//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: She Makes Me Smille // by Sun Aura //------------------------------// Sonata had never been on a train before. Oddly enough, she hadn’t even been in a car when she was in the other dimension. She wondered how similar they were. Most of the ride, she spent her time talking with Pinkie, telling her about what she remembered from back before everything. Sure, some of it was probably nostalgia glasses, but everything seemed wonderful. Adagio and Aria added in their own bits, when necessary. But Pinkie and Sonata had a sort of rapid-fire back and forth that they couldn’t quite keep up with. Eventually, they lapsed into silence and let the pair have their own conversation. Sonata was so focused on their conversation, that she hadn’t even noticed they arrived until Aria poked her side. This place was a little less familiar, but she still recognized it enough. It was a small seaside town, mostly a tourist place with beach houses Ponies could rent for vacations. It was also the town closest to the Siren Kingdom, and one of the few towns that regularly see Sirens coming ashore or even just breaching the surface of the water. Stepping out into the train station, the scent of salt water hit her. Sonata practically melted into it. Though the station blocked her view of the ocean, every part of her was screaming at her to dive in. If she truly had no sense, she might have already done so. “Hey there!” a Pegasus with a slight accent called to them. “You’re the group from Princess Twilight, right?” “That’s us!” Pinkie answered for them, eagerly shaking the mare’s hoof. “I’m Pinkie Pie! This one with all the hair is Adagio Dazzle, the grumpy one is Aria Blaze, and this cutie is Sonata Dusk!” As if for emphasis, she had pointed to each Siren in turn. First ruffling Adagio’s mane, then poking Aria’s shoulder, before nuzzling Sonata’s cheek. Naturally, she had felt her face heat up at the action and looked away. She wondered why Aria didn’t complain about being called ‘the grumpy one’, but one glance told her that Aira was a little preoccupied with the Pegasus who had come to meet them. She couldn’t blame her, as the mare was pretty. She had a coat as blue as the ocean, and her brown mane tied back, letting waves and curls hang down. Strangely, her wings had a gradient to them, becoming white at the tips. Combined with the blue of her coat, it reminded her of sea foam. “Glad to meet you all,” the Pegasus laughed. “I’m Princess Wave Chaser, though please don’t start in on the whole bowing and calling me ‘princess’ bit. Princess Twilight’s asked me to escort you all. Feel free to ask whatever you need.” With that, Wave Chaser gestured for them to follow her. The group made their way out of the station, and towards the water. It was a breathtaking view; the sun shone on the sand, and the ocean seemed to go on forever and ever. Sonata could feel the softness of the sand beneath her hooves, and even from this far away she could see the clearness of the water. After so many years of the Human World’s beaches being the closest to home she could get, it was almost overwhelming to see Equestrian waters again. After admiring the water, and letting it sink in how close to home they were, the group followed Wave Chaser across the sands. Sonata could see the expression in both of her sisters, how they were also holding back from running straight into the waves. “So, Wave Chaser,” Aria began, nervously clearing her throat. “You said you were a Princess?” “Yeah,” Wave Chaser answered, shrugging her wings. “You don’t need to make a big deal out of it. Never been much of the ‘ruling a kingdom’ type. I’d rather be out here in the sea than working with politics. But hey, I happen to be related to an Immortal, so I have to introduce myself as ‘princess’.” “You can just do that?” she wondered. “What about royal responsibilities?” “You see Blueblood taking up a kingdom anytime soon?” she smirked. “Nah. There’s enough Royals that I don’t have to.” “How many Royals are there?” Adagio asked. “I only remember two when we left, but heard of five when we returned. And now you, along with someone named Blueblood?” “There’s a good hoofful,” she said. “Most of us aren’t in mainland Equestria. Some are like me, and tend to be in other kingdoms. Even if we were here more often, the Alicorns get all the attention. Not that I’m complaining. I saw how crazy the paparazzi can be when I came over for Cadence’s wedding! I think I’ll take my chances with the literal sharks instead.” “I remember you now!