//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Hanging Out With Vignette // Story: The Shattered Rollercoaster Of Friendship // by FourShadow //------------------------------// Sonata and Vignette walked through the restaurant row, looking at the variety of restaurants that were available to them. Eventually Sonata settled on one on their left, walking inside to a rather fancy looking place. Music played overhead from the speakers, adding to the ambience. Nice red cushioning in the booths, plenty of circular tables and rectangular tables for all of the patrons. Good lighting, a few plants and pretty pictures for decorations, the place looked incredibly lively! Finding a seat at a booth, Sonata slid herself into the middle of one end, and patted the space across from her with her foot. Vignette was admittedly distracted for a second, checking her phone for messages. Nothing out of the ordinary, or anything to be concerned about, thankfully. But wait, where did Sonata go? "Vignette, over here!" Sonata called. Vignette turned around and saw where Sonata was sitting. "Come on, sit with me!" Sonata said, patting the seat across from her with her shoe. "Well... okay. Maybe I should take a break," Vignette nodded, sitting at the table with her. She parked herself in the seat across from her, joining her in the booth. Soon the waitress came by and passed them the menus, and the two opened them up. "There should be a variety of food here. What would you like?" "Hmm... well I really love tacos, that's my absolute favorite. Especially on Taco Tuesday," Sonata giggled. "Hmm... French bread, really love that, it's great. Uhhh... oh there's a kind of Italian spaghetti I like, really love that on Fridays. And pizza, love it!" Vignette blinked, listening to Sonata ramble on about all of her favorites. She did seem like she would happily eat anything. And besides, this building was up to code. Quality would be delivered for sure! "... and I really like ramen, though I don't see it on the menu soooooooo... I think I'd just like a side of spaghetti and meatballs, what about you?" "Hmm... I guess I'll just have a stress salad, I could use one about now," she said, feeling somber. "But there's nothing on the menu that says stress salad," Sonata said, innocently smiling. Vignette had to admit, she found that cute. "It's a special kind of salad I like to have whenever I'm feeling stressed, it always helps me calm down." "Ohhhh. Have you tried snuggling a cute little kitty or a doggie? Those always calms down my stresses." "I'm not allowed to have my Corgi in my apartment," Vignette pouted. "Awww, you have a doggie?" Sonata grinned. "Yes, I do." "Eeeeee! I love doggies! They're so fluffy and adorable," Sonata squeaked like a little girl on Christmas Day. Another thing I can relate to. I think I'm going to like this one. "But wait, if you're not allowed to have a dog in your apartment, why not move out and go into an apartment that does? there's plenty of places that... wait a minute! You could move into the floor underneath me!" Sonata grinned. "There's an apartment for rent underneath us, and the Jigsaw Plaza is open to pet owners! You could move in there!" Vignette chuckled. "I suppose I could keep that in mind." "Plus, you get to keep your doggie with you!" Eventually the waitress came by and took their drink order, and then walked off to let them sit. Vignette admittedly was struggling for ideas on what to talk about. Social media star, yet she couldn't think of anything to say to a person out loud. "You okay?" Sonata asked, tilting her head. "Oh, y-yes, I'm... I'm fine. Sorry, I guess I'm a bit distracted. Trying to think, what was it... Oh, I remember. I suppose if you're not an employee of the park, where do you work, if you have a job?" "Hmm... I did have a few jobs before. I kind of bounced around place to place because I was, um. I was constantly moving," Sonata sheepishly said, sinking in her chair. "Oh. Military family?" "Um... not really," Sonata said. "It's... kind of hard to explain. I'm not really from around here..." "How so?" Vignette asked. But then a thought came to her mind. "Wait, are you not an American?" "No, no, I am! It's just that I'm... uhhh... a foreigner!" Sonata blushed. "From uh... Europe!" "Really? You don't seem that much of a European type," Vignette tilted her head. "Well, I uhh, uhh--oh hey, drinks are here!" Their drinks were set down, and the waitress took their food orders, taking