//------------------------------// // High Tide // Story: Sonata's Ocean // by RB_ //------------------------------// Aria was worried. It wasn’t an emotion she felt very often. She didn’t like it. “She had what?” “Magic! She was wearing a necklace, a scallop shell necklace, and it was filled with Equestrian Magic!” Magic. Sonata had magic. “Where did she get—” “I have no idea!” Adagio said. “But she got it from somewhere! There might be more!” Rain began to fall outside, hitting a hard staccato beat against their windows. “Where is Sonata?” “She ran off somewhere,” Adagio said. “Then we need to find her.” She waved her hand dismissively. “No point; she’ll come crawling back here eventually. Magic! Real magic, right under our noses, this whole time!” The room lit with a flash of lightning; thunder rumbled after it moments later. Aria didn’t like the look on Adagio’s face. Something was welling up in her gut, a sudden sinking feeling. She didn’t like that, either. Aria had always trusted her gut feeling over almost everything else, and so far, it had never led her wrong. “What’s up with you?” she asked. “Did Sonata knock something loose in there when she hit you?” “What, don’t you get it?” Adagio said, looking at Aria with a succulent smile and a manic glint in her eyes. “We can use this!” “…For what?” “For revenge!” Adagio practically leapt out of her seat. “If we can get our magic back, we can finally get revenge on Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms! We can finally move out of this apartment! We can quit our jobs! We can make this entire miserable world adore us again!” Aria’s hand drifted to her neck, to the empty spot where a pendant had once sat. What Adagio was saying sounded good. It sounded very good. But her gut knew better, and so did she. “Adagio, the last time you said something like that, we lost everything,” she said. Adagio flinched, only slightly, but it was there. “The time before that, you got us banished here.” “Well, those were just flukes,” Adagio said, quickly, “but this time—” “Will be the same thing.” Aria looked into Adagio’s eyes, and she saw that manic look for what it really was: desperation. “Come on Adagio. You’re supposed to be the smart one.” “But—" “I don’t like Sunset Shimmer,” Aria said. “I hate her guts. I hate this apartment. I hate my job. I wish we could go back to the way things used to be, too. But right now, Sonata is out there, alone, angry, and with a bunch of weird magic hanging around her neck.” Aria could see that the light in Adagio’s eyes had begun to dim. Her manic smile had begun to waver. “You can stay here and plot your revenge,” she said, “or you can help me find Sonata before she does something stupid and everything gets worse again.” “Too late.” Aria spun around. One of their windows was open. They both rushed over to it. The thing that stood on their fire escape, illuminated by flashes of lightning and set against a backdrop of rain, was not Sonata. Sonata did not have scales, at least not lately. Nor did she have gills, or eyes of solid yellow. The webbing between the thing’s fingers and bare toes was also very not-Sonata, and to Aria’s recollection, the girl had never had an anglerfish’s lure dangling from her head, either. The dress she wore, short and loose and the colour of seafoam, was something Sonata had never owned. But the creature’s face was unmistakable. And at her throat, glistening with water, was a single scallop shell. “S-Sonata!” Adagio said in her sweetest voice. “You came back! I was worried about you—” “Liar,” Sonata said. There was no malice in her voice, no anger. To Aria, it sounded hollow. “Sonata,” Aria said, “what are you?” “I don’t know,” the girl said, the gills on her neck opening and contracting as a gust of wind blew through the apartment. “Whole.” Her webbed fingers glided over the shell affixed to her neck. “The shell made me whole again.” “W-well, now that you have magic again, why don’t we put it to good use, hm?” Adagio said. Aria glared at her. “For starters, we can move out of this apartment, I know you never liked it, and then we can finally get back at Sunset—" “Don’t bother,” Sonata said. “I don’t care anymore.” Adagio stopped, blinked. “You… what?” “I don’t care,” Sonata repeated. “I don’t care about Sunset Shimmer, or her friends, or anything else in this horrible world. “I’m sick of this place. I’m going to drown it. And then, I’m going back to the Equestria. I’m going home.” “We tried that already, remember?” Adagio said. “You can’t survive over there! None of us