Sonataverse: Origins

by keaton-furman-prower


Prologue

Luna smiled softly as she walked through the castle. The last few days had been incredibly eventful, and she was hoping that the next few hours would give her some time to relax.

It had all started just over four days ago, with a major falling out between her and her faithless student Cadence Amore. It had ended with a shouting match, and culminated with Cadence running through the mysterious mirror portal. Even after all the anger and frustration, Luna had waited just outside the portal in the hopes that her student would return, though she never went in for fear of getting lost and trapped in another world.

She was then taken by surprise when, just before the portal closed, a little blue earth pony filly had emerged. Luna’s confusion had only increased when the filly, who called herself Sonata Dusk, had revealed herself to have once been a siren. While initially fearful at the prospect of the return of a dangerous enemy, the filly had proved to be far more afraid of her. Finally, in the hopes of using the former siren’s power for good instead of evil, the dark blue alicorn had decided to take her under her wing.

Now, just a day after finding her, she had high hopes for Sonata. And so she turned her head towards the happily skipping filly, and smiled at her enthusiasm. While there was the slightest amount of trepidation at the idea of taking a former siren as her student, she saw nothing to suggest that Sonata could be a threat to her kingdom or her subjects.

In addition, the way she marveled at everything which lay in the castle was rather cute.

“Wowee! Look at that statue! And that huge window with all the ponies on it! And the curtains!”

“Yes, Sonata,” Luna said kindly. “This castle is full of wonderful things. It is, after all, the place where I live, and the place from where I rule over my little ponies.”

Sonata stopped bouncing around for a second, looking down at the ground for a moment before looking up at her mentor, her eyes filled with sad confusion. “I always thought everything in a pony princess castle was made to torture sirens.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? And why is that?”

“I dunno,” said Sonata, kicking the ground. “That’s just what my sisters said.”

Luna couldn’t help but chuckle as she considered the blue filly’s words. From what little she knew about her, she was quite certain that Sonata was the youngest of her family. Therefore, she would always take anything her sisters would have to say very seriously, because they were older and therefore obviously knew more. To question anything they told her was to question their position as older sisters.

In that respect, she couldn’t help but see a bit of herself in Sonata.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of soft sobs. She turned downwards to look at Sonata, and felt her heart sink when she saw that tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“Sonata?”

The little blue filly looked back up at the princess and sniffled.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Sonata replied, though her tears continued to fall.

As the blue filly continued to sob, Luna stopped in her tracks. Her horn then began to glow, and Sonata was enveloped in her magic. She briefly stopped crying when she noticed that she was being lifted off the ground. She then looked upwards and realized that Luna was lifting her up towards herself. Finally, two gentle wings wrapped themselves around her.

“I do not know what happened to you,” said Luna. “But whatever it is, know that I am here for you. And if there is anything you need to tell me, I shall listen.”

For a moment, Sonata didn’t answer. However, the warmth and kindness of the wings around her made her feel incredibly comfortable, and she could not help but trust Luna.

“Can… can you keep a secret?”

Luna smiled as she held Sonata.

“Of course. You know you can always trust me.”


Fluttershy grinned as Rainbow and the colts got into position. She was confident that her best friend would win the race. Not just because she was the fastest pony she’d ever seen, but also because she was her friend. To doubt that her friend could win would be unbelievably rude.

As the racers began to badmouth each other, the yellow pegasus raised the flag, and then brought it down. However, at the moment when the three ponies sped off, a huge blast of air pushed Fluttershy right off her cloud.

She screamed as she fell through the air. She’d never been a particularly strong flier, but now her fear had caused her wings to freeze, preventing her from flying at all. As she saw Cloudsdale shrinking away in the distance, she prayed desperately that something or somepony would save her.

As the ground beneath her got closer and closer, she winced and shut her eyes tightly. Strangely, even as she plummeted to her impending death, she felt rather peaceful. She had always been bullied by other ponies for her inability to fly as fast or as gracefully as them. Even though she was a pegasus, she had never really fit into Cloudsdale.

Perhaps, in a way, she could finally be free.

She was then shocked when, instead of the dark emptiness of death, she instead felt a pair of hooves grabbing her, pulling her out of harm’s way. As she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of her best friend.

“Rainbow?!” she asked in shock. “What are you doing here?!”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” the blue pegasus yelled. “I’m saving you!”

“But what about your race?!”

“Who cares?!” yelled Rainbow. You almost died!”

