Sonata got out of bed and got all her things together as she quickly prepared herself for the day ahead. She knew that there was no turning back from Adagio’s scheme at this point, so she did her best to psych herself up.
When she made her way into the kitchen, someone was missing.
“Hey, where’s Aria?” Sonata inquired.
“She took off already. She’s going to be busy today looking after your friend while we are in school. After all, we can’t risk him hurting himself.”
“Won’t that count as ditching?”
“No, I already called her out of school. Told them that she had a stomach bug. And before you get any ideas to alert anyone to your friend’s situation, remember that she’s keeping an eye on him. I give her a call, and he's as good as dead. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now, let’s get over there so you can finally get that journal and restore our magic.”
On the way over to the school, Sonata ran different scenarios through her head to figure out what to do. She still didn't have any set plan to get her hands on the book but figured she would have a chance during lunch.
???
“Ugh…What happened?" I said to a dimly lit room. "I think those guys got the drop on me.”
As I slowly came to, the pain in the back of my head gradually set in. “Oh man, talk about a banging headache,” I said while raising my hand to try and ease the pain, only to find that to be impossible.
“What the hell?” Once my vision began to clear, I noticed that a rope kept me tied to a chair. “Oh crap, this can’t be happening.” Without wasting another moment I tried to wriggle out of the rope. Unfortunately, whoever tied me up really knew what they were doing.
“Okay think, there’s got to be a way to cut this rope off,” I said to no one in particular. It was hard to see in such low lighting, but from the looks of it, I was in some sort of storage area. There was sound equipment stacked against the walls, wires that were hung up on hooks, and microphone stands.
“Am I still under the stage? How long have I been here?” There wasn’t much to work with. “Maybe I could use one of the hooks.”
Before I could put that plan into motion, however, the door started opening. I called out, hoping someone would answer.
“Hey! Is someone there?! I could use some help!”
The door then closed only to reveal Aria standing there. I wished that it would have been someone else but beggars can’t be choosers. She began walking towards me, shaking her head before she responded. “I would love to get you out of that chair and let you go on your way, but right now you are the carrot on the stick for a particularly dumb horse.”
“What!? What are you talking about? Quit joking, and get me out of this rope.”
She was now wearing a menacing smile, “It’s no joke, even if your situation is kinda funny. Still, not sure why I expected you to be any less stupid than Sonata. You did fall for the set up perfectly after all.”
"Wait a minute, you mean the call for help. That was you?”
“Well, at least you’re smart enough to piece that together.”
I began struggling against my bindings even harder, but she quickly pulled out a pocket knife and placed the blade against my neck. I froze upon feeling the cold steel resting against my skin.
“Listen, Slate. I’m supposed to keep an eye on you until Sonata brings what we need. But don’t think for a second that I won’t beat you within an inch of your life if you try to escape.” She lifted the knife away from my neck. “So sit back, and relax. You’re going to be here a while.”
All throughout the classes leading up to lunch, Sonata was not invested in anything the instructors presented. The one thing that gripped her attention was the bell reminding her that time was running out.
When the lunch bell rang, she took one last breath as she made a beeline for the cafeteria. To her, it felt like the longest walk she had ever taken. On arriving at a line, she hastily picked up a tray and paid for her lunch. She sat at the Rainbooms’ usual spot and waited for them to arrive.
Eventually, the girls joined Sonata, enjoying their day, while Sonata sat there quietly eating her lunch. Even though she was trying to stay out of their conversations and giving brief responses to keep them satisfied, she knew that she couldn’t keep dancing around the matter at hand. Then, almost as if on cue, Sunset took notice of her.
“So, Sonata, what happened yesterday? Are you feeling better?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m feeling…better.”
“Hmm, by the way. Do you know what happened to Slate?”
Sonata’s eyes darted around the cafeteria, hoping that Adagio wasn't around. To her dismay, however, she had been sitting a couple of tables away. When Sonata met her glare, Adagio brought up her phone and shook it slightly. Her hands were practically tied behind her back.
“I think he might have caught the same stomach problem that I did,” Sonata offered quickly.
"Oh. I hope Slate feels better soon."
“Yeah, me too.”
"Hey, so I wanted to show you something, Sonata," Sunset said as she started looking through her backpack.
“What is it?” Sonata asked already knowing and dreading the response.
"As I promised, I wanted to let you see what Twilight and I had been discussing." She now had a sizeable book with the image of a red and yellow sun emblazoned on the cover in front of her. She flipped through dozens of pages before stopping at what she was looking for. “Ah, here we go,” she announced as she handed the journal to Sonata.
Sonata began reading Sunsets message.
Dear Twilight,
Sonata has made some considerable progress during this week. She began participating in a disciplinary program similar to one that I was in. On top of that, she has done a great job wherever she has been assigned to and gets along with others who are there alongside her. I don't have doubt that she can make the change if she keeps on doing her best. Adagio and Aria, however, still don’t seem to want to have anything to do with us and keep to themselves. Hopefully, Sonata will be able to act as a sort of encouragement to them to try and change.
At any rate, I hope to hear from you soon.
Your friend, Sunset.
Sonata paused in thought before asking, “Did you mean all that?”
“Of course I did,” Sunset replied.
Sonata could feel the guilt crawling up her back. She tried to ignore it as she turned the page to see what Twilight had to say, but only found a blank page instead. “Uh, isn’t there supposed to be a message from Twilight?”
“Normally yes, but she hasn’t been able to get back to me yet. Since she is a princess, I’m sure she’s been busy with her responsibilities.”
“Oh.”
“Still, I wanted to show you that because I know that it’s a bit challenging trying to make amends. And I want you to know that you will have our support.”
“Thank you.” At this point, Sonata could feel a lump forming in her throat. Just then the bell rang, and everyone was getting their things together to get to class.
Sunset looked over at Sonata one last time and said, “It’s not a problem. Well, we'll see you around, and we hope that Slate feels better. I’ll let you know when her message gets through.”
“Okay, thanks. See you later.”
