Sweet Atonement

by mouch30


Chapter 6

Principal Celestia raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure about this?” she asked, glancing once more at the two girls standing behind Sunset.

 Sunset nodded enthusiastically. “I’m definitely sure,” she said, turning back to smile at her new friends. “Please, Principal Celestia. You gave me another chance. They deserve one, too.”

 Adagio cleared her throat. “Principal Celestia,” she began. “My sister and I have both seen the error in our ways. We understand if you don’t give us permission, but please believe us when we tell you that we have no more malicious intent.”

 Celestia sighed, and threw her hands into the air. “I’m putting all my trust in you, Sunset. Adagio, Sonata...I’m a very good judge of character. I know sincerity when I hear it.” She rose from her chair and walked towards the sirens. Placing a hand on both their shoulders, she gave them a gentle squeeze and smile. “And I heard it. Thank you for coming back to apologize to us. The concert is a wonderful idea. But…” her grip tightened. “You have to promise me that you will not succumb to any evil magic, alright? Can you do that for me, girls?”

 Their heads bobbed up and down.

 “Very well. You two can come and practice with your other friends here whenever you want. Let me know the date of the concert and I can ask Vice Principal Luna to help with the arrang- Oh.”

 Sonata had thrown her arms around the older woman. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she cried. “We’ll try our hardest to be good!”

 Celestia tenderly stroked Sonata’s hair. “You’re very welcome, Sonata. Come by anytime if you require my assistance. My door is always open.”

 “Isn’t this exciting?” Sunset gushed as the door closed behind them. “Come on, the practice rooms are this way!”

 She led them to a small classroom, where her other friends were patiently waiting. Rainbow was fiddling with her guitar, and Rarity was quickly plinking arpeggios on the piano.

 “She said yes!” Sunset pumped her fist in the air.
 
 “Aw yeah,” Rainbow drawled. “Can’t wait to shred it out with you guys. Not gonna lie, your voices are pretty good. Let’s get to singing!”

 “Oh….um...maybe...not yet?”

 “What’s wrong, Adagio?” Rarity asked, looking up from the keys. “Have you got sore throats today?”

 Adagio turned beet red. “N-no...it’s just…”

 “We kinda lost the ability to sing, like, good,” Sonata interjected. “We, like, really suck.”

 “Can’t be that bad,” Applejack said, her voice soothing and reassuring. “Why don’t ya sing a lil’? Let us know what we’re working with.”

 Adagio cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

 “Oh WOah, OH woAh, y-yOu diDn’t kNow t-thAT yoU fELL...o-oh woah….

 “Oh. My. Gosh. No freaking way!” Rainbow burst into laughter. “You sound awful!”

 “That’s not a very nice thing to say,” snapped Fluttershy. She walked over to Adagio and took her hand. “We’ll help you learn how to sing again, and you’ll be better than before. Right girls?”

 “Why don’t we try some scales?” Rarity suggested, letting her fingers fall back onto the keys. “Let’s do C Major.” She pressed the keys in order, singing ‘ah’ very clearly. “Now you two try. Sonata?”

 Sonata breathed in. She sang the notes in a high, vibrant voice.

 “Very good!” Rarity said. “Although, you’re going a little flat on the B. Let’s try one more time.”

 This time, she nailed it.

 “Alright, Adagio, your turn. Repeat after me.” Rarity sung the notes; Adagio croaked them back.

 Rarity winced, but quickly regained her cheerful composure. “Girls, why don’t you all get some air?” She cast her friends a stern look. “Let me and the Dazzlings warm up our voices. Go on.”

 When the room was empty, Rarity sighed. “I understand how intimidating it must be for you both,” she said, momentarily forgetting the fact that Sonata hadn’t been intimidated at all. “It might be better to practice in private. Now, Adagio, listen to how Sonata sings. Sonata?”

 She opened her mouth, lips in a perfect circle, and sung the notes once more.

 Adagio tried to copy her, but instead of a smooth transition, her voice was choppy and she fell flat once more.

 “I can do this,” Adagio said after the fifth time, her eyebrows coming together. “Just let me try again!”

 “Adagio, you can take your time,” Rarity assured her. “There’s no rush. Relax, and try again.”

 Sonata sat on a spare stool, swinging her legs. She had sung the same scale so many times, and it was getting a bit boring to hear the same notes over and over again. “You can do it, Dagi!” she cheered. Maybe Adagio just needed some support.

 Adagio sang the scale once more. This time, she only messed up two of the notes.

 “Well done!” Rarity beamed. “See? You’re already improving! Let’s give that scale a rest, and try something else.” She flexed her fingers. “Ready, Sonata? You first.”

 “I’m going to get some water,” mumbled Adagio, slipping out of the room. As soon as she closed the door, she sighed loudly. Learning how to sing was a lot harder than she thought it was, and they barely scratched the surface! They were still on major scales, for crying out loud! She rested her head on the door of the room. Would she be able to actually sing soon?

 “Adagio? What’s up?”

 She whipped around to find Rainbow Dash standing beside her, with bottles of water cradled in her arms. “Bottle?”

 Adagio wordlessly took one and took generous gulps. “Thanks,” she said.

 “You’re lookin’ pretty beat,” Rainbow observed, leaning against the wall. “You feeling okay?”

 “Yeah,” huffed Adagio. “I’m totally fine.”

 “Look, I didn’t mean to sound so rude back there,” Rainbow started. “I was so used to hearing a great voice out of your body. Guess I wasn’t prepared to hear that.” She shrugged. “Anyways, I know you have the potential to get your totally amazing voice back. Keep at it, okay?” She gestured towards the door. “Mind getting that for me?”

