“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.”
“The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity, than the discovery of a new star.”
- Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
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RAINBOW LOX
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Oh Celestia, the smells.
Starlight Glimmer stumbled to a halt inside the entrance as the scent of hot grease hit her nose. Also baking bread, strong cheese, and dozens of other odours. Over it all was the smell of steaming meat and despite herself, Starlight swallowed thickly in anticipation of the taste.
Sunset Shimmer guided her to one side, clearing the way for patrons behind them. “Take it all in, sure,” she said with a chuckle, “but don't get in people's way. Especially if they're hungry. It is lunchtime, after all.”
“Mmmf,” Starlight murmured, overwhelmed with dividing up all the delicious, disturbing, and dangerous smells. Her tiny human nose picked up only a bare fragment of what her pony nose could, which was probably for the best.
The human world differed from Equestria in several ways. Ponies didn't need as many gyms, nor as many personal vehicles. Wagons, chariots, and trains covered most mechanical means of transportation, and even two of the three required hoof or wingpower.
Humans also had a much wider and astounding array of food. Pony fare tended mostly towards fresh supplies, barring what root cellars, cooling spells, and Pegasus-crafted cold storage could manage to keep unspoiled for later. A daisy sandwich tasted fine as long as the bread stayed soft and the flowers didn't wilt. And with a large population stretching across a continent, secret family recipes rarely changed hooves, except in large cities like Manehattan or Canterlot.
But here, oh, here there were so many new foods and flavours one would never encounter in Equestria. Sunset and her friends had introduced Starlight to them slowly. Each girl had her own favourites at restaurants and would break off a portion for her so she could decide what she liked. And she liked so many things.
Eating well was a small step up from the sour Starlight Glimmer that she'd been. Enjoying it was an even bigger step away from the true believer who'd set the worst taste standards in all of Equestria. From pancakes in the Royal Palace to cooking in Trixie's caravan, Starlight now allowed herself the freedom to indulge in her food. Happiness made it taste better.
“How much of this do you eat?” she asked, staring at the long display cases full of food. She hadn't seen that much cheese since the last Ponyville Cows' Collective sale.
“They don't waste any of it,” said Sunset. “Mistakes and leftovers get taken care of, too.” She sidled aside to let more customers push past. “Do you need more time? No pressure, believe me. I know what it's like to get all my senses assaulted like this. Twilight, too.”
Starlight giggled. “You brought her here? Did she make that face where one eye half-closes and her mouth does that thing?”
“Like you could fit a watermelon half in one side? Oh yeah.” Sunset sat down on the blue bench seat under the front window. “It's not for everyone, but when you find a willing soul, the conversion is instant.”
“A soul willing to eat some other animals.” Starlight carefully sat as well, resting her elbows on her knees and taking in the scene before her. It looked an awful lot like a Ponyville diner: checkered black and white floor tiles, scarred and varnished wooden tabletops, and photos of famous customers lining one wall. The rattle of cutlery and plates filled the air, along with the shouts of workers behind the counter as they rushed to fill orders. But then she looked at the hunks of dark meat hauled from the steam boxes, watched the knives slice through them, and suppressed an instinctive shudder.
The Ponyville bowling alley had their own diner, as did the Hayburger Hut close by, and Starlight had visited both. She'd eaten deep-fried treats at the harvest fairs, feasted at a Changeling Hive, and risked her health in a Manehattan greasy spoon at two in the morning. Now she would have her first deli experience.
Sunset shrugged. “You don't have to, if it bothers you, but you handled that chicken pretty well, even though you knew what it was. Rainbow goes through a ton of it when she's in training. And you did okay with bacon.”
“Yeah, pigs are pretty delicious,” admitted Starlight. “I'll have to make sure my Applejack doesn't hear me say that. I'd get banned from the farm.” She gestured at the bustling restaurant in front of them. “Same probably applies to cows, now.”
“There is a lot of cow here,” Sunset agreed. She considered that, then shrugged. “Well, lots of bits of a cow.”
Starlight eyed the slabs of meat in the display case, their dark rinds crusted with cloves and spices, labeled 'pastrami', 'roast beef', 'bologna' and others. “Cows. Right.” The grill behind the counter sizzled as the cooks used spatulas and tongs to fry heaps of it for hot sandwiches. A ring salami hung over the case with paper-wrapped lengths below it, their various heat levels indicated by colored stickers. The more she saw, the more it all seemed edible and not very cow-like. Her stomach signaled its agreement. “Okay, I'm ready.”
“Good.” Sunset peered across the restaurant. “And I see your guide's here. Ready to meet her?” She lifted her hand in a small wave, signaling to someone in one of the booths across the room.
“Sure, but I still don't know why you're not staying,” Starlight said. “You eat this stuff yourself, don't you?” When she'd expressed an interest in visiting one of these restaurants, Sunset had said she had a mystery chaperone who would do a much better job.
Sunset lifted a shoulder. “Truthfully, I'd love to stay and lead you through this, but...” She sighed. “There's an issue, and getting your perspective on it would really help.”
Confused, Starlight tilted her head, putting a hand up to keep her beanie from sliding off. “You have a Friendship problem?”
“Eh. Kinda?”
Another young woman slipped through the lines of people, slim shoulders turning as she squeezed through and ignored any scowls or protests that followed her. She tucked the drawstrings of her burgundy hoodie inside the neck to stop them swinging back and forth, and stopped in front of Sunset and Starlight. Folding her arms, she gave a contemptuous toss of her blue ponytail, cocked a denim-clad hip, and smirked. “Like, hey.”
Sunset hopped to her feet. “Sonata. Thank you for doing this. I know it's been tough. Like I said, I'm willing to...”
“Gonna stop ya there.” Sonata held up a hand, her palm out. “I appreciate the invite, but there's no way you're paying for this. Aria told you last time, we won't be in your debt.” Her gaze flicked over to meet Starlight's. “She's got the skinny on you already, huh?”
“There's nothing you can say about me that she doesn't already know,” Sunset said, smiling tightly. “Good luck trying, though.”
“Nah. It ruins the meal if I'm in a mood.” Sonata relaxed her posture and clasped her hands behind her back, going from standoffish to perky in seconds as her smile brightened. She'd scored herself a point. “So, she's the one you want me to break in?”
