Vote count as of 7/4/2016:
Hypnotize Harshwhinny: 0
Give it her best alone: 3
Invisible cheat sheet: 6
Sonata floats behind Harshwhinny, saying "Start with 'Look deeeep into my eyyyyes...!'" She frowns when I turn away.
"Uh, nevermind, I'll... I'll give it my best." With some help...
I'm not entirely sure as I open the door, but it almost sounds like she's smiling. "Good to hear, Miss Blaze."
We head to class and I give Adagio a subtle look on the way, which she responds to with a nod. When we're back in class and Harshwhinny is giving the usual test spiel, Adagio talks over her.
"Remember to write in your own words, or the change in vernacular might give you away." When the paper is on my desk, she floats over my shoulder to be able to read the questions. Luckily for me, she doesn't get so close that her wavering-with-underwater-effect hair gets in my face, even if it is translucent.
"Let's see... That general was on the other side of the country at the time, so that one must be false..."
"That 'war' was a complete disaster for both sides, to the point that the treaty was signed just to see it ended, but one victory at the very end made the 'winners' think the whole thing was proof of their superiority. Imbeciles. Be sure to include that the short-term gains from that battle didn't come close to covering the damage wrought or the massive casualties..."
"Umm... Hm... I don't remember this part... Sonata, does this date ring a bell?"
Sonata hovers upside down over the desk to get a closer look. "That one was... uh... Was that the time when they passed that law with the boats?"
"I'm not sure either. Well, we aren't going for a perfect score anyway, right?"
"We totally could, though! Somebody around here's gotta know, and nobody'll see if we look at their answers!"
"And how would we know that those answers were the right ones?"
"Uh... Genius vibes?"
Adagio snorts with amusement while I make my guess on the date question. "What, like correct answers would have their own special scent?"
"They could! Smelling smarts could be a groovy new ghost power!" She floats over to the nearest oblivious test-taker to sniff their paper. "...Do either of you know what genius smells like? I'd ask this guy, but it's not written on his paper."
I feel a little smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as she starts sniffing his head, whether the two of them can actually smell anything or not. "Shut up, Sonata."
Adagio gets back to helping me with the portions of the test she knows, which is most of it, but we make sure to miss a few anyway.
I've never half-way cheated at something before, so by the time I finish the test, I'm feeling just a little on edge. It doesn't get any better when I look up from my paper and see someone quickly turn their head, nor when I glance to my side to see someone else do the same thing. Feeling weird, I take a quick look around the room to find that those who aren't filling out their test are just staring down at their papers, like the tests will bite their faces off if they break eye-contact. I'm almost scared to look at Harshwhinny, but since it feels like it'd be suspicious if I didn't, I look at her to find that...
She's just sitting there, totally chill as she watches the clock count down. I figure the test is just really hard, which is something I'll have to remember to comment on if anyone asks me about it. Then, when class is over, I realize something the second I step out into the hall.
"Shut up, Sonata."
I said that out loud. I mean, I kinda muttered it, but I'm pretty sure at least a few people must have heard me. I head to the nearest bathroom while making a show of taking out my phone just in case anyone sees me.
"I'm pretty sure I just talked out loud in class."
Adagio looks at me for a second, then gets her Serious face. "Angle the phone a little more toward your cheek, I can see from here that it's not actually active right now." I do what she says as she gets her thoughts together. "...You did say something to us, didn't you? I didn't notice either, what with how often-"
"Quiet, Dagi," Sonata interrupts, "Aria's on the phone!"
I don't facepalm, but Adagio is there to do it for me. "She's talking to us, the phone is a cover-up!"
"Ohhhh! Right!"
"Rrrgh." She turns back to me. "...So, you can probably play that off as reliving a memory in your head, perhaps say you were trying to recall a time we studied together (no one has to know that we never did) to find an answer, or that your mind wandered, or something along those lines. More importantly, we'll have to be more careful when in the public eye..." Worry seeps into my heart when she frowns. "That might be easier if you have someone else to talk to."