Now on her way out to the main corridor, Sonata started walking to the library. That was, until Adagio pulled her aside and into one of the more empty hallways. After checking to see that no one was headed their way, she began scolding Sonata.
“What are you doing?!” Adagio whisper yelled at her. “It was right there, and you let her leave with it.”
“But if I tried anything they would have stopped me,” Sonata replied in her defense. “At least I know that she has it with her.”
“That still doesn’t make up for the fact that you are still empty handed.”
“Please give me till after school, and I’ll have the journal. Just don’t do anything to Slate.”
Adagio narrowed her eyes before agreeing begrudgingly. "Fine. This is your last chance. Mess it up, and you know what to expect. Send me a picture of the thing when you finally get it as proof,” she said shoving Sonata’s phone into her hands. Adagio then turned and headed off down the hallway and left Sonata to get herself to the library.
Once she found a seat on the library’s second floor, she checked her phone for the photo of Slate but discovered that it along with all her messages and his number had been deleted. She wanted to scream in frustration but stopped herself. Instead, she tried to plan out exactly what she had to do. The journal was huge now that she thought about it, and it had a real heft to it. Hmm, maybe I could switch it with one of my textbooks. As long as she doesn't check for it while I'm leaving, I should be okay. As she compared her two biggest books, she could still feel a nagging uneasiness at the back of her mind. She sighed mentally to herself as she held her head in her hands, I wish I didn’t have to do this.
She stayed like that for a moment before she started looking through her backpack and pulled out a loose sheet and a pen. She then wrote:
Sunset Shimmer
If you find this, I want you to know that I’m really sorry. I never wanted to steal from you or treat everything that you guys have done for me like it was nothing, but I didn't have a choice. If I don't give Adagio your journal, Slate could wind up dead. I had to do it. I know none of this makes up for what I’ve done. But if you could, please forgive me.
Sonata Dusk.
Once she was done writing, she folded the note and stuck it on the top of her chemistry textbook where it would easily be visible. She put away everything and waited for the bell to ring.
For the past three and a half or so hours, I sat there watching Aria as she drew a strangely intricate design on the floor. And it still seemed incomplete. Every now and then she would look at some old book and go back to the chalk drawing. At other times she would shoot me a menacing glare for watching her as she worked. In my defense, however, it’s not like I had much else to do. Sure, maybe I could have tried freeing myself, but I didn't like my chances of fighting off Aria in my current condition. And besides, I didn't have anything on my person that I could have used to cut the rope.
The only other thing I could have possibly done was strike up a conversation, and the past several attempts to do just that ended with her either blowing me off or threatening some kind of bodily harm. Still, sixth time’s the charm, I guess.
“So, not to seem ungrateful for not having the crap beaten out of me, but what are you even doing?”
She stood up from her stooped position and clapped off a cloud of chalk dust from her hands before scowling at me.
“None of your business. As for kicking your ass, however, that can easily be fixed.”
“Heh, touchy. Fair enough. But seriously, what are you trying to do, set up a game of extreme hopscotch? How cute.”
“Shut up!” Aria growled back. “You’re just as annoying as Sonata.”
“If you say so.”
For about five minutes, I sat there quietly while she went back to etching out more of the drawing into the floor. I then decided to bother her a bit more. “If I had to guess, you’re working on some sort of spell. So what, are you like a witch or something?”
“Shut up and let me work on this array in peace!”
“An array? So like alchemy and all that?”
“And you know that how?”
“Anime.”
“Of course.”
“Anyway, I’m pretty sure that’s all made up. Then again, I thought the same thing about sirens, so what do I know?”
“Apparently not enough to know what shut up means,” she retorted through gritted teeth.
She was becoming more flustered by the minute with every comment. At that rate, I could probably get her to mess up. That, or get myself killed. Nevertheless, I had to try something to escape. “Well, hope the whole thing doesn’t rebound on you.”
“What are you going on about now?”
“Just saying. If anything is off, it could end badly. At least that’s what that one show implied.”
“Right, as if a stupid animated show would be able to portray an ancient mystical art accurately.”
“Who’s to say they didn’t. I’m just hoping that your crappy line work doesn’t blow up and get us killed.”
I suppose she took exception to that because she shot straight up and had a look that could kill all on its own. She stormed over to me and kicked me square in the chest, knocking me and the chair over onto the floor. She then leaned over me with a sadistic smile and said, “How about I take a little break and have some fun with my captive.”
I caught my breath and recomposed myself before giving her a smile of my own and replied with, “Ooh kinky. If the foreplay was any kind of indicator, I’d say you’re into BDSM, right?”
Her eye physically twitched. “Ha, funny,” was her only response before landing a few hard kicks into my sides. She then grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me up straight in my seat. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut,” Aria said as she smacked me across the cheek and went back to finishing the diagram.
As far as I could tell she got me good, but nothing was broken. Or so I thought until I shifted slightly in the seat. There was a slight creak coming from the backrest. During that whole fiasco, part of the chair was now broken. Luckily, Aria didn't seem to notice. In a way, my plan had worked, and I just needed to wait for the right moment to break loose.
“Come on, please hurry up,” Sonata pleaded with the clock as she bounced her heel up and down, hoping it would speed things up. With the journal still not in her possession, she had no time to lose. As soon as that final bell rang she frantically raced out of her last class, leaving the rest of her classmates with confused expressions.
“Alright, where is she? Where is she?” she whispered to herself looking down the hallways, trying to find Sunset. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some fiery red hair head down the east wing. Unsurprisingly she wound up at the music room. She couldn’t hear anything going on inside, so she slowly pushed past the door. Sunset was in there by herself, setting up her guitar, probably for an after school band rehearsal. Whatever the case was, Sonata couldn’t waste any time. Forgetting about the door for a second, it slammed behind her. Sunset looked up from her guitar in surprise to the entrance and spotted her.
“Sonata? What’s up? I wasn’t expecting you here.”
Sonata began thinking as fast as she could before she got an idea. “Oh, sorry. It’s just that I had a question that I needed to ask you.”
