195 - In Another's Voice
Sonata let out a self-satisfied breath as she looked around the camp, nodding to herself. Order is totes being maintained, she decided.
It hadn’t been very long since Lex and Aria had left for Vanhoover, but in that time Sonata had thrown herself into the job Lex had left for her. First, she’d climbed up on one of the boxes stacked near the medical tent so she could get a good view of the entire camp, which was pretty easy to do since the entire area was so flat. Then, after looking around and seeing that everything was fine, she’d climbed down. Then she’d climbed back up to take a second look, wanting to be absolutely positively sure that everything was A-okay. And after a whole thirty seconds of making sure to peer around extra super carefully, she’d climbed down again. Now she just needed to figure out what to do next.
I suppose I could just go back to sleep, she mused, stifling a yawn at the thought. Although she’d stayed right next to Lex while he’d gotten some much-needed rest, Sonata hadn’t been able to relax at all the entire time. How could she when Aria was right there, just waiting to do something mean? And there’d been no doubt whatsoever in Sonata’s mind that Aria would find some way to be awful; it was what she did. And I was right too. She was totes going to try and make out with him while his guard was down!
The memory was enough to make Sonata grind her teeth as she started walking toward the train station. She was absolutely sure that Aria didn’t actually like Lex – as far as she knew, Aria had never liked anything – and was just doing that to be a jerk, but that didn’t make it any better. The very idea of her sister, of the person whose idea of fun always seemed to involve making her miserable, locking lips with her boyfriend made Sonata want to kick something. And now they’re off having an adventure together, she frowned. She was sure that Lex was a one-woman kind of guy, but as much fun as it was to imagine that he’d curse Aria if she tried anything, Sonata couldn’t help but worry. After all, an adventure is how WE got together…
“Excuse me.”
Blinking as a quiet voice dragged her from her thoughts, Sonata looked over at the orange-and-blonde mare that had spoken. For a moment she didn’t recognize her, but then her eyes drifted to the pair of peaches on her flank and she suddenly remembered who she was. “Oh, hey!” she exclaimed. “You’re the one who told off whatshisname, that pony that tried to kill Lex!”
“Y-yeah.” The mare winced at the description before managing to recover, forcing a polite smile onto her face. “I’m Peachy Keen.”
Sonata blinked at that. “For realsies? Because that looked like the second-worst breakup I’ve ever seen.” The first had been her and Lex, back when they’d been heading to Tall Tale. The memory was still enough to make Sonata wince. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
The other mare gave her a quizzical look for a moment before she started to giggle, holding a hoof up to her mouth as she fought back laughter. The unexpected response was enough to make Sonata wonder if grief had driven the poor girl crazy before the orange unicorn got herself under control. “No, I mean my name is Peachy Keen.”
Still confused, Sonata gave a hesitant nod. “Oh, um, okay.” She paused, waiting for her to say what her oh-so-awesome name was. When the other mare didn’t supply it, Sonata gave her an encouraging smile. “So what is it? Your name, I mean.”
Another round of giggling ensued. “No, you don’t understand. ‘Peachy Keen’ is what I’m called. It’s what I write down when I sign my name on something.”
Sonata’s eyes widened in understanding. “Ohhh! Well why didn’t you say that before?” She smiled, proud of herself for figuring things out. Who says I’m dumb? “I’m Sonata Dusk.”
“I know.” Peachy’s smile faded, but didn’t disappear entirely. “I’m pretty sure everypony knows who you are. You and Lex Legis.” She turned so that she was alongside Sonata rather than in front of her. “Do you mind if I walk with you?”
“Sure,” shrugged Sonata, starting back toward the train station. “What’s up?” Silently she hoped it was some sort of problem that she could solve, then she’d be able to tell Lex what a super good job she’d done keeping this place running!
“I, um…” For a moment Peachy faltered, letting out a sigh before she started speaking again. “Listen, you know Lex pretty well, right? I mean, he tells you what he’s planning on doing, things like that?”
“I’m his girlfriend, and his spokespony,” answered Sonata firmly, puffing her chest out. “We totes tell each other everything.”
Peachy nodded at that, a perturbed look on her face. “Then, has he…I mean, can you tell me if he’s said anything about what’s going to happen to Spit?” Sonata blinked, needing a second to remember exactly who that was, and Peachy seemed to interpret her silence as disapproval because she started to babble nervously. “I mean, I’m not asking because I don’t think he should be punished! I told Lex that Spit deserves whatever he gets and I meant it! What he tried to do was completely unforgivable! I just…” Her ears folded back then, her eyes turning to look down at the ground. “I just want to know, you know? I need to know if…if he’s going to k-kill him.”
She hiccupped at that last part, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to prepare herself for the answer. The sight was heartbreaking enough that Sonata instantly turned in place and threw her hooves around her, pulling Peachy into a hug. “That won’t happen,” she assured her.
Peachy stiffened at the contact, but a shudder ran through her a moment later as she heard Sonata’s answer. “Yeah?” she asked in a strangled voice.
