The Shattered Rollercoaster Of Friendship

by FourShadow

Chapter 4: Sonata's Day Out

Sonata Dusk was already having a blast at Equestria Land. As predicted, she did wander off on her own, mostly cause she was distracted by everything and everyone around her. Luckily however she was okay, she had cash on her so anything she wanted to buy, whether it'd be food, souvenirs, tickets, and whatnot, she was okay.

With plenty of tickets already purchased, she was eager to begin her day of fun! And she knew just the thing to start her off; a drop tower! After paying via ticket, she was locked into her seat, ready to start. A few other teenagers and adults climbed into the seats as well, ready to have fun. Once everyone was locked into their seats, securely and safely, the ride began to go straight up, taking everyone up top. Sonata was already giddy, ready for the jump. Though the teenagers beside her were bracing for the jump, clearly panicking and quivering.

And without warning, the ride dropped straight down, sending everyone screaming in terror. Sonata however just let her arms go up and she cheered in excitement.

"Whoo-hoo!!!"

And the ride stopped the drop. And it began to rise back up again... and then dropped again. And then back up, and another drop, and a few shakes to throw everyone off until the ride just dropped all the way back down for one final scare and then it slowly settled back down. The handles lifted up and Sonata got off the ride, still feeling excited and ready to have some more adrenaline filled fun.

Although everyone else was still shaking and quivering as they got off, but not Sonata. She was happy as a clam! Now where to go now? Maybe a bit of fun on the Tilt-A-Whirl? Or ooh, there was an arcade nearby, she could have fun with that!

The sounds of cheers on a Tilt-A-Whirl got her attention; that was the ride she was gonna try out--until she caught her eye on a pirate ship ride. Yes, that was going to be the one--

Bam.

Sonata walked backwards, and accidentally bumped into someone who unfortunately fell. And that someone, was Vignette Valencia.

"Ooh, sorry! Are you okay?" Sonata said, helping Vignette back up.

"Oh, it's fine, I didn't watch where I was going anyway," Vignette said, brushing herself off. She looked back at the person she bumped into; a blue skinned girl with a pony-tail, wearing a summer tank top, shorts, and knee high boots.

“I’m Sonata Dusk!” She smiled. “Who are you?”

Vignette blinked. “You… you don’t know me?”

“Nope!”

“… So you know nothing about me at all, nothing whatsoever?”

“Nada!”

Vignette couldn’t believe her ears. Was this true? Was this finally happening? Someone out there did not know her? Little children surely, but this young lady who looked like the happiest person on earth did not know her? This had to be a miracle from God!

“This… this is amazing!”

“It is?” Sonata asked, confused.

“Yes! Everywhere I go, people just see me as this huge celebrity, I mean, I guess I am, but I just—I mean… it’s nice meeting someone new. My name’s Vignette, Vignette Valencia,” she greeted, shaking Sonata’s hand. “I run managerial relations here at this park. Are you a new employee or…”

“Nope! I came here to have fun, silly.”

“Wait, hold on, your name is Sonata Dusk, correct? Lemme just see…”, she said flipping through her phone. Her fingers audibly pressed and tapped against her phone. Somehow during the crowds of people, she was loud enough for Sonata to hear. “No, not that… hmm…. Really need to delete that… why do I still have that tab open… guess I do need to file a complaint later… okay, definitely need to purge that from my browser history… no I do not want to buy a hat…”

Sonata did not react or question what was taking Vignette. She just stood there, happy as a clam, quietly humming.

“Hmm… Do you have a Snapgab account?”

She shook her head.

“Well, what about Hooftube?”

Sonata shook her head again.

“Do you have any account on any social platform and create content for a wide variety of consumers and fans?”

Sonata just stood innocently. “I have no idea what that means!”

Vignette blinked. "... Huh. Seems a bit weird, I would have thought all teenagers browsed the internet."

"I do! Though most of the time I just like looking at cute animals," Sonata squeaked.

So she knows absolutely nothing about me, yet seems to enjoy the internet for more simplistic reasoning? Maybe she's the one I've been looking for.

"Say, I'm a little hungry, do you know where the snack shops are? I think I'm a little lost," Sonata whined.

"Don't you have a brochure or map? They always pass those to patrons at the front gate."

"... They have maps!?"

Vignette playfully rolled her eyes, chuckling. Okay so this girl may not be that bright, but she seemed relatively nice. Maybe she just needed to talk to her a bit more?

"Come on, follow me. I was heading there anyway," Vignette offered.

"Really?"

"Mmmhmm."

Sonata's eyes lit up at the offer and she squeed like a little girl getting ice cream. "Yay! Come on new buddy!"

