> Saving the Siren
>  by King of Madness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long ago, before the Windigo's Winter, ponies of all kinds lived in peace in a land called Pony Land. The pegasi managed the weather, the earth ponies grew food, and the unicorns raised the sun and the moon. Despite their differences, they lived together in harmony.

However, on an island miles away from Pony Land, there hatched a trio of sirens. The first one to hatch had golden skin that glimmered in the sunlight. She looked at the world before her with desire. A little later, the second one hatched. She had purple skin that hid her in the darkness of the cave they had awoken in. She looked at the world before her with indifference. The golden siren looked to her purple sister and wondered what she could do with her.

Once she had adjusted herself to this world, the purple siren turned her attention to the unhatched egg. Noticing that she and her sister had came from the broken eggs, she wondered why the third had not come out yet. Growing impatient, the purple siren rolled the egg out of the nest and onto the ledge where her sister sat, dropping it onto the rocks below. The egg shattered and a siren with blue skin that blended beautifully with the water in front of her rolled out. She rubbed her sore head and looked at the world before her with curiosity.

As the years passed by, the sirens learned of their powers of song and seduction, using it to feed off of sailors that sailed near them. They're songs turned them against each other and allowed the sirens to feed off of their negative emotions. They eventually made their way to Pony Land and saw that there were millions of ponies that they could bring under their spell.

The purple siren, Aria Blaze, was completely apathetic to the ponies. She saw them as mere food suppliers and couldn't have cared less what their songs did to them.

The blue siren, Sonata Dusk, found amusement in what the ponies did. She entertained herself with whatever activities she could find, being easily distracted from their missions. Though she cared nothing for the ponies personally and fed off their emotions the same as her sisters, she had no true ill will towards them. Regardless, she followed her sisters lead without complaint.

The golden siren, Adagio Dazzle, wanted more than to simply feed off the ponies. She had placed herself as her sisters' leader and took an amount of joy from the control she had over them. She pondered what it would be like to control the millions of ponies before her. She licked her lips as she imagined an entire world under her control. Millions of ponies worshiping her... and those two idiots she was stuck with, but mostly her. Sure, the ponies would tear each other apart out of pure hatred, but she didn't care. In fact, she found it amusing to watch.

Summoning up their magic, the sirens took over Pony Land. Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi alike went against each other, the siren's songs planting prejudice in their minds and contempt in their hearts. Even as they divided and waged war against each other, they all worshiped the sirens as their divine rulers and looked to them for help, oblivious to their deception. As the years passed, Pony Land became a near wasteland from the siren's corruption. War and famine plagued the land, the ponies uniting only when it came to their species respective duties and only for the sake of their own survival. The sirens had complete control... until the windigos arrived.

When the blizzards started, the sirens were the only ones that saw it was the work of the windigos. When Adagio realized that the windigos were as big of a threat to sirens as they were to ponies, she and her sisters left. Hopefully, they would find a different land to take over and windigo-proof it. The ponies they left behind were not their problem.

The few surviving ponies, led by their respective leaders, were forced into an exodus from their doomed home and founded the land of Equestria. While the windigos followed, they were driven away by the power of the first Hearth's Warming. Banding together under the newfound rule of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the ponies lived in harmony once more.

After many years of feeding on stragglers in obscure lands, the sirens came across Equestria and repeated their previous escapade. Once again, they ruled over the ponies and let them fester in their hatred while they worshiped the sirens.

However, Star Swirl the Bearded saw passed their treachery and fought against them. Realizing that they were too powerful, Star Swirl banished them to Earth where he believed they would lose their magic.

Despite being turned into humans, the sirens still retained a fraction of their magic in the form of crystals that they wore around their necks. Star Swirl's spell had sent them forward in time and, though it was nothing compared to the thousands of years they lived in Equestria and Pony Land, it still felt like eons to them as they were forced to adapt to this strange land and use the small amount of magic they had to feed off of the humans around them. Years passed until they found what they needed. There, at Canterlot High School, was their chance to get their power back... and they failed.





It had only been a few hours since the battle of the bands had ended. Although the moon shined brightly, storm clouds were approaching fast. The sound of thunder roared through the air as the sirens stood in an empty alleyway, alone and defeated. The moon shined on the three like a spotlight, illuminating the scene like the stage of a play.

For the the first time since neither could remember when, Sonata and Aria were not bickering. Instead the two stood beside each other and watched Adagio, who had her back towards them. Adagio was standing perfectly still. Her shoulders went up and down with her heavy breath and her fingers were twitching like the legs of an insect stuck on it's back. Sonata and Aria had seen Adagio like this before. It had only happened two or three time before, but there was a reason that Sonata and Aria were afraid.

Sonata didn't understand what had gone wrong. She was pretty sure that everything went to Adagio's plan. Get everyone in the school to fight each other. Check. Get the Rainbooms to break apart and take their magic. Check. Put everyone in the audience under their spell. Check. What went wrong?

Aria sighed. "Look, Adagio, I get that you're peeved about what happened back there,"

Sonata covered her mouth in surprise at Aria's language. Or course, Aria had said much worse words before, usually directed at Sonata, but still.

"But we're not gonna get anywhere if you just stand there and do nothing."

Adagio didn't respond in any way.

"Um, Adagio," Sonata bit her lip as she tried to get her leader's attention. "I know things are looking pretty bad right now,"

"You don't say," Aria said with a roll of her eyes.

"But I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"Like what? In case you missed anything, Sonata, our gems just got destroyed and we are now totally powerless."

"I'm just trying to help!" Sonata got in her sister's face.

"Since when have you ever helped!" Aria spat back. "You're just an idiot that thinks tacos and punch are more important than getting our power back!"

"Th-That's not true!"

"ENOUGH!" Adagio spun around and glared at the two. "Both of you just SHUT UP!"

The two backed away from each other and stared at their eldest sister in fear. When Adagio got like this, she always had a certain look in her eyes. A look that was full of anger. One that got even Aria scared to death. But this was different. In the past, when Adagio was really angry, it was because either Sonata or Aria or both had messed up. Something went wrong or nothing went according to plan. This time, everything had went according to plan. Sonata and Aria had followed her orders flawlessly. The only thing that went wrong was that they were not strong enough. Something that made Adagio more angry than ever before. The look in her eye wasn't just angry; it was crazed.

Adagio walked right up to the both of them with that very look in her eye.

Sonata sweat nervously as Adagio got right in her face.

"This is all YOUR fault!" Adagio said, clutching Sonata's collar and bringing her closer. "You and your mind-numbing stupidity!"

"B-B-But I d-didn't do any-"

"What did you just say!?" Adagio's crazed eyes stared directly into Sonata's fearful ones. "What did you just say to me!?"

Sonata gulped. "N-Nothing. I didn't say anything."

Adagio scoffed and threw Sonata onto the ground. "You never say anything do you? Nothing that matters! It's always 'Oh, Adagio, look at this totally pointless thing that won't get us anywhere'! Is this all a big joke to you!?"

Sonata sat up and looked up at her angry sibling. Adagio had said a lot of mean things to Sonata; so had Aria; but what she was saying now was... different. She was actually hurt by it. She could feel a pain inside her chest that she couldn't explain.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. Thanks to you, we have no magic at all! We're no different from these insects we've been stepping on!"

Sonata didn't understand. She knew she wasn't very smart, but she couldn't remember doing anything wrong this time. In fact, she was pretty sure she did everything Adagio said. When did she mess up? Despite not understanding, the pain in her chest grew and her eyes started feeling funny.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Sonata snapped out of her thoughts at Adagio's words.

"Do you realize what you've done to us?" Adagio coldly asked. The storm was beginning to hit the city and lightning was flashing around Adagio's figure. "Those crystals kept us alive, Sonata! The reason we haven't aged since we got here was from feeding on people's emotions. Now, we can't do that!"

Water started to fill Sonata's eyes as the pain in her chest grew.

"Remember all those ponies back when we ruled?" Adagio continued. "Remember how they would grow old and die? That's what's going to happen to us! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Sonata put her hand on her chest to make sure she hadn't been stabbed. It certainly felt like it. The pain she felt inside was almost unbearable. The water in her eyes flowed down her face. Her breathing was heavy and she couldn't control it. It hurt so much. She wanted it to just stop. She didn't even know what she did wrong.

"Are you crying?" Adagio asked in a disgusted tone. "How pathetic." She turned away from Sonata and grabbed Aria by the collar, bringing her close like she did with Sonata. "And you! You haven't done anything but complain since we ended up here! You've made everything so much harder than it needed to be! You're no better than her!"

Aria barely kept her footing as Adagio pushed her away.

Adagio glared at each of them. After a moment, the look in her eyes faded and she sighed. "I can't do this. I've tried my best to take care of us, but now..." She shook her head. "I can't. It's time for me to care of myself and only myself." With that, Adagio turned and started walking away.

Aria looked shocked for a moment before gritting her teeth. "Fine! Leave! I don't need you! Neither of you!" She shot Sonata a quick glare.

Sonata couldn't believe this was happening. They were a team. They had been together since birth. They had never been apart before. They couldn't just split up.

Adagio stopped in her tracks and turned to face Aria. The look in her eyes was back. She took a few steps towards her. "Don't need me? Aria, I own you! I control you! Both of you! Ever since we were born, I've been pulling the strings! Neither of you would be alive right now without me! You think you can survive without me!? You're a declawed cat in the middle of the jungle, sister! You better just hope that, in the future, I'll have use for you and decide to take you back." With that, Adagio turned and started to leave.

Sonata, fighting through the pain inside her, finally got up and ran towards her leader. "Adagio, wait! Please! We've been together forever. We can't just-

Smack.

Sonata fell on her belly and held the right side of her face, which was now red from Adagio backhanding her.

Adagio looked down at her little sister for a moment before picking her up and holding her by her collar. "You need to learn to do this on your own."

Sonata looked down, tears still rolling down her face.

"If you think I take any pleasure in doing this, you're wrong." Adagio's face softened a bit. "...It breaks my heart..." Her face rehardened and she dropped Sonata back down. "But this is life now." With that, Adagio turned and continued to walk away.

Sonata watched through her tears as her eldest sister disappeared into the darkness. The rain got heavier.

She looked to Aria, hoping that at least the two of them could stick together.

Aria looked at her little sister for a moment... before turning and leaving in the opposite direction. The rain got heavier.

Sonata, the pain in her chest unbearable, fell on her side as the storm clouds blocked out the moon. Her tears mixed with the rain that continued to wash over her. She was alone. For the first time in her life, she was alone. She could take being in this strange world. She could even take losing her magic. But she couldn't take losing her sisters.

There was nothing she could do. So, she just laid there in that dark alley and cried.
> Past Mistakes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Look, I'm just saying that we should be focusing more on figuring out how these powers work." Sunset Shimmer exclaimed. Ever since what happened at Camp Everfree, Sunset had been ecstatic to learn more about how her and her friends' newfound powers worked. While they had gained control over them fairly quickly, there were still many things about them that Sunset didn't understand. She had considered running tests on each of her friends but, remembering how trying to learn how their musical transformations worked went, thought better of it. She had asked Princess Twilight for advice, but all she said was to not try too hard because trying to put logic in everything could lead to trouble. She had mentioned something about 'Pinkie Sense' while explaining in her note. Nevertheless, Sunset wouldn't call it unexplainable just yet.

Twilight adjusted her glasses. "I know, but..."

Sunset sighed and put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know you're still not comfortable with your powers, but there's nothing to worry about. Midnight Sparkle is gone."

"Yeah, Twilight," Spike popped out from Twilight's backpack. "You don't have to worry about that anymore."

Twilight sighed and rubbed the purple dog's head. "I know. It's just that... I can't get her out of my mind. Whenever I use my powers, I'm afraid something bad will happen. I know it sounds stupid but..."