Eyebrows furrowing, I look downward in that way people do when they're talking to someone they can't see. "You are not saying what I think you're saying."
"I'm saying that having the two of us floating around you all day when you're not allowed to interact with us might be a little taxing on your sanity, and that you should make some frie-"
"AAAGH, no! Please, don't use that word!"
"Acquaintances, then! Just someone you could spend time with during the day! We'd still be here for you, and when you want to talk to us, you can say you're keeping in touch with some friends from the city, or even further away." The way her eyes suddenly widen tells me she just realized something, brushing a thoughtful hand along her chin. "Though things could get complicated if someone happened to call in the middle of that act, but maybe you can use one of our old phones or something. No one should be calling us any time soon."
A frowning Sonata floats down so she can look me in the eye. "You don't wanna stay alone forever, do you? To never talk to anyone but us and Lemon ever again?"
"Well, n-no, but-"
"Back when we had our magic," Adagio picks up, "back when we could use it openly, no one could really be our equals for long, to say nothing of our time in the palace, but now?" Shrugging, she gives me a searching look. "Well, you said you wanted to try living a normal life for a while, did you mean to do so alone?"
Thinking for a second, I sigh. "No, but I'd rather not join Team Rainbow Sunshine, y'know? I don't wanna feel like I'm just the next add-on after another one of their 'wins,' like Sunset and the other Twilight."
"I can respect that. There are other people in this school capable of lasting friendships, even if they don't all sing about it. I don't know if all of them will talk to you, but it won't hurt you to have allies."
"And heck," Sonata adds, smiling, "if you find somebody you can really trust, you could tell 'em about us and we'd all be pals!"
"Which I still recommend against," Adagio cuts in, holding up an index finger very matter-of-factly.
The warning bell for the next class sends me hurrying out the door, but I make the mental note to maybe try to find someone to get along with before the end of the day.
---
All three of us are a little surprised when I don't actually get all that many weird looks after saying something to one of my dead sisters in the middle of a test. Other than maybe two worried stares in the hall, everyone pretty much acted normal, giving me no unusual level of attention. I should still be careful in the future, but I'm glad one little slip-up doesn't completely screw me over.
When lunch rolls around, I stop for a second by the cafeteria door, packed lunch in hand, then quickly head right back out. The three of us came in through that door the first time we made an impression on CHS, and I don't wanna bring up any memories by lingering there. I stop in an empty classroom nearby, answering the worried looks I get as soon as the others float through the wall.
"Sooo... Where should I sit? Other than Sunset stopping by for a minute, I ate alone yesterday." I repress the urge to swear as Adagio sighs and shakes her head at me.
"Two weeks at CHS and you hardly spoke to anyone. I didn't go to great lengths to make connections either, but I at least managed to hold polite conversation with a few people."
"Anyone who might talk to me now?"
Sonata and Adagio share a quick look, say "Wait here." in unison, and float through the walls toward the cafeteria. Waiting in silence, I'm reminded of what that day alone felt like.
So quiet.
I can hear myself breathing, and it's making me self-conscious.
Luckily, they come back a minute later, Sonata doing so with a serpentine spiral through the wall and a big, ecstatic grin.
"Ditzy Doo, Photo Finish, and Ringo are all sitting together! I've talked to 'em a few times, and they're all pretty fun! Ringo doesn't say much, but what he does say always makes me giggle!"
I raise an eyebrow. "How'd you get to talkin' to them?"
"Ditzy gave me a muffin, Photo snapped a pic of it while yelling 'ZE FEEDING OF ZE SIREN!' or something like that, and I swung by every now and then hoping for more muffins, and I usually got 'em! No clue why Ringo hangs around those two, but if you sit by them today, you'll probably get a muffin."
Blinking slowly, I turn to look at Adagio.