Sunset gestured. “Starlight Glimmer, this is Sonata Dusk. She's, well, an acquaintance.”
“Close and personal, at that,” Sonata volunteered. “We see each other once in a while.”
“Just not for very long,” Sunset agreed.
“Pftt. About as long as it takes to order out.” Sonata shrugged. “Why spoil an appetite?” She turned her attention back to the still-sitting Starlight. “Whatevs. Listen, I'm here to show you good food, nothing else. You don't make with the pretty lights, we'll get along, 'kay?”
Starlight glanced over at Sunset, who looked as if she'd had this conversation with Sonata a few dozen times. “Uh, yeah, sure?”
Sonata grinned as she bounced up onto her toes, her marked-up canvas sneakers squeaking on the tiled floor. “Cool. Man, you look a lot like my sister Aria. Same hair.” She glanced down at Starlight's ripped jeans. “Different figure, though. Rockin' that hipster look, too.”
Not knowing what much of that meant, Starlight got to her feet so that Sonata didn't loom over her. “Well, that's great. Maybe we should, you know, find a table?”
“Around here?” Sonata tilted back on her heels and spun around. “Nah, no waitresses. We have to order at the counter first.” She waggled her fingers at Sunset, sashaying off towards a line. “I'll let you know when I'm through with her, Shimmer.”
Starlight turned to Sunset. “I don't get it. She seems okay.”
Sunset Shimmer rubbed the back of her neck ruefully. “I … still can't sit at a table with her, and she's the friendliest of the three. I mean, I'm trying, but there's still problems.”
“Oh.” Starlight frowned. “Bad problems?”
“We've clashed a couple of times.” Sunset shook her head. “Part of it's her nature, part of it's where she's from.” She flicked a hand at Sonata, who'd found herself a line to stand in. “Would you have lunch with her and see what you think, please? She knows more about all this food than I do.”
Well, this wasn't the first time a former student of Princess Celestia had asked Starlight to eat with someone as a matter of trust. Colour her intrigued. And hungry. “Of course! I'll see you after?”
“I'll be close by,” Sunset promised. She frowned and took a second look over everyone's heads. “If you see either a very large mass of orange hair, or someone who looks like you but angrier, those will be her sisters. There's no magic in them, so you can bluff them down if they get snarky. But if you feel like you're in trouble, use Twilight's new panic button.” She slipped Starlight a small, square device with a button on it. “It'll signal my phone that you need help.”
Starlight tucked it in her vest pocket. “Thanks.” She looked over to where Sonata rocked back and forth to some internal song in the slowest of the lines. “Pretty sure I won't need it, though.”
“Just keep it in mind,” said Sunset, slanting a glance at Sonata as well. “One of them is manageable. All three of them? That's more like being in the middle of a circle of predators. If they show up, press the button and get your back against a wall. Have fun!” She gave Starlight's fingers a friendly squeeze, then left the deli with her leather jacket slung over one shoulder.
Sonata grinned as Starlight joined her in line, slipping an arm through the crook of her elbow and drawing her up to her side. “Got all your warnings?”
Starlight returned her smile as she delicately slid free of that arm. “Were they needed?”
“Nuh-uh.” Sonata swung her ponytail around her far shoulder to play with the tip, unoffended by Starlight's withdrawal. “Messing with you means they come after me. I'm not losing my favorite eating spot by poking Shimmer in the eye.” She tilted her head as she gazed up at the menu. “Whaddya think, sample platter, or d'you want something for yourself? Gotta decide now because they won't wait for us at the counter.”
Abandoning her study of her companion, Starlight switched her attention to the list of sandwiches and frowned over the various categories. “Umm, a sampler is starting to look good. How do you choose?” 'Tongue' didn't sound that appealing, and how did tuna become part of a salad?
“That's the point of a sampler. You find favorites eventually,” Sonata assured her. “I've got a couple, but Shimmer wants me to teach, so we'll get a small selection.” Waving at the front counter, she once again drew Starlight in, this time with an arm around her shoulders. “Stick with me and we'll get the best cuts. I won't let them cheat you because you're a vegetarian.”
Starlight blinked, turning to look down at the turquoise hand resting on her arm. “Well, I...”
Looking sympathetic, Sonata patted her shoulder. “Shimmer said you were new to the whole meat thing, and I get it, I really do. I was on an all-fish diet for the longest time.”
“Oooh, you were a pescatarian?” Starlight smiled. She had heard the hippogriffs that Twilight and the others encountered at Mount Aris were also big fish eaters.
Sonata studied her suspiciously. “You're lucky it's me here and not my sister Adagio, or you'd be having that beanie for an appetizer, Miss Filthy-Mouth.” She tapped Starlight on the inside of her elbow.
Starlight giggled. “It means you eat nearly all fish.”
Those raspberry eyes widened in sudden understanding and she matched Sunset's giggle. “Ohhhh! Okay yeah, pretty much all the fish. Then I found out about all the other amazing food they have.” Noticing the line moving, she followed, tugging Starlight along. She seemed determined to take her 'guide' role seriously. “For a minute there, I thought it meant the people who get too close to the dolphins at the aquarium.”
Before Starlight could work that sentence out, they were at the front counter and Sonata had her arms folded on the display case. “Hey, Tessie!” she chirped. “We'll take the combo plate with the salami, pastrami, and turkey, put the toppings, rye and a couple club rolls on the side...” Her head dipped down and she peered into the case. “Oh, yeah, I'll have that last bit of salmon, too, with the fancy bagels and cream cheese. Throw in the pickles and we're good.” Popping upright again, Sonata leaned on the counter with her elbow. “You know how I like it.”
The counterman rolled his eyes good-naturedly and swung around to jab a two-pronged fork into a steam box. Emerging with a hunk of black-crusted meat, his knife slid through the pink flesh in quick flashes. As he cut, replaced the meat, and reached for the next part of her order, he nodded at the refrigerator off to the far side. “Go on, you've bought enough for a freebie. Again.”
“Always do.” Sonata smiled and skipped off to the side.
Distracted by a demonstration of pickle-slicing prowess behind the glass counter, Starlight only looked up when Sonata pressed a frosted glass bottle into her hand. “Don't spend too much on my account,” she said, half-kidding, “or is it just to get free drinks?”
