//------------------------------// // 4 - Ignorance can be such Sweet Bliss // Story: A Clean Slate for a Former Siren // by AlchemicBlaze21 //------------------------------// Sonata got up more groggily than ever as her phone alarm blared on. Although, skipping school the entire last week probably didn't do much to help her either. Surprisingly enough, though, Adagio was already up and ready to go while Aria was barely getting out of the shower. "Hurry up!" Adagio shouted from the kitchen. "We have to get to school early to ‘smooth out' everything with the principal." Sonata tried her best to hurry through her morning routine but was still only able to get a few bites of breakfast before Adagio and Aria began hounding her to get a move on. Both of them were waiting impatiently by the door. "Let's go," Adagio said while opening the door to leave, "I don't want to get to school and have to deal with the peanut gallery before we talk to Principal Celestia." Sonata quickly put the leftovers into the fridge and got her backpack. They left the apartment close to six forty and made their way to the school as fast as possible. With the sun barely breaking past the horizon, it was a bit chilly on the way there. Even though they got there fairly early, there were still a few students out front waiting for classes to begin. Once they saw the Dazzlings, they immediately began to whisper to one another. Some were nervous while others were outraged by them even choosing to show up to school again. Adagio and Aria just shot the other students nasty looks as they walked by, causing a few of the closer ones to back away. Meanwhile, Sonata kept her head down as she tried to ignore them. They got inside the school but were met by more of the same as they headed to the principal's office. While they waited in the hallway to be called in, most of the student body kept their distance from the three sirens. "Okay girls," Adagio began, "when we get in there, let me handle the talking, you two just act natural." The first warning bell sounded as the other students headed to their classes and they were let into the office by the principal. With a stern look on her face, Principal Celestia said, "This is a bit of a surprise. I wasn't expecting you three to return to school, especially after everything that you did. So why are you here?" "We came here to apologize for everything that happened," Adagio answered. "We know that we caused a lot of trouble for everyone here, but we are still hoping to be able to continue attending this school." "While I appreciate that you three decided to apologize for what happened, I'm going to have to say no to your request," Principal Celestia said as she reached for the phone. "Can't you please give us another chance, please," Adagio begged the principal. "Our pendants were destroyed, and our powers are gone. Because of that, we are nothing more than regular teenage girls. We've got nowhere else to go. Please don't send us away." Principal Celestia paused as she considered what Adagio just mentioned, as well as what should be done. "Please give us another chance," Adagio pleaded one last time, "you did the same for Sunset Shimmer, and she improved. Please give us the opportunity to do the same." After some deliberation Principal Celestia finally spoke. "Alright, I will allow you three to continue attending here at Canterlot High," Celestia said. "Thank you," Adagio said, trying to sound as grateful as possible before Celestia cut back in. "I will allow you three to continue on here, but if you three cause any further problems I will personally see to it that you are expelled," Celestia said. "I will also be assigning detention to all three of you after school for the next two months. It will be in the library, and if you decide to skip out on the detention, you will be expelled from school as well. Have I made myself clear?" "Very," Adagio said as Aria and Sonata nodded silently. "Very well then, go ahead and get a hall pass from the office clerk and get to class immediately," Celestia instructed as she held the door to her office open for the girls. They got their passes and headed to the main corridor. "So, was detention part of the plan?" Aria asked sarcastically. "Wow, this is the worst," Sonata whined. "Would the both of you shut up," Adagio said. "Look, it's a minor setback. We just need to find whatever it is that the Rainbooms have. But in the meantime, I think we should just try to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible." "Well, that's going to be impossible." Aria deadpanned. "Nevertheless, just don't do anything to get us kicked out," Adagio sighed "Fine," Aria groaned. "Okay," Sonata said. "Now, let's get to our classes before it gets any later," Adagio said as she turned and headed off to her class. Aria and Sonata did the same. First class of the day That Monday morning seemed pretty run of the mill. I made it to school on time and had been in class for twenty minutes already. The lecture that Mr. Donkey had been giving was mind numbingly boring, unfortunately. I swear, it's just too damn early to have a