> A Clean Slate for a Former Siren
>  by AlchemicBlaze21
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1 - A New Face in Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the last night of The Battle of the Bands competition, the Dazzlings had been defeated by the Rainbooms. Without any other recourse left, they hastily picked up the pieces of their shattered pendants and ran as the audience threw all kinds of junk at them and booed them out of the stadium. After running several blocks away from the stage they had been performing at, they came to a complete stop.

"I…I think…we can catch our breaths," Sonata said as she leaned against one of the buildings. "It doesn't look…like anyone has followed us." A few minutes passed while they recovered before Aria spoke up.

"What the hell happened back there, we had those Rainbooms right where we wanted them, and we still wound up losing," Aria said. 

Adagio glared back at her. "Well, Aria, if you and Sonata over there would have put more effort into the performance this wouldn't have happened." Adagio and Aria then both turned to give Sonata a nasty look. 

Sonata wasn't sure what to say at that time, so she responded with, "…Wh-What? I was following your lead."

Aria rolled her eyes. "So much for that, Sonata. You're the worst."

"You are!"

"ENOUGH!" Adagio yelled back at both of them. "I've had enough of your stupidity for today. We're heading back to the apartment, so keep your mouths shut."

Sonata in her surprise kept quiet.

Aria just muttered, "Whatever," before they made the trip back to the apartment complex that they had been staying at for the past month.

About thirty minutes passed before the sirens finally got back and walked up a few flights of stairs to the third floor. Adagio unlocked the door to the apartment to allow them in while Sonata turned on the lights to illuminate the dark living room.

"Aria, Sonata come over here," Adagio commanded while she locked up the door.

Both of them hesitated to get too close to her, on account of the mood she was in. Luckily, Adagio only wanted them to hear what she had to say.

"Thanks to this whole mess that you two have gotten us into, I've got some serious planning to do. So don’t bug me until I’m finished." Sonata was about to say something, but Adagio cut her off with a raised hand and added, "And if either of you get in the way, I promise that you will regret ever having made that mistake." Adagio shoved past Sonata and Aria, which caused both of them to flinch. She went to her room and slammed the door. For a moment, the other two sirens were silent until Aria spoke.

"It's all your fault we're in this mess!" Aria snapped.

"But I did everything that you two did," Sonata offered in her defense as if it could make the situation better.

"Yeah, I bet," Aria said bitterly. "I swear, you're the absolute worst."

After everything that had happened on stage and having most of the blame dumped on her, Sonata was at a loss for words. She just stood there rubbing her arm, with her eyes downcast. 

She was so distracted by her melancholy that she didn't even realize that Aria had left her standing in the living room all by herself. She slowly headed to her room and softly closed the door. She changed out of her dirty stage costume, removed her makeup and put on a plain T-shirt and shorts. She crawled into bed, hugged her favorite stuffed animal tightly and began to cry quietly into it. After a while, she finally fell asleep.

The days that followed after that Friday night weren't much better. 

Adagio would keep to herself and was usually on her laptop typing up notes and browsing many different sites in an attempt to find something useful to help them out of their current predicament. She was hoping to find some way to replace or repair their amulets. However, she only wound up frustrated when most of what she came across was useless. She even left the apartment a couple of times and wouldn't return until late at night with several books in tow.

Aria would usually stay in her room and try singing, but all that would come out was terrible. Aria would eventually lose her temper and storm out for hours. Other times she'd just go out of her way to make it a living hell for Sonata. Aria figured that if she was miserable, she might as well make someone else feel worse to make herself feel better.

Sonata would preoccupy herself with anything she could think of to try and not bother Adagio, whether it was playing a game on a handheld, watching something on the television, or walking around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, Aria would come around and use her as an emotional punching bag.

Needless to say, things were far from good.



Late Tuesday afternoon 
I had been asleep for the past few hours when I felt a hand nudge me awake from the driver's side of the SUV. After a three-day long car trip, dad and I had finally arrived at our destination, Canterlot. More specifically, we were in front of a nice looking apartment complex that we would be calling home from then on out. 

The reason why we were now in a new town was that my dad had recently been promoted to lead supervisor in his company. Along with the promotion, they wanted him to oversee a new branch of their business that they had opened up there in Canterlot.

I was just glad that I could stretch my legs out again. When we got to our apartment, most of our things had already been set up thanks to them being shipped out early from our hometown. I was completely fine with that, especially since I was going to be checking into my new school first thing next morning. I suppose it was a good thing that I had gotten most of the transfer information completed before we left our old home.

The next morning would officially be my first day as a student at Canterlot High. And it was as awkward as one could expect. Nothing like being the odd man out.

Everyone that I came across on that Wednesday was very wary of me. I wouldn't have been able to tell you why, though. I mean, it's not like I was an intimidating giant or anything. I was an average guy with a healthy build, dark spiked hair and a decent set of clothes. Regardless of that, everyone seemed to be on high alert for some reason.

It wasn't all bad, though. During class, a few of my classmates would talk to me, albeit in a questioning sort of way. Once they got past our initial meeting, a few of them became more relaxed around me. 

Throughout those first few days, I heard people talk about something that happened last Friday. I think they said it was a musical event which had turned into a huge fiasco. I just assumed that maybe it had something to do with a bad production value or something and chalked it all up as a bit of random gossip.

Friday went by normally as well.  However, dad had mentioned that he had found a place that he thought would help me feel more at home in the new town. So when school let out, he picked me up and drove towards the downtown area.

During the drive downtown, I wound up bringing up the move. Mainly because I was still a bit bitter about the whole thing

"Dad, don't get me wrong. I'm glad that the company gave you the promotion. But was it necessary to move all the way across the country? I mean it's pretty much guaranteed that I'm not going to be able to see my friends anytime soon." 

"Look, I know how you feel, but they needed someone with prior experience to come up and oversee the new employees. Besides, we're going to be able to have a better living here than if we had stayed back in our old town."

"Whatever you say, dad," I said unenthusiastically. 

He saw that I was still frustrated and tried to encourage me. "Just give it some time. Eventually, you will get used to it. On the bright side, at least, we were able to find you a new place where you can keep practicing martial arts. Considering how short notice all this was, I'd say we got ourselves quite a deal for you to check out this school." As much as I hated to admit it, at least I would still have that. 

We eventually arrived at the address of the training facility. Dad popped the trunk open so I could get my gym bag that he had brought along. He rolled down the window and called me over. 

"I need to run back to the office, and I may not be out till eight. When you finish here, just walk back to the apartment. It isn't too far from here. Anyways, I hope it goes well, and I’ll talk to you later," dad said as he raised his window.

"Alright, guess I'll see you later," I answered as he waved goodbye and took off.

When I turned to face the building, the first thing that I noticed was the sign above the entrance which read, ‘Iron Will Dojo.' It was all in red text on a white background above the picture of a black charging bull. I couldn't help but wonder if the school was any good at teaching the art as I went inside and quickly changed into my white uniform. 

Now, I won't bore you with all the details of what we did during the class. Just know that it was one of the most grueling workouts that I can remember and was proof enough to me that that place did not give free handouts.

I wasn't one of the worst students there, quite far from it actually. But I wasn't the best one there either. No, that title went to Rainbow Dash. It was almost as if she wasn't even breaking a sweat. I'd seen her at school now and then, and had heard that she was an excellent athlete. After seeing her in action, I could understand why she had such a reputation. I decided to make small talk with her after the class and found that she was pretty nice, even if she did have a bit of an ego. Our little meeting was short-lived, though, since her dad arrived a few minutes after the class concluded.



That same Friday afternoon 
After nearly an entire week of taking Arias insults, Sonata decided that she might be better off spending some time further away from the apartment. So she put on her usual street clothes and a sweater and left the apartment. Usually, there wasn't much that got to her. But with the pendants shattering, Arias' constant harassment and Adagios near constant rage; she had to wonder if the whole thing wasn't her fault. 

At the very least, they didn't have to worry about money. The Dazzlings had gathered a vast sum of money through their singing before the battle of the bands. That ensured that they wouldn't end up on the street or go hungry anytime soon. But that's asides the point, Sonata thought as she walked for several blocks.  

There was an empty soda can on the ground, so she began kicking it along the sidewalk. As she went along, her thoughts drifted to things that Aria would do. She would regularly pass the blame off on her for anything that went wrong, whether or not she had anything to do with it. And if she wasn't blaming her for something, she was always putting her down and making fun of her intelligence. She couldn’t help thinking out loud to herself.

"It’s not fair. I always get blamed for our plans not working. I know that I'm not super smart, but it's not like I try to screw everything up on purpose." She could feel the sting of tears that formed as she continued kicking the can along. "But it's Aria's fault too. She's always trying to steal the spotlight," she said while raising her voice. "I stuck to the plan; she didn't. I'm not the worst; SHE IS!" she yelled and kicked the can as hard as she could and sent it flying. 

She felt a little better after letting out her frustration on that soda can. However, she immediately wished she hadn't, as it was now flying towards a group of boys who had rounded the corner. By the time she managed to get out a warning, the can had already clocked one of them in the head.

"Ow!" the boy exclaimed. "Who threw that can?!" 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hit anyone," Sonata called out to them as she rushed over to apologize. But when she got a closer look at who the can had nailed, she recognized them from the battle of the bands. What were they called? I know their name had something to do with diamonds, She thought trying to remember their band name but to no avail. The boy then caught sight of her and turned to his two friends.

"Hey, isn't that one of those Sirens from the competition last week?" the middle one asked. 

"Yeah, but weren't there three of them? Think they're nearby?" the taller teen asked.

"Who knows? But you know what, we would be doing everyone a favor if we roughed her up a bit and ran her out of town. Hell, I’m sure no one would care if we got rid of her," said the shortest one in the group.

The other two agreed with wicked smiles.

She got a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach after she heard the boy's conversation and tried to back away slowly. 

"Hey!" one of them said, "Where do you think you're going!" They approached her menacingly. 

Sonata's adrenaline had just kicked in, and she took off as fast as her legs could carry her down the way she had come. She was a pretty long ways off from the apartment building, so trying to make it back before they caught her was not an option. She looked over her shoulder to see how far behind they were, which got her heart beating even harder when she saw that they were slowly closing the gap. She decided that her best bet would be to try and lose them and made a sharp turn down one of the busy streets. 

There were quite a few pedestrians down that particular road, so she had to weave through as she tried to keep up a sprint. Luckily, those three weren't as agile and wound up crashing into a few people along the way which bought her enough time to catch a crosswalk to the other side of the street. She continued to run ahead and looked over her shoulder once more.

Within that split second, however, Sonata wound up running headlong into some guy who had barely walked out of one of the buildings. The impact was enough to send her bouncing onto her backside.



Since most of the other students had already left or been picked up, I went and changed back into my regular street clothes, got my bag and headed outside. I took a look at the sun as it was slowly setting on the horizon when someone had slammed into my back, sending me sprawling to the ground.

"Holy Hell! What hit me?!" I exclaimed as I righted myself. When I turned around there was a girl with a long light blue ponytail. She had knocked herself onto the floor and at that moment looked disoriented. I was a little concerned that she may have hurt herself, so I quickly walked over to her.

"Are you alright? You aren't hurt are you?" I asked. I then extended my hand to her to help her up. She didn't respond to anything that I had asked, but she did begin to reach out to take my hand. Just then she recoiled it when she turned her attention to a group of teenagers who were noisily sprinting in our direction. She quickly shot up to her feet and took off running past me.

"Sorry! I can't stay here!" she yelled back, before turning down an alley several buildings down. I was about to call after her but was interrupted by the three teens that came barreling through.

"Get out of the way!" one of them yelled as they ran past me and turned down the same alley as that girl. Whatever was going on couldn't have been good, so I chased after them.

As I got closer to the alley that they had all taken, I heard a commotion coming from further within. 

"No!" the girl screamed. "Please, let me go!"

"Shut up!" a boy growled back. "You're going to pay for making us look like idiots!" 

As I rounded the corner, I could see that the alley was a dead end and that those three guys had her cornered. The biggest one in the group had a piece of rebar, probably from one of the dumpsters, and was raising it to strike the girl. She curled up with her hands over her head as she braced herself for the blow. Without thinking, I threw my bag down and took off like a bullet. Just a few feet away from them, I leaped into a flying sidekick and landed it into the bastards back right before he could bring the rebar down on her. He slammed face first into the brick wall and then fell flat on his back as he grasped at his bleeding nose.

"Oh shit!" the shorter one exclaimed. "Quick, get him!"

The other one threw a punch that I managed to block, and grabbed his arm as I threw him over my shoulder onto a couple of trash cans with a loud crash. He quickly got back up and threw a flurry of wild punches. As I kept my guard up, I bobbed and weaved trying to avoid the onslaught. He slowed down as he got winded. That's when I countered with a jab to the face, then a cross, and finally laid him out with an uppercut to the chin.

The big guy got up once more and charged at me before throwing a front kick. I barely managed to sidestep out of the way and answered back with a roundhouse to his stomach. He bent in half as he tried to keep from hurling. Without skipping a beat, I swept his feet from underneath him and knocked him back onto the floor.

After seeing his buddies get taken down, the short guy was panicking as he pulled out a switchblade and fumbled with it. But before he could even use it, I threw a swift, hard kick right into his crotch. He dropped the blade as he reeled forward in pain, and I delivered one last hard sidekick right into his face that sent him stumbling backward.

"Screw this!" he yelled. "Let's get the hell out of here!" The other two quickly got up to their feet and bolted for the street. One of them yelled, "You better watch your back," and took off out of sight.

"Yeah, you better run!" I yelled back.

With those freaks out of the way, I turned my attention to the girl who was still cowering in the corner. I walked over to her and knelt down in front of her.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked. "Those three didn't hurt you did they?" From the looks of it, she was physically okay but was shaken up pretty badly. Tears were rolling down her face from her tightly shut eyes. She finally looked up at me slightly confused.

"Wha-What happened to tho-those three?" She asked shakily. "I-I thought that I was g-going to die." She barely managed to keep from breaking down right there, so I quickly tried to put her mind at ease.

"There's no need to worry, I took care of them," I said. 

"But why?"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that but did my best to anyways. "Because I don’t like seeing others getting taken advantage of. Now, are you able t-ah…um." 

Before I could finish my thought, she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around me, and completely caught me off guard. She cried softly on my shoulder and said, "Thank you." Still a little stunned, I decided to hug her back.

"It's alright, uh, everything is going to be ok now," I said, trying to comfort her. I stayed there for a few more moments before carefully getting the both of us back up to our feet. 

Now standing she realized that she was still hugging me and pulled herself away. She wiped her tears from her face with her hoodie sleeves. "S-sorry," she apologized and gave a shy smile along with a little sniffle. She was definitely cute, that was for sure. I then realized that I was staring and snapped myself back to reality.

"It's okay. So, uh, it's getting late, you should probably get back home," I said. "If you'd like, I can escort you back to wherever you're headed." She was a bit surprised by my offer.

"For realsies?" she asked. "You'd do that?"

"Well, yeah. At least this way if those three came back they'd think twice about messing with you," I said.  She thought about this a little and then quickly responded.

"Ok, well let's go, uh… hmm, what's your name?" she asked.

"Oh, right, I haven't even introduced myself," I said a little embarrassed. "My name is Azure Slate. What’s yours?"

"Sonata Dusk, it's nice to meet you," she said with a smile. 

"Nice to meet you too," I responded with a chuckle.

With that, we headed to the entrance of the alley where I picked up my bag and walked back past the dojo. As we headed back to the main road, Sonata spoke up.

"I live at an apartment complex on the main street; it's about five blocks away from here to the east," she said.

"Alright, well I'm familiar with that area so it shouldn't take too long to get over there," I offered.

"I hope it isn't too far out of the way from where you have to be." 

"It isn't, actually," I said. "But even if it were, after what you've been through, it wouldn't sit well with me to send you off on your own just like that." 

Sonata grabbed ahold of my right arm and rested her head against my shoulder with a barely audible sigh. Needless to say, my body went rigid from the sudden display of affection. I'd heard of warming up to someone quickly, but I'm pretty sure we'd skipped ahead a few levels. I wasn't sure if it had to do with everything that had just happened or if she was just this naturally open with others, but I wasn't about to ruin that moment with such a cute girl. I figured if it helped her feel safe after all that, then who was I to stop her. I only hoped that she couldn't hear how fast my heart was beating. 

Still, something was bothering me. Why was she in that situation in the first place? 

Sheer curiosity led me to say, "Hey, Sonata, can I ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Well, it's about those guys. Why were they after you?" Her expression immediately dropped to a frown.

"Well, I was kicking a can while I was walking earlier today. I had kicked it a bit too hard, and it went flying and knocked one of them in the head. I didn't mean for that to happen." 

"And they chased you down to beat you up because of an empty can to the head? That just seems like overkill for a simple accident."

"It's more complicated than that, but I don't want to talk about it," she said. She then brought her hand up to the choker around her neck which seemed to be missing something. Within a few short moments, tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. 

Oh great, look what you've done now genius, I thought as I mentally kicked myself. She's on the verge of tears, quick change the subject. DO SOMETHING!

"Erm, never mind. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your personal business," I said, trying to comfort her. "Listen, for what it's worth, I don't believe that you deserve that kind of treatment, regardless of whatever did happen." She sniffed back a couple of tears and hugged my arm again.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me," she said. She had calmed down a bit, so I relaxed a little as we continued walking.

At that moment, we were two blocks away from our destination. As we continued, a couple of guys who were wearing CHS lettermen jackets were walking in the opposite direction. I noticed that they were giving us strange looks. As we passed side by side with them, I could hear them talking in hushed tones and looking at Sonata. I also noticed that Sonata tightened her grip on my arm and had tried to hide her face from them as we passed by them. It was enough to put me on edge, just in case they tried anything funny. Fortunately, they just continued on their way.

I had the sneaking suspicion that the attack earlier, and the way those guys reacted to seeing Sonata were related. I would have asked but decided against upsetting her further. Honestly, I would have been upset too if I were in her shoes.

It took us a while to get there, but we had finally reached a block lined with several apartment buildings.

"So which building are you headed to?" I asked.

"It's the third one from the street corner," she said with a look of disappointment on her face. It was like she didn't want to part ways. Come to think of it, I felt the same way. But then I realized that the building she mentioned was also where my apartment was.

"Wow, it's weird how this day worked out," I said to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, turns out that this is the same apartment complex that my family lives in." 

"But I've never seen you here before."

"My dad and I barely moved in this past Wednesday, so we've only been here three days as of now. We are on the fifth floor."

"Well I guess that explains why Aria was complaining about a ton of things that were being moved up the stairwell," she said with a smile. Her sad mood had done a one-eighty when she heard that news. "We live on the third floor."

"Cool. Well, let me get the door for you." After we climbed the stairwell to the third floor and walked to her apartment, we stood there for a little while before I spoke up.

"Well, I hope you have a good evening," I said. "By the way, I know it's a bit sudden, but would you like to, I don't know, hang out tomorrow morning?  I was going to check out the nearby park."

"I'd love to. What time did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking maybe nine-thirtyish, is that alright with you?" I asked, with a sheepish grin. "We could stop somewhere to get brunch if you'd like."

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow in front of the building," she said, with a smile. She turned to her apartment door and was about to unlock it until she paused briefly. She then turned back to face me and wrapped her arms around me. She whispered into my ear, "Thank you, Slate," before placing a kiss on my cheek, which I could have sworn stopped my heart for a second, and then opened her apartment. She turned around and waved goodbye to me. I did the same except with a goofy grin plastered on my face, which caused her to let out the cutest giggle that I had ever heard as she closed the door slowly.

That kiss may have affected my brain more than I anticipated. I realized a full ten seconds too late that I had just been standing there, waving at the already closed door before snapping out of my trance. Even though there was nobody around to see how stupid I was acting, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed as I slinked back to the stairwell and up to my apartment.



Even though they had only just met that day, Sonata kept watching Slate through the peephole. She thought that he was kind of cute and giggled quietly at how he was acting. She could feel that a blush had settled in on her face. When Slate had taken off, she turned to head to her room. However, Aria had been standing behind Sonata with her hands on her hips and shaking her head.

"Aww, would you look at that. Our little idiot has found an idiot of her own," said Aria, with a grin. 

After a week of constant insults, Sonata had had it with Aria and lashed out.

"Shut up! You're the idiot. Not Slate. He's sweet, caring, and I like him. He even protected me earlier today when those gray guys from school tried to attack me."

"Oh wow, what a big deal," Aria said with a glare.

"Aria, go screw yourself," Sonata said as she used her shoulder to shove past her as hard as she could. That stunned Aria, and for the first time in a while, she could not find anything to say in response.

Sonata went and washed up before going back to her room.  She changed into some pajamas and set her cell phones' alarm to wake her up in time for her meeting with Slate and went to sleep.
> 2 - Becoming Better Aquainted
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday Morning

When I woke up at eight-thirty the next morning; I washed up quickly, got dressed in a t-shirt and cargos, and gelled up my hair. Then I went and cooked an egg for a small breakfast. When I finished washing the dishes that got used, I told dad that I was headed out for a walk. With my phone and wallet in pocket, I headed down to the first floor.

It had crossed my mind to stop at Sonata’s apartment and surprise her as she got out. But I figured that it would seem a little creepy on my part and took the stairs all the way down.

It was ten past nine when I got outside in front of the apartment complex, and there was no sign of Sonata anywhere. It was still early, so I stood there looking out across the street. That was until I felt a pair of hands cover my eyes.

"Guess who," a familiar voice said in a singsong tone.

"Sonata, is that you?" I asked as if it wasn't obvious. The hands came off of my eyes, and I was able to turn around. I was then met by an up close view of Sonata’s big magenta eyes. If she was trying to surprise me, it worked. I nearly fell back thanks to her being practically nose to nose with me.

She laughed a little and asked, "I didn't scare you, did I?"

"Not really," I said trying to play it off. "I wasn't sure if you were out yet. But anyways, are you ready?"

"Yup, let's go," she said. As we walked out towards the park, I couldn't help noticing that she seemed happy to be away from the apartments. I also couldn’t help noticing that she was wearing a light sweater with some joggers and some tennies.

I asked her "So, did you rest well yesterday?"

"Yeah," she responded. 

"That's good to hear, I'm glad that everything was alright at home for you," I said.

"I guess," she said with a sigh and a sad look on her face.

"Is something the matter?" I asked.

She shook her head a little as if to shake off the look on her face. "Oh, um, it's nothing." 

"Alright, well if anything's ever bothering you, you can always talk to me if you want."

"Ok," she said as a little blush appeared on her face. "Oh, by the way, I was wondering. What did you do to get rid of those guys yesterday?"

"I just used what I've learned from a few years of taking karate, that's all."

"Oh, so like all the flipping and acrobatics that they use in the movies?" she asked with a huge smile on her face. "That's so cool! You think you can show me some of that over at the park?"

"Heh-heh, wish I could say that's how it went down, but I just used simple self-defense stuff," I replied while rubbing the back of my neck. "To be honest, the flashy moves are probably best used for movies and TV shows but not really for much else. Besides, I mainly practice the traditional stuff."

"Oh, well I guess that's cool too," she said. "Could you still show me some of it? I haven't seen anything like that in person."

"I don't see why not," I said. "Hey, so you like those kinds of movies? I never would have guessed."

"Well, they are way better than what Adagio and Aria like to watch," she said matter-of-factly. "‘Dagi likes those long, boring dramas that take forever to watch, and Aria likes those over the top gore-fest horror movies that make my stomach turn."

"Huh, I can't say I really care for either of those genres myself," I said. "Dramas usually bore me to tears. As for horror, I prefer suspenseful psychological movies over the gory stuff."

"I know, right?" she agreed. "But, Aria seems to like those movies because she finds them ‘funny'," she said with a shrug.

Not wanting to judge Aria without having met her, all I could really do was try to give Sonata my best poker face and say "Oh, well to each their own, I guess."

"It still seems sick to me," she said thoughtfully as she tapped a finger on her chin.

Glad I wasn't the only one thinking that.

"So, I take it that, um, ‘Dagi' and Aria are like your sisters, right?"

"You could say that. We've been together our entire lives. We've really only been able to count on each other." She seemed to be reminiscing on something as she was quiet the rest of the way to the park, which wasn't too long anyway. "Oh hey, we're here," she said.

Looking around we could see a few people walking around the park’s edge. Some were riding bikes, and a couple was walking their dogs. On the opposite side of the park, there were a couple of soccer games going on and a few people were tossing a football back and forth. We walked to a less crowded part of the park and stopped by an empty bench.

Sonata took a seat on the bench and looked at me expectantly. "So can you show me some of that martial arts stuff?" she asked with a smile.

It really wasn't the ideal place for me to practice, but since I had already agreed to demonstrate, I wasn't about to back out now. I looked around to make sure that there wasn't anybody else around. Fortunately, we were practically the only ones in that area, save for a few onlookers further off in the distance. "Ok, let me just back up a bit," I said. She nodded, and I put a little distance between me and where she was sitting.

I took a deep breath and bowed to Sonata feeling a bit self-conscious. I then launched into a series of strikes, blocks, rolls and jumping kicks with as much intensity as I could. I didn't bother shouting as one would usually do during an exhibition like that since I didn't want to draw a lot of attention to myself. At the end of the form, I finished on one knee. As I stood up and bowed again to her, I could see that she had an awestruck look on her face. I wiped a few beads of sweat from my brow and went to go take a seat next to her.

"So, what did you think?" I asked, curious about her opinion.

"I don't think I could've memorized all those moves, and it looked kind of complicated. How long did it take you to get all that down?"

"A few weeks to learn it, and about a month or so to make sure I wouldn't make any mistakes while performing it."

"That seems like a lot of time just for that," she said with a confused look.

"I suppose so, but if that's what it takes to get it down right, then it's worth it. Besides, I love being able to do this kind of stuff," I answered.

"Hmm, must be nice to be able to do what you love," she whispered, looking down at the floor. It was barely audible, but I was able to tell that she had said something.

"What's that?" I asked hoping she'd say.

She looked up at me, surprised that I had even heard her. "Oh, uh, umm, it was nothing," she said hastily. "Actually, could you show me how to do some of that stuff?"

"What, you mean like right now?" I asked.

She just answered, "Yeah."

I hadn't actually planned to do anything like a full on class. Hell, I had never actually done anything like that at all in the first place. I mulled it over for a minute or so before I responded. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to show you how to defend yourself. Sure, let's do it."

"Yay, thank you!" she exclaimed. "So what are we gonna do first?"

As I stood up from the bench, I told Sonata, "Alright follow me onto the grass," which she did. After making sure that there weren't any rocks where we stood, I turned to Sonata and said, "Ok, I'm going to show you how to defend against a wide punch. So pretend to swing out your fist at me."

"Ok," she said a little nervously before throwing a punch slowly towards me.

"Alright, so when you see the punch coming, you want to duck under it," I said as I did just that. "Next, you want to place your palm under their chin and move your back leg behind theirs." I gently put my hand under her chin and set my foot behind her. "And now that they are off balance all you have to do is push up on their chin," with that I carefully pushed against her chin, and she began to tilt backward.

"Woah!" she exclaimed as she realized that she was about to fall. She didn't have to worry about it, though, I had my hand on her back to slowly lean her back without actually touching the floor. I suppose from anyone else's perspective it might have looked like we were dancing. She looked a little confused and just stared up at me, not to mention she started to blush a little.

I pulled her back upright. Once she had shaken some grass blades from the tip of her ponytail, I asked, "So, do you want to give it a try?"

"Would I?!" she exclaimed, getting ready to use the same move.

"Ok then, here it comes," I said and threw a slow-moving punch at her. She did exactly as I had done and ducked out of the way before bumping her palm into my jaw a bit fast. Well, she's picking it up pretty quickly, I thought. "Okay right, now remember that it's just practice so you do- Wha, whoa!" Before I knew it, I was off my feet and now looking up at the sky. Within that split-second, one thought shot across my mind. This is going to hurt. I hit the floor with a dull thud and just laid there on the grass.

Sonata’s excitement at having performed the technique correctly quickly turned to shock when she saw that I was laid out on the ground and kneeled down next to me. "Oh my god, I didn't mean to do it that hard. I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

A few seconds had passed before I was able to force out, "Don't worry about it. You just knocked the wind out of me. I'll be fine."

"So, you're not mad at me?" she asked me, still looking as concerned as ever.

I sat myself up with a sigh and reassured her, "Nah, it was an accident after all. Besides, I should have mentioned from the start that it's actually really easy to knock someone off their feet like this without putting everything into it."

She gave a sigh of relief after hearing this and asked sheepishly, "So, um, does this mean the lesson is over?"

"I don't mind if we continue or not, it's up to you," I said, waiting for her decision.

"Thanks. Alright, I promise I'll be more careful."

"Okay then," I said, as we stood up and I dusted myself off. We kept on practicing the throw without any further incidents. I also showed her a few other essential things. We wound up finishing a while later and at which point she looked pretty tired.

"I think this is a good place to stop for today," I announced. "If you want, we could do this again next weekend."

She looked up at me from the bench and said, "Sure, sounds good, but can we go get something to eat right now?"

"Yeah, I'm starving too," I said. "Did you have any place in mind?"

"I saw a Mexican restaurant across from the park," she suggested. "Wanna go there?"

"Sounds good."

It didn't take long for us to cross the park over to where the restaurant was. When we entered, the smell made me realize just how hungry I actually was. Apparently, though, Sonata was worse off than me because I could hear her stomach grumbling right next to me. She tried to stifle it by wrapping her arms around her midsection.

"Heh-heh, sorry," she said a bit embarrassed.

"It's okay. Let's just order," I said as we made our way to the ordering window where we were greeted by the cashier.

"Hi, welcome to the King Taco, may I take your order," she said with a bit of a bored tone.

I looked over to Sonata and told her, "Go ahead and order first."

"Thanks," she smiled back at me, "Okay, I'll have the large order of tacos, and a large diet soda, please."

The cashier punched in the order into the cash register and then turned to me. "And what will you have, sir?"

I had never been to that place and didn't know what was good, so I said, "I'll have the large order of tacos with a large diet soda too, please."

After putting in my order and ringing up the total, the cashier announced, "That'll be fifteen-thirty-five."

Sonata was about to reach for her wallet until I stopped her and said, "Don't worry, I got this." I then gave the cashier a twenty dollar bill. She gave me the change and a receipt, along with a plastic card with the number 4 printed on it.

"We will have your orders sent out to your table shortly," the cashier said as she brought out our drinks as well.

"Thank you," we both responded.

The cashier only responded with a bored "Mm-hmm."

"I'll be right back, just got to get a few things," I said while Sonata had picked out a table for two.

"All right."

I went over to the salsa bar and grabbed a few of the small containers full of condiments along with some napkins. With all that in hand, I walked back to the table careful not to drop anything.

While she was waiting, Sonata had been playing a block breaking game on her phone.

"So, you like video games?" I asked observing her play.

"Yeah," she said, still keeping her eyes trained on the screen. "Aw man, I was so close to beating my best score." She brought her attention back to me and continued, "Who doesn't like playing them. I mean, asides from Adagio."

"Not a fan of them?" I asked

"Yeah, she says that they're a waste of time, but I think it's because she just sucks at them," she said with a huge grin.

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Hmm, that's a shame, personally, I enjoy playing them," I replied.

"For realsies, which kinds do you like?" she asked.

"Well, action-adventure and fighting games for sure, but I'll try any game if it looks interesting," I said. "How about you, Sonata, which ones do you like?"

"Well, I like rhythm, puzzle, and action games. As long as it's fun, I'll play it," she said. "Hmm, maybe we could play together?"

"Sure, that would be great," I smiled back at her.

Before we could continue our conversation, a waiter brought out two trays with our orders to the table and asked, "Order number four?"

"Yes, that's us," I answered.

"Here you go then. Enjoy," he responded.

"Thanks," both Sonata and I replied as he handed us our trays and took the plastic card with him back to the cashier.

I got one of the containers with the red salsa and started to put it on a few of the tacos. As I took a bite, I couldn't help but notice that three of the six tacos on Sonatas' plate were gone. She was now taking huge gulps of her drink and then wiped her mouth with one of the napkins. I thought to myself, I don't know whether I should be concerned or impressed with how fast she polished off half of her plate at the moment it took me to use the salsa.

I suppose she noticed that as well as she began to eat slower now. Of course, she still finished before I did. Eventually, I finished as well and got rid of the trash that was left, and Sonata took a few last sips from her cup.

"Ah, that was good," she said looking very satisfied.

"I still can't believe how fast you finished the whole thing," I said in response.

"Well, I didn’t have anything for breakfast," she answered.

"Okay, I didn't know, never mind what I just said," I apologized.

"It's all right," she beamed, "it's been pretty fun so far, huh?"

"Can't argue with you there," I said. "So, was there anything else you wanted to do?"

"Well, I thought that maybe we…" she began but didn't finish her thought. The color had suddenly rushed from her face as she was looking past me towards the entrance. She then got up from her seat and said, "I, uh, I gotta go to the restroom. I'll be right back." She then bolted towards the restroom and slammed it shut.

What got into her?

I turned to get a look at what had spooked Sonata. However, I only saw Rainbow Dash, who was looking over the menu. She went and placed an order and turned to find a place to sit. She then noticed me at the table, and waved "hi." I waved back, and she came over and sat across from me.

"Hey, how's it going, Slate?" she asked. 

"Not bad, how about you?"

"Pretty good. Just finished trouncing the other team. So, what are you doing here by yourself?" 

"Oh, I'm actually here with a friend of mine, she just stepped into the restroom," I explained, "We came in here not too long ago after a walk in the park earlier. So you were playing a game right now?"

"Yeah, I was at the park for a soccer match," she said. "I felt like coming here to get something quick to eat afterward."

"So are you dining in?" I asked.

"Nah, I've got a lot of things to do today, so I put my order to go. Actually, I think they're bringing it out right now. I guess I'll see you around."

"Alright then, see you later," I waved at her. She waved back, took a plastic bag from the waiter and left.

Sonata peeked her head out from behind the restroom door and cautiously walked back to our table. 

"Hey, are you alright, Sonata?" I asked her as she sat back down. "It seemed like something was bothering you, was it Rainbow Dash?

Her eyes went wide for about a second, but she quickly regained her composure and answered, "What, no, nothing's bothering me. But maybe we should get going."

"Alright then," I told her, and we made our way back out onto the street. "By the way, you were saying you wanted to do something else?"

"Oh, right," she said, "I wanted to ask if I could hang out with you at your apartment. To be honest, it seems like it would be better than having to spend another day at my place."

"Um, sure, I just need to check something. Could you give me one second?"

"Ok," she said a little disheartened.

I began to send a text message to dad but stopped when I saw that he had already sent me one of his own.

It read, "Hey Slate, a bit of an emergency came up at work, and I won't be back till five today, there should be some stuff in the fridge that you can prepare. I'll see you later, take care."

I quickly shot a text back asking if I could have a friend over. All I got back was a concise, "Sure." I guess dad was extremely busy then.

The phone showed that it was barely going to be one o’clock, which meant we had plenty of time to hang out.

"Hey, Sonata, it's okay for you to come over."

She perked up again and replied, "Cool, so what are we waiting around here for." She then took me by the hand and practically dragged me back towards our apartment complex. We made it there in no time at all. I had a feeling that it had something to do with Rainbow Dash back at the restaurant. Between that and what had happened the night before however, I couldn't help but wonder what could have possibly happened.

We took the stairwell up to the fifth floor and over to my apartment. Once we were both in, Sonata took a look around.

