The silly adventures of Sonata in her new life at Canterlot high
After the Battle of the Bands, Sonata finds herself dumped by her friends and ends up staying at Canterlot High, hopefully with the help of a few of the students and two new kids she can fit in, hijinks are sure to ensue
The Wacky Adventures of Sonata Dusk at Canterlot High
Chapter 1: Backlash
It had been a week since the Battle of the Bands at Canterlot High School. Life at the school for the most part had returned to normal, yet a few blocks from the school a dejected looking Sonata walked down the street, wet makeup staining her face. Her bloodshot eyes were puffy, a telltale indicator that she recently cried.
As she walked down the street Sonata recalled what had happened merely three days after the Battle of the Bands.
*Flashback to a few days ago*
Sonata sat at the back of a diner with her friends Adagio and Aria; it was the same greasy spoon they visited countless times before. This time, though, they did their best to keep a low profile given that the town was less than keen about the trio after they had tried to enslave Canterlot High in an attempt to regain their siren powers.
Sonata looked to each of her friends-- Aria looked unengaged as usual and Adagio just looked bored and miffed.
"Ugh, I can't believe we have to sulk in the back like this," Aria groaned. The back of the diner was not very well kept, it was dusty, had a few cobwebs and was poorly lit to boot.
"We were so close! That stupid Twilight Sparkle and her friends ruined everything." Adagio clenched her fists, her words a low growl. "If I ever see any of them again-"
"You say that as if we'd actually be able to get within forty feet of them, if anyone from Canterlot High saw us on school grounds they'd probably kick our butts something fierce," Aria interjected. She was right, of course, the students certainly weren't in a forgiving mood after what they had tried to do. "I'm done with this town, I say we just move on-"
"To where?!" Adagio snapped. "In case you aren't aware, news about us is all over the Web, the whole world knows what we are and what we did."
"So what you’re saying is… we're basically screwed?" Aria asked.
Adagio donned a disgusted and annoyed look. "Yep, our names are now complete mud." Adagio smacked her face onto the table in defeat.
Sonata, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up. "Um girls...maybe it won't be so bad?”
Aria turned and addressed Sonata. "Yeah, maybe not...if you weren't The Worst."
Sonata attempted to respond. "Am-"
"You know what...Aria is right."
Sonata faced back toward Adagio. "Wait, what?"
Adagio lifted her head off the table. "I agree with Aria, you ARE the worst, Sonata." She glared at Sonata; the blue-haired teen shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You know, maybe if you had actually taken all that seriously, we could have pulled it off," Adagio stood, her face getting red and the volume of her voice rising. "But no, as always, you were too off in your little world of gumdrops and pudding."
Aria glared at Sonata and added her own verbal lashing. "You’re a compete joke Sonata! You don't take anything seriously; it’s all a little kid’s game to you."
Sonata felt herself shrinking "Thats not-"
Adagio slammed her fist on the table causing Sonata to jump in her seat. "You’re nothing but an ignorant child, Sonata, and let me tell you...when I started planning our revenge...baby-sitting was not on the to-do list."
Sonata reeled at the stinging insult. "A-Adagio, you don't mean that."
Adagio's face was now violently red with barely concealed anger. "Oh yes I do, I mean every single word...you know what, I think me and Aria can handle ourselves just fine as a duet."
Sonata's face paled a bit at that comment. "W-What do you mean?"
Adagio gritted her teeth and came nose to nose with Sonata. "I mean...get yourself some new friends."
Sonata felt her heart skip a beat, unable to respond.
Adagio turned away from her former friend. "Come on Aria, let’s get out of here."
Aria glared at Sonata one final time, then turned back to Adagio. "Right behind you Adagio." She then got up and followed the now other half of the Dazzlings out the back door.
Sonata quickly pulled herself together and ran after her friends. "Aria, Adagio wait, let’s not be hasty about this, I'm sure we can work this-"
*SMACK*
Sonata fell silent and slowly put her hand to her cheek; it felt hot and a red hand print appeared where Adagio had slapped her 'former' best friend.
Sonata looked at Adagio with a hurt and heartbroken expression, and a single tear rolled down her cheek as she was unable to form any sort of response to Adagio's action.
"Come on Aria, let’s go, I think the baby is about to cry."
Adagio pulled up her hood, while Aria did the same; the two walked off while a stunned Sonata stood there trying to process what had just transpired.
Sonata collapsed to her knees and remained silent for a good minute or two, then she covered her eyes and began to cry. With each passing minute her crying got louder and heavier, the tears continuing until she didn't have any tears left to cry. Emotionally exhausted, she then got up and walked a few blocks around the city before finally going to the park and laying down on the grass to get some sleep.
This was the cycle Sonata repeated for the next four days-- she walked to the diner, cried for a bit, walked a couple of blocks around the city and then went to sleep at the park.
*Flashback to the present*
Today however would be different for Sonata; she found herself straying off her usual path and unknown to her she was walking towards Canterlot High. Some of the music class students were hanging out in front of the school and spotted Sonata walking towards the school.
Octavia was first to speak. "Hey, it’s that rotten siren Sonata."
"But where are Adagio and Aria, and why aren't they with her?" one of the other musicians asked.
Sonata paid them no mind and kept walking with the same lifeless eyes she had at the start of her walk. Without thinking, Sonata strolled into the school lobby.
There were only a few students but they almost immediately stared at Sonata when she walked in the door; again, Sonata paid them no mind as she was off in her own world again...however it wasn't the 'Gumdrops and Pudding' it usually was; this time, it was cloudy and grey.
Sonata then bumped into something, and for the first time today moved her eyes from the ground to look at what she ran into...and she almost immediately snapped back to reality when she saw she had bumped into Principal Celestia.
Sonata put two and two together in an instant and realized she had waltzed into Canterlot High, the same place her and her...'former' friends had tried to take over with their siren magic, she backed away slowly as if she had just ran into a large thug with a lead pipe in a back alley.
Principal Celestia responded in a tone that was much more curious then angry. "What are you doing here, Sonata?"
Sonata began stammering, desperately trying to form an answer. "I-I...well...y-you see...I..." All at once, the shock, panic and the lack of food in the last few days merged in an overwhelming wave. The Siren-turned-teenager began to collapse from fatigue. Principal Celestia’s faint voice echoed in her ears before the darkness fully overtook her.
"Get her to the nurse's office...You! Go get her something to eat… poor thing looks like she hasn't eaten in days..."
Just before everything faded to black, Sonata felt herself be picked up and felt her arm wrapping around someone's neck; the last she saw was a pair of headphones as the exhaustion finally caught up with her.
Sonata's eyes fluttered open and she squinted at the bright lights. She took a quick look around and put together that she was in the nurse's office and that she was brought there after she had passed out.
She sat up and heard a growling coming from her long empty tummy; she hadn't eaten in a few days as she was broke, considering Adagio and Aria usually paid for her meals.
Sonata let out a sigh upon thinking about Adagio and Aria. She resisted the urge to start crying again as she didn't want to make a big fuss for the school nurse. She wished there was some way she could go back and fix this whole mess.
Sonata then overheard the nurse talking with another student.
"Thank you for patching Lyra up, Ms. Cadenza," the student said.
"I told you that you don't have to call me that Bon-Bon; none of you have to call me that, Cadence is just fine," the nurse replied.
Bon-Bon chuckled. "I know I know, it’s just weird talking so casually with you or the other faculty members."
"I suppose I understand what you mean, but it’s nothing major really, quite a few students call Principal Celestia 'Principal Tia' from time to time and it doesn't bother her at all," Cadence said to Bon-Bon.
