//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: An Essential Task // Story: We Three: With You In Spirit // by Eyeswirl the Weirded //------------------------------// Vote count as of 7/4/2016: Hypnotize Harshwhinny: 0 Give it her best alone: 3 Invisible cheat sheet: 6 Sonata floats behind Harshwhinny, saying "Start with 'Look deeeep into my eyyyyes...!'" She frowns when I turn away. "Uh, nevermind, I'll... I'll give it my best." With some help... I'm not entirely sure as I open the door, but it almost sounds like she's smiling. "Good to hear, Miss Blaze." We head to class and I give Adagio a subtle look on the way, which she responds to with a nod. When we're back in class and Harshwhinny is giving the usual test spiel, Adagio talks over her. "Remember to write in your own words, or the change in vernacular might give you away." When the paper is on my desk, she floats over my shoulder to be able to read the questions. Luckily for me, she doesn't get so close that her wavering-with-underwater-effect hair gets in my face, even if it is translucent. "Let's see... That general was on the other side of the country at the time, so that one must be false..." "That 'war' was a complete disaster for both sides, to the point that the treaty was signed just to see it ended, but one victory at the very end made the 'winners' think the whole thing was proof of their superiority. Imbeciles. Be sure to include that the short-term gains from that battle didn't come close to covering the damage wrought or the massive casualties..." "Umm... Hm... I don't remember this part... Sonata, does this date ring a bell?" Sonata hovers upside down over the desk to get a closer look. "That one was... uh... Was that the time when they passed that law with the boats?" "I'm not sure either. Well, we aren't going for a perfect score anyway, right?" "We totally could, though! Somebody around here's gotta know, and nobody'll see if we look at their answers!" "And how would we know that those answers were the right ones?" "Uh... Genius vibes?" Adagio snorts with amusement while I make my guess on the date question. "What, like correct answers would have their own special scent?" "They could! Smelling smarts could be a groovy new ghost power!" She floats over to the nearest oblivious test-taker to sniff their paper. "...Do either of you know what genius smells like? I'd ask this guy, but it's not written on his paper." I feel a little smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as she starts sniffing his head, whether the two of them can actually smell anything or not. "Shut up, Sonata." Adagio gets back to helping me with the portions of the test she knows, which is most of it, but we make sure to miss a few anyway. I've never half-way cheated at something before, so by the time I finish the test, I'm feeling just a little on edge. It doesn't get any better when I look up from my paper and see someone quickly turn their head, nor when I glance to my side to see someone else do the same thing. Feeling weird, I take a quick look around the room to find that those who aren't filling out their test are just staring down at their papers, like the tests will bite their faces off if they break eye-contact. I'm almost scared to look at Harshwhinny, but since it feels like it'd be suspicious if I didn't, I look at her to find that... She's just sitting there, totally chill as she watches the clock count down. I figure the test is just really hard, which is something I'll have to remember to comment on if anyone asks me about it. Then, when class is over, I realize something the second I step out into the hall. "Shut up, Sonata." I said that out loud. I mean, I kinda muttered it, but I'm pretty sure at least a few people must have heard me. I head to the nearest bathroom while making a show of taking out my phone just in case anyone sees me. "I'm pretty sure I just talked out loud in class." Adagio looks at me for a second, then gets her Serious face. "Angle the phone a little more toward your cheek, I can see from here that it's not actually active right now." I do what she says as she gets her thoughts together. "...You did say something to us, didn't you? I didn't notice either, what with how often-" "Quiet, Dagi," Sonata interrupts, "Aria's on the phone!" I don't facepalm, but Adagio is there to do it for me. "She's talking to us, the phone is a cover-up!" "Ohhhh! Right!" "Rrrgh." She turns back to me. "...So, you can probably play that off as reliving a memory in your head, perhaps say you were trying to recall a time we studied together (no one has to know that we never did) to find an answer, or that your mind wandered, or something along those lines. More importantly, we'll have to be more careful when in the public eye..." Worry seeps into my heart when she frowns. "That might be easier if you have someone else to talk to." Eyebrows furrowing, I look downward in that way people do when they're talking to someone they can't see. "You are not saying what I think you're saying." "I'm saying that having the two of us floating around you all day when you're not allowed to interact with us might be a little taxing on your sanity, and that you should make some frie-" "AAAGH, no! Please, don't use that word!" "Acquaintances, then! Just someone you could spend time with during the day! We'd still be here for you, and when you want to talk to us, you can say you're keeping in touch with some friends from the city, or even further away." The way her eyes suddenly widen tells me she just realized something, brushing a thoughtful hand along her chin. "Though things could get complicated if someone happened to call in the middle of that act, but maybe you can use one of our old phones or something. No one should be calling us any time soon." A frowning Sonata floats down so she can look me in the eye. "You don't wanna stay alone forever, do you? To never talk to anyone but us and Lemon ever again?" "Well, n-no, but-" "Back when we had our magic," Adagio picks up, "back when we could use it openly, no one could really be our equals for long, to say nothing of our time in the palace, but now?" Shrugging, she gives me a searching look. "Well, you said you wanted to try living a normal life for a while, did you mean to do so alone?" Thinking for a second, I sigh. "No, but I'd rather not join Team Rainbow Sunshine, y'know? I don't wanna feel