The Wacky Adventures of Sonata at Canterlot High
Chapter 4: A Bitter Life We Lead
Adagio scoffed as she continued walking down the back alley with Aria en route to their tucked away apartment. As her fingers fumbled with the flimsy locks, she paused, glancing sideways at the creepy bum leering at the two of them. He was close now. She could smell his sickly sweet stench of body odor and malt liquor. Aria looked nauseated.
"Lay one finger on my ass and I will break off your arm and force feed it to you," Aria threatened. The bum staggered away in an awkward rush, a wet stain slowly spreading down the front of his ripped and dingy pants. In his rush to get away, he tripped over a broken wooden pallet, dropping his supply of alcohol. His bottle of fortified wine clattered to the ground without breaking, its hollow tink tink annoying the orange-haired siren to no end.
Adagio rubbed her temples. "I swear to Celestia my sanity won't survive living here much longer.”
Aria chimed in with her usual sarcasm. "Go ahead and cry about it; this isn't easy for me either. Maybe you should just suck. It. Up.”
"I don't recall asking for your opinion." Adagio snarkily replied.
"Whatever Ms. Cheese Puff.”
Adagio spun around and glared at Aria. "At least my hair doesn't look like discount toothpaste.”
"We're both just mad Sonata got all the attention from the boys when we were younger, aren't we?"
As loathe as Adagio was to admit it, Aria had a point. Adagio couldn’t deny the truth. Even though she and Aria had much more skill in picking up boys, Sonata always got all the attention from them. Sonata’s casual innocence and bubbly personality were mistaken for naivety; too many young men fell for that trap for Adagio to count.
"Whatever, let’s just get settled in and be miserable as usual." Adagio said as she unlocked the last lock.
Aria fake pouted in a mocking voice. "You’re just bummed you don't have Sonata to do your hair anymore, aren't you?"
Adagio faintly blushed and twirled her hair. No hair dresser in the whole city knew how to or cared to know how to do Adagio's hair...only Sonata cared enough.
She was so good at hairdressing, Adagio outright refused to have anyone else so much as touch her head other than Sonata. All things considered, Without her stylistically talented friend to work magic on her hair, Adagio’s “Cheese Puff” had gotten rather messy and smelled strangely of tuna.
The two entered the apartment and Adagio crashed on the bed. Empty pizza boxes, juice bottles, and taco wrappers littered the kitchen counters and meager kitchen table. The walls were stained with tobacco tar courtesy of a chain-smoking former tenant. The entire ordeal felt bleak and dismal, only adding a gray tint to her already foul mood. "Sweet Mother of Celestia, how did things get so bad for us?"
"Before or after we tried to enslave an entire school of humans?" asked Aria, who, likewise, was sprawled out on the couch.
Adagio rolled her eyes at Aria in reply. "Pffft, whatever. Those morons weren't even worth it.”
After a good 5 minutes of silence Aria asked Adagio a question she didn't think she would be asked, one best left unsaid, unspoken between friends.
"Do you think we were too hard on Sonata?"
Adagio partially sleepy eyes snapped wide awake as she sat up. "I'm sorry, you want to run that by me again?"
"I get Sonata can be a screw-up a lot, but did you really need to slap her?"
Adagio raised an eyebrow at Aria, ever so slightly. "And you started caring about if I was too harsh to Sonata…. when, exactly?"
"Look, just because she’s a goofball doesn't mean we needed to be total dicks to her." Aria said to the Dazzlings’ self-appointed leader.
Adagio’s face slowly turned red, her temper rising with the volume of her voice. "Listen, we're done with her so why don't you just-"
"Stop dodging the question Adagio and just answer it for Celestia's sake!" Aria snapped.
Adagio moved in close to her roommate with surprising speed and agility before she grabbed Aria by the collar and screamed, "HOW ABOUT YOU JUST MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS?!"
Aria slapped Adagio's hand away, slipping out of her friend’s grasp. "Oh of course, typical Adagio…. yell, scream and get all pissy, thinking it will get people to lay off. Well, you know what, I'm so sick of your crap!"