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I saw when the Zebra-Unicorn guy, what do I call him? Anyway, he turned the fountains into a whirlpool that sucked up a bunch of Changelings, and then you jumped in like a multi-hit torpedo, kicking them all out so hard they flew out still spinning!” “That was fun,” she chuckled. “I remember you hosting the reception. That was a great party, by the way.” “My specialty,” she said, giving a grin and a nod. “And as for the ‘Zebra-Unicorn’,” she said, “Any hybrid between Ponies and Zebras is called a ‘Zony’. But that one was my brother Zircon.” “Your brother?” Sonata wondered. “Yeah, I look more like mom” she nodded. “She was the Equestrian Princess, and she went to Zebrica and fell in love with its King. So Zircon and I are sort of double royalty in a sense. But he’s King of Zebrica now that dad retired.” “Double Royalty?” Adagio raised an eyebrow. “If you’re that important, why escort us? Regardless of your love of water.” Wave Chaser stopped walking for a moment. Looking around, she waited as a vacationing family passed. And when she did speak again, it was with a bit more weight than her previous demeanor “Technically,” Wave Chaser began, “You three are serving punishment under Equestrian Law. You would have needed an escort to go out of Ponyville, but out of Equestria’s Mainland? Usually that’d be a lot of complications, but Princess Twilight and I decided that two high-level escorts would be enough. She wanted to send her Guard Captain with you, but I know these waters better than any Guard.” “Two high-level escorts?” Sonata repeated, tilting her head. “Yes,” she nodded. “The Elements of Harmony are considered part of the Guard, but an Elite Team like the Wonderbolts. Any of them could have come, but I hear that Pinkie volunteered.” “Well, Sonata asked me to come so why wouldn’t I?” Pinkie grinned, almost obliviously so. “Oh,” Sonata said. “Right.” It was weird. Pinkie was her friend. And adorable, hyperactive, party pony who lives in a bakery and goes out of her way to cheer others up and always made her smile. She was Pinkie. Just a, well, not a ‘normal’ Pony, but just Pinkie. And she couldn’t stop thinking about how many times she’s saved the world, how she’s faced down threats much worse than a trio of Desire-mad Sirens with nothing but a smile on her face and friends by her side, how she wields one of the most powerful Magics to ever exist. The realization of who and what Pinkie was seemed to hit her just then. “Alright, I have a question,” Aria said, interrupting her thoughts. “We’re going underwater. Can we do that without our Soul Gems, or are we doing whatever you and Pinkie are?” “Don’t worry,” Wave Chaser answered. “Your Soul Gem only affects your active Magic. You can’t spellcast, change forms, or do anything with Desire. But breathing underwater is a passive Magic, and works in either of your forms. Probably your body’s built-in failsafe in case you break it underwater so you don’t, you know, immediately drown.” “Comforting thought,” Adagio mused. “Yeah,” she said. “As for Pinkie and me, there’s spells for it. I just need to find Tidal Wave so he can cast it. Ugh. He promised to wait here, but knowing him there was probably some pretty pink mare-” “Wave Chaser!” a voice shouted, annoyance obvious. “Speaking of,” she grinned. “Hey, Tidal!” The Unicorn that trotted over was a light golden brown, with a curly blue mane that had a streak of white. He also wore the bright red uniform of a lifeguard, which seemed odd for what Wave Chaser had implied about his attention span. “So,” Tidal said, ignoring Wave Chaser in favor of grinning at Pinkie. “Wave Chaser says you need to breathe underwater?” “Yeah,” Wave Chaser answered, exasperatedly trying to get his attention. “My spell still has a few days left on it, and these three are Sirens anyway. We just need the one for Pinkie Pie. Please keep focused when you do it?” “I think I can guess which one is ‘Pinkie Pie’,” he said, taking Pinkie’s hoof. “Tell you what, cutie? How about we go to lunch, then we come back and I cast the spell?” “Tidal, don’t even,” she groaned, while Sonata nodded in agreement. “Besides, I’m pretty sure she could kick your flank down the shoreline.” “As much fun as lunch sounds,” Pinkie mused, as if not hearing that last comment, “I’m pretty sure stopping for lunch here wasn’t in our plans. So I hope confetti and a cupcake make up for it!” “Wait, what?” Tidal asked. Before he could think more about that statement, a small, blue canon seemed to pop into existence. Pinkie pulled it’s string, blasting a rainbow of confetti into the air with a squeak. As the confetti floated to the ground, a cupcake appeared in her hooves. The frosting was blue and matched Tidal’s mane, especially as it had ‘Sorry’ written in white frosting. “Sorry about the flavor too,” Pinkie said, only mildly sad. “I didn’t have time to experiment with what flavor is best, so it’s just vanilla. But on the bright side, the confetti is completely biodegradable, so it’s fine if it doesn’t get cleaned up!” “Where in the hay did you get-”Tidal Wave began. “Wait, where’d it go!?” He and Wave Chaser looked around, trying to find the canon, but it had already disappeared to wherever it went when Pinkie wasn’t using it. The only evidence it had ever been there was the confetti still in their manes. “I think you were right about her being able to kick my flank,” Tidal muttered, still wide-eyed. “I didn’t even now she could do that,” Wave Chaser nodded, equally wide-eyed. “That’s something my uncle could pull off.” “That’s Pinkie Pie for you!” the Sirens said, though one was