like I'm just the next add-on after another one of their 'wins,' like Sunset and the other Twilight." "I can respect that. There are other people in this school capable of lasting friendships, even if they don't all sing about it. I don't know if all of them will talk to you, but it won't hurt you to have allies." "And heck," Sonata adds, smiling, "if you find somebody you can really trust, you could tell 'em about us and we'd all be pals!" "Which I still recommend against," Adagio cuts in, holding up an index finger very matter-of-factly. The warning bell for the next class sends me hurrying out the door, but I make the mental note to maybe try to find someone to get along with before the end of the day. --- All three of us are a little surprised when I don't actually get all that many weird looks after saying something to one of my dead sisters in the middle of a test. Other than maybe two worried stares in the hall, everyone pretty much acted normal, giving me no unusual level of attention. I should still be careful in the future, but I'm glad one little slip-up doesn't completely screw me over. When lunch rolls around, I stop for a second by the cafeteria door, packed lunch in hand, then quickly head right back out. The three of us came in through that door the first time we made an impression on CHS, and I don't wanna bring up any memories by lingering there. I stop in an empty classroom nearby, answering the worried looks I get as soon as the others float through the wall. "Sooo... Where should I sit? Other than Sunset stopping by for a minute, I ate alone yesterday." I repress the urge to swear as Adagio sighs and shakes her head at me. "Two weeks at CHS and you hardly spoke to anyone. I didn't go to great lengths to make connections either, but I at least managed to hold polite conversation with a few people." "Anyone who might talk to me now?" Sonata and Adagio share a quick look, say "Wait here." in unison, and float through the walls toward the cafeteria. Waiting in silence, I'm reminded of what that day alone felt like. So quiet. I can hear myself breathing, and it's making me self-conscious. Luckily, they come back a minute later, Sonata doing so with a serpentine spiral through the wall and a big, ecstatic grin. "Ditzy Doo, Photo Finish, and Ringo are all sitting together! I've talked to 'em a few times, and they're all pretty fun! Ringo doesn't say much, but what he does say always makes me giggle!" I raise an eyebrow. "How'd you get to talkin' to them?" "Ditzy gave me a muffin, Photo snapped a pic of it while yelling 'ZE FEEDING OF ZE SIREN!' or something like that, and I swung by every now and then hoping for more muffins, and I usually got 'em! No clue why Ringo hangs around those two, but if you sit by them today, you'll probably get a muffin." Blinking slowly, I turn to look at Adagio. "I didn't see many appealing options myself," she half-heartedly admits, "but there's room by Trixie, Octavia, and... um... Vinyl Scratch?" "Freakin' who was that last one?!" She winces a little, but gives me a sheepish little smile. "Sh-she reminded me a lot of Lemon, who reminded me of Vinyl in the first place, but that's not important right now, so I held my tongue when she showed up as a friend of Octavia's (when she and Trixie started spending time together, I still don't know), and much like Lemon, she turned out to be much less loathesome than I'd have ever suspected." Glancing in the direction of the cafeteria, she frowns a little. "I developed a new theory on why we really weren't able to affect her during the Battle. Even if she didn't hear our music, our magic was still thick in the air all around the school and she had no Harmony magic of her own to fend it off, but in what little time I've spoken with her, I learned that that girl doesn't have a malicious bone in her body. Octavia is fairly cool-headed as well, so long as you're careful about swearing, but she seems to put up with it from Trixie without comment." As all of that sinks in, I have one question. "Trixie swears?" Adagio shrugs. "Not excessively so, but she's the one I think you'd find the most common ground with, believe it or not. Given that Sonata and I have spoken to these people without incident, none of them should really be bothered if you wanted to sit with them, though there may be an awkward phase about the two of us dying no matter whom you choose." "Whoever you wanna talk to," Sonata says somewhat urgently, "You'd better do it soon, 'cuz lunch has already started!" Nodding, I grip my packed lunch a little tighter and head back to the cafeteria. I could sit with Photo Finish, Ditzy Doo, and Flash Sentry's old bandmate (is anyone but us and the Rainbooms still with their bands, or...?) Ringo. They sound like a bunch'a clowns, and anyone Sonata likes is bound to get on my nerves, but... Hell, I've always put up with Sonata herself, right? I could try my luck with Trixie, Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch. Two of 'em are in the drama club, but it's not like I'm a stranger to the occasional monologue with a side of ham. That, and if I'm standing here with my gem apparently working again, I don't even know if it makes sense to stay mad about Vinyl's part in cheating us out of all the power in the world. Then again, walking back into the cafeteria, I see Flash Sentry sitting with... Lyra and Bon-Bon. PASS! I notice the Rainbooms, and Nerd-Twilight, sitting at their usual spot too. The thought occurs that they probably want to know how I'm holding up, whether or not my new look is a sign that I've snapped or something, or even if I'm secretly plotting revenge on them or whatever. Stupid Rainbooms and their hero-complexes, think the world revolves around them. ...I mean, they've kinda been right at least three or four times now, so I get why they might think that, but still... Anyway, I don't wanna get really close to those girls, but it's not like I can avoid talking to them forever. If I sat with them today, kept my cool and showed them that I was moving on just fine (even if they don't get to know why), then I might be able to snuff out their worries and start looking for real friends tomorrow. Then again, maybe if they see me hanging out with someone else, totally of my own volition, they'll clue in that that's all I'm up to? Wherever I go, I don't think anyone at those tables will refuse me. Who will it be?