Help

by WittyNameTFM

Chapter 45. The Hunt Begins!

“Okay. Where do I start?” Adagio asked, looking around, hands on her hips. She decided to forgo her usual purple performance outfit and donned the hoodie and jeans that usually accompanied her to the occasional trip to the grocery store. A faint tingle of heat was her only lead. ‘Do I really just play hot and cold until I find them?’ She groaned internally. “Alright, think. For there to be some tie to equestrian magic the target would have to have some connection to equestria as well, right?” She cupped her chin as she spoke, walking in a random direction.

“The humans here lack any magical capabilities, aside from the obvious…and whatever Trixie has going for her. As much as people joke about her talents, humans can't normally move through solid objects with just a smoke bomb.” She sighed. ‘I'm getting off track already. Why did Aria and Sonata notice different sources?’

She closed her eyes, trying to focus more on the sensation. It…actually felt closer? ‘Huh. Guess I'm at least on the right path.’ As she continued on the path, her body started to feel more sluggish. “This is wearing me out faster than I thought it would…” She admitted. “Is prolonged use really that draining?” She asked herself, recalling the old days, being able to go months before needing any rest from constant use of her magic.

“Hey, you okay?” A voice asked from her side. Adagio glanced over to see a shorter girl, an orangish brown mane caught her eye. The younger girl's golden eyes were examining Adagio's confused expression.

“What? I'm fine, who are you anyway?” She asked, stepping back. “And hasn't anyone taught you about personal space?”

“Oh, sorry. You just looked a little pale.” The girl giggled. “And you look like you're lost, and oh! I'm Autumn, Autumn Blaze. I'm a student at Crystal Prep.” She extended her hand. Adagio eyed it for a moment, but shook the extended hand.

‘No sense in being rude, I suppose. She was just curious.’ “Adagio.” She offered. “I suppose I'm a student of Canterlot High…for now.”

“Oh? Well it's nice to meet you!” She said cheerfully. “What brings you to this side of town?”

As their hands met, Adagio felt a faint twinge of heat. A remnant. She wasn't generating the magic, but she'd been near it…recently too.

“Would you believe I was just out for a stroll?”

“Strolls can definitely lead you to new places, that's for sure.” She said with a smile. “So, anything I can do to help your stroll go better?” She asked with a hopeful expression.

Adagio blinked, a bit put off by the helpful girl. “Are you just coming back from school or something?”

“Oh, yeah! But it was for practice, so I don't have my uniform on now. Feels kinda weird not having it when I go there.” She chuckled, looking down at her everyday clothing. She wore a cute plaid skirt with black leggings and a green and yellow button up with a green vest over it.

“What you're wearing could be a uniform at a different school.” Adagio noted.

“I like the style, what can I say?” Autumn shrugged with a giggle.

“Practice? Judging by the skirt it wasn't a sports thing, I'm assuming.”

“I coulda changed.”

“But your hair is dry.”

“Huh?”

“If you planned on dressing cute after working up a sweat, you'd have showered first, and since you just came from school..” Adagio shrugged.

“Woah, that was pretty cool.” Autumn said, impressed. “You got me.”

“So, what were you practicing?” ‘Maybe the source is still there…’

“I'm in the theater club, so I was doing some line reads.” She explained. “But only Sunny showed up today so we only did a little bit and then broke for the day.” She kicked a rock. “I wish the others took theater as seriously as we did…”

‘This kid is offering up way too much information to a complete stranger…’ Adagio thought, feeling a little guilty for pressing her. “Listen, I appreciate you checking on me, but you should really be careful with approaching people you don't know.” She crossed her arms. “You never know who they could be.”

“Oh, I've got a pretty good sense of who to avoid.” Autumn boasted proudly. “You looked like you needed help, too.”

Adagio's stern expression softened a bit. “Well thank you, Autumn. You did end up helping me.”

“I did?”

“You did.” She nodded. “When is your club's next performance?”