"It's not stupid, Twilight." Sunset assured. "I was a power-drunk she-demon too, remember? I can't tell you how many nightmares I had after I came to my senses. I'll admit, I wasn't too concerned about turning back into Sunset Satan, but I have a pretty good idea about how you're feeling."

Twilight gave a weak smile.

The two were currently in the Sugarcube Corner cafe, sitting at their usual corner. Rainbow Dash was writing a new song for the Rainbooms. Fluttershy was at the Animal Shelter and Applejack was helping her. Rarity was making costumes for the upcoming school play, which she had written herself. And Pinkie Pie said she had something important to do; she didn't actually say what it was, just that Derpy needed her help. So, it was just Sunset, Twilight, and Spike today.

After a few minutes, the three exited the cafe. "You know, you don't have to help with the studies if you don't want to." Sunset reminded her friend.

"No, no. It's fine." Twilight insisted. "I just need to get over what happened. Like you did."

Sunset gave an uneasy laugh. "Hehe... To tell you the truth, I don't know if I did." Sunset thought for a bit as they passed the cafe. "Maybe..." Her attention was taken by something she caught out of the corner of her eye. She looked to her right and saw someone sneaking to the back of the cafe. They were wearing long pants and a hoodie with the hood up, so Sunset couldn't make out any features. Something about it made Sunset curious.

Twilight noticed that Sunset had stopped walking and saw where she was looking. "What is it?"

"I think I just saw someone sneak back there." Sunset bit her lip. She couldn't explain why, but something was telling her to go check it out. She couldn't see any logical reason why she should've but... "I'm gonna go check it out." She made her way towards the back.

"Um, Sunset..." Twilight reluctantly followed.

Sunset tiptoed at the side of the wall with Twilight behind her. She could hear someone digging through the trash.

Twilight put her hand on Sunset's shoulder. "I don't know about this Sunset." She said in a hushed voice. "We don't who this person is."

"Well, my dog senses aren't acting up." Spike added in an equally hushed tone. "Usually when someone bad is near, like Principal Cinch, I can pick up on it."

"I don't get it." Came a voice from around the corner.

The three stood perfectly still and listened to the person, a girl from the sound of it, just around the corner of the cafe.

"Why would someone throw perfectly good half-eaten donuts away? I just don't understand." The girl sighed. "Then again, I don't understand a lot of things, do I? Oh, well. At least, I get to eat something."

That voice... There was something familiar about it.

Sunset turned to Twilight and Spike. "I know that voice, but I can't place the face." Sunset turned back towards the voice and, with a deep breath, turned the corner.

The girl had her back to Sunset and was indeed searching through a trash can and eating half-finished donuts.

Sunset suppressed a gag and cleared her throat. "Ahem. Excuse me,"

"I SURRENDER!" The girl shouted as she threw her hands up, throwing a donut into the air, which landed on Twilight's head.

Sunset jumped back a bit from the outburst. "No, no. It's okay. We were just seeing if you were alright."

The girl kept her hands in the air for a few seconds before relaxing and rubbing the back of her head. "Oh, okay." She turned around to face them.

Due to the girl's hood still being up, Sunset couldn't properly make out her face for the moment. Still, she looked familiar.

After a second, the girl's eyes widened. "Oh, no." She backed into the trash can, knocking it and herself over.

Sunset quickly stepped over and knelt at the girl's side. "Are you okay?" She asked. But before she could get an answer, her eyes widened just as the girl's had.

When she fell over, the girl's hood had been knocked off her head, revealing someone Sunset didn't think she'd see again. The blue color pattern. The hot-pink eyes. The outrageous ponytail. She was one of The Dazzlings.

"You!"

The siren smiled nervously and gave a small wave. "Me."

Twilight looked between the two in confusion as she tried to pick the frosting out of her hair from where the donut had landed. "Sooo, you two do know each other?"

Sunset helped her old foe up and nodded. "Yeah, you could say that." She took a step away from the siren. "This is... uhhh... I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Sonata."

"This is Sonata. She and two friends of hers tried to take over the school."

"What!?" Twilight certainly hadn't expected that.

"Speaking of which," Sunset crossed her arms and turned to Sonata with a questioning look. "Where are your friends right now?" Although she hadn't known them long, she vividly recalled that The Dazzlings had never been apart in all the times she had seen them. Something about one of them being alone just didn't sit right with her."

"Adagio and Aria? Well, uh..." Sonata glanced around nervously. "They're nearby."

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

"Somewhere." Sonata started to look rather sad. "I'm sure they're around... Maybe?"

Sunset just gave Sonata a look.

Sonata sighed and hung her head. "They left."

"Left where?" Sunset didn't want to be pushy, but she didn't want to take chances. Even though their crystals had been destroyed and they were effectively human now, she didn't want to underestimate The Dazzlings after what they pulled last time.

"I don't know!" Sonata suddenly snapped. "They... They just left!" Tears started forming in her eyes.

Sunset was surprised by Sonata's sudden outburst. The poor girl looked like she would break down at any moment. This couldn't be an act. She couldn't have been lying, but still... "Sonata, will you hold your hands out please?" She asked as she rubbed the geode around her neck.

Sonata wiped her eyes and gave Sunset a funny look. "Why?"

"I just want to check something."

Sonata hesitated before holding out her hands towards Sunset.

Sunset took Sonata's hands in her own and activated her power.

This is all YOUR fault! You and your mind-numbing stupidity!

Thanks to you, we have no magic at all! We're no different from these insects we've been stepping on!

Remember all those ponies back when we ruled? Remember how they would grow old and die? That's what's going to happen to us! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!

Adagio, wait! Please! We've been together forever. We can't just-

Smack.

Sunset snapped out of her trance and looked at Sonata in pure sympathy. "Oh, Sonata. I-I'm so sorry."

Sonata retracted her hands, having no idea what was going on. "What just happened?"

"It's a long story, but I can see into people's minds and read their emotions by touching them. I know that they abandoned you."

"Oh... W-Well, I'm sure they come around eventually. It was just a... just a..."

"Sonata," Sunset put her hand on her former foe's shoulder. "Why don't you come with us? We can help you."

Sonata gave Sunset an unsure look as she considered the offer"Umm... No, thanks. I'll just stick around here until they come back."

"How do you know they will?"

"Because..." Sonata seemed to be at a loss. "Because they have to. I mean, we can't really be done... Can we?"

Sunset sighed. "Look, Sonata, I'm gonna be straight with you. I think Adagio and Aria were bad for you. I just saw how they treated you after the Battle of the Bands. I think you should just let them go."

"What?! That's crazy talk!" Sonata stated, slapping Sunset's hand off of her shoulder. "We've been together for like a bajillion years! We helped each other! How can I just let them go!?"

Sunset didn't know what to say. Indeed, the three sirens had been together for thousands of years. Regardless of how the other two had treated her, Sonata was not going to just let them go. On top of that, she didn't seem to want Sunset's help. At the same time though, Sunset couldn't just leave her like this.

After thinking for a moment, Sunset turned to Twilight. "Do you have a pen and a piece of paper I can borrow?"

Spike ducked into Twilight's backpack and resurfaced with a pen and paper in his mouth.

Twilight took it and gave her dog a scratch behind the ear. "Thanks, Spike."

Twilight handed it over to Sunset, who started writing on it.

Sonata slid over and looked over Sunset's shoulder to see what she was writing. When Sunset glanced at her, Sonata turned and started whistling (Well, tried to whistle; she ended up blowing raspberries instead) to look inconspicuous.

Once she was finished, Sunset handed the paper to Sonata. "That's my address and a map from here to my house. If you decide to let me, I'll help you."

Sonata looked from the map to Sunset. "Umm, why? I know I'm not very smart, but I'm pretty sure me and my sisters mind-controlled everyone in your school into hating each other. So, why would you help me?"

"Let's just say our hands aren't clean either." Sunset rubbed the back of her head and gave an apologetic smile to Twilight. "They gave us a second chance; there's no reason to not give you one."

Sonata blinked in confusion and looked at the map.

Sunset couldn't figure out what was going through the siren's head. The look on her face was... blank. But before either could say anything, Sunset's phone vibrated. She brought it out and checked it.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Pinkie just texted me. She says she needs help." She looked to Sonata. "Sonata, please just think about it." With that, she and Twilight left; leaving behind a very conflicted and confused Sonata Dusk.

"What does Pinkie need help with?" Twilight asked as she and Sunset ran down the side walk.

"I don't know. She just said that she's at a tree near Derpy's house."





Pinkie Pie dug her teeth into the bindings that trapped her hands and tried to rip them off. Failing, she tried to forcibly pull herself free, though it was difficult to do so since one of her feet got tangled as well a little while ago. Luckily, she had been able to use her tongue to text Sunset for help. She looked to the wall-eyed girl that was currently hanging upside down from a tree, wrapped in the same kite string that ensnared Pinkie. "Hey Derpy, how did you get like this anyway?" The fun-loving girl asked.

"Well, I was flying my kite and then... this happened." Derpy answered. "I just don't know what went wrong."





Nighttime had arrived about three hours ago.

Sunset rested her head on her fist as she tried to concentrate on her homework, struggling to stay awake. She had been worn out from helping Pinkie and Derpy get out of a web of kite string. How did they end up that way in the first place? How get Pinkie text her with her tongue? Why did Derpy's kite have two miles of string? Sunset didn't know and didn't even try to figure it out. Right now, she just wanted to finish her work and hit the sack.

Knock, knock, knock.

Sunset was beginning to fall asleep when the sound of knocking at her door woke her up. Strange; who could be knocking at this time? Sunset could've guessed Pinkie, but she had already done something weird that day.

Knock, knock, knock.

Stretching, Sunset got up from her desk and made her way downstairs.

Knock, knock, knock.

She unlocked the door and opened it.

Bonk, bonk, bonk.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were the door."

Sunset rubbed her forehead. "Sonata?"

The siren nodded. "Yeah. Sooo, after you left, I started thinking..."

"...And?"

"Well, I didn't do a good job. Anyway, I figured if I'm gonna wait for Adagio and Aria to come back..."

"...Yeah?"

"Uh, I had a thought but I lost it. The point is... Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Uhhh, sure. Yeah." Sunset moved aside, allowing the siren in.

"So, this is your house?" Sonata asked as she looked around the place.

"Yep." Sunset couldn't think of much to say. She was already worn out from the day's events and hadn't expected Sonata to arrive that very night. Ugh, she needed some sleep. She'd think more about it all in the morning.

Sonata rushed into the kitchen. "You got any potato chips?"

"In the cabinet next to the fridge."

There was a sound of a cabinet shutting and a fridge opening. "Oooh, grape soda!"

"Help yourself." Sunset was already half-asleep.

Sonata came back with a bag of potato chips and a two-liter of grape soda. She jumped and landed right on the coach, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. "Oooh, My Little Robot is on!"

"Yeah well, I'm going to bed. Try not to make to make a mess." Sunset was already walking up the stairs.

"Okay! Thanks for letting me stay here!"

"You're welcome." Sunset went to her bedroom and locked the door, not wanting any surprises while she slept. She climbed under the covers and let her head hit the pillow. Hopefully, she would have time to finish her homework before school tomorrow. As she drifted off to sleep, something in the back of her head told her that letting Sonata into her house and leaving her to her own devices wasn't the best idea, but she was too exhausted to care. Besides, she told Sonata she would help her, didn't she? She had to uphold her word.

The sound of laughter came from the living room.

Sunset sighed. "I'll figure out everything in the morning."
> Welcome to the Madhouse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset Shimmer launched herself out of bed in fighting position when she was awoken by a loud ringing noise. She forced open her eyes and blinked a few times before resting her eyes on the culprit. Just the alarm clock... again. She turned it off and wiped drool off her chin. "Stupid clock." She moved her eyes towards her work desk. "Oh, right. I need to finish my homework." With a yawn and a stretch, she grabbed her homework and exited her room.

