"Wow, sleeping with you may be the best thing that ever happened to me!"
Sunset's eyes widened. Pinkie's hair deflated.
The temperature in the room plummeted.
"Wait," Twilight said softly. "What?"
Sonata blinked rapidly, then put a hand to her mouth. "Oopsie!" she said with a cute giggle. "I forgot we were keeping that a secret." She leaned toward Twilight and cupped her hands around her mouth. "You didn't hear that," she stage-whispered.
"Ah...hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Flash giggled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Yes! Slept! Here in this house, because she was tired and needed a place to sleep! So she slept! Here! Where I sleep!"
Sunset facepalmed.
Twilight narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. "Oh, so you're saying you didn't have sex with her?"
"Grk—!"
Uncle Rear raised an eyebrow at Flash. "Boy, what even made you think that was gonna work?"
"I don't know, I panicked!" Flash flailed. "Look, Twilight, I—"
"No! You know what?" Twilight said in a loud, falsely cheerful tone, a disturbing smile on her face. "Who you...FUCK!...is NONE OF MY BUSINESS!" With that, she marched out of the kitchen. They heard a door elsewhere in the house slam. Fluttershy let out a terrified squeak and slid low in her seat.
Sunset blinked. "Wow. It took me a whole year of living in this world to start saying that word."
Pinkie shrugged. "Eh. It's been that kind of day."
"I know, right?" Sonata said.
Everybody turned slowly to glare at her. Sonata recoiled. "Oh," she said softly. "Right. Kinda my bad, huh?"
* * * * *
It took Sunset a minute to find Twilight. She'd found Flash's parents' bedroom and was sitting on the bed in a full-on furious pout.
"Twilight," she said softly.
Twilight's eyes snapped onto her. "Did you know?"
Sunset grimaced and sat down. "Yeah."
"So you were just gonna keep this from me? Lie to me?"
"Look, it's complicated, alright?" Sunset said with an aggravated groan. "Flash called me out of nowhere early this morning, this shit's been going on all day, and we were busy dealing with this whole idea of Sonata blackmailing Flash into letting her live here. Then you showed up and none of us were expecting you, and..." She threw her hands up. "Panic! We panicked."
Twilight blinked. "Wait. Hold up. Blackmailing Flash?"
Sunset winced, but recounted the day's events to that point. When she was finished, Twilight sat stonefaced, wringing her hands aggressively in her lap, one foot swinging against the bed like an overclocked pendulum.
"So let me get this straight," Twilight said at length, ticking points off on her fingers. "Flash was, umm...trying to get over me...I think?"
"More like whining pathetically about not getting to see you for a while," Sunset said with a smirk.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "I guess I could try to sneak away a little more often," she said. "And Sonata, she had a fight with the other Sirens and got kicked out?" At Sunset's nod, Twilight continued, "Sonata went home with Flash, they had sex." She grimaced. "Then Sonata decided she'd force Flash to let her live here from now on." Gritting her teeth, she continued, "Apparently half of Canterlot has been in and out of this house all day watching this whole thing spiral out of control, then I showed up and you all lied to me to cover for Flash, and then Adagio showed up to kill Sonata and we had that whole scene in the kitchen just now. Does that about cover it?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
Twilight sighed, flopping back onto the bed. "I don't know what to think here," she said tiredly. "I'm mad at all of you for lying to me. I'm mad at Flash for having sex with that ditz. I'm mad at Adagio for pretty much existing." She took a deep breath, then deflated like a beach ball. "But...listening to Sonata..." She swung her legs against the side of the bed. "I mean, she just wants a better life for herself, right? A chance to be happy and stop being caught up in all that...that..." She gestured vaguely with a hand.
"Toxic bitchiness?" Sunset suggested.
"Yeah, that." Twilight looked up, a helpless expression on her face. "I wanna be mad at Flash for sleeping with her and I wanna be mad at her for the stunt she pulled this morning, but..." She sighed again. "They're both so pathetic and pitiful I just can't!"