“Okay, what is it?”
“I wanted to know if you think my sisters can change.”
Sunset didn’t look too sure about the subject and offered, “Well, I believe that anyone can change and better themselves. But they have to want to change."
Sonata had a feeling she would say that. If that was the case, she didn’t have a lot of hope about talking it out with Adagio. “Oh, I see.”
Sunset was about to say something else, but Rainbow Dash came rushing in.
“There you are Sunset. Principal Celestia is looking for you. Oh, hey Sonata."
“Alright, I’ll be right out,” she said as she set her guitar down. “Sorry Sonata, I have to go check this out. I’ll be back.”
“Uh, it’s okay. I need to get going too.”
“Well, we’ll see you later then.”
“Yeah, see you later Sonata,” Rainbow Dash said before she and Sunset headed for the principal’s office.
Sonata was now alone in the music room. She looked over at Sunset’s guitar, only to find her backpack set down just a couple of feet away from it.
Sonata quickly went over and checked its contents. “Yes, there it is,” she sighed in relief with the journal right there for the taking. She flung her backpack next to Sunset’s and switched out the journal for her chemistry book. As soon as she finished, she checked around to see if anyone else was coming. Luckily, she was in the clear. She hastily made her way to the front of the school and hid behind the statue.
“Okay, I hope I’m not too late,” she said as she opened up her backpack and pulled out her phone to take a picture. Once it was saved, she sent it over to Adagio as quickly as her thumbs could manage along with a message. “There, I have the journal, now tell Aria to let Slate go.”
A couple seconds had passed before Adagio sent back a message of her own. “Not until you take it over to Stagecoach Park. Then we’ll talk about it.”
Sonata picked up her bag and started on her way over to Stagecoach Park. With each step, her thoughts kept on drifting back to the message that Sunset had written. The guilt kept on weighing on her mind as she could only blame herself for everything that was happening right then and there. Suddenly she remembered what Sunset said about the journal and its ability to send messages between the two worlds. She found an empty bench and pulled out the journal along with a pen. Hesitating a bit, she began to write.
Twilight, if you get this message, you’ve got to bring your friends to the park where the Battle of the Bands was held. Adagio and Aria have taken Slate hostage and are going to hurt him if I don’t get this journal to them. Please hurry, there’s no time to waste.
Sonata Dusk
“I hope she sees that soon,” Sonata thought aloud, placing the journal back into her bag and continued trudging on towards the park.
Aria grumbled on and off about always being stuck with the lamest jobs. As far as the array was concerned, it had been completed. There was a large circle with six smaller ones within it which were connected by lines and served as the points of a six-pointed star. At the center of it all was a hexagon that had its corners attached to the small circles by some other lines. On top of all that there were unknown runes that were written along the outer ring.
Aria checked her phone for any new orders. Unfortunately, there were none, and school was already out. She began walking back over towards me, all while wearing a menacing smirk. "Well, Slate, looks like your time is up.”
“Judging by that slasher smile of yours, I don’t think you mean I can go.”
“Afraid not,” she said while reaching into her back pocket for the knife. Just at that moment, her phone chimed out a tune. “Ugh, what now?”
She turned away from me and checked to see what was sent. As she read over the message, I could tell that she was expecting something different as she was becoming increasingly agitated.
“Are you serious?!” she exclaimed. Aria began texting furiously before another message set off the alert. That didn't seem to quell her anger as she turned back to me and shot a dirty look. “Looks like you were saved by that blue retard.”
Not wanting to push my luck any further, I just sat there silently. A while had passed before Sonata came in through the door, clutching her backpack close to her. As soon as she saw me, she began rushing over, but Aria stopped her in her tracks. She had the knife drawn again and right up against my face.
“Ah-ah-ah. Stay right there, unless you'd like me to give him a nasty scar.”
“Ah-alright. Here’s the journal.” Sonata said while pulling out the book that Sunset had wanted to show her the day before. “Take it and let him go, please.”
“Begging, how pathetic. Still, I have to say that I’m enjoying seeing you so upset.”
“Just let him go!”
“Not till Adagio gets here. Besides, I've been here all day just waiting, so you two can hold out for another half hour.”
At that point, I had no clue as to what Sonata was involved in but figured that I'd soon find out whether I wanted to or not.
After another agonizing while, Adagio finally arrived and found Sonata sitting up against the wall. She completely ignored me and instead turned to Aria who was placing a large candle in every other circle in the array.
She asked Aria, “Is everything ready?”
“Yes, it’s all set.”
She then picked up the old book that Aria had been drawing out of, and looked back and forth between its pages and the diagram on the floor.
“And you followed all the directions to the letter?”
“Yes, Adagio,” She said more annoyed now. “I’m not an idiot like Sonata over there.”
Adagio raised an eyebrow at that and responded with, “That can be debated.” She went back to checking the array before she was satisfied. She then turned to Sonata and said, “Bring the journal over here.”
Sonata looked up from the floor to Adagio but hesitated to do as she was told.
“Now!”
She quickly got up and brought the journal over to Adagio, who ripped it right out of her hands. Sonata looked back at me before Adagio then demanded, “And your shattered pendant.” She reached into her pocket and unwillingly placed a pouch into Adagio’s hand.
Adagio walked over to one of the empty circles and poured out the bags' contents into it. She then went and emptied out a pouch of her own onto another circle while Aria followed suit with the last one. Aria had also pulled out three necklaces with clear crystals from her bag and placed each one around a candle. Finally, Adagio walked over to the center of the array with the journal in hand.
Giving one last glance at the journal, she turned back to Sonata. “You know what? I hate to admit it, but it’s all thanks to you that we have this magical item.”
Once I heard that I couldn’t refrain from asking Sonata, “That thing is magic? Why would you even need that?”
Before she could respond Adagio cut back in. “Because it would allow us to regain our former powers. But honestly, our entire plan would have fallen through if you hadn’t convinced those Rainbooms to accept her into their little group. Now we can get back on track to ruling this world, so thank you.” She said, all while wearing a devious smile.