After showering and brushing her teeth (she did both at once to save time), Sunset made her way downstairs. On her way to the kitchen, she took notice of her sleeping guest. Sonata was sprawled out on the couch, covered in potato chip crumbs and her mouth stained purple with grape soda. Sunset rolled her eyes and turned off the TV before entering her kitchen, making herself a sandwich while she finished up her homework.

As she worked, her attention was taken by a groggy Sonata staggering into the kitchen. Despite looking a bit out of it, she happily waved at Sunset.

Sunset waved back. "Good morning, Sonata. Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, yeah. I slept like a baby... except this time I didn't have my thumb in my mouth. At least, I don't think I did..."

"Riiiight,"

"So, what'cha doin'?" Sonata practically teleported to Sunset's side.

"Uhh, homework."

"What's it for?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "School."

"But then, wouldn't it be called schoolwork?"

"Well, it's for school but you bring it home." Sunset tried to think of a way to explain it. "You do the work at home and then you bring it back to school."

"Oh..." Sonata, not having anything else to say, just stood there; watching Sunset work.

Sunset felt awkward with Sonata looking over her shoulder. "Hey, why don't you go take a shower while I finish working?"

"Okay," Sonata left but came back two seconds later. "Where's the shower at?"

"Upstairs, first door on the left."

"Right," Sonata left for five seconds before returning. "Which way is left?"

Sunset facepalmed. "You really don't know your left from your right?"

"I do... I just forget sometimes."

With a sigh, Sunset led Sonata to the bathroom; giving her instructions on how the knobs in the shower worked before leaving. Once that was done, Sunset continued finishing her work and her breakfast; though she was occasionally distracted sudden shouts of "Cold! Cold! Cold!" and "Hot! Hot! Hot!" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is going to be a long day."





Sunset led Sonata to the Rainboom's practice room. She had instructed Sonata to keep her hood up on the way, expecting that Sonata would not receive a warm welcome from the school after helping her sisters brainwash everyone into hating each other.

Sunset had decided to bring Sonata to school so they could explain the situation to the rest of the group. She had already texted each of them to meet her in their practice room. If anyone at the school besides Sunset would be willing to give Sonata a chance, it was them.

Once they got to the practice room, Sunset closed the door. "Alright, here we are."

Sonata took down her hood and looked around. "Wow! You got a lot of stuff here." Her eyes settled on something. "But, uh, is that guy supposed to be here?"

Sunset then saw that there was indeed someone else there, although it wasn't a guy. "Rainbow Dash?"

A mess of rainbow hair was resting on a desk while the body it was attached to slumped in a chair.

Sunset approached her cocky friend and saw that Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep while writing a song. Sunset assumed it was the same song she had been busy writing yesterday. She put her hand on Rainbow's shoulder and gently shook her. "Rainbow Dash, wake up."

Rainbow suddenly jerked upright. "Wha-What! Who's there!" A piece of paper was stuck to the right side of her face and a pencil was still in her hand.

"It's just me, Rainbow." Sunset answered, hiding her grin behind her hand.

"Oh." Rainbow noticed the paper and unattached it from her face.

"Is that the song you were writing yesterday?"

Rainbow suddenly looked nervous and stood up, hiding the paper behind her back. "Uhh, yeah." She put on an obviously fake smile.

"Were you writing it all night?"

"Pssh, nah. I was just, uh... I was so amazed by how awesome the song was that I couldn't stop looking over it and, before I knew it, I fell asleep. Heh, heh." Rainbow's eyes moved from side to side.

"Really?" Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Well, can I see it?"

"No! I mean, uh... I don't think your ready."

"Ready?"

"Yeah, because... This song is probably the most awesomest song of all time. I don't think you would be able to comprehend it. Yeah..." Rainbow started to sweat nervously.

Sunset crossed her arms. "Rainbow; I've traveled through dimensions, became and fought against a psychotic demon, and we both have superpowers. I'm pretty sure I can handle looking at the lyrics of a song, even if it is the 'most awesomest song ever'." She said deadpanned

"Well yeah, but... umm..." Rainbow sighed and throw up her hands in defeat. "Alright, I never finished the song! I don't know what's wrong with me! It's like I had the idea in my head, but when I tried to write it down I just... I don't know, I just couldn't concentrate!"

Sunset nodded in understanding. "It seems you have writer's block."

"But I've never had writer's block before! Whenever I've written a song in the past, I finished it in a few hours. Why do I have it now?" She ran her fingers through her multi-colored hair.

Sunset patted her friend on the back. "I'm sure you'll figure it eventually."

The moment was broken by the sound of someone playing the drums. It was very offbeat, like a child trying to play for the first time.

Sunset and Rainbow looked over to find the culprit.

Sonata smiled and waved at them with one of the drumsticks.

Rainbow stared at Sonata for a few seconds before looking to Sunset. "What is she doing here?" She said while pointing her thumb at Sonata.

"She needs our help, Rainbow."

"You do realize she's one of the Dazzlings, right?"

"I'll explain once the others get here."

The two continued to watch Sonata play the drums. Well, not really playing; more like randomly hitting everything without any rhythm whatsoever.

"Does she need help learning how to play?" Rainbow deadpanned.

"Sunset! Rainbow Dash!"

The two looked back to see Twilight shutting the door behind her. Spike popped his head out of her backpack and Twilight set him on the floor.

"Ah, Twilight. You're here." Sunset was glad Twilight had arrived before the others. Since Twilight had been with her when she found Sonata, Sunset wouldn't have to explain much to her.

"I got your text. I'm guessing you were talking about her?" She pointed to Sonata, who stopped playing to wave at Twilight.

Twilight politely waved back.

"Yep." Sunset answered. "She took my offer and slept over at my place last night."

"Wait," Rainbow interrupted. "She slept over your place last night?"

"I'll explain when the others get here." Sunset repeated.

"So, does anyone want to tell me how you know her?" Twilight asked, curious as to what happened between them. All she had gotten so far was that Sonata and her sisters had tried to take over Canterlot High.

"Oh, that's easy." Sonata answered. "Me and my sisters, Adagio and Aria, came to the school and used our siren voices to brainwash everyone into hating each other. And then there was this battle of the bands thing and we finally got your friends to start fighting. And then we turn into these siren-demon-thingies. And then there was this big music battle and..." Sonata's jolly demeanor faded. "And... W-Well, we... split up after that."

Twilight stared at Sonata with a blank expression. "...Okay. Got it."

Sonata's sad look turned confused. "Wait a second, weren't you there?"

"Well, actually..." Twilight turned to Sunset." Sunset, I think you can explain it better."

"Um, okay." Sunset cleared her throat. "This is a different Twilight. The Twilight you saw a few months came from Equestria and was turned human by a magic portal." Sunset made a note to not mention where said portal was. "This Twilight is actually from this world and transferred to this school not long ago. The other Twilight is back in Equestria. And while I'm explaining, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you that all seven of us have superpowers that we got from a camping trip a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, and they also had to beat this crazy forest-demon lady." Spike added.

...

Sonata was staring off into empty face, her mouth a flat line and her eyes unfocused.

Sunset could have sworn she heard crickets chirping. "Sonata?"

No response.

"...Did you catch any of that?"

"...Something about two Twilights and superpowers and a crazy forest-demon lady."

"Good enough."

The door opened and Applejack entered. "Hey, y'all."

"Hey, Applejack." Her friends greeted.

"Ah got ya message, Sunset. What's the problem?"

Sunset motioned to Sonata, who was trying to twirl a drumstick only to hit herself in the eye. "Ow!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "...Ah'm probably not the first one to ask, but why is one of the Dazzlin's here?"

"I'll explain once the others get here." Sunset repeated.

"Well, Ah saw Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy on mah way here. Don't know 'bout Rarity though."

"Isn't she making costumes for that school play she wrote?" Rainbow asked. "She's probably really busy."

"Oh, she'll make it here in time, sugar." Applejack assured. "Trust me. Even she has to overbook herself, she'll do it. That girl is stubborn as a mule."

Sunset and Rainbow looked to each other then back to Applejack, giving her a 'that's the crow calling the raven black' look.

"...Relatively speakin'."

"We're here!" And just like that, Pinkie Pie burst into the room with Fluttershy in tow. "Hi, Applejack! Hi, Sunset! Hi, Rainbow Dash! Hi, Twilight! Hi, Spike! Hi, Sonata!"

"Hello." Sonata greeted back.

Pinkie suddenly appeared beside Sunset. "What's she doing here?" She whispered behind her hand.

"I'll explain once the others, err, Rarity gets here." Sunset was about to ask Pinkie how she knew Sonata's name, but decided to wait on that.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie skipped over to her drum set, which Sonata was making another disastrous attempt at playing.

Sonata looked to the pink girl beside her. "Oh, sorry. Are these yours?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. I don't mind sharing." Pinkie scooted herself onto half of the seat, letting Sonata keep the other half, and swiped her drumsticks. "Here, let me show you how it's done."

Fluttershy shyly rubbed her arm. "Sorry, if we're late."

"Nah, you guys weren't late." Rainbow gave her best friend a smile and patted her on the back.

Fluttershy smiled back. "We would have been here earlier, but Pinkie needed to talk with me about-"

"Oh, yeah!" Pinkie launched herself out of her seat, leaving her drumsticks in mid-air (Sonata grabbed them), and placed herself in front of her friends. "I was telling Fluttershy about this tingly feeling-"

"PINKIE!"

"...In my neck."

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"I had this little twitchy feeling in the back of my neck. But it was a different kind of twitchy feeling than I usually get. Like yesterday, I had this feeling that Derpy needed my help and then I found her wrapped up in kite string. But today, I got this feeling that someone was watching me."

This caused a few eyebrows to be raised.

"Watching you?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah, like someone was spying on me. I even checked my special hiding places in case someone had found them, but no one was there."

Sunset was about to ask about the 'special hiding places', but decided she didn't even want to know.

"Wait, wait! Hold up!" Rainbow held up her hands. "You mean to tell us that you think someone is spying on you?"

"Well, I don't know if I was being spied on. I just had the feeling that I was."

Sunset was just writing it all of as 'typical Pinkie' when the door opened and a beautiful young lady with white skin and purple hair walked in.

"Sorry, I'm late." Rarity breathed out, evidently having just finished running.

Applejack smirked. "Glad ya could join us, sugar."

Rarity smoothed out her hair. "I apologize, darlings. I was working late last night on the costumes for the school play and Sweetie Belle was having trouble finding her school supplies and I had to check up with the others working on the school play before I could get here and why is one of the Dazzlings playing with Pinkie's drums?"

Sonata once again waved.

"Well, since you're all here now, I'll explain everything." Sunset took a deep breath. "Sonata," She motioned to the siren, who had suddenly appeared beside her. Was she related to Pinkie or something? "Was abandoned by her sisters. She has no where to go and she needs help."

Sonata's cheery, hapless demeanor was replaced by a sad, somber look.

"And we're the ones who are gonna help her?" Rainbow questioned.

"Yes." Sunset answered without hesitation. "You did the same for me and Twilight."

"Yeah, but..."

Sonata looked from the group to Sunset. "Guys, don't worry. Adagio and Aria will be back soon and then I'll be gone. I... I'm sure of it." She didn't sound sure.

Rainbow motioned for a group huddle.

Sonata tried to get in on it, but Sunset sat her down in a chair away from the group. Once that was dealt with, Sunset joined the huddle.

"I don't know about this, Sunset." Rainbow said. "Something about this just doesn't smell right."

"What about it?" Sunset questioned. "None of you had a problem with helping me or Twilight."

"It's not that. Doesn't it seem a little odd that you just happened to find her and the other two just happened to have abandoned her?"

"Yeah, and that ain't all," Applejack added. "The worse ya and Twilight did was while y'all were all crazy with demon-brain. Sonata and 'er sisters were in full control when they did what they did."