Sonata shrugged. “I can't resist a good salmon. If it gets me a free fizzy apple cider, all the better.”
Once she paid for everything and the two of them divided up the platters, they made their way through the crowd. Starlight awkwardly rose onto the tips of her toes to slide between pushed-out chairs and people leaning back in their seats, following Sonata towards the booths at the back.
Sonata slid into one of the last ones before the fire exit, located near a large air vent. Starlight set her tray down, hoping the fan wouldn't turn on and blow her mane askew. She slipped her beanie off and tucked it between the wall and her hip.
“This seems like a lot of food,” she said, looking over the spread. “I hope I've got room for it.” She lifted her shirt and tugged at her belt for emphasis. Having a belt was yet another new experience, let alone the concept of having to loosen it.
“Hey, you want leftovers, you can have leftovers. Good luck sneaking them by me, though.” Sonata flicked the cap off her bottle with a pop of carbonation. “First rule: we take this slow. You won't appreciate the taste if you gorge yourself, trust me.”
Starlight nodded. “Agreed.” Trying to mimic Sonata's trick with the bottle, she winced as she scraped the inside of her thumb on an edge. “Ow!”
Reaching over, Sonata twisted the cap off for her. “Takes practice,” she said, and set about spreading cream cheese on the bright coloured bagel halves. As Starlight made sure she wasn't bleeding, Sonata pushed a half over with the shiny slices stacked on top. “So okay, off the bat. This is salmon belly, soaked in salt brine for like, two days with dill, zest, and sugar. It's also real yummy, but it's okay if it's not your thing. You want tomato on that to cut the salt?”
“Please.” Tomatoes she understood, at least. And bagels. Pressing her thumb against the sweating glass bottle, Starlight bent over her plate as she bit down into the layers of toppings. Salt, sweetness, and the slick, rich flavour of the salmon washed over her. “Mmmmph.” She chewed slowly, trying to pick up all the textures.
Sonata watched, looking pleased at Starlight's initial reaction. She took small, measured bites of her own bagel. “You're the first person Shimmer's ever asked me to take out to lunch. Do you really know everything about her?”
Starlight swallowed. “I thought you said talking about it would ruin the mood.” Picking up her bottle, she sipped at her cider. She was familiar with this taste, thanks to Pinkie Pie's last pizza party.
“Talking with her, sure. But you're here now and she sent you for a reason.”
“The reason being tasty food,” murmured Starlight, licking her lips and taking another bite, making it last so she could savour the aftertaste. Oh, she was going to like this smoky fish. “I think this is definitely my thing.”
“Then we're off to a good start.” Sonata leaned to one side and peered out into the restaurant, checking if the coast was clear. “Did she really leave us alone? She's not waiting around the corner with her friends to jump out and hug us?”
Starlight also turned in her seat to put an arm on the wooden divider. No one sat in the booth behind them, and none of the other versions of her Ponyville friends were anywhere in the restaurant. “What? No, why would you think that?”
“Because she seems really invested in getting up in my space whenever we bump into each other.” Sonata munched on her bagel. “Now she asks me to tutor one of her other friends in my favorite foods? C'mon.”
“You think she's plotting?” Starlight sighed and set her food down. “What does she want, in your opinion?”
Sonata licked some cream cheese off her finger and smirked. “I figure Shimmer wants your take on me. She needs to know what she's doing wrong, and she's hoping we'll get along well enough for you to get some ideas.”
“We're getting along fine so far?” suggested Starlight. She clinked their bottles together. “There's no need to make it sound sneaky or anything. If you don't want me to get any ideas, I won't. How about that?”
“I get you're here for the food,” Sonata agreed. “If you'd started asking personal questions right away, I would have bounced.” Returning the clink with a smile, she continued, “Also, it's obvious she's found someone who's never seen or heard of me, which means you're not from around here. If you were local, you'd have an opinion.”
Oh, was that ever a familiar feeling. “And yet, you're still here and sticking it out, despite what anyone thinks.”
Sonata scooped a slice of salmon off to eat it plain. “My sisters make most of the decisions, so I have to go with the flow most of the time. Except where to eat, because then all my food would be waaayyy blander than this. And if Adagio learned I was doing Sunset Shimmer a favor, she'd ban me from here.” She made a face that showed half-disgust and half-despair at the thought.
“That doesn't sound very nice,” said Starlight. She copied Sonata and tried a gleaming piece of salmon by itself. It flaked apart in her mouth and she sorted through the layers with her tongue. “Mmmm.”
Shrugging, Sonata rested her chin on a cupped hand. “She doesn't appreciate food the way we do. To her, it's fuel. Taste only matters so much, y'know?”
“What about your other sister?”
Sonata narrowed her eyes. The question was obviously a personal one and she appeared to bounce between answering it or not. Realizing she had brought the subject up in the first place, she sighed and went for it. “Aria? She's complicated. She likes to scoff, and pout, and huff and puff, but when it comes to food or anything else, she absolutely refuses to be seen enjoying it.”
She pushed the half-eaten bagel around on the plate, looking somber. “Being in the moment and enjoying what's in front of you," she went on, “that's the part that doesn't make sense to either of them. Unless, of course, they're down in the dumps. And if there's ice cream in the freezer, all bets are off.”
“Mm.” The memory of the pistachio chocolate mint cone she gorged on at the mall coupled with Rarity's overly dramatic indulgences back home, and Starlight couldn't help but smile. “Are they the type to scoop the stuff straight from the carton, or do they actually bother with using bowls?”
Sitting up, Sonata huffed. “Oh, I swear, there's a fight over the biggest spoon in the drawer. Every time.”
Matching her giggle, Starlight settled back and washed down her final bite of salmon and cream cheese with a gulp of fizzy apple cider. Sorting through what Sonata told her, she frowned. “Hold on. Three of you. With musical names. And you aren't fond of Sunset.”
Sonata plucked the last morsel off her plate. “Like I said, I'm doing her this favor. Gotta give me some credit, but you're close.” She squinted as she chewed. “You're smart. And it makes me think, with a name like yours, I bet you and Shimmer are a lot alike, eh Glimmer?”
Starlight met her gaze, seeing a hint of the predator that lurked beneath. She wasn't afraid. Twilight and Sunset had defanged this threat years before. “You're a Siren.”
