I Can Smile

by Eyeswirl the Weirded

Chapter 6: Too Many Hugs!

There needed to be a fallback past the drawing board for when you ran out of ideas that you could feasibly lay out on a big slab of dry-erase whiteness. Aria didn't know what that would be, but there should have been something for when you found yourself trying to come up with a plan of action for something and instead kept absent-mindedly drawing dinosaurs on fire. Or rather, dinosaurs covered in orange and yellow triangles. Drawing fire was hard, but even harder was thinking up a way to pull Adagio out of her depressed little raincloud and back to her big, megalomaniacal one.

That she had been trying to do this on the very board Adagio often used to explain her plans (Sonata usually needed visual aid) added a whole nother level of irony to the situation.

Abandoning the drawing board and its many burning dinosaurs, Aria found herself sitting outside Adagio's room with her back against the door, long having given up a more sophisticated approach than winging it.

"...How ya holding up in there?"

No response. Same as before.

"I haven't heard like, anything from your room today." Besides crying, but she wasn't about to say that. "Doesn't sound like you have a laptop or a TV or even music playing in there. Aren't you getting bored?"

Nothing.

"I'd be bored."

She sat there a few more minutes in silence, trying to find something to fill it with.

"We all said a lot of stuff, huh? I'd worry that you plain lost your voice, like, all of it, from that shouting match the other day, but me and Blue Stupid yelled just as much, and we're fine."

She listened for any sound of movement, any tiny indication that Adagio so much as turned her head, but heard nothing.

"She never came back, so, like, just us now. You and me. If you're still there, I mean."

No answer.

Aria felt a lump in her throat. "For the moon's sake, can't you just say something? Anything?! What do you wanna hear? That I finally came up with an idea to fix our voices, get back at everyone in that stupid school, and put us on the fast road to the high life? Well, I haven't, because I don't know what to do! You know I talk big, that's how it had to be back home, either you were the toughest fish in the sea or you were- well, I guess you wouldn't have known much about that, Miss-"

She stopped dead, her blood going cold.

"No, wait, I-I didn't mean, I know you were in the same boat, before we..." Her eyes started to burn. "I didn't mean it. I didn't mean that, I remember what it was like, and, I know you do too, even if you never-" Her throat contracted for an instant. She swallowed while waiting for a reply.

Silence. Agonizing silence.

Aria took a long, shuddering breath. "You're really scaring me here, y'know. Things have been bad before, but you've never acted like this. I mean, yea, I guess we're at a new low here, but, seeing you just... die inside... You used to be unshakable, someone a cockatrice would be scared to look in the eyes, and now you're-" She couldn't even say it. There was another long pause, but she wasn't really expecting much different. "Come out. Talk to me. Please."

One more silence was more than Aria could take. Groaning with exasperation, she got to her feet and stomped away, intending to go blast music just for the sake of hearing something other than her own voice again.

A minute later, she walked back to Adagio's room and lightly rapped on the door. "Just gimme a sign that you're still alive in there."

The silence wore on for the longest eight seconds Aria could recall, but two little knocks back indicated that Adagio was right up against the door.

Aria found herself wearing a tiny smile as she walked away.

---

Wandering through the streets with her head down, Sonata didn't want to make eye-contact with anyone that might have looked at her; a sad-looking schmoe covered in band-aids from her dog-mauling, a few leaves from the midget trees stuck in her outfit, and a bunch of painful little lumps. She'd tried to defend herself by slinging the empty 'basket' off and throwing it at the swarm, but it didn't even slow them down as she sprinted all the way out of Apple-Land U.S.A. At the least the bees eventually stopped chasing her.

I should probably quit screwing around and come up with a real plan, because this one isn't working at all. Also; pain.

What had happened to her since she declared herself separate from the other two?
-Binged on tasty cupcakes. Yay!
-Barfed up tasty cupcakes. Boo.
-Got trampled by fat mall-goer people. Boo.
-Had to carry tons of heavy crud. Boo.
-Got a cute, super-shiny heart necklace. Yay!
-Had some amazing toast. Yay!
-Got bitten in the butt by a bunch of dogs. Boo.
-Got mauled in a dog pile. Boo.
-Was seen in her und-

Sonata collided with someone and fell backward, which, in addition to the normal pain of falling down, agitated several of her bee-stings. Ow.

-Bumped into somebody on the street. Boo.

"Uh, sorry about that," said the bumper, "I was just-... Sonata?"

