Kim woke to the entire bed bouncing. "Nnnngh...what?"
"Wakey-wakey, Kim!" Sonata said cheerfully.
Groggily, Kim sat up. It took a moment for the events of last night to permeate her brain, but once they did, she was wide awake—if not entirely clear-headed or well-rested. "I'm up," she said. She pulled herself off the bed, grimacing as she felt what was sure to be a rather nasty bruise forming from the loose spring in the mattress. "No wonder that Aria girl is so grouchy," she muttered.
She followed Sonata out into the living room. Ron was sitting on the couch, rubbing his eyes. Aria sat in one of the chairs by the table, looking rested but surly.
A few minutes later, Adagio walked in through the front door, carrying a box of donuts. She set it on the card table, then went into the kitchen and came back with napkins and paper plates. "Aria, didn't you make any coffee?" she asked.
"You know I hate coffee," Aria said.
"I need my coffee," Adagio muttered. She laid the plates and napkins on the table, then headed back into the kitchen. "Two donuts each," she said. "If I don't find my two donuts out there when I get the coffee done, I'm kicking all your butts."
"Wow, not a morning person, is she?" Kim asked.
"You have no idea," Aria said.
"Usually she's a lot worse," Sonata chipped in.
Once she had a couple of donuts in her, Kim felt a little more awake. "So, Sonata," she asked, "any ideas on where Ron and I can stay until we figure out how to get home?"
"I dunno," Sonata said with a shrug. "Hey Adagio, got any ideas on where they can go?"
Adagio walked in with a cup of coffee. "I'm guessing they don't have any money," she said.
"Good guess," Kim agreed.
"Hmm." Adagio sipped her coffee. "Word around town is Sweet Apple Acres could use a little help," she said. "Maybe you could work for room and board."
"What's Sweet Apple Acres?" Kim asked.
"Oh, it's a big apple farm!" Sonata said.
Kim shrugged. "Farm work's not so bad."
"Not so bad?" Ron echoed petulantly.
"Not if we want food and a roof over our heads," Kim said.
"Hmm. Good point."
"I'd show you where it is, but..." Adagio shook her head. "We're definitely not welcome there."
"Really? How come?"
Sonata fidgeted. "You know those girls I mentioned? The ones who beat us and took away our magic?" At Kim's nod, Sonata continued, "One of those girls lives there."
"Oh," Kim said. "Well...if it's a big apple farm, I'm sure we can find it ourselves." She sighed. "Then we'll just...have to see if we can figure out a way to get that portal open, or find some other way to go back to our dimension..."
Adagio snorted. "I wouldn't even begin to know what to tell you there," she said. "If the only clue we've got is those Rainboom girls, we're out of luck. There's no way they'd ever agree to help us."
Kim frowned. "Maybe with the right approach, they'd be willing to forgive and help you. I know I've helped some of my enemies before. That's the thing about good people. Good people help people who are in trouble, even if they're bad people."
Adagio rolled her eyes and went back to her coffee.
Kim sighed. "Well...one problem at a time. Ron? We're leaving." She turned to Sonata. "Thanks for helping us. We'll be in touch as soon as we know anything."
"Hey...take Sonata with you," Aria said suddenly.
"How's that now?" Kim asked.
"You just said it yourself. Good people help bad people if they're in trouble." Aria smirked. "Just look at Sonata. She's hopeless. If there's any chance of the Rainbladders helping us, Sonata's the key."
Ron frowned. "You know, she's got a point. I mean, Sonata told us she's evil and I still don't believe it. She's just too...nice."
"Aww, thank you!" Sonata said.
Kim raised an eyebrow. "Okay. I'll go along with that. What do you say, Sonata? Would you like to come with us to an apple farm and do back-breaking labor for room and board?"
"Sure!" Sonata agreed happily.
"Well then let's go," Kim said.
Once they were on the street, Kim asked, "So...where is this Sweet Apple Acres?"
"I have no idea!" Sonata said cheerfully.
"Greeat," Kim groaned. She was about to turn and walk back upstairs when she heard the rumble of an engine. A beat-up old pickup truck trundled down the road, kicking up dust and billowing exhaust. Three huge hay bales sat in the bed of the truck.
"Looks like farmers," Ron said. "Maybe they'll know."
"Worth a shot," Kim said. She stepped into the road and waved her arms. The truck slowed to a halt, engine idling.
A teenage girl with long blond hair, green eyes, and a smattering of freckles leaned out, pushing her battered brown Stetson out of her eyes. "Help you with somethin'?" she asked with a country twang.
"I hope so," Kim said. "We're new in town and we're kind of in a bind...you wouldn't happen to know where we can find Sweet Apple Acres, would you?"
The girl chuckled. "Reckon Ah do, it's mah home."
"Oh! That's convenient," Kim said. "We were actually kind of hoping we might be able to work for room and board on the farm. We heard a rumor..."
The girl frowned. "Hmm." She turned to talk to the driver of the truck. "Whaddya think, Big Mac? Couple workers for th' farm? We've got th' room for 'em."
"Eeyup," a deep voice rumbled over the truck's engine.
The girl looked back at Kim, grinning. "Pile on in th' back," she said. "Might be a tight fit, but..." She trailed off as she espied Sonata. Her cheerful expression darkened. "Uhh...y'all weren't plannin' on bringin' that one along, were ya?"
"Hi Applejack!" Sonata said cheerfully, waving. "I'm not evil anymore! Well, not very evil. These two really need help, and I kinda need to stick with them. Pleasies? I'll do just as much work as they do, for realzies!"
Applejack's brow furrowed. "Well..." She sighed. "Heck. Alright. But any shenanigans an' you're out."
"I promise she'll behave herself," Kim said.
"Alright," Applejack said. "Get on in. We'll get all friendly-like when we get to th' farm."
Oh my god I just noticed the chapter title puns.
WOW 3 Updates in a night AWESOME! I am really LOVING this story. Keep up the great work!
Nothing like good honest work. Pun totally intended.
Also, egads you're moving this along at a brisk pace. I like.
5295487 I know, right?
I was so delayed realizing the puns in the chapter titles. I stared at them for a good 10 minutes before realizing it.
Triple Update! Kula Dula!
Now time to work on an Apple farm. With apples and Jackie and Mackie and Bloomie and Granny! OH and Winonie!
5295607 I wish I could afford one of those memory foam mattresses, or one of those sobakawa mattresses. Unfortunately, all I can afford is old-fashioned spring mattresses.
5296711
Old-fashioned spring beds aren't a problem for me if they are in decent condition. But when the springs start poking out, that's when things get ugly.
Also, I've never even heard of sobakawa mattresses before...
Oh, don't you see, Applejack? This can only end in shenanigans.
Okay, you have my interest; I'm not typically a fan of crossovers, human-tags (though to be fair, Canterlot-High stories are becoming an exception dsine Rainbow Rocks) or redeemed villains, so the fact this story has all three and yet remains promising says something.
For a kick off, I could very clearly hear both Kim and Ron's voices, which is a very good start.
Looking forward to more.
the story isn´t like i thought she would be, but till now i like it.
It has nothing to do with this fanfiction, but suddenly i get the feeling i could like a fanfiction where the heroes aren´t perfect.
<- Now we just need a Sonata version of this icon.