The Night Before Christmas
Everything they had ever wanted was finally within their grasp, as everyone before them was under the spell of their song, fueling their power, and making them stronger. But then, suddenly from the sky appeared a giant rainbow alicorn created by the Rainbooms began to glow brighter and with one mighty blast of light, everything was gone. That was when Adagio woke up from her nightmare. She had been having the same one ever since the night of the Battle of the Bands. Adagio placed her hand on her chest only to remember that her precious pendant was gone. If only it was a dream she wished, then they wouldn't be in the situation she and her fellow Sirens were in now. Adagio looked at the time on her clock, it was still early and knowing she won't be able to go back to sleep she got out of bed. In the months after their defeat, their lives had changed dramatically.
Before they never stayed anywhere for too long, only long enough to stir up trouble, feed off the negative energy from their victims, and then move on to the next town or city. For a long time it had worked out for them, but now they no longer had the means to do so anymore. The Dazzlings had never had to worry about finding a place to stay, they would just sing a song and just like that, they would get a room in any hotel or inn for free or get some poor sap to pay for them. But now that they had lost their magic to control others, the three of them now had to find jobs just to be able to afford the small apartment that they were currently living in.
Still in her pajamas, Adagio walked out of her room with a towel in her hand and was making her way to the bathroom for a quick shower. But when she got there, she found that it was already occupied.
"Hey! Hurry up in there!" she shouted as she knocked on the door.
"Hold your horses, I'll be done in a minute!" Aria shouted back.
Adagio could hear the shower running from behind the door.
"Dang it Aria! You better not use up the hot water again! You're not the only one living here you know!" Adagio yelled.
"Yeah, whatever! I said I'll be done in a minute!" Aria relied.
Adagio had no choice but to wait and knowing Aria, there was no way she was going to finish in a minute. So she waited, and as the minutes went by she started to wonder yet again on why she even puts up with her. Just as she was about to bang on the door again, it suddenly open and from the steam, Aria emerged with her hair loose and wearing only a bathrobe.
"Oh wow! Has it been a minute already? I hardly noticed," Adagio said sarcastically.
"Whatever, enjoy your shower," Aria replied as she walked passed Adagio.
Adagio finally entered the bathroom and as Aria walked towards her room she heard Adagio scream from the shock of a cold shower leaving her with a grin on her face.
Meanwhile the kitchen was a mess as several bowls, utensils, spilled flour, and other ingredients filled the sink, table, and counter. Sonata had been up before sunrise baking, and with a frosting bag in hand she was finally making the finishing touches when Aria now dressed for work walked in.
"Uh, you’re still at it?" Aria said with arms crossed.
With excitement in her face, Sonata grabbed the tray and presented her creations to Aria.
"LOOK WHAT I MADE!!!" Sonata cheered.
On the tray was a pile of gingerbread men cookies, but unlike regular gingerbread men they were shaped differently. The head on one pile was huge and misshapen with orange frosting drawn to look like curls and the lower body had purple frosting. The second had extra gingerbread made to look like pig tails and was decorated with purple and teal frosting, and the last pile only had one piece sticking out of its head and has blue and maroon frosting. As sloppy, as they were it was clear that Sonata had made gingerbread replicas of the three of them.
"ITS US! What do you think? Awesome right?" Sonata asked hold up one of the cookie versions of herself right at Aria's face.
Aria then snatched the cookie out of Sonata's hand and after a moment of examining the Sonata cookie, she bit off its head.
"WHAT IS THIS MESS!?"
Both Aria and Sonata turned to find Adagio entering the kitchen, she had finished her shower and was already dressed for work. She also had the look of both anger and confusion at the complete mess in front of her.
"Please tell me you weren't trying to make cookies again Sonata?" Adagio said with a face palm.
"At least she didn't burn them this time," Aria said, "although it is still morning."
"HEY!" Sonata shouted.
"And why aren't you dressed for work?" Adagio asked Sonata.
"I got today off, its Christmas Eve remember?" She replied.
"pppfff, she's probably going to spend to whole day watching cartoons like she usually does," Aria said.
"Can you at least clean some of this up so that we can have breakfast?"
"OH right! BREAKFAST!" Sonata shouted.
She ran towards the counter to open the egg carton only find it empty, she than rushed towards the refrigerator and found that there was very little milk left.
"Uuh, girls," Sonata said nervously.
Adagio smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand and shook her head as Aria rolled her eyes.
Sigh... "Let me guess, you used it all to make the cookies didn't you?" Adagio asked.
"We got plenty of gingerbread cookies though," Sonata relied innocently.
"Fine!" Adagio answered.
With little other options Adagio and Aria had to settle for the sugary snack and after eating a few gingerbread cookies, Adagio and Aria put on their winter coats and left for work leaving Sonata alone in the apartment. Now that she was alone Sonata quickly got dressed and as soon as she was ready for the cold weather, she headed out the door. Fortunately, the mall was only a few blocks away from the apartment and after several minutes of walking, she finally made it. She had one simple goal in mind and it was finding the perfect gifts for her fellow sirens. Normally the three of them didn't care much for Christmas, most of all Adagio and Aria. But even so, Sonata did somewhat enjoyed the cheerful atmosphere that the holiday brought out in people and the holiday specials that aired every year were always a guilty pleasure for her.
But this year however was different, ever since they lost their magic, life for them had become more difficult. Even she was having a hard time trying to keep a positive spirit and despite the tough or indifferent attitudes that her roommates were giving off, Sonata knew for a fact how low they have been feeling lately. That is why Sonata really wanted to do something to help cheer them up and what better way than a gift for Christmas. Once she was inside she saw how packed the mall was with all the people doing their holiday shopping. Sonata walked from store to store looking for anything that would make a good gift. After a couple of hours of searching from clothing to even game stores, yet she had not been able to find anything that would be a good gift for her friends. She had forgotten how expensive everything was and most of her money had already gone into paying her share of the rent. Feeling discouraged Sonata found herself at the food court, she sat alone on one of the benches as she watched everyone around her carrying bags and boxes without a care.
"This sucks," Sonata sulked, "No magic, I still can't sing, and I can't even afford a gift for Adagio and Aria."
"Why so sad on Christmas Eve?" said a voice right next to her.
"What?" Sonata replied as she turned her head.
Sitting on the same bench next to her was an elderly man with a thick white bread and mustache. He was wearing a brown coat and hat and in his hands was a cane with what looked like a tiny snow globe at the end. What was strange was that she could have sworn that the whole bench was empty when she sat there. Sonata than realized that perhaps she was just so lost in her own self pity to notice someone sitting next to her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry," said the old man, "I was just wondering what's a young girl like you doing looking so sad on Christmas Eve?"
"Oh, well that's because... because, because I'm a terrible friend!" Sonata replied with tears in her eyes.
"Now why would you say that?" He asked with concern.
(sniff) "Because I don't have anything to give my roommates for Christmas," Sonata said as she wiped her eyes.
"Did they ask you for anything in particular?" he asked.
"No, they're not really into the holidays but lately...we've been having a really tough time and I thought that maybe if I got them something cool for Christmas then maybe they'll lighten up some," Sonata explained.
"Hmmm, that's very nice of you," the old man said, "But you know, you don't need to get expensive gifts to show that you care, right?"
"Really?" Sonata asked.
"Of course, giving gifts is a nice way to show others that we care, but what I find what matters most is the people around us just being happy together," He said, "do you get what I'm trying to say?"
"I think I do," Sonata answered.
Just then, Sonata saw something from the corner of her eye land beside her foot. When she picked it up, she found that it was a flier and after reading it, she suddenly got an idea.
"THAT'S IT!!!" Sonata said as she jumped to her feet, "I know what I can do, Thanks for the advice mister!"
"You're welcome miss," said the old man with a smile as he watched her running off, "It's what I do."
Sonata made just one more stop before finally arriving home. As soon as she entered through the door, she grabbed a roll of wrapping paper that she had just bought. She struggled for a bit and although it was sloppily done, she was able to wrap up the two gifts she had purchased. Now with the gifts ready, she grabbed another plate of gingerbread cookies and waited for Aria and Adagio to come home. Normally they were home by now but after looking at the clock, she saw that they were late.
"Maybe they're working late," Sonata said to herself.
Sitting on the couch with the TV on, she started to notice that the sun was already down. Then as the next hour passed, Sonata was starting to wonder what was taking them so long. With the flier still in her hand she continued to wait until finally she fell asleep on the couch with the TV still on. When Sonata finally awoke, she found that she had a blanket over her. It was then that she realized that she had fallen asleep in the living room.
"Well, look who finally woke up," said a familiar voice.
Sonata turned around to find that it was Aria who just spoke, she was leaning against the kitchen counter eating one of the gingerbread cookies.
"Finally," Adagio said as she walked out of the kitchen, "I thought you'd never get up."
As the two other Sirens took their seats at the table, Sonata quickly grabbed the two presents she had wrapped and rushed over to the table to join them.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS GIRLS!!!" Sonata cheered as she presented them with the two gifts.
Adagio and Aria were surprised at Sonata's actions and after a few seconds to process it, they accepted the two small boxes.
"It looks like you had the same idea," Adagio said as she pulled out two brightly colored bags from under the table.
The room was silent at the fact that Adagio had actually gotten them gifts.
"Well, if you two are doing it than... I might as well join in," said Aria as she brought out a couple of envelopes.
The three of them just sat there for a moment before they finally exchanged gifts with one another. Adagio had apparently gotten both Aria and Sonata a new blouse from the retail store where she works. As for Aria, she got them both gift cards, Sonata's in particular was for the nearby taco place known as King Sombrero’s Taco Empire. Now it was Adagio and Aria's turn to open Sonata's gifts and when they did, they were surprised at what they had unwrapped. In their hands were pendants identical in color and shape to the ones that once gave them their powers.
"They're fakes from the convenience store," Sonata said, "I thought they would look good on us, they even look like our old ones. See I even got one for me too."
She then pulled out the same pendant necklace from underneath her shirt to show them. Adagio and Aria didn't say a word, causing Sonata to get nervous. But suddenly she saw the two put on the pendants she got them.
"I know I don't normally say this but...thanks girls," Adagio said now looking at Aria.
"Thanks I guess," Aria said.
"And thank you both! But we're not done yet," Sonata said.
"Huh?" the two other Sirens said in unison.
"Trust me, get dressed!" Sonata said with a grin on her face.
After a few minutes, the Dazzlings were dressed and out the door. Sonata was ahead holding both Aria and Adagio by the arms leading them around. Than after several minutes, the three of them were finally at their destination.
"What's so important about this place?" Aria asked.
"It's a restaurant!" Sonata answered, "And it's open even though its Christmas Day, see?"
Sonata handed them the flier she found while she was out yesterday.
"So?" Aria deadpanned.
"It not just any restaurant, it also has KARAOKE!" Sonata said.
"What's the point Sonata? No one is going to want to hear us, we'll sound horrible," said Adagio.
"But that's not the point!" Sonata replied, "Karaoke is not about sounding good, it's about having fun."
Adagio and Aria were hesitant at first, which was until Sonata gave them those puppy dog eyes.
"Fine," Adagio relented.
The three of them entered the restaurant where they had a nice meal as they waited for their turn on the mic. Although they still sounded bad, none of the less, they still had a good time.
Merry Christmas Everyone.