“Ooh…” Sonata moaned as she paced nervously. The other band members were getting ready, but she couldn't do anything but pace; she just felt like her stomach was tied into knots. She had never felt this way about performing before. Usually, she couldn't wait to get on stage. Now, she wouldn't mind it if they delayed the show another hour.
Of course, last time she was about to perform on stage, she had on perfect makeup, a beautiful outfit, and the ability to sing perfectly and make anyone do whatever she wanted; and now she only had one of those things.
Not that Rarity hadn't tried to get her all dressed up, of course; but the fact of the matter remained that Sonata's measurements simply didn't match anyone else's, so all Rarity been able to do for her was the makeup. To be fair, though, she had done a really good job; but it was still only one of three.
Rarity (whose keytar didn't require tuning) walked over and rested a hand comfortingly on her shoulder, gently bringing her to a halt. “Come now,” she said soothingly. “Everyone gets a case of the nerves now and again, especially before going on stage. It's perfectly natural.”
Sonata could only relax a little bit as Rarity began massaging her shoulders. “I know, but…” Sonata tried to squeeze some sense from the churning inside. “What if they don't like me?” she asked.
Pinkie looked up from her drum set. “Oh, they already don't like you.”
“Pinkie!!” Rarity scolded, scowling. Sonata scowled, too; Rarity's hands had stopped.
“So that just means that now is your chance to win them back over,” Pinkie continued blithely. “So no pressure or anything.” She gave Sonata an encouraging two thumbs up.
Sonata groaned again as the knots in her stomach doubled.
“You'll be fine,” Sunset reassured her as she finished tuning her E string. “People are starting to warm up to me more; I'm sure they'll like you, too, once they see what you’re capable of.”
“Or maybe they just like Sunset now because with you girls around there's another, bigger thing to disli-”
Pinkie didn't get to finish her sentence; Rainbow quite literally kicked the stool out from under her and dropped right her on her backside. “My bad,” she said flippantly. “Well, get ready quick. We're on in five.”
Sonata gave her a shaky thumbs up.
* * *
Sonata attempted to control her breathing as Rainbow belted out the verse. Fluttershy had written a lovely feel-good number, all about music.
It wasn't making Sonata feel very good, though. Some people were pointing at her, and they looked like they were suspicious of her. Or making fun of her. Why did everyone make fun of her?
“Sonata!?” Rainbow shrieked quietly.
To her horror, Sonata realized that she had not been paying attention to the music and had missed her cue. She grimaced, but then stepped up in front, nodded her head slightly in time with the beat as she waited for another cycle to start, and then she began.
What is music? Can anyone define it?
What it is, whose it is, or where someone can find it?
Does music have rules? Do the words need to rhyme?
Does it need a set meter, like four-four time?
I dunno, I'm just giving this as my opinion,
Anything can fall within the musical dominion.
When you're making music, there's no right or wrong.
Music is more who you're with when you make your song.
Quite a few cheers answered her, and one person even whistled their approval. A small smile stretched across Sonata's face as she took a step back out of the spotlight. She felt a rush that she hadn't felt in a long time. That was her only part for this song, but already she felt as though she had made a major contribution.
Rainbow was laughing, too, and kept looking up at Sonata’s ponytail and nodding upwards at her, as if trying to draw her attention to something. Sonata frowned. What did that mean?
“Ears!” Fluttershy whispered.
Sonata quickly raised her hand to her head, and felt the outline of an ethereal ear right before it faded from existence. She gasped, and then a wide smile spread across her face as the rush she'd felt faded.
Magic. She’d felt magic.
And though the next song she didn’t have a part in, she would really get to shine in the song after that. Sunset had believed in her enough to have her take the lead in the song she had written.
Sunset’s song began, much faster than their earlier songs. Now more confident, Sonata did not miss her cue this time. She began to sway as she rapped.
Up on stage, hear me roar
I'm sure you've all seen me before
And I'm not proud of what I did
And my mistakes, they can't be hid
I thought I would be all alone
Stuck by myself in walls of stone
But all these girls stopped by to say
That friendship always finds a way
Won't be alone, I won't get lost
No matter how many lines I cross
Through thick and thin, the nice and tragic
These girls showed me that friendship is magic!
As she swayed, she felt her weight become slightly off. Her hair lengthened and she felt ears poking out of the top of her head. She finished her verse, lowered her microphone, and laughed.
Sunset sang the chorus, but she was wearing a large smile as well. Fluttershy gave her another thumbs up.
Sonata's ears quickly faded, but they had come. They had come. She had felt Equestrian magic again.
It was a good night for Sonata. She found herself feeling lighter than air, and she somehow even kept up with Pinkie as she skipped backstage for strike.
But amid the cheering and clapping that greeted the Rainbooms as they left the stage, no one noticed two girls wearing dark hoodies and long pants standing in the back of the auditorium. They shared a meaningful look, and then silently slunk out the auditorium through the rear doors.
* * *
Rainbow finished putting her guitar away and straightened up. “I can’t be the only one wondering about that ear thing,” she said abruptly. “That’s our gig.”
“Magic does some pretty complicated things,” Sunset pointed out as she closed her guitar case. “It follows rules, but it’s kindof hard to figure out what those rules are. Especially when you don't have a horn.” She tapped her forehead demonstratively, and Fluttershy giggled at the thought of Sunset with a horn sticking out of her forehead. “Maybe she's carrying some of the magic with her and the music reactivated it?”
Applejack squinted. “Carrying the magic?”
Sunset shrugged. “Yeah,” she said. “You don't just get hit with the Elements of Harmony and not have any side effects. I mean, as far as I can tell, they're not feeding on negative energy anymore; so something must have happened.”
“So what are they feeding off of?” Applejack had to ask.
“Currently, Sonata’s feeding off pizza rolls and ice cream,” Pinkie supplied helpfully as she wrapped her drum set. “And plenty of whipped cream, too!”
“That's what you feed off of,” Rainbow said flatly.
“It’s also what I’m feeding her, so...” Pinkie pointed out.
“Feeding who now?”
Everyone jumped at Sonata’s sudden appearance.
“No one,” Rarity said quickly.
Sonata’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Adagio and Aria talk about ‘no one’ a lot, too,” she said.
Rarity chuckled lightly, but didn't look at Sonata. Instead, she suddenly noticed that her keytar apparently needed a good dusting.
Sonata turned and glared at Fluttershy, easily the weakest in the group. Sure enough, she, too, was unable to meet her eyes. Sonata scowled slightly. She knew it. They had been talking about her behind her back. Adagio, Rainbow, they were all the same, just with different packaging.
Pinkie broke the silence. “Hey, we're going out for ice cream, you want to come?” she offered.
Sonata shook her head. “Nah. I'm going home.”
“You live with me now,” Pinkie pointed out. “It'd be easier and a lot more fun if you came with and-”
Sonata cut her off. “Maud gave me a key.”
“She did?” Pinkie squinted.
Sonata paused, and then dug something out of her pocket. “Actually, she gave me a rock, and told me to throw it at her window whenever I wanted to come inside.”
“Ok; but you're more than welcome to come along,” Pinkie sang.
“I’ll be fine,” Sonata said abruptly, scowling at Pinkie. She turned and flounced away. She didn’t need them.
Well, she needed Pinkie Pie for a place to sleep. And she needed them for the music to feel the magic again.
She exhaled and slowed to a dejected walk. She didn’t want to go back on what she’d said, but maybe she’d go with them next time. After all, friendship was about using each other to get what you wanted, and there was quite a bit Sonata still wanted.