"If you think Sonata is faking, that's not true." Sunset defended. "I looked into her mind with my powers and I felt what she felt. Adagio and Aria did abandon her. Adagio even blamed Sonata for what happened to them."

Rarity looked confused. "And how was it Sonata's fault?"

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Exactly. I think Adagio put all the blame on Sonata so that she wouldn't have to take responsibility."

"That's awful!" Fluttershy stated.

"Yeah," Twilight agreed. "And you should've seen her when we found her. She was all jumpy and eating out of a trash can."

"Eww." The others retorted.

"Why that is simply dreadful!" Rarity looked like she was about to faint. "There will no longer be need for discussion. We must help her however we can."

"I agree." Fluttershy nodded. "I could never live with myself if we just left her like that."

"Hold on, everyone." Applejack butted in. "Now, Ah ain't sayin' that Ah don't wanna help her, but what about Adagio an' Aria? What if they do come back an' try to get revenge? Y'all saw how Sonata is still loyal to them. That could cause everyone a whole heap of trouble."

"Surely, you're not suggesting we throw her out on the streets, Applejack!" Rarity replied with disgust.

"Ah ain't sayin' that! Ah'm just sayin' that it could happen."

"I have that tingly feeling in my neck again." Pinkie said out of the blue.

Sunset thought for a moment. "Then we're going to have to get her on our side. We'll show her what it's like to have real friends. She may have spent her entire live with Adagio and Aria, but all they ever did was hurt her. I think we can make it work. Who's with me?"

"I'm totally with you!" Pinkie answered. "Being friends with people is what I do best!"

"I as well." Rarity answered.

"Me too." Fluttershy answered.

"You know I'm with you all the way." Twilight answered.

"After all we've been through, this'll be easy." Rainbow bragged. "Count me in."

"Me too." Applejack answered.

Sunset smiled and nodded before braking the huddle. "Alright, Sonata... Sonata?"

Sonata had evidently decided to entertain herself by sticking her head into a tuba. Wait, why was there a tuba? Meh, probably Pinkie's. "Um, I'm stuck." Her voice was muffled but clear enough.

"Oh, dear." Sunset rushed over and took a hold of the tuba, trying to get it off of Sonata's head. "How did you get like this anyway?"

"Aria dropped me on my head when I was a baby." Sonata answered.

Sunset paused to stare at Sonata, looking a bit disturbed. "I meant, how did get your head stuck in a tuba?"

"Oh... I wanted to see the inside of it."

Sunset facepalmed.

"Allow me." Pinkie stepped up and moved Sunset to the side. She took a hold of the instrument and took a deep breath. A second later, Sonata crashed into the opposite wall while the sound of a tuba sailed through the air.

Sonata peeled herself off the wall and shook her head. "Maybe I should stop sticking my head into things..."

Sunset walked over to Sonata and put her hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Sonata looked a bit confused, maybe even surprised, by the question. "Umm... Yeah."

Just then, the school bell rang.

"Oh, shoot! We're late for class!" Rainbow ran out the door.

Sunset looked to Sonata. "You stay here with Spike. We'll get you two when school's over."

"Okay," Sonata nodded, but then looked confused... again. "Wait, who's Spike."

"That would be me." Spike said as Twilight finished hugging him goodbye.

Sonata eyes widened and she practically teleported towards Spike with a big smile on her face. "A talking dog!" She snatched Spikeright out of Twilight's hands. "Aaaah, and he's so cute too!" A gave Spike a tight hug (perhaps too tight). "Don't worry, I'll take good care of him."

Twilight looked unsure, both with leaving Spike with Sonata and who was taking care of who.

Sunset smiled and patted Sonata on the back. "Welcome to the madhouse, Sonata."

"I thought this was a school." Sonata said with genuine confusion.

The last one to leave the room was Pinkie Pie, who stopped in the doorway when she felt that tingly feeling in the back of her neck again. "I still feel like someone's watching us..." She muttered. "Oh, well. Probably nothing." She smiled and shrugged as she left.





The pink one had just left the room, leaving Sonata and the little purple dog to their own devices. None of the girls had ever spared a glance out the window. Though even if they had, they wouldn't have seen her as she was well hidden in the bushes. She had watched the entire scene through binoculars, from each girl entering to the girls huddling together while Sonata stuck her head in a tuba like the idiot she was. It seemed they had made Sonata their newest friend.

Lowering the binoculars, Adagio Dazzle smiled and stifled a chuckle. "Perfect."
> Spike and the Siren
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike sat on the floor and stared blankly into Sonata's hot-pink eyes. She was laying on her belly with her head propped up by one of her hands, whimsically kicking her feet in the air. She was just staring at him and smiling blissfully. Oh, well. At least she stopped hugging him. Spike usually liked being hugged, but Sonata clearly didn't know her own strength.

"So, what's it like being a talking dog?" Sonata asked.

"Well, it's the same as being a regular dog except that I can talk."

"Can you still meow like a dog?"

"... Uh... Dogs don't meow. We bark."

"Oh, right. Sorry. I forgot, meowing is for bunnies."

Spike facepalmed. "No, Sonata. Meowing is for cats." He twitched a bit from thinking about the fluffy little devils.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. Wait, so what sound do bunnies make?"

"They... Um... I don't know. I don't think they even make a sound."

"Oh." Sonata drew circles on the floor with her finger. "How long 'til school's over?"

"A couple of hours. It only got started an hour ago and you already asked me that thirty minutes ago."

"Oh, really?"

Spike sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Sonata rolled onto her back and frowned. "I'm bored... Hey!" Her smiled returned and she got to her knees, scooping up Spike as she did. "Dogs know how to have fun! What do you usually do while you wait for school to end?"

"Well... I usually just take a nap."

"Got it!" Sonata put Spike down and immediately curled up on her side, resting her head on her hands and closing her eyes.

Spike sat confused for a few seconds before shrugging and curling into a little ball on the floor.

...

...

"I can't sleep." Sonata said after about ten seconds.

Spike groaned.





There was a knock at the door.

"Uhhh, no one's here." Sonata answered.

Twilight entered, closing the door behind her, and took a moment to process what was going on in front of her.

Sonata was tangled in streamers (she must have found one of Pinkie's stashes), her hoodie was on backwards, and there was a smiley face sticker on her left cheek. Spike had a little pink bow around his right ear and looked frustrated. The room was a mess and looked like a bunch of little kids had been in it... or one big kid.

"Why did you say that no one was here?" Spike asked in a defeated tone.

"Because no one is supposed to know we're here, remember?" Sonata answered confidently.

Spike facepalmed and sighed. "Yeah, but if you answer them, they'll know someone's here."

Sonata gave Spike a confused look.

Spike took a deep breath. "Sonata... Can an empty room answer someone?"

"No," It took a moment before it hit Sonata. "Oh... I'm sorry." She looked genuinely sad.

Twilight wiped her glasses with a handkerchief she kept for such occasions and put them back to make sure she was seeing everything correctly. "Um, what happened here?"

"It's a long story." Spike answered in a tone that made it clear he didn't feel like explaining.

"Right, sorry I asked. Anyway, I brought you both lunch."

Sonata perked up at the mention of lunch.

"For you, Spike, I got a steak." She laid down a plate with said slab of meat.

"Alright!" Spike immediately dug in.

"And for you, Sonata... Well, I didn't know what you would like, but it's Taco Tuesday so-"

"TACOS!" Sonata leap into the air and body slammed into Twilight, knocking her down. She grabbed the tacos and rolled about three feet away before starting on them.

"Yep. Tacos." Twilight sat up and adjusted her glasses. She sat her knees and smiled at Spike. "So, how has everything gone?" She asked as she removed the bow on his ear.

Spike groaned. "Sonata is harder to take care of than a puppy." He kept his voice low so that Sonata wouldn't hear him.

"Oh, come on, Spike. She can't be that bad."

"You're right. She's worse! This girl is an idiot!"

Twilight frowned. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Spike."

"You don't understand, Twilight. She..." Spike looked over at Sonata and stopped talking

Twilight followed his gaze and saw that Sonata had stopped eating. She was sitting still and had a hurt expression on her face. She had heard them.

Twilight walked over and put her hand on Sonata's shoulder. "He didn't mean that, Sonata."

"No, I uh... I was just thinking about something." Sonata answered. "It's not important, I don't think."

Twilight wanted to try to get Sonata to talk, but knew that she was on a timed schedule. "Okay. I need to get back to the others, but if you want to talk about it later, we can."

Sonata gave a confused look to Twilight. "...Okay."

Twilight nodded and left, wondering why Sonata looked so confused.

Spike walked over to Sonata and sat at her side. "Hey, Sonata, I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, no. It's fine." Sonata peeled the sticker off her cheek. "I know I'm stupid. Adagio and Aria never let me forget it."

Spike gave Sonata a sympathetic look and nuzzled against her side. "They were awful to you, Sonata."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Sonata slowly ate her tacos and Spike finished his steak. After a few more minutes, Sonata spoke. "I never thought they were awful. We argued and fought a lot, but I didn't really think... Spike?"

"Yeah."

"When I hurt myself and Sunset asked if I was okay... Why did she ask?"

Spike raised an eyebrow, confused by the question. "Because she cares about you."

"... Is that why Twilight wants to know what I was thinking about?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm." Sonata looked thoughtful.

Spike may not have been the smartest dog, but even he could figure Sonata out. "They never cared about you, did they? Adagio and Aria?"

"I-It's not there fault." Sonata defended. "I-I always messed up. They didn't need to care. Adagio keeping me around was more than I deserved."

"Is that you talking? Or them?"

Sonata didn't answer.

Spike put his paw on her leg. "Sonata, Adagio and Aria were with you for hundreds or even thousands of years. Twilight and her friends barely know you and they still care about you more than your sisters ever did. I think you'll like being with them better than your sisters."

Sonata still didn't answer. In fact, she didn't talk at all until school was over.





Meanwhile, at Crystal Prep High School...

Aria waited in a dark corner as her fellow students exited the school. There was no need for her to wait, but she preferred to keep her distance from everyone. She always hated social interaction, even if it was only with two other people. No. No, she wasn't thinking about that. She didn't care about those two losers. She was doing fine on her own and intended to keep it that way.

Once the last of the students had left, she stepped out and look through the door windows. No one on the steps this time. She exited through the doors and made her way to the side of the school, preferring to keep out of routes that would have others in them. She tugged at the collar of her uniform. "Ugh, this clothes are a pain in the neck." She muttered as she passed the edge of the school.

"Oh, that's too bad. They really suit you."

Aria froze in place. A small part of her wanted to keep walking, but she knew better. She turned to the figure leaning against the school with her arms crossed and a nasty little smirk on her face. "Adagio?"

"Surprised to see me?" Adagio took a few steps towards her sister. "How long has it been since we last left off? A couple of months?"

"What do you want, Adagio?" Aria was not in the mood for games. Plus she was still very peeved about Adagio leaving.

Adagio's smirk grew in size. "I need your help, Aria. I think it's time we had some well-deserved payback regarding a certain group of meddling kids."

Aria raised an eyebrow.

Adagio stepped closer, causing Aria to take a reflexive step back. "Those fools from Canterlot High who put us in this predicament. Not only do they need to be taught a lesson, but they still have Equestrian magic. And I think we still have a chance at getting it. Maybe we can even get our lives back."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Aria asked skeptically, wondering if Adagio had lost her mind.

Suddenly, Adagio stepped right up to Aria and put her hands on her shoulder, slightly digging her fingers into them. "That's where Sonata comes in!"

"Sonata?"

"This morning, I saw that bacon head leading her to Canterlot High. I watched that little knucklehead get acquainted with the seven of them. It looks like she's their new friend." She got right in Aria's face, making her very uncomfortable. "Don't you get it? We can use Sonata to get information on them. How they got their magic? Where they live? Their strengths and weaknesses? It's all laid out like a buffet!"