their menus as she went to go make sure it would be ordered. Sonata sat innocently, humming a small tune as she waited, just as unsure as Vignette on how to continue the conversation. "Okay, I'm curious. What do you do when you're not in school, is there anything you like to do, what do teenagers even do these days?" "Hmm..." Sonata thought, rubbing her chin to think. "Well I really like video games! I've been hanging out at an arcade with some of my friends, that's always fun. I do love games. Oh just the other day, my friends and I had a picnic, that was fun! Oh and we went dress shopping the other day, really found this cute dress that I was going to wear here, but I realized it didn't have pockets," Sonata giggled. Vignette smiled. "I always like going shopping. But I can never get an honest opinion about what I wear." "How come?" "Because I have so many fans here in Canterlot, most of them just give me 'yes's to everything. I'd like some good honest people sometimes, you know what I mean?" Sonata nodded. "Mmmhmm. Actually, I'm curious. What's it like to be Internet famous?" Vignette was about to talk, when she stopped midway to think. That was a legitimate question, but finding an answer was always hard. It had its perks, yes, but all Vignette could think about were its cons... "Vignette? You okay? You're spacing out. Kind of like me when I was in history class which was sooooo boring," Sonata tilted her head. "Oh, I'm fine Sonata, really, I'm fine," Vigntette brushed off. "But to answer your question, it's nice. I get to do fun things for the entertainment for others." "Like what?" "Well, once in a while I get to play some scary game, which if my comment sections are any indication, people always get a kick out of me screaming at the top of my lungs. Or me getting hurt in those King of the Road games," Vignette answered, taking a sip of her drink. "I've watched my friends play King of the Road! It's a lot of fun. I don't know why, but it always makes me laugh when I see them bounce into people like they're rubber," Sonata giggled. "It's so silly, it's like a cartoon!" Vignette tittered. "Yes, yes it is... but still, it can be fun. I do enjoy playing games." "Well that's good," Sonata smiled. "Games are fun." "Okay, lemme think here... where do you even go to school?" "Canterlot High." "Is that the school with the horse statue out front?" "Yep!" Sonata piped up. "I remember that school. I was thinking of suggesting my little cousin to go to that school, until I heard some rumors flying around," Vignette stated. "What rumors?" "Bullying rumors, mainly," Vignette replied, twirling her finger around. "But I did hear one particular girl that was the trouble-maker did get arrested. But isn't she only in high school?" "No, she's in her early 20s. She got held back lot of times," Sonata said, trying to stay as innocent and calm as she could be. "I.. see," Vignette hesitantly replied, not sure how to really handle that news. "Anyways, I'm curious. Have you ever considered being an internet star?" "Nope!" Vignette was a little surprised at how straight-forward she was at that question. "Even though it comes with fame and fortune?" "Nada!" "So... you really don't care about being internet famous, do you?" "Nope!" Sonata said nonchalantly. "Why should I? I have everything I could ever want; I got my friends, I got family, I do fun things every day. I'm happy with who I am." This girl is oddly chipper for being an everyday woman. I like it. "Sonata. I'm not sure if I'll have time later today, but if I can work it into my schedule... perhaps we could, um, what's the word... hang?" Sonata was confused, but she finally got there. "Oh! You want to hang out?" "Y-Yes. Unless you'd rather not, in which case, that's also fine..." "Are you kidding? I'd love to! And you're the manager of the park, I need someone to show me around here, this place is fun!" Vignette felt a small tinge of excitement inside. This girl actually wanted to hang out with her later? This was getting better and better! "Well, great! What do you say after lunch? Does that work?" "Perfect!" And soon enough, the waitress came back and gave them their orders. Now they could finally chow down on lunch. "Princess? Princess? Where are you!?" Amethyst shouted as she pushed through some people. "Come on, I left you alone for a few minutes, how could I have lost you?" She ran back to the food booth where Vinyl and Octavia were, thankful they were still