She looked up to see none other than Sunset Shimmer, which made her frown a little. "You're not Sonata, dummy, I am."

Sunset blinked twice. "Eh, r-right, I, I just meant, uh..." She shook her head. "Sorry, I was kinda lost in thought. Are you okay?"

Getting up, Sonata didn't even need to look at herself to answer. "Not really, no."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that, do you need any help? I was just heading over to Applejack's place to offer a hand, but you're," she scratched her head, "um, not there anymore, so... Why do you look like you were attacked by bees?"

Sonata shrugged, her voice void of enthusiasm. "I was looking for leprechaun loot."

This was the second time a Rainboom suspiciously had no questions. "Oh, alright then. Would you like to get patched up a little? My place isn't too far from here and I've got painkillers and band-aids in bulk."

Sonata nodded, but if they weren't going to ask questions, she felt like the door was open for her to. "Why do you have those things?"

Smiling a little, Sunset pointed in a direction and they started walking. "When I first made friends with the others, something told me I'd be getting beaten up and kicked around mercilessly, so I planned ahead as best I could. Weirdly, I've used a lot more of those supplies treating them than I ever have myself."

The slightly swollen siren didn't let her irritation show on her face. I hate the universe.

---

"That should do it," said Sunset as she placed the last sting-covering band-aid, the two of them sitting on her bed, "is the aspirin kicking in yet?"

"I... maybe?" Her various injuries definitely hurt less, which was nice, but she felt a little funny in a way she couldn't describe. She looked around Sunset's lady-bachelor pad. Tiny apartment, but without ashtrays or empty bottles laying on their sides or sleeping hookers or anything. It wasn't a penthouse, but it was all so clean! And normal. Books and such. A calendar on one wall. Shiny window.

Sunset looked hesitantly relieved. "Well, that's something, I guess. So, how have you been?"

Turning to look her in the eye, Sonata frowned. "Not great, Sunset Shimmer. Not great."

Bad Girl Jacket (That's a lousy nickname. You've lost your touch.) looked almost hurt. "I'm, s-sorry to hear that." Then she kind of smiled a little. "But, hey, trust me when I say it gets better. I know how hard it is adapting to life without magic, but believe me, it's not so bad." She'd be lying through her teeth if she said she didn't miss it, telekinesis in particular, but this world had other methods of doing things, at least.

Sonata nodded a little. "And, the getting beaten up all the time...?"

Wincing, Sunset scratched the back of her head. "I, I can't really say, my experience was almost completely different. Like I said, I was paranoid that I'd be getting put through the wringer on a daily basis, so I was always cautious and careful of potential dangers and, in hindsight? Maybe that was part of the reason it took everyone else such a long time to trust me." Making their lives miserable for a few years was likely a much bigger reason, but credit where credit is due.

There was an ominous sense of confusing words coming in like a tidal wave, but Sonata asked anyway. "What do you mean? Why would people trust you more for getting trampled on and stuff?"

Sunset chuckled. "Shopping with Rarity, huh? Just follow her movements and you'll be fine. Anyway, I don't know if it's that simple, but I have a theory. If people see someone in pain, empathy and compassion might be felt enough to turn into sympathy, even if the sufferer is someone the observers hate."

As Sonata understood getting sympathy pretty well, she nodded.

"That being the case, it doesn't seem unreasonable that if everyone hates you and then sees you, I don't know, hit by a car or something, some of them might not call out things like 'Ha, serves you right!' or 'I hope that'll buff out!'" Sunset shrugged. "But I was careful, nothing really bad happened to me, and while I'm not too broken up about it now, I'm thinking maybe everyone might have eased up on me a little if it had. I mean, heck, I like to think I'd be tending to your injuries right now no matter who you were, but-"

"-but somebody told you about the other stuff and now you're giving me pain pills?" Sunset's patient smiled. "I think I kinda get it, yea."

Dr. Shimmer (Better!) smiled a little too. "That, and I remember what it was like where you are now."

Blink. "You remember being in your room?"

Sunset snickered. "Funny. How have the other sirens been, since...?"

"Shouty, moody, kinda depressed, same-old, same-old." Weirdly, Sonata felt a stab of sympathic feelings herself when Sunset looked like she was really not happy to hear that. There was definitely something to her pain theory. "I mean, y'know, they weren't like that all the time, just whenever we weren't singi-" And then Sonata frowned too.