"Alright, well thank you…. Nurse Cadence." Bon-Bon then turned to Lyra, her eyes angry, yet tempered by concern. "Now try not to do anything else stupid like that, Lyra."
Lyra’s retort was swift. "Hey! How was I supposed to know lunch cart racing was dangerous?"
"The moment Lightning Dust suggested it," Bon-Bon said dryly.
Lyra scratched the back of her neck. "Heh heh, point taken."
Bon-Bon grabbed her best friend by the arm; the two of them left the nurse's office arguing the same as when they entered.
Sonata watched them leave then turned to the pink haired nurse. "H-Hello there," she squeaked.
Cadence smiled at her timid patient. "Hello there, my name is Cadence, what's yours?"
"It’s Sonata; Sonata Dusk." She rubbed her growling stomach as she was getting increasingly hungry.
"It’s nice to meet you Sonata. Don't worry about your tummy; Principal Celestia ordered someone to get you some food from the cafeteria," Cadence assured her.
"Whoa wait, I couldn't possibly accept that offer," Sonata said. Especially after everything Aria, Adagio, and I did...she thought to herself.
Cadence chuckled. "Well, it’s a little late to say no. It’s already here."
Sonata turned to the door and squee’d; Cadence's assistant, Nurse Redheart, was holding a tray full of tacos.
"Here you go miss, I hope you like-" she started before the tray was snatched from her hands and Sonata started chowing down . "-Tacos." Redheart finished. The two nurses shared a brief laugh as Sonata munched away.
Redheart smiled, addressing Sonata. "You make sure to thank the young lass over there for getting you here so quick." She pointed to the chairs near the door.
Sonata saw a pale looking girl with blue hair and headphones sitting in one of the chairs, apparently asleep...however she was still bobbing her head, most likely to the tunes from her headphones.
Wait, that’s the DJ that helped Twilight and her friends kick our butts, Sonata thought to herself.
Sonata took her tray and moved over to the open seat next to the sleeping DJ. Sonata gave her a gentle shake and she woke right up.
"Hey, thanks for giving me a hand." Sonata smiled; it was both warm and genuine. And it felt right.
"You’re totally welcome. Name’s Vinyl Scratch by the way, Sonata." Vinyl offered Sonata a fist bump
Sonata reeled for a second thinking Vinyl was going to hit her but then remember that it was a form of greeting and returned the fist bump.
Vinyl gave Sonata a pat on the back and a smile.
Sonata returned the smile, but it wavered before slowly morphing into a frown. "But Vinyl… after all the bad things we did, why are you being so nice to me?"
"It’s ‘cause you got a good heart to ya, Sonata," Vinyl said before giving her a quick hug.
Sonata smiled, a warm blush filling her pale cheeks, and offered a taco to her new friend.
"Don't mind if I do," Vinyl said as she took the taco and started munching away at it with reckless abandon.
Cadence walked over, addressing the both of them. "After you two are done with your late lunch, Principal Celestia wanted to see both of you in her office."
Both of them nearly choked on the tacos they were eating.
Sonata was the first to respond. "W-What does Celestia want to see me for?"
"Better yet, why does she want to see me?" Vinyl asked "I haven't broken a single window with my custom boombox all week." Cadence simply shrugged. "You got me. Just try not to keep her waiting."
The two of them quickly finished their last tacos before rushing to the Principal's office, Vinyl darn near choking on hers in the process. They both arrived and took a seat in front of Celestia's desk.
"You wanted to see us, boss lady?" Vinyl asked.
"Yes I did...and really, Vinyl, is it so hard for you to just call me Principal?" Celestia inquired.
Vinyl just shrugged as Sonata spoke up. "Um...Miss Celestia I'm...I'm sorry about-"
"Yes about that, Sonata…. how would you like the chance to start over?" Celestia cut in.
Sonata's eyes widened. "Y-Yes I'd love a chance to start over, what are you-"
Celestia interjected and asked, "How would you like to enroll here at Canterlot High?"
Sonata went silent, then started thinking to herself. A chance to start over and actually live like a normal person?
Celestia then asked something she wished she hadn't. "Sonata, where are your friends Aria and Adagio?"
The smile disappeared from Sonata's face as soon as she heard the names of her former best friends; a frown rapidly took its place.
Then her bottom lip began to quiver and she started sniffling.
Vinyl realized what was about to happen. "Uh oh, touchy subject."
"Sonata I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" Celestia began before she saw tears beginning to form in Sonata's eyes.
"No no no, please don't cry Sonata it'll be al-" Celestia tried but to no avail.
Sonata began crying hard and loud, her make-up began running down her face as Vinyl tried to calm her down.
Vinyl began rubbing Sonata's back which seemed to help a bit "Hey Tia, can you hand me the ziplock bag in my backpack?"
Celestia nodded and pulled out a ziplock bag filled with what smelled like freshly baked cookies. Vinyl took the bag and handed a cookie to Sonata who took it and began nibbling at it.
"Now why don't you take a deep breath and tell us what happened?" Vinyl asked Sonata.
Sonata nodded and told them what had happened to her and her friends after the Battle of the Bands.
*15 minutes later*
"That's about all of it." Sonata said as she finished her second cookie.
Vinyl and Celestia stared in silence before Vinyl spoke up. "Damn, that is cold...Um, pardon my French."
Celestia waved it off. "It’s quite alright Vinyl, but yes, that does sound very cold."
"I mean even for Adagio that’s really mean." Vinyl said.
Sonata sniffled and asked, "Miss Celestia, why are you giving me this chance after everything I did?"
Celestia simply smiled and said "it doesn't take our best science teachers to see that you have a good heart Sonata."
Vinyl smiled, adding, "Exactly what I said. Sonata, just stick with me and you'll be just fine."
Sonata’s smile slowly returned. "Thank you...both of you, this is so kind of you."
Vinyl chuckled. "Think nothing of it. Hey… wanna come crash at my place tonight?"
Sonata thought it over for a bit before responding. "Sure, I'd love to, Vinyl."
Vinyl gave Sonata a playful noogie, then said, "Alright, lets hit the road." She took her new best bud by the hand; together, they ran off to Vinyl's house.
Moments after observing the scene unfold firsthand, Vice Principal Luna walked in and said to Celestia, "Does anyone want to tell them there’s five minutes till the bell?"
Celestia merely chuckled and smiled while shaking her head.
After a short walk up a long driveway, Vinyl opened her home’s door to Sonata, and the pair entered Vinyl Scratch’s spacious and tastefully furnished abode. It was a house. A real house, with multiple floors and, Sonata hoped, a backyard to play in. It was a far cry from the slummy fourth-floor studio apartment Sonata had shared with Adagio and Aria. No secret knocks, no keys unlocking half a dozen deadbolts, no perverted bum holding a bottle of hooch in one hand, and trying to grab her ass with the other.
Vinyl just opened the door, and walked right in. Sonata seemed a bit confused. Not just at the manner in which her new pal casually entered her home, but at how toned down and laid back the décor seemed, considering Vinyl was a DJ. Bucolic paintings of apple orchards and farmhouses hung upon the cream-colored walls, and the sweet smell of fresh flowers filled the air.
"Mom! I'm home," Vinyl called out, "and I brought a friend over."
Sonata turned and saw a youthful woman, not yet in her 40s, with hair similar to Vinyl's except longer and more kempt. Vinyl’s mother, Sonata assumed, had irises of a more red hue as opposed to Vinyl's magenta eyes. Other than that, they looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.