laughing while the others were more exasperated. Tidal seemed almost thankful that Pinkie had rejected him. Even so, he cast the spell while Wave Chaser collected herself. Sonata giggled a little as Tidal went back to his job with a little too brisk of a trot away from Pinkie. “Hopefully that’ll keep him away from flirting for a while,” Wave Chaser said before turning to Pinkie. “Okay, so, breathing under water is going to feel weird at first.” “How weird?” Pinkie asked. “A weird I think you can handle,” she sighed. “But, well, you are breathing water. And the transition can be uncomfortable, but just keep taking deep breaths and remember that you’re not drowning. And don’t worry about things like the water pressure or darkness, because the spell helps you with that too. “ “Lead the way!” she grinned. Odd. As Sonata followed her into the waves, she realized she’d never thought about the breathing transition. Perhaps because it was natural to her. The moment her head slipped under the water, she continued to breathe. It did feel odd, but normal to her. The strange part was her instincts. Her Magic knew that it should be used, that she should switch forms, and was trying to do so. But without her Soul Gem, it wasn’t happening. Even so, she knew how to move in water. While the fins of her other form helped her speed and agility, she still knew how to swim gracefully without them. Adagio and Aria seemed to be faring just as well, which was to be expected, and Wave Chaser seemed to be very experienced swimming underwater. She used her wings like fins to propel her forward or tightly turn. They weren’t as effective as the wing-like fins that Sirens had, but they worked very similarly. Looking over to see how Pinkie was faring, Sonata couldn’t help but giggle. She was nowhere near as graceful in water as she was on the dance floor, which is to be expected for an Earth Pony unable to touch the ground. It likely didn’t help as her mane seemed to have ideas of its own, swirling with the currents and getting in her face. “How are you handling breathing?” Sonata asked, swimming up next to her. “It’s so weird!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Like, you know how you usually don’t think about breathing? Now when I’m not thinking about it I’m holding my breath because I’m just, like, ‘hey, I’m underwater, don’t breathe!’. So I’ll start focusing on breathing, but then I get focused on swimming and forget to breathe!” “It’s easier in the city!” Wave Chaser called back to her. “When you’re surrounded by buildings and such it’s easy to forget you’re underwater!” For a while, they just swam along the ocean floor. Sonata stayed near Pinkie, helping her get the hang of swimming through the water. Sometimes she’d get distracted, pointing out the different fish that went by. Or by Wave Chaser’s laugh. Being a little behind the group, they weren’t sure what they were talking about, but whatever Aira was saying seemed to make Wave Chaser laugh a lot. Pinkie looked to Sonata for an answer, but she just gave her a small smile. It took only a few seconds for her to get it. Even from here, she could see Adagio give the same smile with an added eyeroll. They saw the lights before they saw the city. There was an expanse of flatness before the sudden drop over the edge and into a wide trench, where the city sat. Swimming to the rim of the drop, they looked over the view. “Welcome, to the city of Atlantis!” Wave Chaser announced. It was beautiful. The buildings were made of white stones, and enchanted by old magics to never be worn down by the water’s currents. Even from here, they could see Sirens of every color swimming through the street. The best part, however, was the lights. This deep under water was very dark, even with a Siren’s ability to see through it. So every street was lined with enchanted crystals, a rainbow of colors splashed across every building. Sonata looked back at Pinkie, hoping to see her in awe of the city. Oh, she was in awe alright. Practically enraptured by its beauty, eyes lit with delight and an almost shocked grin on her face. Yet that was not what made her heart leap. The lights shining on Pinkie made her glow. Combined with how her mane and tail were floating around her, she looked ethereal. Like some sort of goddess of legend, come to life from a storybook. Yet no storybook could capture how enthralling she looked just then. She hadn’t realized she was staring until Adagio nudged her side, reminding her to follow Wave Chaser. The group made their way through the streets of he city, yet Sonata kept sneaking glances at Pinkie. The lights seemed to dance around her as she moved, only adding to the effect. “So,” Sonata said, shaking her head and trying to pretend she wasn’t staring. “What do you think of the city?” “It’s amazing!” Pinkie exclaimed, still trying to look at everything at once. “The lights are beautiful! Though the architecture reminds me of Cloudsdale!” “Isn’t Cloudsdale made of clouds?” she wondered. “I thought only Pegasai could Cloudwalk.” “They’re the only ones who can do it naturally!” she said. “But