history lecture, was the thought that ran through my mind. That was until I realized that Sonata was not in class. Strange, I'm pretty sure that Sonata was supposed to be in this class right now. Just at that moment, the door creaked open as Sonata walked in and carefully closed the door, gaining the attention of the whole class and Mr. Donkey. "Ah, Miss Sonata, I'm glad you could join us today," Mr. Donkey said with a faux-enthusiastic tone that a lot of teachers seem to have perfected over the years. "Care to explain why you feel like you can waltz in at any time that you want." "Sorry. I have this, will that work?" she asked anxiously as she handed Mr. Donkey a note that she pulled from her sweater pocket. From the looks of it, she wanted to turn invisible. He looked it over and plainly replied, "Just take a seat." Sonata looked around, and spotted me and a seat that was next to me. She cautiously made her way over to the vacant seat as several of the other students gave her disapproving glares as she passed them by. She set her backpack down and sat down quickly trying to shrink herself out of sight. "Okay, where were we," Mr. Donkey asked rhetorically. "Ah, yes, the event that spurred the United States to actively participate in World War II was the Pearl Harbor Attack." He did not pay her any mind at this point and continued on with his exceedingly boring lecture. The same could not be said for a few students who were still giving Sonata the evil eye. Sonata had pulled out a notebook and a pen to try and write down what the instructor was saying, but found it difficult to concentrate with her unwanted audience. They whispered quietly to each other about her and her sisters, I suppose. I could see that they weren't letting up, and Sonata seemed very distressed, so I decided to get them to stop. "Hey, lay off. She isn't doing anything. Stop being a nuisance." I whispered over to them. A couple of the students turned their attention to me and had confused looks on their faces. "You got a problem?" one of them asked me indignantly. "Yeah, you're bothering my friend." I retorted. I could see that this was starting to piss them off, but I didn't really care. They were about to continue the argument until Mr. Donkey called out from the front of the class. "Hey, the lecture is up here," he announced getting all of our attention, "unless you'd rather have a two-page essay due by the end of the class." That got everyone to straighten out and focus up front. As I was writing some notes down, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Thanks, Slate," Sonata whispered. "You didn't have to do that, though." "Why not?" I whispered back. "It didn't seem right to let them keep going on like that. By the way, how come you got in so late?" "Oh, my sisters and I had to stop by the principal's office first thing this morning to take care of a few issues," Sonata replied. "Ah, okay," I whispered back. "Well I don't want to press our luck any further, so I'll let you focus on the class right now." "Okay," Sonata whispered as we both took notes on what was on the blackboard. We continued on like this till the bell sounded for us to move on to the next class. Fortunately, we had another class together, but that still didn't help the fact that it was math. It wasn't my strong suit, but I understood it well enough. Sonata, however, was having a harder time getting a grasp of the material as it was being explained. In fact, it became sorely apparent that she didn't understand the problems when the instructor asked her what step in the formula came next. All she could do was muster a strangely blank stare. Good thing this instructor allowed the class to take home the problems that we didn't finish during the last half. I did my best to explain the problems to Sonata, and we were both able to get through at least half of the assignment before the class time was up. Our next classes were at opposite ends of the school, and I wouldn't see Sonata till lunch. I had chemistry with Dr. Discord, a very odd man who always came to school in very strange, mismatched looking clothes. He seemed like the perfect instructor for the class since all the information that he would give the class would leave us scratching our heads, almost as often as the mere sight of him. Still gotta say, it was never a dull class whenever he would show us how some of the chemicals would react. Then there was French. It was interesting, but I don't think that one year of learning the basics could be enough to get the hang of a different language. I suppose I'll be taking the next part the following year to improve. Finally, when the bell rang, I couldn't have been any more relieved. Most of the French lesson for that day centered on food names and kitchen things. I was just glad that I was going to get food now. Over at the cafeteria I looked around to see if Sonata was there yet, but before too long it had gotten pretty crowded so I just got in a lunch line. At the cafeteria, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata waited in the lunch line. Unsurprisingly, many of the students