Sunset snorted. "Yeah, that about sums it up," she said.
"But I'm still pretty ticked at all of you for lying to me!" Twilight added quickly and sharply.
Sunset winced. "Yeah...that...wasn't cool. I'm sorry. Really." She held out a hand. "Come on," she said awkwardly. "Let's go back to the others."
Twilight groaned, took Sunset's hand, and stood up.
* * * * *
The scene in the kitchen hadn't changed much. Uncle Rear was on the phone about the broken windows. Adagio was scowling darkly at the room in general. Pinkie and Fluttershy were tidying up the kitchen quietly. Flash looked miserable and full of dread. Sonata kept wringing a napkin on the table.
Everyone looked up as Twilight and Sunset returned. Twilight took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "I'm pretty ticked off at all of you for lying to me about what started this whole thing, but..." She sighed. "I kinda understand why, so..." She wrung her hands. "I want to help you, Sonata. I think you deserve to live the way you want to live, and if you want a fresh start and a new chance at life, I'm all for helping you with that. But I don't think you can start a new life by forcing your way into somebody's guest room with half-baked threats and blackmail. That's not a healthy way to start a new life."
"Yeah, probably not," Sonata agreed with a shrug. "It's all I've got though. Well, it was until Flash agreed to let me stay for a bit on his own."
"Right, about that," Twilight said, turning to Flash, who paled. She closed her eyes and smiled. "That was sweet of you to offer and I know you offered because you're a good person and want to help her. I'm..." She took a deep breath. "I'm not mad at you for what happened last night. Really, I'm not." She opened her eyes. "I'm sorry I blew up at you like that when I found out."
"Uhh...it's cool," Flash said numbly.
"I mean, it's not like..." Twilight waved her hands around, an awkward look on her face. "I mean, we're not...we just kinda...you know?"
"Uhh...yeah," Flash agreed vaguely.
"I mean because, heh...you're you and you're here, and I'm me and I'm there, and we can't be, you know, here and there...you know?"
"I...guess?"
Sunset groaned. "Twilight," she said. "I think you're getting off track here."
"Oh, right." Twilight coughed. "So anyway...Sonata." She clapped her hands together briskly. "I'll have to clear it with Princess Celestia, but if you wanted to come back to Equestria, you—"
"Bleagh!" Sonata said, pulling a face. "No way!"
Twilight blinked. "No? But...but Equestria! It's where you're from! You got blasted out of your home world by—"
"Does Equestria have cable TV?" Sonata asked. "Cat videos on the Internet? Crispy, crunchy beef tacos?"
"W-well...no..."
"Then keep it," Sonata said indifferently.
Adagio raised an eyebrow. "What happened to this place being 'the worst'?" she asked cattily.
Sonata shrugged. "Eh. I honestly think it's the company I've been keeping. Besides, there never were that many of our kind in Equestria." She looked around the room. "At least here, I'm the same species as everyone else. Kinda makes stuff like friendship and fitting in and, y'know, sex a lot easier, right?"
"W-well..." Twilight coughed. "I mean, it's not that ponies don't have friends who are other species. I mean, there's tons of cows and donkeys and stuff in Equestria and...oh! Griffons! We know a lot of griffons! And my best friend and number one assistant is a dragon!"
"Yeah, but Sirens are kinda...well...we were pretty much the only three in the whole world," Sonata pointed out. "I mean, we're not quite seaponies and we're not quite dragons. Pretty much the only creature we have anything in common with is Discord!" She snorted derisively. "Like what, I'm just gonna randomly go back and make friends with the spirit of chaos?"
"Well you could," Twilight said lamely. "I mean, he's good now, it's..."
"Twilight?" Sunset said. "Give it up." She shook her head and chuckled. "If Sonata wants to live in this world, that's her choice. We've just gotta figure out how to make it work, that's all."