there are Cloudwalking spells which works pretty much like the whole ‘breathing underwater’ spell. And clouds are weird to walk on,  kinda like walking on something between a mattress and a bounce house!” Oh, that… that makes sense,” she muttered to herself. As they swam through the streets, bits and pieces looked familiar. Some shops were still there, tough a few had been remodeled. A few were new, yet it was all so familiar. It didn’t hit her until they passed the park. Just a small park with a playground that she remembered all too well. The slides and tubes were designed like a pirate ship, and she remembered spending hours playing inside. Turning down a street, she could see the familiarity even more. It was this street, and it made her tremble with so many emotions she couldn’t quite explain them all if someone had asked. Feeling a bump to her side, she looked over at Pinkie. As if she knew, she gave her a reassuring smile. It kept her together as they swam up to the house. Her house. Just as she remembered it, almost frozen in time. Wave Chaser had no hesitations about going up and knocking on the door. Much like the house itself, Sonata felt frozen in time as she waited for the door to open. The moment seemed to drag on for so long, that she jumped in surprise when it actually opened. The Siren Mare beyond the door was orange. She had a lot of hair, tied up in bun, and there were thin streaks of gray that hadn’t been there a few years ago. The Siren gave a squeak of surprise, and a yellow Siren came up behind her. He gasped, and Sonata gave a nervous smile. Pinkie and Wave Chaser managed step out of the way just in time for the pair to rush forward and embrace their daughters in a tight hug. Sonata felt all the walls she’d built, everything she’d used to keep herself together, just break away as she smiled and cried. There was a lot of that all around. Tears and gasping sobs, a chorus of apologies repeating over and over, only interjected by the occasional ‘I missed you so much’ and ‘it’s okay’. It felt like forever before they were broken out of it. “I’m sorry,” the orange mare said, looking to Pinkie and Wave Chaser as she wiped her eyes. “Let’s- Let’s go inside. We can talk over dinner.” Hesitant as she was to let her daughters go, she played the host and lead them inside. The kitchen was large enough to hold them all, so they gathered around the island counter. Both older Sirens picked up where they had left off on dinner preparations. “We introduced ourselves to Wave Chaser last time, but you’re new,” the stallion said to Pinkie. “I’m Prelude, and my wife here is Requiem. I… Thank you. For bringing our daughters back. I can’t even think of how to show how much this means-” “Don’t worry,” Pinkie grinned. “It was a group effort, and helping others is kind of our thing.” “So what all happened?” Requiem asked the group. “We had…. We figured it was Desire, but still. Wave Chaser mentioned something having to do with the Princesses and some kind of banishment?” “To be fair, that’s all I was told,” Wave Chaser defended. “I don’t know what stopped them, or even what started the Desire in the first place.” “Oh stars!” Adagio blurted out. “Nocturne!” “That girl from your class?” Prelude asked. “She was- we had-,” she stammered, running a hoof through her hair as it came back to her. “We were… we were kind of dating? I know you would’ve been okay with it, but she knew her parents… it doesn’t matter. They found out anyway. They were sending her away, they said that time away from a ‘bad influence like me’ might ‘fix her’. I wanted her to stay, to-to be allowed to love me. I wanted her parents to love me in the way someone should love their daughter’s girlfriend. It just all… snowballed into wanting everyone to love me.” It hit her too. Sonata couldn’t quite remember the exact detail, but she remembered enough. How Adagio would come to them, cry only with them, share with them. She remembered the feeling, when she realized what could happen, that she could go through the same thing. All she had wanted, all she had Desired, was for them to be loved, adored in a way. Even the most innocent of wants can turn dark if Desire makes you do anything to get it. “I…” Adagio trailed off, staring ahead but not truly seeing anything. “I dragged you with me. It’s my-” “Hey!” Aria cut her off, but softened her voice as she put a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault.” “You can’t force Desire,” Sonata reminded her, pulling her into a hug. “As fuzzy as my memory of it all is, I know you can heighten Desire in others, but you can’t force another Siren to be taken by it. If you could, we all would be Berserk.” “It still started with me,” Adagio said quietly. “I can’t remember everything from after that. Some things are just flashes, moments in time. I can remember them better if I focus, but it’s not something I want to focus on. The bigger things, the fights, I can remember clearly, down to the detail, but even then it’s dream-like. More nightmare-like.” “I’ve heard that’s common of those who manage to break out of it,” Requiem