“For the public? It's…” Autumn checked her phone. “A few weeks out, but I could try to get you tickets.” She offered with a smile.

“That would be wonderful.” Adagio smiled also, extending her hand. “Let me see your phone for a second.”

Autumn tilted her head, but did as asked.

‘Ugh! You could get robbed so easily…’ She groaned internally, though she quickly opened the contacts and added her number. “Give me a call sometime, Autumn. I'll repay your kindness by helping you out whenever you need it.” She held the phone back out, giving her a wink as Autumn took it.

The faint red on her light gold cheeks made Adagio smirk internally. Flirting came second nature to her, as much as Autumn played off the teasing, some of them were landing.

“H-Heh, of course!” She chuckled almost nervously.

“Take care, Autumn. See you soon.” She said with a wave.

“O-Oh, right, bye! Hope your stroll goes well!”

‘Oh, it's gone flawlessly.’ Adagio smirked as she walked toward the nearest bus stop.

Autumn looked down at her phone, spotting the new contact name saved as “Adagio~<3”. Her legs suddenly felt a lot more wobbly. “Wait, she said I dressed cute…and I got her number? What just happened?!”

Her shout made a few passers-by glance over in confusion.

As Adagio took her seat on the bus, she crossed her leg as she cupped her chin. ‘Sunny. You'll be my next lead…when I'm not so exhausted.’ She deflated in the seat. ‘WAIT! I actually gave Autumn my number! Damn. I got too caught up in the moment.’ She pinched the bridge of her nose.

---

“Okay. I can do this.” Sonata said to herself, resting her fists on her hips. Her confidence waned slightly as she searched for the source of the warmth from the day prior. ‘It was faint at best then…’ She sighed. ‘I wonder if Dagi could help…no! No. You're capable without them, Sonata.’ She reminded herself.

She crossed her arms as she tried to recall the direction of the source. From the school, it was in the vicinity of the city…though that didn't do much to narrow it down. ‘Okay. What's in town? Restaurants, the library, some of those clubs that we used to go to before we lost our magic…’ She giggled. ‘Those were the days.’

Nothing of note really stood out to her. The miscellaneous buildings obviously housed businesses that she'd never needed to interact with, so to Sonata they were just dead space to mark off. The mental map was more detailed than you'd imagine, but there were a lot of blind spots. Wasn't there something she was missing?

“The school! There's another school!” She tapped her fist into her open palm upon revelation. “Oh…what was the name of that place?” She asked herself as she started on the path. “Crystal something? Didn't they have a thing at our school recently? Maybe they got the magic bug from that?”

She reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. She typed in ‘crystal school’ and the name popped up instantly. “Ooh. There we go. Crystal prep. Man. I wish we got to compete in the friendship games thingie…” She sighed, “Oh yeah, didn't that girl Aria helped out go to this school?”

It didn't take long for her to find the campus and with a self assured nod, she wandered in. The warmth was faint…whatever she was feeling could be found here, though it wasn't here at the moment. ‘Maaaaaan.’ She sighed, looking around. “This place is snazzy.”

A brief bout of disappointment vanished as the warmth got closer. She looked around for any sign of a person, an animal, anything. She spotted a pink ponytail bobbing from over the hedge. She quickly followed after it, the warmth getting more noticeable as she approached.

“I told you not to follow me out here.” A feminine voice said from the warmth's direction. Sonata tilted her head. The hedges around the school weren't very high, so seeing the girl herself, she just barely stood high enough to peek over it. If there were someone with her they'd be seen.

The answer to her unasked question came when she heard a faint meow. ‘A kitty?’ She blinked.

“Oh, fuck. The vets are all probably closed…” The girl's calmer demeanor seemed to fade slightly.

Sonata decided to poke her head out, spotting the girl cupping a small kitten in her hands as she walked.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Not now, I'm busy.” Sour spat as she pushed past her.

“Well obviously, but what happened?” She asked as she followed behind her.

“What do you care?”

“Just curious, I guess. Is it bad?”