"You have a beautiful place here," she said. "I especially like the pictures of your family. You guys look really happy."

"Thanks," I said as I went to the kitchen sink and quickly washed my face. "Go ahead and make yourself at home."

"Okay," she called back as she sat on the couch.

Once I dried off, I went back to the living room with Sonata. I then asked her "What do you want to do?"

Sonata looked all around the entertainment system trying to see what there was. Her eyes had landed on the gaming console before she turned to me.

"Ooh, how about we play something together," she said as she got up and went to look at my small library of games. After glossing over them for a moment she picked one out. "Here, let's play this one, it's been a while since I last tried it," she said handing me the box with a smile.

"You've played Blazing Fist X before?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, it's one of the few fighting games I really, really like."

"Alright then, let me just get everything set up," I said, turning on the television and game console. I inserted the game and got it running to the title screen, and then found the second controller for Sonata to use. We selected the 2-player mode and began playing.

It had actually been quite a while since I had last touched that game. And based on all the mistakes that Sonata was making, the same could be said for her. At least it made it enjoyable. As we relearned how the game worked, we began to get competitive.

"Ha, that was close," Sonata remarked as my attack barely missed her.

"Woah, nice try," I said as my character countered hers.

"Ooh, you can't get away this time," she said as she cornered my character.

"Ah! No, no, no, no," I muttered as I tried desperately to keep the life bar from dwindling away.

"K.O." an announcer shouted from the screen as my character flopped onto the ground in defeat.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you really liked this one," I said now looking at the score which was 16 to 19, Sonata leading by 3 wins.

"Yeah," she said, "it was still pretty fun though. I'm surprised that you didn't come out ahead in the end."

"What can I say, I'm a bit rusty," I said with a grin. What I failed to mention, however, was that I was holding back a tiny bit. I didn't want to ruin her fun.

"I guess," she sighed and leaned back into the couch, now relaxing after that series of fights. "How about we watch something now? I don't think I can go another round right now."

"Fine by me," I said. I went and turned off the console, set the television to the cable channels and gave the TV remote to Sonata. "You can put it on whatever channel you'd like to watch. I'm going to step into the kitchen for a little, do you want anything?"

"Yes, can you get me some water, please," she asked looking a little embarrassed.

"Sure," I said heading to the kitchen. When I got back with a couple of water bottles for the both of us she had picked one of those caught on camera shows. I suppose we both had a dumb sense of humor because Sonata and I would burst out laughing at some of the sillier, slapstick moments.

Regardless, we had a good time all the way to the end of the show. Sonata wiped away a tear from laughing so hard at the last clip, and I stretched out and placed an arm over the top of the couch.

Sonata then turned to me. "Hey, Slate," she said.

“What’s up?”

"Thanks for inviting me out today. This whole past week was the worst, and this really helped me get my mind off of it."

"Well, I'm glad I could help," I responded, "It was kind of fun after all."

As another program had finished, the view of a setting sun was visible through the window. When I checked my phone, it read four-thirty three pm. Not much longer till dad gets back, I mentally sighed to myself. As soon as he got in, he'd expect me to take care of a plethora of things regardless of having a guest. I felt that wouldn't be fair to Sonata and decided that I should just escort her to her apartment before then.

"Hey, Sonata, I'd really like for you to stay longer, but once my dad gets here, I won't really be able to hang out," I said. "Just a ton of things that need to be taken care of, sorry about that."

"It's alright, I should probably be getting home soon anyway," she said. "Gotta make sure that Adagio and Aria don't need help with anything."

"Okay then," I answered. "I’ll walk you back to your apartment?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," she said. I got the spare key to my place and we took the stairs down to the third floor. We were certainly not in any rush to part ways so we walked at a leisurely pace. But we still got there fairly quickly. Again we were standing at her apartment door just like before.

"So will I see you tomorrow?" I asked her.

"I'm not sure," she said frowning. "It depends on what Adagio has planned." 

"Hmm, well then maybe we can trade cell numbers so we can text each other," I suggested pulling out my cell phone.

"That's a good idea," she said pulling out hers as well. So we gave each other our numbers and put them into our contact lists.

"Ok then, I guess I'll see you around," I said putting away the phone.

"Ok, I'll see you later," she said as she hugged me. I still wasn't used to that, but I still hugged her back. She then got the apartment open and waved bye, as did I. I took off up the stairs trying to get back to my place quickly so I could get started on the chores before dad got back. 

Other than a brief conversation with dad when he arrived, the rest of my afternoon was full of cleaning the apartment until dinner. All the while, I was checking to see if I had received any texts from Sonata.
> 3 - Back from the Drawing Board
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday Evening

When Sonata got back into her apartment, she was half expecting Aria to come and start barraging her with the usual insults as she locked up. Unfortunately, it was worse than that. Aria was sitting nearby while Adagio was standing probably five feet away from the door with her arms crossed.

Sonata suddenly felt small when she saw the other two sirens fuming as they waited for her to say something.

"Hi, Adagio, Aria. What's going on?" Sonata said, hoping that she hadn't just made a huge mistake by saying anything. 

Adagio took a couple of steps towards her, forcing her to back up into the door. Then she slammed a hand right next to Sonata’s head, causing her to flinch. 

"Don't you give me that, you half-wit!" Adagio yelled right in her face. "We've been waiting here for you to get back since the afternoon! We even sent you several texts to get back here immediately!"

Sonata quickly pulled out her phone and almost gasped when she found that there were ten unread texts. She then noticed that the alert settings had been turned off. The earliest one was sent at one thirty. "I'm sorry, I was trying to stay out of your way, so I went out to get some fresh air," she explained.

"Yeah, with some guy," Adagio said, "Aria followed you earlier today, and told me about it while we were waiting for you to drag yourself back here."

"I-I was going to let you know," she said trying to calm down Adagio.

Adagio took a deep breath  before changing her tone completely. "Oh, that's quite alright. I think he could come in handy."

Sonata, now completely aware of Adagios intentions pleaded. "Wait, please. I don't want to get him involved with any of our plans."

Aria then scoffed, "What? Are you worried that he's going to get hurt? That everyone else might treat him like us? If he's seeing you, it’s going to happen regardless, lame brain."

"A- uh…oh," Sonata tried to say something against it, but Aria made a good point.

"Besides, all you really have to do is keep on seeing him so you can get in close with him," Adagio said.

"Of course, we could always just get rid of him, if you want," Aria chimed in.

"Alright, I'll do it. Just don't do anything to him," she unwillingly agreed. 

"Good," Adagio smirked. "Now that that's settled, you're going to be helping us gather some things tomorrow. I think we may be able to transfer whatever magic that is left in our broken pendants into similar stones and start over from that. Also, we will be going back to the school to figure out how Sunset Shimmer got that other Equestrian girl here."

"Are you sure about that, I mean, it seems too risky to go back there after everything that happened," Sonata said, "And wouldn't they have kicked us out after that?"

"Oh please, stop your whining, Sonata," Aria said. "If anyone tries anything I'll make sure they pay. Anyways, you have that guy. It's not like he'd let anything happen to our poor little defenseless idiot."

Between the anger, fear, and frustration; Sonata couldn't think of anything to say in response to Aria and just kept quiet.

"I'm fairly confident we'll be fine to return there. I mean, look at Sunset Shimmer. She practically did exactly the same thing as us, and they let her stick around," Adagio reasoned.

"I guess that does make sense," Sonata said feeling defeated. I hope it doesn’t go completely wrong.

"Good, now that that is out of the way, I'm going to be heading out to stretch out my legs," Adagio said. "But you two had better be ready for tomorrow."

With that, Adagio gave Sonata a gesture to get out of the way of the door and left. Aria got up from her seat and walked over to her too.

"You know, as fun as it was to follow you two morons around this morning, I've got other more worthwhile things to do," Aria said and left the apartment as well.

Sonata couldn't help but feel some relief as soon as Aria and Adagio had both left. On the one hand, at least the worst part of that encounter was over, and she wouldn't have to deal with them for a little while longer. On the other, she felt uneasy about the new plan and what could happen to Slate. At this point there wasn't much that she could do to stop it, so she decided to shoot Slate a text.


Back at Slate’s apartment

I had barely finished sweeping the living room while dad was busy cooking dinner. He was telling me about how hectic the whole day had been and how he hoped that the new branch of the business would get better sometime soon. I wasn't entirely paying attention though, and would just answer with a generic "uh-huh" or "yeah" as I swept up a pile of dust into the nearby dustpan and emptied it out into the kitchen’s garbage bin.

As I took the broom and dustpan back to the closet, I checked my phone for any messages that I might have missed. There was one from Sonata which read, "Hey Slate. I wanted to let you know that I'm not going to be able to hang out tomorrow." 

In response I sent, "Alright, well hopefully I'll see you in school. You do go to CHS, right?"

Another text arrived shortly, this one read, "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I don't think I saw you there the first few days that I went."

"Oh, I was sick on Wednesday and Thursday, and kind of just stayed out on Friday."

"I see." 

"So, could you tell me which classes you have? Maybe we have some together."

I quickly went to my room and snapped a picture of my schedule and sent it to her.

She then replied "Cool, we have a few of them together, we even have the same lunch period. I'll see you Monday."

I replied with, "Ok, I'll see you then, take care," and placed the phone back in my pocket. I still had plenty of chores to finish up if I wanted to be able to do anything else, so I continued working until dinner was ready. All in all, the day went pretty well.


After getting those texts from Slate, Sonata could at least relax about seeing him during school. Still, she needed something to get her mind off of the plan. 

She went ahead and took a shower to get ready for the night. When she finished up, she put on some PJs and sat in the living room while looking over the previous week's newspaper. Surprisingly, there had hardly been any coverage of what had happened last Friday. There was a review though, that read "A spectacular light show capped off the finale of the CHS Battle of the Bands Competition." She didn't even bother reading past that and instead got a small snack from the fridge and went back to watch TV for a while.

Nine o'clock rolled on by and neither Aria nor Adagio had returned yet. She might have worried a bit more if it wasn't for the fact that she wasn't looking forward to any more tongue lashings anytime soon. So she went to her room and just turned in for the night.

She slept soundly throughout the night. Then morning  came along and there was a sudden loud banging that had scared her awake; causing her to roll out of bed and straight onto the floor with a loud thud. 

"Ow, my head," Sonata groaned as she picked herself up and rubbed a small bump on her forehead. "I guess this is how Slate felt yesterday. Ow. Alright, I'm up and getting ready!"

"Well get ready faster! We have several places to get to, and I don't want to spend forever getting out of here!" Adagio yelled from the other side of the door and left to finish up.

Sonata changed out into some street clothes and brushed her hair as quickly and carefully as she could before putting it into a ponytail. When she finished washing up, she headed to the kitchen where the other two had already been eating. They must have gotten up way earlier than her that morning, which was surprising since she didn't even hear when they had returned the night before. She quickly got some cereal for herself and scarfed it down. The other two would have rushed her as soon as they were done if she didn’t.

Shortly after breakfast, they were out the doors of the apartment complex and walking towards downtown.

"So what do we need for your big plan this time, Adagio?" Aria asked disinterestedly.

"We need to get some chalk, candles, and three new pendants," Adagio said.

"That's it? Why not pick up some glitter or some arts and crafts paper while you're at it?" Aria asked sarcastically. "Other than the new pendants, the other things seem pretty useless, kind of like Sonata," she said smirking over at Sonata.

"You are!" Sonata yelled back and glared at Aria.

"Shut your mouths!" Adagio snapped. "We need these items to make an array to transfer the energy from the broken pendants to the new ones."

"Oh, so you're going to try and use some sort of alchemy, right?" Sonata asked, now intrigued.

"Ye-Yes," Adagio replied, genuinely stunned that she had picked up on what her plan entailed. "How'd you even guess that?"

"Hello, one of my favorite anime was all about that sort of thing," Sonata responded with a smile. "So when you mentioned an array, I kind of figured that's what you meant."

Adagio shook her head and responded with, "Whatever, let's just get the stuff fast."

They went to several different stores looking for the supplies. It wasn't hard to find some chalk at the first arts and crafts store they checked ironically; and they found some similar looking pendants at a jewelry shop in lower downtown. What they did have trouble finding unfortunately, were the candles. Adagio explained that they had to be the kind that were made with actual animal fat, so it took some time before they came to a shop that carried any. 

The shop sold occult stuff and was kind of dark and gloomy. There were lots of skulls, incense, and statues along with other dreary items throughout the store. The black and white striped shopkeeper however, didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the shop’s very off-putting atmosphere. She was very friendly in helping them find what they needed and was more than happy to sell them those candles. She even did so in rhyme.

After the purchase, the Dazzlings left right away while Sonata started shaking off the shiver that had been running up and down her spine.

"Ugh, I'm glad we're out of there. That place was giving me the creeps the entire time we were in there," she said, raising an arm to show Aria and Adagio the goosebumps that had shown up.

"Man, you're such a wimp," Aria said rolling her eyes. "Let's go back to the apartment and get that array done so we can get our powers back."

"Not just yet, Aria," Adagio said scowling. "Even with an array set up, it wouldn't have any effect. We still need a fully intact, magical item to act as a conduit to transfer the magic from our pendants to the new ones. Which is why we need to go back to the school and find out how the Rain Booms got that other girl here. They must have something that we can use."

"Whatever, Adagio, let's just get something to eat then," Aria whined, "it's been four hours since we had breakfast, and we're already going on five."

“Yeah, I think my stomach is eating itself,” Sonata added.

Adagio pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and sighed, "Fine, we'll pick up something on the way back." They did just that, and stopped along the way at a pizza parlor and bought a large pizza.

By the time they made it back to the apartment, it was already going to be three in the afternoon. The sirens ate lunch in silence, which was pretty much the norm for them since the atmosphere around them was very tense no matter what.

As for the rest of the day, they didn't really do much else. Sonata was texting back and forth with Slate to pass the time. Aria was reading some magazines on the couch. And Adagio was busy studying a book on alchemy to make sure she could reproduce the array once they had a magical item. In a way, Adagio’s planning had brought them back to a relatively neutral state, unlike the past week. The day ended on a pretty good note as they waited for the school week to begin.
> 4 - Ignorance can be such Sweet Bliss
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sonata got up more groggily than ever as her phone alarm blared on. Although, skipping school the entire last week probably didn't do much to help her either. Surprisingly enough, though, Adagio was already up and ready to go while Aria was barely getting out of the shower.

"Hurry up!" Adagio shouted from the kitchen. "We have to get to school early to ‘smooth out' everything with the principal."

Sonata tried her best to hurry through her morning routine but was still only able to get a few bites of breakfast before Adagio and Aria began hounding her to get a move on. Both of them were waiting impatiently by the door.

"Let's go," Adagio said while opening the door to leave, "I don't want to get to school and have to deal with the peanut gallery before we talk to Principal Celestia."

Sonata quickly put the leftovers into the fridge and got her backpack. They left the apartment close to six forty and made their way to the school as fast as possible. With the sun barely breaking past the horizon, it was a bit chilly on the way there.

Even though they got there fairly early, there were still a few students out front waiting for classes to begin. Once they saw the Dazzlings, they immediately began to whisper to one another. Some were nervous while others were outraged by them even choosing to show up to school again.

Adagio and Aria just shot the other students nasty looks as they walked by, causing a few of the closer ones to back away. Meanwhile, Sonata kept her head down as she tried to ignore them. 

They got inside the school but were met by more of the same as they headed to the principal's office. While they waited in the hallway to be called in, most of the student body kept their distance from the three sirens.

"Okay girls," Adagio began, "when we get in there, let me handle the talking, you two just act natural."

The first warning bell sounded as the other students headed to their classes and they were let into the office by the principal.

With a stern look on her face, Principal Celestia said, "This is a bit of a surprise. I wasn't expecting you three to return to school, especially after everything that you did. So why are you here?"

"We came here to apologize for everything that happened," Adagio answered. "We know that we caused a lot of trouble for everyone here, but we are still hoping to be able to continue attending this school."

"While I appreciate that you three decided to apologize for what happened, I'm going to have to say no to your request," Principal Celestia said as she reached for the phone.

"Can't you please give us another chance, please," Adagio begged the principal. "Our pendants were destroyed, and our powers are gone. Because of that, we are nothing more than regular teenage girls. We've got nowhere else to go. Please don't send us away."

Principal Celestia paused as she considered what Adagio just mentioned, as well as what should be done.

"Please give us another chance," Adagio pleaded one last time, "you did the same for Sunset Shimmer, and she improved. Please give us the opportunity to do the same."

After some deliberation Principal Celestia finally spoke.

"Alright, I will allow you three to continue attending here at Canterlot High," Celestia said.

"Thank you," Adagio said, trying to sound as grateful as possible before Celestia cut back in.

"I will allow you three to continue on here, but if you three cause any further problems I will personally see to it that you are expelled," Celestia said. "I will also be assigning detention to all three of you after school for the next two months. It will be in the library, and if you decide to skip out on the detention, you will be expelled from school as well. Have I made myself clear?"

"Very," Adagio said as Aria and Sonata nodded silently.

"Very well then, go ahead and get a hall pass from the office clerk and get to class immediately," Celestia instructed as she held the door to her office open for the girls.

They got their passes and headed to the main corridor.

"So, was detention part of the plan?" Aria asked sarcastically.

"Wow, this is the worst," Sonata whined.

"Would the both of you shut up," Adagio said. "Look, it's a minor setback. We just need to find whatever it is that the Rainbooms have. But in the meantime, I think we should just try to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible."

"Well, that's going to be impossible." Aria deadpanned.

"Nevertheless, just don't do anything to get us kicked out," Adagio sighed

"Fine," Aria groaned.

"Okay," Sonata said.

"Now, let's get to our classes before it gets any later," Adagio said as she turned and headed off to her class. Aria and Sonata did the same.



First class of the day

That Monday morning seemed pretty run of the mill. I made it to school on time and had been in class for twenty minutes already. The lecture that Mr. Donkey had been giving was mind numbingly boring, unfortunately. I swear, it's just too damn early to have a history lecture, was the thought that ran through my mind. That was until I realized that Sonata was not in class. Strange, I'm pretty sure that Sonata was supposed to be in this class right now.

Just at that moment, the door creaked open as Sonata walked in and carefully closed the door, gaining the attention of the whole class and Mr. Donkey.

"Ah, Miss Sonata, I'm glad you could join us today," Mr. Donkey said with a faux-enthusiastic tone that a lot of teachers seem to have perfected over the years. "Care to explain why you feel like you can waltz in at any time that you want."

"Sorry. I have this, will that work?" she asked anxiously as she handed Mr. Donkey a note that she pulled from her sweater pocket. From the looks of it, she wanted to turn invisible.

He looked it over and plainly replied, "Just take a seat."

Sonata looked around, and spotted me and a seat that was next to me. She cautiously made her way over to the vacant seat as several of the other students gave her disapproving glares as she passed them by. She set her backpack down and sat down quickly trying to shrink herself out of sight.

"Okay, where were we," Mr. Donkey asked rhetorically. "Ah, yes, the event that spurred the United States to actively participate in World War II was the Pearl Harbor Attack." He did not pay her any mind at this point and continued on with his exceedingly boring lecture. The same could not be said for a few students who were still giving Sonata the evil eye.

Sonata had pulled out a notebook and a pen to try and write down what the instructor was saying, but found it difficult to concentrate with her unwanted audience. They whispered quietly to each other about her and her sisters, I suppose. I could see that they weren't letting up, and Sonata seemed very distressed, so I decided to get them to stop.

"Hey, lay off. She isn't doing anything. Stop being a nuisance." I whispered over to them. A couple of the students turned their attention to me and had confused looks on their faces.

"You got a problem?" one of them asked me indignantly.

"Yeah, you're bothering my friend." I retorted.

I could see that this was starting to piss them off, but I didn't really care. They were about to continue the argument until Mr. Donkey called out from the front of the class.

"Hey, the lecture is up here," he announced getting all of our attention, "unless you'd rather have a two-page essay due by the end of the class."

That got everyone to straighten out and focus up front. As I was writing some notes down, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Thanks, Slate," Sonata whispered. "You didn't have to do that, though."

"Why not?" I whispered back. "It didn't seem right to let them keep going on like that. By the way, how come you got in so late?"

"Oh, my sisters and I had to stop by the principal's office first thing this morning to take care of a few issues," Sonata replied.

"Ah, okay," I whispered back. "Well I don't want to press our luck any further, so I'll let you focus on the class right now."

"Okay," Sonata whispered as we both took notes on what was on the blackboard. We continued on like this till the bell sounded for us to move on to the next class.

Fortunately, we had another class together, but that still didn't help the fact that it was math. It wasn't my strong suit, but I understood it well enough. Sonata, however, was having a harder time getting a grasp of the material as it was being explained. In fact, it became sorely apparent that she didn't understand the problems when the instructor asked her what step in the formula came next. All she could do was muster a strangely blank stare. Good thing this instructor allowed the class to take home the problems that we didn't finish during the last half. I did my best to explain the problems to Sonata, and we were both able to get through at least half of the assignment before the class time was up. 

Our next classes were at opposite ends of the school, and I wouldn't see Sonata till lunch. 

I had chemistry with Dr. Discord, a very odd man who always came to school in very strange, mismatched looking clothes. He seemed like the perfect instructor for the class since all the information that he would give the class would leave us scratching our heads, almost as often as the mere sight of him. Still gotta say, it was never a dull class whenever he would show us how some of the chemicals would react.

Then there was French. It was interesting, but I don't think that one year of learning the basics could be enough to get the hang of a different language. I suppose I'll be taking the next part the following year to improve.

Finally, when the bell rang, I couldn't have been any more relieved. Most of the French lesson for that day centered on food names and kitchen things. I was just glad that I was going to get food now.

Over at the cafeteria I looked around to see if Sonata was there yet, but before too long it had gotten pretty crowded so I just got in a lunch line.



At the cafeteria, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata waited in the lunch line. Unsurprisingly, many of the students turned to get a look at them and gossip.

"Why are they still here?" one girl asked.

"Beats me, I thought for sure that they would have been expelled," a boy told the girl.

"Ha, forget that, shouldn't they be in prison?" another guy said.

This is how many of the conversations around them went. Adagio seemed to have an irritated look plastered on her face at this point while Aria rolled her eyes at these conversations. Sonata was a bit more preoccupied with finding Slate. Eventually, she spotted him as he was paying for his lunch.

"Hey, Adagio, is it alright if I sit with Slate?" Sonata asked.

"Go ahead," Adagio said disinterestedly.

"Thanks, Dagi," Sonata said. "Um, do you guys want to sit with us?"

"Really?" Adagio asked sarcastically. "I'd love to hang out with you two. Pass."

"Yeah, that's totally lame," Aria added. "You can keep him to yourself."

"Oh," Sonata said, feeling a bit rejected. "That's fine."

When they finally got their trays and paid for the meals, Adagio and Aria went to sit at an empty table, which caused the other students to avoid it like the plague.

Sonata walked over to the table Slate was sitting at and tapped him on the shoulder.



I was still waiting to see if Sonata would show up. Maybe she just got held up by a long-running lecture, I thought.

Suddenly I felt a light tapping on my left shoulder.

"Hi, Slate, is it alright if I sit down here?" Sonata asked sheepishly.

"Yeah, go ahead," I said, pulling out the chair beside me and patting it. She sat down and we began our meal. Halfway through, though, I looked at her and said, "You know, you don't have to ask to sit down, I don't mind."

"Oh, it's just that, well. All day the other students have been giving me ugly looks and saying things," Sonata said somberly.

"I noticed that earlier too," I said in acknowledgment.

"So I don't want them to start treating you the same way for being around me," she said, now extremely down on herself.

"Well, why are they so upset in the first place?" I asked.

"I don't think it's really a good time to talk about that right now, maybe later," she said, trying to get me to drop the subject.

"Fine, I just wanted to see if I could help." I conceded. "Well, how have the other classes been today?"

"They were okay I guess. English was a little boring and chemistry was just so confusing," she said.

"Don't tell me, chemistry with Mr. Discord?" I asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" she asked genuinely surprised. 

"Had his class right after math. It's crazy how complex that class is, right? Hardly anyone gets how to do the work in that class, including myself," I said mockingly on the subject.

"I know, and it's freaky how he looks just like this other Discord from Equestria," she said.

I kind of did a double take and asked, "Wait, what?"

"Oh, uh, I mean like a character from a show I used to watch," she said, practically tripping over her words.

"Well if you say so," I said, dismissing what she just said. "So, I was wondering if you were still having trouble with any of the homework. Maybe you'd want to meet after school so we could work together."

"I'd like that, so how about we meet at your apartment?" Sonata suggested.

"Yeah that works for me," I said.

"Hey, Slate, how's it going?" a familiar voice called out from behind us.

In the moment that I turned to see who it was, I could see Sonata had become extremely tense. Rainbow Dash was headed in our direction.

"Oh hey, Rainbow Dash, what's up?" I said.

"Not much, just wanted to see…" she started, but then just trailed off when she saw Sonata.

"Um, is everything okay?" I asked.

"Are you crazy, Slate?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Why are you hanging around with one of the Dazzlings?!"

"The what now?" I asked, not sure what she meant by that. I looked over to Sonata to see if she could clue me in on what Rainbow Dash was going on about, but she looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

"She and her friends have caused nothing but trouble," Rainbow Dash added, "and they shouldn't have even been allowed to come back."

Sonata shot up from her seat and in a shaky voice said to me, "I-I gotta go. Sorry, Slate." She then took off running out of the cafeteria.

"Yeah, and stay out!" Rainbow Dash yelled after her which caught the attention of quite a few of the other students.

"Hey, what the hell is your deal with Sonata?!" I exclaimed while getting up from my seat. "What did she do to deserve that?"

"Look, Slate, she's dangerous," she said, "you should keep away from that siren."

"Dangerous, siren?!" I responded. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"I'm totally serious here," she said trying to convince me.

"There's no way that she's dangerous. If she were, she wouldn't have needed me to fight off the group of guys that ganged up on her."

"What are you talking about?" she asked me incredulously.

"Three gray looking guys chased and cornered her in an alleyway near the karate center this past Friday," I explained. "One of them was about to bash her head in. But she was too terrified to fight back. And you expect me to believe that she's dangerous?"

"Okay, look, I didn't know that she had been attacked," she said as a guilty expression spread over her face. "My friends and I hadn't seen her or the other Dazzlings around, so some of us thought that they might be up to no good even after what happened a week ago."

"Care to fill me in on what they did. I've heard everyone talking about something that happened, but none of it makes a bit of sense," I said. Just then the bell went off, and the whole student body started moving out to their classes. "You know what, never mind. By the way, thanks for sharing your crackpot sentiments with me. See you around."



While Slate was arguing with Rainbow Dash in the cafeteria, Sonata ran to the restroom and locked herself in. She couldn't explain why she took off after the accusations by Rainbow Dash. Perhaps it was the thought of having the events of the Battle of the Bands brought up in front of Slate that made her run. It gave her the most disgusting feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

She had never really experienced this kind of feeling before. Back when the Dazzlings still had their powers, everyone that they had caused to fight would have been too busy to have said anything about what they had done. For the most part that's why she didn't give her actions a second thought. But now that everyone was back to normal, that’s all that anybody would talk about while she was around, she couldn’t ignore it anymore.

The bell went off and shook her out of her deep thoughts. She splashed some water on her face at the sink and dried off quickly, and then tried to give herself a pep talk in the mirror.

"Alright, Sonata, pull it together," she ordered her reflection, "don't start freaking out. You can't afford to screw this up. It's bad enough that Adagio and Aria still blame you for everything. Don't give them another reason to do it more."

She gathered her things and headed to the library for study hall. Luckily, she didn't have to sit in any particular place. So, she sat in one of the more secluded parts to try and study away from the rest of the group. It was the most silence that she had had all day and kind of enjoyed it for the moment. There was the occasional passerby that would walk by browsing the stacks for a book, but they would try to avoid her. If they had anything to say about the lone siren, they were keeping it to themselves.

A while passed before she noticed some footsteps headed towards her, so she looked up from her book. Surprisingly Slate had found her. It was a bit of relief, considering the whole scene that unfolded in the cafeteria.

"Sonata, there you are, are you okay?" Slate asked. 

"I'm alright," she offered halfheartedly.

"I'm really sorry about what happened back in the cafeteria with Rainbow Dash," Slate apologized. "I don't know what got into her."

"It's not your fault. If anything, it's mine," Sonata offered.

"Don't say that," Slate said in response.

"I'm sorry, it's just that with everyone constantly saying stuff about my sisters and me, it's been getting under my skin," she said. "Besides, I deserve it."

"Alright, look, as far as I am concerned, you're one of the few people that I've gotten to know here. And honestly, from everything that I can see about you, none of the stuff that they are saying is true," Slate said hoping that would help.

She just kept on looking at her clasped hands. "Thanks, I'm glad that you think that," she offered. However, what Slate had said only made her feel more conflicted about what she and the others had done.

"Is it alright if I sit here with you?" Slate asked, to which Sonata gave a nod of the head and a faint smile. 

Even though she didn't seem to want to talk, he kept her company in silence till the class bell rang.



Back with Slate

The last two classes of the day went by slowly. Sonata and I didn't have either of them together so I could only wonder how it was going for her. I hated how the day had gotten so screwed up and could only blame myself for how things played out.

Nevertheless, the last bell sounded, and the usual stampede of students crowded the hallways as they headed out. Luckily I ran into Sonata as she was walking to the library.

"Hey, Slate," she said with a weak smile.

"Hi, Sonata, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm okay, I guess," she said.

"So, are you still up for coming over today?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you at five-thirty," she said.

"Cool, see you then," I said a little bit relieved that she was still willing to see me. She went into the library and sat with two other girls that I could only assume were the sisters she had talked about previously. My pondering was interrupted, however, when Rainbow Dash came up to me along with another girl with light pink hair. Her attention was completely on Sonata and her sisters.

"Come on," I said exasperated, "don't you think that causing my friend to go running out of the cafeteria was enough for one day, Rainbow Dash."

That got her attention as she crossed her arms and gave me a dirty look before turning slightly to the pink haired girl and mumbling something to her through gritted teeth. Her friend whispered something to her almost as if she was trying to convince her to do something, and then slightly nudged Rainbow Dash forward. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes before turning her attention completely towards me.

"Look, this is the last thing that I wanted to do, but my friends wanted me to tell you and the monster to come to see us tomorrow during lunch," Rainbow Dash said almost like even having that conversation was beneath her.

"What?!" I said raising my voice. I couldn't help but get pissed off at her comment. Just then her friend stepped forward.

"Um, Slate, is it, please excuse Rainbow Dash," she said trying to defuse the situation. "What she meant to say was that our friends would like to talk with you and Sonata tomorrow at the band room, um, if that's alright with you. It's in room East 110. Also, Rainbow Dash wanted to apologize for everything that happened during lunch, right?"

"Pfft," was the only response that she gave her friend. 

While I was still mad at Rainbow Dash, I didn't particularly have anything against this girl. At least she wasn't an abrasive punk like her friend.

"So, what's your name?" I asked.

"Um, Fluttershy," She said barely audible enough to hear.

"Okay look, Fluttershy, I'll talk to Sonata about this and see if she'd care to meet with your group, but I wouldn't expect anything if I were you," I said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to take care of some things before five thirty. It was nice meeting you, Fluttershy,” I said as friendly as I could. I then turned to glare at Rainbow Dash and replied with, “Later.”

“Come on, Fluttershy. Let’s get out of here,” Rainbow Dash said as she turned and walked away. Fluttershy quickly joined her on her way.

On the way back to the apartments, a thought crossed my mind. “Hmm. Maybe I could have asked Fluttershy about what happened before.”

I continued walking until it finally hit me like a ton of bricks. “Augh, damn it! You couldn't have remembered to ask!”

In retrospect, if I hadn’t let myself get so angry, I might have finally had an answer to my question. It was too late to change that though, so all I could do was get home quickly and prepare for Sonata.



Back at the library

Sonata sat with Aria and Adagio, who looked less than thrilled to be there. They whispered back and forth between each other.

"This whole day was a waste of time, I wasn't able to get anything out of anyone about those Rainbooms, not that they would have been any help in the first place," Aria groaned.

"I should have figured that this was going to take a while just to find out what the Rainbooms used to get that other girl here," Adagio said. "Did you see anything useful, Sonata?"

"No," Sonata said disappointedly.

"What a shock," Aria said with a faux tone of surprise as she placed her hands on her cheeks.

"Not like you did any better," Sonata said defensively.

"Alright, so tomorrow we'll just have to up our efforts in finding that magical item," Adagio said sternly. "We are probably going to have to start trailing some of the Rainbooms carefully."

Sonata felt a knot in her stomach at the mention of the Rainbooms, but the other two didn't seem to notice.

During the remainder of their detention, they tried to look busy while a random teacher looked after them. That is, if you consider reading the newspaper looking after someone. Adagio was writing in a notebook trying to plan for when they got their powers back. Aria placed a book on the desk in front of her so it would block the teacher’s view of her while she slept. And Sonata tried to work on some of the homework for the Math class but it still hardly made any sense to her, so she pulled out her Spanish homework instead. At least she understood that better than math.

After forty-five minutes was up, they headed back to the apartment. Once they got back home, it was already five-fifteen. Another fifteen minutes had passed before Sonata approached Adagio cautiously to let her know about her plans for that evening.

"Um, I was going to go study with Slate at five thirty, is that alright with you?" Sonata asked, dreading the response.

"You're really going to waste your time with that?" Adagio asked flatly.

"Well, you don't want us to draw attention to ourselves or your plan, and I don't think failing the classes would help in any way," she explained. "This will keep me from failing and also keep me from bothering you guys for help."

"Hmm, that actually makes sense," Adagio mused aloud as she tapped her chin. "Fine, just be back by ten. As infuriating as being under a microscope is, we still have to make it to school in good time."

"Okay," Sonata answered. With that, she got her backpack and headed for Slate’s apartment.



For the past hour and fifteen minutes, I worked on and checked the math assignment so I could help Sonata to the best of my ability without having to worry about working out the problems entirely. Dad wasn't going to be back till seven-thirty since he was putting in overtime, which I had to admit that I felt bad about but was also okay with since Sonata would be there.

It was five-thirty five when a knock came from the door. As expected, Sonata was waiting on the other side.

"Hi, Slate," she greeted in a cheery tone.

"Hi, Sonata, you seem better now," I said. Quite frankly, when we are out of school she seems really at ease.

"Yeah, I feel a little better, so let's get started," she said enthusiastically.

"Well, come on in then, we'll be studying in the kitchen," I said as I led her to the table. We both sat down, and she pulled out her notebook along with the math assignment. I explained to her how to use the methods to solve the problems and watched as she attempted them. It was a somewhat slow process with her occasionally asking for help, but little by little she was getting it. At around forty minutes or so, she finally finished up the last problem on the assignment.

"Oh man," She sighed in relief as she rested her forehead against her arms in front of her. "I'm glad that's over."

"Well, for not understanding it at first, that went by relatively quickly," I said with a smile. "So, are you hungry or anything?"

She looked up from the table and said, "I'm actually a little hungry."

"Are sandwiches alright with you?" I asked.

"That's fine."

I went ahead and made some sandwiches for the both of us and got out a couple of cans of soda out of the fridge. She wolfed down her sandwiches like they were nothing. I still wasn't quite used to that yet. I, on the other hand, took a bit more time and finished a little while after her. We both sat there with our drinks as I thought of anything else I could talk to her about. Still, the one thing that was burning in the back of my mind was everything that had happened supposedly because of her and her sisters.