there. "Girls, have you seen Tri-- I mean, Princess?" "No, we haven't. Why?" Octavia asked. "Ugh, I lost her! I told her to stay still, and I think she wandered off," Amethyst pouted, looking behind her to see if she came back. "If you see her, just let me know, okay?" "I'm sure she's alright, Amy. Maybe she got lost trying to find you," Vinyl said, trying to put some hope into the situation. "I told her to sit, ugh, I'll be back," Amethyst ran off into the crowds again, looking for her once more. She dashed through some more people, head spinning like crazy. Where could she have gone off to, she couldn't have gone too far now, could she? Running past more people, she brushed past Sonata walking with Vignette Valencia, completely ignoring them. She could meet up with Sonata later, she had a much more important job to do right now. After the two of them had a delicious meal, they got back out into the main park and started looking at some of the vendors and small stands, looking for small games to play. Most of them were just general stuff you'd find at a park or your average county fair, like throwing darts, rifles, and many, many more. "We have plenty of games to pick from, plenty of prizes, there is a ton of things you and I can do here," Vignette said, nodding. "Oooh, how about this one?" Sonata pointed, looking at the stand with the shooting gallery. "I don't know, I've never really used a gun before," Vignette hesitated. "You've never shot with a rifle before?" "No, I haven't. Never been one with real guns. Now you give me a first-person shooter, I will happily barrage through as many foes as I can," Vignette grinned. Sonata still didn't change her excited face. "... I can shoot targets really well!" She slapped some tickets down on the counter, and the man behind it, accepted it. Sonata picked up the rifle, inserting the clip and cocked it. She focused her eyes on a target. One eye peeking through, while the other stayed shut. Her finger slid on the trigger and when it was lined up just right... BAM! And she pumped the gun again. She moved to another target. BAM! BAM! BAM! Four more targets in a road were shot down. Vignette was speechless. "Sonata, that's amazing. How did you do that?" "I've practiced. Besides, I've lived in the Ollllddddd--uhhh-older part of the American West! What used to be the older part of the American West," Sonata said, trying to save her words. Vignette raised a brow, but she shrugged it off. "I'm just really good with a gun, that's all," Sonata stammered, setting it back down. "Hey kid, that's a nice shot," the gentleman said from behind the stand. "Wanna give it another round? You win these next few shots, you could be getting yourself a stuffed animal of your choice." That sentence made Sonata lit up. "I could win a plushie?" "Mmmhmm!" "I want in!" Sonata slapped another set of tickets down and loaded up the gun again. She fired several more targets, knocking them down like it was nothing. Vignette was shocked. "Sonata, I'm amazed. You really are handy with a gun, aren't you?" "Yep!" Sonata grinned. "Wanna try it?" Vignette looked at the targets set up on the gallery. Just a simple shot knocked them over. Shouldn't be that hard, should it? She accepted as she moved in to pick up a rifle. But Sonata panicked as she saw her hold it just a little bit wrongly... "Both hands on the gun," Sonata said, moving Vignette's other hand to hold the middle while her other hand moved to the trigger. "Use one eye to look through the barrel, think about where you want to shoot. When you found your target, just pull the trigger." Vignette leaned her body back as she set the rifle down on the stand, keeping it in position like she was told to do. Her eye focused through the scope, focusing on the target. She pulled the trigger, but alas she didn't hit it. "That's okay, just try again," Sonata encourged. "Pull that switch up there to reload it." Vignette tightly gripped the gun and reloaded. Setting back into position, she locked on target and... BAM! The target went down. "Alright, nice shot!" Vignette looked up, seeing that she finally hit it. "That doesn't seem hard." "Maybe if the target's standing still. Try shooting something that moves," Sonata giggled, rather darkly. Vignette was rather disturbed at that implication, but she decided to shrug it off and try another shot. Just a few more seconds to focus in and... BAM! Another target went down. "Congrats, ma'am. You have just won a prize," the