"Uh-huh, and how is Sonata gonna do that? She's an idiot, remember? If we tell her that she needs to spy on them, she'll screw up like she always does."

"Simple. We don't tell her a thing. We won't even let her know that we're watching. She'll be our little unwitting pawn. As for the rest of the plan, I'll figure out that bridge once we cross it. So, are you in? Oh, what am I saying?" Adagio chuckled and turned away.

Aria narrowed her eyes. "What does that supposed to mean? Maybe I don't want to help you! Maybe I like it here!"

Adagio stood as still as a statue for a few seconds. She wiggled her fingers and cracked her neck before turning and looking Aria in the eye. "Really?"

Aria gulped. That look in Adagio's eye... It was the same as that night.

Adagio stepped forward. "Well, tell me about it, Aria. Tell why this pathetic, worthless mortal life is better." Her voice was like ice. "Tell me how you're just going to refuse to help me." She grabbed Aria by the collar and brought her in close. "Did you forget who pulls the strings?"

Aria looked into Adagio's crazed eyes, sweating nervously. Adagio was right. This wasn't a life. While she hated to admit it, Aria was nothing without Adagio. This was her chance and she nearly blew it. "I...I'm sorry. I was... being stupid. I'm with you."

Adagio stared into Aria's eyes for a good long moment before nodding. "That's what I thought." She smoothed out Aria's uniform and smiled. "Now, let's get you dressed into something less... eww."

"Huh? But said it suited..." She narrowed eyes.

Adagio just smiled smugly at her.
> Rainbow Dash and the Siren
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe they cancelled soccer practice because of a little rain!" Rainbow Dash ranted as she bounced her soccer ball off her knees, keeping it off the ground. It had started raining a little over an hour before the final bell. While it wasn't particularly heavy, it was enough for soccer practice to be cancelled, which Rainbow Dash was not too happy about.

Sunset, Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack trailed behind Rainbow while she ranted. Rarity had to get back to working on the play costumes.

Sunset and Twilight stuck beside each other. "I just hope that everything worked out with Spike and Sonata." Twilight said with a worried tone. "Sonata looked really upset when I left them at lunch."

Twilight had told Sunset what had happened once she had came back from bringing Spike and Sonata lunch. "I'm sure everything is fine." Sunset assured. "So, Sonata got a little upset. I'm sure she's better now." Once they arrived at the door to their practice room, she looked over at Rainbow Dash. "Dash, you passed the door!" She called over.

Rainbow looked back, causing the ball to hit the floor. She caught the ball when it bounced back up and walked over while rubbing the back of her head. "Oops."

Sunset rolled her eyes and opened the door. The first thing she noticed was that the room was a mess. Obviously, Twilight hadn't been exaggerating. However, her attention was quickly taken by the sight on the floor. Namely, Spike and Sonata curled up on the floor together sleeping.

"Awww." All six of them cooed, even Rainbow Dash.

Sunset quickly took a picture on her phone before walking over and kneeling at the two. Her smile faded when she saw the expression on Sonata's face. Sonata was sleeping of course, but she looked... upset. Sunset put her hand on Sonata's shoulder and gently shook her. "Sonata?"

Sonata awoke with a jolt. She breathed heavily and her eyes darted in each direction. Clearly, she'd had a nightmare.

Sunset took notice immediantly and returned her hand to Sonata's shoulder. "Hey, hey! It's okay. It was just dream."

Sonata looked from Sunset to the floor. "Oh."

Sunset helped Sonata up while Twilight picked up a now awake Spike. "You okay? You looked like you were having a nightmare."

Sonata scratched her head. "Well... yeah. But it's over now, right?"

Sunset smiled and nodded. "Right." She turned to face the rest of her friends. "So, is anything on the agenda today?"

"What does fruit have to do with anything?" Sonata asked earnestly.

Sunset was glad that she was faced away from Sonata, otherwise she would have seen her roll her eyes. Then again, she probably wouldn't have noticed anyway. "Agenda is not a fruit, Sonata. It's the plan for what we're doing today."

"Oh."

Rainbow Dash got right back to kneeing her soccer ball in the air. "Well, I would if not for the stupid rain!"

Applejack groaned. "Alright, we get it, Dash! Ya don't gotta say it a million times."

"Well, it still sucks." Rainbow Dash shot back.

"Sucks what?" Sonata asked. Again, totally earnest.

The soccer ball hit the floor when Dash heard the question. "Uhhh, It just... sucks."

"Yeah, sucks what?"

"...Lemons."

"Oh."

Sunset tapped her finger against her chin in thought. "Why don't you get back to working on your song?"

Rainbow Dash glanced away and rubbed the back of her head. "Uhhh, why? I mean, there's need to rush brilliance. I'll, uh, I'll get back on it later."

Sunset rolled her eyes (she was doing that a lot lately) and looked back to find Sonata was no longer behind her. Instead, she was at the window, looking out at the rain. Sunset stared at the siren for a moment before it hit her: When she had looked into Sonata's memories, she had seen Adagio and Aria abandoning Sonata. It had been raining. She looked at the poor girl in sympathy. The rain must have reminded her of that night.

The prospect that Sonata would return to Adagio if the afro-headed fiend simply asked haunted Sunset. She had to show Sonata that there was a better way. Her mind went into overdrive as she tried to think of the best way to show Sonata what true friendship is. If Sonata just got to know each of them...

Sunset's eyes widened. She smiled and snapped her fingers. She turned to face the others. "Group huddle." She turned to face Sonata. "You stay there."

Sonata nodded. "Okay."

Sunset took Spike from Twilight and sat him on the floor. "Make sure she doesn't stick her head into anything." She whispered to the dog.

Spike nodded.

With that taken care of, Sunset completed the huddle. "Alright, girls. I've got an idea of how to show Sonata that we're her friends."

"Throw her a party?!" Pinkie excitedly suggested.

"Umm... Later."

"How later? A little later? Alotta later? A in-the-middle later?"

"Later later."

"Okie-dokie-lokie! I'll schedule it on my later later party list!"

Somehow, Sunset wasn't surprise that Pinkie had a schedule for that. "Here's the deal: As long as we all stay together, Sonata is going to feel left out and that isn't going to help anyone."

"So, what's the plan?" Rainbow asked.

"Each of us will spend time with her individually." Sunset answered.

"That sounds like a good idea." Twilight inquired. "By bonding with each of us alone instead of in a group, she has a better chance of acknowledging us as her friends."

Applejack nodded. "Sounds good'ta me."

"I think so too." Fluttershy agreed. "But, um, shouldn't one of us tell Rarity?"

"I'll tell her." Rainbow offered. "I'll be there in a flash."

"Actually, Rainbow," Sunset smirked. "I'm gonna need you to stay here."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

Sunset broke the huddle. "Sonata?"

"Yeah."

Sunset jumped back in surprise when she found that Sonata had been right behind her. She brought a hand to her chest and took a deep breath before continuing. "I have a job for you to do."

Sonata's eyes widened in surprise. "A job for me?"

Sunset smiled. "Yes. You see, Rainbow Dash is having trouble writing a song and I thought maybe you could help her."

"What?" Both Rainbow and Sonata blurted out.

Sunset nodded. "Yep."

Sonata rubbed the back of her head. "Gee, I, uh, I don't know. I mean, I can't even sing anymore. And I've never even wrotten a song before."

"Written." Twilight corrected under her breath.

"You don't have to." Sunset put her hands on Sonata's shoulders. "All you have to do is help Rainbow think."

"But I can't even think for myself." Sonata countered. "How am I supposed to think for someone else?"

"You can think for yourself, Sonata. You just... think differently. And I know you can help Rainbow. I believe in you."

Sonata stared at Sunset with a funny look on her face. She looked confused... but also touched. After a moment, she smiled. "Okay. I'll try."

Sunset nodded and turned to the rest of the group. "Me, Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie need to go and-"

"Plan a party?!" Pinkie asked.

"-Talk to Rarity about something." Sunset finished.

"Oh, right." Pinkie chuckled.

As Sunset and the others started to leave, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face Rainbow Dash.

"I don't know about this, Sunset." Rainbow whispered. "I mean, I wanna to help her out and all, but I don't think this is a good time to..."

"Don't worry, Rainbow." Sunset assured. "If Spike could handle her for six hours, you can definitely handle her for, say, one hour."She patted her friend on the shoulder and left.

Rainbow watched as the door shut and looked beside her to find Sonata giving her a smile.

"Hi." Sonata greeted as if she had just met Rainbow.

Rainbow sighed.





"Why, I think that is a marvelous idea!" Rarity stated as she made adjustments to a fancy-looking dress. She needed to make sure everything was perfect. "But I'm afraid I'm going to be dreadfully busy for the time being."

"That's fine." Sunset shrugged. "Maybe Sonata could help you with the preparations?"

Rarity took off her work glasses and turned to face Sunset. "Oh, darling, you know I would love to. But, um, I'm not quite sure how Sonata would be able to assist. I still have many dresses to make and I still need to find someone to play Blaze Heart. Sorry to say, I highly doubt that Sonata would be able to assist me in either category."

Sunset understood Rarity's concern. The play itself had actually been co-written by Rarity and most of the ideas in it were hers. When she had heard that Principal Celestia and Princess Luna were taking suggestions for what the play would be of, the fashionista had offered to do something more original than a classic that's been done countless times before. Sunset remembered how thrilled Rarity had been when her offer had been excepted. She had been dancing around and hugging everyone she passed by.

Applejack looked around at the set up when she noticed something. Or rather someone. "Uh, what exactly is Derpy doin'?"

The rest of the group looked over to see Derpy jumping around the stage like a buffoon.

"She's testing the stage to make sure it's sturdy," Rarity answered. "And after that, I'm going to have her count the number of seats in the auditorium."

Pinkie suddenly zipped away.

"And why is she doin' that?" Apple pressed.

Rarity sighed. "The poor dear wanted to help, but she always causes a disaster with her clumsiness. I didn't have the heart to turn her down, so I've been giving her some... unique jobs to keep her busy."

"Um, why don't you do that with Sonata?" Fluttershy offered.

"Because the purpose of this is for each of us to bond with Sonata. Rarity can't bond with her by giving her irrelevant tasks." Sunset answered.

"Oh, okay, I'm sorry."

Sunset rubbed her head, trying to figure out a way for Sonata to help Rarity.

"Oh, don't worry, darling." Rarity assured. "I'll figure something out. After all, multitasking is one of my talents. I just need some time." Rarity said as she put the finishing touches on the dress. "Perfect."

Sunset smiled and nodded. "Alright."

Just then, the girls heard the sound of a conversion between some younger girls. They turned to see Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle a little ways off.

"Okay, okay. How's this?" Sweetie Belle cleared her throat. "You know not what you DOOO, Blaze Heart! I am simply not WORTH the RISK! How was that?"

Apple Bloom scratched her head. "Sounds overdramatic to me."

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah, you keep over doing it. It sounds silly."

Sweetie Belle sighed. "I just wanna do good. This is my first step to becoming a superstar! The lead actress of my own sister's first play! I have to nail this down!"

"Well, try again an' this time don't sound so..." Apple Bloom tried to think of a word.

"Over the top?" Scootaloo offered.

"Yeah, that's it."

Applejack raised an eyebrow at Rarity. "Ya gave Sweetie Belle the lead role?"

"It wasn't out of bias, Applejack." Rarity defended. "She had the best audition. She's perfect for the role."

Applejack gave her a look.

"...Alright, there was a tiny bit of bias." Rarity admitted. "Don't pretend that It would have been different if it were you and Apple Bloom."

"Point taken."

Suddenly, Pinkie reappeared. "Two thousand, five-hundred and eighty-four!"

The others looked at her in confusion. "Um, pardon me?" Was all Rarity could get out.

"That's how many seats there are in the auditorium!" Pinkie confirmed with a big smile on her face.

Rarity stared at her blankly for a few seconds. "...Ah, right. Well, I'll have Derpy recheck that."

