Sunset Shimmer slotted in her keys and swung the door to her apartment open, walking in and gesturing for the evicted Siren to follow.
Emptying more jelly beans into her mouth, Sonata glanced around the small apartment. It was one that could be easily cramped up if the owner were not careful, but Sunset here had worked to keep the living room as spacious as she could get it. Past the door and shoe cabinet, a dark green couch sat facing her modest TV, behind a long wooden coffee table. In the kitchen was a stove and a fridge, with little else than cupboards and a little rack for cutlery. The bedroom door hung open, but was too dark for Sonata to make out anything. She followed suit as Sunset slipped off her own boots and made her way to the couch.
Sunset flopped down on the couch, leaning the guitar bag against the side of the couch and slamming the champagne bottle down on the coffee table. She then wrinkled her nose and craned her neck toward Sonata.
"Sweet Celestia!" She exclaimed. "You smell like-"
"..Two weeks of living on the streets?" Sonata suggested.
"..Yeahh.." Sunset Shimmer slowly nodded in agreement. "That's one good way to put it."
Sonata sheepishly giggled, then rubbed her jawline with the back of her hand. "That's exactly what happened."
Upon that, Sunset Shimmer got up to flick on the living room light, and gasped. Sonata stood before her, her hoodie stained and torn, her skirt in pretty much the same state. Her fingernails were black like her knees and elbows and caked with dirt. Worst of all was her worn and tired face, eyes bloodshot and tear-streaked amidst the patches of unidentifiable muck all over her slightly-sunken cheeks and forehead. Her ragged-looking ponytail looked more limp than usual. With her right thumb and index finger, Sunset gingerly pulled the Siren-turned-hobo by the sleeve into her bedroom and into the shower, slamming shut the door. After exiting and entering her bedroom again to deposit her guitar case, a fresh set of clothes and a new toothbrush for Sonata, she grabbed a cup from the kitchen, dropped some ice into it, and set about finally getting some alcoholic champagne into her system.
The brew burned and fizzed its way down her throat before heating up her tummy in a way that had always got her eyes half-lidded. Such drinks were made to be enjoyed slow, not chugged down like a particular show-boating athlete of a band member would. Such rash styles of drinking simply denied to consumer the full flavour and essence of this delightful beverage. She swirled another sip in her mouth, just barely managing to taste a delightful hint of passionfruit in the mix. She allowed the sip to ease its way down her throat again, and took the time to ponder by herself Sonata's situation.
Sunset had, upon her arrival into this human realm, brought along a small pile of Equestrian gems and bits. Apparently humans paid a literal fortune for even one of her gems, after pawning the rest and purchasing her apartment, she still had enough for a modest living for the next few years or so. She had the financial ability to support Sonata until the Dazzling found a job, but she needed to at least finish school to eke out her own path in her now-mortal life, and Canterlot High stood as the closest school to where Sunset Shimmer stayed, and her friends could keep an eye on Sonata there. The problem now was getting the school body to take kindly to the Siren's presence once again, after the Battle of The Bands.
sigh. The fiery haired girl took a longer sip and contemplated writing to Twilight for help. But Twilight was a Princess in her own world, and probably wouldn't reply fast enough before school started, given her royal princessy duties.
"I'll just have to make my own way about this then." She muttered as she groggily got up and grabbed her towel and PJs upon hearing the bathroom door clatter-slide open, leaving the one-quarter-finished cup of champagne and the open bottle on the coffee table.
Sonata seemed much more relaxed than before, or perhaps she looked that way with her hair down. Sonata was a little bigger than Sunset, allowing the PJ's to reflect the rather voluptuous ditz of a Siren. "Thanks for the shower, Sunset!" Sonata breathed as Sunset dropped her gaze to the ground as a curious blush started forming about her orange cheeks.
"Wh-what?"
"Wait, I could've phrased that better." Sonata blurted. "What I meant to say was thanks for letting me have a shower at your place, not thanks for giving me a shower. Which wasn't what. I. Meant. To say." The awkward-ness suddenly creeping into the apartment far surpassed Adagio's hair in terms of volume.
