//------------------------------// // Bind the Breaker // Story: A Small Drop // by Glitch Hooves //------------------------------// Tuesday The morning alarm immediately broke Sonata's dream world, bringing her to the world of conscious. Her eyes flying open with a happy smile. With a little dance, she made it to her closet and picked out some clothing to wear. After showering and brushing her teeth, she got in her new clothes. Feeling tough she decided to wear a shirt with torn sleeves, bedazzled on the chest with the message. "#StrongistheNewCute," and ripped jeans. She was excited today, not only because it was her favorite Taco Tuesday, but also because now she can break the great news to her friends. Because of school schedules and whatnot she could only see them at lunch during Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. She had classes with them on other days, but she wanted to say it front of all of them. Grabbing her backpack, she dashed out the door and straight towards Canterlot High. Sadly, she didn't think about how she was going to survive the time before lunch started. She had classes with them on other days, but she wanted to say it front of all of them. You know that feeling you get when you have to wait for something so Father Time decides to slow it down? Yeah, Father Time decided to put in all the stops just for her. History was a bore. Science, she just couldn't follow. Math... really? She learned all this already, why learn it again? Took off the second the bell to signal lunch sounded; jumped the gun a bit cause she found herself being the only soul there for the time being. Deciding to make use of this time instead of by waiting, she got in line and got a tray of tacos and enjoyed herself. Once the cafeteria quickly filled with students, the table she sat at was filled with the spots of her new found friends. Or the Rainbooms as some called them. After swallowing her food, she began. "Hey girls! Guess what?" she asked, hardly able to hold back her voice. They turned their attention to her, mainly due to the fact her voice hit an unnatural high octave, meaning only one thing. She's got really important news to tell. "I got a new pet!" she cried out. Everyone shared a smile as they gave her congrats on her new member of the family as it were. Then the real question broke out. "Well, what is it?" Sunset Shimmer asked. Sonata's happy smile was immediately replaced with a quizzical one as she contemplated this question. "I... don't know." "Well whaddya mean? Kinda hard to take care of something ya dont know, right?" Applejack asked. "I don't know, I mean he just kind of POOFED, just like that," Sonata explained, making whimsical arm motions. "Well do you have picture of him?" Sunset asked, slightly scared. If her and Pinkie were already similar, she was worried Sonata's new pet might be an Angler fish. Or maybe an Armadillo? "Yep, I do," Sonata said, pulling out her phone from her pocket and going to her photos. She scrolled a bit before reaching the one. "Ah here we go," she showed the picture to the others. The picture wasn't something to brag about, mainly because it looked like it was taken in an absolute panic. Considering the contents though, not a big surprise. The bottom left corner was currently being filled with a screaming woman with large hair and orange tan skin. This was assumed to be Adagio. Her hair covered nearly half the screen, save for the top right corner. That wasn't what caught the girls' attention though. It was the black creature residing inside her hair, staring at the camera with interest. Big blue eyes and orange spots going along the center of its head. 'That is not an Armadillo.' "What... Is that?" They all practically said this in unison. Sonata merely shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno." "Well where'd you find that thing anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked, the shock value for the unknown officially gone. "In an alley," she simply answered. Rainbow Dash threw her arms in the air as if to say. "Of course." "Ya got any idea what it could be, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked. Fluttershy took a closer look at the image, trying her hardest to get as close to the picture as possible, not too close though. "S-sorry, I've never seen it before." she whispered. "It's quite alright, Fluttershy, but Sunset" Rarity began. "You don't think that maybe that could be a creature from Equestria, do you?" Sunset Shimmer continued to stare at the image; confused gaze staring at the screen. "I don't know. It's definitely not from Equestria." "I could show you girls where I found it! It came along with like a lot of weird things, oh! Did you know it eats coins?" "Hold that thought, Sonata," Sunset turned her head to see a rumbling Pinkie. Literally rumbling like a volcano. "Who here says we should take cover?" "I," several hands raised into the air. "Approved," suddenly the table became empty except for one as six heads took cover underneath the table. They heard a sharp intake of breath before it began. "Oh my gosh, I just thought of the best idea like ever! What if we have a pet play date?! P.P.D for short. It's kind of like a regular play date, but with pets instead! Oh it's going to be so much fun! Fluttershy can bring her bunny, Rainbow Dash can bring her tortoise, Applejack can bring her dog, Rarity, you can get your cat, I can bring Gummy, and Sonata you can bring you're whatever between heaven and earth that thing is, and Shimmy you can bring... um... you can bring... eh, I got nothing," all in one breath it seemed. "That's... actually a good idea," Sunset said, emerging from the table. "If it's not from our world, we have to teach it that this place is safe." "But what if it hurts one of our pets? Or worse! What if one of our pets hurt it?" Fluttershy cried. "Ask her," Sunset directed the question to Sonata. "Oh he's super duper nice around me and my sisters, all he wants is cuddles, and loose change. Seriously he found like twenty dollars worth of pennies in the couch!" "*gasp!