"So, is there any other subject you need help with?" I asked, resisting the urge to prod into the prior events of the day.

"No, so far that's the only subject that I really don't get," she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"What about chemistry?" I asked.

"Um, no offense, but didn't you say that you and practically everyone else didn't get those assignments," she said trying not to come off as rude.

"Ouch, my pride," I said as I grasped at my chest, "just kidding. I did say that, and sadly it still stands true. Alright, so what would you like to do then?"

"I'm not sure," she said as she looked up to the ceiling and scratched the back of her head.

She seemed to be thinking over a million things to talk about but couldn't decide. Just then, she spoke up. "So, Slate, I have a question for you," she began.

"Okay, shoot," I said.

"What does your dad do?" she asked. 

"Well, he works as a manager for a new company that deals with tech development," I said, "but honestly, I don't really know exactly what he does there."

"Hmm, sounds like it would be very complicated," she said.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but he doesn't really tell me much about it," I answered.

"Oh well," she said with a shrug. "And what about your mom?"

With that, I couldn’t help frowning as soon as I heard her question.

"She used to work as a paramedic," I said.

"Used to, what do you mean?" she asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it," was all I cared to say.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, let's change the subject," I said, but all was for nothing.

"Just tell me, I want to know," she continued pushing.

"Sonata, I'd really appreciate it if you'd drop this," I said as my frustration was starting to rise.

"Sorry," she said with a frown.

"It's okay," I sighed.

She placed her chin in her hand as she looked at me inquisitively. She stayed like that for a few minutes before something clicked. "Hey, I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Well, I thought that we could sort of share about ourselves," she suggested. "If you tell me about what happened, I'll tell you anything you want to know about me."

I thought on the offer for a while. Even though I hate to go over those events, I'd finally get a straight answer about what had happened before I arrived in town. Then maybe I could help her in some way. 

"So, you're serious about this, you'll tell me anything?" I asked.

"Yes, I mean it," she said as seriously as she could. 

"Fine. I guess I'll start this off then," I sighed.

"So what happened?" Sonata asked.

"Well, like I said before, my mom worked as a paramedic," I explained. "She had the night shifts most of the time, when some really nasty accidents happen."

"Really, I didn't know that," Sonata said.

"Well, that's how she put it," I said. 

"Oh," she said in acknowledgment.

"But I'm more inclined to believe her now, thanks to one particular night," I responded. "About four years ago, back in my hometown, the weather had turned really severe. It was pouring when some guy who was out late had taken a turn too fast and wound up rolling his car into a ditch. My mom and her partner had been the first responders to arrive at the scene and transport him to the hospital. The guy was in critical condition so they had to try and move as quickly as possible. 

“They were about halfway to the emergency room when they came to an intersection with heavy traffic. The ambulance was about midway across when some drunk came speeding along and crashed head-on into the driver side of the ambulance," I said as my eyes started to sting from the tears that were building up. "My dad and I had no idea anything had gone wrong until the next morning. By then it was too late. She died on impact, while the guy they were transporting never made it to the emergency room. The only ones to make it out of that wreck alive were her partner, and the damn drunk."

Sonata, a bit shocked after hearing that, offered her condolences. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Yeah, me too," I said. A few moments passed in silence while I focused myself and tried to put the memories out of mind. I cleared my throat and said to Sonata, "Sorry about that. Well, not to seem rude, but the thing I really want to know about you is, what exactly happened that has everyone at school against you?"

"Okay, um, but before I begin, promise you'll hear me out to the end. Even if it sounds a bit strange," Sonata said as she ran her fingers through her ponytail as she prepared to recount what exactly happened before I had moved into town. 

"Okay then, I promise," I said as I crossed my heart.

She seemed completely uncomfortable but took one last deep breath before she began.

"A while back, my sisters and I saw a large beam of light all the way from the town over. Adagio said that it was Equestrian magic so we had to try and find it. 

“It took some time, but we eventually figured out where it had come from. And like that, Adagio had all three of us enroll at Canterlot High School to find it."

Already this was starting to sound kind of weird, but since I promised to hear her out completely, I just nodded and continued to listen.

"On our first day there, Adagio wanted that magic as soon as possible so she planned for us to hypnotize Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and the rest of the school with our music," she said. "We even got them to change their musical showcase into a full-blown tournament, the Battle of the Bands."

"Sorry, but this doesn't make any sense," I said. "Why would you three go through all of that trouble?"

"It was so we could gather more negative energy from everyone at the school. The more they fought with each other, the more energy we collected. It's what powered our own magic," she said with a bit of a huff thanks to my interruption.

"Oh, okay," I said, even though it still didn't really make much sense to me.

"During all that, Adagio figured out that the Rainbooms were the source of the magic we had seen before, and came up with a plan to take it from them during the battle of the bands," she explained.

"Rainbooms? Sounds like something that Rainbow Dash would pick for a band name. She was a part of that wasn't she?" I asked.

"Yes," she responded, along with a sad sigh. "We even came close to beating them, but another one of their friends came along and ruined  Adagios plan, and, and…" she tried to continue but was getting choked up.

Considering that the whole thing sounded so farfetched, it caught me off guard to see her fighting back tears.

"So, what happened?" I said as I handed her a couple of tissues.

She sniffled back a few tears and said, "They shattered our pendants and took away our magic." I wasn't sure whether or not to believe the story that she had just told me. That was until she pulled out a small pouch and emptied out its contents into her hand and said, "See." There in her hand were several ruby red shards of a stone that seemed to give off an odd glow.

"No way," I said as I looked at the shards. "So you mean to tell me that all that stuff you just said is true, even all the mind control magic stuff?"

She kept her eyes on the table in front of her and answered with a strained "Yes."

"Hmm, so tell me something."

"Yes," she said nervously.

"Why did you do all that?"

"Adagio said that it would be enough to regain our original power."

"And you never questioned whether what the three of you were doing was wrong?" I continued my questioning.

"I know it sounds bad, but at that point it was the only way we could survive," she said with a bitter look on her face. "The negative energy that we absorbed was like food to us, but when our pendants were broken we basically became normal humans."

After hearing her justifications for what she and the others had done, it was evident that that was all she had known, possibly due to Adagio’s influence. I was going to ask her something else but she started speaking unexpectedly.

"After losing our powers, I've been thinking about what we've done. It keeps on bugging me throughout the days." she said sniffling again, "And with everyone at school constantly reminding me about it all, I don't know what to do."

"Well, if everything you said before is true, then the best thing you can do is try to make amends," I suggested. "I mean, just from the time I've spent with you, you don't seem all that bad, so I'm sure doing that could help to make things right."

"You really think so?" she asked sounding a little less down.

"I do," I replied. "At the very least, it would show that you're willing to change."

She looked intrigued by this idea, but at the same time seemed hesitant to consider even going through with it. "Where would I even begin?" she asked as she rested her head on her hands.

"Well, it's a funny thing you should ask that," I answered back.

"Why's that?" she asked confused.

"As I was leaving school today I ran into Rainbow Dash and her friend Fluttershy. I think Rainbow was trying to apologize for what happened earlier today," I explained. "But more importantly, they said that their group wants to talk to us tomorrow."

"I don't know," she said. "What if they plan to do something else to you or me?"

"I really doubt that they plan on doing anything," I said, trying to put her mind at ease. "This could help you patch things up with them. Besides, I'll be there with you."

She didn't respond and was concentrated on trying to figure out what to do. But before she could give me any kind of answer, the front door came open and a voice called from the entrance. I looked at my phone which read seven fifty pm. It was dad.

"Hey, Slate, are you here?" he called out. "Sorry for getting here so late. Traffic was terrible on the way back."

"Yeah, I'm in the kitchen," I answered back. "Hey, my friend needed help with a math assignment so I invited them over to tutor them, is that alright?"

"I don't see why not," dad replied. "Are they still here?"

"Yes," I said.

"Well, let me meet them." 

I then turned to Sonata and whispered to her, "Alright, just follow me to the living room, I'm pretty sure it'll be fine." She nodded and got up to follow me to the next room. 

"Ah, hello. I'm Slate’s father, Steel. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi, I'm Sonata, it's nice to meet you too."

"So, did you guys finish up already?" he asked turning to me.

"Yes, dad, just a little while ago," I said. "Listen, she actually needed to head out soon, so I didn't want to hold her up too much longer."

"Right, my sisters are actually waiting for me to get back," Sonata said as she went to get her backpack and notebook.

"Okay then," dad replied, "we'll be seeing you around."

"Actually, I was going to walk her to her apartment, if that's alright with you," I said to my dad.

"Sure, go ahead," he said. "Don't take too long getting back, though."

"Alright, I won't," I answered him. 

"I'm ready to go," Sonata said as she walked up to me. She then turned to my dad and said, "Good night, sir."

"Likewise," dad replied.

"After you," I said while holding the door for her.

When we came to her apartment, we stood outside for a little while. Sonata then turned to me and said, "I think I want to meet with Rainbow Dash’s friends tomorrow. Maybe this will help me like you said."

"Well, in that case, her friend mentioned that they would be waiting for us in the music room during lunch," I said. "So then, see you tomorrow?"

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning," she said as she gave me a hug. She then turned to the door and waved at me before going inside. I headed back to my apartment and got ready for the next day.



When Sonata entered the living room, she was expecting both Aria and Adagio to be waiting there for her, but surprisingly no one was there. She went to the kitchen and got a water bottle and walked over to her room. As she passed by Arias' room, she could see light filtering out from underneath her door. Sonata didn't care to deal with Aria, so she crept by trying not to make a sound. 

When she got to her room, she laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

I should probably tell Adagio about my meeting with the Rainbooms, she thought to herself. Then again, if I tell her she might get angry, so maybe I should wait till after the meeting. Maybe that way I'll have some useful information to give her.

She took a sip of water from the bottle and continued to muse to herself. Although, I wonder if I should even tell her anything at all. I mean, it does seem like we could maybe live without having to cause so much trouble.

She took another sip until someone started banging on her door and scared her into coughing up the water. After a couple of seconds of catching her breath before she got up and answered the door. 

"Hey, when did you get back, and would it kill you to check your phone?" Adagio demanded.

"Oh, I got back about ten minutes ago, sorry," Sonata answered.

Adagio shook her head before responding, “You know, even though it does keep you out of my hair, I can't help but think that it’s a pointless distraction from our plan.”

"I promise that I’m trying to keep anything from messing with your plan," Sonata said with a nervous smile.

Adagio just gave her a doubtful look. "Right. Well, we will see how true that stands." She then headed to her room.

From down the hallway Aria then called out, "Not that it actually matters! I mean Sonata is a moron after all!"

Sonata gave a little huff before shouting back, "Oh yeah, It takes one to know one!" and locked her door.

"Hey!" Aria yelled back. Sonata just ignored it.

"Would you both shut up, I'm trying to get to sleep here!" Adagio yelled out from her room. It went completely silent after that, to which Adagio responded with "Thank you."

Sonata settled in and slowly drifted off to sleep, all the while anticipating what the next day could bring.
> 5 - In Defense of a Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Tuesday began a little bit better than the previous day. Sonata was able to get some breakfast while she waited for Aria to finish hogging the shower. She got through her morning routine relatively fast and kept up with Aria's and Adagio's pace as they rushed to the school.

At least, they can't say I held them up today, Sonata thought to herself.

"Alright girls, here's the plan," Adagio said to them as they walked along. "Aria is going to look around during the first half of the day for any leads that we can use. I will check around the school at lunch to see if I can find out exactly where all the Rainbooms’ lockers are. And Sonata, just listen around for anything useful, or at the very least don't do anything to give away our plans. Got it?" 

"Okay," Sonata said, trying to ignore Adagio’s clear lack of confidence in her.

"So what, you want me to ditch class?" Aria asked in a flat tone. "Not that I have a problem with it, but that kind of seems counterproductive to your ‘big plan.'"

"No, you moron!" Adagio snapped at Aria. "If you don't find out anything useful in the class, then ask to be excused and quickly check around the hallways."

At that moment, Sonata was trying and failing to suppress her giggling. "And what's so funny, you airhead?" Aria hissed back at her.

"Just that I called it last night," Sonata said with a huge grin.

Aria shot daggers at her but didn't say anything else.

"Focus you two, we need this to work if we want to restore our powers." Adagio reminded them, again.

They both nodded. When the Dazzlings had arrived at the school ahead of most of the other students, they decided to wait in the foyer till classes began.



When I got up that morning, I was a bit anxious about how the day would turn out and hoped that it wouldn’t be a repeat of the day before, more for Sonata's sake than anything else. I got ready almost instantly as I tossed my books and pens into my backpack along with a small sling bag with my uniform for later. I even managed to speed through my breakfast almost as fast as Sonata would have. 

When dad was ready, we rushed out to the car, and he dropped me off at the front of the school in record time. 

"Hey, Slate, since I'm going in early today I should be able to pick you up from your karate practice," dad said through a rolled down window, "so just wait for me when you finish and I'll see you later."

"Alright, dad, see you later," I said. With that, he rolled up the window and took off to work.

I turned to the school and headed into the foyer where several students were waiting around. With thirty minutes till the first bell I looked around but couldn't find Sonata anywhere. 

Maybe I'll catch her near our history class.

When I turned the corner to the “history” hallway, I bumped into her. She lost her balance and was about to fall back, so I grabbed her by the hand to steady her.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed in surprise. She then noticed that I was holding her up. "Oh, hi, Slate."

"Hi, Sonata, what are you doing here already?" I asked a little embarrassed at almost knocking her down.

"Just killing time," she said.

"Oh, I meant like here at school. I thought you might still be on your way from the apartments," I said to her as I let her have her hand back. 

"No, my sisters and I got here pretty early," she said. "When everyone else started showing up, we went to wait near our first-period classrooms. I got kind of bored and started to think about that meeting today. I guess I started pacing."

"Well, you don't need to worry about that," I told her. "I'm sure everything is going to be fine."

"Okay," she said, still unsure about the whole thing.

Just then, Mr. Donkey came along and greeted us in a gruff tone, "Hello, students, you're here early."

"Hello, Mr. Donkey, just wanted to be ready to take in the lecture today," I said. Pretty sure he'd appreciate that.

"Yeah," Sonata said with a smile.

"Ah, glad to hear that," Mr. Donkey replied as he unlocked the classroom and turned on the lights. "Well, feel free to take your seats."

"Thanks," Sonata and I replied and sat in the back row. Since we were the first ones there, we avoided the crowd to get to our seats. It still didn't keep the students from throwing glares over at Sonata and occasionally me as they took their seats when they arrived. Throughout that class we ignored everybody else as we took down notes and listened to the lecture on World War II. Close to the end of class, Mr. Donkey passed some handouts detailing how to write a report for homework. At least, it wasn't due until next Monday. I thought to myself, well, it wouldn't be a history class without any written reports, as I placed it in my backpack. Soon, everyone was off to their next class.

Sonata and I got to our math class and turned in our homework as we walked in. Even though she got what we had gone over the night before, she was still having trouble understanding the work so I would explain to her how the new formulas and processes worked as best as I could. At least, this ensured that I was getting all the material down as well. Nevertheless, we wound up with homework for that class again. The next bell rang, and we had to go to our separate classes.

"Hey, Sonata," I said to her as I gathered my things to leave.

"Yeah, what is it?" she asked looking up from her backpack.

"Could you meet me at the cafeteria right when lunch starts, that way we can get our food quickly and head over to the music room," I said walking with her to the hallway.

"Alright, I'll see you there," she answered as she waved at me and headed in the opposite direction.

One confusing chemistry class and a pretty interesting French lesson later, and I was out to lunch.

I sprinted to the cafeteria, dodging in between the other students to be able to get there and wait for Sonata. A few minutes had passed before I saw her coming down the hallway along with two other girls. The one with incredibly huge orange hair turned to Sonata and the other girl and said something, to which they both nodded. She then turned down another hallway, while Sonata and the pigtailed girl continued on in my direction. When Sonata spotted me, she rushed over and gave me a quick hug. Of course, this drew a few of the other student's attention, but I didn't pay them any mind and returned the gesture. 

The pigtailed girl then came up and cleared her throat, "Ahem." Sonata then turned to her and then back to me.

"Oh, this is my sister, Aria," she said.

"Hello, Aria, I'm Slate," I said introducing myself, "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Nate," Aria said dismissively as she examined her nails.

"It's Slate," I corrected.

"Whatever," she responded. "Hey, Sonata, are we done here?"

"Uh, yes," Sonata said sounding disappointed, to which Aria headed for the lunch lines. 

"Wow, she's got such a magnetic personality," I said sarcastically.

Sonata then turned to me and asked a bit confused, "You think so, because that was pretty terrible."

"Eh, It's fine," I said, brushing it off. "So, is she always like that?"

"Yeah, for the most part," she said, looking down at the floor.

Hmm, well that's unfortunate, it's hard to believe that they're related, I thought as we go in line to get our trays. The line we chose was actually short since there were only three other people ahead of us. I guess not a whole lot of the students cared much for tacos.

We paid for our lunch and quickly found a nearby seat to give ourselves plenty of time. We both finished up pretty fast, although it probably would have been better if we were able to take our time. Regardless, we got our trays to the back of the cafeteria and headed to the foyer. 

"Okay, Fluttershy said the music room is located in East 110," I told Sonata.

"East wing it is then," Sonata said in response.

After a few minutes of walking down the hallways and checking the numbers that hung by the doors, we heard some music coming from further down that corridor. It was emanating from behind a closed door with a panel that read ‘East 110' posted right next to it. 

I turned to Sonata and asked her, "Well, are you ready to head in?"

"Yes," she said a little anxiously.

"Um, want me to go in first?" I asked.

"Yes please," she practically squeaked.

"Okay," I said as I grabbed a hold of the door handle and carefully pushed it open. 

As I walked in, I saw that there were six girls there. Rainbow Dash was there in the front with a dark blue electric guitar along with Fluttershy, who was carrying a tambourine. The rest of the group consisted of a bassist with a Stetson hat; another guitarist with fiery red and yellow hair; a girl with flowing purple hair and a keytar, I guess; and a crazed looking pink haired drummer.

Usually, I'm not particularly shy, but to have all of them turn to look at me as I entered felt a bit awkward. All of them except Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had perplexed looks on their faces. Rainbow was narrowing her eyes at me while Fluttershy seemed surprised, maybe at the fact that I showed up.

The first one to speak up was the bassist. "Howdy, can we help you?"

"Uh, hi, I was asked to come here along with my friend," I answered her, "something about talking to Rainbow Dash’s friends."

"Oh, you must be Slate, right?" the fiery haired girl asked.

"Yes, that's me."

"So then that means that you're the boy that's friends with one of the Dazzlings?" the keytarist asked.

"And here we go," I said under my breath. I then answered her with, "Yes, I suppose so."

"I see, by the way, where is she anyway?" she asked.

While I was talking to those girls, Sonata snuck in and tried to hide behind me. She then nervously whispered to me, "Is it safe to come in?"

Before I could answer Sonata, the drummer appeared next to us and in a loud cheery voice said, "Of course it's safe to come in here, silly."

Sonata in her surprise let out an eep as she got a hold of my shoulders with a firm grip and tried even harder to hide behind me.

"Jeez!" was all I managed to get out during my mini heart attack thanks to the drummer and Sonata almost throwing me on the floor. I was sure that she had been sitting behind her drum set just a second earlier.

"Oops, didn't mean to scare you two like that," she apologized while placing a hand on Sonatas' shoulder to reassure her.

I straightened myself out and said, "It's alright. It was probably just a few seconds off of my life expectancy, heh-heh."

Sonata looked up at her and said: "Okay, just don't do it again."

A moment of awkward silence had passed before the keytar player spoke up.

"Oh, where are our manners? We haven't even introduced ourselves yet. I'm Rarity; the girl on the bass is AppleJack; the girl who surprised you two is Pinkie Pie, and the girl on the light blue guitar is Sunset Shimmer. I presume you've already met Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?"

"Uh, yes," I said. "Well, I'd like to say it's nice to meet you all. So, what was it that you guys wanted to talk to us about, exactly?"

"Well, after hearing what Rainbow had to say yesterday, we wanted to make sure that nothing suspicious was going on with the Dazzlings," Sunset said. "After all, with everything that went on during the battle of the bands, a few of us were concerned about this news."

"Well, Sonata told me about everything that happened over the past couple of weeks, and we did meet under strange circumstances. But, I think it's pretty safe to say that there isn't anything going on," I said confidently.

"Yeah, er, that's right," Sonata said, sounding a bit less so.

"Right," Sunset said. "And how was it that you two met?"

"We met last Friday," Sonata spoke up, "when three gray guys from the battle of the bands attacked me." 

"You mean the Diamond Dogs?" Rarity asked.

"Yes, them," Sonata said. "I was having such a hard time remembering their group's name."

"Well, I've heard of them causing trouble from time to time. What caused them to attack you?"

"Do you have to ask?" Sonata responded a little upset at the question. "The whole school would like nothing more than to get back at us for what happened. They saw their chance to do that when I was walking alone that evening. I was just really lucky that Slate was there to stop them from hurting me."

"That's pretty much what happened," I confirmed, "and we've been hanging out together since then."

Rainbow Dash gave me a skeptical look and said, "Since she told you everything, then you must know that her and her friends, or sisters, or whatever they are to her, are sirens. You know, evil creatures that feed on negativity."

Sonata spoke up in response, "Look, I know that what my sisters and I have done has caused a lot of trouble for everyone. And I know that you don't really have any reason to believe me, but after being able to think about it for the past week, I feel terrible about everything that we did." 

The look on Sonata’s face was just so sincerely sad, so I whispered to her, "Let me take care of this." I then turned back to Rainbow Dash and said, "Yes, I'm aware of what she is, but I have also gotten to know her a bit, and can tell you that she isn't as malicious as you have been making her out to be. In fact, she'd like to try and make things right. That's why she even agreed to come talk with all of you today in the first place."

From the looks of it, Rainbow Dash still didn't believe me. Some of her friends, however, were at least considering what I said.

"Well, if that's true, Slate, then we should be able to help Sonata with what she's trying to accomplish," Sunset said.

"How exactly would you do that?" I asked.

"We could put in a good word with the principal to allow her to get more involved here at school and the community so she could make a positive contribution, and hopefully be able to change her ways," Sunset suggested. "Granted, it would take some time."

"I see, well, what do you think, Sonata?" I asked.

"Hmm, I-I guess it can't be any worse than what has already happened…" Sonata said sounding unsure of herself.

"Don't worry, if you need some time to think it over, go ahead," Sunset offered. "In the meantime, feel free to talk to any of us whenever you want. Just let us know what you decide when you're ready."

"Uh, thanks," Sonata said uneasily. "Well, we should be on our way."

"Yeah, I think lunch is almost over," I said in response. "Well, I guess we'll be seeing you guys around." 

"Okey dokey lokey, see you two later," Pinkie Pie said still in a very cheery tone as she got the door for us.

"Oh, thanks," Sonata and I said as she waved back at us.

Walking down the hallway away from the music room, I said to Sonata, "Well, that went better than I was expecting."

"Yeah, they were pretty nice, for the most part," Sonata said.

Just then that other girl I saw with Sonata and Aria earlier walked out from another hallway directly in front of us. I had to stop completely on my toes before I bumped into her. When she turned to see me, she looked annoyed at my proximity, but then changed her expression when she saw that I was with Sonata.

"Oh, there you are Sonata.”

“Uh, hi. What’s up?” Sonata asked a bit apprehensively.

“Nothing really. And I see this must be that friend of yours, Slate, was it?" she said.

"Uh, yes. I guess Sonata told you about me," I said. "So I take it you're her sister, Adagio?"

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Slate," Adagio said.

"Likewise," I responded.

Just then the bell rang, and students began pouring into the hallway.

"Well, isn't that a shame," Adagio said. "Still, I wouldn't want to hold you two up much longer, so I'll be on my way, take care," Adagio said.

"Alright, um, see you around," I said.

As Sonata and I continued on our way, I couldn't help but think that Adagio was putting up a façade while I talked to her. I guess it was her initial reaction to seeing someone other than Sonata or Aria that gave me that impression.

Anyways, we made it to the library and found a place that was secluded from the rest of the students there for study hall. Since I wasn't going to be able to meet Sonata after school that day, I decided to help her with the math homework right away.

We worked out the problems as much as we could, and whenever she got stuck on one of them I'd show her the process to complete it. All in all, we finished the work a bit quicker than the night before, and we still had twenty minutes to spare. That, at least, proved to me that she was getting the hang of it.

While I was putting away my math notebook, Sonata spoke up.

"Hey, Slate, thanks for helping me," she said.

"It's not a problem, I'm just glad that this homework isn't too long," I said as I placed my backpack next to my seat and turned to Sonata.

"Oh, no, I meant for earlier with the Rainbooms," she said shaking her head. "If you hadn't vouched for me, I don't think that they would have given what I had to say a second thought."

"Oh, well, it's just that I hate to see you as sad as you were right then and there," I said. I then realized just how sappy that sounded on my part, and so I tried to clarify what I meant. "I mean, I wanted to make sure that you were given a fair chance." I still couldn't keep myself from blushing in front of her.

"Aww, thank you," she said with a smile. She then scooted closer to me and gave me a hug around my shoulders and a quick kiss on the cheek, which only made my blushing worsen. At least no one had been paying attention to us.

I cleared my throat and asked her, "So, um, are you going to take them up on their offer?"

"Well, I'd like to, but the thing is that Adagio is still pretty upset with them," she said disappointedly. "I don't know how she'd react if she even found out that I had talked to them."

"Hmm, any chance that she would consider the offer."

"Maybe, but I really doubt it," she said resting her head on her hands.

“Really? Why not?”

"She’s never taken failure well. She’d never hang out with the people who beat her."

I wasn't sure what I could do or say that could help, and wound up thinking about any possible solutions. Sonata just sat there lost in thought as well.

The bell rang and snapped us out of our thoughts, so we started gathering our things to go. I didn't want to leave on such a bitter note, so I turned to her and said, "Sonata, if she wants to stay upset, then there isn't much that can be done, but I feel that you should at least give it a try. But, I'll go along with whatever you decide."

She smiled slightly and said, "Thanks. I'll see you later."

"Alright, I'll be by the library entrance right after school."

"Okay," she said as we both headed to our last classes for the day. 

The class that I had right after study hall was English. It wasn't exceedingly dull, at least some of the reading material was interesting enough to not doze off to. Still, the teacher would assign essays that weren't always clear and that kind of killed me a little. At least they didn't have to be extremely long. Luckily there wasn't any homework assigned for that day, so when the bell rang, I quickly headed to my last class.

The final class was alright by all accounts. It dealt with learning how to use the main programs for the computer office as well as a little bit of the most fundamental programing skills. It was pretty cool, just show up and learn a new computer-based skill, and the best part was that there was hardly any homework for that class. Time would fly by pretty quickly and before I knew it the last bell rang. 

When I got to the library, Sonata was already waiting there for me. 

"Hey Sonata," I said.

"Hey Slate, did you want to tell me something?" She asked.

"Actually yes," I started, "today I've got practice till later in the afternoon, so I'm not sure if we would have any time to hang out afterward." 

"Hmm, well, I'll just text you then," she said with a shrug.

"Sounds good. Well then, were you going to meet with Adagio and Aria here again?" I asked her

"Yeah, so I should probably head in now. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, talk to you later," I said. She waved and went into the library. 

With all my gear in tow, I headed for the dojo. The whole trek took a while, but at least I got there with enough time to change and stretch out before the class started. Sitting on the other side of the room was Rainbow Dash, and from the look on her face, she had a bone to pick with me. 

When we lined up, she got a spot right next to me. Even though I was doing my best not to make eye contact with her, it was like I could feel her gaze land on me. As the whole class was stretching, she whispered over to me, "So, you're still going to defend that siren, knowing what she's done?"

I whispered back, "Of course I am, she's my friend."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," she whispered.

"What's that supposed to mean," I whispered back in response.

"It's probably only part of a ruse to further whatever plan those Dazzlings have in mind," she whispered, making her disdain for Sonata apparent now.

"Really, and what if she genuinely wants to make things right. Just turn her away," I whispered more forcefully. "She's been torn up about this." 

Master Will then yelled out, "Alright, fifteen laps around the dojo, gotta get those muscles warmed up!"

We continued our debate while we ran, with Rainbow Dash saying, "Good, she should be."

"Okay, and what does that tell you about her?" I asked wanting to see what she'd come out with next.

"That she, and more than likely the other two, are just sorry about their old plan falling through," she said.

"Unbelievable, you are so freaking stubborn," I said in frustration.

"And you're too blind to see that she and her friends are manipulative monsters," Rainbow Dash said.

"Okay, you know what, this is going nowhere," I said as I picked up my pace to try to leave her behind. Easier said than done.

We finished all the laps and returned to our original spots. From there Mr. Will drilled us on all the basics with several other exercises sprinkled throughout. All the while Rainbow Dash and I were having an unspoken competition to show up the other throughout the class.  

Mr. Will then said, "Okay, for the last few exercises I'm going to pair you up with a partner to work on the kicking shields. You'll be practicing your front, side and roundhouse kicks." 

I nearly groaned out loud, but stopped myself, when I was paired up with Rainbow Dash. On top of that, she looked ready to tear my head off. Did I mention that I was first up to hold the kicking shield? 

Every one of her front kicks practically bent the shield inward to the point that I might as well have been using a piece of cardboard to absorb the blows. I was just glad that I wasn’t standing in front of a pit or something. Still, it was like she was using every kick to say that she was right. So, when it was my turn I matched every kick to hers, and she looked less than happy to be on the receiving end.

We then moved on to the sidekicks, Rainbow Dash proceeded to tell me how wrong I was for defending Sonata.

"She's just playing you to her advantage," she said as she threw her kicks.

"I don't buy that for a second, Rainbow," I retorted along with my kicks.

The last set we moved onto were the roundhouse kicks. At this point, we had nothing left to say to each other, and let our kicks do the talking. By the end of the round, we were both breathing heavily while our legs shook underneath us as we glared at each other.

Mr. Will then came up to the two of us and announced to the class in a loud voice, "Now that's what I like to see. In the future, I hope all of you will try to work as hard as these two here every time you come to class." 

I guess he hadn't heard our argument throughout the entire class. Regardless, he ended the lesson and dismissed the class shortly after.

As I was getting my things together from the back area to leave, Rainbow Dash leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. She then asked, "Just tell me, why you won't listen to me about Sonata?"

"Because, based on everything that I've seen and heard, she's only ever known what she's had to do to survive and I would like to help her to change that," I said. "To give her a chance to make up for the things she did wrong. But I'm probably just wasting my breath. I’m sure that all of your friends are perfect and haven't made any mistakes, right?"

The look on Rainbow Dash’s face slowly went from anger to apologetic as she thought about what I had said. I was expecting some response, but it never came. I guess something I said stuck. As I passed by her, it looked like she wanted to tell me something but just couldn't. Seeing as it was getting late, I didn't bother to stick around and guess at whatever she had to say.

When I got outside, dad had already been waiting around and looked pretty beat. "What's the holdup?" he asked. 

"Sorry, I was just talking to one of my classmates, guess I let the time slip by," I said.

"That's fine, let's just get back home," dad said. "Today was pretty long." With that, he drove us back to the apartment complex.

Back at home, I found that Sonata had sent two text messages.

The first one read, "Almost done with practice?" and was sent while I was still at the dojo. The second one about twenty minutes later and read "Guess not, anywho, txt me when you get the chance."

I quickly composed a text that read, "Hey, what's up? I barely got back home." 

Shortly after, Sonata replied with, "Not much, so how was practice?"

"Well, it was interesting. Rainbow Dash was there," I sent back.

"For realsies, what happened?" her text read.

"We argued back and forth throughout the class, pretty much," mine explained.

"You didn't get in trouble for that, did you?" her next message read.

"Nah, we were able to keep it mainly to ourselves," I said. "But after class, she wanted to keep that going, until she stopped altogether for no reason." 

"Why? I would think she would just keep on arguing till she got you to say you were wrong," she said.

"I know, but I guess something I said finally got to her," I said.

"Well what was the last thing you told her?" she asked.

"Something about her friends, I don't recall. I was a bit frustrated," I responded. "All I know is that it was a little odd."

"Yeah, that is weird," she sent back.

"Well, was there anything else that you wanted to talk about?" I asked.

"No, that's alright," she sent. "Well then, see you tomorrow. Night."

"Okay, good night," I sent back and put away my phone. 

I thought back to the dojo and Rainbow Dash the rest of the time that I was awake. I couldn't help but think that it might have been something important that she would have had to say. Then again, she could have just been trying to think of some other reason I should just leave Sonata alone. After a while of thinking about it, I gave up attempting to theorize a possible answer and just got settled in to get some rest.
> 6 - Slowly but Surely
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	When I got up Wednesday morning, the first thought that ran through my mind was, Man, I'm slugging it today, as I stretched and dragged myself into the shower to try and wake up. I had been tossing and turning all night and just wished that I could sleep in. Unfortunately, I was lagging all morning as dad wanted to get us out early. Once he dropped me off and said goodbye, dad rushed off to work.

As I walked into school, a few of the other students started giving me all too familiar glances. I got myself over to Mr. Donkey's classroom, but no one was there yet, not even Sonata. According to my cell phone there were still around forty minutes till classes began, so I sat on the floor across from the door and leaned against the wall. 

I wound up dozing off for a while and woke up to find Sonata sitting next to me. She had fallen asleep as well with her head resting on my shoulder. I looked around, but no one else was there with us, and the classroom remained locked. There were still twenty minutes left before the first bell when I checked my phone again.

Just then I heard Sonata murmuring something as she still slept. While I didn't mind her using me as a pillow, I wasn't so sure the instructor would be too happy to see us like that for several reasons. So I gently nudged her, which was enough to wake her.

"Hmm, oh, hey Slate," she said sleepily.

"Hey Sonata, um, why didn't you wake me up?" I asked her.

"Well, I was going to, but you looked like you had just gotten comfortable," she said while rubbing her eyes. "Besides, I haven't gotten used to how early Adagio and Aria are getting up yet, so I figured I'd nap a little before class too." 

"I see," I said. "Hmm, maybe I could see if dad would be willing to let you and your sisters carpool with us so you don’t have to get up as early." 

"But you've done a lot for me already." 

"It really isn’t a problem," I said to her.

At that moment, footsteps could be heard coming from the adjacent hallway, so we got our things and stood up. Just then, Mr. Donkey rounded the corner. 

"Hello again, students," he greeted.

Sonata responded with a friendly, "Hi."

I opted for, "Hello."

"I'm honestly kind of surprised you two have been so consistent about being here early," he said unlocking the classroom. 

"Just wanted to be ahead of everyone else when class starts," I said.

"I see, well, go ahead and come in," he said.

We took our seats, and soon after that, the other students made their way into the class as well. There were still quite a few of them that would turn to look at Sonata and me, but I think that both of us were already getting used to it. Whatever the case was, the class went by normally with note taking and a reminder about the following week's project.  Shortly after that we were off to our math class

As usual, we were given new formulas to work with and then used them for that day’s assignment. Sonata and I came close to finishing in class today, but missed it by a few problems before the bell rang. We separated and went to our next few classes before lunch. 

When Mr. Discord assigned some homework in chemistry, I already knew that Sonata was going to get the same thing. As for French, it was alright even though we did get homework.

Asides from that, I really couldn't complain and with the bell having already rung I went down to the cafeteria. I couldn’t avoid getting caught up in the crowd of students going to lunch, but Sonata was already waiting by the cafeteria doors for me luckily.