“So then I was just a tool for you guys to get what you wanted?!” I yelled back in anger. I then felt a pain in my mind as I looked over to Sonata, “It was all just an act?”
“See, now you’re getting it.” Adagio snidely replied.
Sonata finally yelled back, interrupting Adagio, “No! That’s not true! I didn’t want any of this to happen! I was trying to protect you from them!”
I wasn't sure that I could trust anything that either of them was saying, so I stayed silent. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was the only one around who could warn everyone else about the Dazzlings.
Adagio, satisfied with her taunting, set the journal down in the center of the array, only for a whole lot of nothing to happen. She turned to Aria and nodded. Before I could register what was going on, she had dragged me right next to the arrays outer edge and forced my arm out over the chalk line. Adagio stood between Sonata and me before saying to Aria, “Do it.”
Aria grabbed ahold of my fingers, forcing my right-hand open. I tried to pull my hand out of her grip, but she placed the blade against my palm and whispered, “Better hold still before I cut off a finger.” The blade then bit into my skin. Slowly, blood began trickling out of the cut as I winced at the pain.
As a few droplets hit the array, a red light began to emanate from the runes and soon spread to the rest of the markings. Just then the journal started to glow as the shattered pendants became black and lifeless. Sparks flew as the energy shot out to the candles, igniting them with a crimson flame. Suddenly, everything went dark as the candles were snuffed out by an unseen force.
Gradually the lighting returned to normal, and the necklaces were now the same shade of crimson as the shards had previously been. Adagio walked over and picked one up to examine it.
Aria, on the other hand, had loosened her grip on me after becoming more interested in the necklaces. If there was ever a time to escape, it was right then and there, while they were distracted.
I quickly threw myself backward onto the floor and kicked the knife out of Arias' hand. When I hit the floor, the back of the chair broke off completely, and the blade clattered to the ground. I sprung up and ran for the door, regardless of the backrest still tied tightly to me. Strangely enough with every step that I took, it felt more and more like I was running on sand. Even worse though was the fact that my vision was gradually beginning to blur.
Oh God, this isn’t good. I know I haven’t lost enough blood for this to be happening. I thought to myself. And what’s… with this… beautiful melody…
Slate stopped in his tracks as Adagio, now wearing the new necklace, sang an alluring melody. He turned around with a vacant look on his face. Aria went and picked up the knife from the floor and cut the ropes that were around him.
Adagio then turned to Sonata and said, “Well, it seems that this one is very resourceful. Unfortunately, we can’t have someone like that around.” She caressed the semi-conscious Slate across his face before telling him, “Sorry Slate, you’ve got to go.”
Aria, with a smirk, placed the knife in his hands. “How about we have him do the job for us. There’ll be no way that anyone could link it to us,” she suggested. Adagio nodded and began singing once more. Slate with the knife in hand began to raise it up to his neck in an agonizingly slow, jerking motion. His movement made it clear that even under the spell something in him was fighting back against Adagio’s song.
As soon as Sonata saw that, she knew that there was no time to waste. So in a jolt of desperation, she ran for one of the necklaces and hung it around her neck. She took a deep breath and began singing as loud as she could. Just like that, Slate’s hand started pulling away.
Adagio, now enraged, yelled at her, “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?!” effectively breaking her concentration. With that brief window of opportunity Slate flung the knife across the room, where it slid underneath a massive sound system.
Aria kicked him in the back and sent him landing in front of Sonata.
“Are you alright?” Sonata asked helping him up.
“I don’t know,” he said, staggering to his feet. “Sonata, why didn’t you tell anyone that this was going on?”
“I was afraid of what would happen if I did. If I did say anything, none of you would have ever trusted me again, even if I was trying to stop this from happening.”
Slate grabbed ahold of her hands and said, “Sonata, I would’ve listened to you, and would have done everything to help you. I would have even stood up for you if need be.”
A small stream of tears trickled down her cheek as she spoke, “I know I screwed up. I’m sorry Slate,” she said looking away from him in shame. “Please-“
Slate stopped her with a gentle hand placed on her cheek as he turned her face back to him. "And I will still stand up for you when this is all over. Now please, help me stop…”
At that moment, the warm look he had been giving her was replaced by a blank stare. Aria had begun singing while Adagio called out to Sonata.
“Sorry, but I do believe that Slate here has completely outlived his usefulness.” She then turned to Aria and said, “Go get the knife and finish him off.” She began singing again as Aria ran over to the sound system to retrieve the knife.
“Slate, you’ve got to snap out of it!” Sonata called out to him as she shook him a bit. She tried to use her singing to bring him back, but Adagio had no intention of letting up. She knew that her lone voice wouldn’t be enough to rival the combined magic of Aria and Adagio’s song. To make matters worse, Aria had retrieved her knife and was walking right at them.
Knowing full well that it may be the last time that she saw Slate alive, she looked him in the eyes and tearfully said, “I’m sorry, Slate,” and gave him a kiss on the lips.
Aria was now just a couple of feet away from Slate and readying herself to take a stab at him. At the last second, Sonata shoved Slate to the ground causing Aria to barely miss him. Unfortunately, that led to Sonata getting slashed across the top of her left forearm. She fell to the floor, grasping her wounded arm.
For a second time that night, I regained consciousness out of a strange haze. When I sat myself up, I saw Aria standing over Sonata, scolding her. “You idiot! Stop getting in the way before you get yourself killed!” I could see a small trickle of blood dripping from her forearm and the knife back in Aria’s hand. All the while she had her back to me.
I jumped up to my feet and grabbed ahold of Aria’s arm before chopping the back of her wrist with all the strength that I could strike with, causing her to drop the knife. As she cursed and rubbed her hand, I stepped on the blade and used everything that I had to pull up on the knife handle, snapping it in two.
Adagio was absolutely livid at the fact that I was no longer under her control. “How?! What did you do Sonata?! My magic isn’t doing anything to him!”