“You've heard of us,” Sonata said, looking even more pleased than when Starlight enjoyed her food. “Is that because of Shimmer, or because of where you come from?”
“Where I come from?” she echoed.
“If you were human, you would have called me a Dazzling,” explained Sonata. “Adagio chose that name for us here and it's how they know us.” She curled her hands into an approximation of hooves and moved them up and down. “You're Equestrian, aintcha? Should have known Shimmer could contact you when she wanted. Are there a lot of you over here?”
After the accounts from both Twilight and the Pillars on their battles against the Sirens, Starlight wasn't sure how much she could safely say. Sunset had said the Sirens had no magic, so it wasn't like they could cause trouble. Still, Starlight planned to be cautious. “You've met more than you know.”
“Wouldn't surprise me, the way magic keeps popping up these days.” Sonata pushed her plate to one side and gestured at the rest of the tray. “Anyways, let's figure out what you like. Turkey, you know what that is. The pastrami's salted and smoked cow navel. And the salami's like a compressed beef sausage with spices and more salt than the pastrami. Watch out for the heat if you're not used to it.”
Starlight blinked. She had expected villainous cackling rather than a menu rundown.
Sonata shrugged, noticing her reaction. “I'm hungry, okay? If we'd eaten better back in the day, we might have not ended up here.” She reached for a slice of rye. “Dunno how you feel about mustard, but I can take it or leave it, never mind the pastrami purists.”
Watching her build a sandwich, Starlight tried to reconcile what she knew with what she saw. “I thought Sirens fed off negative energy.”
“Yahhh, to power our magic and stuff.” Sonata layered pastrami and turkey on her bread. “Otherwise, we ate whatever seafood we could snap at.” She glanced up at Starlight, indicating the spread. “Don't let me stop you. Pick something.”
“Sorry, it's … I'd only heard about this from others.” She decided to try the salami. If she could take the Tasty Treat's heat levels, she could handle this. “I know why you were, uh, sent here. A non-magical world where you couldn't cause trouble.”
Sonata laid her completed sandwich on her plate and made a face. “Hey, what you call 'causing trouble', we called 'having lunch'. The energy here sucked for feeding. And if that wasn't bad enough, these bodies couldn't handle the raw fish diets we were used to, either. So we went hungry in a couple ways.”
Fumbling a little because she still wasn't used to hands, Starlight managed to fit salami slices, lettuce, and more tomatoes into one of the bread rolls. She didn't want to miss any of what Sonata said, because once again she was getting to hear both sides of an ancient argument. First with Starswirl and Stygian, and now with the Pillars' defeat of the Sirens. “Well, I'm sorry about that part, but from what you said, you wouldn't have left pony settlements alone if they'd asked nicely, either.”
“We could have hunted elsewhere. Griffons argue for sport, so how bad would a few more feather dustups be? Instead, we were exiled without warning and ended up in these forms.” Shrugging, Sonata crunched into a pickle. “Dumped here without a care.”
That certainly was the Starswirl of old. Chuck Equestria's problem through a portal and let someone else deal with it.
“You endured, though,” Starlight said carefully. She didn't want to minimize whatever the Sirens had gone through to make it this far. She bit into the end of her sandwich and stifled an undignified noise at the sudden surge of taste sensations. “Still, why keep worrying about the past when the future's got all this?”
Sonata squinted at her, although it may have been the pickle's sourness that twisted the corner of her mouth. “Okay, yeah, you're definitely from Equestria,” she decided. “You've got that bright-side attitude about you.”
Starlight flushed, prodding at her teeth with her tongue to loosen a strip of lettuce. “I didn't mean...”
Waving her off, Sonata pushed the pickles toward her. “I know, but the future's difficult when you're the only one who cares for it. Shimmer warned you about my sisters, right? There's a reason they aren't here.” She held up her half-eaten sandwich. “The first time I found food like this, I was really hungry. We all were. But Adagio and Aria were afraid that if we became more like humans, we'd be less like ourselves.”
Now that was an even more familiar argument. Twilight had broken ground on her new school, and as a prospective guidance counselor, Starlight had involved herself in several sessions with the other races from their world. It was a common refrain with some, worried that attending a pony school meant they would be less of a yak or a dragon. “It's not an unusual fear.” She bit into a pickle and motioned for Sonata to continue, trying to control her eye-twitch from the acidic burst of that first bite.
“Yeah, well, hunting fish in these bodies wasn't smooth swimming, that's for sure.” Sonata grimaced. “We got sick a lot from not cooking things, which didn't help, but we got there. They still claim they've got 'standards' and stick with sushi, which means I'm on my own a lot of the time for meals if I want something that's not raw.”
Starlight finished another couple bites of her admittedly delicious sandwich. “Pride affects all of us,” she admitted. “Fear, too. I once forced a pony to make the most bland, tasteless food possible, all because I was jealous of her talent.”
“Ooh, did you make her eat it?” Sonata asked, grinning. “I would have watched that and cackled.”
“I ate it, too,” Starlight said. She looked across the table at Sonata's surprised expression. “What?”
“That's … weird.”
“True, but I did it out of pride. I thought no one was better than anyone else. The best way to do that was make everything the same. Even if it tasted terrible.”
Sonata's expression got even more confused. “Really weird. Why'd you stop? Couldn't stomach it any more?”
“Something like that.” Starlight admired the green of the lettuce between the soft wheat roll and the rounds of salami. “I love this, though. How about you? You seem to enjoy what you eat.”
Sonata stared at her, then remembered she was teaching. “Oh, yeah, it's awesome. Like, as much as this world is the worst, they've got food right in so many ways.” Her smile gleamed as she lifted the top slice of rye. “Look at that. The work someone put into this meat just so it'd taste like this? Amazing. It's better than just swimming through a school of fish and gulping a few down.”
“You just come here alone and enjoy it?” Starlight finally reached the question she wanted to ask. “Why don't you let Sunset join you sometime? She'd be happy to share with you, I know it.”
Sonata rolled her eyes and rested her cheek on her fist. “Because then I don't get judged for what I'm eating. Instead, I can get judged on what I used to eat, how about that?”
Starlight sighed. “You mean magical energy. You siphoned it from ponies or humans.”