Vignette was shocked. She barely met this girl and she was already calling her a buddy? Either this girl was just this sweet and nice... or maybe there was some other agenda she had set in mind? Nah, there couldn't have been. She didn't seem like that type. Besides, she was pretty nice, maybe there was a new friend to be had with her!

Genuinely smiling, she walked with Sonata Dusk through the park, on their way to the food stalls.

---

Elsewhere in the park, Click Bait was busy sitting by herself, trying to snap a perfect selfie on her phone. She had the facial expressions, but she needed that perfect lighting and background. Reflecting back on her phone, she found just the background she needed and snapped that photo.

"And that makes another 10,000 likes on a perfect photo," she grinned. Hitting the upload button and sharing it on social media, she got off the table, ready to get back into the swing of things, back to her job. Raising a small com device, she pressed the button before speaking. "Okay, just doing another check, as Vignette insists I do... any problems so far?"

"Any problems that have happened have been taken care of," the security officer replied.

"Okay. Just, uh... report back, or whatever, or... you know what I mean," she said, cutting off that transmission. She switched it over to another channel, and spoke again. "How's the progress going with Rarity and the materials for the Light Parade?"

"She's making progress. Aside from electricity failures. I swear this woman's close to having a meltdown--"

"I'm not! Who said I'm having a meltdown!? I AM NOT HAVING A MELTDOWN!"

Click legitimately jumped from her screaming.

"... Okay. I'll just... never mind," she said, shutting off the com. Looking back at her phone, she opened up her social media, smirking as she saw the likes starting to smash on her newest photo. But her smirk faded when she went back to the original post made by Vignette; the announcement for Equestria Land which had way more likes than hers.

Still rolling her eyes, she pressed the play button.

"--now the last thing I want to announce, for everyone in the Canterlot area, we are opening up Equestria Land tomorrow, it is a brand new theme park that I am very excited for. With the summer now here and children out of school, I think this could make a fun place for everyone to just have fun, relax, and more! We've got plenty of restaurants, rides, including an arcade, we have everything for the whole family. So if any of you want to come down to start off some summer fun, come down to Equestria Land tomorrow on Saturday. And if you really want to stick around, stay for the Light Parade come later this evening. Hope to see you all real soon, have a good evening, and remember; BTTY, be true to yourself!"

And the video ended. Click still felt the green-eyed monster looking back at her, growling. Click was one of the most popular girls at Cloudsdale, and yet Vignette Valencia had more fame than her? How could that woman have more followers than her? I mean, she did love her work, but she never understood how she acclaimed such a massive following.

But her train of thought derailed when she saw an adult woman panicking to the two security officers nearby.

"... and he's all alone in the park, and I don't know what to do--"

Click's fist hit the table and she groaned in annoyance. "Oh buzz off!"

The woman was appalled at how she acted, and crossed her arms. "My child is MISSING and you're telling me to buzz off? Why I--"

"Okay, that's enough," the security guard said. "Ma'am, I'll help you."

"But, you're not--" she stopped when she saw the regular dressed man pull up a badge and ID, confirming his words. "--Ohhh..."

"I'll put out a report to the search members, what does he look like?" He asked, pulling out a small notepad.

"He's 4.7 feet tall, 8 years old, orange skin, wears denim shorts, red t-shirt with a superhero on the cover, baseball cap with a lightning bolt," she specified.

He finished scribbling the description down while Click just stood by, frustrated as all get out.

"Alright, I'll give word to the security teams, if you'll come with me please? If you see him, I'll let you know."

"Okay, yes sir, thank you sir," she said.

"No problem ma'am, that's our job. Come on."

And so the guard walked with the stressed out mother, leaving Click and the other guard alone. The other one looked at Vignette with a glare, which made her roll her eyes.

"What?"

"You could have done something to help, even if it's on a microscopic level."

"It's not my job to look for lost brats."

It was now the guard's turn to scoff. "Why Vignette hired you, I will never understand..."

"Ugh, I'm taking a break! If Vignette asks where I am, telling her I'm checking on Rarity," she said, stomping away.

The guard raised a brow under the sunglasses. "... But you're not."

"Just tell her, or you're fired!"

"That's not your job."

"AGH!!!"

Getting as far away from the guard as she could, she sat in the shade under the protection of an umbrella covering one of the tables. Angrily chewing on her salad like a hungry animal,"--Can't be mean, can't scare away customers, oh bite me! How does that woman have more followers than me?"

She looked down at her phone, feeling a tad bit spiteful at the moment. Not enough to write an angry post, but still, she wasn't feeling great.

"Over three million followers, just, how? Ugh. If I had all that popularity, maybe people might give me a bit more respect around here. If I only I could put a filter on real life..."

Of course she knew if anyone had heard her, they'd probably say something snarky like 'quite whining' or 'first world problems' or whatnot. She knew she'd be mocked, for sure, and that wasn't something she was going to let people see. She wasn't about to let such an image ruin her.