That takes care of that. I thought as I kicked the broken blade back under the sound equipment. Just then, Aria threw a right cross and caught me in the cheek before landing an uppercut to my diaphragm. The pain sent me reeling back as I clutched my stomach, and Aria grabbed me by my shirt collar.
“You’re a lot more trouble than you’re actually worth.” she then swung me around and flung me to the floor. There was no denying it, she was definitely strong, especially for her size. Then again I couldn’t be entirely sure that it wasn’t tied to her being a siren.
“Ach!” was all that I was able to get out when I hit the ground. As I tried pushing myself up, my eyes went wide when I saw Aria raise her leg straight up and began to bring it down right over me. I barely managed to roll out of the way of her heel, which she had planted where my head had just been. Too close!
“Hold still and die!” Aria yelled.
"Like hell I will!" I retorted. She chambered her leg, readying to stomp down on me. But before she could, I swung my leg and caught her in the back of the heel. That kick was enough to drop her onto her back and daze her. With that brief reprieve, I got up and ran over to Sonata who was holding her arm tightly. I quickly tore off a sleeve of my shirt and tied it around her cut. Luckily, it was able to stop the bleeding well enough.
“Slate, what are you doing? You need to get out of here,” She said.
“Not without you, Sonata. And not without stopping your sisters.”
When I looked up to check for the other two, Aria had closed the distance and had thrown another punch. I had managed to block it, but it hit with enough force that it sent me sliding back as I tried not to lose my footing. She then sneered, “You actually think that you have any chance. Face it, you're outmatched, and there is nothing you can do a-"
Sonata at that moment had tackled Aria, sending her tumbling forward. Sonata then yelled to me, “Quick, you need to take that necklace away from Adagio!”
“Get off of me you idiot!” Aria yelled back at Sonata while trying to keep her from prying the necklace away.
I turned to face Adagio who stood across the room from us. Before I could make my way towards her, her necklace began glowing as she yelled, "No, you're not going to stop us! I deserve to have my power, and I'm not going to give it up, especially to a worthless human!"
As the words left her mouth, a wave of red energy came rushing towards me and slammed me into the wall. Adagio was taken aback as she now wore a look of surprise.
Sonata, in her shock, was pushed off towards me.
When I looked up at her, she was trying to tell me something. Unfortunately, ringing was all that filled my ears. Slowly, though, I could hear the concern in her voice. I then looked over at Adagio standing next to Aria who was brushing herself off. Sonata took note of that and stood between them and me.
Adagio then spoke up, “Well, it appears that the alchemy we used has altered our powers a bit. Or maybe it had something to do with Slate. Either way, this will definitely come in handy. Like for putting you two in your places.”
Sonata then responded, “Adagio, Aria, stop this, now." They both had given a smirk before their necklaces began glowing again and they let loose another blast. As it rippled toward the both of us, Sonata yelled: "Stop, now!"
Just as the blast reached us, it dispersed right in front of Sonatas face. There was a translucent wall in front of her. At this rate, I was thoroughly confused by everything that had just happened, as were Adagio and Aria.
Sonata then turned to me. “Slate, I think I have a plan to stop them.” She turned back to see that the other two were getting ready to attack again and quickly said, “I’m going to drop this wall.”
“Wait, if you-,” I began, only for Sonata to stop me.
“As soon as I do, try to get to cover. And whatever happens, make sure you get the necklaces away from them.”
Before I could object, the transparent wall faded as she sprinted right towards her sisters. Adrenaline forced me into action as I threw myself behind a set of large speakers. I peeked out from behind them to see the other two sirens sing a high pitched note right when Sonata had thrown her arms around them. As soon as she had, that same translucent shield thing had formed a bubble around all three of them.
A muffled “BANG” came from the bubble, almost like a firework had gone off in a container. Shortly afterward, the bubble evaporated, and dust from within began to settle. Soon I could see Sonata laid out on the floor along with her sisters.
I stood up from my hiding spot and picked up a long electrical cord that had been coiled up next to the amplifiers. Seeing Sonata like that only made the whole situation more nerve wracking. Once I stood over the girls, Aria began to groan as she rolled onto her side. Adagio sat up and rubbed her head trying to ease her obvious pain.
Without a moment to lose, I lunged forward and was able to grab ahold of their necklaces. With a hard yank, the chains snapped, and I pocketed them. I then quickly used the cord to tie them up back to back.
With Adagio and Aria unable to do much of anything now, I checked on Sonata. She was still on the floor and unmoving. I leaned in close and could hear her faint breathing.
“Whew, thank god she isn’t dead,” I sighed.
“Well, she definitely deserves to be, the traitor,” I heard Adagio hiss from behind us. I turned to see her scowling at the both of us. She then turned her full attention towards me and said, “So do you.” I did my best to not pay her any more mind and returned to Sonata.
“Sonata, can you hear me?” I asked while gently shaking her shoulder, trying to get some sort of a response.
She slowly came to and murmured, “Mm…Slate.” She then suddenly sat up straight as she yelled out, “Slate!”
“Woah, woah. Everything's alright now," I said, trying to calm her.
“Ah, uh. Oh, you're okay," Sonata said, throwing her arms around me as she gave a tight hug. “I didn’t know if that would work.”
“I'm just glad it did. I kind of wish you had given me more of a heads up, though," I said as I returned the hug. "I thought the worst had happened."
She got up to her feet and helped me up. With a smile, she said, "What’s important is that we are both okay now.”
“Hah, that’s rich,” Aria scoffed getting our attention. “You don’t even realize that you’re in the same sinking boat as the both of us. Don’t you, you blue idiot?”
“That’s not true,” Sonata said a bit distraught.
“Oh no? Last that I remember, we were pretty much in a chain gang. So if one of us screwed up, we were all out. And since you did steal from another student for suspicious reasons, you can say goodbye to all of your stupid friends."
"The only reason she did any of that was that you two forced her to. They know what she is like. They will give her a chance,” I asserted.
“Sure, keep telling yourselves that,” Aria responded with a defiant grin.
I just sighed and turned to Sonata. “C’mon. We should go.”