“Yeah, Shimmer's made it clear she expects me to regret that before we can really move forward as friends.” Sonata shrugged and stuffed the last smidgen of crust into her mouth, chewing quickly and swallowing. “Okay, maybe trying to make everyone in this world adore us and do our bidding was overkill, but I'm not taking a guilt trip for trying to survive.”
“You sure about that?” Starlight asked. “How about the fact Sunset asked you to help ease me into the carnivore life, and you agreed because it gives you a chance to do something good?” She took a daring sip of her cider beneath Sonata's incredulous gaze.
“That's crazy,” came the reply.
“Is it? She knows what it's like to make mistakes. So do I.” Starlight decided she had room still left and so she would try the pastrami on rye.
“Yeah, so what mistake got you booted over here? What'd you do that was worse than the food thing?” Sonata moved in closer, almost putting her elbow in the mustard pot. “Was it Starswirl? He kicked you out, too, didn't he? Isn't he the utter worst? Like, blergh!” She mimed sticking her finger down her throat.
Starlight stared at her, then reached for the bread and the mustard. “Yes, Sonata,” she agreed solemnly, making her sandwich. “I said something insulting about bell hats to Starswirl the Bearded...” She waited for Sonata to finish pantomiming being sick again. “... and he banished me to this world.”
Sonata snorted. “Wish we'd knocked that stupid hat off, just once.” She settled down and watched Starlight fold a couple of slices of pastrami. “You don't have to stack it as high as I did. Just what suits your tastes.”
“But I don't know what suits my tastes yet.” Starlight considered her half-made sandwich, then cut the bread first, and piled one side higher than the other, just to try. She peeked at Sonata's expression, noting that the Siren watched her more than the sandwich. “Thanks for being my guide, by the way. I wouldn't have known where to begin.”
“You've been here way less time than us, if you're only getting into this kind of food now,” said Sonata, going back to her meal. “So c'mon, you a unicorn like Shimmer?” Grinning at Starlight's surprise, Sonata finished her pickle with a last crunch. “She gets tangled up in magic way too often to be anything else. No wonder they kicked her out for crossing a Princess.”
“She what?”
“She didn't tell you? Guess you don't know everything, after all. Whenever she starts in on her sordid past to try and 'relate' to us —” Sonata marked the air quotes with her fingers. “— she talks about defying the Princess and all that. I figure she challenged Platinum and lost, so they tossed her through here and left her.” She shrugged. “I mean, it's not like I pay attention or anything.”
Sonata had apparently missed which Princess was the subject of the old Sunset Shimmer's snit and instead substituted the only one she'd known. Starlight giggled again. “You know, I have a friend close to your shade who would say the same about having to listen to my Princess.” Sonata didn't have Trixie's bluster or calculated disinterest, but there were some similarities.
“Yeah?” Sonata inched in closer. “I knew it wasn't Starswirl.” Both she and Starlight mimed sticking their fingers down their throats. “So you've got your own Princess, huh? That's good for you, at least. You don't get your magic burnt out raising the sun and moon.” Her eyes widened. “Oorrrrr, did you make a break for it before they could rope you into giving it up? Maybe Shimmer was smart after all.”
“That doesn't happen any more,” Starlight said, laughing despite herself. “There are ponies who can raise them without losing their magic. I, uh, may have even swapped their talents for a day.”
Sonata winced. “Oooh, that would do it.” She clinked her bottle against Starlight's again. “Welcome to the banished life, babe. You'll get used to it, just like we did. This place may be the worst, but if you hustle, you can keep up.”
“What's your hustle?” asked Starlight. “It keeps you in sandwiches, that's for sure.” She finally got a grip on her own and took her first bite. The garlic and pepper of the meat, the tang of the mustard, and the softness of the rye melded in her mouth. She sat there chewing, oblivious to anything else.
By the time she came out of her reverie, the Siren was grinning and watching her. “Good, huh? I wouldn't recommend it every day, Miss Skinny-Jeans, but once in a while would do you good. As for my hustle, that's privileged information. You might find out if you hang around long enough.” Sonata cocked her head to the side. “If you do that you might actually meet Aria. Dunno how that would go. You two really look alike.” Her expression changed and she subsided.
Noticing the change in her new friend's mood, Starlight set her sandwich down. “That's not a bad thing, is it? Am I making things worse by looking like her?”
“What? No. No no, it's good having someone to eat with like this.” Sonata shrugged. “Trying to do this around them gets me stuff like 'why would you eat that', 'we're not wasting good sushi on you', and 'sardine spread on toast is good enough for us, Sonata, why not you?'.” Her shoulders slumped a little and she looked melancholy. “I get that they don't wanna change, but food makes me happy, and it can make them happy, too.” She considered that. “Or maybe less grumpy.”
“From what you said, it's like they eat to live.” Starlight took another bite and chewed. “I mean, things like ice cream are completely understandable. It comforts them.” She thought back to her village, when everypony also ate to live, with no thought to the joy of taste. That was an indulgence of talent, after all, making one pony superior over the others, and that went against everything equality stood for.
“I didn't just control my villagers' food, or how or when they ate. I tried to control everything.” A small lump began to form in her throat, yet she continued. “I practically forced my will on everypony around me. Not because I could. But because I was afraid.”
Starlight would have carried on listing the evil deeds she'd done and the reasons behind them, had it not been for the larger mouthful of rind and cloves her teeth bounced off. Her throat closed up and she quickly reached for a napkin as she involuntarily horked. “Mmmff!”
Sonata half-started up from her seat. “Whoah, you okay?”
Nodding, Starlight wiped her mouth. “Uh-huh. Just couldn't get through that piece.” She blushed. “Hope you don't eat this much grease very often.”
“Couldn't afford it even if I wanted to keep my figure,” Sonata admitted. She fluffed her hoodie and grinned. “Kind of a good thing winter's coming soon. I'm going to need the layers.” She watched as Starlight tried another bite, more tentative. “So why would you tell me all this?” she asked, lowering her voice as she sat back down.
Cider in hand, Starlight paused. “Because.” She took a sip to wash way some of the gritty rind, and in case what she was about to say wouldn't go well, she went for a gulp instead before setting the drink down again. “I think I can understand why your sisters act the way they do. They're worried that you might change beyond what you see in the mirror.” She looked up to make sure Sonata was still listening, and took the sudden crunch of a pickle as a good sign.