"I didn't see many appealing options myself," she half-heartedly admits, "but there's room by Trixie, Octavia, and... um... Vinyl Scratch?"
"Freakin' who was that last one?!"
She winces a little, but gives me a sheepish little smile. "Sh-she reminded me a lot of Lemon, who reminded me of Vinyl in the first place, but that's not important right now, so I held my tongue when she showed up as a friend of Octavia's (when she and Trixie started spending time together, I still don't know), and much like Lemon, she turned out to be much less loathesome than I'd have ever suspected."
Glancing in the direction of the cafeteria, she frowns a little. "I developed a new theory on why we really weren't able to affect her during the Battle. Even if she didn't hear our music, our magic was still thick in the air all around the school and she had no Harmony magic of her own to fend it off, but in what little time I've spoken with her, I learned that that girl doesn't have a malicious bone in her body. Octavia is fairly cool-headed as well, so long as you're careful about swearing, but she seems to put up with it from Trixie without comment."
As all of that sinks in, I have one question. "Trixie swears?"
Adagio shrugs. "Not excessively so, but she's the one I think you'd find the most common ground with, believe it or not. Given that Sonata and I have spoken to these people without incident, none of them should really be bothered if you wanted to sit with them, though there may be an awkward phase about the two of us dying no matter whom you choose."
"Whoever you wanna talk to," Sonata says somewhat urgently, "You'd better do it soon, 'cuz lunch has already started!"
Nodding, I grip my packed lunch a little tighter and head back to the cafeteria.
I could sit with Photo Finish, Ditzy Doo, and Flash Sentry's old bandmate (is anyone but us and the Rainbooms still with their bands, or...?) Ringo. They sound like a bunch'a clowns, and anyone Sonata likes is bound to get on my nerves, but... Hell, I've always put up with Sonata herself, right?
I could try my luck with Trixie, Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch. Two of 'em are in the drama club, but it's not like I'm a stranger to the occasional monologue with a side of ham. That, and if I'm standing here with my gem apparently working again, I don't even know if it makes sense to stay mad about Vinyl's part in cheating us out of all the power in the world.
Then again, walking back into the cafeteria, I see Flash Sentry sitting with... Lyra and Bon-Bon.
PASS!
I notice the Rainbooms, and Nerd-Twilight, sitting at their usual spot too. The thought occurs that they probably want to know how I'm holding up, whether or not my new look is a sign that I've snapped or something, or even if I'm secretly plotting revenge on them or whatever. Stupid Rainbooms and their hero-complexes, think the world revolves around them.
...I mean, they've kinda been right at least three or four times now, so I get why they might think that, but still...
Anyway, I don't wanna get really close to those girls, but it's not like I can avoid talking to them forever. If I sat with them today, kept my cool and showed them that I was moving on just fine (even if they don't get to know why), then I might be able to snuff out their worries and start looking for real friends tomorrow. Then again, maybe if they see me hanging out with someone else, totally of my own volition, they'll clue in that that's all I'm up to?
Wherever I go, I don't think anyone at those tables will refuse me. Who will it be?
Well, one of the questions was what clothes to wear.
I figured the impact would increase over time. Give us some warm up choices... then keep making them bigger and bigger.
Well, last chapter's "lousy option that almost no one picks" made quite a bit of sense to me just as I was hitting 'Post Comment' ; just by making me pause and think about them I feel they're useful.
As for today's menu, I'll go with "Silly antics ahead" since that's the group least likely to react negatively to any slip-ups Aria might make (even if it's the group most likely to make her slip-up). The Rainbooms should be supportive, but trying to acquaintance/befriend them all at once, the conversation will go fast and hard towards the pendant (and will go downhill even faster if Sci-Twi has her magic meter on hand). And Vinyl/Octavia/Trixie's group has two possible cons: 1) Does Trixie know what really happened during the (semi)finals? That would make for quite the 'awkward' conversation . 2) Aria getting close to Vinyl may make some Rainbooms (*cough* Rainbow, maybe Pinkie *cough*) paranoid ("She's trying to get cozy with one of the keys of their defeat! That screams 'sinister plot!'").