Adagio forcefully shoved Aria into the wall, knocking a framed picture of the three sirens off from the wall in the process. "I’m surprised this is coming from Miss Doom and Gloom 'please hand me the wrist-slitting razors' herself!" Aria returned the aggression with equal force, shoving her friend and roommate backwards into their ratty sofa. "No, I'm not gonna sit back and let you boss me around like some self-entitled brat. Grow up and start acting your age.”
Adagio recovered swiftly, forcing Aria back up against the tar-stained wall. "You need to learn your place and get back in line like the good little grumpy lapdog you are.” Tears filled Aria’s eyes, and a quiet rage settled on the siren’s face. She was ready to snap.
“Aww, what’s wrong,” Adagio taunted, “Is wittle Aria upset, does Aria want a treat?"
Aria's face turned crimson red. The breaking point had long been passed, and she was devoid of all emotion save her bitter, boiling anger, and it was directed right at her best friend. "IF WE HAD A MOTHER SHE'D HATE YOU, BECAUSE JUST LIKE ME SHE WOULD SEE WHAT A SPOILED BITCH YOU ARE!”
The room suddenly went deathly silent and got icy cold.
The blood drained from Adagio’s face, in stark contrast to Aria’s grip of rage. She slowly walked up to Aria, whose gaze was cast downward. "Okay, that was too far, I'm sor-"
Adagio rammed her fist as hard as she could into Aria's eye socket.
Aria wailed in pain and fell to the floor, clutching her left eye. It took a few minutes for her to regain her composure. "That only proved my point.”
Adagio growled at Aria before falling on the bed in contemplation grumbling to herself. After a minute she sighed before she rummaged through the freezer and tossed Aria a lumpy icepack.
Aria sucked in air as she put the icepack on her injured eye, then turned her uninjured one to a slightly calmer Adagio. "Still waiting for an answer."
Adagio huffed.
After a few more minutes of silence she responded. "Alright. Fine. I guess I was a bit too harsh on her, but Sonata screwed up our chance to get our magic back."
"Did she really screw it up, or are you just using Sonata as an excuse for you dropping the ball?" Aria asked her band member.
Adagio tensed up again, intending to challenge Aria. The purple haired siren was too quick; she tossed the icepack aside and grabbed Adagio by the collar in a juxtaposition of their exchange from earlier.
"Dazzle, if I need to beat some sense into you, I will." Aria threatened.
One of two things were going to happen. Either she could figure out how to salvage her relationship with Sonata and Aria, or push both of them away, and end up alone.
Alone.
A small frown formed on Adagio's lips. She’d been down that road before. She needed Aria. She…needed Sonata. "Ok...I guess I am just using her as an excuse."
"You can't think straight when you’re angry, Adagio."
Adagio got up from the bed and rubbed her temples again. "Ugh, I need a drink to clear my head. This place is giving me a migraine.”
Aria grabbed her and Adagio's coats and the two headed to their usual hole in the wall. Quite a few people were there but the three never caused any trouble so no one bothered them.
Adagio walked up to the counter and slapped down a ten dollar bill. "The usual Lilac, and, no offense, but could you make it a bit snappy? I'm having one of 'Those' days."
The youthful woman gave Adagio a nod and took the ten, brushing back her light pink hair after a cursory glimpse at Aria’s swollen eye. In just a few short minutes Lilac brought them their usual orders, a large pumpkin spice cappuccino for Aria and a medium latte, extra cream for Adagio.
Adagio dropped a few quarters in Lilac's hand. "Thanks Lilac, you’re nicer to us then you have any right to be."
Lilac just smiled. "Well, being a jerk would just make you both spiteful. Besides, I couldn't be mean to my two best customers.” Lilac’s eyes shifted, and she looked cautious, speaking in hushed tones. “I don’t mean to pry, but did something happen with that bum Troubleshoes? I have a cop friend…”
“No, nothing like that,” Aria hastily countered. “Just clumsy; the doorway took more damage than I did.”
“Alright then,” Lilac sighed in relief.