"Oooooookay.."
"Yup!" Smiled Sonata.
Sunset shook her head and went for the shower. Sonata eyed the cup and bottle on the coffee table. She knew what was inside, but Adagio and Aria never let her touch the stuff, neither did they ever leave her alone with any form of the strange-smelling liquid. Some were clear and smelled like nail polish, some smelled like really dark grapes and looked like blood.
This particular one smelled fizzy. Like soda!
It must be soda! Thought Sonata. Though Sunny was weird to have it in a cup. Just chug the whole thing like everyone else does, silly Sunny!
With that, she took a long swig from the bottle.
It tasted fizzy, but was kind of bitter and made her stomach really hot. A fuzzy feeling slowly travelled up from her tummy and made her burp and giggle, and her head began to lose some of its weight. When the whole thing subsided in intensity after some time, she frowned and took an even longer swig, causing her to tense up and giggle again, her jaw feeling looser and looser by the second.
"This is fun...." She murmured and reached for more, not noticing the growing slur in her speech. At the same time, it somehow cleared her head, giving her new life flowing through the veins. She no longer felt cold, homeless and abandoned. The drink seemed to spawn some kind of hazy entity, a comforting one that embraced her in its dark, liquor-reeking warmth and coaxed her to forget the pain of many put-downs and insults from her own sisters. With the help of the beverage her mind became nothing but just fragments of slurred thoughts floating about, it was as if the fragments and pieces carried her along as she floated, gently bobbing up and down and pulsating with some kind of current as she slowly closed her eyes and allowed herself to be carried off....
"Sonata."
The entity immediately dissipated, throwing her back into the cold and stark reality that had more than once cost her some of her happy-go-lucky goofiness. Only now had she learnt how truly terrible this felt, the reality of realising that she was nothing but a useful tool her sisters heartlessly saw and used her as, and the fact that they had threw her out the first opportunity they got weighed her spirits down into a dark, angry and violent mood. She longed again for the hole in her heart to fill up again with the merry and groggy subconscious joy the liquid brought. She sat up, her head suddenly throbbing with a head-splitting intense agony, forgetting in her stupor to answer the voice that had called her name.
"Sonata!"
The voice was female and had some sort of new edge to it that made her head ache more.
"Sona-"
The siren rapped a fist on the coffee table, causing its contents to give a small rattle. Sunset flinched at the sudden show of violence, taken aback by the abrupt change in the Siren's demeanour.
"Why did you wake me up!" Sonata growled, "I was sleeping so soundly!"
"It's morning."
The curtains drew back to fill the entire room in pale yellow sunlight. The brightness, for reasons, hurt Sonata's head even more.
"Aaahhkk!!" She shrieked and shielded her face as her migraine worsened. "What in Sombra was that for?!"
"Well, it's morning! I remembered you being much more negotiable last night." Sunset put her hands on her hips and looked out the window at the sun-bathed streets below.
"Well, I didn't sleep well, god damn it!" Sonata retorted, her speech still slightly slurred. "Let me sleep somemore, close em' back up" She lay back down and attempted to roll over, then yelped as Sunset Shimmer grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her out of the couch.
"It's a school day, Sonata! You've to go back to school, it's probably the best thing for you." Sunset fingered a few stray hairs from Sonata's face.
"Well I'm sick today, so leave me alone Bacon-Hair," Sonata simple flopped back down on the couch to curl up. "You're going to be late if you stay, Sunny!" She comically opened a bloodshot eye to see if Sunset had left. The Rainboom giggled before ruffling her bed(couch)-mane.
"Have it your way, you sleepy ditz. Promise me you'll go when you get better." Sunset extended her pinkie, then giggled again as a cyan hand snaked out to complete the pinkie promise.
As the now reformed bully and demoness left the apartment, Sonata was already contemplating how she could have some of that floaty strong fizzy drink again. It placed her in a different realm, one free of worries, regrets and her own vulnerable emotions.
But first she had a major migraine and a really, really dry mouth, not to mention she had to pee badly.
She rolled off the couch and groaned.