Fluttershy stared at her friend in awe. She knew just how much Rainbow liked winning. Any time she didn’t win she’d throw a temper tantrum that made other foals run away in terror. Her parents, of course, would ground her for a week, she would pout, and then she’d challenge whoever beat her to a rematch once her punishment was over.

And the very same Rainbow Dash had abandoned any chance of winning her race to save her.

She gave up all because I was in danger, Fluttershy thought to herself. I’ve never met anypony else who would do something like that!

I just wish I could be as selfless as her…

Unfortunately, Fluttershy’s train of thought was then derailed when the two ponies crashed into a building.


It had started out as a perfectly normal day at flight camp. However, things had been thrown into disarray after two fillies had gone missing. As a result, most of the usual activities were postponed, leaving the fillies and colts with plenty of free time.

It was at such a time that Night Glider was flying around, searching for somepony to hang out with. She'd been thinking about hanging out with the rainbow-maned filly, since she was the only one who might be able to give her a challenge. However, for some reason, she couldn't find her anywhere.

As she kept searching, her ears perked up as she heard something unexpected.

“Nopony likes you, freak!”

She stopped in her tracks and looked around for the source of the voice. To her surprise, she saw a strange creature that looked like a cross between a lion and an eagle. She was squirming as a trio of colts flew above her.

“What?” asked one. “Did somepony try to combine a lion and a bird in a lab and create a freaky monstrosity?”

“I… I’m a g-griffin,” the creature said. “From… Griffonstone.”

“Well, why are you even here?” asked a second. “You should go back with the other freaks!”

As the colts laughed, the griffin’s eyes began to well up. The white-maned filly gasped, and then her eyes began to narrow.

“HEY!!!” she shouted, catching their attention. The colts momentarily stopped laughing and looked up in surprise. “Why don't you go pick on somepony your own size?!” Night Glider growled and descended into a fighting pose.

The colts did not seem impressed, however, and snickered. “What?” the leader asked. “You really think you’re scaring us?”

“Come on!” another laughed. “There’s no way you can beat us!”

“And why is that?!” the filly asked angrily.

“Because you’re a girl!”

The bully did not even have time to blink before he was thrown backwards by a dark blue torpedo. The other two gasped and rushed towards their friend, who laid dazed in a pile of crumpled cardboard boxes.

“Hoops! What happened to you?!”

“What do you think?!” the colt groaned angrily. “Get that filly before-”

A blue blur rushed past them, knocking down another one of the colts. The last remaining colt rushed into the air, raising his hooves defensively.

“All right, you little showoff!” he yelled. “Show yourself right now or I’m gonna buck you straight out of Equestria!”

At that moment, there was a rush of wind right behind him, causing him to reflexively close his eyes. He then covered his face with his hooves and turned around.

“I gotcha!”

As he said this, he shot his hooves forward, hoping to hit his target somehow. As he opened his eyes, however, he realized that there was nopony there.

“Over here!”

The colt yelped in shock and turned around, only to see nopony.

“Not there!”

The colt yelled out, partly in anger, but mostly out of fear. He turned around and lashed out with his hooves, only for them to go through thin air.

For a moment, the colt simply stared into the distance in shock. But once his shock had subsided, he took a moment to look around. Much to his frustration, he was unable to find the filly anywhere; all he could see was the griffin, who was staring upwards in awe, as well as his two cronies, who were still lying on the clouds while groaning in pain. Scoffing, the colt turned around.

...And found himself face-to-face with Night Glider.

“Boo.”

The colt screamed and dashed off as fast as his wings could carry him. The other two colts saw him fly away, and grimaced. They then picked themselves up and hastily flew off behind their friend. The white-maned filly glared at them as they escaped.

“And don’t come anywhere near us again!”

She then began to descend towards the griffin, her gaze turning into one of concern as she approached her. The griffin winced and looked away as she approached, but relaxed as the dark blue filly placed her hoof on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. They’re not going to do anything to you again.”

The griffin did not answer, causing Night Glider to frown.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you. And as long as you stick with me, nopony will.”

Slowly, the griffin began to turn her gaze towards the filly, causing her to smile.

“My name is Night Glider. What’s yours?”

The griffin looked downwards, seemingly afraid of answering. However, Night Glider patiently awaited an answer, hoping that she would provide one.

“Gilda.”