Aria smiled. She remembered the first time she and Adagio came to this place. Everyone there instantly grabbed something to throw at them, but Lilac jumped in and chewed the lot of them out for a handful minutes before taking their orders. She was the first person to ever stand up for them or do anything nice for them; she was a very chipper lass which usually would bug Aria to no end. After Lilac had stuck her neck out for her and Adagio, she just let it slide.
Adagio sipped her latte and sighed for roughly the hundredth time that evening. "Much better. Now then, since you seem so fixated on Sonata right now, what do you think we should do about her?"
Aria placed her drink on the counter and looked Adagio square in the eye. "You want my honest opinion? I think we should find her, apologize, and then have her and us go our separate ways.”
Adagio scrunched her lip, taking a moment to think Aria's proposal over.
"Alright then, we'll go find the dork and say we're sorry.”
Aria took another sip of her cappuccino. "Look; you don't have to write a big essay on it, just say you’re sorry, then we leave her to her own devices, alright?"
“The question is: where is she, because we haven't exactly kept tabs on her, so she could be anywhere.”
Before Aria could formulate a snarky response Lilac chimed in. "Oh your blue-haired friend, I heard she’s enrolling at Canterlot High School. My daughter will be starting there on Monday.”
Aria smiled. "Hey, thanks Lilac," she replied. She blinked rapidly, having picked up on something. "Hang on a sec Lilac, you’re a mother?"
Lilac smiled, taking the response as a compliment. "Why yes I am… you sound surprised Aria.”
Adagio looked over at Lilac. "Well you never seem to talk about your husband.” Lilac frowned, something Adagio and Aria never saw the chipper young mother do.
"I like to keep it off my mind when I'm working.”
Aria and Adagio looked at each other, both fearing the worst. Aria was the one who asked "oh, i-is he-"
"Oh! No no no no." Lilac answered, having picked up on what Aria was getting at. "My husband’s very much alive, but he's certainly not well.”
"What happened to him?" Adagio inquired.
Lilac frowned; that wasn’t something Adagio saw often. "A few months ago he got in a car accident. He survived but he's been in a coma ever since. The hospital claims he'll make a full recovery but they say he won't wake up for another month.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that Lilac.” For once, Aria was genuinely empathetic.
Adagio slipped out of the booth and walked up to another employee, Pablo or Pedro or Piccolo or something. Adagio had spoken to him a couple times, he was the only one her and Aria knew outside of Lilac.
Adagio gave him a tap on the shoulder to get his attention. "Hey Pebbleo, think you could maybe cover the rest of Lilac's shift, I think she needs to sit down and talk to someone.”
Pablo Polo nodded in Lilac’s direction. "Yeah no problem. Hey Lilac, why don't you punch out early? I can give you a cut of my OT to make up for your last hour.”
Lilac looked over at the counter and saw Adagio smiling at her, she smiled right back. "I think I just might do that Pablo. I’ll cover you next weekend.”
Lilac, Aria and Adagio spent the next hour talking to each other; talking about interests, personal lives, and other trivial things. Once it was closing time Aria and Adagio grabbed their coats and headed out the door. Lilac and Pablo waved goodbye to both of them as they walked out. The lights of the diner behind them slowly turned off one by one as the pair walked back home to their humble apartment.
Aria turned to her friend and partner in crime. "So….what do we do now?"
"We go home, get some sleep and find the doofus in the morning. Duh.”
Aria smiled and rolled her eyes. The trip home felt shorter; maybe the two were walking faster, but it didn’t feel like the three blocks it always used to. The pair changed into their pajamas shortly after arrival, settling down for another night in Cockroach Central.
Adagio took the bed and Aria took the couch. As always.
Adagio looked over at the corner and took a wistful glance at the air mattress Sonata used to sleep on.
Aria caught her friend staring at the empty mattress. "We'll find Sonata in the morning and say we're sorry, don't worry.”
Adagio smirked. "Good night, Duchess Oral-B.”
Aria stuck her tongue out at Adagio. “Good night Queen Cheetos.”
Adagio laid back on the bed, staring into the tar stained pattern of the ceiling. Her hand reached out to the lamp by the bedside. "I bet the dork's night is as uneventful as ours has been.”
“Good night, Sonata, wherever you are.” Darkness descended with a click of the lamp switch.