(As far as entertainment value of each option tho, that list is in increasing order ).
It's one of those cases, when even smallest action can cause a huge change for a story direction. Going back to the choices of the 2nd chapter, picking out gray hoodie as an option would have allowed Aria to skip test and not to speak out loudly to Sonata in the middle of the class (whatever future consequences it will have). But then you could have taken it in another crazy direction, like Aria wears a hoodie, notices it has a ripped sleeve, goes to a mall to get a new one, gets there in time to become a hostage of an armed robbery with a bunch of criminals wearing very similar to her's attire. Police arrives, starts shooting, a mix up happens, Aria runs off with a gang, etc.
When it comes to current options, if I am to classify them it would be
1) Funny
2) Odd
3) The one that will get plot moving.
But then again, silly antics of the trio from the first option can cause a disaster by gem reacting weirdly to Photofinish's camera (Aria's new outfit); trio of performers and musicians from the second option can notice some changes in Aria's voice, figuring out that the gem is fixed and siren magic is back; in third option M6 and Applejack can notice something odd in Aria's behavior, with her having to fake the notion that her sisters are fully gone. Or she can even bump into Brad on the way to whoever's table and the whole story will suddenly go for a romantic comedy genre.
So, the answer is "yes, it does feel that the choices matter, but doesn't give a feeling of a reader being in a full control of the plot". Personally, I'm happy with it.
7371582
7371628
Hm... That helps a bit, thank you for your thoughts!
7371596
Sorry if it wasn't clear, but I meant the 'lousy option' to be hypnotizing Harshwhinny, because no one picked that at all.
In the chapter before, it looked like the least appealing option was keeping her old outfit, though results for the first choice were a bit more varied, which is what I'm hoping for. Not that I want people to disagree a bunch, but I can't help feeling like I'd be doing something wrong if everyone picked the same option all the time.
Then again, maybe I just have mostly like-minded readers?
I say sit with Ditzy.
Hmm. Tough call...
Eh, go with B.
Option 3 - Rainbooms.
I say option 2
I vote option 2.
I vote for Trixie, Vinyl, and Octavia. I feel like Ditzy and co. would be a good choice as well for the laughs but I think Aria would genuinely like that group more and since we're looking for friends and not our own entertainment that seems to make the most sense.
As far as the choices mattering goes, I feel like quite a few of these choices have hidden depths to them and I think that's a really good thing. Some of them seem inconsequential but in reality can have very real effects. In a way it's like trying to figure out the butterfly effect on a smaller scale and I really like it. And honestly I've liked all the options for the choices with the exception of hypnotizing Harhswinny but that's just because I thought it was too soon for something that potentially dangerous. Looking forward to more.
This was a tough choice, but I vote for Ditzy, Photo and Ringo ( I love his name)
It was a tough choice between Trixie's group and this one, but I think, while it might annoy her a bit in the short term, the lasting consequences won't hit as much. Octavia gets music very well and if any future singing is in her peripherals, she will likely know about it. Plus, with Aria's hot headed temper, her voluntarily interacting with Vinyl, after she made it clear she holds her accountable for their gem destruction like the Rainbooms, would likely attract some unwanted attention from Sunset and the gang.
Likewise picking the Rainbooms at this point, while there is a good logic to it, would still be very difficult. Sunset will be sympathetic and I suspect so will the others, but Aria will still very likely rebuff any affection or pity, which will makes things wit them even tighter strung later down the line when their is an inevitable conflict.
I vote option 2, but that's mostly because I like Vinyl and Octavia.
I'm interested in option 3.
Option 2, because its the only one that i can see aria making actual friends in.
I wouldn't worry about the choices being 'lousy'. Part of that is because it's your story, but also there's the whole 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' thing here. What you think is a ridiculous option at the time might turn out to be the option everyone wants to choose.