said, embracing her once more. “If you knew you were mad with Desire, you’d likely snap out of it. So it fogs up your brain.” “We remember everything fine after it cleared,” Aria muttered. “Or at least, noticed how we had changed. Three Sirens under Desire? We fought a lot, and it still seemed normal in that fog. I’m pretty sure the only reason we stayed together at all, was because we were sisters.” Sonata stayed quiet at that. The fighting was one thing she remembered well. Too well. Things they’d said, or done, when it all got too much, or when their Desire got in the way. It all got even worse in the other world, because every argument always ended with fighting over who got them stuck in the other world. It didn’t help that all of it was still there. The Desire might be gone, but they had gotten used to snarky comments and thinly veiled insults. An old joke between sisters turned into a repeated insult. And every time they talked, Sonata kept finding those words on the tip of her tongue. She knew Adagio and Aria did it too. She noticed when they hesitated to answer her, and had heard the sentences they didn’t catch fall short as they realize. Even now, hearing Adagio admit to being the first to fall to Desire, her first thought had been a sarcastic ‘at least now we know who got us stuck in the Human World’. All the Ponies she talked to seemed too understanding when one of them slipped. They’d say ‘it’s okay, we get it, you don’t actually mean it. You’re unlearning all that, but it takes time.’. Even so it didn’t quite make her feel better. “You know,” Pinkie said, interrupting her thoughts. “I was one of the Ponies reviewing their cases. You know, because, ‘legality’ and all that. I mean, there’s a chunk of time we don’t have exact records of, but it’s pretty easy to fill in since it was likely ‘do what they can to absorb Desire and probably survive in general’, but we know the important things.” “That might be easier,” Adagio admitted. “Between fuzzy memories and…” “And the fact that you two look three seconds away from a breakdown?” Aria filled in, ignoring the fact that she looked like breaking down too. “If it helps us get the story,” Prelude said, hugging Aria and letting her grumpily protest before melting into it. “In that case, I’ll do my best to explain,” Pinkie said. In what seemed like half a second, three small dolls appeared on the countertop in front of her. Oddly enough, they looked like replicas of each of the sisters. Sonata wondered when Pinkie had the time to make those. “Wait,” Wave Chaser frowned at her. “Where’d the dolls come from?” “Same place as the canon,” Pinkie answered, as if it made sense. “Anyway, they went Berserk and left. We could kinda track their movements for the next few months through reports from towns saying they were ‘cursed’. They absorbed a lot of power, confused a lot of ponies, and eventually made their way toward Canterlot. Three pretty young girls trying their best to feign innocence while enhancing any Guard’s ‘Desire’ to see them as not a threat? Easily made it to Princess Celestia’s throne room.” “Oh my stars,” Requiem muttered. “She’s the most loved and adored mare to exist,” Adagio said quietly. “Charm her, and you have the world in your hooves. It sounded less terrible at the time.” “Go big or go home, am I right?” Pinkie said, waving around a Princess Celestia doll. “They tried to, as Adagio said, ‘charm her’, but she didn’t fall under their spell. Princess Celesia being, well, Princess Celestia, totally could’ve blasted them, but she knew they were kids who’d gone Berserk, so she did the next best thing. Which was use a convenient portal to another Dimension without Magic to banish them.” She paused, the dolls disappearing and then reappearing as the Sirens’ ‘Human’ forms. At any other time, Sonata would be impressed with the small details on the outfits. Wave Chaser opened her mouth to ask, but seemed to have learned that questioning Pinkie’s abilities gets you nowhere. Requiem and Prelude were either too focused on the story to question it, or hadn’t realized that Pinkie was an Earth Pony. “Another Dimension?” Prelude repeated, confusion clear. “It’s a world that’s kinda like this one but also really different,” Pinkie answered. “Everyone has a ‘Counterpart’, someone who’s a lot like them but also different. Like, there’s another me, and another Princess Celestia and so on. But when a Pony, or a Siren, goes through the portal, it turns them into that world’s creatures called ‘Humans’.” “Is that what the dolls are?” he asked, poking at them a little. “Yep!” She said, waving the ‘Aria’ one around. “Celestia thought that world didn’t have Magic, but it’s just that Humans have no natural Magic Channels. A Pony turned Human could use Magic if they still had a way to conduct it. So Earth Ponies still have their strength on the other side, but since Humans don’t have horns or wings, Unicorns and Pegasai can’t spellcast or fly. Even Celestia couldn’t spellcast without her horn. “But Sirens have Soul Gems,” she continued. “As Humans they were just necklaces, but they were still