The griffin’s voice was barely more than a whisper, and there was still a small amount of fear contained within it. Still, she had trusted the white-maned pegasus enough to share her name, so that was a step forward.

“Hi, Gilda,” she said happily. “You don’t have to worry about those nasty colts. If they come back to bug you, I’ll make sure they stay away from you.”

As she finished, Night Glider wrapped her hooves around Gilda. She barely knew the little griffin, but she could tell that she needed somepony to be there for her. And if nopony else wanted to hang out with her, then she would be that pony.

To her delight, Gilda eventually returned the hug.


“...And that’s why you must always double-check before attempting to reverse the polarity.”

Amethyst grinned and nodded at her father’s explanation. She then picked the metal wand up with her magic and pointed it at a device that could only be described as a wheel with a bunch of metal wires around it. As she focused on what she was trying to do, the wand glowed with a green light, and the wheel began to light up. Slowly, it began to get brighter, and then it began to move.

“Not bad, Amy. Just keep that up!”

The purple unicorn filly grinned as she continued to activate the wheel. Finally, she deactivated her wand and put it down. She then looked back to the wheel, which was spinning faster and faster. A small amount of apprehension entered her, and she took an uneasy step backwards.

“Don’t worry, Amy. It’s perfectly safe.”

Despite her fears, her father’s reassurances were enough to put her at ease. She sat down, observing as energy gathered at the center of the wheel. Her eyes went wide as the energy began to take shape; slightly fluffy, like a cloud, yet cylindrical at the bottom. Finally, it dispersed, leaving a perfect blueberry muffin in its place.

A smile formed on Amethyst’s face, which quickly grew into a huge grin. She then began to bounce up and down in joy.

“Daddy! I did it!” she said as she jumped into her father’s arms.

“Well done, Amy!” the chestnut earth stallion said. “You’re learning so much, why, you’ll have to give lessons to your teachers at this rate!”

Amethyst giggled as her father continued to hug her. However, their moment was then interrupted when a gray pegasus mare entered the room.

“Hi Doctor! Hi Amethyst! Are you done with- MUFFIN!!!”

Before either Amethyst or her father could respond, the mare’s face was already half an inch away from the muffin.

“You never told me you and Amethyst were making muffins, Doc! You should invite me next time!”

“Of course, dear,” said the stallion. “I just needed to teach Amy some things first.”

The yellow-maned mare rolled her eyes at her husband’s nickname for their daughter, only to be taken by surprise when said daughter grabbed her by the hooves.

“Momma! Can I go see my little sister?”

“Technically, she’s your big sister,” said her father. “After all, you’re from the future.”

“But I’m bigger!” said Amethyst. “So I’m the big sister!”

“I… you'll understand one day… but, For now, yes, you can go see your sister.”

The purple filly squealed in delight, and went off towards her parents’ room. She quickly ran through the hallway until she reached a door at the end. Once there, she quietly pushed it away so as to not disturb its youngest inhabitant.

Once she walked inside, the first thing that caught her attention was the crib that lay at the side of the door. Sleeping soundly inside was a little grayish-purple unicorn foal with a yellow mane. Amethyst grinned as she watched her sleep.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” said a voice behind her. Amethyst turned around to see her mother walking up to her, carrying the muffin in her hoof.

“Yeah!” said Amethyst. “I’m going to be the best big sister ever!”

Her mother smiled as she took a bite out of her pastry.

“Of course you will, my little muffin.”


“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!”

The two fillies cheered in joy as the cake was placed in front of them. The ponies around them all cheered for them to blow out their candles and make a wish.

“Ooh! Ooh!” the filly on the left said. “I wish for a tennis racket!”

“Tennis Match!” said the second filly. “You’re not supposed to tell anypony your wish!”

“But I really want a tennis racket!” said Tennis. “I want to play tennis!”

Her sister giggled, then blew out her half of the cake's candles.

“What did you wish for, Coco?” Tennis asked.

“If I tell you, it won't come true,” said Coco.

“You’re no fun,” said Tennis, eliciting a chuckle from her sister.

Afterwards, once everpony had finished eating their cake, Tennis and Coco sat down in front of a large pile of presents. The two fillies grinned excitedly as they each grabbed a present and began to shake it. Before they could open either of them, however, a stallion with a greenish-blue mane stepped up and raised his hoof.

“Now, girls. Remember, one present at a time.”

The two fillies groaned at the reminder, but they nevertheless put the presents down. The stallion smiled, and turned to Tennis.