can!” “You can’t,” the not-Sonata said, “but I can.” Her webbed fingers drifted over the scallop around her throat. “I can like this.” She cast her gaze back to them. “The city is going to be gone soon.” “And what about us?” Adagio asked. Sonata fixed her with an empty stare. “I don’t care,” she said, thunder rumbling behind her. “Leave. Or drown, if you want to.” She turned to go, facing back out into the storm. Adagio didn’t move. “You’re going to leave, then?” Aria said. “After everything we’ve been through, you’re just going to leave!?” “Yes. Goodbye, Aria.” She took a step away. “Hey!” Aria shouted, “You can’t—” But, with a flash of lightning and a rush of water, Sonata was gone. Aria ran to the window and stuck her head through. She was immediately drenched, and the wind whipped her hair into her face. She couldn’t see where Sonata had gone. She punched the side of the window frame. It hurt her fist more than it hurt the window. She didn’t care. She turned around. Adagio was just standing there. She looked limp. Her mouth was hanging slightly open. “What do we do now?” Aria asked. Adagio said nothing, so Aria grabbed her by the shoulders and shook. “What do we do?” “I-I don’t know, give me room to think!” Adagio stammered. She pulled free and began wringing her hands. “Um… uh… oh no.” “What? What is it?” Adagio looked at Aria. “I don’t like it. You aren’t going to like it either.” “Just spit it out, already!” “Aria,” Adagio said, “There’s only one person in the city who can stop Sonata.” “You mean—” “We need Sunset Shimmer.” The inside of Fluttershy’s minivan smelled like a pet store. Sunset sat shotgun, eyes fixed out the window… or what she could see out of it. Even with the wipers on full speed, the water streaming down the windscreen made it difficult to see anything. The spray kicked up by the van’s tires rose high enough to be visible, and the sound of the rain hitting the roof was deafening. Sunset was worried they’d end up sliding off the road, especially at the speeds they were going. Aria, however, was proving herself an incredibly competent driver. She’d insisted on taking the wheel; Fluttershy, being Fluttershy, hadn’t needed much convincing before she’d handed over the keys. Adagio and the rest of the girls had crammed themselves into the back. “So her necklace was imbued with magic?” Sunset asked. Aria didn’t take her eyes off the road, even for a second. “Yes. And now she has scales again.” She clenched her jaw as she took a corner at speed, the van sliding around the bend. Its wheels just barely missed the curb before it accelerated out of the skid. “That sounds awfully similar to what happened to Gloriosa Daisy and Juniper,” Rarity said, her voice elevated. “Who?” “It’s a long story,” Sunset said. “But Sonata isn’t the first person to randomly find an object imbued with magic. Or to be transformed into a monster by one.” Adagio looked up. “So there is more magic?” Aria shot a glare into the rearview mirror. “Shut up, Adagio. So you can stop her, right? Like you stopped us, last time?” “Probably, yeah.” “We just need to get a clear shot,” Rainbow added. A pair of red brake lights appeared on the road ahead of them. Aria overtook at speed, the other car honking at them as they passed it. “Well, it would be better if we could talk it out,” Fluttershy said, her voice only barely audible. Pinkie nodded. “Like Starlight did with Juniper!” Aria snorted. “She’s not going to listen to you.” “Well,” Sunset said, “Maybe she’d listen to you?” Aria gripped the wheel tighter. For a little while, only the sound of rain on the roof filled the van. It was Sunset who broke the silence. “Did, um… did you three try to go back through the portal? After the Battle of the Bands, I mean.” Aria’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know about that?” “Sonata came to CHS today. I, uh… I kind of looked inside her head a little bit?” “You’re a mind reader now?” “A telempath, technically,” Twilight said. “Whatever. So you can see into my head right now?” “No,” Sunset said, “I’d need to be touching you.” “Good,” Aria replied. “Don’t touch me.” “Noted. But I did see a vision of you three going through the portal.” “We did,” Adagio said. “Well, Sonata did. It didn’t go well.” “It nearly killed her,” Aria added. “You remember our pendants? The ones you destroyed?” Her teeth grit. “They were kind of important.” “How do you mean?” Twilight asked. “Imagine if you went through the mirror and came out with no heart.” “Oh.” “There she is!” Pinkie cried out. Indeed, they had arrived at