“Right,” she said gloomily as she went and picked up the journal from the center of that chalk drawing and placed it in her bag. All the while Adagio and Aria gave her angry scowls.
I managed to find my belongings tossed behind some of the scattered equipment. I made one more makeshift bandage for my hand from my other sleeve before I caught up with Sonata at the door. Even though it was silent at that point, anybody could feel the malice that the other two had for Sonata and me. When we left that room underneath the stage, we shut the door, just in case.
As we headed towards the main stage area, we could hear several sets of footsteps. Sonata stopped in her tracks. “I guess they really did get my message after all.”
“Who?” I asked a bit concerned. Before she could respond someone called out.
“No one’s here, are you sure this was the spot?” One of the voices asked.
“That’s what Sonata said in the message. Maybe they’re under the stage.” Someone else responded.
“Then let’s check it out. Everyone move out of the way!” an exuberant sounding girl shouted before a loud clank resounded from the stage floor.
“Hey, watch where you’re throwing levers! Someone could have fallen in…again,” a tomboyish voice scolded.
“Woah. What’s with all that chicken scratch down there? And…Hey! It looks like someone hogtied those two sea-snakes,” another one pointed out.
“But there’s no sign of Slate or Sonata,” a gentle voice replied.
"What did you two lowlifes do to them!?" a posh sounding voice called to the sirens.
I turned back to Sonata and suggested, “I think we should head up there before they are fed any misinformation. Like right now.”
Sonata, in turn, responded a bit apprehensively, “A-Alright.”
We quickly rushed up onto the stage and were greeted by all of our friends who were thoroughly perturbed at the sight of Sonata. More specifically, with the scarlet gem hanging from her neck.
However, Sunset managed to ignore that for a brief second when she got a closer look at how banged up and disheveled we were. “Are you two alright?” she asked with a look of concern.
“Yeah, relatively speaking at least,” I offered.
“It’s really not that bad,” Sonata replied as she carefully nursed her arm.
“Um, well I’m glad that you two managed to make it out safely, but uh…" Applejack had begun before Rainbow Dash cut right to the chase.
“Give back Sunset’s journal!”
Sonata recoiled a bit at RD’s aggressive order, looking a bit hurt. Not wanting everything to turn any uglier than it had to be I stood between Sonata and the others and answered back, "Alright, calm down. She isn't going to put up a fight, okay?" I turned back to Sonata and quietly said, "Go ahead," as I gestured towards Sunset Shimmer.
She pulled out the journal and handed it over to Sunset, all while struggling to look her in the eyes. She then began to apologize. “I’m sorry, I know I screwed up. But I was desperate. That journal was the only thing keeping my sisters from just killing Slate.”
Sunset didn’t seem to know exactly what to say and looked back to the rest of our friends. Right at that moment a girl with purple hair and a pink streak that I had never met till then stepped forward and spoke up.
“Sonata, we want to believe you, but how can we be sure that you really only meant well by what you did?” the new girl asked.
I knew that it would take quite a bit of convincing to get them to give her one more chance, so I interjected one more time. "Sorry, I know that we haven’t met personally, but I can without a doubt tell you that she has done everything to try and reform. Even going against her sister's wishes."
“Then why does she have that jewel around her neck?”
I just realized that that might have been a huge cause for concern and tried to explain, “It was the only way at the moment to keep Adagio and Aria from carrying out the rest of their plan.”
While the girls discussed what should be done amongst themselves, Sonata grabbed ahold of the latch on the back of her necklace and held it out for the girls to see. “If it’s this thing that has all of you worried, then…” She trailed off as she looked at it with tears in her eyes, “Then it’s probably best if you, Twilight, take it with you.” She sniffed a little, trying to keep from crying. She looked to me and said, “Slate, please give her the other two.”
"Right." I pulled out the other two necklaces and placed them in Twilight's hand.
“As long as we don’t have them we can’t use our magic.”
Adagio yelled up at Sonata, “You moron! Stop! You’re giving them everything that we are! You can’t do that!”
I wasn't able to see Adagio clearly from where we were in the fading light, but I swear I saw tears rolling down her face as she heaved, trying to get up to her feet.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want my powers back if they are only going hurt others, Adagio,” she replied sadly.
Aria decided to weigh in on the matter as well. "So you think that you can just put everything behind you, and that will make everything better?! I knew you were stupid but this goes way beyond the limit of any living being!”
"No, it doesn't excuse all of that, but I don't want to keep on being the cause of everyone's problems. And you can't change my mind,” Sonata replied and placed her pendant in Twilight’s hand. “Please take these with you.”
Twilight and the others were flabbergasted at her display. She then asked Sonata, "You know that once these are gone…"
“I know. But it needs to be done.”
Twilight nodded and then turned to the girls still stuck on the lower level. “I’ll let you two decide whether you want to stay in this world or return to Equestria.”
Adagio then shot back, “We have nothing left in either world, does it even matter what we decide?”
“You do have your freedom here. You can decide what you want to make of yourselves. If you come back to Equestria though, there’s a good chance that you will be looking forward to a harsher punishment.”
“Both choices suck so badly, it’s just so hard to choose,” Aria scoffed defiantly.
“Considering you went out of your ways to try and dominate both worlds, it could, and admittedly probably should be worse.”
Adagio sat there silently while Aria cursed under her breath.
Twilight shook her head, a bit disappointed by the display of the two trapped sirens and turned back Sonata. “Hmm, they are definitely stubborn.”
“I know,” Sonata sighed disheartened.
“Perhaps it would be for the best to take them back to keep a close eye on them.”
Upon hearing that Sonata spoke up. “No, please don’t force them to go back. I don’t want them to be imprisoned or anything like that.”
“Sonata, they’ve made it clear that they would rather cause plenty of harm before they would even consider reforming. I mean take a look at yourself and Slate,” Twilight said while pointing to her arm.