"Hey, Sonata, how were the last couple of classes?" I asked as we walked into the cafeteria.

"They were okay," she said a little disappointed.

"Did something happen?" I asked as we got into one of the lunch lines.

"Just the amount of homework that I wound up with," she said.

"Well, we can work on it together after school, if you need help with it," I said as we got to where they were handing out the trays. Today it looked like the menu consisted of green beans, carrots, mashed potatoes, and a mystery meatloaf. At least, it didn't look or smell like it was inedible. 

"I guess, it's just that it cuts into the time that we could use to just hang out," she said as she got one of the trays and paid the lunch lady. 

"While that's true, I still prefer that to not being able to hang out at all," I said as I got my tray and paid.

We looked around the cafeteria for a spot to sit down at, but practically every spot had been taken. There was one area that neither of us would even consider eating lunch at, though. 

Rainbow Dash was sitting at one of the tables with Fluttershy, and there were still plenty of seats left to accommodate her friends as well as a few others. The two of them looked to be discussing something that obviously had Rainbow Dash concerned.

Just then, Fluttershy noticed us and pointed us out to her, who glanced over at us.

At that moment, Sonata and I gave each other a look that said we should just get moving and turned to look for another spot. But before we could, Rainbow Dash got up and rushed over to us.

"Hold it," she said to us. "Why don't you two sit with us?"

"I don't know," I responded, "but I think we could both come up with at least one pretty good reason."

Rainbow Dash gave a defeated sigh and said, "Look, we…I mean, I want to talk to the both of you. That's it. I promise."

I looked over to Sonata and in an open tone, she said, "We could see what she wants."

"Fine," I said. With that, we followed her back to her table. I pulled the seat across from Fluttershy out for Sonata and took the one directly in front of Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, hello again," Fluttershy greeted.

"Hi," I replied.

"Hello," Sonata said uncomfortably.

"Oh, hey, I wasn't expecting Sonata and Slate to be having lunch with us today," Pinkie Pie said as she took a seat right next to Sonata. "So, how's it going you two?"

"Um, good," Sonata said.

"Pretty good, I guess," I said in response.

Pinkie wasn't the only one to have shown up, though, because shortly after Applejack, Rarity, and Sunset Shimmer promptly turned up and also greeted us. I suppose it's better than the glares that both Sonata and I had recently been getting.

Once everyone had settled into their spots and began digging into their lunches, Sonata and I did the same. A few of them would talk about different things and occasionally ask us what we thought. Some of it didn't interest Sonata or me all that much, but all in all, it was a pleasant change of pace. Even Sonata seemed to be enjoying the group's conversations.

Rainbow Dash looked like she had something that she had to say urgently, so she got both Sonata's and my attention.

"I'm glad you two are getting along with our little group," she began, "but I wanted you guys to sit with us ‘cause I needed to apologize for the past couple of days and the way I was acting."

I was expecting a bit more of the same out of her, so I had no response to give as I let her continue.

Sonata on the other hand said in her surprise, "You mean that?"

"Yeah, after hearing what Slate had to say yesterday after practice, it got me thinking about how harshly I was treating you," she explained. "I do know what it's like supporting a friend who's trying to make up for past mistakes. So I wanted to say that I'm sorry for being a jerk to you and Slate."

While the other girls had kind of quieted down to hear what Rainbow Dash was saying, Sonata seemed touched by her apology.

"Thank you," Sonata said. "I didn't say it up front last time, and I can't speak for my sisters, so I'm pretty sure it isn't going to be worth much. But I'm sorry for everything that we did here at the school."

From the looks of it, Rainbow Dash accepted Sonata's apology.

"I'm glad to hear that," she said.

Sunset Shimmer then spoke up, "You know, what matters is that it's a step in the right direction."

The other girls then chimed in agreement. Rainbow Dash noticed that I wasn't saying much, so she asked me, "Are you okay, you've been kind of quiet."

"Sorry, I'm just getting over the initial shock," I said with a slight grin. "Sorry, just a little joke. In all seriousness, though, thanks for taking what I said into consideration. And I know I was a bit rude as well, sorry about that. So are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good," she said along with a nod.

"Well, that's a load off my mind," I mentioned with a smile. At least this way we won't always be at each other's throats, I thought.

Sonata and I began talking a little bit more with the girls there. It was welcoming, and we went on a bit longer like that before the bell sounded. Sonata and I said goodbye to Rainbow Dash and her friends as we got rid of our trays and headed to study hall.

Judging from how Sonata was humming to herself as we walked, she seemed happy with the way things went. And I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel the same way.

When we entered the library, we got to our usual spot away from the rest of the students. Normally, they might have said something about us sitting away from the group, but considering that it was one of the Dazzlings; they didn't bother and just settled for talking about us instead. I suppose that's one upside of the whole situation.

"Well, shall we finish up the math homework?" I asked while pulling out my notebook and pencil.

"Sure, at least, it's not as much as yesterday," Sonata said as she got out the assignment along with a pen.

We worked on the task and finished in about twelve minutes. 

"I guess you've pretty much got the hang of how to do this kind of math now," I said, leaning back into my seat while placing my hands behind my head.

"Yeah, it's a bit easier to do the work for that class now I guess," she said putting away the paper. "But it's thanks to you helping me to learn how to do this work." A slight blush had crept onto her face. 

When she realized that, she tried to hide behind her ponytail as she messed around with it. I didn't get it, one moment she'd be okay with hugging me in front of everyone and the next she'd act shy about letting me see her blush. Either way, I couldn't help but notice that she was pretty cute, if not more so, because of that. But for the sake of politeness, I decided to stop staring and instead talk about something to get her mind off of it.

"So, um how are your sisters?" I asked out of curiosity.

"They are doing alright."

"I didn't see either of them at lunch today."

"They both had some work that they needed to take care of," she said. "It was probably for the best, though. If they had been around when we were talking with the Rainbooms, Adagio might have gone nuclear."

"So, there's absolutely no chance that she would bury the hatchet?" I replied. When I looked over at Sonata, I realized that that could have been worded differently as the color had drained from her face. 

"Not really, she would probably have a few other uses for that hatchet," she said grievously.

"Erm, sorry, that was a dumb question," I apologized for worrying her.

She shook her head trying to get rid of the thought and answered back, "It's alright. Hopefully, she'll let the whole thing go eventually." 

"Yeah, I hope so," I replied in agreement. "So, if you aren't busy today after school, would you like to come over to my place? We can take care of any other work you need help with and just hang out. I could even prepare something for when you arrive." 

"That sounds good," she said. "So your dad's okay with me being over there?" 

"Well, last time that we were talking, he said that he didn't mind, as long as the apartment doesn't end up destroyed or anything," I replied.

"Okay then, so do you want me to meet you there at the same time?" She asked.

"Yes, that would be great," I responded.

We would have continued to chat away, but the bell finally rang. 

"Alright, I'll see you at five thirty," I said.

"Okay, see you later," Sonata said.



Sonata’s last classes of the day

After study hall, the next class was in the computer labs. 

While it wasn't one of the most challenging classes that Sonata could have been in, some parts still gave her a hard time. Using the typing program to write papers was relatively straightforward and not too hard to understand. However, when it came to everything else like the powerpoints and spreadsheets that she had to put together, it took her a bit longer to finish up than everyone else in the class. But the assignments that she hated the most were the ones where she had to write code. At least she only had to deal with in class assignments.

Her last class for the day was Spanish, which she actually enjoyed. For the most part, it was a beginner's class and mostly consisted of copying what the instructor said, and taking notes to use for a quiz on a later date. Asides from the daily homework assignments, the class work wasn't all that bad either. It mainly consisted of composing one or two paragraphs on whatever the topic at hand was by the classes end.

With the last assignment turned in, the final bell rang letting everyone out for the day. While she was headed back to the library to join her sisters for detention, Sonata received a text message from Slate.

"Hey Sonata, I took off to get ready for later, so I'll see you then?" it read.

She sent back a quick text reading, "Yes, see you soon," and with that put her cell phone away.

When she sat down with Adagio and Aria, Adagio was holding her head in her hands while Aria just sat there with arms crossed as she leaned back in her seat.

"Ugh, this is infuriating," Adagio groaned. "So far, the most we've been able to find out about these girls is where a few of them have class, and none of them seemed to be carrying anything that could even qualify as ‘magical.'"

"We should just break into their lockers," Aria whispered so that the instructor couldn't hear them. "More than likely if they have a magical item, it might be in one of them."

Sonata began to feel anxious after she heard Arias idea. Luckily, Adagio didn't agree with it.

"If we start breaking into their lockers at random without knowing who has it, there's a good chance they are immediately going to think we did it." Adagio reasoned. "Besides, we don't even know if they have it on the school grounds."

"Well this is taking forever," Aria whispered angrily.

"Suck it up, we can't afford to make stupid mistakes because we got impatient," Adagio whispered.

Aria would have said something, but the instructor was looking in their direction. Aria quickly pulled out a notebook while Adagio wrote something down on a piece of paper. Sonata had a book in front of her, so she thumbed through the pages. The instructor seemed satisfied with what he saw and went back to reading the newspaper. 

While Aria shot daggers at Adagio, she said, "There has to be a faster way than this."

They continued to argue throughout the rest of detention. It was a good thing the instructor didn't care too much to look away from the paper too often. When the hour ended and he dismissed the Dazzlings, they got their things and walked back to the apartment complex. 

When they got there and headed up the stairwell, Adagio turned to Sonata and asked, "So you're headed over to what's his face's place, right?"

Sonata was a little surprised that Adagio already knew what she was going to ask so she responded with, "Yes. How'd you know?"

Adagio slapped a palm to her forehead and sighed, "Because, if I know one thing for sure, it's that you usually make a habit out of doing stupid things. So, to save myself the trouble of you continuously harping on about seeing that guy and giving me a headache, I'll go ahead and let you go." At that point, Adagio grabbed a hold of the front of Sonatas shirt and was a few inches away from her face. "But whatever you do, don't say anything about our plans. You got it?"

Sonata gulped and answered with a meek, "Yes."

Adagio, feeling that she had gotten her point across, released Sonatas shirt and said, "Good, and don't come back later than nine." With that, she went to their apartment.

Sonata continued up to the fifth floor.



At Slate’s apartment

When I got back home, I quickly checked to see if there was anything that needed picking up or to be cleaned. Fortunately, everything seemed presentable, so without wasting any further time, I started working on the chemistry homework. It took almost a whole hour of looking on the web for the correct formulas to be able to do the conversions for eight problems, but at least they were complete and, as far as I knew, correct. At least, they would be worth partial credit if nothing else, and I would be able to point Sonata in the right direction when it came to helping her.

I then turned my attention to making a meal for the both of us. With little time till Sonata arrived, I put some water to boil for a while before adding in a couple of packets of ramen. While that was going, I got some frozen veggies into the microwave, cooked some eggs over easy, and heated a few slices of ham on the stove. I then divided everything into a couple of bowls and added a few spices.

For a first time trying to make something different in thirty minutes, it looked and smelled good. I made some iced tea and placed the bowls in the microwave to keep them warm until Sonata got there.

Not even a full minute had passed when a knocking came at the door.

When I went to check, Sonata was waiting there.

"Hey, Sonata." 

"Hi Slate," She said sounding somewhat distant.

"Is anything the matter?"

"No, I was just thinking about a few things."

"Oh, well, come in. Are you hungry?"

Her face brightened up when she heard that. "Yes, I can't wait."

"Alright, let's head over to the kitchen," I said as I closed the door and brought her to the table. "Go ahead and have a seat."

Sonata sat down at the table and sniffed the air. She seemed a little confused and asked, "Did you make breakfast for dinner?"

As I pulled out the bowls and brought them to the table, I answered, "You could say that I wanted to make something that I had seen before, something different."  

I handed one of the bowls to her and got a few utensils and cups of tea for the both of us. As she looked it over, I feared that she might not like it. She then looked at me and said, "Wow, I would have never thought of adding all that to a bowl of noodles." She grabbed a fork and cautiously took a small bite, but after trying the dish, she didn't seem to want to stop. 

"So, I take it that you liked it?" I asked as I started on my plate.

"That was amazing, not as good as tacos, but still good," she said with a smile. 

I breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm glad to hear that."

I quickly finished up my bowl as she drank some of her iced tea and kept on looking over at me. I took our dishes over to the sink and washed them before placing them on a rack on the counter to dry.

When I got back to my seat next to Sonata, she was resting her chin on her laced fingers. She then tilted her head a little and asked, "So what are we going to do now?"

"Well, while it took some time. I went ahead and looked up how to solve the problems for the chemistry homework. I think I'd be able to help you finish the assignment that way, or at least, you won't have to struggle with it as much."

"Hmm, are you sure, Slate? It seems a whole lot more complicated than the math assignments."

"It isn't all that bad; it just takes time."

Sonata gave a slight sigh but finally seemed to agree to the help. She pulled out the worksheet and a notebook. "Alright, let's get this done."

We got to work, and after forty minutes we had completed the assignment. As she slipped her things into her backpack, I said to her, "See, it didn't take nearly as long as it could have."

"I guess, but I'll be glad when we don't have to deal with this stuff anymore."

"Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. Still, you seem to pick up the subjects easily with a little extra help," I said while stowing away my copy of the assignment in my backpack. "I'm a little jealous."

"You mean that?" she asked with wide eyes. "But, why?"

"Because, even when I get help with something that I don't understand, it takes me forever to get it down right," I explained.

She started to blush and smile, "I wouldn't have been able to get most of this without your help, though." Just then her expression dropped into a frown as she averted her eyes from me. "But it doesn't matter, I'm still just stupid. That's what Adagio and Aria always tell me. That's why they blame me for a lot of things." 

"That isn't true. Maybe you don't get some stuff as easily, but that doesn't mean you're stupid, and I don't think that of you. You're bright, friendly, fun to be with, and cuu-uh, um..." I stopped myself from saying anything else.  

She then looked back up at me and asked, "What?"

"Um, what I meant to say was clever."

"Oh, I see," she said, blushing again. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome."

From what I could see, she didn't look as upset anymore. We might have continued to talk there, but dad’s timing could not have been anymore inconvenient. We could hear him at the door setting his things down.

"I completely lost track of the time. Um, are you going to want to stick around or do you have to be on your way?"

Sonata looked at her phone and then back to me. "Sorry, I think I should get going right now, Adagio might lose it if I get back too late.

"Alright then."

She got her backpack and followed me into the living room. She then greeted my dad, saying, "Hello, Mr. Steel."

"Oh, hello again, heading out right now?"

I then answered, "Yes, I was going to walk Sonata back to her apartment. Is that okay?"

"That's fine."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

After we had left, it took us a couple of minutes to get to her place. I then asked her "So are you guys going to need a ride tomorrow morning?"

"Nah, I think we're okay for now. It isn't that bad," she said with a smile.

"Well, if you say so. If you change your mind, though, feel free to ask."

"Okay."

"Alright, see you tomorrow at school."

"See you there, and thank you for the dinner and help with the homework."

"Not a problem."

Sonata hugged me goodbye, and I hugged her back before we went our separate ways. The whole time that I was still awake, I was kicking myself for not working up the guts to tell her exactly how I felt. It continued to bug me for a while, but eventually I did fall asleep.

The next couple of days went by surprisingly smooth. The gossip about her and I was still a thing, but at least, there weren't any actual signs of aggression. Sonata got through all of her classes without anything going wrong and had gotten a good grasp of how to complete the math assignments while we were both well on our ways to better understanding how to complete Mr. Discord's work. We were even able to get almost entirely through with our history reports within those two days.

Still, even though it felt like everything was starting to turn out for the better, I couldn't help but notice that there were still some issues. Whenever Sonata was with her sisters, she would act differently. It wasn't anything majorly extreme but she would keep more to herself and would ignore others, especially when it came to the Rainbooms. It was visibly evident that it ate at her when she would force herself to give them the cold shoulder, and would later come around and apologize about it to them while the other two were off doing their own thing.

I asked Sonata if everything was alright. She said that she was only acting that way to keep her sisters from getting upset, which I understood and didn't press any further on that subject. However when I’d ask what the other two were up to, she didn't seem to be able to give me a straight answer. Instead, she appeared to be covering up for them, saying that they were going to tutoring. As much as it bothered me, I still wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and just left it at that.

Our afternoons were also pretty good. Thursday, I went to karate which went pretty well. Rainbow Dash and I were getting along better than ever now, and we had quite an interesting conversation after class about our favorite martial artists and sports.

Friday evening, I hung out with Sonata at the apartments. As usual, she was more relaxed outside of CHS, and we were able to make some plans for Saturday.
> 7 - The Things that Come Out Under Pressure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday Morning

When I got up, I saw on the alarm clock that it was seven thirty, so it was still pretty early. I quickly got myself some oatmeal to at least have something in my stomach and finished washing up. I threw on some joggers and a t-shirt and gathered my wallet and phone. I then noticed that I had one message from Sonata.

"Morning Slate, I'll be waiting by the entrance for you at around 9:00. See you soon :)"

I then checked to see what time it was: 8:30 am. Hmm, still got a little bit of time before then.

"Okay, I'll be down in a little."

Just to make sure that dad knew what was going on, I went and talked to him in the living room before I left.

"Morning, dad."

"Good morning, Slate, what are you up to?

"Just going to the park with Sonata. We were also going to catch a movie in the afternoon. Is that alright with you?"

"I see," he said, "and you don't have anything else that you need to take care of today?"

"No sir, I've taken care of my homework. There's nothing to worry about."

"Hmm, alright then. Take care."

"I will. Bye, dad."

"Bye Slate."

With only ten minutes till nine, I rushed down the stairwell and out the front doors. Just outside, I found Sonata leaning against the wall of the building staring off into the distance. I couldn't help but notice that she was wearing a very flattering workout outfit that consisted of a pair of gray yoga pants and a maroon tank top. Anyways, she hadn't noticed me so I could only assume she must have been really concentrating on something. I walked over to her and finally got her attention.

"Hey, Sonata, what's up?"

She seemed a little startled, but when she saw it was me she beamed a familiar smile.

"Hi Slate, not much. Just enjoying the morning view."

I had to admit, it was a very picturesque morning. There was a breeze that caused some of the trees along the road to sway slightly. The morning sun caused our shadows to stretch out far from us, but in my opinion, I was just content with seeing Sonata.

"Yeah, it's actually really nice today," I said taking in the view. "So, are you ready to go."

"Oh, yes."

We began our walk over to the park and eventually started talking to pass the time.

"Man, I've been looking forward to the weekend this entire time. What about you, Sonata?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Any time away from school is the best."

"I know what you mean."

"Especially with how the week started."

"True, but the whole situation still managed to work itself out. And now at least Rainbow Dash and the others are willing to help you out."

She sighed a little. "I know, but it would be nice if the rest of the school would let up a little."

"I'm pretty sure it will blow over, eventually. It can't go on forever like that."

"Yeah, maybe."

There was a bit of a pause in the conversation as we continued to walk. Sonata was pondering something before she spoke up again.

"So, um, can I ask you something, Slate?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"How was it before you came to live here?"

"You mean like what it was like in my previous hometown."

"Well, yeah."

"Hmm… it was definitely different from this place."

"How so?"

"Well, for one, it was in the desert, so it was a lot hotter than this place. But I honestly prefer the weather here."

“Oh, so how did it look around there? It had to be really different from this place right?”

“For the most part. It wasn’t nearly as green as Canterlot, that's for sure. But it still had some nice scenery. You could see the mountain ranges off in the distance and it looked particularly nice when the sun would set behind them. Opposite of that and the town were the plains which were as wide as the eye could see and gave way to very blue skies.” 

"I see. And what about your old school? How was it there? Did you have a lot of friends there?"

"It was kind of similar to this school, minus all the extra attention that we've gotten here at CHS. All the same classes, lots of events throughout the year and such. As far as friends went, I had a few. Some of them I knew from school, some of them from my karate class, and even a couple of the karate instructors."

I guess I must have sounded a little down about the whole thing to Sonata because she had a sympathetic look when I turned to her.

"Do you miss it at all?"

"I do. I'm pretty sure dad and I will head back to visit, though. Still, I really would like to get back in contact with my friends."

"I thought that you would have kept on talking to them, maybe through the computer or something."

"Well, I try to, but some of them are very busy, which I understand. However, a few of them were upset with me leaving so suddenly that I guess they felt that I was abandoning them and have avoided any kind of contact with me. I would have let them know ahead of time, but there was hardly any time to do that with how quickly dad's work wanted him to move out here."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's alright. Besides, it isn't all bad. I would have never met you if I hadn't moved out here."

With that, we had arrived at the park. 

Looking around, there was about the same number of people around as last time. As usual, there were joggers doing laps around the park, families enjoying the Saturday morning together, and teams playing early morning games. As we passed by a soccer match, we saw Rainbow Dash dribbling the ball across the field before scoring a goal. As she celebrated with a fist pump, she happened to see us watching the game. She waved at us, and we waved back before she resumed playing.

We had walked over to the same section of the park that we had been at last time and found it to be surprisingly empty yet again.

I then turned to Sonata and asked, "So, are you up for another self-defense lesson today?"

She nodded enthusiastically and answered, "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Alright, let's get started then."

We found ourselves a spot where the grass was short and before anything else, did a little bit of a warm up. We then ran through the basic strikes and blocks, during which I would use my hands as targets for her to hit every now and then. While doing that, I found that even though she was altogether smaller than me, she managed to hit pretty damn hard. Afterward, we went over the self-defense technique that I had shown her last Saturday a few times.

"Heh, wow. You're doing really well. Have you been practicing on your own?"

"No, not really. I just remembered how our last practice went. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just impressed. You're a natural."

"You think so?"

"Yes, in fact, I think we can go over some new moves. If you want?"

"Well, what kind of moves?"

"It would be a few more self-defenses. It couldn't hurt to know them."

"Alright."

As I explained how to get out of a bear hug, I didn't really consider the proximity that was required for demonstrating it to her.

"So, can I try it out?" She asked 

"Uh, sure," I said, feeling a little timid. "Just, uh, don't take the demonstration the wrong way, okay?"

She had a bit of a confused look about her and just answered back with "Oookay."

"Alright, good. So, um, here we go."

With that, I stepped behind her and wrapped my arms around her. She didn't seem bothered by it, so I then asked her, "So, what do you do from here?"

"Hm," she thought for a bit, "oh." She then grabbed a hold of my arms and stomped the ground a few centimeters away from my foot. She followed that up by stepping out with the same foot; lightly jabbed her elbow into my stomach with her free arm; and stopped her fist an inch short of smashing my nose before breaking out of my grip. She had a serious look on her face before she switched it right away into a friendly smile and asked, "So, how did I do?"

"Not bad. That was some good control. Still, let's see if you can make it a little faster."

We continued to practice that escape a few more times along with a few other techniques, before Sonata and I stopped to catch our breaths. 

"Do you want to stop here?"

"Sure, let's take a seat."

We found a vacant bench and took a load off our feet. Sonata stretched out and made herself comfortable before she asked me, "So, what time is it?"

With a quick glance at my phone, I turned to her and said, "It's 10:43. Not bad for an early morning practice. What do you think?"

"I liked it. Thanks for teaching me all this stuff. It beats having to spend a ton of time by myself."

"I can't argue with you there."

"I know someone who would have."

"Your sisters?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Well, I don't think it would do much good to dwell on that, so what would you like to do?"

As she was thinking it over, someone had come along next to us. "Hey you guys, what's up?"

We were both a little surprised before we realized who was talking to us.

"Oh, hi Rainbow Dash," Sonata said back.

"Hey, is the game over already?" I asked.

"Yeah, we finished mopping the floor with the other team just a little while ago. You two should have seen the whole thing. What were you guys doing anyways?"

"Eh, sorry about not sticking around. We were just over here having a self-defense class."

"Yeah, Slate has been teaching me a lot of things from his karate classes," Sonata added with a smile.

"Really? That's cool. So, are you two busy right now?"

"Not particularly," I answered. "We just finished."

"Well, I was going to meet Pinkie at Sugar Cube Corner. Do you guys want to join us?"

Sonata nodded her head and said, "Sure."

"Then let's go, it shouldn't take too long to get there."

It was a short walk from the park to Sugar Cube Corner as we talked about how our mornings had been going as well as how school was coming along.

When we arrived at the shop, Pinkie, who was seated at one of the tables, noticed us as we walked in. She waved at us and loudly called, "Hey guys, over here."

As well intentioned as Pinkie was, I think we could have done without such a big display. Half the people in the shop had turned to look at us. I had no idea that the shop was actually a popular hangout for many of our classmates. While Rainbow didn't mind most of the other patron's gazes, I was pretty sure that Sonata could feel every glaring eye.

"Wow, we can't catch a break, even on the weekend," Sonata sighed as she let her shoulders slump down.

Rainbow Dash then turned to her and said, "Just ignore them."

"Unfortunately, I think that may be the only thing we can do," I said, placing a hand on Sonata’s shoulder. We got over to the table and took a seat with a few of the other patrons still shooting daggers at us.

"Heh, oops. Sorry about that." Pinkie said with a sheepish grin. 

"Don't worry about it," I said.

"Yeah. Anyways, what's new with you?" Sonata asked trying to change the subject.

"Oh, nothing much, just helping plan a few parties this month," Pinkie replied. "And you?"

"Nothing that interesting, just trying to adjust and keep up with school, that's all."

"Hmm, I see. And you, Slate?"

"Just trying to keep my karate sharp," I said.

RD then nudged me with her elbow and jokingly said, "Heh, better start upping the intensity then."

"Hardy-har-har. So, do they have some kind of breakfast here?"

"They started serving breakfast sandwiches here," Pinkie said enthusiastically.

"Oh good, I don't think I could wait any longer," Sonata said with relief.

"Alright, I'll be right back," I said getting up from the table.

"Hey, wait up," Rainbow said following me to the counter.

A few moments later, RD and I got back to the table with a couple of trays of food. We all enjoyed the meal while occasionally shooting the breeze about whatever little thing that came to mind.

"So, what are you guys doing later?" Pinkie asked.

"We were going to catch a movie," Sonata said with a smile. "What about you two?"

"Well, we are going to have a band rehearsal in a few hours."

Sonata looked like she regretted even asking that and could only say, "Oh…"

"Um, you guys wouldn't want to come watch, would you?" Rainbow asked cautiously.

"N-No, it's alright. But thanks anyway," Sonata said as she forced a smile.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but for some reason she almost seemed to be quaking in her boots at the thought of going to that practice. Then again, it might have brought up some bad memories. Either way, it was a bit odd.

"Well, if you say so. We should get going now, we still gotta get the rest of the group together. So I guess we'll catch you two later then." Rainbow Dash said as she took a couple of trays back.

"Bye Sonata, bye Slate," Pinkie said.

"Bye," both Sonata and I answered. And with that Pinkie and Rainbow had left. 

There were still a few people who were sneaking glances at us when they thought we wouldn't notice, which only served to annoy me.

"Man, this is just like the cafeteria. Maybe we should just go," I suggested to Sonata while picking up our trash and tossing it into a nearby bin.

She saw a few of the patrons looking our way. "That sounds like a good idea."

We left the shop and went on our way back to the apartments.

"Well, I guess once we're ready, we can meet by the apartment entrance and head to the theater. Sound good to you?" I asked Sonata.

"Sure. So do you want to meet up at five thirty?" She asked as we walked up the stairs.

"Nah, six o’clock should be okay. We should have enough time to get over there and pick out something good."

"Okay, then I'll see you in a while."

"Yeah, see you then."

I walked her to her apartment before I continued on up to mine. When I got in, I immediately washed up and got ready for the afternoon. While I waited for six o'clock, I spent some time talking to dad or texting Sonata till it was time.



Back at Sonatas apartment, she had already changed out and freshened up. During the time that she was waiting, she tried to avoid Aria considering that she usually didn't really have anything good to say.

It worked for a while until Aria went out of her way to harass her. It didn't help that Adagio was there along with her.

"Well, if it isn't the no brain wonder," Aria scoffed, "still hanging out with that useless human?"

"He's not useless! By all counts, he does more than you." Sonata retorted.

"While I agree with you there, you haven't brought back any useful info, so you're going to be helping us today to find what we need from those Rainbooms," Adagio said.

"But I had plans for tonight," Sonata whined.

Adagio glared at her before replying, "Tough luck. Since  we haven't made any headway in the plan, we can't afford for you to be slacking off. In fact, so you won't be distracted, we may need to do away with Slate soon." 

Sonata started thinking feverishly for something to change Adagio's mind. She figured that she had to give the other two sirens something for her to keep Slate safe, so she decided to finally tell them about her meetings with the Rainbooms.

"Wait, if you want to know stuff about the Rainbooms I can tell you what I found out."

Adagio had a puzzled look on her face. Aria on the other hand right away said, "Oh sure. Of the three of us, you actually got something useful to contribute."

"Well, yes and no. I've been talking to them and…" Sonata had said before she was cut off.

"You did what?!"  Adagio exclaimed angrily as she grabbed Sonata by her shoulders.

"I knew it was going to be something stupid," Aria said while shaking her head.

"Hold on, I never told them anything about the plan. They actually wanted to talk to me after Monday, and Slate convinced them to give me a chance."

Adagio in shock released her grip on Sonata. She was still processing the whole situation while Aria in disbelief said, "C'mon, There's absolutely no way that you could have managed to get in this close to them without screwing up our plans."

"But it's true."

Adagio finally asked, "If that's true, then what have you found out?"

"Well," Sonata said anxiously, "none of them have said anything about or had any kind of magic stuff with them."

"Nothing at all?" Adagio asked.

"Um, No," Sonata replied as she braced herself for one of Adagios tirades.

"That's sad, I guess dumb luck couldn't help this idiot get what we need," Aria said with a slight grin.

"Maybe not, but this does indeed give us a unique opportunity," Adagio said as if she were entertaining some idea.

"Um, is that a good thing?" Sonata asked.

"Possibly, but in the meantime, I think we can actually rest today."

"So, are Slate and I okay then?"

"For now. You can do whatever you planned to, by the way." Adagio answered.

"Um thanks," Sonata said cautiously before noticing the clock in the living room. "Six-ten? Oh, I've got to get going."

"Fine, just don't take forever getting back," Adagio warned.

"Alright," Sonata agreed before leaving.

Aria then turned to Adagio and asked in confusion, "What are you doing? You should have let her have it!"

"Now why would I do that? As it stands, she managed to get into a spot that allows us to spy on the Rainbooms and pinpoint exactly where that item is."

"Still, she's bound to mess this up somehow."

"Look, if anything does happen, we will take care of it."



Six o’clock came and went while I was waiting by the apartment entrance. I looked at my phone to find that Sonata was running about twelve minutes late. Considering that she usually managed to already be outside before me, I was starting to think that she might have had something else that she needed to do. I started towards the door when it flew open, and Sonata came sprinting out.

Seemingly out of breath, she looked at me and said, "Sorry…about being late…Are you…ready to go?"

"Yeah, I was starting to think you were a no show. So what happened, is everything alright?"

"What? Oh yeah, everything's fine," she said having caught her second wind. "I was just talking with Adagio and Aria, but kind of lost track of time. Anyways, though, we should probably get going."

"Works for me," I said as we headed towards the theater.

As we walked, Sonata asked, "Do you want me to lead the way? I mean, you're still kinda new around here."

"It's okay, I looked up the directions and saved them to my phone."

"Oh," She said, blushing a little. "Hey, so which movie did you have in mind?"

"Well, I had seen a few trailers for that new horror film about a haunting in Manehattan. It's actually been awhile since I've seen a good horror movie, but we could see something else if you want."

"Hmm, is it supposed to be extremely scary?"

"A lot of people said that it was just okay, so probably not."

She thought about it for a little and then said, "Alright, let's watch that."

"Cool, that's perfect."

We had walked through the park and down a few streets before we arrived at the theater. From the looks of the line for the box office, it was mostly random people. There were a few people from school, though. So for the sake of not making a huge scene, we tried our best to hide in the back of the line. When we got to the window, Sonata stayed behind me while I bought the tickets. 

Inside the lobby, I checked with one of the theater attendants, but was told our film still had some time till it started. I then asked Sonata, "So, do you want to get anything before we go in?"

"Maybe just some popcorn and soda."

"Alright, just give me one second."

I bought the snacks that she wanted and quickly got back to her. We sat down at one of the tables in the lobby while we shared the snacks and talked. Another fifteen minutes had passed before we were allowed into the theater.

We picked some seats all the way at the top of the auditorium while the other audience members were still filtering into the rows below. Sonata then leaned over and whispered to me, "I hope the movie isn't too bad."

"Ditto."

Before long, the previews started rolling for upcoming films. Some were kind of interesting while most were groan-worthy, although Sonata was very captivated by them.

By then, the lights had dimmed, and our movie began. It started out kind of slow, but at least it managed to set up a creepy atmosphere. It went on like that, all the while adding to the mystery. As the suspense kept on building, I could feel Sonata wrapping an arm around mine. 

I had kind of expected that to happen, so I whispered to her with a slight grin, "Hey, Sonata, you aren't scared, are you?"

"What? No. What would make you say that?"

I was about to answer her, but just then the movie threw out its first huge scare causing her and a few others to gasp. I jumped a bit too, although it was more due to her putting my arm in a vice grip.

"I don't know, just a hunch," I said as I placed my free hand on her hands.

She immediately loosened her grip and responded, "Oh, right."

We both chuckled lightly and continued to watch the movie.

The film had a few more scares for us before it reached the climax, and ended on a rather ambiguous note. I guess the producers were banking on it making enough money to warrant a sequel. I couldn't complain though, since I honestly liked the whole thing.

The lights came back on, and we exited the auditorium.

Curious, I asked Sonata, "So, what did you think?"

"I liked it, but I don't think I'll ever want to visit Manehattan now."

"That's a shame, I heard that the sequel takes place here in Canterlot City," I said with a mischievous smile.

She started to laugh and said, "Ha ha, shut up," before lightly punching me in the arm.

"Well, let me just call dad so we can get a ride back home," I said and pulled out my phone. The only problem was my phone had died. "Crap, I forgot to charge it."

"Don't worry, I've got mine," Sonata reassured me. She started checking her pockets, but then a look of dread filled her face. She started patting her pants frantically. "Oh no. Where is it?"

"What's wrong?"

"I think my phone stayed at my apartment."

"It's fine," I said, trying to calm her. "Besides, it isn't too long of a walk. It should only take half an hour to get back. Shall we." I offered her my hand as I opened the exit.

"Alright." She said, taking my hand in hers as we left.

For only looking at the directions a couple of times, I was surprised that we hadn't gotten lost. Eventually, we got back to the park, which looked somewhat different in the afternoon than it did during the morning. Hardly anyone was there except for a few people playing basketball on the courts all the way on the other side of the park. As for illumination, there were a few lamps set up throughout the area along the paths.

Sonata and I made our way along the lit path through the park. We passed by where we had practiced earlier when Sonata said to me, "You know, I’m not sure how everything would have turned out if I hadn’t met you, but I’m really glad I did."

"I feel the same way. Regardless of everything else that goes on, I wouldn't have it any other way."

We came to a lamppost when she tugged at my right hand and stopped me. When I turned to her, she took a hold of my hands. It seemed like she wanted to tell me something, but wasn't sure how to. One thing was for sure, in that light, I couldn't help but stare into her deep magenta eyes.

Just then, out of nowhere someone shoved me and sent me tumbling. Startled, Sonata yelled out to me, "Slate!"