CHS. Clouds swirled overhead, their motion centered over the pedestal-portal on the school’s lawn—or, more likely, over the one who was sitting on top of it. Aria slammed the driver’s side door shut as she stepped out into the rain. The rest of the girls in the van piled out, too, and assembled around the front of the vehicle. Sonata looked down on them from the top of the pedestal, her gaze passive and empty. “So,” she said, “you came after me.” “I told you, we weren’t done,” Aria said, yelling over the rain. “You should have left.” “And you shouldn’t have done whatever-that-is,” Aria said, gesturing at Sonata’s body, “but here we are!” The Rainbooms took a step forward, lined up in a row with Sunset in the middle. The gems hanging around their necks flashed with the lightning. “It’s over, Sonata!” Sunset shouted. “Stop all this, now!” Sonata stared at her. “Or what? You’ll shoot me with a rainbow? Summon another alicorn?” “You know it!” Rainbow yelled. Sonata raised a hand, fingers spread, pointing at them. “No. Not again.” What was she—Aria looked down. The water around her ankles was beginning to churn and swell. Her eyes flew open. “Move!” she yelled, jumping to one side and tackling Adagio. They hit the ground just as the water that had been under her—and the rest of the girls—erupted into the air, a massive geyser that must have risen two stories, at least. Fluttershy’s van was sent skidding backwards on its back bumper, nearly flipping end-over-end as its front caught the burst. She looked back at the rest of the girls. They floated in midair, protected by a geodesic shield of bright purple gemstones. “Great job, you two” Applejack said. Rarity and Twilight nodded, their arms outstretched and their eyes narrowed in focus. Gently, they drifted back to the ground, the shield dissipating one facet at a time. Aria, meanwhile, was just standing up, Adagio following her. “Looks like Sunset isn’t the only one with some new tricks,” she muttered. “Yeah,” Aria said. She tugged on Adagio’s wrist. “Come on, let’s move.” Rainbow grinned. “You aren’t getting us that easily!” “Looks like we’re not talkin’ our way through this one,” Applejack said, stepping up and cracking her knuckles. “Well, if it’s a fight she wants…” Rainbow set herself, then took off in a burst of impossible speed, kicking up a rainbow-coloured spray of water in her wake. “Rainbow, wait!” Sunset yelled, but the girl was already halfway to the statue. Sonata shrugged, and Rainbow was sent off her feet, rolling for a few meters and skidding for another. “Rainbow!” Water swirled and built around the girl as she slowly stood up. Just as she began to get to her feet, it collapsed inwards, submerging her. Sunset spun around. “Twilight!” Without a word, Twilight raised both hands. A purple glow surrounded the area Rainbow had gone under in. Before she could do anything, however… “Go away,” Sonata said. She waved an arm, and the swell that had been building up behind them collapsed, knocking them all off their feet. The water churned and built, becoming four feet deep, five. Soon, all seven of the girls trapped inside had to fight to keep their heads above the surface. Sonata stepped off the pedestal, water rising up to meet her feet. She walked along its surface until she was standing over the girls. “I’m done with you,” she said. “We aren’t”—Pinkie’s head bobbed under the water; she kicked and pushed her way back to the surface—“done with you yet!” Taking a deep breath, Twilight ducked under the surface. The entire raised whirlpool began to glow purple, bending and bubbling outward until it popped, dropping the drenched teens onto the center of the courtyard. Twilight landed on her knees, coughing up water. Sunset scrambled to her feet and ran over to her. “I don’t—I don’t think I can do that again!” Twilight said, before breaking into another round of coughs. Sunset laid a hand on her shoulder, then looked towards Sonata, still above them. “Sonata, please!” she shouted. “You’re making a mistake!” “No,” Sonata said. “I’m fixing one.” She brought both arms up, over her head. Huge walls of water, tall enough to tower over the school itself, rose up on either side of the Rainbooms. Thunder rumbled. “I lost everything when Starswirl threw me through that mirror,” Sonata said. “You took everything I had left. This time, I’m taking something of yours.” She raised her hands higher, the waters growing with them. The girls picked themselves up off the ground, standing defiant. “I won’t let you do this,” Sunset said. “You don’t have a