"Maybe 10,000 likes on a perfect picture will do the trick," she said, feeling a bit better already.

She set the camera ready to snap a photo, making sure her food was in frame. But when she snapped the photo, a bright beam flashed against the salad and zapped it away from existence.

She yelped from shock and nearly dropped her phone, but she didn't start running. "What the... did Bold install a new app on my phone?" She said out loud, looking around. Looking through her photos, she found a few more random pictures of food she took, just looking. Out of curiosity, she pressed on a picture of a plate covered in donuts. And soon a holographic projection appeared right before her eyes, setting itself on the table.

Reaching her hand over, she touched the presumed plate, only to see there was none. Her hand just went right through the holographic projection, even fizzing a bit when she just put one finger. But one way or another, she had an idea. An awful idea... Someone somewhere answered her prayer, and now she had the power right at her fingertips.

"Because I think I'm going to like it..." she slowly grinned.

---

Adagio, Trixie, Lyra, and Bon Bon wandered for a while now, looking for some fun rides to go on that all four members in their party would enjoy. There was a lot of variety to do, but everyone had their own specific tastes. Luckily their journey didn't go too far, and they found something they could enjoy.

"A rollercoaster?" Adagio asked, her eyes bulging out of her sockets.

"Yeah, why not?" Trixie answered, looking at the people cheering/screaming as they raced up and down on the tracks.

"I don't know..."

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Lyra chirped. "I rode these all the time when I was a kid, these are fun!"

"I got tickets for them, come on," Bon Bon said, moving up to the line. And Lyra was following right behind her.

"Ohhhh...", Adagio whined. She really didn't want to go on it, but her friends were going up on it. And if her girlfriend wanted to? She couldn't make her unhappy, she had to go on it with her.

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

Nervously, she followed after Trixie and got into the cart with her. Once they were inside, the safety bars went down, strapping them into place. And Lyra and Bon Bon sat in the seats in front of them.

"As per the norm, please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times."

"Alright, let her rip!"

Once the ride was active, the tram slowly began to rise up on the track, slowly reaching up into the air. Out of fear, Adagio's hand slowly gripped Trixie's hand, with Trixie interlacing her fingers in between hers.

"You know, I have to admit, this--this isn't so bad," Adagio said, genuinely starting to calm down a little bit. "We're not going too high... wait why are there birds up here? There shouldn't be birds up here--why can I not get off, I cannot move, why am I trapped here!? I should not be unable to move at such a high altitude--OH GOOD LORD, NO, GET ME OFF THIS THIIINNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!"

One Rollercoaster Ride Later

Once the tram was back down to the platform, the safety bars raised up. Trixie was the first to step out, completely giddy with excitement. "Whoohoo! That was fun! What about you?"

Adagio couldn't give her an answer. She had her hands glued to the safety bars, refusing to let go. Shaking, whimpering, it was like she was trapped in a closet overnight and she had extreme claustrophobia.

"Dagi?"

"We just... dropped out of the sky... and I couldn't stop it..."

Trixie yanked Adagio out of the seat (thankfully not needing a crowbar), and she could feel the siren's body shake and wobble like she was about to fall apart.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. We're off now," Trixie comforted, patting her shoulder."

"I remember World War 2...", she whimpered. "The plane just--just dropped, and I couldn't escape..." Finally snapping out of her traumatic flashback, she looked to her girlfriend, still shaking. "Trixie, I... I don't think I want to go on the next rollercoaster...", and without warning she collapses face first onto the ground. "Ow."

"Adagio, you're not going to be launched right off the rollercoaster, that's why the safety bars exist."

She was still shaking. "I've seen things..."

Lyra and Bon Bon walked back to the group concerned.

"Is she--"

"--I think she'll be okay," Trixie said, cringing a little. "I hope. Though next time, let's not take her onto a rollercoaster."

"Got it," the two girls complied.

"Well, what do you want to do now?" Bon Bon asked, while Trixie helped Adagio get back up.

"Well I don't know about you, but I think I could go for a hot dog. I'm getting hungry."

And Adagio had to cup her mouth, trying her best not to think about anything that would make her nauseous.

"... You go ahead, I don't think I'm going to eat for several hours," Adagio whimpered.

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

Poor Adagio. I may not have the same "issues" she has specifically, but I sympathize - I am *not* an uber fan of roller-coasters! XD

Sonata was really adorable in this chapter, and it was fun seeing her meet Vignette

[sonicfan05]

The bit with Sonata at the beginning was cute, especially when she met and befriended Vignette!

It would seem that Click Bait is jealous of Vignette and didn't realize that the reason why Vignette is so popular was because how nice she was to other people.

And Click Bait also has magic! Oh dear!

And poor Adagio!