usable, so they were still in the whole ‘Berserk Desire Mode’ thing. And since their Magic works on an Emotion, it didn’t matter that Humans didn’t have a Magic Channel, so they could still use Desire to make others help them and give them things. But for a while they were spending more energy than they were getting.” “What changed?” Requiem wondered. “Heh, about that,” Pinkie gave a nervous chuckled. “There was this thing where the Elements of Harmony were used at a school over there. The Elements are connected to Emotion, but also Magic, so to be used it transformed the girls that used them, giving them a Magic Channel that mimicks their Counterpart back here. It also did the same to everyone their Magic touched, but the Magic was pretty unstable for a while so it took a few months for anyone else to Transfrom. But it had affected all of the students, staff, and chaperones at a school dance.” “Wait,” Wave Chaser stopped her, putting up a hoof. “Are you telling me that the Elements of Harmony are able to give an entire Dimension the ability to use Magic?” “Yes?” she answered. “I’m just repeating what Sunset Shimmer researched so…” “I really should stop asking questions,” she groaned. “Or at least ask the right Pony,” she said. “Anyway, now that those Humans had a Magic Channel, the girls could actually get Magic Energy from them. And it probably didn’t help that the school was holding a Music Festival just then. They showed up as a band called ‘the Dazzlings’ and convinced them to turn it from a festival into a competition, which already changed up the playing field to up their Desire without Magic. Once they added in the Magic, they just sat back and watched the fireworks as they collected enough energy to try and get back here and attempt that whole ‘charm Celestia’ thing again.” “What stopped them?” Requiem asked, a bit of fear in her voice. “A literal ‘Battle of the Bands’!” she answered, two more dolls appearing. “Sunset Shimmer- Oh! She’s a Unicorn who lives over there because of an even longer story, but she contacted Twilight, as in Princess Twilight, and the two of them along with the Counterparts to the other Elements of Harmony formed their own band called ‘the Rainbooms’ and used song to tap into the Elements of Harmony and, well, blast them with the Power of Friendship! It overloaded their Soul Gems and shattered them, which cut off their connection to Desire and now they’re back to normal!” Pinkie finished the story, giving a giant grin and looking around expectantly. Almost as if she had just presented them a giant cake. Sonata could tell that she had expected more of a ‘happy’ reaction, but her parents and Wave Chaser just stared with shock. “H-how…”Prelude stammered. “How are they still alive?” “That much Magic into their Soul Gems,” Requiem agreed, her voice barely a whisper. “It should’ve vaporized them instantly.” “Normally I’d be assuring, but I have no idea,” Wave Chaser said. “That Magic easily locked Nightmare in her own Magic and turned Discord to stone, despite them being Immortals. The only Mortal I know it was used on had absorbed the Magic of nearly everything in Equestria. Not to mention the fact that the Elements apparently changed the entire Magic Structure of a Dimension on accident! Even powered up on a school’s worth of Desire, they shouldn’t have made it!” Sonata shrank back a little. Even though she knew she didn’t do anything ‘wrong’, it scared her. The idea of what could’ve happened scared her. If those girls had been less benevolent, would she be here right now?” “That’s not how it works,” Pinkie stated. “As Twilight says, ‘you can’t expect a levitation spell to turn an orange into an apple’.” “That goes without saying,” Aria retorted, unable to keep that sarcasm back. Pinkie didn’t reply right away. Instead she thought. Sonata thought it was adorable, the way her eyebrows knit together as she stared down her muzzle. She frowned, tongue barely poking out as she mentally looked through her options. Her posture shifted suddenly, finding something that would work. Closing her eyes, Pinkie took a deep breath. At first, it seemed like nothing happened. Then she felt a familiar shiver down her spine. The Magic in the room began to shift. She watched as Pinkie’s eyes opened, a spark of something else in them. A luminous blue streak appeared in her mane and tail, but that wasn’t the only change. Blue lines of Magic appeared on her body. No, not just on her, but around her, around them. As if the Magic was connecting her to them, almost like a sort of hug. If Sonata had thought she looked like some kind of goddess before, now, she thought she looked like Magic itself had come to life. Even without her Soul Gem, she could feel that Magic, radiating from Pinkie like the ocean’s most powerful waves. Yet, as powerful as it was, she wasn’t scared. Pinkie’s Magic felt warm, comforting. It made her want to laugh out loud and burst into song. No, she could already hear the songs. Though Pinkie’s mouth didn’t move, she could hear her sing, she could hear her laugh as it resonated within her. The room smelled of