man said from behind the counter, giving a plush teddy bear to Sonata who's eyes sparkled. "You won me a teddy bear! Yay!" Sonata squeaked, hugging Vignette. The social media star was surprised by the hug, but she smiled softly and hugged her back. This new friend she made was honestly, legitimately happy that she did something nice for her? I mean sure she did make entertainment for the internet, but she didn't always feel like she was really doing something nice for anyone. But right now? This was probably the nicest, most sweetest feeling she had felt in a long time. "Oh! I know what ride we should do next!" Sonata grinned. Five Minutes Later "Wheeeeeee!" Sonata cheered as they went down. Vignette just screamed as she held on tight and the two of them were greeted with a splash of water. "Whoo-hoo! That was fun!" "That was only the first one," Vignette shivered, waiting for it to be over. But even in the cold water, she was able to see how thrilled Sonata was to go down the ride. If she could endure this for one more time, she could. Just for Sonata, just for her. One more splash as they went down the last hill, and the log finally went down and splashed them both again. Vignette was wet, but she had to admit, she did have fun on that last splash going down. "Hey, come on, let's go find another ride! It'll be fun!" Sonata squeaked, climbing out of the ride and onto the platform. Vignette paused again. There was that word, fun. And oddly, she was starting to understand it. This energy, this joy inside that she was experiencing... it was nothing like she had ever felt before! She wanted more of it! "O-Okay, yes! Let's find another ride! And I know just what to take!" Elsewhere in the park, Adagio, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Trixie were looking for some fun rides to go on. Something they could all go on together. So much to see, so much to do. But what? "How about the bumper cars?" "Maybe later? I just ate, I don't want to throw up my lunch," Trixie asked, hesitantly. "That's fine, we can try it later. Oh, now this one I want to try! The Haunted Mansion!" Lyra pointed, grinning at the attraction in front of them. "I don't know... haunted mansions?" "Come on, Trix. It'll just be in and out, we're going to be walking through it entirely. And we'll be together!" Lyra encouraged. "Not to mention, maybe this can conquer some of your fears? If you can walk through a haunted house, then you can stand up and perform magic acts again," Bon Bon added. "Well... okay, I guess," Trixie gulped. "Adagio can you watch my bag?" "Of course, I'll wait for you three," Adagio said, sitting down on a waiting bench. She watched the girls run through the barely existing lines and up to the front. The three were allowed in (after making sure they were the appropriate age to go through such an attraction) and they went inside. While the eldest Siren waited for them to come back, she looked around at the various people having fun. Many of them were students from CHS, but she also saw some of those Crystal Prep students that their friends faced against the Friendship Games. A few faces were familiar, like Neon Lights, Jet Set and his girlfriend Upper Crust, Royal Pin, just to name a few. Adagio sat on the bench, still waiting. And eventually the doors opened up for patrons to exit, and Lyra and Bon Bon were seen screaming in terror as they ran down the steps back to Adagio. "I don't want to do that again! What even was that!?" "There was no head! His head was just... agh!" Bon Bon panicked. "I take it was scary?" Adagio grinned. "Yes! Too scary! I swear half of that was almost real!" "Either the effects you saw were real, or that haunted house was designed by very passionate and dedicated individuals," Adagio concluded. "That's one way to put it," Lyra pouted. "Now where is Trixie?" Speak of the devil, Trixie was seen walking down the stairs nice and easy. Like, normally. No fear, no worry, nothing! It was like she didn't walk through a haunted house at all! "I don't know what they were screaming about, it wasn't that scary," Trixie shrugged. "H-How!? How are you not terrified, that place was a nightmare!" Bon Bon ranted, flabbergasted. The magician just shrugged. "I've seen a lot of horror movies. I'm desensitized to stuff like that. Now come on, let's go find the bumper cars!" And the magician happily skipped away to go find the attraction, leaving a grinning girlfriend and two flabbergasted friends behind.