Sonata took a moment to glance at her arm and me before taking in a deep breath and responding. “It may not make a whole lot of sense, but we only have each other. They are the only family that I have, and I don't want to lose them. Even if they have done some messed up things. But I promise if they choose to cause any more problems...I will personally call the authorities."
Twilight didn’t have a good answer prepared for that, so she instead motioned Sunset over to her. “What do you think Sunset?”
She hemmed and hawed for a moment, looking at Sonata and then down at the other two sirens. “I don’t believe that they need to be taken away, we can manage if they decide to try anything else. I mean as long as those gems are in a separate world there shouldn’t be any problem.”
Twilight nodded. "Well, I trust your judgment." She then addressed Sonata, "It's settled then. I will let them stay here with you. But from now on let us know if anything else comes up.”
“I will,” Sonata replied without looking them in the eye.
Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder before giving her a warm look. “You don’t need to worry. Remember that you can come talk to us about anything. We’re all here to help.”
Sonata exhaled abated breath at Sunset’s reassurance. "I promise, I won’t let anything like this happen again.”
They all had nodded before AJ brought up the next glaring issue. “I don’t suppose ya plan on leaving them down there, do ya?”
Sonata and I had looked at each other before I replied, "No, not particularly. We were going to let them go as soon as we found help."
“Well then, we should head down there.”
Before we actually did though, I turned to the rest of the girls and said, “Right. But before we do, Twilight should probably start heading back to her world before we free them. It’s just a precaution.”
Twilight gave a quick nod along with a short, “Okay.”
“I’ll go back with you to the portal,” Sunset added. She then turned back to us and said, “Give me an update on what happens.”
“You got it,” Rainbow Dash confirmed.
With that, they made their way out of the park. Once they were out of sight, I spoke to the rest of them. "Alright let's get them out."
We walked around to the backstage area and entered into the storage room where we found the girls still sitting in the middle of the floor.
As I readied myself to untie the cords around them, I couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of ways that it could go wrong. To top it off, the looks that Aria and Adagio were giving me were doing little to assuage that concern.
Adagio then spoke up as I moved a hand to the knot. “You’re going to regret everything you’ve done here tonight.”
Aria joined in and said, “One way or another, we will get back at all of you.”
I furrowed my brow and pulled away before responding with, "You know, being determined is good and all, but you guys really should re-evaluate your circumstances."
“Besides, your last two plans didn’t pan out, and you guys are only digging yourselves deeper,” Rainbow added matter-of-factly.
“Shut up! Just you wait. You’ll all be sorry,” Adagio said, her voice becoming strained.
Sonata stepped forward and in a calm voice replied to her sister, “Adagio, you’ve got to stop.”
“No, you traitor, we will get the recognition that we deserve!”
“Adagio, one unicorn was able to banish the three of us, the Rainbooms were able to shatter our pendants. The power that we got back with that alchemy was barely enough to control one person. It’s over.”
At that moment, Adagio was doing everything to hold back the tears that were clearly welling up.
“You’ve always been the screw-up, the thing that ruined our plans!” Aria spat out at her.
Sonata took another deep breath before responding. “I don’t care about that. The thing that has been eating at me is that everything that we ever did made everyone else miserable and ruined lives. We honestly got what we deserved. Right now we have a chance at doing things right.”
“Yeah? And what about them?” she said glancing at me and the others. “No matter what, they are always going to distrust us. Even if they don’t admit it.”
I looked over at the other five girls, only to see that they all had a slight tinge of guilt to their expressions. I wasn't in a trusting mood myself, but considering the situation something had to give, so I spoke up.
“Listen,” I began, “I’m willing to put this whole thing behind me if it means giving you guys a fair chance to make up for what happened.”
Aria, with a fire still in her eyes, was about to shoot back a retort. But I didn’t give her a chance.
“AND BEFORE YOU GO AND SAY THAT I HAVE NO GROUNDS TO TELL YOU ANYTHING BECAUSE I HELPED PUT YOU HERE, CONSIDER THIS!” I yelled a bit more angrily than I had intended to and managed to stun her and everyone else. I cleared my throat and continued. “Sorry, but consider this. I was doing everything and anything to try and not die and protect those that I care about. Likewise, you guys were doing everything back then just to survive and exist in our world. Surely, you can see that I did what I had to just like you did. But there’s no need for that now. I’m pretty sure that I speak for all of us when I say we are willing to give you all a chance if you actually want to change."
Aria and Adagio didn’t have any other response for me as they both sat there quietly as I got a bit closer. “I’m going to untie you now,” I told them as I knelt down to untie the knot in the cords. The cables fell off, and they were able to move freely, but they just sat there without looking at any of us.
Sonata walked up to them and offered them a hand. “Come on,” she said in a reassuring way, “let’s go.”
Both of them turned to her and got up on their own. They walked past us over to the door before Adagio turned back to us and solemnly said: "Just leave us alone." With that, they left without another word.
“That could have gone better,” Rarity mentioned. Honestly, I don't think any of us were too surprised by their response.
“Well, I don't believe we are going to be able to do anything about this by standing here all night,” AJ said warily. We began walking to the park’s entrance while the lights from nearby lampposts started turning on. Before we left she turned to Sonata and said sympathetically, “If you need anything or something else comes up, call us right away. We will try to come up with something to help your sisters starting tomorrow.”
“Alright, thank you,” Sonata replied.
“Then we will see you two later," Rainbow said.
“Okay, later everyone. And take care,” I offered as Sonata and I left the group and made our ways down the streets back to the apartments.
I offered her my good hand as we walked, which she took even if she did so hesitantly. She would also glance over at me, only to look away when our eyes would meet. She didn’t say anything either which only made me assume that she wasn’t taking everything that led up to that point too well. I wasn’t sure how to approach her at the moment, so we continued on in silence until we arrived at our building.
When we got to her door, she didn't say much except "Bye." She then turned to the door and tried to get in but found that to be impossible since Aria and Adagio had used the door chain this time.
"Guys, can you let me in?" Sonata called out to a dark living room but got no response. "Please…"
“Go away,” Adagio called out.
"But…" Sonata tried to reply but was stopped.