“They aren't quite ready to stop being Sirens. And even though they have a hard time showing it,” She raised her eyebrows, nudging Sonata's foot with her own beneath the table. “I'm sure in the end, they also want you to be happy and safe.”
Sonata pondered that, even as her toes nudged back and she sidled closer to the wall so Starlight couldn't retaliate. “Does that mean I'm still eating on my own for a while longer?”
“Maybe.” Starlight shrugged and slid down the length of her seat to match Sonata's posture. “But I'm sure you'll find ways to reach them.”
“I'd like to,” she admitted, staring down at the rest of her sandwich. “You and I just met, and already we've had more of a meal together than I've had with them in ages.” She took another bite and looked thoughtful, chewing slowly. “Still, that doesn't make us friends yet.”
“Oh, no. No, of course not.” Starlight turned her attention back to her own food, giving the Siren some space to mentally work things out.
Finally, she surreptitiously undid the snap on her jeans and sat back with a contented sigh, surveying the tatters of their meal. “I think we did okay on this.” She tapped her fingernails against the small glass bottle and grinned at Sonata. “I don't think I'll have much room for the dessert I brought, though.”
Sonata cocked her head. “Whoa, you smuggled something over with you?” She grinned. “Sneaky. I like that.”
“Mmmhmm, I brought a little surprise for Sunset, but since she abandoned us I think it's only fair we split it instead.” Starlight reached into her beanie and placed a small box on the table. She had tucked it in her mane when she had come through the portal, just in case Sunset saw it in her vest pockets when her clothes appeared. With a tug on the ribbon, the top opened to reveal rows of chocolate truffles in their wrappers. “I had Pinkie Pie make them specially.”
“Dunno who that is, but cool.” Sonata peeked over the lid. “Ooh, is that sea salt sprinkled on that one?”
“And caramel stripes,” Starlight agreed, turning the box and tilting it to offer her the first choice. “I guess that one's yours. And probably some of the others, too.” All of them were shaped like small fish. Trust Pinkie Sense to suss out who her lunch partner would really be.
Selecting her truffle, Sonata bit daintily into it. Her eyelashes fluttered as whatever chocolate confection Pinkie concocted rolled over her tastebuds. “Oh, mmm.” She tilted her head back and savored it before swallowing. Blushing, she covered her mouth and laughed. “It's so rich,” she mumbled. “I don't have things like this very often.”
“Huh. Why not?” Starlight plucked one of her own from the box. She hadn't been over here much as a human, but the candy business looked to be thriving.
“Special moments aren't really a thing with us,” Sonata said, sighing and taking a smaller bite. “Aria hates fun, I swear. It's hard to make her happy because there's not a lot in this world she cares about.”
Starlight adopted a commiserating expression. “She might like some of these. Chocolate can cheer almost anyone up.”
Sonata shook her head, ponytail swaying behind her shoulders. “Trouble is what cheers Aria up. Someone else's, usually.” She finished her chocolate truffle and reached for another. “She'd keep me from being friends with Shimmer because it'd make her and all her Rainbooms unhappy.”
“And yet, you said you don't want to be friends with Sunset and the others anyway, isn't that right?” She smiled at Sonata's suspicious expression.
“That smile just isn't right coming from someone who looks so much like Aria,” Sonata mumbled. “Look, Shimmer wants me to hang out with her and her friends.”
“And you don't want to do that, I get it,” Starlight said.
A frustrated little noise came out of Sonata. “I want Aria and Adagio to hang out with me here instead. It's like Shimmer's asking me to replace them with her, and I'm not ready for that.” She nibbled on the tail of her chocolate fish.
Starlight needed caution here. Sonata had made it clear she wouldn't succumb to friendship pressure, but she also seemed willing to be friendly. Paradoxical, sure, but Starlight knew resistance sometimes came from a place of pain. “Sonata, Sunset would never replace your family. She doesn't want that.”
“Yeah? Have her prove it.” Sonata gestured with her fish. “Get her to give me some space, okay?”
“Okay, I'll talk to her.” Starlight agreed. “But if she annoys you so much, why did you come? It could have been a trick to befriend you.”
"Please. Once Sunset turned goody-two-fins, she lost the ability to scheme. One change of heart and all that cunning?" A disappointed Sonata swished her arm upward. "Gone. Right out with the tide. Still yeah, I kinda knew something was up."
She popped the truffle into her mouth, and Starlight watched on as the former siren's expression melted into something a little softer.
"Besides.” As if ready to tell some dark secret, Sonata beckoned Starlight to lean in close and whispered, "I kinda thought this would make good practice. You know...just in case."
“In case you could do this with your sister?” Starlight guessed.
As Sonata flushed and looked away. Starlight hid her smile with another truffle and casually nudged the rest of the box over to the other side of the table.
“I'm not saying you're right,” Sonata mumbled, “but I would have liked someone to be there for me when I first found food like this. The right help makes all the difference in a new world.”
Starlight nodded, giving the box another bump with her elbow, but Sonata remained oblivious to her hint. “I'm glad you came, then. Thank you.”
Sonata blushed and looked warmly uncomfortable. A ding made her look down, and she pulled her phone from her hoodie pocket. Studying the message, she giggled. “Aria wants to know if Shimmer's bugging me about friendship and if she needs to stomp her.” She glanced speculatively at Starlight. “Could almost be fun having her meet you. Assuming you don't use that little squawk box Shimmer gave you.”
“You, uh, saw that, huh?” Starlight asked weakly.
“I know a junk shop who'll let you trade it in for a couple bucks. Just saying.” Sonata started typing a message back. “We shouldn't let those two bump heads, so I'll tell her I'm almost done.” She peeked up at Starlight. “You should also get a phone if you're stuck here. Really useful things.”
“Oh, thanks.” Truth be told, if she was going to keep coming back, having a way to communicate with Sunset Shimmer and the others would be a good thing. Although Starlight doubted she would ever rise to Sonata's dexterity level. “Does it take long to get good at that?” she asked, gathering up their plates and stacking them on the tray.