"Oh Vinyl, who’s…" She stopped mid-sentence, shooting Sonata an icy glare. “Wait. I saw your picture in the newspapers. Weren’t you one of those girls that tried to take over my daughter's school?"
Sonata felt herself melting under the wilting gaze. "U-um, well y-you see…"
Vinyl stepped forward, positioning herself between friend and parent. "Mom chill, she’s had it pretty rough since then." Vinyl walked over to her mom and whispered an abridged version of Sonata's story.
Vinyl's mother’s glare softened after hearing of Sonata’s heartbreaking woes. "That’s…that’s an awful thing, what happened to you. If my sweetie trusts you, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But if you do anything to hurt her…"
"Mom calm down, seriously. Everything is under control." Vinyl reassured her mom, giving her a pat on the back.
Vinyl's mom smiled. "Alright alright, I get it.” She turned to Sonata, extending her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jasmine. But please, call me Jazz.”
The siren hesitated briefly, before extending her own hand and shaking Jazz’s with a gentle grip. “Sonata.”
“That’s a nice name. Sonata. I like it.” Jazz turned back to her daughter, eyebrow raised questioningly. “Now, wasn't one of your other friends coming over as well?"
"Oh yeah, that’s right. Thanks for reminding me, Mom. Where’s Dad, by the way?" Vinyl asked her mother.
Vinyl's mom frowned. "He's working late again, Vinyl."
Vinyl’s face twisted in annoyance. "Oh come on. Again?"
"You know he does it because he loves you; I mean, that car cost an arm and a leg, missy, even with Mr. Witwicky’s generous discounts." Vinyl's mom smirked at the last bit of her comment.
Vinyl chuckled and scratched the back of her neck. "Heheheh, yeeeah."
Sonata stood there in silence, saying nothing. She never knew her mother or even if she had one; it made her feel both happy and sad to see Vinyl interact with hers.
Just then the doorbell rang out, a four toned chime. "I’ve got the door," Vinyl added, crossing the living room before opening it. "Hey, Tavi."
Vinyl’s new guest rolled her eyes at the nickname. Octavia was a lovely name; much too pretty to be butchered, truncated, or otherwise altered. It peeved her that her best friend couldn’t just take the effort to sound out two extra syllables. Oc-tav-i-a. "Why do you insist on calling me that?" she replied.
Before Vinyl could respond, Octavia saw Sonata conversing with Vinyl's mom. "What is she doing here?!" Octavia asked quite snappily.
"Octavia calm down, okay?” Vinyl pleaded, her voice dropping to a low whisper. "Sonata is gonna crash at my house for…. a bit."
Octavia sighed. “And what makes you think she’s changed since her friends and her were beaten?"
"Well she’s got a good heart to-" Octavia didn't even let Vinyl finish before practically dragging her to Vinyl's bedroom.
Once behind closed doors, Octavia scoffed. "A good heart?! Are you serious, Vinyl?" Octavia rubbed the bridge of her nose. "That has got to be the most ham-fisted thing I've ever heard. I mean, I can see Principal Celestia saying that, but you?" Octavia shook her head.
Vinyl countered, "Oh my god, are we really gonna do this?"
Octavia looked almost disgusted at Vinyl’s comments. "How are you taking this so casually?!"
"Tavi… just give it a rest, okay?" Vinyl rubbed her temples in exasperation.
"She’s a bloody siren, Vinyl. How can you possibly think she can be redeemed?" Octavia lashed at her friend.
Vinyl’s temper reached a boiling point. "How about we leave it at, YOU are not me, therefore I make my own decisions… alright?"
Octavia just shot Vinyl a disappointed glare. "Fine...but when she’s trying to possess the school again, don't bother coming to me...I won't feel very up to saying I told you so."
Vinyl sighed. "Sure, whatevs Tavi… be a big freaking jerk about it."
Octavia didn't even bother responding, simply getting up to leave. She made it as far as the door before Vinyl responded. "You do realize if you’re gonna stay the night, that you’re gonna have to get along with Sonata, right?"
Octavia paused and facepalmed. In her anger at seeing Sonata, she had completely forgotten that Vinyl had invited her to sleep over that night.
Vinyl smirked. "Didn't think this whole thing through, did you?"
Octavia glanced over her shoulder. "Remind me why we're friends again?"
Vinyl smiled, her smirk morphing into a genuine grin. “I don't know, you tell me, Tavi."
Octavia sighed but then smiled as well; she didn't know why, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stay mad at Vinyl regardless of their past quarrels, spats, and squabbles.
Octavia let out another sigh. "Alright, I'll try to get along with her...keyword is try."
Vinyl nodded as they walked back to Sonata with Octavia following her. Sonata was in the process of exploring Vinyl's house, examining the various bric-à-brac scattered throughout the living room. Vinyl strolled over to Sonata and patted her on the shoulder, addressing her new friend. "Hey Sonata, what'cha doing?"
Sonata replied, half smiling, a contemplative look on her face. "Oh well, being a siren I'm not used to staying in one place. Aria, Adagio, and I would always roam finding places to feed off magic."
Vinyl smiled. "Chill Sonata; you don't have to worry about a thing. Me and Tavi will take good care of ya."
Octavia curtly added, "Um excuse me, when exactly did I agree to helping a siren?"
"Tavi, can we please not start this?" Vinyl said as she rolled her eyes, not wanting to argue over this subject with her friend again.
Octavia threw her arms in the air in exasperation. "Fine, whatever...Octavia, how do you get yourself tangled into these situations...oh right, it’s because you’re friends with Vinyl!" she added, mockingly.
Vinyl stuck her tongue out at Octavia and grinned. Octavia returned the smile before turning to Sonata, giving her the stink eye. "Don't try anything funny, understand?"
Sonata, feeling slightly intimidated, replied, "Uh, o-ok Miss Tavi…"
"It’s Octavia, Oc-tav-i-a!" Octavia snapped at Sonata.
Sonata quickly hid behind Vinyl for safety. "Eep, I'm sorry Miss Octavia."
Octavia took a deep breath in before addressing Sonata, more calmly this time. "It’s…. alright, I apologize for that unneeded outburst."
Vinyl patted them both on the back, proud of their bonding moment. "Alright ladies, it’s time to get this sleepover…” she added, as she slowly removed her glasses and continued, “…under way."
Jazz hurried through the living room, car keys jangling in her right hand and clutch purse in her left. "Alright, you girls have fun! I'm off to run some errands… I can trust you to look after yourself and your friends tonight, Vinyl?" Vinyl was dismissive, waving off her mom as Jazz opened the living room door.
"Don't sweat it mom, I totes got this handled."
Vinyl's mom smirked, eyebrow raised. "Last time you said that we had to completely repair the bathroom."
"M-mom, I thought we were over that….incident." Vinyl's cheeks gained a slight blush.
Vinyl's mom shook her head, a small smile on her face. "It’s alright, I trust you, have a good time you three." Walking through the opened door, Jazz pulled it shut behind her, and the musical jingle of moving keys faded slowly. Not wanting to be obvious about her observations, Vinyl waited until the telltale sound of her mom’s car’s muffler was inaudible before turning back to her guests.
Vinyl proudly pumped her fist in the air. "Alright girls, let’s get into our PJs and kick this night off, right now."
Sonata tapped Vinyl on the shoulder. Her face was flushed, and she grinned sheepishly. "Um Vinyl...I don't own any PJs..."
"Well, that’s no good,” Vinyl laughed, a braying guffaw that made Octavia roll her eyes. “Don't worry I'll spot ya, you can totes borrow one of my pairs."