* for realzies!?" Pinkie gasped. "For realzies," Sonata confirmed. "Wait? It eats metal?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yupironie," Sonata nodded. "And I though my pet was awesome," Rainbow Dash slumped slightly. "So, what'd you say about bringing us to where you found him?" Sunset inquired. "Oh yeah, I could totally bring you to the alley after school, I heard a bunch of banging noises when I found him, at first I was really scared but I saw him and though 'he's not scary at all' so I took him home," Sonata explained. "Great," Sunset said, clapping her hands together. "Great! We have a plan and destination, we can go right after school, maybe we can figure out where it's from when we get there." "But what about the P.P.D?" Pinkie asked. "We can do that after, okay Pinkie?" "Okay..." she slumped down in her chair. They talked more on the creature and its behavior, its appetite for the strange, and its strange fixation on the Adagio's hair which he calls a pillow. #### Few hours after school let out, everyone met at the base of the statue except for pinkie who left a note saying she had other things to do. The cold air was beginning to nip so they were all wearing sweaters. Sonata had came a bit later than the others, stating she needed to grab something. When she came back, she was wearing her backpack, and a small black creature was sticking out of it with blue eyes. Everyone was gawking at the creature, trying to make heads or tails out of it. "Sonata, why'd ya bring the little thing," Applejack asked. "I thought that maybe if the stuff he came here with belonged to him that he'd want it back," she explained. Squirt was trying to worm his way out of Sonata's backpack so he could hide somewhere safe, only spot being her hair right now. He wasn't used to all the new scents trying to get close. "Girls, I think you're scaring him," Sonata said, observing as Squirt managed to wiggle his way inside Sonata's ponytail, his head poking through the other side; tail on the other. "Well then how'd you get him to like you?" Rainbow asked, staring at the blue eyes which was trying to get it's entire body inside its new gopher hole. "I just gave him a taco and talked really nicely," Sonata answered. "And your sisters?" Sunset began, piecing together an answer as to his timidness. "He absolutely loves them." "Well then why is he looking at us like we're holding knives?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "I think I got something an explanation' Sunset chimed in. "And that would be?" "Well, maybe it's a baby?" Sunset said. "Well, I could see that, but how would that explain anything, dear?" Rarity asked, seeing that the strange pet had successfully managed to hide completely. "Well, maybe he kind of imprinted on Sonata," Sunset began. "After all, she actually offered him a good meal and a warm place to stay." "Okay, but how would that explain her sisters?" Rarity inquired. "Well maybe he imprints by scent, and since she spends more time with her sisters than anyone else, they might share a similar scent to Sonata," she finished. Sonata had a quizzical look to her before fishing Squirt out of her hair, creating a mess about her ponytail. "Wait? Does that mean he thinks me and my sisters are his mommas?" "In a way, yes," Sunset answered. Sonata's face enlightened. "I'm a mommy!" she cried out, prancing around with the thing in grasp. "Okay, so we just stick close to Sonata and hope he gets used to us?" Rainbow dash asked. "I suppose so, that or wear her clothes," Sunset said jovially. "Yeah... how bout' no?" Sonata asked. "Adagio doesn't like it when my clothes disappear. I keep telling her it's Aria trying to get me in trouble, but she just says I'm lying." Everyone stared forward at the blue haired siren with confused and amused stares. "Sonata, ah think that was a joke," Applejack said. "Oh," she gave an embarrassed smile. "Anyway, lead the way, Sonata," Sunset said. "Okay,' Sonata started to repeat her steps from last time. Only this time, an unknown creature shaped like a curved teardrop was in her arms and five other girls were behind her. The way to the alley wasn't too long, took around five minutes till the small group found themselves in a dark alley. The sun was beginning to set and the cold began to bite at them. The shadows in the alley didn't really help with the cold, or their vision. With whatever remained of daylight they had, they walked in. It was how a normal alley should be, random trash strewn about and cracked tar. One of the tins however, upon being hit with the light, wasn't actually a tin, it looked more like a tall chest. The contents were toppled over, but the shadows kept only a vague shape of random items. "This the stuff you were talkin' bout', Subercube?" Applejack asked, staring at the items. "Yep," Sonata said with an upbeat tone; walking deeper into the alley. "So what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked, turning to Sunset. "I guess we just take a look around; see if we find something important," Sunset explained. "Um- is this important?" Fluttershy asked, pulling out one of the items in the pile. It appeared to be a machete, but the metal was a deep shade of crimson, the handle being tied expertly to the balde to ensure a steady grip. The blade, with whatever light shone on it, seemed to be sharper then anything they've seen. "Whoa!