I quickly rolled out of the fall and back onto my feet, only to see a gray looking guy standing where I had been. Right next to him a shorter one had a hand over Sonatas mouth while holding her arms behind her back.

"You again? You'd better let her go right now!" I demanded.

The shorter one shouted back, "Fat chance, right, Rover?"

"Right, Spot. You two aren't going anywhere, especially after what happened last time."

"Spot? Rover? Seriously?" I scoffed. "I thought it was just a band name thing. Is your other friend’s name Bingo or something?"

"Shut up, you son of a bitch!"

"Hey, that's your mom apparently, not mine."

"Grrr."

"By the way, where is Hooch, at the kennel?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself? Fido, get him!"

Right at that moment I was being held above the ground in a crushing grip. It happened so fast and unexpectedly that all I could do was try not to pass out due to Fido’s grip. As I struggled to pry Fido’s arm from around my neck, Rover walked over to me cracking his knuckles and said, "I'm going to enjoy this." He lunged forward and started wailing on me.

Seeing this, Sonata struggled even harder against Spot’s grasp. She was able to move her mouth out from under his hand and gave him a hard bite.

Spot yelped in pain and let her go only to grab ahold of her again from the wrist. She socked him right on the cheek, dazing him a bit.

Rover turned and yelled at him, "Get that siren under control!"

"Got it!" he yelled back and slapped her across the face, sending her to the ground. As soon as that happened, I lost it. 

Rover turned back to me and prepared to throw another punch, only to have my right foot connect hard with his chest. I then leaned forward and slammed my head right into Fido's face. From there I elbowed him in the gut, reached back to get ahold of his head and pulled him over my shoulder. When he hit the ground, there was a loud thud followed by his groaning.

Rover then ran at me full tilt, ready to tackle me. Without thinking, I quickly stepped to the side and left my rear leg outstretched, causing him to trip face first into the floor. 

I then focused over towards Sonata, who was pinned down and struggling to get out from under Spot. I ran over to them and kicked him off of her. "Are you alright?" I asked as I pulled her up off the ground.

"Yeah, I think… Slate, look out!" She screamed. I turned around and wound up getting pulled into a clinch. Rover threw a knee and caught me right in the stomach, making me lose my breath. I was barely able to block his next strike with my forearms but knew that it wasn't going to end well if I didn't think fast.

Meanwhile, Spot got back up and charged at Sonata. This time, however, she landed a punch right to his nose. As he clasped his hands to his face, she caught him again on the chin with a right hook and knocked him onto his ass.

Back on my end, Rover was relentlessly throwing his strikes. Luckily I was able to jam my palm into his chin to keep him at bay. I then twisted my shoulder into his elbow and caught him with a side kick to the knee. As he staggered from the impact, I landed a right cross to his cheek, a roundhouse to his side and got him on the jaw with a turning sidekick. That last hit was hard enough to send him crashing onto Fido.

When Fido tried to push him off, he found that Rover was out cold. Spot rushed over to see what had happened.

I walked up to them and demanded, "Listen up, if you know what's good for you, you'll leave us alone. You idiots got that!"

They didn't say anything. All they did was nod their heads frantically.

"Good. Now get out of here."

Fido got off the ground, and Spot helped him to pick up their unconscious comrade before they ran off with their tails between their legs.

Once they had left out of sight, I nursed my aching stomach. Sonata walked up next to me and put a hand on my shoulder and asked me, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. What about you?" I got closer to check where she got hit. Surprisingly, though, her cheek was only slightly reddened. "That's weird, hardly a scratch."

"I'm alright, it wasn't that hard," she said, wincing a little as she rubbed her cheek.

"Still, I should have kept that whole thing from happening at all."

"Slate, you don't need to beat yourself up about it," she said with a warm smile.

I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. "Heh, I can't help it. You mean a lot to me. Actually, I think I love you."

Oh God. Did I just say that.

She began to blush as she looked down and thought of what to say. She then looked me in the eyes and said, "I love you too." In an instant she placed her lips against mine, catching me off guard. I held her close to me and just let everything else slip away.

We spent a moment there, but it felt like we could have been there forever. When we broke the kiss, we held each other there under the light of the lamppost. Just then I remembered that it was only getting later. "Maybe we should get over to the apartments," I offered.

"Huh, oh, yeah," she said raising her head to look at me. "I wish that we didn't have to go."

"Same here," I said with a sigh.

We made our way back arm in arm, eventually reaching our building.

As we walked down the third floor hallway to her apartment, Sonata said "You know what, as strange as it may sound, I'm kind of glad everything turned out the way it did."

"You're right, that is kind of weird," I said with a grin. "But, I know what you mean."

Once in front of her door, she turned to me with her hands behind her back and asked, "So then, see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely."

She smiled and gave me one last kiss. "Alright then, good night, Slate."

"Good night, Sonata."

As soon as she entered her apartment, I ran up the stairs to mine. Dad had been waiting up for me. On all counts, I was not looking forward to explaining why I was barely getting back close to ten thirty.

I told him that we had to walk back since my phone died during the movie and we couldn't call for a ride afterward. Of course, I omitted the bit about the fight for obvious reasons and just hoped that dad would believe my half-truth. Luckily, to my surprise, he didn't push the subject any further than that and just told me to prepare better next time. I had made it into the clear, so I relaxed and got ready to call it a day. All the while, I couldn't help but think about Sonata.



Once Sonata had walked into the living room, Aria came around to hurl her usual insults.

"Hey, Sonata! I get that you have the brain the size of a walnut but you're pushing it getting back here at this time," Aria said with a smirk at her cleverness.

Normally Sonata would have reacted to the blatant put down without fail, but it didn't seem to faze her this time. The only thing she did say was a dismissive "Uh-huh." 

Aria was now thoroughly confused as she tried again. "I guess Slate's just as brain dead as you if he can't even keep track of the time."

Still in a distracted tone, Sonata just replied with, "He’s great." She started heading to her room to get ready for bed. She then left Aria standing there with a single, "Good night."

Aria was dumbstruck. She had never seen Sonata just brush her off. Adagio then walked in and asked her, "Why are you just standing here like a zombie?" 

"Dagi, am I losing my touch?" she asked worriedly.

"What are you blathering on about?" Adagio asked annoyed.

"Sonata didn't even register that I was making fun of her just now."

"Really, that's your big concern," Adagio deadpanned. "After all these years she was probably going to get used to your crap sooner or later."

"But it's like she wasn't all there," Aria said.

"And when is she ever ‘all there.'?"

"Hmm, I guess you have a point," Aria grumbled.

"Of course I do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

Meanwhile, after a few preparations, Sonata happily drifted off into sleep.

Sunday Morning

Sonata was woken up by a constant stream of knocking on her bedroom door. She stretched and yawned as she rolled out of bed and shuffled towards the door. As expected, Adagio was waiting for her to answer. "Good morning," Sonata said while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Morning," Adagio responded flatly. "Start getting ready. We've got a few things to take care of."

"Like what?" Sonata asked

"Getting stuff that we need around here, at least for this week," Adagio responded while pinching the bridge of her nose. "I also need to talk to you about the Rainbooms."

Sonata knew this was going to have something to do with the plan, so with a pained expression, she just replied, "Okay."

"Good, now hurry up."

While she got dressed, she sent Slate a text.

"Hey, Slate. The girls want me to help out with something, so I'm going to be busy today."

"Oh. I had to tell you that I would be busy too. I have to catch up with some chores and errands."

"Sorry, about that. Maybe we can meet up later."

"Hopefully. I'll text you back in a while, I'm going to see if I can get my list done quickly. Take care."

"Okay, bye."

She quickly finished getting ready and headed to the kitchen to eat breakfast with the others. At around ten forty, they headed to the supermarket.

"So what, we're just shopping for groceries. No take over the world scheme involved? I find that hard to believe. Having some doubts about the plan?" Aria said snidely.

"Well, as close as we are to getting our powers back, I don't want to starve. And considering that we are relying on Sonata to get ahold of whatever magic item those girls may have, I just want to make sure we survive until then," Adagio explained.

"Hmm, good point."

"So for the sake of making sure you actually find what we need, Sonata, I need you to question them about that other girl. The one who showed up and made a huge scene in the gym before the competition began. And try not to be conspicuous about it. That should lead you in the right direction." 

Unfortunately, Sonata wasn't fully invested in the conversation since she was busy daydreaming.

"Hey, are you catching any of this lame brain," Aria said as she smacked Sonata across the back of the head.

"Ouch! Hey!" Sonata exclaimed as she rubbed her head.

"You didn't hear anything that I said, did you?" Adagio asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Yes I did. You said something about asking a girl something. Right?"

"Dagi, this plan is going to tank pretty fast at this rate," Aria replied dryly.

Adagio turned to Sonata. "Listen, right now you are the only one who is close enough to their group to get that item. I need you to focus."

As they proceeded to the store, Adagio made sure to explain exactly what Sonata had to do.



It had been a while since Sonata had sent me those texts, and I had finished up with most of the chores. Even though the cleaning took a few hours to complete, I had to admit that the apartment's size made it a heck of a lot easier to get it in order than our previous home. 

As I put away the cleaning supplies, I checked to see if I had any new messages. But, there were none. Just then dad had arrived back home from the store with some bags in hand.

"Hey dad, just finished with the chores here. Is there anything left in the car?"

"Just a couple cases of water and a few bags. Would you please go get them and lock up?"

"Sure thing. Be right back."

With that said, he tossed me the keys, and I ran down the stairwell to the ground floor. Dad had parked the SUV a little ways off from the entrance. I popped the hatchback open and found all the things dad had listed. I removed it all from the back and placed it on the floor to close and lock up. Not wanting to have to come back outside, I stuck my arms through the loops in the bags and carried the cases stacked on top of each other. 

I was able to get through the front door with some difficulty, but when I got to the stairwell, I realized that I had made a horrible mistake. I had no choice but to place the two cases out of the way and view of anyone so I could come back and get them, and ran the bags up to the apartment. I quickly came back and got the cases and made the hike up the stairs, all the while thinking, I'll count that as my workout for the day.

Back at the apartment, I helped dad put away what was left of the groceries when I came across some very out of place objects.

"Hey, dad. Why'd you buy hairspray, scrunchies, and conditioner?" I asked. When I checked the last bag, I wasn't sure how to respond other than "Are those tampons?"

"What? I didn't buy that?" dad said somewhat confused. But then it was like a light was switched on and he replied, "Oh, hold on a second. I forgot to mention that I ran into your friend, and I think her sisters."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I saw Sonata and a couple other girls walking out of the store with quite a few bags. When Sonata saw me, she said hi and asked if I could give them a ride back here. I agreed to help and let them place their stuff in the back of the SUV. The other two seemed upset for some reason, though."

Hmm, no surprise there, I thought.

"But anyways, when we got here, I guess they must have forgotten a couple of their own bags when they hurried off."

"Well, I'll go and take that over to them then. Be right back, again."

I got the bags with their stuff in it and headed to the third floor. As I got closer to Sonatas apartment I could hear a heated argument taking place inside. It was muffled, but from what I could make out someone was throwing a tantrum.

"One of you two idiots probably left it at the store! Can nothing go right?"

"Sonata was the one putting the bags into the cart." Said a very sour sounding individual.

"But I made sure that everything was there."

"Obviously, you didn't," a prissy voice said.

Okay, better just give them back their bags before this devolves any further, I thought as I knocked on the door.

There was a brief beat of silence before Adagio yelled, "Aria, go get rid of whoever that is!"

"Would you stop getting your panties in a bunch," Aria shot back. "It's not like that giant fur ball you call hair is going to fall off, unfortunately."

After that last remark, I had to do my best to keep myself from laughing before the door opened. Aria, who seemed particularly moody as well, had an annoyed look on her face when she saw me.

"What do you want? If you're looking for Sonata, we're kind of busy."

"Oh. I would like to talk to her, but I really just came by to drop this off," I said as I handed Aria the bags. At first, she didn't seem interested in them until she realized what their contents were.

"Where'd you get this?" She asked me with a suspicious look.

"I think you guys forgot that in my dad's SUV."

"Hmm. Hey, Dagi, I found your things. You can stop throwing your hissy fit now." She turned to head back in before I got her attention one last time.

"Hey, could you do me a favor and call Sonata out here, please."

She seemed fed up and just rolled her eyes before calling back inside. "Sonata, that Nate guy's here to see you."

That's not my name, I thought to myself, but didn't bother to correct her this time around.

"Anything else, Romeo?"

"No, but thank you, Thalia."

Almost immediately she narrowed her eyes at me and said in an unamused tone, "It's Aria."

I only responded with, "Hmm, oh right. So sorry."

She continued to give me a dirty look until Sonata came outside to greet me. When she went back inside, I heard her mutter the word, "Idiots."

"Hi, Slate. What's up?"

"Not much. Are you really busy right now?"

She turned to the apartment and then back to me. "Not exactly."

"So then, do you want to maybe hang out?"

"Sure, um, just not here. Adagio's kind of in a bad mood."

"I noticed."

"Maybe just out front?"

"Sounds good. Let me just head back to my place and I'll be right out."

"Okay, don't take too long."

I ran back to my place and let dad know I would be on the first floor. A couple of minutes later Sonata and I were out front, talking about how our days had gone so far. 

"Well, so far it's been pretty boring."

"Yeah, but at least you didn't have to deal with someone always barking orders," Sonata replied.

"That is very true. I'm still kind of surprised that Adagio got so bent out of shape over a misplaced bag. I didn't think she had that bad of a temper when I first met her."

"She usually doesn't let anyone other than Aria and me see her that way. That's why."

"That's a little scary that she can mask herself like that."

She gave a small chuckle. "Having known her my entire life, I'm used to it."

"Just saying. Don't think I'd feel safe near her."

"Oh well. So, what were you planning on doing with the rest of today?"

"Not much, honestly. Still got that history assignment to finish up, though."

"Oh, crap! I forgot about that."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. We were pretty close to finishing anyways."

"Still, could you help me finish it, please?" she asked while giving me puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, okay. Just ease up on the look. You're going to kill me with cuteness," I said as I slid up close to her and placed a kiss on the cheek. She smiled and lightly kissed me on the lips.

We went up to my apartment and worked on what little was left of the history paper. When we finished dad had prepared lunch, so we all sat down and ate together. 

We continued to talk a little bit more before Sonata decided that she had to get back to her sisters. My dad insisted that she take some of the lunch for Aria and Adagio, so I escorted her back to her apartment with a bag holding some containers of food.

"Well then. I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully."

"Okay."

"By the way, are you going to be alright right now? I mean, with Aria and Adagio."

"I think so. Adagio doesn't stay like that for too long."

"Just in case, I wish you good luck," I said as I gave her a hug.

"Thank you."

She went inside her apartment, and I went back to mine. Nothing else went on that day, and none of the messages I got from Sonata seemed like a call for help, so I relaxed and got ready for Monday.
> 8 - Giving Back
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the new week began, everything was going well. Sonata and I got our history projects turned in; got through math without accumulating too much homework; and made it through our separate morning classes. Even though a few of the usual people had nothing better to do than talk behind Sonata's and my back, it didn't bother us as much as before. When we got to the cafeteria and had picked up a couple of the trays, Rainbow invited us to have lunch with them.

Naturally, we went to sit with the group, but Sonata seemed a little bit nervous.

"Is everything alright, Sonata?" I asked her with a slight nudge.

"Uh, yes," she said, sitting down and quickly starting on the food on her tray.

Just then, Sunset Shimmer sat next to Sonata.

"Hey, Sonata. Hey, Slate"

"Hi, Sunset," Sonata responded.

I nodded and gave her a friendly, "Hello. What's up?"

"Not much. But I do have some news for Sonata."

"What is it?"

"I talked to the principal last week on Friday."

"About what?"

"Well, I asked if she would consider shortening your punishment. She said that if Adagio, Aria, and you would participate in some community service, she would gladly reduce the amount of time you three have to be in detention."

"Um, you didn't happen to run that by Aria or Adagio, did you?"

"I did, but they just blew me off."

Hmm, what a shock, I thought.

"Sorry about that," Sonata offered.

"It's not a big deal."

"Well, would she let me participate by myself?"

Sunset placed a finger to her chin as she thought about it. "Hmm, I wouldn't be able to tell you. We could check with her right now as soon as you finish."

Sonata thought on it for a little before she said, "It couldn't hurt to look into it."

We continued to eat and talk a bit longer before they eventually finished. 

Sunset got up and put away her lunch tray before turning back to Sonata and asking, "So, shall we go check?"

Sonata gave a slight nod and said, "Sure." She put away her tray and stood next to Sunset as they were about to leave. "Oh, wait," She stopped and turned back to me. "I'll catch up with you in a little."

"That's fine, go ahead and take care of what you need to. I'll see you back at the library."

"Alright. Bye, Slate."



As the two left the cafeteria, Sonata had several thoughts going through her head. I don't get it, why are Sunset and the others trying so hard to help me out? They know what we did, so they really don't owe us any favors. On top of that, it doesn't really matter. Adagio still wants me to take whatever magical item they have.

Just then Sunset turned to her and said, "You know, I'm happy that you're making an effort to do better, even if your sisters aren't willing to."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Well, I do appreciate the help. So, is this why I didn't see much of you last week?"

"Pretty much. It wasn't easy, but at least, we can start getting you and the others on the right track."

"Thanks." Sonata couldn't help but feel torn at the idea that they were genuinely trying to give her a chance. That would have to wait, though, as they had arrived at the principal's office. Just then the bell rang and the students began making their ways down the hallways. 

"Could you give me just one second?" Sunset asked. Sonata just nodded, and Sunset knocked on the office door before entering.

A familiar voice from the other side greeted Sunset. "Ah, Sunset. How can I help you?"

"Hello, Principal Celestia, Sonata Dusk wanted to talk to you. She had a question about your new offer. She's just outside."

"I see. Would you mind calling her in, please?"

Sunset poked her head out of the office and waved Sonata over. "Okay, you can come in."

"Alright," she replied while walking in.

Something that Sonata wasn't quite expecting was how much more lenient the principal sounded this time around. "Hello, Miss Dusk." 

Sonata quickly replied with, "Hello, Principal Celestia."

"Please, take a seat." Sonata did just that and fidgeted a bit out of anxiety. Celestia then turned to Sunset and asked, "Sunset, would you please wait outside for now?"

"Yes, ma’am." She quickly gave Sonata a thumbs up and exited the office.

"So, Sonata, you had a question about the community service."

"Um, yes."

"I see. And what about Adagio and Aria?"

"Um, you see, that's what I wanted to ask you about. What if they weren't interested in the offer, and I was the only one who wanted to try?"

"Hmm, well, seeing as you are the only one here, I'm willing to allow you to join by yourself. And yes, this will shorten the amount of time you have left to your punishment. If Aria and Adagio do decide to come around, the offer will still stand."

"Um, thank you. So, what do I have to do?"

"You'll need to talk to the front desk clerk before school ends, Monday through Thursday. She'll let you know of any groups that could use your help. She will also give you a paper that needs to be signed by whoever is in charge of the place that you go to help. Then you just need to turn it into the front office clerk the following day." Celestia looked at her watch and then back to Sonata. "Since lunch did just finish, I had taken the liberty of getting you one of the community service papers earlier and have arranged for you to go help at one of the soup kitchens with Sunset Shimmer."

She pulled a paper out of her desk and extended it to Sonata, which she took. 

"So, do you have any other questions?" Celestia asked.

"No. I understand."

"In that case, go ahead and get a hall pass from the front desk. Take care, and good luck."

"Um, thank you."

Like before, Celestia got the door and let Sonata out of her office.

Sunset, who had been waiting outside the door, came over and walked with Sonata.

After they got their passes, Sunset asked, "So, are you going to do it?"

"Yeah, but I'm still not sure how this is going to work. Oh, she also told me we would be working together at a soup kitchen today."

"I see, well, don't worry. I'll show you what to do when we get there."

"Okay. Just one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I didn't know you were doing community service too."

"Oh, yeah, I've made it a habit to help out during the week."

"Huh, I never would have guessed."

They came to main foyer before Sunset spoke to Sonata.

"Well, I'll see you after school," Sunset said. "Just meet me by the statue and we can head out from there."

"Okay. See you later."

Sonata said goodbye and made her way over to the library.



When I got to the library, there was no sign of Sonata, so I decided to sit at one of the tables near the library entrance, where she could spot me easily. A few moments later, she showed up and walked over to me. "Hey, Slate. Why are you sitting around here?" She asked. 

"Just waiting around. Do you want to sit here or at another spot?"

She turned to look at the other students and saw several of them quickly turn their attention to random things around the area, but would look back out of the corner of their eyes. "Hmm, can we find another spot?"

"Sure, not a problem," I said, grabbing my backpack and sliding my chair back in. We went to the second floor and found a table overlooking the lower level of the library. After getting our notebooks and class assignments out, I turned to Sonata and asked her, "So, how'd everything go?"

"I got signed up for community service."

"So like, for today?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, we should probably try to finish up our work so you won't have to worry about it later."

"Okay."

For the next thirty minutes, we worked on our assignments. She'd occasionally ask for some help, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle.

As soon as we finished, she said to me, "Thanks for the help. Hmm, I still don't know how this whole thing is going to work out, though."

"What? You mean the community service?"

She nodded, giving me an uneasy look.

"Well, if it's anything like past events that I've helped out with, then it shouldn't be a big deal."

"So what did you do at those events?"

"Mostly setup for stuff like charity runs or putting together festival booths. By the way, what are you going to be doing?

"Celestia said that I'd be going to help out at a soup kitchen with Sunset."

"So she's helping out too? Huh, I never would have guessed."

"I know. I said the same thing."

"Hmm. Helping at a soup kitchen isn't that bad. It'll be fine."

"Hopefully," Sonata said. She thought about it a little longer before giving me a smile. "I'm sure you're right."

Eventually, the period ended. Sonata turned to me as we were about to go to our separate classes and said, "I'll be leaving for the community service right after school. If you want, you could meet me by the statue in front."

"Of course. See you then."

As before, everything had gone pretty well. I was surprised and relieved, to say the least.

When the last bell rang, I made my way to the front of the school. However, on the way there I spotted Sonata, Aria, and Adagio standing by the library entrance. From the looks of it, they were having a bit of an argument. I wasn't close enough to hear any of it and wasn't planning on getting any closer. From what I could see, though, Aria was angrily pointing an accusatory finger at Sonata while Adagio stood there with her arms crossed and shaking her head. She finally said something to Sonata and signaled Aria to follow her into the library.

Sonata, now alone, began heading to the school’s entrance. I quickly ran to catch up with her.

"Hey, Sonata. What's up?" I said as I started walking alongside her.

A little surprised she turned to me and said, "Oh, Slate. Nothing really, just talking to my sisters."

"Ah, I thought I saw them just now. Was it just me or did they seem a bit upset."

She sighed a bit before responding, "Yeah, they didn't take the news about me doing the community service too well." From the disconcerted look on her face, that was a bit of an understatement.

"You know what, don't even worry about it. They're probably just upset that they have to stay on the school grounds longer."

"Heh, yeah."

We had arrived at the statue out front and stood there waiting.

"Sooo, what are we waiting for exactly?"

"Well, Sunset said she would be here, but I don't see her anywhere."

"Ah, there you are. I thought I heard you two just now," Sunset said as she walked out from behind the statue. "So, are we ready to go?"

Sonata nodded before turning back to me. "I guess that I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, sounds good. If you need anything, go ahead and give me a call. Take care."

With that, Sonata and I hugged, and she left with Sunset down the street.



As the girls made their way downtown, Sunset decided to try and make some small talk with Sonata.

"So, how are things going for you?"

"Fine, I guess. Although, people constantly talk about everything that happened when I'm nearby."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Still, you should try to not let it get to you."

"It's not a big deal, though. I mean, I've been able to hang out with you guys. And on top of that, Slate has helped me out so much by being there with me."

Sunset noticed a slight blush spread across Sonatas face. Even though she didn't want to pry too much, curiosity got the better of her. "So, you and Slate have gotten pretty close, huh?"

"I suppose so," Sonata said.

"That's good."

At the mention of that, Sonata remembered Adagio’s orders. Even though she liked the idea of befriending Sunset and the others, she'd have to put that aside if she wanted to keep her sisters from doing anything to Slate.

"Heh, yeah. So, I wanted to ask you something," Sonata said.

"What about?"

"Well, it's just that I haven't met your other friend that was here a couple of weeks ago. I was wondering what happened to her after the Battle of the Bands?"

"Oh, you must mean Twilight Sparkle. She returned to her home."

"So, she's from out of town then?"

"You could say that. She went back to Equestria."

"Really? You mean like ‘actual’ Equestria? The one where ponies live?"

"Yeah. Fortunately, we've been able to keep in contact with her since then. If you'd like, I could arrange for you to talk with her."

"Sure. But how?"

"I'll explain that later. We're here."

Within a few moments, they arrived at a building with a line of people waiting outside the door. As they walked past them to the back, a few of them greeted Sunset, and she returned the gesture.

When they got to the helpers entrance, a young woman with short, light blue hair got the door for them.

"Hi, Sunset. It's good to see you again." 

"Hi Coco, same here."

Coco then noticed Sonata and said, "Oh, hello. I don't think I've met you before."

"This is Sonata Dusk," Sunset replied. "She's here to help out today." She then turned to Sonata and said, "This is Coco Chanel. She is one of the head charity organizers here."

Sonata held out and shook hands with Coco. "It's nice to meet you, Coco." 

"Likewise. Now then, let's get you two into your kitchen staff uniforms."

Hanging on a few coat hooks near the door were some dark green aprons along with some adjustable caps. After putting on their gear, they headed to the food counters and put on some thin plastic gloves. 

Coco then said to Sunset, "Alright, I'm going to let our guests in, could you give Sonata the rundown of what to do?"

"Sure thing," Sunset said, turning her attention to Sonata. "So, basically, all we have to do is serve the food to our guests on these trays here. Or if they ask for it, in a container to go."

"That's it?"

"Pretty much. Oh, and just make sure to be as friendly as you can be."

"Okay."

The line that had been waiting outside had moved in front of the counter. As far as Sonata could tell, those people had definitely seen better days. Some of the clothing they wore was dingy and way past well worn. Some of them just looked plain weary while others looked like they should still be attending school. Still, she did her very best to be welcoming and began passing out the trays of food to the people there when a thought occurred to her. I have become a lunch lady, just like AJ's grandma. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and continued on with her work. 

One thing that intrigued her while she worked was that, even though what she was doing didn't seem important to her, most of the people who she was serving were very grateful for it. She wasn't quite used to having others show any appreciation for something that she had done. Regardless, they continued for about an hour before practically everyone was served. A while later, and some of their guests had finished their meals. They got rid of the disposable plates and brought back the trays. Sonata and Sunset took the dishes to the back and washed them while some other volunteers took care of the counter.

While they finished up the last few trays, Sunset asked Sonata, "So, how do you feel about the community service, now that you've gotten to try it?"

"It's something different, but in a good way. It's better than I expected it would be."

"Really, how so?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting all those people to be thanking me at all."

"Oh, that. Well, they've been through a lot. Some of them lost their jobs, a few of them are runaways, and still others had to deal with laws that didn't do much to help them at all. So even having a meal can be kind of like a blessing."

Sonata’s eyes went wide at hearing that. Her thoughts went back to her past, as she remembered how on occasion when she and her sisters would cause others just like the people she had just served to get into some of the ugliest fights ever. To say that she felt a pang of guilt was an understatement. "Wow, I had no idea how bad off they could be."

"Yeah, it does put things in perspective. Still, that's why it's great that you decided to help out. It's a way of giving back to those who could use the help."

"Well, then I'm glad that this is helping."

When they finished in the kitchen, Coco came over to them and said, "Today’s dinner rush went well. There are still a few stragglers coming in right now, but our other assistants should be able to handle helping them. You girls can go now if you want."

Sonata then remembered the paper and spoke up. "Ms. Coco, I needed to give you a paper to sign before I leave."

"Oh, well then. Let me take a look at it."

Sonata quickly went to her backpack and fished out the sheet. She returned to Coco and handed it over to her. She looked it over and smiled, "Alright, just give me a minute." She walked to the back office to grab a pen. After filling out some information and signing the paper, she handed it back. "There you go. So, if that's everything, I must get back to work."

"Yes ma'am, that's all I needed. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. See you next time." And with that Coco headed back to the front of the building.

Sonata slipped the paper back into her bag and hung up her cap and apron.  She waited by the staff entrance while Sunset put away her things. Once she had finished, they both headed out towards the street.

They came to a crosswalk when Sunset asked Sonata, "So, are you going directly home?"

"Yeah, Aria and Adagio are waiting for me to get back."

"Oh, I could walk with you to your place. Sometimes it's a little rough around here."

Sonata instantly had flashbacks to the past couple of weeks as soon as she heard that, and answered with "That would be great actually."

They headed back in the direction of the school, talking most of the way.

"So, do you miss Equestria?" Sunset asked curiously.

Sonata took a few minutes to think about the question before she responded. "Sometimes. Honestly, though, it's been a millennium since we were there, and I'm so used to this world that it doesn't bother me that much. Besides, it probably wouldn't be the same."

"So then you three really were around for all that time? You guys must be really good at history then."

"Maybe Adagio or Aria are, but I’m not. I never really paid attention to the current events."

"Hmm, I guess that wasn’t really much of an issue for me either. Oh well. As for me, I think that I would like to return one day back to Equestria. Although, I don't really have any problem with staying in this world either.”

“Wait a minute, return?” Sonata asked a bit confused. “So then, that means that you’re a pony too?”

“Yeah, didn’t I mention that before?”

“No, I didn't even have a clue that you came directly from Equestria.” I don’t even think Adagio knew that for sure, she thought.

“Oh, sorry about that. But yeah, I am a pony.”

"Huh, well, I hope it works out for you," Sonata replied.

"Thanks," Sunset said chuckling a little. "Still, I’ve been able to keep in contact with my friends on the other side."

"Oh yeah, you had mentioned something about that earlier. How does that work exactly?" Sonata asked attentively.

"Well, I have this journal that has a connection with another one in Equestria. Whatever I write in mine can be seen in the other one and vice versa."

"So then, you magically text with a phone book," Sonata said smiling.

Sunset couldn't help but laugh at her remark. "Wow, I have no idea how I missed that one."

Sonata laughed a little at the joke and said, "That makes it even funnier." As they kept going Sonata then asked, "How are they doing, by the way?"

"Pretty good, according to Twilight’s last message. Next time that I have my journal with me, I'd be more than happy to let you have a look."

Sonata didn't know what to say. Everything was going according to plan, and yet this only caused her to stress out. She quickly said, "Thanks, but you don't have to." Sonata couldn't stand knowing that so much hinged on her getting that book and completely destroying any chance of gaining new friends.

"It's not a problem. Besides, I'd like you to see what we've been talking about."

Sonata saw that there was no way around the problem and responded with, "Well, if you insist."

As they proceeded past the school, they continued talking about their favorite pastime and interests. It wasn't too much longer till they had arrived at the apartment building.

"Take care, and see you tomorrow," Sunset said.

"Yeah, you too," Sonata replied.

As Sunset headed back down the street, Sonata forced herself up the stairs. It took every ounce of her will to climb to the third floor, knowing that such a beautiful day could be turned completely upside down as soon as she got home. She cautiously snuck into the apartment, keeping the door from slamming shut. So far, so good, she thought as she saw the empty living room in front of her.

She then noticed her sisters' voices coming from the kitchen. There was no way that she would be unnoticed by the other two, so she took a deep breath and walked into the room with Adagio and Aria.

"There you are. We were wondering when you would show up." Adagio cooed in a taunting manner. Aria on the other hand just ignored them both, busy reading something on her phone. "I hope that you have something good to tell us."

"Well, um, I didn't get their magic item, but I did find out that it belongs to Sunset," Sonata offered.

Adagio, seemingly unamused, got up from the table and said sternly, "And you just let her leave with it."

"She didn't have it with her."

"Did she tell you where she kept it or what it was?"

"She didn't tell me where she kept it, but she did say it was a journal."

"Ugh, I guess that will do. But the moment you see it, you had better take it."

"Y-yes," Sonata stammered back.

Aria, without looking up from her phone said, "As if she could."

With that Aria and Adagio got up and left the apartment.

Sonata just stayed in the living room and texted Slate until it was late. When Aria and Adagio had returned Sonata was already asleep.



The following morning was practically the same as Monday, nothing out of the norm happened. It was peaceful save for one or two kids trying to antagonize Sonata, and even that turned out better than I could have expected. When they confronted her about all the things that she and the other two had done, I was about to step in when she sincerely apologized to them. Apparently, they had been expecting her to react in some other way because, when she did that, they didn't know what else to say other than, "Uh, good," and just walked away.

It was just an ordinary day at school. We hung out with our friends, got work done, and enjoyed lunch together. Only a couple of other things stood out to me, like that a lot of the attention that Sonata and I got from the rest of the school had died down a little. My guess was that maybe it had something to do with us hanging out with Sunset and the others. The other was that every so often I would notice Adagio and Aria looking at us. Pinkie eventually went over to invite them to hang out with us, but they refused and left. It was a bit odd, but it didn't bother me or the others all that much.

When Sonata and I went to the study hall, we talked as usual after finishing our work.

"So you're headed to karate today, right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"The front office clerk said that I would be helping out at an animal shelter downtown today. The address she gave me seems familiar, and I think it's close to your karate school."

"Mind if I take a look at it?"

"Go ahead," she said handing me the address paper. After glancing at it for a little, I pulled out my phone and quickly typed the info into a web search. A map then popped up on my screen showing its location. 

"Hmm, from the looks of it, it's about half a block away from Iron Will’s dojo on the main street." I showed her the map as I handed back the paper.

"See, I knew it was nearby," She said smiling.

"I guess you did," I laughed lightly.

"So do you want to walk together when school lets out?"

"You don't have to ask me twice, of course I do."

We both smiled and continued talking until class ended.

The rest of our classes were pretty calm, and asides from some slight boredom neither of us had any real issues. 

When the last bell rang, I got to the foyer and met up with Sonata.

"Ready?" I asked her.

"Ready."

Just like that, we were off.

On the way over to the animal shelter, Sonata seemed to have a bit of a realization and turned to me. "Hey, Slate."

"What's up?"

"At that karate school, do they use belts?"

"Yes, they do."

"So what belt are you?"

"Well, right now I'm a red belt from my previous school."

"Is that a high rank?"

"I guess so. It's just underneath a black belt. Still, I'm not sure when I'd be able to move up. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. You never told me about it before."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Wow, I guess it never crossed my mind. Weird."

"It's alright," she said smiling at me.

"Hmm, can I ask you something?"

"What about?"

"Well, since you were in a band, what kind of music did you perform?"

It took her a little bit of thinking before she responded with a shrug. "I don't know. When we would sing, our music would usually just fit the mood of where we were because of our magic. But I guess you could say it was pop."

"Well, that's a bit strange. Interesting, but strange."

"Yeah I don't get it either, but it worked for what we needed...for the most part anyways."

As we walked past the street that led to the dojo, we saw a sign hanging out over the doorway to a building that read, ‘Canterlot County Animal Shelter.' 

"Guess this is the place," I said turning to Sonata. "So, if I finish up before you do, I'll come back here to wait for you."

"Okay, and I'll wait for you by the karate school if I get out early," Sonata offered.

"Sounds good, see you in a while then."

I headed back to the dojo and got ready for class while Sonata got ready to help at that shelter.