“Absolutely,” answered Sonata confidently. “Lex’s number one goal for everything he does is protecting ponies. He might use some super-awful curses on that guy, but I can totes guarantee you that he won’t kill him.”
Peachy hugged her back then, taking several deep breaths before she finally pulled away from her. “Thank you,” she murmured, wiping her eyes as she tried to regain her composure. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go all to pieces on you. I just…I told myself that I was done worrying about Spit, and I am, but when I thought about what Lex might do to him…and with all the rumors going around who he is and what he’s done…” she trailed off awkwardly.
But Sonata waved a hoof. “Don’t worry about it. And I’ll let you in on a little secret about Lex, but you didn’t hear it from me, okay?” She waited until Peachy nodded before continuing. “He acts all tough and scary, but deep down…like, way way deep down…he’s really a big softy.” She smiled then, and punctuated her statement with a wink. “He just doesn’t show it to anypony except me.”
Peachy laughed a little at that, hearing the note of pride in Sonata’s voice at that last part. “Well, maybe you could let everypony else in on the secret?” The two of them started walking again, and Peachy waved a hoof at the rest of the camp. “The ponies here still aren’t sure what to make of him. One minute he’s making food for everypony, and the next he’s a huge screaming shadow. No one knows what to think.”
“I keep trying to tell him that,” sighed Sonata. “I mean, doing stuff is great and all, but it doesn’t help if you don’t talk to people too. But even when I’m there to turn what he says into words that sounds normal, he hates doing that.”
“So why don’t you just do it yourself?”
Sonata frowned at that, giving Peachy a look of confusion. “Whaddaya mean?”
“Well, you said you’re his spokespony, right?” Peachy shrugged. “So why don’t you just go ahead and make some statements on his behalf?”
“Wait, you mean now, when he’s not there?” The expression on Sonata’s face was one of complete and utter mystification. “Spokesponies can do that?”
Sonata came to a halt, and Peachy did the same, one eyebrow raising as she started to realize that there was a gap in the other mare’s understanding. “Sonata…what exactly do you think a spokespony does?”
“They’re ponies who speak for someone else, right? Like, they have their boss or whoever whisper in their ear, and then they figure out how to say the same thing so that it sounds nicer or easier to understand or whatever.” That was how it had been for her and Lex ever since she had come up with the idea. She had spoken for him when he’d met with the princesses, again when he’d taken over as mayor of Tall Tale, and when they’d gotten on the ship to head to Vanhoover. That things had gone so badly whenever Lex had addressed a crowd without letting her soften his words had cemented that definition in her mind.
But Peachy was shaking her head. “You’re not wrong, but there’s more to it than that. Were you just translating things he said yesterday, when Sp-, when Lex was a shadow?”
“Well…no,” admitted Sonata. “But that was, like, an emergency. I said all that stuff because I knew that everybody would have been scared of Lex if I hadn’t.”
Peachy frowned for a second, mouthing “everybody” to herself in confusion before shaking her head. “So in other words, you knew what he needed you to say to everypony, and said it.” She raised a hoof and placed it on Sonata’s chest. “That’s a spokespony’s job. You shouldn’t say things that don’t represent who he is, or what he thinks or feels, or what he plans to do, but you don’t have to wait for him to stand right next to you and feed you lines either.”
For a moment Sonata looked completely dumbstruck, her mouth hanging open as she processed what she’d been told. But as the seconds passed, her expression slowly changed into a look of excitement. “So you’re saying,” she began slowly, “that if I want to tell everypony here about all the great stuff Lex has done, all the problems he’s solved and the monsters he’s slain and all the other stuff, that’s part of my job too?”
“Definitely,” nodded Peachy. “You’d help everypony see what kind of guy he is, and you’d be putting all those silly rumors to rest too.”
“Oh. My. Gosh.” Sonata slowly turned in place, her eyes sparkling as she looked over the camp again. Despite it having only been a few minutes since she’d climbed on a box to sweep her eyes across the place, she now clearly saw what she’d missed before: a captive audience. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this!” she gushed, her previous tiredness swept away in a rush of enthusiasm. “I’ve gotta get everyone together and do it right now! I bet it’ll be almost as much fun as singing! I can-, I-,” She cut herself off then, her eyes widening as she let out a loud gasp. “I can make a song out of it!” She pranced in place, too excited to keep still. “I can be a songspokespony!”
Peachy couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t think that’s actually a thing.”
But Sonata wasn’t listening, instead sweeping Peachy up in another hug. “ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU! Oh my gosh, this is such a great idea! I’ve gotta go think up some lyrics! This is going to be the greatest thing EVER!” Whooping in delight, she ran toward the train station, intent on making a song – a whole BUNCH of songs! – about her and Lex’s adventures together. Then everyone would know what a great guy he was!
I hope Lex finds everyone soon! she thought excitedly. He’s gonna be so surprised when he gets back!
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First of all, I could have read about Sonata climbing up and down that box about ten more times, it was so adorable.
Second, I am very excited to see where spokesongpony is going. Will Lex return to an Opera? (Wagnerian, considering it's about him fighting a dragon)? And will Aria try and convince him that singing means Sonata is probably using her siren powers to hypnotize everyone?