“She snuck out of the house and a neighborhood dog tried to kill her.” Sour said with a frown, instinctively holding her close. “I don't know if it's bad, but I know she's hurt.”

“What about Fluttershy?” Sonata asked. “She works at a shelter, she knows a lot about animals.”

“Why do you think she'd bother with someone she doesn't know?”

“Because she loves animals.”

Sour rolled her eyes. “I love animals too, that doesn't just magically make me able to…” A soft glow came from her hands, both girls stopping at the light. The faint mewing got stronger as the kitten seemed to be in less pain, ultimately the little black kitten jumped onto Sour's shoulder after the light faded.

“Pepper, you're okay?” She asked, earning a gentle headbutt to her cheek. A relieved sigh brought the girl to her knees, Sonata almost instinctively tried to catch her, easing her down.

“Whoa there, are you okay?” She asked.

“I'm…kinda light headed. What was that?”

“Looked like magic to me.” Sonata said plainly.

“...what.” The girl asked, staring at her blankly.

Sonata shrugged. “You asked.”

“And how would you-”

“I used to be a magic stealing siren in Equestria.” Sonata said with a smile. “Oh, but I don't do that anymore, promise. My name's Sonata Dusk! Nice to meet you.”

“...Of course it's something to do with that school…” She sighed. “So…what, I just have powers like the Rainbooms now?”

“I'm honestly a bit surprised you didn't have any questions about the ‘magic stealing siren’ thing, but that's okay. Makes things easier.” She giggled. “I may not be the best at planning, but if I were in your position,” Sonata stood, holding out her hand. “I'd come with me. The girls can help you learn how to control this, just in case it could be something dangerous. Sure, we just saw it do something good…but we don't know if that's all you can do.”

Sour glanced at Pepper. “You seem way too prepared with that offer. You were looking for people with powers, weren't you?”

“Guilty.” She chuckled. “But only because we've been given a second chance with our own. I'm not letting this chance go to waste. Adagio, Aria and I each sensed a different source…and we'd rather make sure it isn't a threat. Luckily…you don't wanna kill me. Yet.”

“If you'd met me about a year ago? Maybe…” She reached up, taking the hand. “Could you still find out if Fluttershy can check on her?”

Sonata helped her to her feet. “Absolutely! She'll be fawning over your little one before you know it!” She said with a bright smile.

“Man…how do I tell my friends about this?”

“Hmm,” Sonata crossed her arms as she walked with her. “Well, after we know what you're capable of, we can figure it out from there. Plus the girls could probably give better advice than me.”

“You sound like you aren't confident in your advice. You're aware that you've done well enough to convince me to come with you, right?”

“Well, I'm just not usually trusted with such important stuff, so I'm trying my best not to screw it up.”

“You're doing fine. Believe in yourself more.” Sour huffed. “Sour Sweet, by the way. Thanks for asking.”

“Did I not ask?”

“You didn't.”

Sonata sighed. “Man…”

Sour mulled around a couple thoughts as they walked, a sudden realization hitting her. “Wait, I'm not walking into a like…test facility or something right? Or being captured or something?”

“Huh? No! They may ask if you wanna do some tests, but you're not…we're gonna meet up with Sunset and her friends. Not some weird science team.” She paused. “I mean, the Twilight from this world would be kinda like that…but she won't go strapping you to a table or anything.”

“Twilight? Of course she'd be interested in studying magic, doesn't she have a bunch of people to study there?”

Sonata shrugged. “We just became aware of other magic users in the last few days. Guess we're trying to find out if there are any threats out there.”

“...Just as long as I can leave when I want.”

“I'm sure they won't keep you.”

---

Aria strolled through downtown, searching for the static feeling. It wasn't as pronounced as the other day. ‘This is gonna be a pain, isn't it?’

Her phone buzzed and she reached to grab it.

“Aria.” She answered.

“Come back to the school, Sonata brought her target in.” Adagio said on the other side.