Shrugging one shoulder, Sonata kept typing. “We picked it up, mostly so Aria and I could badmouth each other without Adagio catching on.” She finished her message and tucked her phone back away in her pocket.
Starlight smiled. Picking up the chocolate box, she set it in Sonata's hands. “Here. So you have something to share with them both.”
The former Siren widened her eyes, gazing down at the small ribbon-wrapped box. “Really?” she breathed.
“Mmhmm,” Starlight said. “Chocolate makes things better.”
Sonata looked wary, her cupped hands still cradling the chocolates. “What's the catch?” She seemed prepared to drop the box right then and there if the answer wasn't to her liking.
“No catch.” Starlight held up her hands, almost as if trying to reveal she had nothing up her very short sleeves. “Just think of it as my way of paying you back and...”
“And?”
“... and maybe, if you want, we could do this again?” She gave Sonata a wide smile and hopeful look, the same she'd given Maud to keep her Ponyville-adjacent.
Sonata appeared to consider it, tilting her head to one side. “Maybe, yeah,” she said softly. She added the box to her pocket next to her phone. “Thanks.”
Starlight would have said 'What are friends for?', but restrained herself. “You're welcome.”
“Cool,” Sonata said. Picking up her bottle and reaching across the table for Starlight's, she slid out of the booth. “I let Shimmer know we're done here, too. She'll meet us out front.”
Starlight picked up the platter to follow her to the return counter. As they sorted out their scraps and garbage into the bins, she glanced slyly at Sonata. “What about Aria?”
“She's lurking at the sushi place a couple blocks over.” Sonata smirked. “I told her I'd meet her there. Don't want her spotting you and getting in Shimmer's face over it just yet. Not until I've set up a good way to film it.”
The two of them left the deli and Sonata peered down both sides of the sidewalk outside the front door before stepping out.
“She wouldn't be caught dead in here, huh?” Starlight asked, following her.
As she cleared the front door, Sonata snagged her by her loosened belt and backed her up to one side against the brick wall. “I said I'd meet her there. Keeps her out of my business.” Linking her hands behind Starlight's neck, she leaned in close. Close enough for Starlight to see herself reflected in those large, gleaming eyes. “And this should distract Shimmer from my business for a spell,” she murmured, grinning and tilting her head.
Starlight's breath caught and her lips parted involuntarily. The scent of chocolate and caramel on Sonata's breath tickled her senses. “Huh?”
Sonata's nose nudged hers and rubbed teasingly as her fingers slipped into Starlight's belt loops and tugged on her. “Don't follow me,” she whispered. The pressure of her body lifted and she backed away, grinning. “Bye!” She glanced over her shoulder, waggled her fingers at the passing traffic, then slipped away.
As she darted down the alley between the deli and the shoe shop next door, leaving Starlight's head spinning in her wake, Sunset Shimmer rushed up from the other side of the street. “Are you okay?” she demanded. “What was that?”
Starlight blushed as she pressed her back into the brick to reorient herself. “Something to fluster us both, I think,” she said. Oh, that minx. Sonata obviously was tired of being followed, either by her sisters or Sunset Shimmer. She had her own life and would defend it against all intrusions. Using Starlight as a distraction would give her the space she wanted.
At Sunset's perplexed look, she flapped a hand. “Let her go. She wants to keep her life private. Especially from ex-unicorns like us.”
“Oh.” Sunset went from confused to crestfallen. “I mean, I didn't think I was that pushy. She doesn't respond to my questions, so I try to fill the awkward silence and ... is it bad?”
Was it bad? Starlight considered things. “No, but she says she'd like a little space. Her sisters need to come first, that's all."
“Oh,” repeated Sunset, frowning and looking pensive, as if she were replaying a few conversations. “Adagio and Aria aren't friendly, for obvious reasons, but I didn't know . . .” She stuck her hands in her jacket pockets and kicked at a pebble.
“Just give her time.” Starlight peeled herself off the brick wall. Sonata had gotten so close that some parts of her were still tingling. Was her body supposed to react like that? Taking a deeper breath, she patted herself down. “You're not doing anything wrong, but if you push any more, you'll push her further away. Remember how much you wanted to make amends with everypony?”
Sunset nodded.
“Yeah, she doesn't. Not even close.” Adjusting her beanie, Starlight shrugged. “If you wait for an apology, you're going to wait until your fiftieth school reunion. At the very least.”
“Is there any good news?” Sunset asked, looking somewhat hangdog.
Starlight smiled. “Yeah. It was really good food. Sonata's a great guide.”
That news seemed to cheer Sunset up, and the two women began walking again, heading back towards the school and the portal. Occasionally, Starlight would glance over her shoulder to see if Sonata or another Siren was following them. Her banishment story was plausible enough, but they still might be curious to see if she knew a way back to Equestria.
“When you came over,” she asked, “how did you feel about the food?”
Sunset shrugged, her hands in her jacket pockets. “It took a while to get used to the options, and it was weird thinking about where it all came from.” She sighed. “But back home, a hayburger was Celestia's way of treating me to a slice of normal life outside of her inner circle. Once in a while, if I'd done well in my studies we would sneak out somewhere for a quick bite. So when I first walked into a fast food place here and smelled the grease ... it hit so much harder just how alone I'd made myself.”
Starlight nodded. “After Twilight broke up my little, uh, commune, I ran up to Rainbow Falls to get my bearings again. I saw a little outdoor food stand there.” Gesturing at a cafe across the road, she stopped on the sidewalk. “Just like that. They sold fried things, I can't remember what exactly, but the same thing happened to me. Once that scent hit my nose, I couldn't contain myself. I must have sobbed my way through three or four crispy fried things, and it just made me feel so bad." She shuddered at the memory. "Yet, at the same time, soooo good. Until my body remembered it hadn't had real food in years.”
Wincing, Sunset nodded. "That's messy. Is that what's happening with Sonata? Memories of home?"
"No, she's all in on this world's food." Starlight shrugged and started walking again. "She's fighting against her species' traditions by eating it, so it's straining her relationship with her sisters. It's why you need to let her fix things before she'll reach out for friendship. It'll just take a little time."
Just then, a faint buzzing sounded nearby and Starlight quickly grabbed a startled Sunset by the jacket, ducking behind her like a human shield. “Look out! B-bees!”