"I'll do it!" Pinkie started to zoom away, but was caught by the rem of her skirt by Applejack.

"I think your missin' the point, Pinkie." She said with a deadpanned look.

Sunset looked from Pinkie to Rarity. "Well, I guess that's our que to leave. We'll go check on Rainbow and Sonata and let you get back to work." With that, Sunset and the others left.

"Ta ta." Rarity waved bye to them before setting her mind on other matters. "Now, who can I get to play Blaze Heart?" She placed a hand on her hip and tapped a finger against her chin as she thought. However, her thoughts were interrupted by the nearby Crusaders.

"This Blaze Heart guy sounds so weird." Scootaloo chuckled as she read script. "I do not fear vile heathens such as you, Backstab!" She said in a fancy-ish voice. "I will be with Gold Rose and you will dance with death!"

"Wow! That was actually really good!" Sweetie Belle complimented.

"Yeah! Go on an' read another line." Apple Bloom cheered.

"Alright," Scootaloo looked through the script and found another line for Blaze Heart. "Even if I have to wait for a thousand years, I will never give up on you, my love!" She laughed once she finished.

Ding. "Ideaaa!" Rarity said in a sing-song voice.





Rainbow Dash stared at the blank piece of paper in front of her, having thrown out the drool stained one for a fresh piece, as her pencil failed to make any words. She had procrastinated by insisting that she and Sonata clean up the practice room first, but once that was done there was no excuse to keep her from her work. She stared down at the paper as if, if she concentrated hard enough, the words would magically appear. But that didn't happen.

Sonata looked over Rainbow's shoulder, waiting for something to happen. "...I think you have to move the pencil to make words."

"Oh, really. I didn't notice." Rainbow said sarcastically.

"Oh, don't worry." Sonata patted Rainbow's shoulder in sympathy. "I don't notice a lot of things either."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I never would have guessed."

"Oh, you'd be surprised." Sonata put her hands on the table and leaned against it. "Like, whenever Adagio and Aria were talking about something, I always felt like there was something I wasn't getting."

They must have been sarcastic. Rainbow thought to herself.

Sonata's demeanor started to become less cheerful. "Sometimes, I messed up and I... I never knew how, but they told me I did."

Rainbow looked to Sonata as the former siren's eyes started to water.

"L-Like that night..." Sonata sniffed. "They... They told me it was my fault, but I... I don't know w-what I d-did wrong." Tears started running down her cheeks. "They-They didn't t-tell me h-how I..."

Rainbow stood from her seat and brought a handkerchief out of her pocket. She put her hand on Sonata's shoulder and wiped the tears off her face. "Don't think about that, Sonata."

Sonata gave Rainbow a confused look.

Rainbow handed her the handkerchief so she could dry her eyes and put an arm around her shoulders. "Look, Sonata, I get that Adagio and Aria are your sisters, but I'm gonna say it. They're nothing but evil jerks and they don't deserve you!"

Sonata dried her eyes as she listened to Rainbow. "But they told me that I didn't deserve them."

"They lied!" Rainbow sighed. "Let me tell you a story, Sonata. I used to hang out with this chick named Lightning Dust."

"Why were you hanging out with a baby chicken?"

Rainbow resisted the urge to rolled her eyes. "Let me rephrase that: I used to hang out with this girl named Lightning Dust. She was a lot like me and we became friends, but she kept doing things that got other people hurt. She kept telling me that it was okay and said it in a way that made me believe her. It wasn't until she nearly got some people killed that I finally realized that she was a freaking psycho! My point is people like Lightning and Adagio make everyone else feel worthless to make themselves feel awesome. And you know something?" Rainbow looked Sonata right in the eyes. "I don't think it was your fault that you guys lost the Battle of the Bands."

Sonata's eyes widened. That couldn't have been right... Could it?

"Me and our friends think Adagio told you that garbage because it was her own fault."

A look of near realization appeared on Sonata's face. "Adagio... lied to me?"

"She's been lying to you your entire life!"

Sonata didn't know what to say... or even what to think. Adagio had been telling her what to think her entire life... and it could have all been a lie.

Rainbow thought for a moment before smiling. "Eh, let's forget about all that. After all, I need to get this song written and I need your help."

Sonata looked from the blank piece of paper to Rainbow. "You... really think I can help?"

Rainbow patted her newest friend on the back. "Of course, you can!" She retook her seat and grabbed her pencil. "My idea is for the song to be about triumph and beating the odds. I could hear the lyrics in my head, but when I started writing I just...blanked on it."

"Well, how am I suppose to help?" Sonata asked. "Even when I could sing, I did was: Ahhh ah ah, ahhh ahhh. And then I followed Adagio's lead."

"Well, try to do something different. Instead of copying Adagio, just listen to what's in here." She pointed the Sonata's chest with her pencil

"My utters?"

"No, your heart."

"Oh." Sonata took a stethoscope out of nowhere and used it on herself.

Rainbow facepalmed and grabbed the stethoscope before tossing it to the side. "Not like that! I mean, just listen to the feeling your heart gives you." Rainbow reached to the side and grabbed her guitar. She leaned back, putting her feet on the table, and tuned her instrument. "Here's what I've got so far." She started striking the guitar strings and bobbing her head to the beat, remembering what she had heard in her head.

"You really thought you keep us down.
That we wouldn't get ourselves up off of the ground.
You thought that you beat us, but you were wrong.
Now, listen to our song.
We were too strong for you, just look around.

We sing and we dance and we're stronger than you.
We play in our band because we're stronger than you
You couldn't keep us down forever,
Because now we're stronger than ever!"

Rainbow Dash continue to play while she looked to Sonata. "Any ideas?"

As Sonata listened to the beat of the song, she could feel something inside of her. Was it her heart? Was it talking to her? Rainbow Dash had told her to listen to her heart. "Um..." Without knowing what she was doing, she started to sing.

"You striked me down and left me in the rain.
You have no idea how much pain I was in.
But I got up and made it out on my own.
I was so very scared of being alone.

But now I'm better than ever.
I thought we'd be together forever
I don't know what I'm supposed to do.
But I think maybe I'm stronger than you!"

Rainbow gave Sonata a big smile. "Hey, those are some nice vocals, Sonata!"

Sonata smiled back. "Really?"

"Yeah! Let's keep it going!" "You couldn't keep me down because I'm stronger than you!"

"I got myself off the ground because I'm stronger than you!"

"You couldn't keep me out forever!"

"And now I'm stronger than ever!" Sonata didn't even know if she believed what she was singing, but it certainly felt good.

With a pair of excited smiles, Rainbow Dash and Sonata sung the next verse together.

"We stand here shrouded in victory!
Let this be put down in history!
You tried your best to keep us locked down!
But now we're gonna rock the town because we're stronger than you!"

Rainbow Dash jumped out of her chair and went on a guitar solo.

Meanwhile, Sonata danced around like she was having the time of her life. As Rainbow neared the end, Sonata grabbed a microphone and got next to her.

"We're gonna rock this town because we're stronger than you!
You're gonna listen to our sound because we're stronger than you!
You couldn't keep us down forever!
All you did was make us stronger than ever!"

Rainbow gave her guitar one last shred as they finished.

The two took deep breaths, but couldn't help laughing. That's when they heard the sound of applause. They looked and saw that their friends minus Rarity were all there clapping for them.

"Great job, you two!" Sunset complimented as she approached them.

"Heh, thanks. And I think I finally have the inspiration I needed." She patted Sonata on the back. "Thanks, Sonata."

"You're welcome." Sonata said as Rainbow Dash walked towards the others.

"See, I told you you could help Rainbow Dash." Sunset lightly punched Sonata on the arm.

Sonata smiled. "I did! I really did, didn't I?!"

Sunset nodded. She was so glad to see Sonata happy, but there was something she was wondering. "Sonata, those things you sang about, do you really believe that?"

Sonata's smile disappeared as she looked up in thought. "I don't know." Her smile returned as she returned her gaze to Sunset. "But I really had fun singing with Rainbow Dash!"

Three down including Spike. That leaves five to go. Sunset noted in her head. "Yeah, Rainbow Dash is cool girl when you get to know her."

Sonata gave Sunset a confused look. "Rainbow Dash is a girl?"

Sunset facepalmed.
> Personal Matters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What are we doing here?" Sonata asked as she followed Sunset into a store.

Sunset looked to Sonata as they walked through the automatic doors, which distracted Sonata for a few seconds. "I figured you could use some new clothes, since you only have the ones your wearing right now." She told her.

Right behind them, Pinkie closed her abnormally large umbrella and shook it dry, accidentally getting Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy wet in the process. Rarity was still busy working on the play and Rainbow Dash had decided to keep writing her song and help Rarity later.

Sonata took down her hoodie and began looking around the store, showing obvious interest. "So, I can have any of these?"

Sunset shrugged. "As long as they fit."

With a big smile on her face, Sonata started running around the store, looking through practically everything they had.

Sunset watched Sonata for a moment before turning to the others. "Okay, while Sonata's busy, let's review the checklist. She's already spent time with Rainbow Dash and everything went well, so we can check her off. And we can probably check Spike off too."

Spike peeked out of Twilight's backpack. "Yeah, I think we got along pretty good."

"Spike! Someone might see you!" Twilight whispered to her dog.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Spike ducked back inside.

"Rarity needs time to figure something out," Sunset continued. "And Sonata's staying with me, so I'll have plenty of time. So, whose going to bond with her next?"

"Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!" Pinkie jumped up and down and raised her hand like she was in class. "I can reintroduce Sonata to everyone else in the school! I'd be great at it! After all, I know everyone at the school!"

"That's true, Pinkie, but I don't think this is the right time to show Sonata to the rest of the school."

"Why not?" Pinkie asked. "Oh, is it because Sonata helped her sisters brainwash everyone and try to take over the world?"

"Actually, it's not that. They eventually forgave me and Twilight, so I'm not too concerned about that. But I feel it would be best for her get to know us as friends first before setting her loose on the the rest of the school."

"Oh, okay. Then me and her can just hang out after school! There are so many things we can do:"

"Tag, your it! Hide and seek! Make a surprise, so don't you peek!
Truth or dare! Comb our hair! What color is my underwear?!
Sail a boat into a fog! Dress in tutus and play leap frog!
Make a house inside a tree! Or we could play Monopoly!
Rhino riding! Penguin sledding! We could even crash wedding!
Read the stories of Daring Do! Travel to the Land of Ooo!
Go and hunt some jellyfish! Destroy someone's cabbages!
We could make a climb to fame! Catch the disk with a copyrighted name!
Disappear at the dead of night! Get into a bar fight!
Throwing parties! Cake baking! References and fourth-wall breaking!"

"Pinkie! Breath!"

Pinkie sucked in a deep breath and seemed to almost deflate as she let it out. "Or we could-"

"Okay, Pinkie!" Sunset didn't mean to shout, but she couldn't help it. She took a breath before continuing. "You can spend time with Sonata tomorrow after school. Now, I'm sure we would all love to hear you sing about your ideas all day... and something tells me you would go all day... but right now, I should probably go check on Sonata." With that, Sunset quickly stepped away.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie said as she followed Sunset.

"...Why would she destroy someones cabbages?" Twilight asked Applejack as they and Fluttershy followed behind. "Or ride a rhino? And what exactly is the Land of Ooo?"

"It's Pinkie." Applejack shrugged. "It doesn' need to make sense to us to make sense to her."

"Sonata?" Sunset called out as she search for the former siren. "Where are you?

"Sunset?" Sonata's voice called out. "Uhh, I need some help."

Sunset facepalmed. "Please tell me she didn't stick her head into something again." She prayed as she followed the sound of Sonata's voice. She found her, not with her head stuck but instead simply looking into a mirror, holding two dresses in her hands.

Sonata moved one of the dresses, a purple one, to her body. "Would I look better in this one?" She moved the away the purple dress to hold the other one, an orange one, to her body. "Or this one?"