“Tennis, you go first since you're the youngest.”

The little green-maned filly brightened back up, and grabbed the box she'd put down. She then proceeded to rip the paper apart as fast as she could, and then remove the box's lid.

She then gasped as her eyes fell on the object lying within. Slowly, she pulled it out to reveal it to the guests.

“No way,” said Coco.

It was a big (for a filly) green tennis racket.

For a moment, Tennis simply stared at her gift silently. But then she began to cheer in joy.

“I got a tennis racket! I got a tennis racket!”

She then bounced up and hugged her father. “Thank you daddy!”

The stallion smiled and ruffled his daughter’s mane. She then let go of him, after which she sat back down and grinned at her sister.

“See? Just because I say my wish out loud doesn't mean it won't come true.”

Coco rolled her eyes and began to open her own gift. Unlike her sister, she was much more slow and methodical when opening her own present, preferring not to do too much damage to the gift wrap.

Unfortunately, her slow unwrapping gave Tennis plenty of time to mess with her.

“In fact, maybe my wish came true because I told everypony what it was!”

Coco’s eyes widened.

“Sooo… why don't you tell us what you were wishing fo-”

Before Tennis could continue, Coco stuck her hoof into her mouth.

“Just let me open my present, please.”

Tennis pouted as her sister removed her hoof and went back to opening her gift.


Sugar Belle smiled as she bounced up to the counter. She wore a large smile as she observed the many delicious baked goods around her.

“Ooh! So many goodies! I can’t wait to try them all out!”

She then looked at the line of ponies in front of her. Her eyes went wide once she realized how many others were waiting.

“Oh, come on! I can’t wait so long!”

Frowning, she got in line right behind a pinkish-purple filly with a striped purple mane. Unfortunately for her, not only was the line very long, but the ponies in front of her were taking an incredibly long time. It took one pony at the front several minutes to decide what he wanted to order, causing the pink filly to groan in frustration.

“Oh, come on!” she yelled. “You ponies all have a freaking long time to make up your minds in the line! Why are you taking so long?!”

Immediately, everypony turned to glare at her angrily. She winced at the sight, and looked away.

“Um… go ahead and take you time, everypony!”

The other ponies raised their eyebrows, then went back to waiting for the line to go on. Sugar groaned as she went back to waiting.

“You know, maybe they should just make one thing. That way everypony would get the same thing, and we wouldn’t have to spend so much time waiting for the line to move.”

Sugar’s ears perked up as she heard somepony speak. She then realized that the filly in front of her was now looking directly at her.

“Oh, maybe,” said Sugar. “But then we wouldn’t have enough goodies to choose from! I mean, if we only had, like, one type of muffin, we’d get pretty sick of eating it every day, wouldn’t we?”

The purple-maned filly rolled her eyes.

“Well, maybe,” she said. “But we wouldn’t have to wait in long lines to get our favorite treats, right?”

“I guess so,” said Sugar. “But it still wouldn’t be worth having to eat the same old muffin every single day.”

“Ugh,” said the filly. “You don’t understand.”

Sugar raised an eyebrow.

“You’re weird.”

The filly glared at her.

“Well, maybe I’m just more aware of how cruel and heartless this world of ours really is, and how pointless our struggle against the inevitability of our own demise truly is.”

Sugar stared at her in confusion.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Well, maybe one day you’ll figure it out!” the filly said. “And then you can tell ponies all about how you learned a great life-changing lesson from-”

“Starlight Glimmer!”

The filly’s eyes suddenly widened in terror. As she turned in the direction of the voice, she saw an angry mare glaring at her.

“Oh! Hello mother!” she said nervously. “Don’t mind me! I’m just-”

“Socializing with a pony whose status is so far below yours that you should not even be bothering to have an argument with her.”

Starlight Glimmer whimpered in fear, while Sugar watched the scene unfolding in front of her in shock.

“Remember your social standing, Starlight Glimmer. If you engage in this sort of behavior with common ponies, they shall come to think that you are no better than them. And if you cannot show them that you are better than them in every way, you shall never be able to get ahead in life.”

The angry mare then turned her muzzle skyward and began to walk off.

“Come along, Starlight Glimmer. We must make sure your image doesn’t get sullied by your dealings with… commoners.”

“But mother-”

“I said… come along.”

The purple filly winced in fear again, but nevertheless joined her mother. As the two walked off, Sugar kept staring at them in shock.

“What… just happened?”