With that, the three of them went and changed into their respective pajamas. Vinyl's pajamas were a dark blue neon with a soundwave on the back. Octavia's pair was in a silverish gray with letters styled like music notes that spelled Octavia and Sonata's were a dark green with an amplifier made of lightning bolts on the back.
"Alright, now let’s get this night started proper. Sonata, can you make us a bag of popcorn while me and Octy get the room ready for the festivities?" Vinyl asked her new bestie.
Sonata nodded eagerly. "Yeah sure, I can do that."
Vinyl smiled and gave Sonata a thumbs-up. "Sweet! Let’s go get my room totes sleepover ready Octy."
Octavia rolled her eyes and cracked a smile "Oh, so it’s Octy now huh?"
The two went to Vinyl's room as Sonata went to make the popcorn, she found the air popper rather easily but the popcorn took a while to find. Finally Sonata found a twenty pound bag of popcorn kernels in the cupboard, missing the three one-pound bags in the shadows of the cabinet. "Alright, I found it."
Meanwhile Octavia and Vinyl had finished prepping Vinyl's room. Each of them had a bean bag chair to sit in, there were plenty of snacks and drinks for the three of them, sans popcorn, and there was a nice air mattress for each of them once they finally turned in.
Octavia turned to Vinyl. "So if you have all this food here...why did you want Sonata to make popcorn?"
"Come on Octy, you can't start a sleepover without popcorn," Vinyl answered flatly.
Octavia was about to argue her friend's point before she realized she had never been to a sleepover that didn't start with popcorn. She supposed Vinyl was right in this case.
Sonata then walked back in the room. "Alright girls, the popcorn should be ready any minute now."
"Cool, thanks Sonata!" Vinyl high fived her blue-haired buddy. "Hey, have you gotten any word from Principal Celestia about re-enrolling yet?"
Sonata began, "Well not-"
Dark soda sprayed from Octavia’s mouth. "WHAT?! She’s re-enrolling at Canterlot High?!" Octavia blurted out in confusion, her tone a mix of shock and anger.
"No come on Octy, a little louder, we gotta make sure people over in Baltimare can hear you clear as day," Vinyl dryly replied to her friend's outburst. Octavia was about to argue with her friend again, but when she came to the conclusion that it would just be a game of verbal ring around the rosy, she decided against it. Octavia took a long, deep breath before continuing.
"Vinyl...I'm not going to press this matter anymore, but don't you think it’s not the best idea for Sonata to re-enroll, mostly because the fact she and her friends tried to take over the school and the whole ordeal is still rather fresh in the student's minds?"
"Look Octy, maybe wording my reasoning as 'She’s got a good heart' is rather shallow, so here’s what I really mean by that: Sonata never really came off to me as gleefully evil like Aria or Adagio did; I guess when I say a ‘good heart’ I mean she seems the most innocent and the most soft souled. I get you don't trust her and honestly you have every right not to, but I think if you give her a chance, she may just surprise you."
Octavia looked at Vinyl then slowly turned to Sonata who had an innocent and shy expression on her face. She almost felt guilty. "Alright…fine, I'll give her a chance Vinyl, but don't expect us to become friends overnight or anything. Sorry I've been rather cold to you, Sonata."
Sonata waved Octavia off. "Oh it’s ok, I know me and my friends- well...ex-friends did some nasty things and I don't expect anyone to forgive me very soon; heck I think Principal Celestia doesn't actually trust me…she probably just helped me cause she’s such a kind lady."
"I hate to ruin this touching moment, but the popcorn is totes mcgotes gonna burn if we don't go get it." Vinyl stood, as did Octavia and Sonata.
Octavia opened the door to go to the kitchen...and got absolutely buried in popcorn.
"O-Octy!" Vinyl exclaimed, worried about her friend’s well-being. "Where the heck did all this popcorn come from?"
Octavia clawed her way out of the mountain of popcorn, popped kernels sticking to her previously well-groomed brunette hair. "Sonata, you did only put one bag on, right?"
Sonata nodded in reply. "Yes I did, I put in just one bag of popcorn kernels like you asked, Vinyl." She pointed to the twenty pound sack of popcorn kernels on the counter, the majority of its bulk now empty.
Octavia resisted the sudden strong urge to smash her head against the wall.
Adagio scoffed as she continued walking down the back alley with Aria en route to their tucked away apartment. As her fingers fumbled with the flimsy locks, she paused, glancing sideways at the creepy bum leering at the two of them. He was close now. She could smell his sickly sweet stench of body odor and malt liquor. Aria looked nauseated.
"Lay one finger on my ass and I will break off your arm and force feed it to you," Aria threatened. The bum staggered away in an awkward rush, a wet stain slowly spreading down the front of his ripped and dingy pants. In his rush to get away, he tripped over a broken wooden pallet, dropping his supply of alcohol. His bottle of fortified wine clattered to the ground without breaking, its hollow tink tink annoying the orange-haired siren to no end.
Adagio rubbed her temples. "I swear to Celestia my sanity won't survive living here much longer.”
Aria chimed in with her usual sarcasm. "Go ahead and cry about it; this isn't easy for me either. Maybe you should just suck. It. Up.”
"I don't recall asking for your opinion." Adagio snarkily replied.
"Whatever Ms. Cheese Puff.”
Adagio spun around and glared at Aria. "At least my hair doesn't look like discount toothpaste.”
"We're both just mad Sonata got all the attention from the boys when we were younger, aren't we?"
As loathe as Adagio was to admit it, Aria had a point. Adagio couldn’t deny the truth. Even though she and Aria had much more skill in picking up boys, Sonata always got all the attention from them. Sonata’s casual innocence and bubbly personality were mistaken for naivety; too many young men fell for that trap for Adagio to count.
"Whatever, let’s just get settled in and be miserable as usual." Adagio said as she unlocked the last lock.
Aria fake pouted in a mocking voice. "You’re just bummed you don't have Sonata to do your hair anymore, aren't you?"
Adagio faintly blushed and twirled her hair. No hair dresser in the whole city knew how to or cared to know how to do Adagio's hair...only Sonata cared enough.
She was so good at hairdressing, Adagio outright refused to have anyone else so much as touch her head other than Sonata. All things considered, Without her stylistically talented friend to work magic on her hair, Adagio’s “Cheese Puff” had gotten rather messy and smelled strangely of tuna.
The two entered the apartment and Adagio crashed on the bed. Empty pizza boxes, juice bottles, and taco wrappers littered the kitchen counters and meager kitchen table. The walls were stained with tobacco tar courtesy of a chain-smoking former tenant. The entire ordeal felt bleak and dismal, only adding a gray tint to her already foul mood. "Sweet Mother of Celestia, how did things get so bad for us?"
"Before or after we tried to enslave an entire school of humans?" asked Aria, who, likewise, was sprawled out on the couch.
Adagio rolled her eyes at Aria in reply. "Pffft, whatever. Those morons weren't even worth it.”
After a good 5 minutes of silence Aria asked Adagio a question she didn't think she would be asked, one best left unsaid, unspoken between friends.
"Do you think we were too hard on Sonata?"
Adagio partially sleepy eyes snapped wide awake as she sat up. "I'm sorry, you want to run that by me again?"
"I get Sonata can be a screw-up a lot, but did you really need to slap her?"
Adagio raised an eyebrow at Aria, ever so slightly. "And you started caring about if I was too harsh to Sonata…. when, exactly?"
"Look, just because she’s a goofball doesn't mean we needed to be total dicks to her." Aria said to the Dazzlings’ self-appointed leader.
Adagio’s face slowly turned red, her temper rising with the volume of her voice. "Listen, we're done with her so why don't you just-"
"Stop dodging the question Adagio and just answer it for Celestia's sake!" Aria snapped.