Careful not to put pressure on Sonata's stings, Sunset leaned forward to gently wrap her in a hug. "I'm sorry for your loss." Sonata didn't say anything, but she didn't try to break away, either. "You know, I've been keeping in contact with Twilight. She says she's dealt with dark, magical artifacts before, that last time, the wearer kinda lost their drive for evil a little after it was removed." She didn't want to probe too deeply, remembering her own agonizing ordeal. "I won't ask what those gems did to you, but, how long would you say you were wearing them?"

"About ten years." The good old days. Kinda. Something seemed to change in Sunset's tone, like she was doing the exact opposite of what Adagio did when she was about to get really mad.

"Ten years... And, you lost them a few weeks ago?"

Sonata scowled. "Thanks, I almost forgot."

Quickly, Sunset backed away, holding up both hands defensively. "N-no, nonononono, I don't mean to rub it in, I'm just saying because, Twilight said, I mean, with her example, it, and, I-" She took a quick breath. "She told me that in her experience, the wearer lost a lot of their malice and a lot of their crazy around fifteen minutes after the dark magic was removed, and she had been wearing it for a few days. In your cases, we talked about how if you three were born with the gems and you'd been wearing them your whole lives, which might have been centuries, then-"

Somewhat indignantly, Sonata put her hands on her hips. "Centuries, schmenturies, I'm only twenty-six!" There was a pause as Sonata glanced down at her teenaged body. "Well, kinda."

Sunset giggled. "Sorry. Actually, that might be a good thing. Like I said, Twilight and I talked for a while about how long you guys might be under the influence of the gems, like I was with the Element of Magic." Ohh, to feel like you've been burned alive while riding a power trip of pure, homocidal megalomania. "We thought that, proportionally, if you guys had been wearing the gems for hundreds of years, that it might be a few more before the negative energy was completely worked out of your system, but if it's only been a decade, well..." It was hesitant, but Sunset offered a hopeful smile. "Weeks or months might be all you need, and you should be operating on your own magic by then. It might even heal your voices."

Time stopped. Well, not really, but it sure felt that way. Sonata could almost see Father Time trip and fall down the stairs, lines of words and numbers zipping by in the space around her, and all of them meant 'We might be able to sing again!' The invisible words started to form into lines, into stanzas, into songs! There was hope! there was light! Sonata couldn't even feel the bite marks or bee-stings on her behind as she sat down anymore!

Though maybe this was just the happy drugs getting to her head. Who knew? Who cared? If there was even a tiny little chance that she'd be able to sing again, she wanted to hug everybody in the world! Twice! Even Aria and Adagio! Unfortunately, the happy high started to fade away as Sunset's voice dragged her dozily back to Earth.

"-ata? Sonata? Are you okay?"

Huggin' time! This time it was Sonata that did the hugging, which might have startled Sunset a bit. Well, tough! If she didn't want to be latched onto and squeezed faster than a shark snapping up a fishie that didn't eat all its vegetables, she shouldn't have told Sonata that her life would not have a cold, empty void that she'd spend the rest of it trying in vain to fill! Not that she wasn't grateful, of course.

Her brain catching up with the situation, Sunset managed a giggle. "I'm glad you're happy about this," she said with strained breath, "but do you think I could breathe normally again?"

Reluctantly, Sonata eased up. There would be other hugging in the future, that much was sure.

"I don't want to get your hopes up for nothing, Nata, but if your voices don't come back on their own, I'm sure Twilight can help me work something out."

Heart movement. The wiggly kind. There were tears in Sonata's eyes, but she wasn't sad, angry, or terrified as she backed away enough to look Sunset in the eye. "Why are you so interested in us, anyway? Why do you care this much? I mean, thank you, really, but, is it just the sympathy thing?"

Sunset shrugged, a tinge of pink to her cheeks. "Just, you know, wanted to spread the love. I got off pretty easy after wrecking everyone's day, why shouldn't you guys? That, and what would it say if I was shown mercy, and even lasting friendship, and then denied anyone else the chance?" The look on her face, the shine in her eyes spoke of earnest regret. "I want to show that I learned something from what happened to me, and if I don't even make an effort with people going through the same thing, I don't think I can do that."

Sonata smiled, but without any intention of worming into somebody's head or slipping past their defenses. She'd have hugged Sunset again, but that was starting to lose its meaning, like when you said a word over and over again.

Sunset smiled too. "Would you like to come meet see the others with me? I think everyone should be hanging around Sugarcube Corner around now."