“Huh?! She's already got her's?!”

“I was just as surprised, but she's at the lab with Sunset now.”

“She's never gonna let us forget this…”

“Aria, she needed this win. Don't rain on her parade.”

Aria sighed. “You're right. Tell her I said ‘good job’, I'll head there now. How'd you do?”

“I have a lead, and we may need to go to Crystal Prep, my lead and Sonata's target are both students there. It may be a safe bet to continue our searches from there.”

“Well, that's helpful at least. Alright, see you soon.”

“What'd she say?” Sonata asked excitedly as Adagio returned to the lab.

“She said you did well. Her exact words were ‘good job’, you know how hard it is to get any praise out of her.”

“That's enough.” Sonata said, with a beaming smile.

Fluttershy idly played with Pepper, examining her as Sunset and Twilight assessed Sour's power.

“It's kinda crazy for someone from your old school to get powers…” Sunset noted.

“They were here when you and I had our battle…” Twilight said with a frown. “If I've ended up dragging them into-”

“Oh cut that out.” Sour huffed. “First time I talk to you since you transferred and you apologize?” She crossed her arms. “No way that egghead of yours coulda planned something like this happening. Not your fault.”

“O-Oh…I- but,”

“How about this? You forgive me for being a royal bitch to you and you can consider this whole thing square.”

“I…never held that against you, Sour.” Twilight said. “I'm no psychiatrist, but I always figured your outbursts weren't your choice.” She adjusted her glasses. “Your shocked expressions after saying hurtful things lends credence to the theory, but I never wanted to prod a potentially sore subject.”

Sour's expression dropped. “Y-You knew?”

“It was a theory, nothing concrete…more like ‘I suspected’.” She corrected her.

Sour took a few steps toward Twilight. “Listen you-” She stopped herself, showing clear signs of struggle. She put her hands on Twilight's shoulders. “I didn't think I was ready…” She said, pulling her into a hug.

Twilight was surprised by the sudden action, hesitantly returning the affection.

“Give me a sec…sorry.” Sour mumbled. “I didn't think I'd face you so soon.” She pulled away. “My therapist said I really needed closure from how I treated you.”

“You've been seeing a professional?” She asked.

“Due to the others. We all had a pretty rough awakening after you left. We've been working on a lot since then…” She admitted.

“Is that why you asked if I could talk with Sugarcoat?” Twilight asked, looking to Sunset.

“I think she needs closure too.” Sunset shrugged.

“If I'd known how much pain I've put on you all, I would have done something sooner…” Twilight frowned.

“How could you have known? We weren't so open with our feelings. Still aren't, to be honest.”

“You're doing much better.” Twilight giggled. “Now…would you let us see your power?”

“...Right.” Sour nodded, holding up her arms as Twilight and Sunset began fitting the equipment onto her.

Author's Note:

Surprise! The first of the bolts to get their power wasn't Indigo! Well, officially anyway...
Hope you enjoyed. I'm having fun with the dazzlings. Adagio being perceptive and quick witted and Sonata being far smarter than she lets on, we already know that Aria cares more than she'll admit, but I've got more stuff with her coming along as well, the story she was writing in the last chapter for example

Comments

[The Sleepless Beholder]

Sirens on top of the Shadowbolts? You spoil me.

Glad for Sonata to get the win here, and Pepper getting the help they needed. I wonder who Aria picked up.

also Autumn and Adagio were really cute

[WittyNameTFM]

11859730
I tried to go out of the box and pair up some off the wall combos, just to see how they played off one another. I enjoyed the Adagio and Autumn stuff because they just flowed so well.

I want to write more with Pepper involved, every one of those cute cat videos I see when scrolling through shorts on youtube makes me think about how Sour has a cat, we can do something there.

While most people characterize Sonata as being sorta brain dead, nothing wrong with it, I want to do something more like...she's usually not the one having to do the thinking, so people just assume she's not smart. When in reality she's just as capable, but more used to relying on the orher two.