Adagio moved in close to her roommate with surprising speed and agility before she grabbed Aria by the collar and screamed, "HOW ABOUT YOU JUST MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS?!"
Aria slapped Adagio's hand away, slipping out of her friend’s grasp. "Oh of course, typical Adagio…. yell, scream and get all pissy, thinking it will get people to lay off. Well, you know what, I'm so sick of your crap!"
Adagio forcefully shoved Aria into the wall, knocking a framed picture of the three sirens off from the wall in the process. "I’m surprised this is coming from Miss Doom and Gloom 'please hand me the wrist-slitting razors' herself!" Aria returned the aggression with equal force, shoving her friend and roommate backwards into their ratty sofa. "No, I'm not gonna sit back and let you boss me around like some self-entitled brat. Grow up and start acting your age.”
Adagio recovered swiftly, forcing Aria back up against the tar-stained wall. "You need to learn your place and get back in line like the good little grumpy lapdog you are.” Tears filled Aria’s eyes, and a quiet rage settled on the siren’s face. She was ready to snap.
“Aww, what’s wrong,” Adagio taunted, “Is wittle Aria upset, does Aria want a treat?"
Aria's face turned crimson red. The breaking point had long been passed, and she was devoid of all emotion save her bitter, boiling anger, and it was directed right at her best friend. "IF WE HAD A MOTHER SHE'D HATE YOU, BECAUSE JUST LIKE ME SHE WOULD SEE WHAT A SPOILED BITCH YOU ARE!”
The room suddenly went deathly silent and got icy cold.
The blood drained from Adagio’s face, in stark contrast to Aria’s grip of rage. She slowly walked up to Aria, whose gaze was cast downward. "Okay, that was too far, I'm sor-"
Adagio rammed her fist as hard as she could into Aria's eye socket.
Aria wailed in pain and fell to the floor, clutching her left eye. It took a few minutes for her to regain her composure. "That only proved my point.”
Adagio growled at Aria before falling on the bed in contemplation grumbling to herself. After a minute she sighed before she rummaged through the freezer and tossed Aria a lumpy icepack. Aria sucked in air as she put the icepack on her injured eye, then turned her uninjured one to a slightly calmer Adagio. "Still waiting for an answer."
Adagio huffed.
After a few more minutes of silence she responded. "Alright. Fine. I guess I was a bit too harsh on her, but Sonata screwed up our chance to get our magic back."
"Did she really screw it up, or are you just using Sonata as an excuse for you dropping the ball?" Aria asked her band member.
Adagio tensed up again, intending to challenge Aria. The purple haired siren was too quick; she tossed the icepack aside and grabbed Adagio by the collar in a juxtaposition of their exchange from earlier.
"Dazzle, if I need to beat some sense into you, I will." Aria threatened.
One of two things were going to happen. Either she could figure out how to salvage her relationship with Sonata and Aria, or push both of them away, and end up alone.
Alone.
A small frown formed on Adagio's lips. She’d been down that road before. She needed Aria. She…needed Sonata. "Ok...I guess I am just using her as an excuse."
"You can't think straight when you’re angry, Adagio."
Adagio got up from the bed and rubbed her temples again. "Ugh, I need a drink to clear my head. This place is giving me a migraine.”
Aria grabbed her and Adagio's coats and the two headed to their usual hole in the wall. Quite a few people were there but the three never caused any trouble so no one bothered them.
Adagio walked up to the counter and slapped down a ten dollar bill. "The usual Lilac, and, no offense, but could you make it a bit snappy? I'm having one of 'Those' days."
The youthful woman gave Adagio a nod and took the ten, brushing back her light pink hair after a cursory glimpse at Aria’s swollen eye. In just a few short minutes Lilac brought them their usual orders, a large pumpkin spice cappuccino for Aria and a medium latte, extra cream for Adagio.
Adagio dropped a few quarters in Lilac's hand. "Thanks Lilac, you’re nicer to us then you have any right to be."
Lilac just smiled. "Well, being a jerk would just make you both spiteful. Besides, I couldn't be mean to my two best customers.” Lilac’s eyes shifted, and she looked cautious, speaking in hushed tones. “I don’t mean to pry, but did something happen with that bum Troubleshoes? I have a cop friend…”
“No, nothing like that,” Aria hastily countered. “Just clumsy; the doorway took more damage than I did.”
“Alright then,” Lilac sighed in relief.
Aria smiled. She remembered the first time she and Adagio came to this place. Everyone there instantly grabbed something to throw at them, but Lilac jumped in and chewed the lot of them out for a handful minutes before taking their orders. She was the first person to ever stand up for them or do anything nice for them; she was a very chipper lass which usually would bug Aria to no end. After Lilac had stuck her neck out for her and Adagio, she just let it slide.
Adagio sipped her latte and sighed for roughly the hundredth time that evening. "Much better. Now then, since you seem so fixated on Sonata right now, what do you think we should do about her?"
Aria placed her drink on the counter and looked Adagio square in the eye. "You want my honest opinion? I think we should find her, apologize, and then have her and us go our separate ways.”
Adagio scrunched her lip, taking a moment to think Aria's proposal over.
"Alright then, we'll go find the dork and say we're sorry.”
Aria took another sip of her cappuccino. "Look; you don't have to write a big essay on it, just say you’re sorry, then we leave her to her own devices, alright?"
“The question is: where is she, because we haven't exactly kept tabs on her, so she could be anywhere.”
Before Aria could formulate a snarky response Lilac chimed in. "Oh your blue-haired friend, I heard she’s enrolling at Canterlot High School. My daughter will be starting there on Monday.”
Aria smiled. "Hey, thanks Lilac," she replied. She blinked rapidly, having picked up on something. "Hang on a sec Lilac, you’re a mother?"
Lilac smiled, taking the response as a compliment. "Why yes I am… you sound surprised Aria.”
Adagio looked over at Lilac. "Well you never seem to talk about your husband.” Lilac frowned, something Adagio and Aria never saw the chipper young mother do.
"I like to keep it off my mind when I'm working.”
Aria and Adagio looked at each other, both fearing the worst. Aria was the one who asked "oh, i-is he-"
"Oh! No no no no." Lilac answered, having picked up on what Aria was getting at. "My husband’s very much alive, but he's certainly not well.” "What happened to him?" Adagio inquired.
Lilac frowned; that wasn’t something Adagio saw often. "A few months ago he got in a car accident. He survived but he's been in a coma ever since. The hospital claims he'll make a full recovery but they say he won't wake up for another month.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that Lilac.” For once, Aria was genuinely empathetic.
Adagio slipped out of the booth and walked up to another employee, Pablo or Pedro or Piccolo or something. Adagio had spoken to him a couple times, he was the only one her and Aria knew outside of Lilac.
Adagio gave him a tap on the shoulder to get his attention. "Hey Pebbleo, think you could maybe cover the rest of Lilac's shift, I think she needs to sit down and talk to someone.”
Pablo Polo nodded in Lilac’s direction. "Yeah no problem. Hey Lilac, why don't you punch out early? I can give you a cut of my OT to make up for your last hour.”
Lilac looked over at the counter and saw Adagio smiling at her, she smiled right back. "I think I just might do that Pablo. I’ll cover you next weekend.”
Lilac, Aria and Adagio spent the next hour talking to each other; talking about interests, personal lives, and other trivial things. Once it was closing time Aria and Adagio grabbed their coats and headed out the door. Lilac and Pablo waved goodbye to both of them as they walked out. The lights of the diner behind them slowly turned off one by one as the pair walked back home to their humble apartment. Aria turned to her friend and partner in crime. "So….what do we do now?"
"We go home, get some sleep and find the doofus in the morning. Duh.”
Aria smiled and rolled her eyes. The trip home felt shorter; maybe the two were walking faster, but it didn’t feel like the three blocks it always used to. The pair changed into their pajamas shortly after arrival, settling down for another night in Cockroach Central.
Adagio took the bed and Aria took the couch. As always.
Adagio looked over at the corner and took a wistful glance at the air mattress Sonata used to sleep on.
Aria caught her friend staring at the empty mattress. "We'll find Sonata in the morning and say we're sorry, don't worry.”
Adagio smirked. "Good night, Duchess Oral-B.”
Aria stuck her tongue out at Adagio. “Good night Queen Cheetos.”
Adagio laid back on the bed, staring into the tar stained pattern of the ceiling. Her hand reached out to the lamp by the bedside. "I bet the dork's night is as uneventful as ours has been.”
“Good night, Sonata, wherever you are.” Darkness descended with a click of the lamp switch.
Fluffy pieces of popcorn covered every flat surface, crevice and crack of the kitchen. The popper chugged away like a champ, the occasional snap of an expanding kernel chiming out every few seconds. The smell of freshly popped popcorn slowly faded as a new yet familiar burning odor replaced the current one. Within the maize maelstrom, Sonata nearly disappeared beneath its consuming waves in her attempt to try and turn off the overfilled machine.
"Help me Vinyl, I'm drowning!" Sonata choked out as Vinyl scrambled to pull her new friend out of the ocean of popcorn and into the living room. Wayward bits clung to Sonata with a death grip, as though hesitant to release their hold from the siren. A few sweeps of Vinyl’s hand cleared many of the kernels away from Sonata’s neck and shoulders. Sonata felt a warmth rising in her face, but was unsure exactly why.
Questions swam in Octavia’s head, the most obvious one springing to the forefront of mind. "Heavens, Sonata, why did you think putting an oversized bag of kernels in the popper was a good idea?" Octavia shut her eyes and crossed her arms, huffing loudly.
Sonata simply shrugged her shoulders, picking loose pieces of popcorn out of her hair only to pop them into her mouth. "’Dagi and Ari always told me I was no good at things like volume and other math stuff,” she retorted, mouth half full of popcorn. “But hey, I think I used just the right amount of salt!”
Octavia decided that rather than further grow her migraine, she needed to focus on the issue at hand. Namely, more popcorn than should be legally allowable in a movie theater on a Friday night, let alone a residential kitchen. "Ok then, so how do you both propose we fix this mess?" Vinyl grabbed two posters off the wall rolling one up before handing it to Octavia and rolling another one up for herself. "Start paddling Tavi, we’ve gotta cut it off at the source.”
As ridiculous as it sounded, Octavia didn't have any better ideas and so began rowing, but as she figured, the popcorn provided no resistance and produced no forward momentum.
"Oh look at that. It’s almost like we're trying to paddle through a popcorn catastrophe with a rolled up poster," the cello player stated flatly. Ignoring Octavia’s jab, Vinyl turned to her two friends. "Ok then, plan B it is." Vinyl took a deep breath before she dived into the sea of popped kernels. Sonata quickly jumped in after her friend, leaving Octavia alone, groaning.
"Ugh! Why is it I'm always the one getting caught in Vinyl's hijinks...," Octavia sighed to herself. “You've got to pick your friends more carefully, Ms. Melody,” she muttered under her breath before she jumped in after her two companions as well.
The three of them waded through the sea of snack food, Octavia almost choking on a few pieces on the way. After several tedious minutes they reached their destination: the air popper. They found the plug, buried beneath two feet of popcorn, but it was slick with popping oil. It took a cooperative yank between the three of them to pull the plug from the socket. The popper whirled to a halt as the three girls sighed in relief and exhaustion. The smell of burnt popcorn was overwhelming at this point, and a fine smoky haze of carbonized corn drifted out into the living room.
Vinyl glanced around, surveying the mess before her. While the guacamole incident had been…traumatizing, the current disaster was akin to spilled milk comparatively. Still, she reasoned, this was going to require a significant amount of time and effort to restore any semblance of normalcy. She cracked a nervous smile before continuing through gritted teeth. "Geez, if Mom saw this she would kill me." She faced Octavia and Sonata, a little more frantic than before. "Okay we've got a lot of cleaning up to do, but thankfully Mom won't be back for a little while so we can…”
Jazz opened the door as her daughter was finished her pep talk. "Hey Vinyl, sorry to interrupt but I forgot-" Jazz halted herself when she got a good look at the house, she then focused her attention on Vinyl and her friends. The color drained from Vinyl's face as her mind raced a million miles a minute, while the fear of her impending death manifested with a singular repeating thought: “I’m dead.”
Rather than shout and chew her out like Vinyl expected, Jazz put on a rather relaxed expression and began sifting through the popcorn armageddon. With unnatural grace, she grabbed a tea bag from a shelf. She fetched a “#1 Mom!” mug Vinyl had made for her in the 8th grade and heated some water in the microwave before making her way to a loveseat in the living room. She sipped her tea quietly, rubbing her temple with one hand while keeping her tea steady and level. "This story is guaranteed to be a good one this time, yes? And worth the headache, I’m expecting."
Vinyl was wary; her mother was far too calm for someone whose house now looked like a cornfield met a solar flare. She scratched the back of her head nervously, and cleared her throat before continuing. "Well, I told Sonata to make us some popcorn and…”
"She used the entire contents of that bulky bag we have, correct?" Jazz interrupted, and Vinyl nodded in reply.
"It’s alright Vinyl, I'm not mad. I’m sure it was an honest mistake.”
"Much like Vinyl thinking befriending an evil witch was," Octavia grumbled quietly, earning a retributive punch to the arm from her friend. Octavia shot Vinyl a sour look before addressing Jazz.
"We're terribly sorry Mrs. Scratch, we'll have this mess cleaned in a jif-".
Jazz threw a hand up, silencing her guest. "Oh, heavens no Octavia, don't even think about it, I had your friend Twilight help me set something up before she left."
Jazz stood and walked to a switch on the wall, flipping it up. A loud whirring noise accompanied the disappearance of thousands of popcorn kernels as a vacuum device built into the wall made short work of cleaning up the sea of salty snack food. Jazz looked at her daughter, perplexed.
"Vinyl, honey, why didn't you use the switch you have in your room?" If looks could kill, then Octavia was drilling holes in the side of Vinyl's head with her eyes. Vinyl chuckled nervously, her eyes darting around the room. "Oh yeah...you know… it’s been so long since we used the switch that I forgot we even had it hahahahehehehe...ehhhhhhe….”
Octavia had half a mind to strangle Vinyl but that train of thought was interrupted by a man walking into the house, which drew a gasp from Vinyl and a surprised look from Jazz. He looked no older then Jazz did, and his jet black hair had a purple hue to it. He wore a clean and pressed black suit, its only embellishment a blue handkerchief in the pocket. Before Sonata or Octavia could react, Vinyl rushed over and embraced the man in a tight hug.
"Dad!" Vinyl exclaimed with utter glee. Jazz got up from her seat, her face still dawning a look of surprise, "Blues!? What are you doing here? I thought you were getting sent on a business trip.”
Blues Scratch finished his embrace with his daughter before responding to his wife. "I convinced them to give me a few days off to prepare, but what I didn't tell them was that I’m ready now. So I thought, ‘Hey, a vacation’s been long overdue,’ and I plan to use those couple days to do what I haven't done for far too long, enjoy some time with my family.”
Jazz smiled wistfully. "You’re no different than you were the day I married you.” She shared her own embrace with her husband, who playfully tickled her after several seconds.
Blues noticed his two houseguests waiting in the wings: one familiar and one new. “Hello Octavia, how are Viola and Forte doing?" Octavia nodded before she replied, her face expressionless. "Mother and Father are well, thank you for asking, Mr. Scratch.”
Blues smiled. “Good to hear.” His gaze lingered on Sonata long enough to make her uncomfortable, smile fading into something firmer, something stern and ready to lash out. Vinyl and Jazz felt the tension as well, like a taut bowstring on the verge of snapping. "Hold on a second. I remember now. You’re one of those sirens who tried to take over my daughter’s school. Aren’t you.” His eyes narrowed and focused on Sonata; in turn, she withered beneath his gaze. Vinyl grabbed ahold of Blues before he could advance toward the target of his ire. "Dad… relax, Sonata is with me. She’s already been through enough already.”
Before Blues could respond, Jazz whispered in his ear. Blues relaxed visibly, and everyone could feel the tension in the room slip away. He walked over to the young siren and placed a hand on her shoulder, face now sad and sympathetic. "Jazz gave me the short version of what happened, Sonata. That’s horrible, and I’m sorry, but you deserve better than those garbage friends of yours.”
“Thank you, Mister Scratch,” Sonata glanced to Vinyl and smiled, still extremely grateful that Vinyl stuck her neck out for her.
“Now then,” Jazz added, “I believe the three of you were having a sleepover. Don't let us hold you girls up.” she then focused on Vinyl, "I'm just gonna spend some time with your father Vinyl, you girls have a fun evening!” Vinyl nodded to her mother and gave her dad one more hug before returning to her room with Sonata and Octavia. Octavia was first to speak up. "Well, it was nice seeing your father again Vinyl, but can we now get this trainwreck of a sleepover back underway?"
Vinyl punched Octavia's arm, playfully this time. “Oh quiet, you musical nerd.”
Octavia smirked. "Look who is talking, Ms. Drop That Bass.”
Sonata giggled at the two of them taking playful shots at one another. It was truly magical to be witness to a true friendship, and all that comes along with it: the good times, the bad times, and the just plain wacky times. Usually she was stuck in the middle of Adagio and Aria hurling barbed insults back and forth about grooming and questionable sources of nourishment.
Vinyl grinned. "Alright, you chumps, let the late night festivities recommence!" Octavia leaned back into the wall, tapping the glass she was holding in her left hand. "Sonata, could you be a dear and pass me the soda?"
Sonata smiled cheerfully. "Sure thing Aria, soda coming right up.”
Octavia was puzzled. There must have been some kind of disconnect. "Sonata I'm not Ar-" she started before she stopped and gaped in shock. Vinyl shared in the sentiment, judging by her uneasy facial expression. Sonata suddenly realized what she had just said and slapped her hands over her mouth, some of the color draining from her face.
"I-I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean...", Vinyl felt a pang of guilt wash over her, figuring the whole situation with Sonata's former friends affected the youngest siren more than she was letting on.
Vinyl put down her bowl of popcorn and placed her right hand on Sonata's shoulder. "Sonata, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it, dude." She put on a small smile. "We're here to help you through this. Right, Octy?" She looked toward her best friend softly, but sternly. Octavia frowned. Though she wasn’t entirely sure she could truly trust Sonata, it was clear she needed help, and badly. Octavia sighed in response.
"Vinyl is right, Sonata, we are here to help you, and we want you to feel welcome.” Sonata’s eyes held back tears as she pulled the two into a tight hug. "Thank you,” she whispered, “thank you both so much.” Vinyl was clearly touched by the sentiment. Octavia knew that light pink blush that graced her friend’s cheeks was truly part of a heartfelt emotion. Knowing her bestie was happy put a smile on Octavia’s face.
Okay, so it wasn’t a big smile. Stiff upper lip and all that. But it was still a smile.
Vinyl shrugged, looking to the pair of teens to her left and right. "Alright, so what do you two want to do now?”
Sonata spoke up excitedly, with all the impatience of a curious puppy. "Oh I know! I know! Let’s do makeovers!" Vinyl scratched her head and chuckled, "Um yeah…well that sounds fun, but I'm not the makeover kind of girl."
Sonata shot a sideways glance to Octavia, and a silent understanding was shared between them. A nervous bead of sweat trickled down Vinyl’s brow as she sensed the evil machinations at work, because of course it would be two against one. "Oh come now Vinyl, it’s going to be fuuuuuuuuun,” Octavia singsonged as she rolled up a tube of lipstick.
Sonata grabbed a can of hairspray and some eyeliner. "You'll feel like a whooooooole new person, hehehehehe….”
Vinyl nervously backed away, sliding into the bedroom wall sooner than she expected. "Uh no, no dudes, that’s totes fine, you two have fun and I'll just stay over-", The newly matched tag team advanced towards Vinyl, beauty products in hand. Vinyl gulped, her doom imminent. "H-H-Hey, come on you guys...w-we can t-talk about this right…?” Acting as one, the two of them tackled Vinyl and began their herculean labors to pin the agile DJ. Vinyl squirmed mightily against the efforts of her oppressors as she cried out for help, but it was in vain. A fate worse than death approached, and it was called nail polish.
"Someone help me, they're insane… Ah! No! Octy stop, that’s not my color! Sonata stop! You'll ruin my shades! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Adagio rose from her slumber and let out a long yawn, she looked over at the coach where Aria was. “Get up Aria, we gotta go find Sonata.” Adagio said to her friend groggily. Aria even groggier then Adagio rolled off the coach and onto the floor. “4 more hours…” she groggily groaned before rolling over, intent on sleeping in longer. Adagio put the kibosh on that by getting up and pulling the curtains apart, letting light spill into the apartment. Aria hissed before finally getting up, albeit half asleep and grumpy.
“Listen, go splash some water on your face and get ready,” Adagio told her grumpy companion before going to the front door. “Now I’ll wait by the parking lot for you to-” Adagio started while opening the door, then she saw someone standing in the door frame that sent a chill down her spine. After a few moments of silence Adagio stuttered out “O-Oh...g-g-good morning Ms. Birchwood.” silently wishing she hadn’t opened the door.
Upon hearing that name, Aria’s eyes shot wide awake and she quickly joined her friend at the door. Aria forced a smile before saying “Oh why hello Ms. Birchwood, how are you this fine morning?” while thinking to herself ‘Great...just what we needed this morning, Ms. Bitchwood.’
Dressed in her usual attire of a black suit and skirt, Ms. Birchwood brushed her scarlet hair back before glaring at the two sirens with her piercing emerald eyes. “Cut the pleasantries, can I trust you’ll have your rent payments ready on time this month?” She asked in a low and cold tone.
Adagio nervously nodded before replying “Oh of course we will, last month was a miscommunication is all”. “Yeah, we’ll t-totally have it all on your desk this time by the end of the week.” Aria added, just as nervous talking to Ms. Birchwood as Adagio was.
“I certainly hope so, I’m getting tired of your excuses.” Ms. Birchwood said before turning around and leaving, pulling the door shut as she left. Aria sighed before saying “Yeah and stay gone Bitchwood…” instantly regretting her decision to open her mouth as the door flew back open and an irritated Ms. Birchwood glared her down. “Excuse me Ms. Blaze?! Would you prefer I evict you and your friend right now, cause I would VERY much enjoy that.” She fumed at Aria who looked absolutely terrified. Aria stammered out “N-No I’m just tired is all, slurred my words Ms. Birchwood it won’t happen again I promise.”. Ms Birchwood huffed before slamming the door shut and returning to her office.
Aria walked over to the couch and collapsed onto it “God I hate her so much.” Aria grumbled. Adagio rolled her eyes before saying to her friend “Whatever, let’s just get the rent money ready for her.” Adagio pulled open a drawer...and then turned to her friend with a concerned look on her face. “Aria...where's the coin purse we keep the rent money in?” Adagio asked getting increasingly worried. Aria thought it over for a moment before replying “Well last time I remember seeing it was a while ago at the diner where we-”
Aria stopped and the two slowly realized where the rent money was...or rather...who it was with.
“Sonata…” They both proclaimed before they slowly shifted into a panic.
Aria stood up, her thoughts going a mile a minute “C-Crap, Sonata has our rent money and probably never wants to talk to us again,” Adagio began pacing up and down the room “Ok, it is more important than ever we find Sonata,” Adagio said in a panicked tone “Not only because we need to apologize, but we’re gonna get evicted if we don’t get our rent back.”
Aria threw on her coat and rushed out the door with Adagio following right after her. The two of them made their way down downtown in a mad scramble to find Sonata, apologize and not get kicked out of their only housing. As Adagio rounded a corner she slammed into someone. “Ow son of a- look sorry for plowing into you but we need to hurry and-” Adagio stopped as she opened her eyes and identified who the person she rammed into was...and it was possibly the last person she needed to run into at a time like this.
The young lady stood up and brushed off her skirt before speaking up, “Hey I know you’re in a rush but be more care- wait...Adagio...Aria?”
Yep, exactly who they didn’t need to run into...Sunset Shimmer.
Aria looked at Sunset thinking to herself ‘Oh come the hell on...we already have every possible problem dumped into our laps already’ before saying, “Ohh...hey Sunset w-what's up?” internally wishing they could go back in time and not round that corner.
Adagio stood back up before saying to Sunset, “Well um, you don’t seem best pleased to see us.” Sunset’s expression changed from one of confusion and worry to flatly annoyed. “Yeah, trying to takeover someone’s school and turn her friends against each other will do that,” Sunset said as sarcastically as possible.
A few awkward seconds of silence passed between the three, Adagio finally decided to speak up. “Listen...we can try and maybe work out that whole hostile takeover thing later,” She said ready to dash off again “But right now we need to get a move on.” Sunset held an arm out, blocking Adagio’s way before asking “Where do you need to rush off to?” curious as to why Adagio and Aria were running around at such a frantic pace.
Adagio and Aria sighed before deciding to tell Sunset about everything that happened after the Battle of the Bands. The three headed to a nearby cafe and the two sirens explained their situation. Sunset took a sip of her coffee while processing some of the details.
“So you guys failed to get back your powers and you blamed Sonata for it,” Sunset said before taking another sip of her coffee and then turning to Adagio “And then you slapped her.” Adagio rolled her eyes before replying “Look Sunset, Aria already gave me a mountain of crap for that,” Adagio flatly said before taking a sip of her own beverage “I don’t need that echoed to me again."
Aria took a sip of her mocha before saying to Adagio, “You really didn’t need to slap her.” Adagio then threw her arms up in a gesture of ‘Oh come on already’ before proclaiming “I was pissed off OK?” Adagio then took a large swig of her drink before continuing “I would have done it to anyone in that situation, Sonata didn’t get special treatment.”
Sunset mulled over what she had just been told for a moment before asking, “So alright that's really bad,” she then looked over at Adagio “But I still don’t get why you girls are in such a rush,” Sunset took another sip before then saying “If you know where Sonata is and know she’s not really going anywhere, then why are you in such a mad dash to find her?”
Aria was the one to answer Sunset’s question “Well it’s because in our INFINITE wisdom, we gave Sonata the boot...when she still had our rent money.” Sunset looked at the two girls before leaning back and thinking of a nice way to put what she wanted to say, she couldn’t and so just stated it plainly “Yeah...that was kind of dumb on both your parts.” Aria rolled her eyes before saying “Trust us, we’re aware of that.”
Sunset looked at Aria and then said “Well surely you have some time, I doubt your landlord will kick you out the moment your rent is late,” taking another sip of her coffee. Adagio scoffed before saying “Giving Birchwood way too much credit Sunset.”
Hearing that name caused Sunset to violently spit out the mouthful of coffee she had. Sunset then looked at the two girls like she had to confirm what Adagio just said “BIRCHWOOD?! YOU GOT AN APARTMENT IN BIRCHWOOD’S DISTRICT?!” Sunset shouted in disbelief. Adagio just shot Sunset a flat look before saying “Did I stutter? Yes I said Birchwood.”
Sunset looked as if she REALLY needed to process this one “I’m sorry did we...over do it with the whole ‘singing and friendship that summons a giant rainbow Alicorn thing that shoots friendship lasers?” Sunset then began to inspect Aria’s head before continuing “Did we friendship laser you three too hard in the head?”
Aria then put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder and sat her back down before replying “Yeah listen, we weren’t exactly rolling in dough BEFORE the attempted takeover and that didn’t really help out much,” She then leaned back in her seat before saying “A place in her district is all we could afford while still being able to afford, you know...Food.”
Sunset suddenly felt really bad for the two sirens, Ms. Birchwood was notorious for evicting tenants the very moment they missed rent. “Wait hang on, you make it sound as if this isn’t the first time you’ve missed your rent,” Sunset said fairly puzzled “But Birchwood usually kicks out people the millisecond they miss their rent payments.”
Aria said what she had been thinking for quite awhile now “I’m pretty sure Birch just likes screwing with us,” Aria scoffed before continuing “Tch, Bitchwood just loves watching us squirm.”
Sunset just sighed and shook her head “Man it seems you two just can’t catch a break lately.” Adagio then turned her gaze to Sunset with a look that screamed ‘no shit Sherlock’ before saying “Reeeeeeally? I hadn’t notice that!” Adagio then chugged down the rest of her now lukewarm drink.
Adagio sighed then rubbed her temple’s before saying “Ugh, I really wish I could just go back in time and tell my past self to take a chill pill.” Aria leaned back again and turned her gaze to Sunset “So yeah as you can no doubt deduce; We’re royally screwed,” Aria stated before giving her friend a pat on the shoulder.
Sunset drummed her fingers on the table, deep in thought over a course of action. She then stood up and proclaimed to the two siren’s “Alright come with me, let’s go get all this sorted out.” The two siren’s looked up at Sunset and then to each other, Adagio was the first to speak up “You...want to help US, after all the crap we put you and your friends though?” Aria then added “OK did YOU suffer a blow to the head during the battle of the bands?”
Sunset then grabbed the two by the hands and stood them up “Listen, I’m still upset about all the crap you three put me though, but I’m not gonna turn a blind eye when you’re in desperate need of help,” Sunset said firmly “I’m gonna help you two sort all this out, then we can politely go our separate ways.”
Adagio and Aria looked at Sunset who gave them a reassuring smile, Adagio then smiled back. “Gee thanks, good to see you really DID go soft after the Fall Formal,” Adagio snarkily said, receiving a playful punch in the arm from Sunset. Sunset then chuckled and said “Oh shut up tuna breath.”
The three girls made their way out of the cafe after Sunset paid for their drinks, they then began to make their way to Canterlot high. Adagio sighed and said to herself “Well ready or not Sonata, here we come...and we’re gonna make things right,” before briskening her pace to catch up with Aria and Sunset.