"Right, sorry," Twilight said sheepishly. "I guess I just...heh." She looked around the room. "So—"
"FLASH? Why are the front windows broken?!"
"Grk—!!" Flash said, pale and sweating. Uncle Rear grimaced.
"Oh horseapples," Sunset grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.
The kitchen door opened. A tall, broad-shouldered, pot-bellied man with fading cobalt hair and a thick mustache walked into the room. Next to him stood a woman with long, curly lawn-green hair and high cheekbones, with a sturdy build and wearing a deep maroon dress.
"Girls," Uncle Rear said calmly, "meet Vance Sentry and River Melody. Flash's parents."
Ay ay ay Flash. You should have tossed her out when you had the chance so you don't have to deal with your parents.
Nice chapter Btw.
Nice to see things working out, sorta!
That ending!
*skulldesk*
Flash, you just can't win cant you?
Of course. Things were actually moving towards some kind of moderately sane and reasonable resolution. Why would the universe allow that when it could keep kicking Flash in the junk?
In all seriousness, very nice chapter. Twilight's mini-arc is entirely believable for her, and the options explored and why they won't work are all reasonable. Now comes the hard part...
Melody Pond
River Song
You Whovian, you.
Its been a while since i read this fic, glad is not dead, still, thinks a getting more intense by the minute :D.
8765622
Too many bitches in his life, even before Sonata entered.
He should kick them all out and choose himself over them.
What part of 'Dimensional-Distance Relationships never worked out' can that egg-headed succubus comprehend?
Plus she already has a Flash Sentry in Equestria! At least have a conversation with that!!!
Oh Twilight, you deserve so much better than Flash Sentry... like Sunset!
Well nice to see this one back.
But boy, Flash. Every time things seems to go back in a good way, you are kicked right back in the mud.
If I was Flash, I would probably just go looking for the sweet, comforting embrace of death about now.
To be fair, I think we can all feel bad for the boy, he's only 'human'.
Just when it seems Flash has hit rock bottom life pushes him even further down. It is both sad yet strangely entertaining.
Flash, my dear boy, you are boned.
I can't make that clear enough.
If I were to use the entirety of Mount Everest to carve it out, it still would not be enough.
Lucifer himself pities you.
Also, Sunset, babe, that's your signal to bail. They left the front door unguarded. If I had to guess, their mercies aren't tender.
Oh no.
Oh SHIT.
Because he's trying, he's panicking, and he's gonna have a meltdown.
It's been a DAY.
Same difference.
That.
Even she has limits.
This, is going far better than I expected. And I'm glad.
... I suppose.
You're welcome to try. He might try and drive you up the wall for funzies though.
Ah shit.
Wait, Melody? Isn't that usually Octavia's last name?
Dude, a bomb going off in the world's largest manure processing center couldn't cover the level of personal shit dumped on Flash this rapidly. Normally take a week.
8766345
Yes, but no relation. She's Watermelody's mom's sister.
Yay it's back! And Flash is digging himself deeper! I really want to see where this is going.
8765949
Good point. I don't think the two have pleasant memories of Sunset, as she was probably a horrible girlfriend to poor Flash.
So, things finally seem like they're going to get better, and then another curveball happens.
Flash just can't get a break
Shiiiiiiiit
8766597
Wait, then does that make Flash and Watermelody cousins? That would be cool since she is one of my favorite background students, right up there with Mystery Mint.
8767651
Yes. Yes it does.
Uh-oh 😨
I was going to make a “Meanwhile: Discord bones an inflatable 🚨 siren.” Or something but... Finkle matter hit the oscillating device in Six Flags... no, let’s make it the Lost & Found in Disney Land. (Assuming I even know what’s there.)
Well done for making Sonata's behaviour and motives make sense!
Welp, she's screwed.
Well, looks like twilight hates him now, and I don't blame her for it 1 bit.
Even I don't curse that much whenever I'm not with my parents.
Like what you did there sunset.
Welp, he's in trouble now!!! 😬