strawberries and tasted like chocolate chip cookies. She couldn’t keep herself from smiling, and neither could anyone else. “The Elements of Harmony are powered by Emotion as well,” Pinkie said. “If used correctly, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and Kindness, all create Friendship, a form of Love. And the Elements can’t destroy, because Love cannot destroy. Does this feel capable of destruction?” “No,” Requiem agreed, almost hypnotically. “It doesn’t. It can’t.” “Exactly!” she chirped. “On that note, what do you eat underwater? Because honestly, usually I get really hungry after that.” Her Magic shifted again, returning to normal. The blue disappeared from her mane, and the glowing lines faded. Though Sonata was almost sure she could still see them if she stared long enough. As if on cue, Pinkie’s stomach growled. “What-what was that?” Prelude asked as everyone snapped back to attention. “How did you…?” “Oh, I totally forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I?” Pinkie answered. “Sorry, I got all caught up in teary reunions and dramatic storytelling, I completely forgot! I’m already in your kitchen, and you don’t even know my name! “I’m Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter,” she introduced. “And that’s what you just felt, Laughter. Normal assurances wouldn’t have kept you from worrying. So I figured I might as well show you the Magic they were up against. As for ‘how’, it’s the Element of Laughter! As long as I’m making a friend smile, I can use it!” “A friend?” Requiem repeated, still bewildered. “We’ve just met, we didn’t even know you name until just now. Besides, you’re… important and all.” “You make it sound so complicated,” she giggled. “Everyone I meet is a potential friend! The only question is whether or not they want to be friends with me!” Sonata smiled as Pinkie and her parents continued to talk. Honestly, it was a relief to see them so happy. Until now, she’d been so sure that, despite the reassurances, her parents would hate her for all that happened. Instead they were worried about her, about what could’ve happened. The whole group was still bursting into happy tears at random, so she didn’t mind crying again as she thought about how much they loved her. She was still in awe of Pinkie’s Magic. She could still feel it, or at least ghosts of it. Every time Pinkie smiled or laughed, Sonata felt a tingle run through her body, making her smile too. A small part of her was scared of that, because she felt the power that this Pony could summon forth, and heard of what it could do. Yet, every time she looked at Pinkie, or felt the ghosts of that Magic, her fear melted away. Because as powerful as that was, Pinkie was right. Something that made her heart leap, while also letting her feel a type of calm she could only describe as ‘Home’, could never be dangerous. Dinner and all that came after was spent catching up with one another. Well, it was more catching up with their parents and what had changed, asking about anyone they’d known before and what they were doing now. Adagio had tentatively asked about Nocturne, if they knew what happened to her, but neither Siren had known her well enough to have kept track of her. Wave Chaser offered to track her down, while Pinkie assured her that she was probably fine. It was actually the only time either Pony spoke during that time, allowing the family to have time to themselves. While she appreciated the gesture, Sonata would’ve been fine if they joined in as well. Eventually though, they had to go to sleep. While their parents offered the guest bedroom to Pinkie and Wave Chaser, the sisters were left to see their old room. They’d shared one room, though it was big enough for all three of them. Each had her own bed, and both it and the decor nearest them were in their respective colors. Nothing had been touched since the day they left. Well, it wasn’t completely true. The place had been cleaned, kept nice for when they returned, if they returned. But neither parent could bring themselves to put things away properly. Not that there was a mess, but old toys and trinkets had been left out in a way that, usually, Requiem would have put away herself. Instead, everything was sitting right where they’d left it, as if someone still lived there. As Sonata settled into her old bed, she noticed how small it was. Then again, it’d been a while since she was in it. She’d been thirteen back then, when they left. Now she was seventeen. She hadn’t really realized how small she’d been back then, how much she’d grown. Maybe it had to do with most of that growing happening in a different form. Shaking those thoughts from her head, she focused back on her sisters. It had been a while since they all slept in the same room, despite once doing so all the time. It made the whole thing feel like a sleepover. The idea of that, and the memory of nights long ago where they’d stay up past bedtime talking, made her feel like sleep wasn’t going to come quite so easily. “Hey, ‘Ria?” Sonata said, giving a curious but not quite innocent smile. “What were you and