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, staring at the blade. "Fluttershy, could you perhaps put that down, before somebody gets hurt?" Rarity asked kindly. "Oh, okay," she slowly put the blade, which was about the size of her leg, back in the pile. "you know what? Maybe you and Sonata can go look over there," Sunset advised, pointing towards the other end of the alley. Probably best they don't touch anything sharp. "Okay. Come on, Fluttershy," Sonata grabbed her arm and pulled her to the other side of the alley, just outside the fork. Squirt was currently hiding inside of Sonata's sweater to get out of the cold, peeking out of the slot where your head goes just below her neck. "Sunset, ah think ya might want ta' see this," said Applejack, staring at the contents of the chest. Sunset walked over to see what it was. "Oh boy..." was her only response. The chest was on its back and everything that was inside was strewn about. It was filled with an assortment of weapons. Including the machete that Fluttershy picked up. "Hey girls!" Sonata shouted. "We found something over here!" "Think we should go check?" Sunset asked. "Me and Rainbow Dash got this, y'all go see what those two found," Applejack advised turning back to the chest. Sunset and Rarity made way towards the two. When they got there all they saw a mess of bottles, some were shattered but it looked like a few survived. "I think we found some medicine," Sonata said holding up one of the bottles. By her feet were a few others, each one a different shape and a different colored liquid in each one. It took them a second to realize what it was Sonata was holding. She was showing them a creamy yellow bottle that was heart shaped and had a bronze stopper with a tail. "Sonata, I don't think that is medicine," Rarity suggested, trying to take the bottle "What? Of course it is, this one's heart shaped, and the others have cute little pictures of Squirt on them." Sonata explained, pulling it back. "Squirt?" Sunset raised her brow. "Yeah, Squirt," the little fella popped out of her sweater upon hearing his name. "That's what you named him? Kinda fits actually," Sunset gave an amused smile. "Yeah, and if you shake him around a lot, he sounds like a water bottle," Sonata said. "... Not gonna ask, look, just promise you won't drink it and only give it to Squirt when you know for a fact that he's sick, okay?" Sunset asked. "Okay," Sonata agreed with a smile. She crouhed down and began to put the bottles inside her backpack. "So, have you found anything else over here?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy got up from her spot on the ground picked something up from the floor. "Not much else, but we did find this," she said showing them what they found. It looked like a lyre, but the top part seemed to be in the shape of bull horns with five strings attached at the tunings. The bottom looked like half a metal cog, and that's where the strings met. "Strange. Can't say I've seen this thing before, you think that maybe-" "Whoa-ho-ho. Look at this puppy!" Rainbow Dash's voice was heard from the other side of the alley. "Rainbow Dash, put that down right now!" Applejack shouted. When all four turned to see what was going on, they saw Rainbow dash holding a giant object that was being supported on her shoulder. She was aiming the thing in random direction shouting "POW!" at whatever was in front of her. The device was almost as big as herself and had a lot of other devices wrapping around it. Looked unsettling to say the least. "Rainbow Dash! Put that down this instance!" Rarity shouted. Squirt was in a downright panic, trying his hardest to squirm out of Sonata's sweater. "What wrong? This thing's empty, I checked. Watch," and with that, she pulled the trigger. Everyone dived out of the way, screaming the entire way down. Sonata stopped putting the bottles in and left her backpack on the ground, diving backwards. She made sure she landed on her back as to not hurt Squirt. When everyone saw that the device didn't launch anything, Rainbow Dash started to laugh crazily. "HAHAHA, oh boy. Did you see your guy's faces? You guys were all like 'AHHHHH!!' and I was like-" The machine began to whir to life, the center giving off a magma glow. The green metal casing began to glow red as it slowly heated up. Like a beast ready to break out. "OUCH!" Rainbow Dash screamed, dropping the device. Bad move. Moment it made contact with the ground a loud clanging noise was heard, it bounced up into the air, and then something shot out of it. And it was heading straight down the alleyway.