Sunset was a bit taken back by the question. "Ummm... Well, I think you would look good in either one."

"Really? What about this one?" Sonata held a different dress to her body. "Or this one?" And another. "Or this one?" And another. "Or this one?" I think you get the point. "Or this one?"

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. "Ehhh, well..." Sunset wasn't sure what to say. Fashion was Rarity's thing, not hers. Oh, why couldn't Rarity be here? "I think you would look good in all of them."

Sonata gave Sunset a confused look. "Wouldn't I look fat with all of them on?"

Sunset facepalmed. "I didn't mean all at once, Sonata."

"Um, excuse me." Fluttershy spoke up from behind Sunset. "Um, I think Rarity would probably have Sonata model outfits to see which ones would suit her the best."

Sunset thought for a second. "You know, that's a pretty good idea, Fluttershy."

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry... Wait, that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, sugar." Applejack gave Fluttershy a bump on the shoulder. "Rarity would be proud."

Fluttershy smiled and blushed.

Pinkie appeared at Sonata's side and put her arm around Sonata's shoulder. "It's time for a fashion show!"

"Where?" Sonata asked.

"Right here, silly! Come on!" Pinkie led Sonata away to the changing room.

"Are you sure about this, Sunset?" Twilight asked as they followed Pinkie and Sonata. "I mean, I've never actually been into... fashion."

"Ah, don't sweat it, Twi." Applejack assured. "It can't be that hard. Besides, ya an' Rarity both have OCD. Maybe ya have 'er eye for these things."

Twilight chuckled. "If you say so."





Sunset, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike sat down in chairs that faced the dressing room where Sonata was. Each of them ready to give their opinion on whatever outfit Sonata would come out wearing.

Sonata stepped into sight wearing a dress that looked like it was made from peacocks, a thought that horrified Fluttershy. "How's this one?"

"You look like a peacock!" Pinkie answered, earning her a smack upside the head from Applejack. "What? It was a compliment."

Sunset scratched her head. "I think that would be more of a prom dress than... anything else."

"Good idea." Sonata said as she went back into the dressing room.

"Y-You don't think that was made from... real peacocks, do you?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"...No." The others lied.

After a couple more tries, Sonata came out wearing an outfit that looked identical to the one she wore when she and her sisters first arrived at Canterlot High, though the colors were inverted and the skirt was replace by a pair of leather pants.

"Hey, you look pretty good in that." Sunset remarked.

"It really brings out your eyes." Twilight complimented.

"It does?" Sonata toyed with her eyelids and accidentally eye gouged herself. "Ow!"

"Oh! I have an idea on how to bring your eyes out even more!" Pinkie said as she hopped to her feet. "Mind if I borrow these for a second?" Pinkie asked Twilight, snatching her glasses off her face before she could even answer. Pinkie skipped over to Sonata's side. "Hold on, let me see if this would actually help." She held up four fingers. "How many fingers on that hand?"

"Um... three?"

Pinkie shook her head and put Twilight's glasses on Sonata's face. She held up four fingers again. "How many fingers on that hand?"

"What hand?"

"Never mind." Pinkie snatched back the glasses and returned them to Twilight.

"Well, ya look real good, Sonata." Applejack said.

"I agree." Fluttershy added.

Sonata smiled and turned her head to face the mirror behind her. "Yeah. I really like this one!" She commented. She then went through several other outfits, but nothing else was worth much comment except...

Sunset and the others shielded their eyes... except Spike, who just stared in confusion. "Sonata, go put that back and we'll pretend we didn't see that." Sunset demanded.

Sonata pouted and did as she was told.

Twilight turned to Sunset, trying to get her mind off of what she had just seen. "Hey, Sunset, are you sure you'll be able to pay for all this?"

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, I got it." She said nonchalantly.

Twilight adjusted her glasses and looked to Spike then back at Sunset. "Umm, random question: Where do you get all your money from? You have your own house that you take care of by yourself. You buy your own clothes, food, and supplies. And I've never even seen you working."

Sunset glanced away and rubbed the back of her neck. "Oooh, right. That." She gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, um, hehe, when I first came here from Equestria, I didn't exactly go empty handed."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Go on?"

"Well... I kinda stole a bunch of bits, err, money and took it with me." Sunset refused to make eye contact.

"How much?" Twilight pressed.

"...Enough to buy the Rich estate. I swear, I tried to give it back, but Princess Celestia insisted that I keep it. Said that I needed it more than she did."

Twilight nodded in understanding.

"Besides, I do earn my own money now." Sunset added. "I just don't have a permanent job at the moment."

Twilight pursed her lips.

Sunset blushed. "...Shut up."





Dear Twilight,

Remember back when fought against those sirens? Well, I've actually befriended one of them! Her name is Sonata. Wow, how do I begin... I found her all alone and eating out of a trash can. She had been abandoned by her sisters, Adagio and Aria. I offered to help her and let her stay with me and she actually let me. Right now, she's downstairs, watching TV and eating all my chips. Hehe, it's like I've suddenly gotten myself a little sister...

"Hey, Sunset!" Sonata, decked out in her new black and pink pj's, appeared in the doorway of Sunset's bedroom. "My Little Robot is on! You wanna watch it with me?"

Sunset turned from her work desk to look at the former siren. "No thanks, Sonata. I'm about to hit the hay."

Sonata gave Sunset a confused look and looked around the room. "I don't see any hay."

Sunset facepalmed. At this rate, she would soon have a red hand print tattooed on her face. "It's an expression, Sonata. It's means about to go to bed."

"Oh, okay. But I'll save you a spot on the couch if you change your mind." Sonata said before the bolted downstairs, shutting the door behind her..

Sunset smiled and returned to writing in her magic book.

She's getting along great with our friends so far. It's only been a day and we've already made so much progress! But it's not in the bag yet. Her sisters really hurt her and she was with them for so long... It will take time for her to adjust to her new life. After all, this is like an all new world for her. But I know we can help her. I'll write to you again soon.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset closed the book and stretched. "I'd better get to bed. This will be a long week." Sunset rose from her chair and walked to her bed, turning off her lamp. She slid under the covers and let her head hit the pillow. As she closed her eyes, she heard thunder roll.





Sunset didn't know how long she had been asleep, but she had awoken when she felt something land on the foot of her bed. She leaned upward and turned on the lamp on her nightstand, blinking away the sudden flash of light in order to see what was up.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?"

Sunset rubbed her eyes and sat up to face her guest. "Sonata? What are you doing on my bed?"

Sonata was indeed at the foot of Sunset's bed, sitting with her legs crossed under her. She fiddled with her hair, which had been let down from her ponytail "Well, I uhhh..." She jumped a bit when the sound of thunder boomed through the air.

Sunset looked from her window to Sonata. "Are you... scared of storms?"

"Well, no. Not really." Sonata continued to fiddle with her hair. "It just... brings up bad memories."

Sunset's eyes widened when she realized that she knew exactly what memories Sonata meant. "Oh, right. I'm sorry. I kinda forgot about that."

"It's okay." Sonata tried to smile, but it faded. "Ever since that night, storms have... Well, I don't like them."

Sunset nodded in understanding and crossed her legs under herself like Sonata. "I understand. When I looked into your memories, I could sense the emotions you were feeling. I can't imagine what that must have been like." She looked at her friend with sympathy.

Sonata lowered her gaze to the mattress. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, which were becoming watery. "Yeah. It... It hurt... really bad. I mean, me and Adagio and Aria... We've had been together since we were born. I... I never had anyone else. I had never been alone. And then..." Sonata wiped tears off of her face.

Sunset let Sonata continue, hoping that talking about it of her own volition would help her.

Sonata took a deep breath before continuing. "Spike and Rainbow Dash told me that... that they were horrible to me and... I think I believe them. But they were all I had for so long..." Sonata paused to let herself cry for a bit. Once she had let out what she had needed to let out, she continued. "I just... The world changed when they left... and it changed again when you found me." Sonata held her head between her hands. "Everything is changing so fast!"

Sunset nodded. "I understand." As she watched Sonata break down in front of her, she started to realize something. Sonata was only able to distract herself from her pain, but not push it away. It would take time for her to accept this new reality that she had been thrust into. However, a thought ran across Sunset's mind. One that could probably take Sonata's mind off of it all for the moment. "What about your parents? Were they ever around."

Sonata rubbed her nose and wiped the tears off her cheeks before shaking her head. "No. When you're a siren, your laid as an egg and left to fend for yourself with your siblings."

"I see."

Now, Sonata had a curious expression on her face. "What about you? Do you have parents?"

Sunset froze. Thunder roared outside as she stared off into blank space. After a moment of silence, she forced herself back into reality. "That's um... That's a good question." She rubbed the back of her head. "Well, um, I put a memory block spell on myself so that I wouldn't remember anything about them."

Sonata listened in interest.

"I couldn't remember why," Sunset continued. "I figured that I had done it so that I wouldn't feel any regret leaving Equestria. So, after I reformed, I decided to dig through some of my old spells to reverse the memory block and..." Sunset took a deep breath.

"Did something bad happen to them?" Sonata asked.

"No, not exactly." Sunset moved her hair out of her face and took another deep breath. "My father was a very... controlling and greedy pony. Me going to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was just as much his decision as it was mine. He pushed me to be the very best and always insulted me when I didn't. I guess part of why I became evil was from me trying to prove myself to him. I figured, if I could become an Alicorn, then he wouldn't be able to hurt me ever again."

Sonata nodded to show she was listening.

"And my mother," Sunset continued with a bitter laugh. "She just sat back and did nothing. She would belittle me just like father did and never did anything to change what was happening. We got into a lot of fights, which annoyed father." She sighed. "Though, to tell you the truth, sometimes I feel kinda bad for her because she was being hurt by father too... But, needless to say, I have nothing to go back in Equestria."

Sonata looked at the covers in thought. "That sounds familiar." She said sadly. The two then sat in silence for a moment before Sonata spoke again. "Could you do a memory spell on me?"

Sunset shook her head. "No, and even if I could, I wouldn't. I know you're hurting, Sonata, but hiding from your problems isn't gonna make them go away. You have to face them eventually."

Sonata nodded in what Sunset assumed to be understanding.

Sunset sat in silence for another moment before yawning. "Well, I think that's all I can do for the night. Goodnight, Sonata."

"Goodnight, Sunset."

Sunset laid herself back down and gave Sonata a smile. "You know, you should really consider keeping your hair down. It looks really good."

Sonata smiled and blushed.

Satisfied that she at least made Sonata smile, Sunset turned off her lamp and rested her head back onto her pillow. She closed her eyes... and opened them back up when she heard someone lay down on the other side of the bed. It took a second for it to register in Sunset's mind that Sonata had decided to sleep next to her. She smirked and rolled her eyes. "Why not?"





Meanwhile, outside Sunset's house...

Two hooded figures stood several yards away from the house. One lowered a pair of binoculars, having seen the light go out. Though the blinds were down, she had seen the shadows of two girls. Adagio smirked. "This will be easier than I thought." She turned to Aria, who wasn't happy about standing in the pouring rain in the middle of a storm. "That little idiot is actually Sunset's roommate! She's closer to them than I thought. Makes everything so much easier."

"Right," Aria hugged herself to fight the cold. "Assuming she doesn't decide that she likes them more than us."

Adagio was silent for a moment before shaking your head. "Don't be ridiculous, Aria. Sonata would never betray us like that. Now, come on; we're getting drenched." With that, walked away

"That's what I said." Aria mumbled under her breath. She looked back at the window for a moment before following.





Sunset awoke to the sound of her alarm clock. Though this time, she didn't jump up in a karate motion. Instead, she simply punched the clock off the nightstand. She then realized that there was something on top of her, weighing her down. She blinked open her eyes and looked above her to find that Sonata had ended up on top of her, with her head resting on Sunset's. Sunset winced when she realized she would have to wash Sonata's saliva out of her hair. "Sonata?"