Wave Chaser talking about on the way here?” “Nothing,” Aria answered, turning away. “Just-just asking if anything had changed while we were gone. Bigger things, like the city and all.” “Are you sure?” Adagio wondered with a similar false innocence. “Because it looked like you were flirting.” “What do you know?!” she defended, glaring despite her face turning a bit redder. “I know what you look like when you like someone,” Sonata answered. “So, you going to ask her out or what?” “No!” she protested, turning full on cherry colored. “Even if I did, she’s a princess. ‘Double Royalty’ as she called it. And I’m some kind of former criminal. I don’t think that kind of relationship would work out!” “Seems to be working for Twilight,” Adagio shrugged. “A few of her romances include former terrors, some far worse than us.” “See!” Sonata nodded. “You could go for it. Besides, she seems interested. I’m pretty sure Wave Chaser’s said a total of two sentences to me, but you two were talking all the way here!” “Fine,” Aria glared. “I’ll ask her out when you ask Pinkie on a date!” Myrth dropping slightly, she tilted her head and blinked. “What are you talking about?” Sonata wondered. “I said, when are you going to do something about your own love life?” Aria rolled her eyes. Love life? With Pinkie? It wasn’t… a bad idea. Pinkie was pretty, and always made her laugh.  And made her heart race. Yet it was strange how being around her and feeling that felt so right, like ‘home’ in a way. Not to mention her Magic, the Element of Laughter reminding her of things that made her feel happy. Things that made her happy, yet things she associated with Pinkie. The sound of her voice, of her songs, her laughter. That strawberry shampoo. And that night, after her first shift at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie borrowed the oven to make a celebratory batch of chocolate chip cookies, still warm and gooey and absolutely delicious. “That…” Sonata trailed off, perhaps too lost in thought. “That makes a lot of sense.” “Did you just now come to the realization that you like her?” Adagio asked. “Er, yes?” she answered somewhat sheepishly. Both of her sisters stared at her for a moment, before turning to stare at one another. With another look to Sonata, they both dropped their heads into their hooves and gave exasperated sighs. “How’d you know if I couldn’t even put it together?” Sonata asked. “You are not the master of subtlety,” Aria said. “Is there a Siren that is?” Sonata muttered. “Honestly,” Adagio huffed. “I could tell from the first day that you liked her. Definitely kept me from asking her out, not to step on hooves and all that. Though I was quite tempted by the idea of how much hair would exist if the two of us had a kid.” “Dagi, you’re both mares,” Aria pointed out, rolling her eyes. “True,” she nodded. “But Sunset and Twilight have been trying to come up with a spell that would let two mares have a child. I have no idea what they’re talking about when it comes to Unicorn Magic, but I do love seeing them ramble back and forth to one another.” As the two began to delve more into Adagio’s apparent love life, Sonata settled down and thought over her revelation. She liked Pinkie Pie. Perhaps it was more than just ‘liked’ by this point. The natural thing to do would be to ask her out, tell her how she felt, but would that work? Well, she knew Pinkie was into mares, so that wasn’t a problem. And it couldn’t possibly ruin their friendship. Pinkie wasn’t the type to ruin a friendship over a one-sided love, while Sonata was sure that she wouldn’t ruin it herself even if her feelings weren’t returned. The problem was Pinkie’s other partners. Sonata didn’t mind her having other partners, but it was just the fact of who they were, what they were like. Discord, an Immortal with the power to do anything, and a sense of humor that only she could get. Twilight Sparkle, a Princess and close friend who was ridiculously proficient in Magic and Spellcasting. Sunset, the only mare to match Twilight in Spellcasting, but also shared a love of theatre and arts. Rarity, another close friend and objectively one of the most beautiful mares Sonata had ever seen. And while Sonata had yet to meet ‘Party Favor’, just the name implied someone who knew a lot about parties. Not to mention the mystery two Pinkie had mentioned. All of them were better than her. Better at a lot of things, in a lot of ways. And they all shared something with Pinkie, had much more in common with her than Sonata did. Maybe she was just imagining that part, as the only ones she knew decently well were Twilight and Sunset, but it felt like it was true. Even though Pinkie could give her a chance, would Sonata be compared to them? Could she measure up to those standards? Still, Sonata wanted to try. Because as much as the idea scared her, that proved to her all the more that she should. Because even if she wasn’t like the others, she still liked Pinkie, still felt happy jut thinking about her, felt better being around her. She wanted to try, because Pinkie made her smile in a way no one else could.