Sing a song of Sonata, a pocketfull of Pie,
Lex is going to come back,
And all tarterus is goinng to break loose.
So that's why Sonata hasn't been addressing all these rumors...though I now can't help but imagine Sonata singing ballads of Lex's deeds like a bard of sorts...though she's technically an enchantress. Either way, an impromptu speech/concert ought to lift everyone's mood and dismiss most of the rumors around Lex. While also putting another wrench in 'Nosey's plan to bring despair...probably.
I'm also interested in Peachy Keen's showing what feels like remorse over her words when Lex caught Spit. Words that were more than likely said in the heat of the moment. Even if she has no intentions of being friends with Spit Polish anymore, it is hard to forget about someone you've been friends with since childhood. Maybe's there's hope for Spit Polish yet...
8663744 I thought you might get a kick out of this chapter.
The image of Sonata trying to get serious and make sure everything was okay was a lot of fun for me; even now, I can't help but compare it to a kitten puffing its fur out and trying to look intimidating. She's really the most fun character for me to write for this story. Likewise, I also immediately thought "dragon = opera" when she hit upon the idea of combining her spokespony duties with singing. On the other hand, I'm not sure if that's quite her style of music. Then again, there's nothing to say that the Sirens have always sung pop songs either. So it could go either way.
Of course, as you noted, Aria might very well whisper to Lex that Sonata is enchanting the audience. That's sort of the problem with her having already enchanted someone under his nose; now he has reason to suspect her.
8663782 I wonder about that...
8665778 Yeah, it's funny that Sonata comes off in some ways as more pony than most of the actual ponies.
Aria's personality is almost non-existent in canon and less well-explored in fanon than the other 2 Dazzlings, but if she has one consistent trait (well 2, after being always grumpy), it's an ability to sow discord and division between friends using only words. Justice3442, who does fantastic work writing the Dazzlings, has a memorable chapter where Aria is able to get Applejack and Fluttershy into a physical fight that almost crashes the car they are driving.
8664479 It's funny that you mentioned Sonata as a bard versus her being an enchantress. Insofar as character classes go, that's the sort of (artificial) division that makes me groan, because it highlights the problem with segregating powers among different classes. It's not a coincidence that in the custom stat block I wrote for Sonata, she has mystic artist (i.e. bardic) abilities tied to singing as well as enchantment- and sound-based spellcasting. Those are the primary abilities that define what she can do, so it's nice to be able to merge those together...and in a way that doesn't trade effectiveness for being able to do different things, the way a lot of multiclass builds do.
That said, Sonata's not addressing the rumors raging throughout the camp is, like Lex, largely because she's had other things on her plate...but it was also because she felt that her role as a spokespony was constrained to being right there at Lex's side. Although she's been quite happy to go ahead and take center-stage while performing several times before now, the idea that she can proactively go out and talk Lex up to the public simply never occurred to her. After all, she can't really understand most of his ideas, and she thought that's what her job was. Now she knows better, and can start enhancing his public image in earnest.
One thing I wanted to address in this chapter, but couldn't find a way to work in, was that Sonata was slightly wrong when she said that Peachy and Spit had a "breakup." They weren't ever really together, being close friends who were more like siblings than a couple. That's a small difference, in terms of their overall relationship, but an important one. But I couldn't quite find a way to get that across and so let it lie. That said, Peachy doesn't want her oldest friend to die, even if she can't bring herself to think of him as a friend anymore. Deep and abiding bonds aren't easily forged, but they're not easily severed either.
8665811 Now that she understands the value of friendship (and love), Sonata fits right in with the rest of Equestria, at least in terms of her attitude. It helps that she was never really malicious to begin with; she didn't have a problem with being antagonistic, but she didn't really have much drive for it, letting her sisters take the lead.
As for Aria, though...I should go back and watch Rainbow Rocks again, but I don't really recall Aria festering discord between other people, or at least not on her own. That was sort of the modus operandi of the Sirens as a whole, and they did that with their magic for the most part. The few times they got in someone's head without using magic (e.g. mocking Sunset, manipulating Trixie) were both group efforts, just like their singing. Heck, Aria never actually had her name spoken in the movie! She simply didn't get to have much of a role besides being grumpy all the time. To be fair, Sonata didn't either, but her "comedic airhead" role was a much larger standout than Aria's perpetual bitchiness.
Naturally, that makes Aria a lot harder to write for, since there's only so much you can focus on a single note. If you want to portray new sides to her, they need to be presented in a slow and organic manner...
Sonata you have a good hart in what you plan on doing just be careful in what and how you say things.
8666025 What could possibly go wrong?
8666087
Things that can go wrong:
Making things more grander than they were for the cause of the song (Understandable, but could lead to higher expectation than Lex is able to forfil.)
Rumors of propeganda.
Acidently promoting the 'wrong' goddess.
Making 'orders' on his behalf.
8666652 I suspect that last one is the most salient; if Sonata isn't careful, she might give the wrong impression about how much she's metaphorically speaking in Lex's voice (hence the chapter title).
Sonata... sigh.
9195974 My little Sonata.