• Published 26th Nov 2014
  • 1,311 Views, 22 Comments

By the Daysong - MetaSkipper



Even after the darkest of nights, the day always comes. And for the Sirens, it has been a dark night indeed.

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Red Light

Sonata was innocently walking through the halls of Canterlot High. She still got looks in the hallway, ranging from nervous to contemptuous. But she did her best to let it pass. She had people she could call friends. And that was enough to make her smile.

What did not make her smile, however, was how she was cast tumbling to the ground as she was struck broadside by a heat-seeking shoulder.

…Perhaps she was being a little dramatic.

She had, however, nearly stumbled to the floor after being bumped by someone’s shoulder. Her eyes widened as she recovered and caught who had done the deed.

Adagio. Turning back to face her, she seethed. “Where were you last night?”

“I-I-I… I was…”

Adagio’s voice changed from venomous seething to harsh whispering. “I was wor – where were you?”

Sonata stuttered. She didn’t like being put on the spot like this. What if she told them where she really had been, that she had been with those girls… and they rejected her? They were not related by blood, but the sirens had been the closest thing to a family she ever had… right? Being ejected from the group would be awful… right? Sonata wasn’t sure she liked where these trains of thought were going.

A light shove that turned out to be not so light at all roused her from her thoughts as she hit the lockers behind her.

“I don’t know where you were, but I expect you home right after school. Do you understand?”

“Hey!” Sonata didn’t dare believe that voice. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Sure enough, Sunset Shimmer strode up to Adagio, clearly upset at the turn of events. “She clearly doesn’t want to talk right now. Why don’t you –”

“Oh, look, ever the goody-two-shoes, Miss Raging She-Demon.” The nickname clearly was not helping the situation. “I’m not allowed to show concern when one of my own goes missing for the whole night?”

“You had so much concern that you kicked her out of her own house!”

“Kick her out?” Adagio scoffed. “We did no such thing. She simply can’t handle a bit of criticism.” She sneered, the last few words directed at Sonata, who was rapidly coming to the decision that being anywhere else would probably be better than being here right now. Except maybe a pit of lava, but the case could still be made.

The confrontation devolved into a staring contest of particularly unpleasant proportions. Eventually, something caught Adagio’s attention, and she let out a humph as she walked away. Sonata thought she saw Aria in the distance, but she couldn’t tell. Any attempts to get a closer look were stopped as Sunset pulled Sonata face-to-face.

“Look, if you don’t want to go back there, you don’t have to. I don’t have a huge place, but it’s big enough for two, and –”

“No, I probably should go back. We… just had a bad night, that’s all.”

Sunset didn’t look convinced. “You sure?”

She got a nod in response. She sighed. “Okay, but… you have my address and my number, right? Don’t feel bad if you have to –“

Sonata managed a forced laugh. “Really, it’s nothing. I’ll… I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. If you insist.” The two walked to class, Sonata doing her best to put off thinking about what she was going to do back home.


The walk home was… tense. Sonata found herself longingly looking back at her new friends as she left school, all of them wearing frowns. With a sigh, she set herself looking forward.

All this friendship stuff felt nice, but it was making her heart and head hurt. Sonata decided to let her mind go, to relax. Why was the sky blue? Well, she knew the answer – the most common wavelength of light reflected off the molecules that made up the atmosphere was that of blue light. (Despite everyone’s assertions, Sonata wasn’t as stupid as they thought… or at least, she wasn’t when she remembered she wasn’t.) But why was the sky blue? What great force had ascribed that the molecules of the sky should be blue? Who had decided the laws of light? Where was it written that that visible light reflected? How –

Sonata was pulled – quite literally – from her thoughts as she was pulled – very literally – backwards onto the side walk. Something zoomed past, the wind sharply registering on Sonata’s face.

“Should have let that car hit you,” Aria sneered, her hands still clutching Sonata’s arm and shoulder. “One less stupid person in the world.”

In the past, Sonata might have offered some tangential retort, oblivious to the barb’s hidden meaning. But now, her eyes had been opened, and the blade of the insult now cut deep into Sonata’s exposed heart. Is that… really how she thinks of me? After everything we’ve been through… together?

“What, nothing? Good. Means I don’t have to hear your stupid voice.”

Adagio’s face was hardly less annoyed.

Sonata found it very hard to think about the blue sky for the rest of the trip home.


A paper plate with three slices of pepperoni pizza in hand (Sonata was a rather big eater), Sonata retreated to her room. She had no desire to face her fellow sirens, not after the incident. She supposed she should be thankful they had saved her life, but… it hurt. A lot. Maybe too much.

Despite her best efforts, her mind returned to last night. She’d been hurt that night as well, a distasteful moment had played out. But it had all resolved so much happier that time. The tears were wiped away, replaced by smiles and song. Song. She could sing. It took effort, but she could sing. Did her fellow sirens know it? They couldn’t know it. Right? Should she tell them, show them? How could she hide that she found her soul, her purpose again?

But… had she really found it? Singing brought her great joy, yes, but there was still something missing in her life, ever since that fateful day. And while she hadn’t tested it, she had a hunch her powers in the form of enthrallment had not returned. Would the other sirens really care? Probably not.

What of the other sirens? Despite how much happier she felt with her new friends, she could not let go of the connection thousands of years had forged. They had indeed been through so much together, and to leave them now would be a betrayal Sonata could not stomach. But she had changed, for the better, she dared think, and her fellow sirens had not. Could… could she change them? Bring them even a taste of what she had tasted? Probably not, her mind told her. They wouldn’t appreciate it, her mind told her.

But there was a chance, her heart told her. She let herself see a world where the three sat happily around the dinner table. She saw a world where they stayed up late on movie marathons. She saw a world where they… were friends. That world was not her world, but it was a possible world. And that was more than enough for Sonata. She would go, and be the friend that those girls had been to her.

But not tonight. Tonight was a night of sad reflection and the quiet chewing of pepperoni pizza.

Author's Note:

I'm actually now very sad I used the color blue last chapter title. Would have fit very nicely here.

This probably ends Sonata's arc for now. We move into Aria's arc.

In other news, my headcanon now involves Sonata being into physics.