 Adagio opened the door, and followed Rainbow in. “Rarity? Can we go over the C scale once more? I think I’ve got it this time.”

***

 “That was the worst day of my life!” seethed Adagio, stomping her way across the room. She frantically tied her hair up, and glared at the clock. She was late for work - first time, but still - and her hair was not cooperating. Not to mention that totally shitty practice session. “I don’t understand how your voice is still perfect,” she muttered.

 Sonata shrugged. “Beats me. You’re the better singer out of all us anyways. I don’t know why I’m better right now.” Her tongue peeked out from between her lips in concentration as she carefully shaded the hair of the princess she was coloring.

 Adagio rolled her eyes. The thing about Sonata was that there wasn’t a single trace of spite in that sentence. She was actually that nice...and naive. Adagio had an inkling as to why Sonata’s voice wasn’t terrible - Sonata was just too fucking pure. While the negative energy fed her and gave her strength, she was untainted by the darkness that came with it. On the other hand, Adagio was way older, and had depended on negative energy for so long that her voice was a complete disaster without a constant supply. They may have lost their pendants, but Sonata’s grip on magic was a lot stronger than Adagio’s; Sonata just didn’t know how to harness it properly.

 “I’m leaving,” she called out, giving Sonata a hug despite her sour feelings. “I’ll be back soon. Have you got everything you need? Do you want me to get anything for you?”

 Sonata tapped her chin. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Thanks.” She took a wrapped candy out of her pocket and popped it in her mouth, chewing happily. Pinkie Pie had given them loads of cookies, cakes, and pies, and had even managed to sneak a few sweets into their pockets. “Bye!”

 Adagio’s footsteps were brisk on the concrete. She made it, and was abruptly prodded by Spirit.

 “You’re late,” he said gruffly. “Care to explain?”

 “I was busy.” She pushed past him and took her place behind the bar. “I’m here now. Isn’t that enough?”

 Spirit sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I guess,” he mumbled. He could never stay angry at a pretty girl. He took a seat at the bar. “What were you doing?”

 “Why do you care?” She nodded to a customer and began preparing their drink. “I was just busy.”

 Spirit chuckled, loving the way Adagio’s fingers nimbly flitted across the buttons of the register. “Why you gotta be so distant?” he asked. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

 “You’re my boss. Why don’t you go do your job and let me do mine?”

 “Is that anyway to talk to your boss, then? I could dock your pay for being rude.”

 “Go ahead. Not like you pay me that much anyways.”

 Spirit stood up. “If you keep acting like a bitch, I’ll fire you.”

 Adagio rolled her eyes. “Have fun trying to find someone else to work in this shithole.”

 He stomped off indignantly, and slammed the door of his office. What a loser, Adagio thought to herself. She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. Oh, how she loved being mean.

 The night was uneventful.

 Spirit came back out, wielding a large machine. It had a screen on top, and a microphone was connected by a long, curly wire. “Hey, Adagio,” he called. “Help me hook this up.”

 “What is that?” she grunted, helping him heave it onto a platform.

 “Karaoke machine,” he said, bending down to connect it to the wall. “Thought it might be fun to have karaoke nights. Wanna try?”

 Adagio paled at the sight of the microphone. “No.”

 “Come on,” Spirit nudged her, sensing something was amiss. “Don’t you like singing? You look like a singer to me.”

 “I said no!” Adagio turned to walk away.

 He grabbed her arm.

 “Let go.”

 “I want to hear you sing, Adagio.”

 “Let me go. I don’t like singing.”

 “I don’t believe you.”

 “Let me go, now!” She yelled, finally wrenching herself free.

 She didn’t care about her job anymore. She left.

 The night air was balmy, and clung to her bare skin. She gulped down deep breaths and just walked. She didn’t know where she was going, but she was going to get far away.

 She had been staring at the ground, and didn’t realize she was going to walk straight into a telephone pole. She stopped herself in time, and looked up.

 Coming face to face with Aria.

 No, that wasn’t Aria. That was just a very well drawn picture of Aria.

 ‘Missing, Aria Blaze. Please call…

 She turned away, and crossed the street she was on. She still had about 45 minutes before her shift ended, and she didn’t want to go home yet. She walked and walked until she came to the local park. Everything was still.

 Picking her way carefully over the scattered toys and rocks, Adagio settled onto a lone park bench. She sighed, slumping over. Crickets hummed, providing a steady beat. She licked her lips, and began to hum the scales she had practiced with Rarity.

 Her face felt hot and wet. Ah, those were tears.

 Her voice, once rich and powerful, was as weak and soft as a newborn kitten. She stopped singing to take a breath. She tried again. She was still flat.

 She let out one angry sob. It echoed through the empty night. She had never felt this weak before. She was Adagio Dazzle! The leader of the Dazzlings! She was their rock, their protector, the lead singer…now she was barely a back-up vocalist.

 She reached into her pocket and pulled out the crumpled page. It was still in a tight ball - she never opened it. She clenched her fist, feeling the soft paper folds grow sharper. She loved the sensation of holding something tightly - like she was squeezing the life out of it. She bounced it softly from hand to hand, like she was tossing a tennis ball. Yeah, maybe she shouldn’t have kept it, because what if the Maestro started talking again and Sonata heard it? What if she had thrown it out but someone else opened it and became possessed? That’s why it’s with me, Adagio thought. So if that does happen, I can just yell at the Maestro. I love being smart.

 She smoothed the paper over her knee, never opening it.

 “I dare you to talk to me,” she whispered. “Just try it. If you ever come near my sister again, I will literally eat this page.”

 That should do it.

 She stuffed it back into her pockets, and spent the rest of her shift humming to the night sky.