Adagio heard the key slide in the door, and seconds later, it opened to reveal Sonata in her Taco Hole uniform. The aqua blue-haired siren gave her a glance and a smile, and went in her room to change. The moment her bedroom door clicked shut, however, Adagio immediately dropped the magazine she was reading, and grabbed her hoodie from the coat closet, and ran out the door. She got out to the street, and headed north at a steady jog. Sonata had been keeping to herself an awful lot lately, and she wanted to know what she was up to after work. If she had found a way to tap into the Rainbooms' equestrian magic again, why hadn't she told them?
She kept up her jog, headed towards not her regular bus stop, but the one farther up. She remembered seeing Sonata get on the #4 bus, which serviced the southern suburbs, including a stop in front of Canterlot High. If she got on at the stop before the one closest to their apartment, she could see if Sonata got on, and where she got off. She arrived at the bus stop with barely a minute to spare before the bus pulled up to the bench. She stepped on with three other people and scanned her bus pass. She took note of the amount of people on board as she walked towards the back. She took a seat among the most bodies, and pulled her hood up around her head to try and blend in as best she could. Sure enough, at the next stop next to their apartment complex, Sonata stepped on, wearing earbuds, and took a seat right up front, head bopping to the beat of whatever music she was listening to.
There were several more stops before the bus reached the city limits, and the bus became more and more crowded as people leaving their jobs boarded to head home. But it didn't give Adagio any trouble with keeping an eye on her fellow siren. Once outside the city, the stops became fewer and farther between, and with the stops, it was a 40 minute trip down south, when the bus slowed to a halt in front of Canterlot High School, and just as Adagio had predicted, Sonata got up from her seat and hurried off. As the bus pulled away, she watched as she ran up the front walk and passed through the front doors of the school.
How was she allowed in there? When their pendants were destroyed, their magical spells had ceased, and Celestia had all three of them immediately expelled. It wasn't like she wouldn't have time to ponder. Not even a mile later, the bus reached its turnaround point, and headed back towards the city. It took a little less time to complete the journey this time, as less people were getting on and off as it became late afternoon. One thing was for sure though.
Sonata had some explaining to do.
Sonata walked down the hall towards the main entrance of the school, filled with elation once more. Today had been the best time yet. This time it wasn't one-on-one practice. Sunset had actually invited her to sing with the band! It was a beautiful song Sunset had written, called 'My Past Is Not Today', and together they sang it as a duet. It felt so good to sing songs again, and it was just singing to sing, not to gain attention or anything like that.
Sunset was seeing her out of the school while the others put their instruments away for the day.
"I know I've probably said this too many times," Sonata began, "but thank you so much for helping me. I just wish I could get up the courage to tell the other two what I've been doing."
"Why haven't you? You said you'd like to bring them sometime." Sunset asked her.
"Well, they just don't seem to miss it. Or if they do, they're hiding a lot better than I was. Together, the three of us are living paycheck to paycheck, just going through the motions. We don't really seem to have any direction at all. I like working at the Taco Hole, but honestly? This is the first time in a year that I actually feel like I'm accomplishing something, and it's all thanks to this magic of yours."
"That's the special thing about the magic of friendship. It's not just ours. It's yours too. It's everywhere, wherever you have friends."
"I'm... I'm your friend...?"
"Of course. Your intentions were pure when you asked me to help you, the rest of the band was a bit skeptical, but they've all come around, and you've showed up just to listen to us play. If that's not a new friend, I don't know what is."
Sonata's heart skipped a beat.
"I... I don't know what to say, Sunset..."
The two of them exited the school as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Sonata dug out her phone to check the time, making sure she hadn't missed the bus. Sure enough, just after glancing at the clock, she saw the bus approach from down the street.
"I didn't either. I was in your shoes not too long ago. I've learned that friends are there for each other whenever they can be. Here..."
Sunset grabbed Sonata's phone and put her own number under her contacts list.
"If you need anything, just give me a call or text. I'll be there for you."
Sonata smiled at her new friend.
"Now no mushy stuff, you're gonna miss your bus. Have a good night." Sunset told her, giving her a playful shove towards the bus stop. Sonata gave a laugh and waved goodbye as she crossed the street to the bus stop. She saw Sunset return inside the school before the bus obscured her view. She boarded and prepared for the 40-minute ride back to downtown.
By the time she got off at her stop, the sun had nearly set completely, but there was just enough light left to see the approaching storm clouds that would threaten to rain down on the city within the next hour. She walked half a block to her apartment complex, and came to her door. She slid the key in and opened it, and even before she could put her keys down, she was greeted by Adagio and Aria coming toward her from the couch.
"Alright, time to fess up Sonata. How are you doing it?" Adagio told her.
"How am I doing what?" Sonata asked.
"Oh don't play dumb. Well, dumber than you are, anyway. How are you taking their magic?" Aria sneered.
"I saw you get off the bus at Canterlot High a few hours ago. I heard you singing last night." Adagio added.
"So what, now you're spying on me?" Sonata began accusingly. "For your information, I'm not taking their magic. They're sharing it with me. They're helping me sing again."
"Pfft. Please. Why would they help you?" Aria scoffed.
"Because I asked them to." Sonata shot back.
"So that's why you're humming their songs in the shower. So you're actually making friends with the people that took our power away? Just because you want to sing again?" Adagio asked incredulously.
"Why not? What about you two? Don't you miss it at all? Didn't you love singing? Or did you just love the power it gave you?"
"The power was what it was all about. In case you've forgotten, we're sirens." Aria said.
"No," Sonata flatly rebutted. "We were sirens. In case you've forgotten, we're not anymore."
"Call yourself whatever you want, but this is going to stop. We're not so weak and pathetic that we need friends." Adagio stated matter-of-factly.
Right then, something inside Sonata snapped.
"And if I say no?" She said just above a whisper.
"Excuse me?" Adagio asked, her anger rising. Sonata's rose in turn.
"What if I want to be friends with them? 'I think you're the worst, Sonata.' 'The punch is awful too.' 'Go back to sleep, Sonata.'" the blue-haired girl ranted mockingly. "Well they couldn't stop raving about my fruit punch, and they haven't said a single mean or hurtful thing since I showed up! Yes, they are my friends. They're nicer to me than you two ever were!"
The tension hanging in the air finally broke as Adagio stepped forward and snatched Sonata's apartment keys from her hand.
"Nice enough to put a roof over your head, I hope. Get out."
Sonata's eyes widened.
"What? You've got to be kidding me!" She objected.
Adagio violently shoved her out of the open doorway, nearly tripping her in the process.
"Does it look like I'm kidding? Go back to your friends!" She yelled before slamming the door in her face.
Sonata stared in horror and disbelief at the closed door as the deadbolt slid into place with a click. The silence that followed didn't last long, as thunder began to rumble in the skies above.
Sunset had just dried herself off from her shower and had slipped into her pajamas when she noticed her phone blinking and vibrating on her nightstand. She picked it up and saw the text notification with 'SONATA' right below it in the center of the screen. She opened it.
"Oh no..." She said, reading the contents.
There were no buses running this late at night, and a cab ride out here would be insanely expensive. She gathered her thoughts, sent off a quick reply, then began going through her contacts list, coming to one she hadn't used in quite some time. She took a deep breath, then pressed the call button.
"H-Hey. It's Sunset. I know it's late, but I need a really big favor."