“I said go!”
Man, this is definitely going to take some time to fix. Sonata began to softly sob as she closed the door.
“Maybe we should give them some space,” I offered as I placed an arm around her. “Come on, I’ll prepare a place for you to sleep.”
She nodded as she barely managed to get out the word, “alright.” A few short minutes later and we arrived at my place. I led her to the couch where she sat still pretty upset.
“I’ll be right back, just gotta fix a few things up. Do you, um, need anything?”
“No,” she replied dismally.
I went and cleaned up the cut on my hand and wrapped it up before I headed to the hallway closet to get some new bed sheets. I quickly replaced the sheets on my bed with the new ones and went over to the restroom to get the first aid kit. When I got back to Sonata, she had been messing around with the makeshift bandage on her arm, wincing every now and then at the discomfort.
I sat down next to her; placing the kit on the floor next to her feet before I spoke to her. “Hey, Sonata, can I see your arm real fast.”
She frowned a bit before bringing her arm up for me to examine and telling me, “Fine, but please be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I will be,” I reassured her as I gently held her arm. I slowly removed the torn fabric from the cut while trying to keep it from opening again. Fortunately, however, it seemed that Aria had only landed a glancing blow, which meant that it wasn't that deep of a cut. Still, it left somewhat of a mess on her forearm.
Sonata squeamishly fidgeted at the sight of her wound before looking away from her arm. "Um, if you want, you can finish getting cleaned up once I'm done here. I have some spare sleepwear if you need, although I’m not sure how well it will fit,” I offered as I pulled the first aid kit up onto my lap and pulled out a gauze pad and a bottle of alcohol. She just nodded while I poured a little bit of the liquid onto the pad. “Just a heads up, this might sting a bit.”
“Mm-hmm,” she whimpered while bracing herself for the pad. In an instant, I patted down her injury with the gauze as quickly and carefully as I could. All the while Sonata practically yelled, “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!” while I finished cleaning up the cut and the blood that had dried on her skin.
All I could really offer was a brief, “sorry,” while I cut a strip of bandage wrap and applied it to her now clean cut. Her pained expression slowly returned to normal as she rubbed her arm. “Sorry about that again.”
“It’s alright,” she said abashedly. She then shook her head slightly before she continued. “Slate, you really didn’t have to help me at all, especially after everything that happened.”
“What, you mean giving you first aid?”
“I mean everything,” she said beginning to sound upset. “All of this could have been avoided if I had just said something, anything. I almost got you killed. The others don’t trust me at all, you could tell just by how they reacted to what Aria said. And they have every right not to. I don't blame them, and I wouldn't blame you if you didn’t either.”
Man, I really have no clue what to tell her. I want to say that it will turn out for the better, but I don't know that for sure, I thought as I rubbed the back of my neck.
After a minute of gathering my thoughts, I finally replied. "Hmm, well, I can't disagree with you on a lot of that."
She looked hurt and almost on the verge of tears.
Damn, you couldn't have chosen something better to say.
I had grabbed her hand before I continued. "I didn’t mean it like that. I still trust you.”
“You’re lying,” she said as she stood up and wiped away a few tears. “You don’t really mean that.”
I quickly got up and held both of her hands. “Why would I lie to you? You actually did call the rest of our friends when you could have completely left them in the dark, in spite of everything that was going on. You also gave up your pendants and stood up for your sisters, even if they hadn’t been looking out for you. And I know that wasn’t an easy thing to do. You wouldn’t have done all of that if you weren’t trying to change or only looking out for yourself. That’s why I trust you, even if everyone else isn’t sure what to think.”
I then pulled her into a hug. “And no matter what, I love you. I promise I’ll do what I can to help you and your sisters.”
She looked me in the eyes and with a smile said, “Thank you, Slate. I love you too.” We stayed there for a moment as she nestled her head right up to my cheek. With that, she had finally calmed down.
I went ahead and got her those extra clothes so she could get showered. While she did, I also threw her clothes into wash so she would have something to wear the next day. I also took that time to check my text messages and found one from dad that said he’d be back in town by sometime Saturday afternoon. Considering the situation, it was a needed bit of leeway.
Once she was done, and I had completely finished showering we got a little something from the kitchen. After being held captive for so long, I was completely famished and was also pretty sure that Sonata would appreciate something good after such a stressful gauntlet of a day. Either way, the late meal that we had didn't last all that long. I took our plates and got them washed while Sonata rinsed and placed them on the drying rack.
Shortly afterwards we got washed up and ready for bed.
I led her to my room and said: "Well, um, you can have my bed for the night."
She had a confused look on her face when she asked me, "So then where are you going to sleep?"
“I’ll just use my dad’s bed. I’d rather you use mine since the mattress isn’t as hard as his. Trust me, you’ll be more comfortable on that one.”
I then gave her a quick kiss before telling her “Goodnight. See you in the morning.”
She blushed a bit before saying, “Yeah, goodnight, Slate.”
I went over to dad’s room and got comfortable, or at least as comfortable as a mattress that felt like wood would allow, and eventually fell asleep…for at least two hours. I wound up waking up in the middle of the night to the sensation of someone being right near me. As my eyes adjusted, I found Sonata had managed to get into my bed without waking me up and had fallen asleep with an arm draped over me. I shifted ever so slightly trying not to wake her, and as I did, she murmured something through a contented smile. “I’m so happy…that I met you, Slate.”
For a minute there, I actually thought that she had woken up, but she just continued to breathe shallowly. I shifted myself enough to be face to face with her as I continued to watch her as she slept. I gently placed an arm around her as I leaned my forehead against hers and whispered, "I'm happy to have met you too. More than you could know, Sonata."
I settled back down while thoughts of the whole past month flew through my mind. Up until that point, I had kind of just passively let everything happen and just hoped that things would work for the best, but I knew right then and there that I wanted to ensure that was exactly what would happen for Sonata’s sake. It was probably going to be an uphill battle, but I was willing to give it a shot no matter what. And with that, I fell back asleep.