You never know.
I'd also like to say (since I haven't so far; sorry... <:) that I really like this story and I'll be glad to see what you come up with later down the line. I've always liked Choose Your Own Adventure style books, so I couldn't resist getting involved in this one, and I hope I haven't been getting too wordy on my posts here.
As for the choice in this chapter...
I'm going with Trixie, Octavia and Vinyl.
Aria is still resentful of the Dazzlings' defeat at the hands of the Rainbooms, and they're still likely to be distrustful of her (once the sympathy wears off). They're also still trying to absorb Sci-Twi into their group and so Aria would likely be pushed off to the side for the time being. And that's to say nothing of what happens if they find out Aria has another gem around her throat (whether it works or not and what color it is would be irrelevant; they'd be very nervous about it). I can see them maybe trying to be nice to Aria for a while, but I don't currently see them being long-term friends.
Derpy, Photo and Ringo... Beyond the fact that there would be nothing really binding the group together, we already know that Photo can be incredibly annoying in-universe (one of the pre-Friendship Games skits showed this), and Derpy might be a little too sweet for Aria's tastes (just because Sonata could stand them doesn't mean Aria will be able to in the long-term). Though it might be fun to simply see what a mixed bag of nuts like Aria and them would be like...I'm not entirely seeing it.
The other three, though... Octavia and Vinyl are both deeply into music, something I'm sure Aria is into on some level as well, so there would be a strong connection there. And Trixie's an entertainer, and a more than decent musician herself; she would have won against the Rainbooms in the Battle of the Bands had it not been for the Dazzlings' interference, so she might have a common resentment with Aria against the Rainbooms. And I can definitely see Trixie and Aria becoming friendly rivals over time...if they don't manage to kill each other first and Trixie isn't too mad if she finds out why she actually lost in the Battle. As for Aria's anger at Vinyl, that may cool over time (after all, her involvement wasn't the only thing that brought the Rainbooms victory) and I can see Vinyl being pretty mellow about it as long as Aria doesn't go too far with her current hate; they could even become friends over time if things work out right.
7377726
Thank you for the sentiment, but I was referring to choices that a flat no one picks after the fact, regardless of what I think of those options beforehand.
Still, I probably shouldn't worry too much, because I'm told that even if options aren't chosen, they're a bit of context-analyzing brain food, and vote distribution helps me get an idea of which kinds of options people go for. And with that, I can try to characterize Aria accordingly in future chapters!
Hypothetical spoiler: For example, if all options to brain-wash someone with the gem (and there will be others) are consistently ignored, she may have the choice somewhere to formally decide that she never wants to use it that way again, that while she's grateful to have her Heartstone back, she's willing to completely let go of that part of her life, cherishing the remnants of her and her sisters' magic even if she never actually uses it anymore. Of course, any other number of factors may lead her to do any number of things. This story as a whole really is up in the air.
More succinctly; Wearing her old outfit to school only got one vote, which I can interpret to mean that while she might have lingering thoughts, Aria isn't completely rooted to the past, and I can try to incorporate that into future chapters. Thinking about the choices made may be tricky, but I'll stick to writing options I know I can work with for each choice, even if I get the feeling nobody will pick one of them, because all of the collective votes characterize Aria a little more.
Worry not, I'm no stranger to verbosity. And, thank you for the option analysis! They don't affect which option is chosen, but they're certainly interesting!
7377789 the only way an author's note is too verbose, is if you write a whole seperate story.
I love the chance to see inside the author's head!
I love this site SOOOO much more than fanfiction.net primarily because you give a damn about story quality, and don't hold chapters ransom to get more reviews. Also the general atmosphere is more coffeeshop-full-of-bronies than automated sterility.
Option 3 - Rainbooms
"Keep your friends close..."
The choices don't necessarily need to have immediate consequences - they can also build up toward something that comes back to haunt our heroine (no pun intended).