When Sonata got into the building, she was greeted by a reception office, with a couple of chairs lined up against the wall closest to the door. Directly in front of her was a counter that stretched from one end of the room to the other, save for a small section that had a hinged countertop instead. There were a couple of clerks behind the counter who seemed to be wrapped up in their work. Just then, one of them looked up and took notice of Sonata standing by the door.

"Uh, hello. Can we help you?" the guy said.

"Yes, I’m here to help with the volunteer work," Sonata responded and held out the paper she had received earlier.

After a brief glance and some clacking away at the computer in front of him, he looked back up at her and said, "You must be Sonata Dusk, from Canterlot High school, right?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. Go ahead and follow me please," he said while holding the countertop up for her to pass through to the back. They walked over to an office where an older gentleman was looking over some paperwork.

"Sir, the other volunteer just arrived."

"Ah, thank you," he said.

The boy nodded and headed back to the front of the building. Just then, the man behind the desk cleared his throat to get Sonatas attention.

"Hello, miss Sonata Dusk, I'm the kennel master for the shelter. Are you ready to get to work?"

She wasn't exactly sure what that entailed, but answered, "Yes."

"Good, good. Here, pin this to your shirt," he said handing her a tag that read "Volunteer." Once it was in place, he stood up, headed for the hallway and beckoned Sonata to follow him. As they walked towards the kennels, he gave her the basic idea of what they were doing. "So ,while you're here you need to make sure to be wearing gloves when you deal with the animals. You'll be making sure that they are fed, watered and that their enclosures are clean."

When he looked back at Sonata, he could see a look of concern on her face. He began again, "It isn't all that hard, and you'll be working with one of our more experienced volunteers. Just follow their lead and you'll do just fine."

"All right, I'll do my best."

"Good to hear. There are a few more things that you need to know, but I think Fluttershy can fill you in on that." As they walked into the back area, Fluttershy was kneeling down by the cages and petting a few of the dogs on the head or scratching them behind the ears. "I'll be back in a little, look after the kennel." 

The kennel master went back to his office, and Sonata went over to talk with Fluttershy. "Hey, Fluttershy."

"Oh, hello Sonata. You're helping out here too?"

"Yeah, I was going to ask you the same thing." 

"I usually help out here whenever I have the chance."

"So you like animals, huh?" 

"Absolutely. They are just so cute. I couldn't stand not helping them find good homes." 

"Well, that's really nice of you. So what do we need to do right now?" 

"Um, well, first things first. We better make sure they eat something and have water." 

Sonata looked around the room until she found a huge sack of dog food. "Okay, got it."

Fluttershy brought out quite a few dog dishes to her and said, "Put some in these…if you don't mind." Sonata got them filled, and Fluttershy took them over to several different cages. After getting food to all the dogs and finding cat food for the few cats that were there, they went and got water for them. All in all, it took close to twenty minutes or so. Fluttershy got a clipboard and started checking off different boxes next to the animals names. She spent a little more time looking at it before she turned back to Sonata. "Now that we got that done, um, we've got a couple of minutes before they finish dinner. Then we have to take a few of them over to the vet." 

"Seriously? How far is that from here?"

"Not far, actually," Fluttershy said smiling. "There is an on-staff vet here at the shelter."

Sonata suddenly flushed red with embarrassment when she heard that, and said, "Oh. That makes more sense than taking them to an entirely different place."

Fluttershy just put a hand on Sonatas shoulder and said, "Don't be embarrassed, I didn't know this place had a vet the first time I helped out here either." 

With that reassurance, the red slowly faded from her face as they both kept an eye on the kennel. Soon all the animals had finished their meals and seemed content. One or two of them slept while others tried playing with their neighbors.

Fluttershy then said to Sonata, "Let's get Rex in for his checkup first."

"Okay," Sonata responded as she snapped on a pair latex gloves and started looking for the right pet before stopping. "Um, which one is Rex supposed to be."

Fluttershy looked over the list and said, "Sorry, forgot to mention the breed. You're looking for a tan Chihuahua."

"Right." After a brief search, Sonata found the right dog. She opened the cage door only to have the tiny dog jump out and run to her feet excitedly. It sniffed her shoes and stared up at her. She closed the cage and picked up Rex.

"Okay, follow me," Fluttershy told Sonata. They walked through the hallways past the reception area and into a room with an examination table, several cabinets full of medical supplies, and a table in the corner with a laptop on it along with someone using it. Fluttershy knocked on the door frame and called to the person, "Hello doctor. We have a patient for you."

The woman looked up from the computer screen and walked over to the examination table. "Hello Fluttershy, go ahead and bring him here."

Sonata and Fluttershy brought Rex over to her. She asked for its name and began to examine it. She weighed it; checked its back, mouth, ears, eyes, and legs. She then grabbed a stethoscope and checked its heartbeat and wrote down some notes on a pad. All the while Sonata had been watching the doctor work with a mild bit of interest.

The doctor then gave it a small treat and stroked its back. She then turned to Sonata and said, "So, first time helping out here I see."

"Yes, ma'am. I'm Sonata Dusk. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Dr. Flummox. So, how many more pets do you have left that need an examination?"

"Just two more," Fluttershy answered.

"I see. Today's going to be short," the doctor said. "Well, might as well get this finished."

"Um, will do," Fluttershy said as she picked up Rex.

"We'll be right back," Sonata said as they went back to the kennels.

The next animal that they brought to the doctor was a Himalayan cat named Patches. Like before Dr. Flummox gave it a quick physical examination only to find it reasonably healthy. Once that was over, they took it back to the kennels and retrieved the last animal, a stray husky. The Husky, however, was proving to be a bit of a challenge since it was doing everything to keep Sonata from leading it to the examination room. Fortunately, Fluttershy was able to get it to behave. She even got it to relax while the doctor looked it over. Once they got it back to its cage, Sonata took a seat next to Fluttershy.

"You are excellent with animals," Sonata said.

"It's nothing, really," she replied. "You just have to show them a little affection."

"Well, it seems to work."

Fluttershy just smiled. Just then, the kennel master walked back in to check up on their progress.

"Okay, got the paperwork done, now let's just have a look-see here at the list." He checked to see what else needed attention but found that all the main work was done. "Hmm, I'm bit surprised that you two managed to finish up so quickly."

"So, what else do we need to do?" Sonata asked.

"Nothing. I understand that you, Sonata, are here because of a disciplinary program. Right?" the kennel master inquired.

"Yes. They gave me a form that I need to be signed by you."

"Of course. I can take care of that."

Sonata went and got the paper from her bag and handed it over to the kennel master. He filled it out and gave it back to her.

"Thanks, you two. We do appreciate it, and the animals do seem happy."

"Oh, um, it was nothing," Fluttershy responded. "I always love helping around here."

"Glad to hear it. Everything is in order, so you can head home now."

"Okay, goodbye sir," both girls said and headed to the reception area.

Once outside, they made their way over to the karate center and waited by the entrance.

Sonata asked, "So, are you waiting for someone too?"

"Um, sort of. I usually get a ride from Rainbow Dash since my home is on the way over to hers."

"That's good. It shouldn't be too much longer till they finish."

"Yeah."



As class concluded, and we went to get our stuff from the locker area, Rainbow Dash told me about a few sporting events that were going to be taking place at the school and was wondering if Sonata and I would care to check it out. I didn't want to promise anything, but I did say I'd check with her. As far as I knew, it might be fun to see together.

I changed out quickly, and we started making our way outside along with several other students. We were going to head over to the crosswalk but stopped when Sonata called out. 

"Hey, Slate. Hey, Rainbow Dash." She greeted from just beside the door. 

I turned to Sonata and said, "Hello Sonata," as I gave her a quick hug. "Hello, Fluttershy. Been out here long?"

"No, not really."

Just then a car pulled up right in front of the dojo, and Rainbow Dash turned to both of us and said, "Oh, my rides here. Need a ride Fluttershy?"

"Oh, um, yes please."

"Okay. How about you two?"

Sonata and I looked at each other, and she said, "It isn't that far." 

"It's alright. I'm sure we can manage, but thank you."

Rainbow just shrugged and responded with, "Suit yourselves. See you guys tomorrow."

"Alright, take care."

Sonata gave a small wave and said, "Bye guys."

Fluttershy waved back before they headed over to the car and left.

As we began walking back home, Sonata held onto my arm. I couldn't help but remember the first time we walked together. While the circumstances were totally different then, walking arm in arm with her got my heart beating faster. 

Along the way, I told her about a few funny things that happened during some of our classes apart. From there we kept going back and forth, telling each other about different interesting events. It was nice to be sharing a few laughs along the way. We didn't even notice how fast the time went by as we arrived back at home.  

Up in front of her apartment, she looked at me and said, "Thanks for walking back with me. I just wish we could spend a little more time together." 

I thought about it briefly. "Well, we could. Follow me."

"Where? It's already getting late." 

"Don't worry. It's here at the apartments. Yesterday, while you were helping at the soup kitchen, I decided to check out the rest of the building. Turns out that the rooftop door wasn't locked, and it probably still isn't. Want to see?" 

"Sure. But only for a little while. Okay?"

"Alright."

We went up past the sixth floor and came to the rooftop exit. I pushed on the door latch, and it slowly opened up. I quickly checked to see if the outer door handle was unlocked, just to make sure we wouldn't end up stranded, and found it working as well. We left it open and walked over to the side closest to the street. As we leaned against the wall and looked out over the town the sky had a dark pinkish hue to it as the last bit of sunlight was peeking over the horizon. The moon had even begun making its way across the sky as well.

Sonata just looked out and took in the scenery. She then said, "Wow, this is an incredible view."

"Well, you know. I thought it looked almost like a painting. I wasn't sure if you'd been up here."

"I've never had the chance to. Adagio always had us go along with her to prepare for her plans. So there was never really any time for stuff like this. But, I love it up here. Thank you."

She hugged me and I wrapped an arm around her as we kept admiring the view.  

It wasn't long however before her phone went off. She fumbled around with it before a furious, and loud voice shot out of the ear piece. Impressive when you consider the speaker option wasn't selected. After that earfull, she turned back to me and sadly said, "Sorry. I do need to get going now." 

I shook my head and offered, "If anything, I should be apologizing. Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah. Adagio’s tantrums don't last long. Besides, it was nice up here. Thanks again." She then leaned in and planted a kiss on my cheek. "See you tomorrow," she said before running down the stairs. 

I followed suit and got back home. Dad had been waiting in the living room for me. Unsurprisingly, he was a bit upset that I hadn't arrived back at the usual time.

"Slate, where have you been? You had me worried."

"Sorry about that dad. I had promised to walk Sonata back from her community service. I guess I lost track of time."

Dad grumbled a bit before he responded. "Fine, but next time you'd better let me know ahead of time." 

"Yes, sir." 

"Now, I needed to let you know that I'm going to be heading out on a business trip back to our old town. One of the company's clients is requesting that I meet up with them in person to give my thoughts on a new prototype for medical equipment. I'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon. Can I trust you to look after this place?" 

"Yes. But, uh, wouldn't it have been easier for them to send you blueprints or something like that instead of flying you in?"

"Unfortunately, they are concerned about losing that kind of information. That's why they want me there in person." 

"I see, that makes sense."

"Well, now that that's out of the way you should probably get changed out. You did work out after all."

"Right."

Without anything else going on that night I prepped for the next day and made sure that everything was in order before going to sleep.
> 9 - Choices and Ultimatums
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the morning light started seeping in through the window, Sonata began to stir. After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she didn't waste any time getting ready. By that Wednesday morning, she had gotten into a good rhythm and was keeping up with Adagio and Aria. Unfortunately, that meant that she had to deal with how hell-bent the other two were on getting their hands on that journal.

As they walked to school, Adagio went over what she wanted from Sonata.

"We need that journal, now. You have had enough time to retrieve it, Sonata. And yet, you still come back empty handed every time."

"But Sunset hasn't brought it around, there's no way for me to get it."

"Adagio," Aria began, "just face it. Sonata can't do it. Or won't."

"Th-that's not true," Sonata responded nervously.

"That still remains to be seen," Adagio replied incredulously.

"I promise I'll get it. I just need a little more time."

Adagio didn't respond and just rolled her eyes.

Once they made it to school Sonata was able to have some breathing room away from them, and went to go check in with the front desk clerk before the day commenced.



Everything was going well that Wednesday morning. Dad dropped me off, and I eventually ran into Sonata when the first period began. We had managed to take care of most of the work for our morning classes and take it easy. Even the student body had started to accept that she was there and wasn't really doing anything dubious. Sure, there was maybe one or two side glances and some murmuring, but other than that they didn't pay her as much mind as before.

When lunch time came around, we sat with the girls and spent time talking with them. We talked about school work and other plans for the afternoon, which got me wondering what Sonata was going to do after school.

"So, did they already tell you where you are going to be helping out today?"

"Yeah," she said, "they have me signed up for litter pickup on the school grounds."

"Well, at least you don't have to make the trip to some place that's further off in town," I replied.

A couple of the girls agreed.

"Quite right," Rarity offered. "It doesn't make taking care of work any easier if you have to travel such long distances."

Rainbow snickered a bit while Applejack shook her head, amused at Rarity's statement.

"What's so funny?" she asked the both of them.

Rainbow had cleared her throat before she said, "Come on, Rarity. It's not like you have to run a marathon or anything to get to the boutique you work at."

Applejack then added, "She has a point, sugar cube. It is only four blocks away from here."

"Well, you try walking that far in high heels," Rarity huffed.

The rest of the group laughed a bit before Applejack said, "We're just teasing."

Even though things were starting to look up, Sonata looked a bit downcast.

"What's wrong?" I whispered to her.

"I don't want to sound ungrateful, but it still feels like a pain to do some of this work."

"Hmm, maybe a bit. I can understand the feeling," I said thoughtfully. Suddenly I had an epiphany. "Hey, Sonata, I'll catch up with you at the library. I just need to check on something real fast."

"Oh, alright," she said. "I'll be on the second floor."

"Got it."

As I excused myself from the table and headed for the cafeteria entrance, I noticed Adagio looking over at our table. I paused for a couple of minutes by the door to see what it was that she was looking at. She was glancing mainly at Sonata and Sunset every now and then. It was almost like she was analyzing them. 

I don't get what's up with her, but it definitely seems kind of fishy, I thought.

I rushed over to the front desk and was fortunate to find someone still there.

Right away the clerk noticed me and asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes. Actually, I wanted to check if there was any way that I could participate in the clean up after school. It is on a volunteer basis, right?"

"Yes it is, but today we actually have that particular duty set out for the disciplinary program."

"Well, is there any way that you could allow me to join for today?"

"Sure. I just need you to sign a form before you can participate," she said as she slid a sheet with some info boxes and blank spaces towards me. I filled out what was needed and handed it back.

She looked it over and responded with, "Well, Mr. Slate, you're all set. The cleanup crew will be meeting at the back of the school. Please show up on time right after school."

"Yes ma'am, and thank you."

With only a few minutes left of lunch, I ran to a restroom and dialed up dad. On the third ring, he picked up.

"Hello, Slate. What's going on?"

"Uh, hi dad. I was just calling to let you know that one of my friends was asking if I could help with an after school activity. Is that alright with you?"

"Well, what is it? Something like a project?"

"Yes, a project. More than likely it's gonna take close to an hour or so."

"Fine. I'll be there to pick you up afterward."

"Alright, thanks, dad. See you later."

"Okay. Bye." And with that, he hung up. The bell rang shortly after that, and I navigated my way over to the library past the rest of the students for study hall. When I found Sonata, she was sitting at a table on the second floor near a window looking out onto the soccer field.

When I sat next to her, she asked me, "So, what did you go do?"

"I just needed to talk to a counselor about some paperwork."

"Oh, I hope it went well."

"Yeah, it wasn't any kind of problem. So, did anything happen after I left?"

"Hmm, not really. We just talked a bit."

"I see. Well, I know we were pretty close to finishing the work for our first couple of classes. Do you want to complete it now?"

"Alright. It shouldn't take too long, anyways."

She was right, since it only took us about twenty minutes to finish. With the homework assignments out of the way, we put away our belongings. All the while she began humming a light tune. Actually, I think it was a bit of a habit for her. After the first day that I met her, she would hum songs on occasion, but I couldn't place my finger on which they were. While the notes were all over the place, it still had an oddly soothing quality to it. I couldn't help but rest my head on my hand and watch as she kept up the performance for no one in particular.

Her humming came to a sudden halt when she noticed me watching. "Oh, um, sorry," she said as she began to blush. "I didn't mean to annoy you or anything."

"It didn't bother me. I enjoyed it."

"You did?"

"Mm-hmm. It makes me a little curious."

"About what?"

Before I answered, I stopped to try and piece together a thoughtful response. "Um, well, I know it's kind of a touchy subject for you. And I don't want to say anything that might upset you. But I wanted to know if I could hear your singing voice. I mean, you don't have to."

She was a little taken aback. I was already preparing to apologize until she spoke up. "I don't know if you'd actually like it. Maybe tomorrow I can show you after your class if you really want."

"Um, sure."

We spent some time talking about a few of our other classes before the bell ushered us out. 

I turned to her before we left and told her, "I'll meet you here in front of the library after school."

"Okay, see you then."

The last few classes went by smoothly. The work wasn't challenging at all and made getting everything finished in time pretty easy. Needless to say, nothing else came up, and I was able to get to the library with time to spare as I waited for Sonata.

While I waited there for her to arrive, Aria and Adagio came walking along. The looks on their faces were full of disdain for the rest of students there at the moment. As much as I found them to be unpleasant individuals, I decided to at least be courteous and greet them.

"Hello, how's it going?"

As per usual, Aria just blew me off. Oh well. Adagio, on the other hand, looked as if she had some kind of idea come to her. 

"Oh, Slate. How nice to see you," She said sweetly. "Things are going smoothly."

"Ah, that's good to hear," I offered with a smile.

She took a step forward and asked, "Could I bother you for a favor?"

"Go ahead."

"It's just that, for the past couple of weeks, Sonata has distanced herself from us, and I would at least like to know what she has been up to." 

"Well, she has been pretty busy with the community service work. I'm sure it's just that she has a lot on her mind at the moment."

For a brief second, Adagio looked unsatisfied with my answer, but quickly gave me a smile and replied with, "You're probably right." She then got uncomfortably close and placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "By the way, I really do appreciate that you have been helping my sister with everything that has happened."

I couldn't help taking a step back as I responded, "Um, thanks. I'm glad that I could help."

She stepped back and offered, "Anyways, I'm sure you're busy, so I will get out of your hair. Bye, Slate." With that, she headed into the library.

I have no idea what that was about, but for some reason I feel dirty all of a sudden, I thought.

Just then Sonata came along and greeted me, "Hi Slate."

"Hi, Sonata. Mind if I walk with you?"

"I don't mind. I'm headed to the back of the school, though."

"Well, let's go."

Once out back, we saw Pinkie Pie along with four other students and the head janitor, I think, standing in the middle of the soccer field.

"So, I guess I'll talk to you later," She said a bit disheartened.

"Actually, I'm helping with the pickup too."

"What?!" she whisper-screamed. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. I just volunteered."

"But why?"

"It felt kind of strange to me to not do anything when you're helping with these different things. Besides, I thought I could at least give it a try and spend time with you."

"Thank you, Slate."

We went up to the janitor, and he had us sign in before handing us some gloves and trash bags and announcing to the group, "Alright everyone. For the next forty-five minutes, you will be collecting any bit of trash that you see on the school grounds. No horsing around whatsoever." He then threw a stern glance over at the two younger boys who were shoving each other before continuing. "And feel free to partner up."

Immediately, those two boys took off. One of them said to the other, "I bet I can get more trash than you Snips." The janitor just shook his head.

A girl with short white hair scoffed at the boys who were currently off and about scavenging. "What pea brains." She then turned to us and growled, "What are you looking at?"

Sonata and I both responded with, "Nothing," and averted our gazes from her. She then headed in the opposite direction.
As we began searching for trash to collect, Sonata leaned in close and whispered to me, "I think Aria and that girl would get along pretty well."

"Heh, probably." I chuckled.

"You said it," Pinkie said appearing next to us seemingly out of nowhere. It gave us a bit of a jolt, but at this point I think we were getting used to it.

"Hey, Pinkie. Volunteering as well?" I asked.

"Not exactly. Gilda and I both got in trouble."

"Who's Gilda?" Sonata asked.

"She's the girl who walked off right now. We were working with sodium during chemistry when she bumped into me on ‘accident' and made me drop a huge piece into a sink. Mr. Discord rushed everyone out of the lab before there was this loud bang. They're probably going to need to repair that sink, but at least nobody got hurt. That's how I wound up here."

"Wow, she sounds like a real jerk," I said.

"YEAH, SHE REALLY IS!" Screamed a voice that nearly gave me a heart attack and caused Sonata to jump. When we looked back, there was a blonde muscle bound guy. "SORRY! MY NAMES BULK BICEPS!"

After trying to clear my ears, I said, "It's nice to meet you."

"Hello." Sonata offered, bracing herself for the response.

"Hey Biceps," Pinkie greeted. "What are you in for?"

"THE LAST PERIOD SUB SAID I WAS DISRUPTIVE WHEN I GAVE MY SPEECH! I DON'T GET IT!"

Sonata gave a sympathetic look and said, "Sorry about that. Pretty sure it was some kind of misunderstanding."

"THANKS! YOU'RE A LOT NICER THAN I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE!"

"Thank you?"

We continued to talk, well, most of us anyway, while working on the task at hand. Between the four of us, we wound up filling up one bag full of litter. Not that we weren't trying, just that there wasn't that much thrown around. I guess those eco kids were actually living up to their names and picking up around the school. Still, at least that stuff was going where it belonged. By the end of the pick-up, there were only one and a half bags. I think Gilda didn't actually contribute much if anything at all.

Anyways, the janitor had us sign out before we left. When we got to the front near the statue, Bulk Biceps bid us farewell. "SEE YOU GUYS AROUND!"

Pinkie Pie chimed in next. "Yeah, gotta get going too, Maud is probably waiting up for me. See you two tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Sonata replied.

"See ya. Take care." I added.

With Sonata and me being some of the few people that were still around by then, I asked her, "So were you going to wait for Adagio and Aria?"

"Hmm, let me see if they are even still around," she said pulling out her cell phone. After looking at a few messages, she said, "Augh. They already took off and are waiting for me to get back home."

"Well then, I'm sure dad could help you out right now. He should be here shortly."

We walked ourselves over to the school's pick-up zone to wait. When dad arrived and saw us, he rolled down a window and asked, "Does Sonata need a ride?"

"Yes, dad."

"I don't mean to be a hassle, but I'd really appreciate it, sir," Sonata added.

"It's not a problem at all. Go ahead and get in."

Once we got buckled in, the ride only took about fourteen or fifteen minutes before we got back to the apartments.

"Well, here we are."

"Thank you, Mr. Steel," Sonata offered as she got off the SUV and walked over to the door.

"You're welcome," he replied. I was about to get off as well, but dad stopped me to say, "Before you go, make sure to look after the apartment, Slate."

"Yes, dad."

"And please act responsibly while I'm out."

"I will."

"I mean it," he said seriously while blatantly glancing at Sonata and then back at me.

A little offended, I said, "You have that little faith in me?"

"I'm just making sure you understand." He then reached over and hugged me. "I'll see you in a few days."

"Okay, ahem, I'll see you then. Take care dad."

"You too," dad said as he let me out.

He took off, and I walked over to the apartment entrance where Sonata was waiting.

"Where's your dad going?" Sonata asked.

"To the airport. He got called on a business trip back to our old town."

"Oh, so then you two were saying goodbye."

"Yeah. Sorry about the holdup."

"It's okay. I thought it was cute."

I rubbed the back of my neck while trying to suppress the blush of embarrassment. 

"Well, maybe we should start heading up," I suggested. 

"Heh, alright."

We made the usual climb up to her floor where we said our goodbyes.

"Thanks for being there with me today," Sonata said. "I wasn't really expecting to get along with that other guy."

"See, this thing is actually working out for the better," I said. "It might take a little time, but I'm sure that it will be worth it."

"I know. I really want to see that happen." She said with a slight smile.

"It will." I gave her a hug, and she gave me a kiss. "Well, I don't want to hold you up, especially with how your sisters seem to get. So I'll see you tomorrow. Good night Sonata."

"Alright, see you tomorrow. Good night Slate."

She entered her apartment, and I went up to mine.



Sonata looked cautiously around the apartment. Aria was sitting in the living room watching TV when she entered. Without looking away from the screen, she uninterestedly said, "Well, you're back earlier than I was expecting. Let me guess, you got a ride with what's his face, right?"

Sonata carefully asked, "Is that a problem?"

"Not really. I just wouldn't get used to that if I were you. Unless of course you brought back that journal with you."

Sonata tensed up and began straining her mind for any possible response that she could give Aria.

Aria turned to give her a deprecating look. "Judging from that stupid look on your face, you still don't have it."

"It's not…" she began before being interrupted by Adagio who had just arrived.

"I hope you have something worthwhile to share with us, Sonata."

"Um," she fumbled around with her words for a bit. "I haven't been able to get the journal yet, Adagio. But you've got to believe me, it's not my fault. Sunset hasn't even brought it out once this entire time."

"Yeah, and I'm sure you've done everything that you possibly can to get her to show you that stupid book," Aria said.

"But if I bring it up over and over again, they might think something is up," Sonata replied in her defense. "And besides, Sunset said that she would show it to me."

"For your ‘friends' sake, she had better," Adagio threatened and then walked past Sonata.

At that moment, Sonata could have let her go without saying anything else, but morbid curiosity forced her to speak up once more. "Adagio, does it really have to be like this?"

Adagio stopped in her tracks and turned back to face her once more. "Excuse me? Did you seriously just ask that?" Adagio was starting to glare as she balled up her hands into fists. "What in this miserable little world would ever give you the idea that there would be any other option?"

"It's just that I think we could actually live normally and be happy. I mean, even though we did try to take control of the school, some of these people are willing to give us a chance to make it up and have a fresh start."

"Welp, she's gone native," Aria said wryly.

Adagio began laughing hysterically, so much so that she was practically doubling over. Then, just as suddenly as her fit of laughter started, it had stopped, and she stood only a couple of feet away from Sonata. Her face showed nothing but malice for her sister. "Get this through that empty skull of yours, I don't want to make friends with any of these pathetic humans. I want to pay them back for taking away my power, especially when I was so close to being unstoppable. And if you get in the way, I will make sure that you pay too. Got it?"

Sonata, afraid to break eye contact with Adagio, gave a quick and concise, "Got it."

"Good. And do make sure to get ahold of that journal tomorrow." Adagio said and promptly made her way to her room.

Aria just looked at Sonata from the couch shaking her head. "You are a total idiot," she said, flipping through the channels.

Sonata quickly got to her room where she actually began contemplating what she should be doing. I'm not sure that I can go along with Adagio's plan. But if I don't she won't hold back from hurting Slate. Maybe I can warn him and the Rainbooms. Will Slate be safe after that?Those thoughts kept on bouncing around in her mind the rest of the afternoon. By nine o'clock she slowly but surely fell asleep.

Thursday Morning

When Sonata woke up from her restless slumber, she couldn't shake all the thoughts that had been floating around since the night before. As she got ready for school, she could feel Adagio looming over her.

The trek over to school wasn't much better as Adagio and Aria kept on pressuring her to follow through with the plan. Sonata didn't try to talk her way out of it and just nodded silently. There was no reasoning with them, so she had no idea what to do. Anything that she could do to prevent the plan would probably get her and her sisters in deeper trouble, while going along with it would definitely cause her to lose everyone that she had begun to get close to.



When I got to school and found Sonata, she seemed distracted... more so than usual. I wasn't able to put my finger on it, it was almost like she was trying to solve an elaborate puzzle and needed every bit of her thoughts to do so. It was made even more apparent during the classes. She was practically daydreaming at this point. I'd try to help her refocus on the work, but she was just so absorbed in her thoughts. Needless to say, we wound up with a bit of a backlog of work. 

There wasn't really much that could be done at that point, and so we just made our way to the cafeteria to meet up with the others. Unfortunately, that didn't pull her out of her funk. She did say hello to the girls, but other than that she didn't actually engage them in any conversations.

Then she started to act a bit strange when Sunset started talking to her. 

"Hey, Sonata."

"Uh, yes?"

"I know that the past week back here at school was a bit rough, but I think that you're making some huge leaps in progress."

"I don't know, I haven't really done anything."

"Considering that it took me a few months and stopping you guys, uh, no offense…"

"None taken."

"…to get any of the other students to start trusting me, you've already managed to make a good impression on someone else."

"Do you mean Bulk Biceps?"

"Yeah, Pinkie told me about yesterday."

"Well, guess it could have been worse than it actually turned out."

"There you go, and things have been going much better I'm sure."

"I guess," Sonata said a bit unsure.

"Oh, I forgot. I know you had asked about Twilight. Sorry that it took a while, but I brought my jour-"

Just then Sonata shot up from the table and grabbed her backpack, "Uh, I'm sorry, I-I don't feel too good right now. I think my stomach is a bit messed up. Maybe I should go see the nurse."

"I'll take you over there then," I offered as I slid my chair out, but was stopped almost immediately by her.

"No, no. It's okay, I should be able to make it alright." She then quickly left the cafeteria. When I looked at everyone else at the table, they had the same puzzled look on their faces as I'm pretty sure I did.

A few seconds had passed before Rainbow Dash asked, "Anyone know what that was about?"

Applejack responded with, "Beats me. She hasn't been like that since last week."

"Slate, darling. Was anything the matter with Sonata?" Rarity asked me.

"Well, she was very distracted during the classes earlier. I suppose her being under the weather could explain her distraction."

"Maybe," Sunset agreed. "Still though, it seems a bit strange."

"True," I said. Just then, I thought I noticed a pair of purple pigtails heading out of the cafeteria. I looked around and saw Adagio sitting by herself, writing something down. What made me more suspicious was how frustrated Adagio seemed to be. At the moment, I couldn't really do anything so I decided to wait until study hall to go check on Sonata.



Sonata got to the nurse's office in no time. Thanks to her rising anxiety, along with her quick getaway on a full stomach, she effectively gave herself a stomach ache. At least she would be able to sell the act of an ill student pretty easily.

Once she opened the door, she saw a woman with pink hair and a name tag pinned to her red scrub top that read ‘Nurse Redheart’. At that moment Redheart saw Sonata and said, "Hello, is everything okay?"

"Um, sorry, but my stomach started hurting."

"Oh dear. Alright, go ahead and take a seat on the cot over here," she said while searching through a cabinet. She then walked over to Sonata and told her, "Hold this under your tongue," as she held out a thermometer for her to grab.

Sonata placed her bag at the foot of the cot and held the thermometer in place. After a minute or so the nurse checked it before replying with, "Hmm, well, it doesn't seem like you're running a fever. The most I can do in this case is let you rest here for a little while."

"Thank you, I will wait here then."

"Alright then. Lay down if you want, and I'll be right back." Nurse Redheart closed the door behind her as she left the office. Sonata laid down on her side and tried to think of any way to get out of her current situation. She then rolled to her other side and away from the door.

Several minutes passed, but she still had no luck in coming up with a plan. The door then creaked open, but she didn't pay it much mind and assumed it was just the nurse who had returned. Then she heard someone going through her backpack.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Sonata exclaimed as she sat up and turned to the foot of the cot. She then regretted doing that because it turned out that Aria was there.

"What? I can't check up on my poor sick sister," Aria said snidely. "You know, I had no idea that you wanted Slate offed so badly."

"No! You better not do anything to him." Sonata said.

"Well, that's entirely up to you. But seeing as you are trying to avoid those Rainblooms, things don't look too good for him."

"Look, I am trying to get that journal, but I really did start to feel sick," Sonata said hoping that Aria would buy it.

"Sure, right when bacon hair was so eager to show you something. It shouldn't surprise me, though, you have always held us back throughout the years."

Sonata was just about done with Aria’s put-downs and responded with, "It's never just been my fault. You always try to blame me when you try to take the lead from Adagio. That's why things fell apart."

Aria glared at Sonata. "Well, I think it's only fair to warn you that I'm going to enjoy every second while I destroy Slate." She then left the nurses office.

Right then and there Sonata knew that she had to come up with some way to stop that from happening. 

Nurse Redheart then came in carrying a box of new first aid supplies. After she had set it down, she walked over to check on Sonata. She looked her over and placed a hand on her forehead.

"Seems like everything is okay. I think you should be on your way before the next class starts then. If you do start to feel sick again, just come back to my office, and we'll see what we can do."

"Um, thank you," Sonata replied halfheartedly as she picked up her bag and headed out to the library. Halfway there the bell rang, and she had to wade through the crowd before reaching her destination.

When she met up with Slate, she still wasn't able to focus on anything that they usually did. After a while of unsuccessfully trying to work on a few of the assignments Slate began trying to figure out what was wrong. He asked Sonata if everything was alright, but she wouldn't give a straight answer. He could see that she was worried about something so he encouraged her to tell him.

Little did Slate know that she desperately wanted to tell him everything. But, she had no way of knowing how he'd react. Will he still feel the same way about me if he finds out about Adagio’s plan for power? He might think that I really am just a monster and that he was wrong. These thoughts kept on buzzing through her mind, his encouragement only causing her to think about it more. Needless to say, she didn't respond much, and continued on like that throughout the last half of the day.

Outside by the statue Slate met up with Sonata.

"Hey Sonata," Slate greeted.

"Hi, Slate," she replied, a bit distracted.

"So, what are your plans for today?"

"Well, I'm helping out at the soup kitchen again. Although, by myself this time."

"Alright, well just text me where you are at and I'll meet you there when you're done."

"Okay," she said. She was about to head off when Slate stopped her one last time.

"Um, wait."

"Yes?"

"Listen, before you go, I just want to say that whatever's bothering you, you can tell me. I'll try to help you as best as I can. If you want."

"Thank you, but it's nothing, really. I'll see you later."

"Okay, see you then. Bye."

She started making her way downtown and wound up reaching the soup kitchen a while later. She was greeted by Coco and proceeded to do as she was asked to help out, all the while not speaking much, and lost more often than not in thought. Once her hour was up, Coco dismissed her after signing her sheet.

Even though she had put so much energy into trying to think up some way she could get Adagio and Aria to drop the plan, Sonata always came back to blowing the cover on the whole scheme to the Rainbooms and Slate. The whole thing just wracked her with anxiety. She then remembered that she had promised to text Slate when she got out. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a cell phone, but stopped when she noticed something off about the device. It wasn't hers.



After our talk by the statue, I tried to convince myself that there wasn't anything to worry about, but it kept on nagging at the back of my mind. Even during karate I couldn't shake the feeling that something had to be wrong. In fact, I wasn't entirely invested in everything that was going on in that class. It must have been really obvious because Rainbow Dash came up to me afterward.

"Hey, Slate. I know that you could use work on your karate, but that was kind of ‘meh,' especially for you. What's up?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about Sonata."

"Good or bad?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's just it. She was acting strange this entire day."

"Slate, I think you might be reading too much into it. She was sick after all."

I crossed my arms and answered begrudgingly, "Hmm. You could be right. But I'm still not convinced that's it."

"Sorry, but I don't know what to tell you," she said while looking at her phone and then to the windows. She then saw her dad waiting in the car. "I'll talk to you two tomorrow, I've got to get going right now. Hope she feels better."

"Yeah, okay. Later."

As I was changing out, I received a message from Sonata. I knew it would show up eventually, but I wasn't expecting to read what it said.