choice.” Sonata said, so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t hear the splashing footfalls coming at her from the side. “Goodbye, Sunset Shim—” Snarling, Aria tackled her, Adagio not far behind. The three rolled across the rain-flooded asphalt, Sonata ending up on the bottom, pinned beneath Aria and to a lesser extent Adagio. “Get off of me,” Sonata said, her voice as even as a frozen river. Aria had always trusted her gut. So far, it had never led her wrong, and right now it was telling her that what Sonata needed was a good punch to the face. She agreed, so she obliged, though not very hard. Her knuckles came away from Sonata’s cheek, revealing something new: a look of surprise. Good, Aria thought. That meant it was working. Sonata tried to move, but Aria grabbed one wrist and Adagio grabbed the other and together they held them against the ground. Aria bent down, so that their faces were only a few inches apart. Rain ran off her chin and dropped into Sonata’s yellowed eyes. Thunder rumbled overhead. “I told you we weren’t done,” Aria half yelled, half screamed. “Now you don’t get to leave! We’re talking some sense into you, squid-for-brains, whether you like it or not!” “You can’t say anything that’ll—” “You want to go home, right? You want to go home so badly, you’re willing to leave us, leave me, behind? Destroy everything we’ve done, just so you can go back to the ocean? Huh?” “Yes,” Sonata said. “I’m sick of this world, and I’m sick of living in it. I want to go home.” “Then why are you still here, moron?” Sonata blinked. “What?” “The portal home’s right there,” Aria yelled, “but you’re still here! If your stupid shell is as good as you think it is, then you could have left any time you wanted! But you’re still here!” “I—” “And what were you going to do if you made it through the portal?” Adagio said. “Did you even think that far ahead?” “I-it doesn’t matter!” Sonata shouted back, and the waters churning around them grew more frantic. “Oh yeah? Did you think that you could just hop through that portal and waltz your way back home? Ponies would take one look at whatever you come out of that mirror as, and they’d start attacking! Did  you think you could fight off the entire population of Equestria by yourself? We don’t even know where the mirror comes out anymore! For all you know, it dumps you right in the middle of Tartarus! Not much water for you to throw around there! “But you didn’t think of any of that,” she said, “did you?” “S-shut up!” Sonata yelled. “It’s your fault we’re here! It’s all your fault!” “I know!” Adagio yelled. “Do you think I don’t know that? Why do you think I keep trying to fix it?” The waters around them abruptly slowed. “Adagio is a moron, sometimes!” Aria said. “She’s screwed us over twice now, almost three times. But you know what? We need her! She’s the one who got us the apartment, who made sure we all got jobs so we could afford it! Without her, the two of us would be on the side of the road begging!” She paused to take a breath. “And she needs us too, to stop her when she is being a moron! And we both need you, and you need us too, you idiot! We’re the sirens, the Dazzlings! We need to stick together, because we’re all useless on our own!” Aria stopped, her chest heaving and her heart running a million miles an hour. Sonata was saying nothing, just staring up at her. “We need you,” Aria said, finally letting her voice drop back to normal. “Don’t leave us here,” Adagio said. “I know you still care. You came to warn us.” “I want to go home too,” she said. “But not like this.” “Don’t leave me here,” Aria said. “Please.” It was hard to tell if Sonata was crying with all the rain falling on her face. Aria wanted to believe she was, just like she wanted to believe the water running down her own cheeks was only rain. She let her arms go slack, and Adagio did the same, leaving Sonata’s arms free. The water around them continued to move, but it was much calmer. “Please.” Sonata pushed herself up and wrapped her arms around them, pulling both of them close. Her scales were cold where they brushed skin. “I-I’m so sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m so sorry—” “I’m sorry,” Adagio said. “I shouldn’t have—” “Both of you, just shut up,” Aria murmured, squeezing them closer. With a burst of harmonious magic, a rainbow of light rose high into the sky, parting the clouds as it passed through them and bathing the sky in colour. Aria, Adagio, and Sonata held each other tighter as it came crashing down around them. It didn’t hurt this time.