In that moment, Sonata Dusk realized something. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but she knew it was a thing. An important thing! She could feel it, she knew now that she didn't want to rob Applejack, swipe Fluttershy, trick Pinkie, or even see Rarity get stomped on, not anymore! Those girls, the ones that had given her a chance, somewhere along the line, they started to mean something to her, and so did two others! That in mind, she stood up.

"Sorry," she said with an earnestly sorry smile, "but I have to go talk to somebody. Can I meet you guys there in a bit? And, maybe bring... f-friends?"

Sunset smiled warmly, standing up too. "Take your time, we'll be there for you."

There was one last, quick hug before the two headed out of Sunset's smokeless, boozeless, hooker-free lady-bachelor pad. Man, she doesn't do the bad girl thing AT ALL.

Author's Note:

Serious chapter is serious. Would you believe I began writing fanfiction with the intent of leaning primarily on wacky comedy all the time? My first story doesn't really reflect this very well...

A few years later, I've come to the realization that 'all crazy, all the time' is a little harder when you don't make everyone a simple caricature of their normal selves, give or take a straight character or two. I think I tried pure, dumb fun once, and even then I had to rationalize it as all just being a movie, so for those who can do it straight, I wonder if some kind of medal is in order. A chocolate metal, but covered in the shiniest damn golden tin-foil stuff there is!

Also, I apologize for the possible mood whiplash this story might be giving you, but if you're wondering, no, none of the sirens were raped back home. They might have lived in an undersea ghetto for a while, but it wasn't Fallout: Equestria or anything.

Semi-Nursemaid Shimmer, based on that scene where she wipes the glitter/paint off Fluttershy's face in RR. That gave me the mental image that Sunset might spend a bit of time taking care of the others when their shenanigans get out of hand, even if it's just in small, simple ways.

Comments

[ShadowLDrago]

Smiling a little, Sunset pointed in a direction and they started walking. "When I first made friends with the others, something told me I'd be getting beaten up and kicked around mercilessly, so I planned ahead as best I could. Weirdly, I've used a lot more of those supplies treating them than I ever have myself."

Ironic, isn't it?

Bad Girl Jacket (That's a lousy nickname. You've lost your touch.) looked almost hurt. "I'm, s-sorry to hear that." Then she kind of smiled a little. "But, hey, trust me when I say it gets better. I know how hard it is adapting to life without magic, but believe me, it's not so bad." She'd be lying through her teeth if she said she didn't miss it, telekinesis in particular, but this world had other methods of doing things, at least.

Might I suggest the nickname Bacon Hair?

Careful not to put pressure on Sonata's stings, Sunset leaned forward to gently wrap her in a hug. "I'm sorry for your loss." Sonata didn't say anything, but she didn't try to break away, either. "You know, I've been keeping in contact with Twilight. She says she's dealt with dark, magical artifacts before, that last time, the wearer kinda lost their drive for evil a little after it was removed." She didn't want to probe too deeply, remembering her own agonizing ordeal. "I won't ask what those gems did to you, but, how long would you say you were wearing them?"

I swear I've read that line about the dark magical artifact thing before.

"I don't want to get your hopes up for nothing, Nata, but if your voices don't come back on their own, I'm sure Twilight can help me work something out."

Probably.

Sunset shrugged, a tinge of pink to her cheeks. "Just, you know, wanted to spread the love. I got off pretty easy after wrecking everyone's day, why shouldn't you guys? That, and what would it say if I was shown mercy, and even lasting friendship, and then denied anyone else the chance?" The look on her face, the shine in her eyes spoke of earnest regret. "I want to show that I learned something from what happened to me, and if I don't even make an effort with people going through the same thing, I don't think I can do that."

Fair enough.

There was one last, quick hug before the two headed out of Sunset's smokeless, boozeless, hooker-free lady-bachelor pad. Man, she doesn't do the bad girl thing AT ALL.

Yep. She just keeps the jacket and boots cause they look cool.

[ForSpite]

Only ten years? Given Starswirl was alive over a thousand years ago, that's a very large time-warping effect from moving across dimensions. I know it has to alter time to some extent, because the timelines with Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle don't line up otherwise, but I didn't realize it was that big.

Although... that would mean that from Equestria's perspective Twilight must have been gone months in the other world instead of a day or so.

[Jetto]

Like I always said, even the best comedies have a mood changing scene in it somewhere to make the funny part more noticeable. Anyone who reads/watched One Piece knows that very well.