enough that Adagio could actually see her, she held out a cold bottle of water from her bag. “Good run?”

Taking the bottle of water in her hand, the sweaty Rainbow Dash drained half the bottle in one solid gulp. “Yeah,” she grinned, wiping her mouth on the back of her forearm, “I wasn't sure if you had more than one card, so I thought I'd let you know I saw that first one like, a zillion times.”

Adagio laughed along with Rainbow and she sat down on the edge of the track and slipped off her sandals, flexing her toes in the gentle breeze. “So,” she started casually, though she held her breath in anticipation of the results of her little test, “When did the second world war start?”

“First September of 39,” Rainbow Dash answered automatically without thinking, “When the Brit, Chamberlain got mad that Germaney invaded Poland.”

“Excellent!” Adagio clapped her hands, this was better than she dared to hope for! “What time and date did he declare war?”

“I just...wait, that was the invasion, it was after, the third at, um, 11:15 in the morning!”

“Yes!” Adagio pumped the air in celebration of her victory.

“You told me to ignore the cards, but I read them when they floated to the ground. And...” Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide as saucers as realisation hit her, and it hit her hard. “Wait, you made me learn stuff!” there was no denying the fact that, in the space of the last thirty minutes, she had learnt more than she had in the last four three hour long sessions. Before she knew what she was doing, she was hugging Adagio as tightly as she could.

Once the hug was over, Adagio struck a winning pose and she pointed her thumbs at herself. “Awesome.”

“Well, you're getting there,” Rainbow laughed and finished the water bottle, “That was a lot more fun than Twi just putting cards in my face.”

“All I had to do was find out how to make it fun for you. You ready for another go or do you want a foot rub first?”

“Just steal my thunder, why don't you?” Rainbow stuck her tongue out at Adagio, but she couldn’t be too upset with her, she had just succeeded in teaching her something, after all. “AJ is always talking about compromise. How about we just rub our feet together, first to laugh loses?”

“I'm game for that!”

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