"slate, help. I ran into those guys again. I was able to lose them at Stagecoach Park by the outdoor stage, but they are nearby. Please hurry."

I quickly finished getting changed and ran outside hoping that Rainbow Dash was still around. Unfortunately, she was long gone. I typed the location into my phone and found that it was ways off. At that point I didn't have too many options, so I ran as fast as I could to the park. 

When I got there, twenty minutes had passed. It was a good thing that the stage was so distinct, otherwise I might have wasted a lot of time searching. I approached the stage cautiously, trying not to give away my position if they were anywhere nearby, but as far as I could tell no one was around.

I started to think that maybe they had moved on, so I went to check the backstage area. That's when I heard someone crying. I followed the sound to a door that read storage. It was hanging slightly open, and no light could be seen. It didn't sound like anyone else was in there other than who I thought could be Sonata, so I carefully pushed the door open. As I slid in the crying completely stopped.

I called out trying to figure out where Sonata was, "Sonata. Sonata, where are you?" but there was no response. I took a few steps towards the center of the room but couldn't see anything in the dark. Suddenly, the door slammed shut and left me in the pitch black. Then there was a sharp pain in the back of my head. I had no idea what was going on, and at the moment couldn't even begin to process everything that happened in that split second.

The last thing I remember was some girl chuckling to herself before I blacked out.



Throughout that Thursday, she had kept herself so busy with her thoughts that she hadn't bothered looking at her phone. And when she did it was for extremely brief seconds to check the time. She tried to remember anything that could have happened to her phone. And then it hit her like a ton of bricks.

The Nurse's office, she thought. She then took a closer look at the phone and realized that it was actually Aria's. She wasn't sure what it meant, but knew it couldn't be anything good. And then when she didn't think it could get any worse, the phone chimed with a new message.

Sonata quickly opened the message and saw that it was sent from her phone. What was written in it didn't ease her growing panic.

"Time's up Sonata. Meet us back at home. And don't make us wait."

Without a moment's hesitation, she was off and pushing herself to get to the apartments as quickly as she could. By the time she had reached the front entrance her legs were fatigued and her lungs were on fire. She then sprinted up to her apartment and let herself in. Adagio was waiting there on the living room couch.

"Ah, Sonata," Adagio said. "I hope you were able to get what we needed."

"No, I wasn't able to," Sonata replied nervously.

"Now that is truly a shame. And I thought our little conversation yesterday would have given you the proper motivation. Oh well, live and learn I guess."

Sonata wasn't quite expecting her to be so relaxed about the whole situation. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when Aria walked in behind her and said "There you are, I think we might've grabbed each other's phones by accident. Care to trade," she said mockingly as she dangled Sonata's phone in one hand while holding out the other open.

"That wasn't an accident," Sonata said accusingly as she handed back Aria’s phone and snatched hers back.

"Pssh, no need to be so serious. Oh, I also took a picture with it. You really should take a look."

Sonata opened up the phones gallery only to find a picture of Slate tied to a chair and out cold. "What did you do to him?!" she yelled as tears started to form.

"Relax, he's okay, for now," Aria said with a smirk.

Adagio walked up to Sonata and placed an arm over her shoulders. She looked at the screen and said "That is truly a sad sight, isn't it? But I did warn you. She then ripped the phone out of Sonata’s hands. 

“Hey, give that back!”

Adagio’s tone then turned more menacing when she responded. "Not a chance. And if you want to help him, you'll bring me that journal by tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise, you can kiss Slate goodbye."

"A-alright. Just promise you won't hurt him," Sonata begged.

"We'll see. If I were you, though, I would start planning on how you're going to take that journal from Sunset."

Sonata went to the kitchen and leaned over the sink as a few tears began to roll down her face. As she was racking her brain for an answer, she noticed that the phone was missing from the wall and the only thing there was the phone jack. Adagio, leaning against the kitchen door frame, mentioned in a toying manner, “I got rid of that, just in case you were thinking of calling anyone.”

Sonata walked past Adagio back into the living room and saw Aria sitting on a folding chair right in front of the door. Aria then called out to her. “Don’t even think of trying anything.”

Sonata went and locked herself in her room. She couldn't even begin to come up with a way to make things right. I let things get way out of control, she thought as she paced around. I’m trapped here now and I don't have any other choice. Even if I do try to tell them anything when I see them tomorrow, I have no idea how they will react. They might throw us out as soon as they find out about the plan, and leave me with no way of saving Slate. I have to steal Sunsets journal. With that thought in mind, she began brainstorming on how she was going to pull it off.
> 10 - A Sacrifice of Passion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sonata got out of bed and got all her things together as she quickly prepared herself for the day ahead. She knew that there was no turning back from Adagio’s scheme at this point, so she did her best to psych herself up. 
When she made her way into the kitchen, someone was missing.
“Hey, where’s Aria?” Sonata inquired.
“She took off already. She’s going to be busy today looking after your friend while we are in school. After all, we can’t risk him hurting himself.”
“Won’t that count as ditching?”
“No, I already called her out of school. Told them that she had a stomach bug. And before you get any ideas to alert anyone to your friend’s situation, remember that she’s keeping an eye on him. I give her a call, and he's as good as dead. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now, let’s get over there so you can finally get that journal and restore our magic.”
On the way over to the school, Sonata ran different scenarios through her head to figure out what to do. She still didn't have any set plan to get her hands on the book but figured she would have a chance during lunch.


???
“Ugh…What happened?" I said to a dimly lit room. "I think those guys got the drop on me.”
As I slowly came to, the pain in the back of my head gradually set in. “Oh man, talk about a banging headache,” I said while raising my hand to try and ease the pain, only to find that to be impossible.
“What the hell?” Once my vision began to clear, I noticed that a rope kept me tied to a chair.  “Oh crap, this can’t be happening.” Without wasting another moment I tried to wriggle out of the rope. Unfortunately, whoever tied me up really knew what they were doing.
“Okay think, there’s got to be a way to cut this rope off,” I said to no one in particular. It was hard to see in such low lighting, but from the looks of it, I was in some sort of storage area. There was sound equipment stacked against the walls, wires that were hung up on hooks, and microphone stands.
“Am I still under the stage? How long have I been here?” There wasn’t much to work with. “Maybe I could use one of the hooks.”
Before I could put that plan into motion, however, the door started opening. I called out, hoping someone would answer.
“Hey! Is someone there?! I could use some help!”
The door then closed only to reveal Aria standing there. I wished that it would have been someone else but beggars can’t be choosers. She began walking towards me, shaking her head before she responded. “I would love to get you out of that chair and let you go on your way, but right now you are the carrot on the stick for a particularly dumb horse.”
“What!? What are you talking about? Quit joking, and get me out of this rope.”
She was now wearing a menacing smile, “It’s no joke, even if your situation is kinda funny. Still, not sure why I expected you to be any less stupid than Sonata. You did fall for the set up perfectly after all.”
"Wait a minute, you mean the call for help. That was you?”
“Well, at least you’re smart enough to piece that together.”
I began struggling against my bindings even harder, but she quickly pulled out a pocket knife and placed the blade against my neck. I froze upon feeling the cold steel resting against my skin.
“Listen, Slate. I’m supposed to keep an eye on you until Sonata brings what we need. But don’t think for a second that I won’t beat you within an inch of your life if you try to escape.” She lifted the knife away from my neck. “So sit back, and relax. You’re going to be here a while.”


All throughout the classes leading up to lunch, Sonata was not invested in anything the instructors presented. The one thing that gripped her attention was the bell reminding her that time was running out.
When the lunch bell rang, she took one last breath as she made a beeline for the cafeteria. To her, it felt like the longest walk she had ever taken. On arriving at a line, she hastily picked up a tray and paid for her lunch. She sat at the Rainbooms’ usual spot and waited for them to arrive.
Eventually, the girls joined Sonata, enjoying their day, while Sonata sat there quietly eating her lunch. Even though she was trying to stay out of their conversations and giving brief responses to keep them satisfied, she knew that she couldn’t keep dancing around the matter at hand. Then, almost as if on cue, Sunset took notice of her.
“So, Sonata, what happened yesterday? Are you feeling better?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m feeling…better.”
“Hmm, by the way. Do you know what happened to Slate?”
Sonata’s eyes darted around the cafeteria, hoping that Adagio wasn't around. To her dismay, however, she had been sitting a couple of tables away. When Sonata met her glare, Adagio brought up her phone and shook it slightly. Her hands were practically tied behind her back.
“I think he might have caught the same stomach problem that I did,” Sonata offered quickly.
"Oh. I hope Slate feels better soon."
“Yeah, me too.” 
"Hey, so I wanted to show you something, Sonata," Sunset said as she started looking through her backpack.
“What is it?” Sonata asked already knowing and dreading the response.
"As I promised, I wanted to let you see what Twilight and I had been discussing." She now had a sizeable book with the image of a red and yellow sun emblazoned on the cover in front of her. She flipped through dozens of pages before stopping at what she was looking for. “Ah, here we go,” she announced as she handed the journal to Sonata.
Sonata began reading Sunsets message.
Dear Twilight,
Sonata has made some considerable progress during this week. She began participating in a disciplinary program similar to one that I was in. On top of that, she has done a great job wherever she has been assigned to and gets along with others who are there alongside her. I don't have doubt that she can make the change if she keeps on doing her best. Adagio and Aria, however, still don’t seem to want to have anything to do with us and keep to themselves. Hopefully, Sonata will be able to act as a sort of encouragement to them to try and change.
At any rate, I hope to hear from you soon.
Your friend, Sunset.
Sonata paused in thought before asking, “Did you mean all that?”
“Of course I did,” Sunset replied.
Sonata could feel the guilt crawling up her back. She tried to ignore it as she turned the page to see what Twilight had to say, but only found a blank page instead. “Uh, isn’t there supposed to be a message from Twilight?”
“Normally yes, but she hasn’t been able to get back to me yet. Since she is a princess, I’m sure she’s been busy with her responsibilities.”
“Oh.”
“Still, I wanted to show you that because I know that it’s a bit challenging trying to make amends. And I want you to know that you will have our support.”
“Thank you.” At this point, Sonata could feel a lump forming in her throat. Just then the bell rang, and everyone was getting their things together to get to class.
Sunset looked over at Sonata one last time and said, “It’s not a problem. Well, we'll see you around, and we hope that Slate feels better. I’ll let you know when her message gets through.”
“Okay, thanks. See you later.”
Now on her way out to the main corridor, Sonata started walking to the library. That was, until Adagio pulled her aside and into one of the more empty hallways. After checking to see that no one was headed their way, she began scolding Sonata.
“What are you doing?!” Adagio whisper yelled at her. “It was right there, and you let her leave with it.”
“But if I tried anything they would have stopped me,” Sonata replied in her defense. “At least I know that she has it with her.”
“That still doesn’t make up for the fact that you are still empty handed.”
“Please give me till after school, and I’ll have the journal. Just don’t do anything to Slate.”
Adagio narrowed her eyes before agreeing begrudgingly. "Fine. This is your last chance. Mess it up, and you know what to expect. Send me a picture of the thing when you finally get it as proof,” she said shoving Sonata’s phone into her hands. Adagio then turned and headed off down the hallway and left Sonata to get herself to the library.
Once she found a seat on the library’s second floor, she checked her phone for the photo of Slate but discovered that it along with all her messages and his number had been deleted. She wanted to scream in frustration but stopped herself. Instead, she tried to plan out exactly what she had to do. The journal was huge now that she thought about it, and it had a real heft to it. Hmm, maybe I could switch it with one of my textbooks. As long as she doesn't check for it while I'm leaving, I should be okay. As she compared her two biggest books, she could still feel a nagging uneasiness at the back of her mind. She sighed mentally to herself as she held her head in her hands, I wish I didn’t have to do this.
She stayed like that for a moment before she started looking through her backpack and pulled out a loose sheet and a pen. She then wrote: 
Sunset Shimmer
If you find this, I want you to know that I’m really sorry. I never wanted to steal from you or treat everything that you guys have done for me like it was nothing, but I didn't have a choice. If I don't give Adagio your journal, Slate could wind up dead. I had to do it. I know none of this makes up for what I’ve done. But if you could, please forgive me.
Sonata Dusk.
Once she was done writing, she folded the note and stuck it on the top of her chemistry textbook where it would easily be visible. She put away everything and waited for the bell to ring.


For the past three and a half or so hours, I sat there watching Aria as she drew a strangely intricate design on the floor. And it still seemed incomplete. Every now and then she would look at some old book and go back to the chalk drawing. At other times she would shoot me a menacing glare for watching her as she worked. In my defense, however, it’s not like I had much else to do. Sure, maybe I could have tried freeing myself, but I didn't like my chances of fighting off Aria in my current condition. And besides, I didn't have anything on my person that I could have used to cut the rope.
The only other thing I could have possibly done was strike up a conversation, and the past several attempts to do just that ended with her either blowing me off or threatening some kind of bodily harm. Still, sixth time’s the charm, I guess.
“So, not to seem ungrateful for not having the crap beaten out of me, but what are you even doing?”
She stood up from her stooped position and clapped off a cloud of chalk dust from her hands before scowling at me.
“None of your business. As for kicking your ass, however, that can easily be fixed.”
“Heh, touchy. Fair enough. But seriously, what are you trying to do, set up a game of extreme hopscotch? How cute.”
“Shut up!” Aria growled back. “You’re just as annoying as Sonata.”
“If you say so.”
For about five minutes, I sat there quietly while she went back to etching out more of the drawing into the floor. I then decided to bother her a bit more. “If I had to guess, you’re working on some sort of spell. So what, are you like a witch or something?”
“Shut up and let me work on this array in peace!”
“An array? So like alchemy and all that?”
“And you know that how?”
“Anime.”
“Of course.”
“Anyway, I’m pretty sure that’s all made up. Then again, I thought the same thing about sirens, so what do I know?”
“Apparently not enough to know what shut up means,” she retorted through gritted teeth.
She was becoming more flustered by the minute with every comment. At that rate, I could probably get her to mess up. That, or get myself killed. Nevertheless, I had to try something to escape. “Well, hope the whole thing doesn’t rebound on you.”
“What are you going on about now?”
“Just saying. If anything is off, it could end badly. At least that’s what that one show implied.”
“Right, as if a stupid animated show would be able to portray an ancient mystical art accurately.”
“Who’s to say they didn’t. I’m just hoping that your crappy line work doesn’t blow up and get us killed.”
I suppose she took exception to that because she shot straight up and had a look that could kill all on its own. She stormed over to me and kicked me square in the chest, knocking me and the chair over onto the floor. She then leaned over me with a sadistic smile and said, “How about I take a little break and have some fun with my captive.”
I caught my breath and recomposed myself before giving her a smile of my own and replied with, “Ooh kinky. If the foreplay was any kind of indicator, I’d say you’re into BDSM, right?”
Her eye physically twitched. “Ha, funny,” was her only response before landing a few hard kicks into my sides. She then grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me up straight in my seat. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut,” Aria said as she smacked me across the cheek and went back to finishing the diagram.
As far as I could tell she got me good, but nothing was broken. Or so I thought until I shifted slightly in the seat. There was a slight creak coming from the backrest. During that whole fiasco, part of the chair was now broken. Luckily, Aria didn't seem to notice. In a way, my plan had worked, and I just needed to wait for the right moment to break loose.


“Come on, please hurry up,” Sonata pleaded with the clock as she bounced her heel up and down, hoping it would speed things up. With the journal still not in her possession, she had no time to lose. As soon as that final bell rang she frantically raced out of her last class, leaving the rest of her classmates with confused expressions.
“Alright, where is she? Where is she?” she whispered to herself looking down the hallways, trying to find Sunset. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some fiery red hair head down the east wing. Unsurprisingly she wound up at the music room. She couldn’t hear anything going on inside, so she slowly pushed past the door. Sunset was in there by herself, setting up her guitar, probably for an after school band rehearsal. Whatever the case was, Sonata couldn’t waste any time. Forgetting about the door for a second, it slammed behind her. Sunset looked up from her guitar in surprise to the entrance and spotted her.
“Sonata? What’s up? I wasn’t expecting you here.”
Sonata began thinking as fast as she could before she got an idea. “Oh, sorry. It’s just that I had a question that I needed to ask you.”
“Okay, what is it?”
“I wanted to know if you think my sisters can change.”
Sunset didn’t look too sure about the subject and offered, “Well, I believe that anyone can change and better themselves. But they have to want to change."
Sonata had a feeling she would say that. If that was the case, she didn’t have a lot of hope about talking it out with Adagio. “Oh, I see.”
Sunset was about to say something else, but Rainbow Dash came rushing in. 
“There you are Sunset. Principal Celestia is looking for you. Oh, hey Sonata."
“Alright, I’ll be right out,” she said as she set her guitar down. “Sorry Sonata, I have to go check this out. I’ll be back.”
“Uh, it’s okay. I need to get going too.”
“Well, we’ll see you later then.”
“Yeah, see you later Sonata,” Rainbow Dash said before she and Sunset headed for the principal’s office.
Sonata was now alone in the music room. She looked over at Sunset’s guitar, only to find her backpack set down just a couple of feet away from it.
Sonata quickly went over and checked its contents. “Yes, there it is,” she sighed in relief with the journal right there for the taking. She flung her backpack next to Sunset’s and switched out the journal for her chemistry book. As soon as she finished, she checked around to see if anyone else was coming. Luckily, she was in the clear. She hastily made her way to the front of the school and hid behind the statue.
“Okay, I hope I’m not too late,” she said as she opened up her backpack and pulled out her phone to take a picture. Once it was saved, she sent it over to Adagio as quickly as her thumbs could manage along with a message. “There, I have the journal, now tell Aria to let Slate go.”
A couple seconds had passed before Adagio sent back a message of her own. “Not until you take it over to Stagecoach Park. Then we’ll talk about it.”
Sonata picked up her bag and started on her way over to Stagecoach Park. With each step, her thoughts kept on drifting back to the message that Sunset had written. The guilt kept on weighing on her mind as she could only blame herself for everything that was happening right then and there. Suddenly she remembered what Sunset said about the journal and its ability to send messages between the two worlds. She found an empty bench and pulled out the journal along with a pen. Hesitating a bit, she began to write.

Twilight, if you get this message, you’ve got to bring your friends to the park where the Battle of the Bands was held. Adagio and Aria have taken Slate hostage and are going to hurt him if I don’t get this journal to them. Please hurry, there’s no time to waste.
Sonata Dusk
“I hope she sees that soon,” Sonata thought aloud, placing the journal back into her bag and continued trudging on towards the park.


Aria grumbled on and off about always being stuck with the lamest jobs. As far as the array was concerned, it had been completed. There was a large circle with six smaller ones within it which were connected by lines and served as the points of a six-pointed star. At the center of it all was a hexagon that had its corners attached to the small circles by some other lines. On top of all that there were unknown runes that were written along the outer ring. 
Aria checked her phone for any new orders. Unfortunately, there were none, and school was already out. She began walking back over towards me, all while wearing a menacing smirk. "Well, Slate, looks like your time is up.”
“Judging by that slasher smile of yours, I don’t think you mean I can go.”
“Afraid not,” she said while reaching into her back pocket for the knife. Just at that moment, her phone chimed out a tune. “Ugh, what now?”
She turned away from me and checked to see what was sent. As she read over the message, I could tell that she was expecting something different as she was becoming increasingly agitated.
“Are you serious?!” she exclaimed. Aria began texting furiously before another message set off the alert. That didn't seem to quell her anger as she turned back to me and shot a dirty look. “Looks like you were saved by that blue retard.”
Not wanting to push my luck any further, I just sat there silently. A while had passed before Sonata came in through the door, clutching her backpack close to her. As soon as she saw me, she began rushing over, but Aria stopped her in her tracks. She had the knife drawn again and right up against my face.
“Ah-ah-ah. Stay right there, unless you'd like me to give him a nasty scar.”
“Ah-alright. Here’s the journal.” Sonata said while pulling out the book that Sunset had wanted to show her the day before. “Take it and let him go, please.”
“Begging, how pathetic. Still, I have to say that I’m enjoying seeing you so upset.”
“Just let him go!”
“Not till Adagio gets here. Besides, I've been here all day just waiting, so you two can hold out for another half hour.”
At that point, I had no clue as to what Sonata was involved in but figured that I'd soon find out whether I wanted to or not. 
After another agonizing while, Adagio finally arrived and found Sonata sitting up against the wall. She completely ignored me and instead turned to Aria who was placing a large candle in every other circle in the array.
She asked Aria, “Is everything ready?”
“Yes, it’s all set.”
She then picked up the old book that Aria had been drawing out of, and looked back and forth between its pages and the diagram on the floor.
“And you followed all the directions to the letter?”
“Yes, Adagio,” She said more annoyed now. “I’m not an idiot like Sonata over there.”
Adagio raised an eyebrow at that and responded with, “That can be debated.” She went back to checking the array before she was satisfied. She then turned to Sonata and said, “Bring the journal over here.”
Sonata looked up from the floor to Adagio but hesitated to do as she was told.
“Now!”
She quickly got up and brought the journal over to Adagio, who ripped it right out of her hands. Sonata looked back at me before Adagio then demanded, “And your shattered pendant.” She reached into her pocket and unwillingly placed a pouch into Adagio’s hand.
Adagio walked over to one of the empty circles and poured out the bags' contents into it. She then went and emptied out a pouch of her own onto another circle while Aria followed suit with the last one. Aria had also pulled out three necklaces with clear crystals from her bag and placed each one around a candle. Finally, Adagio walked over to the center of the array with the journal in hand.
Giving one last glance at the journal, she turned back to Sonata. “You know what? I hate to admit it, but it’s all thanks to you that we have this magical item.”
Once I heard that I couldn’t refrain from asking Sonata, “That thing is magic? Why would you even need that?”
Before she could respond Adagio cut back in. “Because it would allow us to regain our former powers. But honestly, our entire plan would have fallen through if you hadn’t convinced those Rainbooms to accept her into their little group. Now we can get back on track to ruling this world, so thank you.” She said, all while wearing a devious smile.
“So then I was just a tool for you guys to get what you wanted?!” I yelled back in anger. I then felt a pain in my mind as I looked over to Sonata, “It was all just an act?”
“See, now you’re getting it.” Adagio snidely replied.
Sonata finally yelled back, interrupting Adagio, “No! That’s not true! I didn’t want any of this to happen! I was trying to protect you from them!”
I wasn't sure that I could trust anything that either of them was saying, so I stayed silent. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was the only one around who could warn everyone else about the Dazzlings. 
Adagio, satisfied with her taunting, set the journal down in the center of the array, only for a whole lot of nothing to happen. She turned to Aria and nodded. Before I could register what was going on, she had dragged me right next to the arrays outer edge and forced my arm out over the chalk line. Adagio stood between Sonata and me before saying to Aria, “Do it.”
Aria grabbed ahold of my fingers, forcing my right-hand open. I tried to pull my hand out of her grip, but she placed the blade against my palm and whispered, “Better hold still before I cut off a finger.”  The blade then bit into my skin. Slowly, blood began trickling out of the cut as I winced at the pain.
As a few droplets hit the array, a red light began to emanate from the runes and soon spread to the rest of the markings. Just then the journal started to glow as the shattered pendants became black and lifeless. Sparks flew as the energy shot out to the candles, igniting them with a crimson flame. Suddenly, everything went dark as the candles were snuffed out by an unseen force.
Gradually the lighting returned to normal, and the necklaces were now the same shade of crimson as the shards had previously been. Adagio walked over and picked one up to examine it. 
Aria, on the other hand, had loosened her grip on me after becoming more interested in the necklaces. If there was ever a time to escape, it was right then and there, while they were distracted.
I quickly threw myself backward onto the floor and kicked the knife out of Arias' hand. When I hit the floor, the back of the chair broke off completely, and the blade clattered to the ground. I sprung up and ran for the door, regardless of the backrest still tied tightly to me. Strangely enough with every step that I took, it felt more and more like I was running on sand. Even worse though was the fact that my vision was gradually beginning to blur.
Oh God, this isn’t good. I know I haven’t lost enough blood for this to be happening. I thought to myself. And what’s… with this… beautiful melody…


Slate stopped in his tracks as Adagio, now wearing the new necklace, sang an alluring melody. He turned around with a vacant look on his face. Aria went and picked up the knife from the floor and cut the ropes that were around him. 
Adagio then turned to Sonata and said, “Well, it seems that this one is very resourceful. Unfortunately, we can’t have someone like that around.” She caressed the semi-conscious Slate across his face before telling him, “Sorry Slate, you’ve got to go.”
Aria, with a smirk, placed the knife in his hands. “How about we have him do the job for us. There’ll be no way that anyone could link it to us,” she suggested. Adagio nodded and began singing once more. Slate with the knife in hand began to raise it up to his neck in an agonizingly slow, jerking motion. His movement made it clear that even under the spell something in him was fighting back against Adagio’s song.
As soon as Sonata saw that, she knew that there was no time to waste. So in a jolt of desperation, she ran for one of the necklaces and hung it around her neck. She took a deep breath and began singing as loud as she could. Just like that, Slate’s hand started pulling away.
Adagio, now enraged, yelled at her, “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?!” effectively breaking her concentration. With that brief window of opportunity Slate flung the knife across the room, where it slid underneath a massive sound system.  
Aria kicked him in the back and sent him landing in front of Sonata.
“Are you alright?” Sonata asked helping him up.
“I don’t know,” he said, staggering to his feet. “Sonata, why didn’t you tell anyone that this was going on?”
“I was afraid of what would happen if I did. If I did say anything, none of you would have ever trusted me again, even if I was trying to stop this from happening.”
Slate grabbed ahold of her hands and said, “Sonata, I would’ve listened to you, and would have done everything to help you. I would have even stood up for you if need be.”
A small stream of tears trickled down her cheek as she spoke, “I know I screwed up. I’m sorry Slate,” she said looking away from him in shame. “Please-“
Slate stopped her with a gentle hand placed on her cheek as he turned her face back to him. "And I will still stand up for you when this is all over. Now please, help me stop…”
At that moment, the warm look he had been giving her was replaced by a blank stare. Aria had begun singing while Adagio called out to Sonata.
“Sorry, but I do believe that Slate here has completely outlived his usefulness.” She then turned to Aria and said, “Go get the knife and finish him off.” She began singing again as Aria ran over to the sound system to retrieve the knife. 
“Slate, you’ve got to snap out of it!” Sonata called out to him as she shook him a bit. She tried to use her singing to bring him back, but Adagio had no intention of letting up. She knew that her lone voice wouldn’t be enough to rival the combined magic of Aria and Adagio’s song. To make matters worse, Aria had retrieved her knife and was walking right at them.
Knowing full well that it may be the last time that she saw Slate alive, she looked him in the eyes and tearfully said, “I’m sorry, Slate,” and gave him a kiss on the lips.
Aria was now just a couple of feet away from Slate and readying herself to take a stab at him. At the last second, Sonata shoved Slate to the ground causing Aria to barely miss him. Unfortunately, that led to Sonata getting slashed across the top of her left forearm. She fell to the floor, grasping her wounded arm.


For a second time that night, I regained consciousness out of a strange haze. When I sat myself up, I saw Aria standing over Sonata, scolding her. “You idiot! Stop getting in the way before you get yourself killed!” I could see a small trickle of blood dripping from her forearm and the knife back in Aria’s hand. All the while she had her back to me.
I jumped up to my feet and grabbed ahold of Aria’s arm before chopping the back of her wrist with all the strength that I could strike with, causing her to drop the knife. As she cursed and rubbed her hand, I stepped on the blade and used everything that I had to pull up on the knife handle, snapping it in two. 
Adagio was absolutely livid at the fact that I was no longer under her control. “How?! What did you do Sonata?! My magic isn’t doing anything to him!”
That takes care of that. I thought as I kicked the broken blade back under the sound equipment. Just then, Aria threw a right cross and caught me in the cheek before landing an uppercut to my diaphragm. The pain sent me reeling back as I clutched my stomach, and Aria grabbed me by my shirt collar.
“You’re a lot more trouble than you’re actually worth.” she then swung me around and flung me to the floor. There was no denying it, she was definitely strong, especially for her size. Then again I couldn’t be entirely sure that it wasn’t tied to her being a siren. 
“Ach!” was all that I was able to get out when I hit the ground. As I tried pushing myself up, my eyes went wide when I saw Aria raise her leg straight up and began to bring it down right over me. I barely managed to roll out of the way of her heel, which she had planted where my head had just been. Too close! 
“Hold still and die!” Aria yelled.
"Like hell I will!" I retorted. She chambered her leg, readying to stomp down on me. But before she could, I swung my leg and caught her in the back of the heel. That kick was enough to drop her onto her back and daze her. With that brief reprieve, I got up and ran over to Sonata who was holding her arm tightly. I quickly tore off a sleeve of my shirt and tied it around her cut. Luckily, it was able to stop the bleeding well enough. 
“Slate, what are you doing? You need to get out of here,” She said.
“Not without you, Sonata. And not without stopping your sisters.”
When I looked up to check for the other two, Aria had closed the distance and had thrown another punch. I had managed to block it, but it hit with enough force that it sent me sliding back as I tried not to lose my footing. She then sneered, “You actually think that you have any chance. Face it, you're outmatched, and there is nothing you can do a-"
Sonata at that moment had tackled Aria, sending her tumbling forward. Sonata then yelled to me, “Quick, you need to take that necklace away from Adagio!”
“Get off of me you idiot!” Aria yelled back at Sonata while trying to keep her from prying the necklace away. 
I turned to face Adagio who stood across the room from us. Before I could make my way towards her, her necklace began glowing as she yelled, "No, you're not going to stop us! I deserve to have my power, and I'm not going to give it up, especially to a worthless human!"
As the words left her mouth, a wave of red energy came rushing towards me and slammed me into the wall. Adagio was taken aback as she now wore a look of surprise. 
Sonata, in her shock, was pushed off towards me.
When I looked up at her, she was trying to tell me something. Unfortunately, ringing was all that filled my ears. Slowly, though, I could hear the concern in her voice. I then looked over at Adagio standing next to Aria who was brushing herself off. Sonata took note of that and stood between them and me. 
Adagio then spoke up, “Well, it appears that the alchemy we used has altered our powers a bit. Or maybe it had something to do with Slate. Either way, this will definitely come in handy. Like for putting you two in your places.” 
Sonata then responded, “Adagio, Aria, stop this, now." They both had given a smirk before their necklaces began glowing again and they let loose another blast. As it rippled toward the both of us, Sonata yelled: "Stop, now!"
Just as the blast reached us, it dispersed right in front of Sonatas face. There was a translucent wall in front of her. At this rate, I was thoroughly confused by everything that had just happened, as were Adagio and Aria.
Sonata then turned to me. “Slate, I think I have a plan to stop them.” She turned back to see that the other two were getting ready to attack again and quickly said, “I’m going to drop this wall.”
“Wait, if you-,” I began, only for Sonata to stop me.
“As soon as I do, try to get to cover. And whatever happens, make sure you get the necklaces away from them.”
Before I could object, the transparent wall faded as she sprinted right towards her sisters. Adrenaline forced me into action as I threw myself behind a set of large speakers. I peeked out from behind them to see the other two sirens sing a high pitched note right when Sonata had thrown her arms around them. As soon as she had, that same translucent shield thing had formed a bubble around all three of them.
A muffled “BANG” came from the bubble, almost like a firework had gone off in a container. Shortly afterward, the bubble evaporated, and dust from within began to settle. Soon I could see Sonata laid out on the floor along with her sisters.
I stood up from my hiding spot and picked up a long electrical cord that had been coiled up next to the amplifiers. Seeing Sonata like that only made the whole situation more nerve wracking. Once I stood over the girls, Aria began to groan as she rolled onto her side. Adagio sat up and rubbed her head trying to ease her obvious pain. 
Without a moment to lose, I lunged forward and was able to grab ahold of their necklaces. With a hard yank, the chains snapped, and I pocketed them. I then quickly used the cord to tie them up back to back.
With Adagio and Aria unable to do much of anything now, I checked on Sonata. She was still on the floor and unmoving. I leaned in close and could hear her faint breathing.
“Whew, thank god she isn’t dead,” I sighed.
“Well, she definitely deserves to be, the traitor,” I heard Adagio hiss from behind us. I turned to see her scowling at the both of us. She then turned her full attention towards me and said, “So do you.” I did my best to not pay her any more mind and returned to Sonata.
“Sonata, can you hear me?” I asked while gently shaking her shoulder, trying to get some sort of a response.
She slowly came to and murmured, “Mm…Slate.” She then suddenly sat up straight as she yelled out, “Slate!”
“Woah, woah. Everything's alright now," I said, trying to calm her.
“Ah, uh. Oh, you're okay," Sonata said, throwing her arms around me as she gave a tight hug. “I didn’t know if that would work.”
“I'm just glad it did. I kind of wish you had given me more of a heads up, though," I said as I returned the hug. "I thought the worst had happened."
She got up to her feet and helped me up. With a smile, she said, "What’s important is that we are both okay now.”
“Hah, that’s rich,” Aria scoffed getting our attention. “You don’t even realize that you’re in the same sinking boat as the both of us. Don’t you, you blue idiot?”
“That’s not true,” Sonata said a bit distraught.
“Oh no? Last that I remember, we were pretty much in a chain gang. So if one of us screwed up, we were all out. And since you did steal from another student for suspicious reasons, you can say goodbye to all of your stupid friends." 
"The only reason she did any of that was that you two forced her to. They know what she is like. They will give her a chance,” I asserted.
“Sure, keep telling yourselves that,” Aria responded with a defiant grin.
I just sighed and turned to Sonata. “C’mon. We should go.”
“Right,” she said gloomily as she went and picked up the journal from the center of that chalk drawing and placed it in her bag. All the while Adagio and Aria gave her angry scowls.
I managed to find my belongings tossed behind some of the scattered equipment. I made one more makeshift bandage for my hand from my other sleeve before I caught up with Sonata at the door. Even though it was silent at that point, anybody could feel the malice that the other two had for Sonata and me. When we left that room underneath the stage, we shut the door, just in case.
As we headed towards the main stage area, we could hear several sets of footsteps. Sonata stopped in her tracks. “I guess they really did get my message after all.”
“Who?” I asked a bit concerned. Before she could respond someone called out.
“No one’s here, are you sure this was the spot?” One of the voices asked.
“That’s what Sonata said in the message. Maybe they’re under the stage.” Someone else responded.
“Then let’s check it out. Everyone move out of the way!” an exuberant sounding girl shouted before a loud clank resounded from the stage floor.
“Hey, watch where you’re throwing levers! Someone could have fallen in…again,” a tomboyish voice scolded.
“Woah. What’s with all that chicken scratch down there? And…Hey! It looks like someone hogtied those two sea-snakes,” another one pointed out.
“But there’s no sign of Slate or Sonata,” a gentle voice replied.
"What did you two lowlifes do to them!?" a posh sounding voice called to the sirens.
I turned back to Sonata and suggested, “I think we should head up there before they are fed any misinformation. Like right now.”
Sonata, in turn, responded a bit apprehensively, “A-Alright.”
We quickly rushed up onto the stage and were greeted by all of our friends who were thoroughly perturbed at the sight of Sonata. More specifically, with the scarlet gem hanging from her neck.
However, Sunset managed to ignore that for a brief second when she got a closer look at how banged up and disheveled we were. “Are you two alright?” she asked with a look of concern.
“Yeah, relatively speaking at least,” I offered.
“It’s really not that bad,” Sonata replied as she carefully nursed her arm.
“Um, well I’m glad that you two managed to make it out safely, but uh…" Applejack had begun before Rainbow Dash cut right to the chase.
“Give back Sunset’s journal!”
Sonata recoiled a bit at RD’s aggressive order, looking a bit hurt. Not wanting everything to turn any uglier than it had to be I stood between Sonata and the others and answered back, "Alright, calm down. She isn't going to put up a fight, okay?" I turned back to Sonata and quietly said, "Go ahead," as I gestured towards Sunset Shimmer.
She pulled out the journal and handed it over to Sunset, all while struggling to look her in the eyes. She then began to apologize. “I’m sorry, I know I screwed up. But I was desperate. That journal was the only thing keeping my sisters from just killing Slate.”
Sunset didn’t seem to know exactly what to say and looked back to the rest of our friends. Right at that moment a girl with purple hair and a pink streak that I had never met till then stepped forward and spoke up.
“Sonata, we want to believe you, but how can we be sure that you really only meant well by what you did?” the new girl asked.
I knew that it would take quite a bit of convincing to get them to give her one more chance, so I interjected one more time. "Sorry, I know that we haven’t met personally, but I can without a doubt tell you that she has done everything to try and reform. Even going against her sister's wishes."
“Then why does she have that jewel around her neck?”
I just realized that that might have been a huge cause for concern and tried to explain, “It was the only way at the moment to keep Adagio and Aria from carrying out the rest of their plan.”
While the girls discussed what should be done amongst themselves, Sonata grabbed ahold of the latch on the back of her necklace and held it out for the girls to see. “If it’s this thing that has all of you worried, then…” She trailed off as she looked at it with tears in her eyes, “Then it’s probably best if you, Twilight, take it with you.” She sniffed a little, trying to keep from crying. She looked to me and said, “Slate, please give her the other two.”
"Right." I pulled out the other two necklaces and placed them in Twilight's hand.
“As long as we don’t have them we can’t use our magic.”
Adagio yelled up at Sonata, “You moron! Stop! You’re giving them everything that we are! You can’t do that!”
I wasn't able to see Adagio clearly from where we were in the fading light, but I swear I saw tears rolling down her face as she heaved, trying to get up to her feet.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want my powers back if they are only going hurt others, Adagio,” she replied sadly.
Aria decided to weigh in on the matter as well. "So you think that you can just put everything behind you, and that  will make everything better?! I knew you were stupid but this goes way beyond the limit of any living being!”
"No, it doesn't excuse all of that, but I don't want to keep on being the cause of everyone's problems. And you can't change my mind,” Sonata replied and placed her pendant in Twilight’s hand. “Please take these with you.”
Twilight and the others were flabbergasted at her display. She then asked Sonata, "You know that once these are gone…"
“I know. But it needs to be done.”
Twilight nodded and then turned to the girls still stuck on the lower level. “I’ll let you two decide whether you want to stay in this world or return to Equestria.”
Adagio then shot back, “We have nothing left in either world, does it even matter what we decide?”
“You do have your freedom here. You can decide what you want to make of yourselves. If you come back to Equestria though, there’s a good chance that you will be looking forward to a harsher punishment.”
“Both choices suck so badly, it’s just so hard to choose,” Aria scoffed defiantly.
“Considering you went out of your ways to try and dominate both worlds, it could, and admittedly probably should be worse.”
Adagio sat there silently while Aria cursed under her breath.
Twilight shook her head, a bit disappointed by the display of the two trapped sirens and turned back Sonata. “Hmm, they are definitely stubborn.”
“I know,” Sonata sighed disheartened.
“Perhaps it would be for the best to take them back to keep a close eye on them.”
Upon hearing that Sonata spoke up. “No, please don’t force them to go back. I don’t want them to be imprisoned or anything like that.”
“Sonata, they’ve made it clear that they would rather cause plenty of harm before they would even consider reforming. I mean take a look at yourself and Slate,” Twilight said while pointing to her arm.
Sonata took a moment to glance at her arm and me before taking in a deep breath and responding. “It may not make a whole lot of sense, but we only have each other. They are the only family that I have, and I don't want to lose them. Even if they have done some messed up things. But I promise if they choose to cause any more problems...I will personally call the authorities."
Twilight didn’t have a good answer prepared for that, so she instead motioned Sunset over to her. “What do you think Sunset?”
She hemmed and hawed for a moment, looking at Sonata and then down at the other two sirens. “I don’t believe that they need to be taken away, we can manage if they decide to try anything else. I mean as long as those gems are in a separate world there shouldn’t be any problem.”
Twilight nodded. "Well, I trust your judgment." She then addressed Sonata, "It's settled then. I will let them stay here with you. But from now on let us know if anything else comes up.”
“I will,” Sonata replied without looking them in the eye.
Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder before giving her a warm look. “You don’t need to worry. Remember that you can come talk to us about anything. We’re all here to help.”
Sonata exhaled abated breath at Sunset’s reassurance. "I promise, I won’t let anything like this happen again.”
They all had nodded before AJ brought up the next glaring issue. “I don’t suppose ya plan on leaving them down there, do ya?”
Sonata and I had looked at each other before I replied, "No, not particularly. We were going to let them go as soon as we found help." 
“Well then, we should head down there.”
Before we actually did though, I turned to the rest of the girls and said, “Right. But before we do, Twilight should probably start heading back to her world before we free them. It’s just a precaution.”
Twilight gave a quick nod along with a short, “Okay.”
“I’ll go back with you to the portal,” Sunset added. She then turned back to us and said, “Give me an update on what happens.”
“You got it,” Rainbow Dash confirmed.
With that, they made their way out of the park. Once they were out of sight, I spoke to the rest of them. "Alright let's get them out." 
We walked around to the backstage area and entered into the storage room where we found the girls still sitting in the middle of the floor.
As I readied myself to untie the cords around them, I couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of ways that it could go wrong. To top it off, the looks that Aria and Adagio were giving me were doing little to assuage that concern.
Adagio then spoke up as I moved a hand to the knot. “You’re going to regret everything you’ve done here tonight.”
Aria joined in and said, “One way or another, we will get back at all of you.”
I furrowed my brow and pulled away before responding with,  "You know, being determined is good and all, but you guys really should re-evaluate your circumstances."
“Besides, your last two plans didn’t pan out, and you guys are only digging yourselves deeper,” Rainbow added matter-of-factly.
“Shut up! Just you wait. You’ll all be sorry,” Adagio said, her voice becoming strained.
Sonata stepped forward and in a calm voice replied to her sister, “Adagio, you’ve got to stop.”
“No, you traitor, we will get the recognition that we deserve!”
“Adagio, one unicorn was able to banish the three of us, the Rainbooms were able to shatter our pendants. The power that we got back with that alchemy was barely enough to control one person. It’s over.”
At that moment, Adagio was doing everything to hold back the tears that were clearly welling up.
“You’ve always been the screw-up, the thing that ruined our plans!” Aria spat out at her.
Sonata took another deep breath before responding. “I don’t care about that. The thing that has been eating at me is that everything that we ever did made everyone else miserable and ruined lives. We honestly got what we deserved. Right now we have a chance at doing things right.”
“Yeah? And what about them?” she said glancing at me and the others. “No matter what, they are always going to distrust us. Even if they don’t admit it.”
I looked over at the other five girls, only to see that they all had a slight tinge of guilt to their expressions. I wasn't in a trusting mood myself, but considering the situation something had to give, so I spoke up.
“Listen,” I began, “I’m willing to put this whole thing behind me if it means giving you guys a fair chance to make up for what happened.”
Aria, with a fire still in her eyes, was about to shoot back a retort. But I didn’t give her a chance.
“AND BEFORE YOU GO AND SAY THAT I HAVE NO GROUNDS TO TELL YOU ANYTHING BECAUSE I HELPED PUT YOU HERE, CONSIDER THIS!” I yelled a bit more angrily than I had intended to and managed to stun her and everyone else. I cleared my throat and continued. “Sorry, but consider this. I was doing everything and anything to try and not die and protect those that I care about. Likewise, you guys were doing everything back then just to survive and exist in our world. Surely, you can see that I did what I had to just like you did. But there’s no need for that now. I’m pretty sure that I speak for all of us when I say we are willing to give you all a chance if you actually want to change." 
Aria and Adagio didn’t have any other response for me as they both sat there quietly as I got a bit closer. “I’m going to untie you now,” I told them as I knelt down to untie the knot in the cords. The cables fell off, and they were able to move freely, but they just sat there without looking at any of us.  
Sonata walked up to them and offered them a hand. “Come on,” she said in a reassuring way, “let’s go.”
Both of them turned to her and got up on their own. They walked past us over to the door before Adagio turned back to us and solemnly said: "Just leave us alone." With that, they left without another word.
“That could have gone better,” Rarity mentioned. Honestly, I don't think any of us were too surprised by their response. 
“Well, I don't believe we are going to be able to do anything about this by standing here all night,” AJ said warily. We began walking to the park’s entrance while the lights from nearby lampposts started turning on. Before we left she turned to Sonata and said sympathetically, “If you need anything or something else comes up, call us right away. We will try to come up with something to help your sisters starting tomorrow.”
“Alright, thank you,” Sonata replied.
“Then we will see you two later," Rainbow said.
“Okay, later everyone. And take care,” I offered as Sonata and I left the group and made our ways down the streets back to the apartments.
I offered her my good hand as we walked, which she took even if she did so hesitantly. She would also glance over at me, only to look away when our eyes would meet. She didn’t say anything either which only made me assume that she wasn’t taking everything that led up to that point too well. I wasn’t sure how to approach her at the moment, so we continued on in silence until we arrived at our building. 
When we got to her door, she didn't say much except "Bye." She then turned to the door and tried to get in but found that to be impossible since Aria and Adagio had used the door chain this time.
"Guys, can you let me in?" Sonata called out to a dark living room but got no response. "Please…"
“Go away,” Adagio called out.
"But…" Sonata tried to reply but was stopped.
“I said go!”
Man, this is definitely going to take some time to fix. Sonata began to softly sob as she closed the door.
“Maybe we should give them some space,” I offered as I placed an arm around her. “Come on, I’ll prepare a place for you to sleep.”
She nodded as she barely managed to get out the word, “alright.” A few short minutes later and we arrived at my place. I led her to the couch where she sat still pretty upset. 
“I’ll be right back, just gotta fix a few things up. Do you, um, need anything?” 
“No,” she replied dismally.
I went and cleaned up the cut on my hand and wrapped it up before I headed to the hallway closet to get some new bed sheets. I quickly replaced the sheets on my bed with the new ones and went over to the restroom to get the first aid kit. When I got back to Sonata, she had been messing around with the makeshift bandage on her arm, wincing every now and then at the discomfort. 
I sat down next to her; placing the kit on the floor next to her feet before I spoke to her. “Hey, Sonata, can I see your arm real fast.”
She frowned a bit before bringing her arm up for me to examine and telling me, “Fine, but please be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I will be,” I reassured her as I gently held her arm. I slowly removed the torn fabric from the cut while trying to keep it from opening again. Fortunately, however, it seemed that Aria had only landed a glancing blow, which meant that it wasn't that deep of a cut. Still, it left somewhat of a mess on her forearm.
Sonata squeamishly fidgeted at the sight of her wound before looking away from her arm. "Um, if you want, you can finish getting cleaned up once I'm done here. I have some spare sleepwear if you need, although I’m not sure how well it will fit,” I offered as I pulled the first aid kit up onto my lap and pulled out a gauze pad and a bottle of alcohol. She just nodded while I poured a little bit of the liquid onto the pad. “Just a heads up, this might sting a bit.”
“Mm-hmm,” she whimpered while bracing herself for the pad. In an instant, I patted down her injury with the gauze as quickly and carefully as I could. All the while Sonata practically yelled, “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!” while I finished cleaning up the cut and the blood that had dried on her skin. 
All I could really offer was a brief, “sorry,” while I cut a strip of bandage wrap and applied it to her now clean cut. Her pained expression slowly returned to normal as she rubbed her arm. “Sorry about that again.”
“It’s alright,” she said abashedly. She then shook her head slightly before she continued. “Slate, you really didn’t have to help me at all, especially after everything that happened.”
“What, you mean giving you first aid?”
“I mean everything,” she said beginning to sound upset. “All of this could have been avoided if I had just said something, anything. I almost got you killed. The others don’t trust me at all, you could tell just by how they reacted to what Aria said. And they have every right not to. I don't blame them, and I wouldn't blame you if you didn’t either.”
Man, I really have no clue what to tell her. I want to say that it will turn out for the better, but I don't know that for sure, I thought as I rubbed the back of my neck.
After a minute of gathering my thoughts, I finally replied. "Hmm, well, I can't disagree with you on a lot of that."
She looked hurt and almost on the verge of tears.
Damn, you couldn't have chosen something better to say.
I had grabbed her hand before I continued. "I didn’t mean it like that. I still trust you.”
“You’re lying,” she said as she stood up and wiped away a few tears. “You don’t really mean that.”
I quickly got up and held both of her hands. “Why would I lie to you? You actually did call the rest of our friends when you could have completely left them in the dark, in spite of everything that was going on. You also gave up your pendants and stood up for your sisters, even if they hadn’t been looking out for you. And I know that wasn’t an easy thing to do. You wouldn’t have done all of that if you weren’t trying to change or only looking out for yourself. That’s why I trust you, even if everyone else isn’t sure what to think.”
I then pulled her into a hug. “And no matter what, I love you. I promise I’ll do what I can to help you and your sisters.”
She looked me in the eyes and with a smile said, “Thank you, Slate. I love you too.” We stayed there for a moment as she nestled her head right up to my cheek. With that, she had finally calmed down.
I went ahead and got her those extra clothes so she could get showered. While she did, I also threw her clothes into wash so she would have something to wear the next day. I also took that time to check my text messages and found one from dad that said he’d be back in town by sometime Saturday afternoon. Considering the situation, it was a needed bit of leeway.
Once she was done, and I had completely finished showering we got a little something from the kitchen. After being held captive for so long, I was completely famished and was also pretty sure that Sonata would appreciate something good after such a stressful gauntlet of a day. Either way, the late meal that we had didn't last all that long. I took our plates and got them washed while Sonata rinsed and placed them on the drying rack.
Shortly afterwards we got washed up and ready for bed. 
I led her to my room and said: "Well, um, you can have my bed for the night."
She had a confused look on her face when she asked me, "So then where are you going to sleep?"
“I’ll just use my dad’s bed. I’d rather you use mine since the mattress isn’t as hard as his. Trust me, you’ll be more comfortable on that one.”
I then gave her a quick kiss before telling her “Goodnight. See you in the morning.”
She blushed a bit before saying, “Yeah, goodnight, Slate.”
I went over to dad’s room and got comfortable, or at least as comfortable as a mattress that felt like wood would allow, and eventually fell asleep…for at least two hours. I wound up waking up in the middle of the night to the sensation of someone being right near me. As my eyes adjusted, I found Sonata had managed to get into my bed without waking me up and had fallen asleep with an arm draped over me. I shifted ever so slightly trying not to wake her, and as I did, she murmured something through a contented smile. “I’m so happy…that I met you, Slate.”
For a minute there, I actually thought that she had woken up, but she just continued to breathe shallowly. I shifted myself enough to be face to face with her as I continued to watch her as she slept. I gently placed an arm around her as I leaned my forehead against hers and whispered, "I'm happy to have met you too. More than you could know, Sonata." 
I settled back down while thoughts of the whole past month flew through my mind. Up until that point, I had kind of just passively let everything happen and just hoped that things would work for the best, but I knew right then and there that I wanted to ensure that was exactly what would happen for Sonata’s sake. It was probably going to be an uphill battle, but I was willing to give it a shot no matter what. And with that, I fell back asleep. 
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another school day had come to a close and as far as anyone could tell it was just an ordinary day. Sonata and I met up outside her last class before going to the entrance. 

“Man, the weekend couldn’t have gotten here sooner,” I said to Sonata as we walked out towards the front of the school. 

“Yeah, those exams were pretty tough,” Sonata said with a sigh. “At least we have the weekend to ourselves,” she added with a smile. 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want it any other way.” 

As we made our way near the statue out front, a few of our friends were hanging out around it and making plans for the weekend. Pinkie Pie noticed us and called us over, so we obliged and decided to shoot the breeze with them. They had definitely been a huge help after that incident with Adagio and Aria about a month ago. 

 



 
 

 Dads’ arrival from his Business Trip 

“Hey, Slate, I'm home. How have things been while I was away?" Dad called out from the living room while setting aside his luggage. 

“Oh, hey dad,” I called from the hallway as I went to meet him, “It was alright. I mean the place isn’t burnt down or anything. How was the trip?” 

He sighed and replied, “Well, it took a lot longer thanks to a few bumblers who screwed around with the original designs, but things should be back on track.” 

When he turned to look at me, he noticed my bandaged hand and asked, "Slate, what happened to your hand?" 

I quickly looked down at it and then back to him before I realized that I should have slid it into my pocket when I went out to meet dad. "Oh, I accidentally sliced my hand while I was washing the dishes yesterday," I offered, hoping that was enough to keep him from questioning further. 

“Well, are you alright?” he asked in concern. 

“I’m pretty sure that I am,” I said while raising my hand for him to see while I opened and closed it. 

“Hmm, well, be more careful next time.” 

“Yeah, alright,” I agreed. 

Dad then changed the subject over to something more pressing. “Hey, so I saw Sonata on the way back up here. She said hi and all that but she seemed, I don’t know, depressed maybe. Do you know anything about that?” 

"Um, yeah. Sonata's sisters got upset with her and well, let’s just say that she isn’t really welcome back at her place.” 

"Well, what exactly did she do?” 

“She didn’t do anything per se. She did tell them something that they didn’t agree with, however. One thing led to another, and they decided to kick her out. That’s why I needed to ask you if she could possibly stay with us for a few days. At least until this blows over.” 

Dad crossed his arms as he thought about the situation. “Slate, is there any way that they can talk this out without having to go to such drastic lengths?” 

You have no idea how much I wish it were that simple, I thought starting to sense dad’s apprehension. "Dad, she already tried that. But they aren't willing to budge on the whole thing. I seriously think that they just need some time to cool down. But until then Sonata doesn't have anywhere else to go."   

“Slate, look, the thing is that I don’t know Sonata or her sisters well enough to allow her to stay here. I don't know what exactly happened and honestly, it sounds a little fishy to me." 

It felt like everything was trying to prevent me from helping out Sonata. "Dad, you need to reconsider this. She has no one else around that can give her a place to stay, and you’re turning her away.” 

That was enough to get him to react, "Alright, fine. But only for tonight." 

I was about to start arguing with him but stopped when I considered that my request was very sudden, and instead just gave him a begrudging “Thank you. May I go let Sonata know?” 

“Go ahead.” 

Without another word, I left the apartment to find Sonata. At most, she had to have been waiting for about forty minutes while dad got in from his trip. I wound up finding her sitting at the entrance of our apartment building. 

“Hey Sonata, I have some news for you.” 

She looked at me with hopeful eyes and asked, “What happened? What did he say?” 

After seeing her get her hopes up, it made what I had to say even harder to just tell her. "Well, dad said that you could stay at our place, but only for tonight." 

Watching her face drop from that smile to a look of despair hurt almost like a punch to the gut. "What? But… but where am I supposed to go after that?"  

Without skipping a beat I offered, “I’m looking into it right now. Just give me a little bit of time.” 

As my mind ran a million miles an hour to try and come up with something it occurred to me to go ahead and ask the others for help. I pulled out my phone and called Rainbow Dash. 

After a few seconds of the dialing tone had played, Rainbow picked up. "Hello, Slate. What's up, is everything alright?" 

“Hi Rainbow Dash, um, that kind of depends on whether you can help me out.” 

“Why, what is it?” 

“Well, at the moment Sonata has been kicked out of her apartment and is staying with me. The problem is, after tonight my dad wants her back at her place, and Adagio and Aria have not changed their minds on keeping her out. I don't know how long they are planning on keeping this up, but that means she has nowhere to go.” 

There was a slight pause before Rainbow got back to me. “Oh, hmm, alright. Listen, give me till tomorrow afternoon. I want you and Sonata to meet me at Sugar Cube Corner at twelve. Okay?” 

Without much of an option, I replied, “Alright.” 

“Then I’ll see you two tomorrow. Later.” 

“Later.” 

We were half expecting more of the same, but she managed to rally the rest of our friends and got them to help out. They all agreed to take turns having Sonata stay with each one of them after school throughout the following week. Rarity was even kind enough to volunteer first to let her spend the night. 

 



 
 

I was pulled back out of thought when Adagio and Aria walked on up to us. One might have expected them to start haranguing Sonata for socializing with the Rainbooms, but they instead greeted all of us and joined in on the conversation. It was definitely a breath of fresh air that they were taking steps away from their standoffish demeanor not only with us but everyone else as well. Admittedly though, it had been a month-long process of helping them to adjust to their status of being normal. That first week after they had been thwarted for the second time was especially rough. 

 



 
 

The Monday after the Fight 

With the school week starting again I mentally prepared myself for whatever it could throw at us. After dad had dropped me off at school, I walked to my first class and found Sonata waiting nearby and in a set of different clothes.  

“Hi, Slate,” she greeted me with a hug. “How’d you sleep?” 

“Hey, Sonata. I guess I slept alright.” I replied a bit thrown off by her new outfit. “Um, how about you?” 

“Pretty good, actually,” she replied, still very chipper. 

“I see. Hey, Sonata. Where’d you get those clothes from?” 

She took a moment to look down at herself before looking up at me with a smile. “Oh, Rarity said that she felt bad that I was stuck wearing the same clothes so she gave me a couple of her own outfits so I could change out.” 

“Huh, that was nice of her. I guess that explains why it reminded me of something that she would wear. Still, I think it looks better on you.” 

She began to blush before she cleared her throat. “Ahem. Thank you, Slate."  

Minutes later Mr. Donkey showed up to unlock the door. "Hello, you two. Mr. Slate, I hope you are feeling better,” he mentioned incredulously. 

“Huh, oh, yeah. Yes, I’m doing much better actually.” I offered a bit unsure. 

“Good to hear. Well go ahead and take your seats.” 

“Yes sir,” we answered as we went to our usual spots. 

I turned to Sonata and quietly whispered to her, “Sonata, on your way into the school did you see your sisters at all?” 

“No, did you?” she whispered back. 

“No, but I’m pretty sure that they will show up. Right?" 

She placed her balled up hand up to her mouth and pressed it against her lips as she thought about it. All the while she was slowly becoming more anxious. She then turned to me and said, "The last time that we lost, we up and ditched for a whole week. This time they might just leave altogether." As soon as she spoke those words out loud, it was like a realization had sunken in for her. “They might leave me.” 

Seeing that Sonata was on the brink of an emotional crisis, I tried to calm her. “Sonata, it will be alright. I promise that everything will be okay. They will be here I know it.” As far as my reassurances were concerned, they weren’t doing much to keep her from panicking. I grabbed hold of her hand in a firm grip and got her full attention. "Sonata, I promise that your sisters have not left. They will be here. You'll see." I did my best to keep an air of confidence, which seemed to help her to relax and not completely break down there in the class as other students were starting to file in. But in reality, I was sweating bullets on the inside. Would they just abandoned her like that? 

We would soon find out. Once lunch rolled around, we quickly got our food and sat with the rest of the group and staked out the cafeteria trying to see where they could be. 

About halfway through lunch Adagio and Aria finally showed up. I believe that was the first time that I was happy to see someone who probably hated my guts, if only for the fact that Sonata wouldn’t have to worry about them being gone. By the time that they had gotten there, however, most of the seats were taken. But instead of trying to find a place all to themselves they just sat at a mostly occupied table, much to the bewilderment of everyone seated there. 

No sooner had they done that, had the other students all gathered their things and left as fast as humanly possible. They did this while throwing dirty glances and saying things under their breath at the two girls. The strange thing about all that though was their reaction, or rather, their lack of response. They didn't even pay them as much as a glance.  

I was about to ask the obvious question, but Rainbow beat me to it. "Does anyone else think that Adagio and Aria are acting a bit strange?" 

All of our friends took a few looks at them and started talking amongst themselves. On a second glance, I noticed that they weren't eating so much as they were just pushing around the food on their trays. They didn’t even talk with each other, granted they weren’t all that big on chatting, but they were stone silent. 

I turned back to the group and said, “I’ll be right back,” before sliding out of my chair. 

AJ then asked, “Where are you going?” 

With a quick reply, I said, "I wanted to go talk to them that's all." 

Sunset then spoke up. “Slate, maybe you should wait on that. We still don’t know how they will react.” 

"Well, maybe so. But I mean look at them. That is far from normal for them." 

“And I agree with you, but perhaps you and Sonata should hang back from this. At least till they have had some time to let off some steam.” Sunset then added, “Don’t worry, we will be doing as much as we can to help the both of them.” 

“It’s probably for the best that we let them handle it for now. Remember how upset they got last time?” Sonata said glumly. 

“Alright, it probably is for the best. I guess we’ll let you guys talk it over with them.” I agreed. 

By then lunch had finished, and we moved on to our other classes. 

As Sunset had said, they did indeed do what they could to offer Adagio and Aria some sort of help. Although that’s as far as they were able to get since both Adagio and Aria kept on turning down whatever help the Rainbooms were trying to offer. This went on for the whole week, nothing that they tried made any headway. They just didn’t want anything to do with them. 

During that entire time, Sonata and I hadn't gone near them, but we could see that our friends really weren’t able to get through to them. So we figured that it couldn’t hurt our chances to talk to them directly. 

That Friday afternoon Sonata asked me to wait with her after school so we could talk directly with her sisters. She was apparently anxious about the whole affair because she couldn’t stop from fidgeting as the clock ticked down to the time that Adagio and Aria would get out of detention. 

When their hour was up they came out the front doors, still showing little emotion just as before. However, that changed as soon as Sonata called out to them.  

“Adagio, Aria. Hold on, please,” Sonata called to them. 

Their uncaring faces showed just the slightest twinge of anger at seeing the both of us. Adagio was the first to acknowledge us in response. “You two. What do you want?” 

“I… I just wanted to talk with you,” Sonata offered. 

“We’ve got nothing to say to you two, or any of those friends of yours,” Aria retorted a bit agitated. “Just leave us alone.” 

“Listen, I know it’s been rough. But things don't have to be so, um, us against them," Sonata said with some difficulty to describe their situation.  

Adagio furrowed her brow and replied a bit more noticeably irritated, “There wouldn’t be an ‘us against them’ thing if you hadn’t turned on us in the first place.” 

“Yeah, we would have taken over this place,” Aria added. She then turned to Adagio and said, “We should have just left after Friday.” 

Adagio coldly replied, “Probably,” as they walked past the both of us. 

Seeing Sonata so hurt because of that remark made me speak up before they got too far. 

“Then why didn’t you two?” I asked, the both of them stopping in their tracks. They both turned to give me scornful expressions before replying. 

“Excuse me?! Who do you think you are to ask that?” Adagio snarled at me. 

"You've got something to say, Slate?” Aria asked as she got in my face. 

 “Yeah, I do,” I replied while crossing my arms. “You two have nothing tying you down to this place. There’s no power to be gained here, nothing to turn back all those events. You obviously hate it here, and yet you two stayed. Unless you two are masochists, which I doubt, it doesn’t make any sense why you guys would stay. So I ask again. Why didn’t you two leave, especially knowing full well that you could have?” 

While Aria looked about ready to slap me, Adagio was finding it hard to look me in the eyes. 

“What exactly is it that you two are trying to do by staying?” I pushed my questioning further. 

Aria was pulling back her hand to smack me across the face until Adagio in her frustration said, “I don’t know!” She shot a look over to Aria without saying anything but nonetheless got her to back off. 

“I don’t know what we are doing,” Adagio said begrudgingly. “Everything we were trying to do was riding on getting back our powers, but thanks to the both of you everyone still hates us. Now we’ve got nothing. ” 

“Hmm, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve both got your health. You’ve also got a roof over your heads and aren’t on the streets.” I offered matter-of-factly. “Secondly, I think hate might be a bit overdramatic. Now distrust, that is probably closer to what they feel. But you guys acting the way that you have been for the past month or so isn’t doing either of you any favors.” 

"What do you know?!" Aria asked accusingly, still pretty upset over the whole conversation. "As far as you are concerned you haven't had to deal with any of this crap!" 

“That isn’t even close to true," Sonata interjected. "Like you said a while back, just because he was hanging out with me, everyone treated him the same way that they treated me. It wasn't fun for any of us, but we at least tried to make things better. That's why they started to back off.” 

The both of them stood there silently in thought over Sonatas remark as they tried to find the right words to respond with. 

I then added, “You know, the Rainbooms have actually been trying to give you that chance as well. All this entire week actually, but you two kept on shutting them down.” 

Adagio in one last attempt to try and have the high ground said, “Well, you still stabbed us in the back last Friday, Sonata. Right when you threw away our pendants.” 

“Wow, you two didn’t hear anything that Sonata said to Twilight right after that, did you?” I shot back. “She had to beg Twilight to not have you guys dragged back to that other world and locked up. I’m not even sure how that qualifies as backstabbing. If anything, she was sticking her neck out for you two.” 

Neither Adagio nor Aria had anything in response to that. It took them a while to compose themselves before Adagio finally broke that bit of silence. “We didn’t ask for any of your help,” she said coldly. Her tone changed however with what she said next. “But thank you.” 

Sonata then stepped forward and asked “Adagio, can I please go back with you guys. I promise that I’ll do everything to help us bounce back from this.” 

Adagio sighed before giving her answer. “Fine, I guess.” 

Aria then decided to give her say. "Man, right when I was getting used to only having to deal with one person back at home." 

Both Sonata and Adagio glared at her to which she sort of shrunk away. 

“Whatever, I wasn’t saying that I didn’t agree with that.” 

Adagio and Aria began walking out of the school yard when Sonata came up to me and said, “Thank you, Slate.” She then gave me a hug before Aria called back to her. 

“C’mon, let’s go.” 

“Alright, coming,” Sonata replied before turning back to me. “See you tomorrow?” 

I nodded, “Yeah. See you then.” 

The following week, we were even able to help them get into that program that Celestia had been offering. Little by little, they were opening up to the other students, and in return, they began to give them a chance. 

 



 
 

When we had finished talking and said goodbye to everyone, the Rainbooms headed their own ways while Adagio and Aria headed downtown. Sonata and I headed over to the park, chatting all along the way. With it being Friday and all, I didn’t really need to worry too much about getting back too early. 

There was hardly anyone around that afternoon, so we took that opportunity to walk all around the park before stopping at the empty playground. Sonata jumped onto an empty swing and called me over. 

"Come on, Slate," she said patting the swing next to her. It had definitely been a while since I'd been anywhere near a swing set but just went along with it. 

"Alright," I replied before taking that seat. Sonata smiled back at me as soon as I did and began swinging without a care in the world. I followed her lead, all the while I couldn’t help smiling at her enjoying the wind whipping by her as we passed each other. 

Gradually though, she slowed her pace down to the point of barely even swaying before getting my attention. "Hey, Slate." 

I came to a complete halt and turned to her, “Yeah, what’s up?” 

“Can I ask you something… important?" 

“Go ahead.” 

“I was thinking about that night that we stopped Adagio and Aria. When I put on the necklace and was able to use my magic again, I liked it. Is that wrong of me?” 

I rubbed my chin while I thought on that for a second before I told her anything. “I wouldn’t be able to say. But I guess it depends on what exactly about that made you happy.” 

She kicked at the sand in front of her and made a small pile as she pondered what I had said. "Well, I guess after a whole month of just being cut off from my powers it was kind of a relief to be able to do what I had always been able to." She paused as if to try to gather her thoughts before continuing. In all honesty ever since that night, she would do everything to try and steer conversations away from it or try to play it off like she wasn't bothered by it. I felt a bit concerned for her and what she had just told me. She then looked at me and continued. "But the thing that I was most happy about was the fact that I could sing again. Like, I mean really sing and not sound like a wounded animal. That's what I missed the most." 

After hearing that any concern that I had was replaced instead with sympathy. "Hmm, well I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. And I know how that feels." 

"How so?" she asked gripping onto the swing's chain. 

“Because, when I was a bit younger I was forced to give up martial arts for a while because of an injury. I was miserable while I waited to completely recover. On top of that, when I was able to go back to training I found it difficult to do a lot of the things that I could before the injury.” 

The expression on her face told me that my story only served to dampen her mood. “That was depressing. But I guess you do understand.” 

"Yeah it was, but that wasn't the whole story. After that realization that I was pretty much back to square one as far as my training went, the only thing I could do was move forward with it all. It took some time but eventually with hard work and practice I was able to do everything again and even learned new things during that period." 

With a sigh, Sonata replied, "Well that may have worked for you, but there's no way for me or my sisters to ‘relearn' what we have lost." 

I scratched the back of my head and exhaled before continuing. "Okay, maybe not the whole magic bit, but if you really wanted to, you and the others could practice and learn to sing again. You know without having to rely on anything other than yourself. And given everything I'm pretty sure our friends could give a few pointers on the whole matter. That is if you really want that." 

She knitted her brows in thought before answering. "I don't know about that, they’ve already done a lot for my sisters and me." 

"Well if not them, I could always try to help you with that. Although I've never really been all that great at singing myself. In which case we'd be learning together." 

She smiled briefly and said, "Hmm. Now I want to know how you sound." 

“Heh, um, let’s just say my singing definitely leaves a lot to be desired,” I said feeling a bit embarrassed. 

"Even so, it's not like I'd be any better at it." She offered. 

"We could always do karaoke if all else fails. Pretty sure it's a law or something to sound as bad as possible whenever taking the mic. It's the perfect way to practice." I said jokingly. 

“I guess that would be a good start then,” she said, giggling at that prospect. 

Without much else going on, we spent another hour hanging out around the park. Eventually, we made our way back to the apartment building. As usual, we stopped at her door to say goodbye. 

As she was messing with the door I stopped her. “Hey, before I go, there was something that I wanted to give you,” I said before reaching into my backpack to pull out a small box. "I would have done this earlier at the park, but I was kind of wondering if maybe I should have gotten something different. You know, because of our conversation. Either way, uh, I hope that you like it none the less.” 

Sonata looked at the box and then back to me before taking it in her hands. She then asked, "Why, what is it?" She removed the white lid and stopped once she got a good look at the gift. Without saying anything, she held up a necklace with two distinct charms hanging from it. A jagged silver eighth note and a yin and yang symbol. 

She took a moment to examine them further, but her silence only gave me the impression that it might have brought back bad memories for her. I was about to apologize to her until she gave me a hug and said, "I love it." 

"Phew... I'm glad to hear it." 

She took ahold of the charms and looked at them once more before asking, “So how’d you know to get a musical note like this?” 

“I had seen it before on a few of your clothes.” 

“Oh. And what about the other one?” 

“Well, they were offering to customize the necklace, so I requested that they add in something personal. Here, take a look at the back.” I then turned the yin yang symbol to show our names carved into it. Hers on the white half and mine on the black half. 

                She hugged me and said, “Thank you, Slate.” 

                “Don’t mention it.” 

She then beamed at me and hung it around her neck. "How does it look?" 

With a smile, I replied, "It looks great on you." 

She came in close to me and wrapped her arms around me before we shared a deep kiss. 

I don't think that I will ever be able to tell whether or not those moments that managed to shake up my life were just a coincidence, but strangely enough, I was content in knowing that they ultimately brought us together.