Sunset peered down at her, casually reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her phone. She waggled it sarcastically in front of Starlight's nose.
“Ah.” Starlight released Sunset immediately, blushing as she pawed the ground with the tip of her shoe. “You know, Sonata said I should get one of those.”
“Maybe you should,” Sunset agreed. “If you visit more often, we can add it to your list of 'must-haves' in this world. Deal?”
“Deal.” Starlight nodded, still looking around nervously as Sunset swiped her fingers along the glowing screen. “As long as that list doesn’t have anything to do with ‘bees’. But maybe honey? I like biscuits and honey.” Although right now, the thought of any more food made her head spin.
Sunset’s fingers stopped tapping the device and she stared at it, her expression laced with a mix of surprise, mild confusion and satisfaction. “Huh,” she murmured, catching the attention of her companion.
“What is it?”
“Well, it isn’t honey.” Sunset chuckled, offering Starlight her phone and a warm smile. “But maybe something just as sweet.”
“Okay.” Starlight giggled as she approached. “That was cheesy.” Getting a light punch to the shoulder from Sunset, Starlight grabbed the device, adjusting her grip before her eyes settled on the figures displayed on the screen. “Oh,” she gasped.
She recognized Sonata in the picture sure enough, only she was accompanied by someone else. Although Starlight knew she had never seen her before, the other young woman still looked oddly familiar. The shades of her hair were a bit more intense, as was her hairstyle and skin tone, and the grooves in this girl’s forehead marked a past that must have involved a lot of frowning.
“Is that Aria?” Starlight turned to Sunset for confirmation, but she didn’t need it. She recalled Sonata’s words back at the café, that Starlight and the ex-Siren’s sister shared certain attributes. Still, in spite of all that, Starlight couldn’t have imagined that their resemblances were that uncanny.
She turned her attention back to the screen and couldn’t help smiling at the story the photo painted. Perhaps it was how Aria stubbornly refused to look at the camera. Or how despite her sister’s defiance, Sonata seized her sibling by the shoulders and tugged her into the shot. Her wide smile was a complete contrast to Aria’s scowl as the latter struggled against her sister’s affection in order to enjoy the treat in her hand.
Starlight peered in, narrowing her eyes tightly to see what it was, but couldn’t tell. She all but had the phone pressed to her nose, yet the detail was still too small. Out of her own newly awakened experiences with food or just out of simple curiosity, she had to know. “Is there a way to make the picture bigger?”
Like magic, Sunset tapped the photo twice, then enlarged the space between those two fingers. Starlight looked closely, amazed. Not at her friend’s feat with the phone’s photo, but at the ornate fish-shaped morsel of chocolate caught between Aria’s fingers. Seeing her companion satisfied with the close-up, Sunset tapped the photo again, and when it shrank back to size, the caption, “For when Glimmer gets a phone!” appeared beneath it.
“So,” Sunset said, giggling and lightly elbowing her fellow unicorn-turned-human, “looks like you made a new friend, after all.”
“Let's not jump to conclusions just yet,” Starlight replied, still staring at the photo. All reluctance aside, she beamed inside and out.
She'd started the day excited for a new lunch experience. Now she headed home having done not just that, but she'd put her two bits into a complicated relationship between former villains. She hadn't quite made a friend, but perhaps she now had a new close, personal … acquaintance?
“Hey, no taking my phone back to Equestria,” Sunset bumped into her. “Twilight tried that a couple years ago and it didn't go well.”
That stirred Starlight from her thoughts.
“Sorry,” she said, laughing and handing the phone back to its owner before folding her arms together. She then glanced over at her reflection in the window of a parked carriage and sighed.
“She wasn’t kidding though.” Starlight did her best impression of Sonata's sister, complete with irritated stare and nonchalant attitude. “That other girl does kinda look like me.”
“Kind of, yeah.” Sunset peered at the picture, then frowned. “Yeah, she—hmm…” Her narrowed gaze slid over to fix on Starlight, shoving the screen at her and stopping just inches away from her face.
“Vibrant packaging, chocolate, fancy red ribbons. That wouldn’t happen to be something Pinkie Pie made, would it?” Sunset slowly lowered her phone to reveal a pair of teal eyes arched with suspicious eyebrows, an expression that almost made Starlight nervous. “Well?”
“Hah.” Starlight laughed her sudden worry away, slowly backing up as Sunset pocketed her phone and took a step towards her. “When you say Pinkie Pie, do you mean my Pinkie Pie or... ?”
“Starliiiight.”
Sunset took another step forward.
“You know,” Starlight gulped nervously. “I really don't think the gang ever found all of Pinkie's mirror pool clones. Maybe one slipped through the portal and —”
“Starlight!” Sunset took a breath, cooly folded her arms, and pouted. “That treat was supposed to be ours, wasn't it?”
“Maybe,” Starlight said, as she stopped backing up and instead crossed her arms as well. “Would we have shared it before or after my lunch date with an unreformed villain?”
“Okay, okay!” Sunset threw her hands up in the air. “You got me. Fine.”
“Besides.” Starlight nudged shoulders with the simmering hothead. “It's not like we couldn't get more...”
That merited a smirk and laugh from Sunset. “Don't tell me you're still hungry? A Sampler Platter and a box of chocolates?"
Making a face, Starlight carefully slid her fingers inside the waistband of her jeans to test their fit. "Two chocolates. I donated the rest to a worthy cause. But who's to say a trip back to Equestria won't give me more room?"
Sunset followed along with her suggestion. "What, is our ice cream too pedestrian for you now?” she teased.
“Naw.” Starlight stretched. “You know the sweets in Equestria beat the stuff here any day. Just like I'm about to beat you to our Sugarcube Corner!” She broke into an unsteady run towards the school.
“Hah! I can run faster than you in this form!” Sunset called, lunging forward to catch up to Starlight in just a few strides. “I'm getting to the chocolate before you!”
"You can try! I'll run this meal off in no time!"
Laughing, the two friends raced each other towards the statue and the portal, heading for home.
--
FIN
--
“Those who have been too long at their labor, who have drunk too long at the cup of voluptuousness, who feel they have become temporarily inhumane, who are tormented by their families, who find life sad and love ephemeral...they should all eat chocolate and they will be comforted.”
- Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin