After the Defeat
Mrs. Cake handed Sonata her milkshake from over the counter.
“Actually, can I have mine with extra oats?” Mrs. Cake froze, then cocked her head to the side. “Uhm, never mind,” Sonata shrugged in response to the silence. “However you usually make it is fine, I guess.”
She took her drink and skipped back to the table where her friends sat. She fell into her own seat and crossed her legs. “Gosh, they really ought to broaden their menu here,” she said before taking a long sip of her shake. When she finished, she added, “Maybe I should give them some suggestions.”
Aria Blaze rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she slumped back in her chair. “Like they’d take advice from you, Sonata. You’d eat grass.”
“Ooh, maybe grass should be another suggestion!” said Sonata. She already had a notepad out and was scribbling on it a list of additional ingredients she thought the cafe could offer. Aria rolled her eyes again.
In the third chair sat Adagio Dazzle, the previous leader of the Dazzlings - the three girls’ musical group. She sat with her knees together, her elbows on the table, and her cheeks resting on her palms. Her magenta eyes were dull as they stared into the empty space in front of them.
Aria looked at her as she took a sip of her own drink. She cleared her throat and said, “Oh come on, Adagio. So we can’t sing anymore. So what?”
“Yeah! It’s not like you liked singing anyway!” Aria glared at Sonata, who lifted her hands in confusion.
Adagio’s eyes suddenly came to life. “You two don’t understand, do you?” She kicked her chair out as she stood up, and it crashed onto the floor. A few other customers turned to see what was going on and Mr. and Mrs. Cake came out from the kitchen, but Adagio didn’t pay attention to any of them. She slammed her fists on the table and continued, “If we can’t sing then we can’t spread negative energy. If we can’t do that, how are we supposed to get enough power to return to Equestria? Did either of you even think of that?”
The two shrank in their chairs at Adagio’s unexpected outburst. They glanced at each other, and Aria was the first to speak, twirling one of her pigtails around her fingers. “But...what would we even do in Equestria? Spread more negative energy? Gain more power? For what?”
Adagio bared her teeth, but before she could retort, Sonata added, “Maybe we can find some other way to make the people here adore us!”
Her companions turned to her. Both were about to snap back, but then they paused. The three stayed like that, silent, for a few moments. Then Adagio picked up her chair and sat down, hiding her teeth again. She focused on the tabletop, and everyone in the cafe returned to their casual conversations.
Aria tilted her head up, examining the ceiling, and then said, “Like what?”
Excited at the opportunity to contribute, Sonata spoke before really thinking: “We could sell tacos!” She placed her hands on her cheeks and closed her eyes as she grinned, imagining what it’d be like to be so intimate with so many tacos. She swooned.
Aria regretted giving Sonata a chance. She grabbed her drink and turned away. “You’re seriously the worst.”
Sonata sat up straight and spat back, “No, you are!”
“How could we get anyone to love us just by selling tacos?” she shouted, slamming her drink onto the table, making it spill over a little.
“I would love anyone who gave me a taco!”
“Enough, girls,” Adagio said. In her mind, she kept seeing the rainbow that defeated her at the final show. It was all that she could see since it happened. She tried to understand. She tried to understand how they lost. How the Rainbooms beat them. What was it that made their magic so strong?
Sonata was growling at Aria, while Aria just sat with her arms crossed, laughing. Suddenly, a light sparkled in Adagio’s eyes. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, and looked at Aria. “Hey, I like your outfit today.”
Her jaw dropped and her violet eyes grew wide at the compliment. Aria looked down at her clothes, and quickly back at Adagio. She noticed? Aria had put a lot of effort into her outfit that morning. And Adagio noticed?
She didn’t respond, but took her drink again and busied herself with the straw. Adagio turned to Sonata.
“How do you get your hair to look so nice everyday, Sonata? Mine is always such a frizzy mess.”
Sonata jumped in her seat. “What? No way, your hair is gorgeous!” Adagio stared at her, fear in her face. Even she didn’t know what she was saying. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Aria looked at both of them as she slipped lower in her chair.
Adagio turned her attention to her hands, then closed her eyes. Behind her lids, all she could see were rainbows. “Maybe we could ask Principal Celestia if we could help serve lunch sometimes.”
“On Tuesdays?” Sonata asked, hopeful.
“Yeah.” Adagio nodded, her eyes still closed.
“How are we even going to get near that school again?” Aria asked. She put her arms on the table and rested her chin on them.
Sonata pulled absent-mindedly on her ponytail. “We’ll need a way to get their trust back.”
“It’ll be hard to get anyone to trust us enough to accept food from us,” Aria grumbled. “But...I guess we can try. It’s not like this world could get any worse.”
Adagio kept nodding, while she thought. What were the words? ‘We have got the light of friendship on our side’ - that sounded right. The rainbows grew brighter.
The three sat and enjoyed their drinks, quietly excited to attempt their new plan. Sonata stirred her milkshake and happily hummed a horribly off-key tune.