turned to get a look at them and gossip. "Why are they still here?" one girl asked. "Beats me, I thought for sure that they would have been expelled," a boy told the girl. "Ha, forget that, shouldn't they be in prison?" another guy said. This is how many of the conversations around them went. Adagio seemed to have an irritated look plastered on her face at this point while Aria rolled her eyes at these conversations. Sonata was a bit more preoccupied with finding Slate. Eventually, she spotted him as he was paying for his lunch. "Hey, Adagio, is it alright if I sit with Slate?" Sonata asked. "Go ahead," Adagio said disinterestedly. "Thanks, Dagi," Sonata said. "Um, do you guys want to sit with us?" "Really?" Adagio asked sarcastically. "I'd love to hang out with you two. Pass." "Yeah, that's totally lame," Aria added. "You can keep him to yourself." "Oh," Sonata said, feeling a bit rejected. "That's fine." When they finally got their trays and paid for the meals, Adagio and Aria went to sit at an empty table, which caused the other students to avoid it like the plague. Sonata walked over to the table Slate was sitting at and tapped him on the shoulder. I was still waiting to see if Sonata would show up. Maybe she just got held up by a long-running lecture, I thought. Suddenly I felt a light tapping on my left shoulder. "Hi, Slate, is it alright if I sit down here?" Sonata asked sheepishly. "Yeah, go ahead," I said, pulling out the chair beside me and patting it. She sat down and we began our meal. Halfway through, though, I looked at her and said, "You know, you don't have to ask to sit down, I don't mind." "Oh, it's just that, well. All day the other students have been giving me ugly looks and saying things," Sonata said somberly. "I noticed that earlier too," I said in acknowledgment. "So I don't want them to start treating you the same way for being around me," she said, now extremely down on herself. "Well, why are they so upset in the first place?" I asked. "I don't think it's really a good time to talk about that right now, maybe later," she said, trying to get me to drop the subject. "Fine, I just wanted to see if I could help." I conceded. "Well, how have the other classes been today?" "They were okay I guess. English was a little boring and chemistry was just so confusing," she said. "Don't tell me, chemistry with Mr. Discord?" I asked with a smirk. "Yeah, how'd you know that?" she asked genuinely surprised. "Had his class right after math. It's crazy how complex that class is, right? Hardly anyone gets how to do the work in that class, including myself," I said mockingly on the subject. "I know, and it's freaky how he looks just like this other Discord from Equestria," she said. I kind of did a double take and asked, "Wait, what?" "Oh, uh, I mean like a character from a show I used to watch," she said, practically tripping over her words. "Well if you say so," I said, dismissing what she just said. "So, I was wondering if you were still having trouble with any of the homework. Maybe you'd want to meet after school so we could work together." "I'd like that, so how about we meet at your apartment?" Sonata suggested. "Yeah that works for me," I said. "Hey, Slate, how's it going?" a familiar voice called out from behind us. In the moment that I turned to see who it was, I could see Sonata had become extremely tense. Rainbow Dash was headed in our direction. "Oh hey, Rainbow Dash, what's up?" I said. "Not much, just wanted to see…" she started, but then just trailed off when she saw Sonata. "Um, is everything okay?" I asked. "Are you crazy, Slate?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Why are you hanging around with one of the Dazzlings?!" "The what now?" I asked, not sure what she meant by that. I looked over to Sonata to see if she could clue me in on what Rainbow Dash was going on about, but she looked like she was about to have a panic attack. "She and her friends have caused nothing but trouble," Rainbow Dash added, "and they shouldn't have even been allowed to come back." Sonata shot up from her seat and in a shaky voice said to me, "I-I gotta go. Sorry, Slate." She then took off running out of the cafeteria. "Yeah, and stay out!" Rainbow Dash yelled after her which caught the attention of quite a few of the other students. "Hey, what the hell is your deal with Sonata?!" I exclaimed while getting up from my seat. "What did she do to deserve that?" "Look, Slate, she's dangerous," she said, "you should keep away from that siren." "Dangerous, siren?!" I responded. "You really expect me to believe that?" "I'm totally serious here," she said trying to convince me. "There's no way that she's dangerous. If she were, she wouldn't have needed me to fight off the group of guys that ganged up on her." "What are you talking about?" she asked me incredulously. "Three gray looking guys chased and cornered her in an alleyway near the karate center this past Friday," I explained. "One of them was about to bash her head in. But she was too terrified to fight back. And you expect me to believe that she's dangerous?" "Okay, look, I didn't know that she had been attacked," she said as a guilty expression spread over her face. "My friends and I hadn't seen her or the other Dazzlings around, so some of us thought that they might be up to no good even after what happened a week ago." "Care to fill me in on what they did. I've heard everyone talking about something that happened, but none of it makes a bit of sense," I said. Just then the bell went off, and the whole student body started moving out to their classes. "You know what, never mind. By the way, thanks for sharing your crackpot sentiments with me. See you around." While Slate was arguing with Rainbow Dash in the cafeteria, Sonata ran to the restroom and locked herself in. She couldn't explain why she took off after the accusations by Rainbow Dash. Perhaps it was the thought of having the events of the Battle of the Bands brought up in front of Slate that made her run. It gave her the most disgusting feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had never really experienced this kind of feeling before. Back when the Dazzlings still had their powers, everyone that they had caused to fight would have been too busy to have said anything about what they had done. For the most part that's why she didn't give her actions a second thought. But now that everyone was back to normal, that’s all that anybody would talk about while she was around, she couldn’t ignore it anymore. The bell went off and shook her out of her deep thoughts. She splashed some water on her face at the sink and dried off quickly, and then tried to give herself a pep talk in the mirror. "Alright, Sonata, pull it together," she ordered her reflection, "don't start freaking out. You can't afford to screw this up. It's bad enough that Adagio and Aria still blame you for everything. Don't give them another reason to do it more." She gathered her things and headed to the library for study hall. Luckily, she didn't have to sit in any particular place. So, she sat in one of the more secluded parts to try and study away from the rest of the group. It was the most silence that she had had all day and kind of enjoyed it for the moment. There was the occasional passerby that would walk by browsing the stacks for a book, but they would try to avoid her. If they had anything to say about the lone siren, they were keeping it to themselves. A while passed before she noticed some footsteps headed towards her, so she looked up from her book. Surprisingly Slate had found her. It was a bit of relief, considering the whole scene that unfolded in the cafeteria. "Sonata, there you are, are you okay?" Slate asked. "I'm alright," she offered halfheartedly. "I'm really sorry about what happened back in the cafeteria with Rainbow Dash," Slate apologized. "I don't know what got into her." "It's not your fault. If anything, it's mine," Sonata offered. "Don't say that," Slate said in response. "I'm sorry, it's just that with everyone constantly saying stuff about my sisters and me, it's been getting under my skin," she said. "Besides, I deserve it." "Alright, look, as far as I am concerned, you're one of the few people that I've gotten to know here. And honestly, from everything that I can see about you, none of the stuff that they are saying is true," Slate said hoping that would help. She just kept on looking at her clasped hands. "Thanks, I'm glad that you think that," she offered. However, what Slate had said only made her feel more conflicted about what she and the others had done. "Is it alright if I sit here with you?" Slate asked, to which Sonata gave a nod of the head and a faint smile. Even though she didn't seem to want to talk, he kept her company in silence till the class bell rang. Back with Slate The last two classes of the day went by slowly. Sonata and I didn't have either of them together so I could only wonder how it was going for her. I hated how the day had gotten so screwed up and could only blame myself for how things played out. Nevertheless, the last bell sounded, and the usual stampede of students crowded the hallways as they headed out. Luckily I ran into Sonata as she was walking to the library. "Hey, Slate," she said with a weak smile. "Hi, Sonata, how are you?" I asked. "I'm okay, I guess," she said. "So, are you still up for coming over today?" I asked. "Yeah, I'll see you at five-thirty," she said. "Cool, see you then," I said a little bit relieved that she was still willing to see me. She went into the library and sat with two other girls that I could only assume were the sisters she had talked about previously. My pondering was interrupted, however, when Rainbow Dash came up to me along with another girl with light pink hair. Her attention was completely on Sonata and her sisters. "Come on," I said exasperated, "don't you think that causing my friend to go running out of the cafeteria was enough for one day, Rainbow Dash." That got her attention as she crossed her arms and gave me a dirty look before turning slightly to the pink haired girl and mumbling something to her through gritted teeth. Her friend whispered something to her almost as if she was trying to convince her to do something, and then slightly nudged Rainbow Dash forward. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes before turning her attention completely towards me. "Look, this is the last thing that I wanted to do, but my friends wanted me to tell you and the monster to come to see us tomorrow during lunch," Rainbow Dash said almost like even having that conversation was beneath her. "What?!" I said raising my voice. I couldn't help but get pissed off at her comment. Just then her friend stepped forward. "Um, Slate, is it, please excuse Rainbow Dash," she said trying to defuse the situation. "What she meant to say was that our friends would like to talk with you and Sonata tomorrow at the band room, um, if that's alright with you. It's in room East 110. Also, Rainbow Dash wanted to apologize for everything that happened during lunch, right?" "Pfft," was the only response that she gave her friend. While I was still mad at Rainbow Dash, I didn't particularly have anything against this girl. At least she wasn't an abrasive punk like her friend. "So, what's your name?" I asked. "Um, Fluttershy," She said barely audible enough to hear. "Okay look, Fluttershy, I'll talk to Sonata about this and see if she'd care to meet with your group, but I wouldn't expect anything if I were you," I said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to take care of some things before five thirty. It was nice meeting you, Fluttershy,” I said as friendly as I could. I then turned to glare at Rainbow Dash and replied with, “Later.” “Come on, Fluttershy. Let’s get out of here,” Rainbow Dash said as she turned and walked away. Fluttershy quickly joined her on her way. On the way back to the apartments, a thought crossed my mind. “Hmm. Maybe I could have asked Fluttershy about what happened before.” I continued walking until it finally hit me like a ton of bricks. “Augh, damn it! You couldn't have remembered to ask!” In retrospect, if I hadn’t let myself get so angry, I might have finally had an answer to my question. It was too late to change that though, so all I could do was get home quickly and prepare for Sonata. Back at the library Sonata sat with Aria and Adagio, who looked less than thrilled to be there. They whispered back and forth between each other. "This whole day was a waste of time, I wasn't able to get anything out of anyone about those Rainbooms, not that they would have been any help in the first place," Aria groaned. "I should have figured that this was going to take a while just to find out what the Rainbooms used to get that other girl here," Adagio said. "Did you see anything useful, Sonata?" "No," Sonata said disappointedly. "What a shock," Aria said with a faux tone of surprise as she placed her hands on her cheeks. "Not like you did any better," Sonata said defensively. "Alright, so tomorrow we'll just have to up our efforts in finding that magical item," Adagio said sternly. "We are probably going to have to start trailing some of the Rainbooms carefully." Sonata felt a knot in her stomach at the mention of the Rainbooms, but the other two didn't seem to notice. During the remainder of their detention, they tried to look busy while a random teacher looked after them. That is, if you consider reading the newspaper looking after someone. Adagio was writing in a notebook trying to plan for when they got their powers back. Aria placed a book on the desk in front of her so it would block the teacher’s view of her while she slept. And Sonata tried to work on some of the homework for the Math class but it still hardly made any sense to her, so she pulled out her Spanish homework instead. At least she understood that better than math. After forty-five minutes was up, they headed back to the apartment. Once they got back home, it was already five-fifteen. Another fifteen minutes had passed before Sonata approached Adagio cautiously to let her know about her plans for that evening. "Um, I was going to go study with Slate at five thirty, is that alright with you?" Sonata asked, dreading the response. "You're really going to waste your time with that?" Adagio asked flatly. "Well, you don't want us to draw attention to ourselves or your plan, and I don't think failing the classes would help in any way," she explained. "This will keep me from failing and also keep me from bothering you guys for help." "Hmm, that actually makes sense," Adagio mused aloud as she tapped her chin. "Fine, just be back by ten. As infuriating as being under a microscope is, we still have to make it to school in good time." "Okay," Sonata answered. With that, she got her backpack and headed for Slate’s apartment. For the past hour and fifteen minutes, I worked on and checked the math assignment so I could help Sonata to the best of my ability without having to worry about working out the problems entirely. Dad wasn't going to be back till seven-thirty since he was putting in overtime, which I had to admit that I felt bad about but was also okay with since Sonata would be there. It was five-thirty five when a knock came from the door. As expected, Sonata was waiting on the other side. "Hi, Slate," she greeted in a cheery tone. "Hi, Sonata, you seem better now," I said. Quite frankly, when we are out of school she seems really at ease. "Yeah, I feel a little better, so let's get started," she said enthusiastically. "Well, come on in then, we'll be studying in the kitchen," I said as I led her to the table. We both sat down, and she pulled out her notebook along with the math assignment. I explained to her how to use the methods to solve the problems and watched as she attempted them. It was a somewhat slow process with her occasionally asking for help, but little by little she was getting it. At around forty minutes or so, she finally finished up the last problem on the assignment. "Oh man," She sighed in relief as she rested her forehead against her arms in front of her. "I'm glad that's over." "Well, for not understanding it at first, that went by relatively quickly," I said with a smile. "So, are you hungry or anything?" She looked up from the table and said, "I'm actually a little hungry." "Are sandwiches alright with you?" I asked. "That's fine." I went ahead and made some sandwiches for the both of us and got out a couple of cans of soda out of the fridge. She wolfed down her sandwiches like they were nothing. I still wasn't quite used to that yet. I, on the other hand, took a bit more time and finished a little while after her. We both sat there with our drinks as I thought of anything else I could talk to her about. Still, the one thing that was burning in the back of my mind was everything that had happened supposedly because of her and her sisters. "So, is there any other subject you need help with?" I asked, resisting the urge to prod into the prior events of the day. "No, so far that's the only subject that I really don't get," she said as she shrugged her shoulders. "What about chemistry?" I asked. "Um, no offense, but didn't you say that you and practically everyone else didn't get those assignments," she said trying not to come off as rude. "Ouch, my pride," I said as I grasped at my chest, "just kidding. I did say that, and sadly it still stands true. Alright, so what would you like to do then?" "I'm not sure," she said as she looked up to the ceiling and scratched the back of her head. She seemed to be thinking over a million things to talk about but couldn't decide. Just then, she spoke up. "So, Slate, I have a question for you," she began. "Okay, shoot," I said. "What does your dad do?" she asked. "Well, he works as a manager for a new company that deals with tech development," I said, "but honestly, I don't really know exactly what he does there." "Hmm, sounds like it would be very complicated," she said. "Yeah, I suppose so, but he doesn't really tell me much about it," I answered. "Oh well," she said with a shrug. "And what about your mom?" With that, I couldn’t help frowning as soon as I heard her question. "She used to work as a paramedic," I said. "Used to, what do you mean?" she asked. "I'd rather not talk about it," was all I cared to say. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Nothing, let's change the subject," I said, but all was for nothing. "Just tell me, I want to know," she continued pushing. "Sonata, I'd really appreciate it if you'd drop this," I said as my frustration was starting to rise. "Sorry," she said with a frown. "It's okay," I sighed. She placed her chin in her hand as she looked at me inquisitively. She stayed like that for a few minutes before something clicked. "Hey, I have an idea." "What is it?" "Well, I thought that we could sort of share about ourselves," she suggested. "If you tell me about what happened, I'll tell you anything you want to know about me." I thought on the offer for a while. Even though I hate to go over those events, I'd finally get a straight answer about what had happened before I arrived in town. Then maybe I could help her in some way. "So, you're serious about this, you'll tell me anything?" I asked. "Yes, I mean it," she said as seriously as she could. "Fine. I guess I'll start this off then," I sighed. "So what happened?" Sonata asked. "Well, like I said before, my mom worked as a paramedic," I explained. "She had the night shifts most of the time, when some really nasty accidents happen." "Really, I didn't know that," Sonata said. "Well, that's how she put it," I said. "Oh," she said in acknowledgment. "But I'm more inclined to believe her now, thanks to one particular night," I responded. "About four years ago, back in my hometown, the weather had turned really severe. It was pouring when some guy who was out late had taken a turn too fast and wound up rolling his car into a ditch. My mom and her partner had been the first responders to arrive at the scene and transport him to the hospital. The guy was in critical condition so they had to try and move as quickly as possible. “They were about halfway to the emergency room when they came to an intersection with heavy traffic. The ambulance was about midway across when some drunk came speeding along and crashed head-on into the driver side of the ambulance," I said as my eyes started to sting from the tears that were building up. "My dad and I had no idea anything had gone wrong until the next morning. By then it was too late. She died on impact, while the guy they were transporting never made it to the emergency room. The only ones to make it out of that wreck alive were her partner, and the damn drunk." Sonata, a bit shocked after hearing that, offered her condolences. "I'm so sorry for your loss." "Yeah, me too," I said. A few moments passed in silence while I focused myself and tried to put the memories out of mind. I cleared my throat and said to Sonata, "Sorry about that. Well, not to seem rude, but the thing I really want to know about you is, what exactly happened that has everyone at school against you?" "Okay, um, but before I begin, promise you'll hear me out to the end. Even if it sounds a bit strange," Sonata said as she ran her fingers through her ponytail as she prepared to recount what exactly happened before I had moved into town. "Okay then, I promise," I said as I crossed my heart. She seemed completely uncomfortable but took one last deep breath before she began. "A while back, my sisters and I saw a large beam of light all the way from the town over. Adagio said that it was Equestrian magic so we had to try and find it. “It took some time, but we eventually figured out where it had come from. And like that, Adagio had all three of us enroll at Canterlot High School to find it." Already this was starting to sound kind of weird, but since I promised to hear her out completely, I just nodded and continued to listen. "On our first day there, Adagio wanted that magic as soon as possible so she planned for us to hypnotize Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and the rest of the school with our music," she said. "We even got them to change their musical showcase into a full-blown tournament, the Battle of the Bands." "Sorry, but this doesn't make any sense," I said. "Why would you three go through all of that trouble?" "It was so we could gather more negative energy from everyone at the school. The more they fought with each other, the more energy we collected. It's what powered our own magic," she said with a bit of a huff thanks to my interruption. "Oh, okay," I said, even though it still didn't really make much sense to me. "During all that, Adagio figured out that the Rainbooms were the source of the magic we had seen before, and came up with a plan to take it from them during the battle of the bands," she explained. "Rainbooms? Sounds like something that Rainbow Dash would pick for a band name. She was a part of that wasn't she?" I asked. "Yes," she responded, along with a sad sigh. "We even came close to beating them, but another one of their friends came along and ruined Adagios plan, and, and…" she tried to continue but was getting choked up. Considering that the whole thing sounded so farfetched, it caught me off guard to see her fighting back tears. "So, what happened?" I said as I handed her a couple of tissues. She sniffled back a few tears and said, "They shattered our pendants and took away our magic." I wasn't sure whether or not to believe the story that she had just told me. That was until she pulled out a small pouch and emptied out its contents into her hand and said, "See." There in her hand were several ruby red shards of a stone that seemed to give off an odd glow. "No way," I said as I looked at the shards. "So you mean to tell me that all that stuff you just said is true, even all the mind control magic stuff?" She kept her eyes on the table in front of her and answered with a strained "Yes." "Hmm, so tell me something." "Yes," she said nervously. "Why did you do all that?" "Adagio said that it would be enough to regain our original power." "And you never questioned whether what the three of you were doing was wrong?" I continued my questioning. "I know it sounds bad, but at that point it was the only way we could survive," she said with a bitter look on her face. "The negative energy that we absorbed was like food to us, but when our pendants were broken we basically became normal humans." After hearing her justifications for what she and the others had done, it was evident that that was all she had known, possibly due to Adagio’s influence. I was going to ask her something else but she started speaking unexpectedly. "After losing our powers, I've been thinking about what we've done. It keeps on bugging me throughout the days." she said sniffling again, "And with everyone at school constantly reminding me about it all, I don't know what to do." "Well, if everything you said before is true, then the best thing you can do is try to make amends," I suggested. "I mean, just from the time I've spent with you, you don't seem all that bad, so I'm sure doing that could help to make things right." "You really think so?" she asked sounding a little less down. "I do," I replied. "At the very least, it would show that you're willing to change." She looked intrigued by this idea, but at the same time seemed hesitant to consider even going through with it. "Where would I even begin?" she asked as she rested her head on her hands. "Well, it's a funny thing you should ask that," I answered back. "Why's that?" she asked confused. "As I was leaving school today I ran into Rainbow Dash and her friend Fluttershy. I think Rainbow was trying to apologize for what happened earlier today," I explained. "But more importantly, they said that their group wants to talk to us tomorrow." "I don't know," she said. "What if they plan to do something else to you or me?" "I really doubt that they plan on doing anything," I said, trying to put her mind at ease. "This could help you patch things up with them. Besides, I'll be there with you." She didn't respond and was concentrated on trying to figure out what to do. But before she could give me any kind of answer, the front door came open and a voice called from the entrance. I looked at my phone which read seven fifty pm. It was dad. "Hey, Slate, are you here?" he called out. "Sorry for getting here so late. Traffic was terrible on the way back." "Yeah, I'm in the kitchen," I answered back. "Hey, my friend needed help with a math assignment so I invited them over to tutor them, is that alright?" "I don't see why not," dad replied. "Are they still here?" "Yes," I said. "Well, let me meet them." I then turned to Sonata and whispered to her, "Alright, just follow me to the living room, I'm pretty sure it'll be fine." She nodded and got up to follow me to the next room. "Ah, hello. I'm Slate’s father, Steel. It's nice to meet you." "Hi, I'm Sonata, it's nice to meet you too." "So, did you guys finish up already?" he asked turning to me. "Yes, dad, just a little while ago," I said. "Listen, she actually needed to head out soon, so I didn't want to hold her up too much longer." "Right, my sisters are actually waiting for me to get back," Sonata said as she went to get her backpack and notebook. "Okay then," dad replied, "we'll be seeing you around." "Actually, I was going to walk her to her apartment, if that's alright with you," I said to my dad. "Sure, go ahead," he said. "Don't take too long getting back, though." "Alright, I won't," I answered him. "I'm ready to go," Sonata said as she walked up to me. She then turned to my dad and said, "Good night, sir." "Likewise," dad replied. "After you," I said while holding the door for her. When we came to her apartment, we stood outside for a little while. Sonata then turned to me and said, "I think I want to meet with Rainbow Dash’s friends tomorrow. Maybe this will help me like you said." "Well, in that case, her friend mentioned that they would be waiting for us in the music room during lunch," I said. "So then, see you tomorrow?" "Alright, I'll see you in the morning," she said as she gave me a hug. She then turned to the door and waved at me before going inside. I headed back to my apartment and got ready for the next day. When Sonata entered the living room, she was expecting both Aria and Adagio to be waiting there for her, but surprisingly no one was there. She went to the kitchen and got a water bottle and walked over to her room. As she passed by Arias' room, she could see light filtering out from underneath her door. Sonata didn't care to deal with Aria, so she crept by trying not to make a sound. When she got to her room, she laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. I should probably tell Adagio about my meeting with the Rainbooms, she thought to herself. Then again, if I tell her she might get angry, so maybe I should wait till after the meeting. Maybe that way I'll have some useful information to give her. She took a sip of water from the bottle and continued to muse to herself. Although, I wonder if I should even tell her anything at all. I mean, it does seem like we could maybe live without having to cause so much trouble. She took another sip until someone started banging on her door and scared her into coughing up the water. After a couple of seconds of catching her breath before she got up and answered the door. "Hey, when did you get back, and would it kill you to check your phone?" Adagio demanded. "Oh, I got back about ten minutes ago, sorry," Sonata answered. Adagio shook her head before responding, “You know, even though it does keep you out of my hair, I can't help but think that it’s a pointless distraction from our plan.” "I promise that I’m trying to keep anything from messing with your plan," Sonata said with a nervous smile. Adagio just gave her a doubtful look. "Right. Well, we will see how true that stands." She then headed to her room. From down the hallway Aria then called out, "Not that it actually matters! I mean Sonata is a moron after all!" Sonata gave a little huff before shouting back, "Oh yeah, It takes one to know one!" and locked her door. "Hey!" Aria yelled back. Sonata just ignored it. "Would you both shut up, I'm trying to get to sleep here!" Adagio yelled out from her room. It went completely silent after that, to which Adagio responded with "Thank you." Sonata settled in and slowly drifted off to sleep, all the while anticipating what the next day could bring.