Sonata responded to her name being called... by cuddling Sunset.

Sunset sighed.
> Pinkie Pie and the Siren
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's hard to describe what exactly happened that Wednesday at Canterlot High. It seemed as though, as soon as the final bell rung, a flash of pink zoomed through the halls, went into the Rainbooms' practice room, came out with a flash of blue in tow, burst out of the school and zoomed away into a grassy field. It happened so fast that no one had been sure what they had seen.

Meanwhile, in said grassy field, Sonata absentmindedly popped a potato chip into her mouth as she started to take in her surroundings. "Wasn't I in the school a second ago?"

"Yep! But now your outside!" Pinkie jumped into Sonata's field of vision. "This is the part where you and I become best friends!"

"It is?" Sonata ask as the she popped another chip into her mouth.

"Yes indeed-y!" Pinkie jumped up and down in excitement. "Oh, there are so many things we can do! I don't what to do first!" Pinkie puzzled her puzzler while Sonata continued to pop chips into her mouth, sporting a look that hinted to very little brain activity. "Oh, I got it! While don't you decide what we do?!"

Sonata gave Pinkie a confused look. "Me?"

"Yes, you, silly!"

Sonata rubbed the back of her head. "Huh... I've never decided what to do before. Ummm...How about we go get ice cream?"

"Great idea! Let's go!" Pinkie grabbed Sonata by the hand and started on their big day together. "I think this calls for a song!"





Pinkie and Sonata slurped on their milkshakes as music played in the background. Pinkie took a breath and gave Sonata a smile.

"So, I guess now is a good time to tell you all about me.
'Cause I'm your newest friend and I've gotta make you see,
That I already care about you more than you could ever dream!
And I'm gonna be here by your side as your past breaks apart at the seams!"

"But first, let's have some fun!"

As Pinkie sung, the two ended up going through varies games and activates, such as: Hop scotch, hide and seek, tic-tac-toe, leapfrog, bike riding, hang gliding, scuba diving, jumping in a bouncy house, and going in and out of color screens.

"So, let's have fun! Just jump and run! Let's have the time of our lives!
Tic-tac-toe and around we go! We can go all the way until night!
If you wanna party hard, then we'll party hard all the way to the moon!
Just think of all the things we can do in just one afternoon!"

"How do we party to moon?"

"Just an expression, Sonata."

"Oh."

"So, what are we gonna do? It's just me and you! We can do anything you want!
Hand gliding! Scuba diving! Jump in a bouncy house and give everything we got!
You just tell me what you wanna do! 'Cause what you wanna do is what we're gonna do 'cause that's what we gotta do 
'cause what you wanna do is what I wanna do 'cause I wanna do whatever you wanna do! So, you wanna do what I wanna 
do. So, tell me whatever you wanna do and that's what we're gonna do and we'll give it our best shot!"

"Umm... You lost me."

Pinkie took a breath. "I'm saying that I wanna do whatever you wanna do, so what you wanna do is what we're gonna do!"

"...Huh."

Pinkie facepalmed. "Whatever you wanna do is what we're gonna do. Did you get that one?"

Sonata scratched her head. "I think so... So, I get to choose what we do all day?"

Pinkie smiled and nodded. "Sure!" After a quick moment, however, Pinkie's smile faded. "Wait... Did Adagio and Aria ever let you decide what to do?"

Sonata looked down and shuffled her feet. "No, not really. Adagio always decided what we did. Me and Aria never got to choose."

It took about a split second for Pinkie to wrap her arms around Sonata and give her a big hug. "Well, don't worry about that anymore, silly! You got us now and we love you!"

Sonata gave Pinkie a funny look. "You all... love me?"

"Of course!" Pinkie replied without hesitation. "We're like a family and your our newest member!"

Sonata smiled and she felt something weird happen. Her eyes started to water, but that happened when she was sad. "W-Why am I crying?" She asked as she wiped her tears away.

"Sometimes that happens when you're really happy!"

Sonata sniffed and allowed her smile to grow. "Thank you. I... This all feels so weird. I mean, I've known Adagio and Aria my whole life and... I don't think they ever cared about me. But you girls do and I barely know any of you."

"Well, maybe I should teach you a little bit about us!"

Suddenly, Sonata was sitting in a chair and Pinkie was pointing to a picture of Applejack with a ruler. Then she started to rap.

"First there's Applejack, the resident cowgirl!
She's roughest, toughest chick in the whole wide world!
Some are put off by her stubbornness and pride!
But what really matters is what's inside!
And what's inside is heart of gold!
And a bunch apple cider, the ones that weren't sold!
Applejack is our friend and that's for sure!
She's strong and friendly and honest to the core!"

Now, Pinkie pointed to a picture of Rainbow Dash.

"Then there's Rainbow Dash, the brash tomboy!
She plays every sport like their her toys!
Sometimes her ego's too big for her head!
And she's rushes into everything with it hot red!
But underneath that picture of vanity,
Is a real sweetheart and a big softy!
Rainbow Dash is our friend and soon you'll see,
The strongest thing about her is her loyalty!"

Now, Pinkie pointed to a picture of Fluttershy.

"Then there's Fluttershy, she's as cute as can be!
The nicest, sweetest person that you ever will see!
Sure, she's has trouble standing up for herself,
And if she played sports, she'd be on the shelf.
But she'll always take a stand when it counts!
She'd stare down the Devil, so don't count her out!
Fluttershy is our friend, pay her shyness no mind!
She'll show you what it means to really be kind!"

Now, Pinkie pointed to a picture of Rarity.

"Then there's Rarity! Wow, what a gal!
She's a fashionista with endless style!
Sometimes she may seem like a uptight pest,
But she just wants everyone at their best!
She'd give you her shirt right off her back!
Give you her bed and sleep in a sack!
Rarity is our friend and you'll agree,
She's the personification of generosity!"

Now, Pinkie pointed to a picture of Twilight Sparkle and Spike.

"Then there's Twilight and her little dog, Spike!
I knew we'd get along and boy was I right!
She may be obsessive and big smarty pants,
But she will amaze you if you give her the chance!
She's much stronger than you ever would think!
And as far brains go, she's beyond any rank!
Twilight is our friend and so is Spike!
The magic of friendship proved me right!"

Now, Pinkie pointed to a picture of Sunset Shimmer.

"Then there's Sunset, we follow her lead!
Her orders we follow! Her advice we heed!
She used to be the biggest bully in the school,
And everyone was miserable under her rule!
But now she's best girl you'll ever meet!
She's whole new person, from her head to her feet!
Sunset is our friend and this much is true,
We forgave her and she'll forgive you!"

Now, Pinkie pointed to a picture of herself.

"Then there's Pinkie Pie. Oh, that's me!
I love having fun and I love to party!
I know I get on people's nerves and have sugar in my brain!
And almost everyone thinks I'm insane!
But I don't care as long as they smile!
It's what makes my entire life worth while!
I'm your friend, Sonata, and I mean it when I say,
If I make you laugh, it'll make my whole day!"

Now, Pinkie pointed to a picture of Sonata.

"And now we have you, Sonata, my friend!
I now we'll be best buddies to the end!
You may not be too smart or think fast,
And we know you've some mistakes in past!
But it's time to take the past and let it go!
It's a whole new ocean and I'll help you row!
You're our friend, Sonata, so listen to my song!
It'll be a better world once you move on!
Yes, it'll be a better world once you move on!"

By the end of the song, all Sonata could do was smile. Pinkie considered it a great success.





Pinkie led Sonata into the gym. She hid them both under the bleachers and peeked out from under them. She spotted Rainbow Dash and Applejack playing basketball on one side of the court. She could see Twilight keeping score with Spike. No sight of Sunset, Fluttershy, or Rarity. Obviously, Rarity was still working on the play and, If she had to guess, Pinkie would say that Sunset was talking with Fluttershy about Sonata helping Fluttershy at the animal shelter. Just a hunch. She looked to the other side of the court. No one there.

Pinkie was about to call the coast clear when she felt a tingle in the back of her neck. The tingle that usually happened when a door was about to open.

Indeed, the doors opened and an annoyed-looking Scootaloo, tailed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, entered the gym. "I can't believe I'm stuck doing this!"

"Well, ya didn' exactly refuse, Scootaloo." Apple Bloom inquired.

"Well, what was I supposed to say?" Scootaloo asked. "Besides, shouldn't a boy play Blaze Heart?"

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "Rarity already told you, Scootaloo. Cross-dressing has always been in theatre. It's just acting. Besides, you act like a guy all the time anyway."

"True, but I'm not into theatre anyway." Scootaloo sighed as she approached the one-on-one basketball game going on.

Sonata, who was right beside Pinkie, looked to said party girl. "What are we hiding for?"

Pinkie grabbed Sonata and lowered into the ground. When they came back up, they were under a different set of bleachers on the other side of the gym. "Waiting to make an entrance." Pinkie answered.

Rainbow Dash dribbled passed Applejack before jumping into the air and dunking the basketball with one hand.

"That's eighteen points to Rainbow and fourteen to Applejack." Twilight called as Spike adjusted the scoreboard.

Applejack put her hands on her hips. "Are ya usin' your super speed?" She asked accusingly.

"No, I'm just awesome." Rainbow said smugly. She looked passed Applejack and took notice of the Crusaders, specifically Scootaloo. "Oh hey, squirt! What's up?"

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo gave her surrogate sister a smile. "We were just, uh, talking about something."

"Does it have to do with Rarity roping you into her play?" Rainbow asked as she approached her.

Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head. "You know about that?"

"Yeah, Rarity told us. And just for the record, I tried to talk Rarity out of it." Rainbow crouched on one knee to look Scootaloo in the eye. "You know, she told me the only people that tried out for Blaze Heart were Snips and Snails."

Scootaloo thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Nah, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I let Sweetie Belle go through that."

Rainbow smirked. "So did, Rarity. Why don't you three stick around? Maybe watching me kick AJ's butt at this game will cheer you up."

Applejack pursed her lips and glared at Rainbow. "Oh, yeah? Check me!"

Rainbow immediately got back into the game and checked the ball to Applejack... who immediately tossed it into the basket.

Applejack crossed her arms and gave Rainbow a smug smile.

Rainbow stared blankly for a second before shaking her head and grabbing the ball. "Ha! I'd like to see you do that again!" She checked it to Applejack, who threw it right at the basket. The ball soared through the air... and was caught by Pinkie, who was hanging upside down from the hoop.

Rainbow and Applejack looked from Pinkie to each other. "Did anyone see her a second ago?" Applejack asked.

Everyone else shook their heads.

Pinkie dropped down. "Sonata, catch!" She tossed the ball over to Sonata, who had suddenly appeared to the side.

The ball bounced off Sonata's forehead and landed in her hands. "Okay. What do I do with it?"

"Toss it into the basket, silly!"

Sonata looked from the ball to the basket and tossed it. The ball bounced off the hoop and hit Sonata right in the face, though she reacted with only look of empty-headedness.

The Crusaders looked from Sonata to Rainbow and Applejack. "Isn' she one of the Dazzlin's?" Apple Bloom asked in confusion.

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, but don' ya worry about 'er."

"It's a long story." Rainbow added. "We'll tell you later, but right now you can't tell anyone that she's here. Understand?"

The Crusaders looked to each other and shrugged. "Okay, if you say so." Sweetie Belle said on behalf of the trio.

Sonata suddenly appeared in front of the the Crusaders. "Hi! I'm Sonata!" She greeted as she held out her hand.

Apple Bloom hesitated for a second before shaking Sonata's hand. "Nice to meet ya too, Sonata. I'm Apple Bloom"

"And I'm Sweetie Belle."

"And I'm Scootaloo."

Sonata stared at Scootaloo with a confused look. "Scoota-What?"

"Scootaloo." The orange-skinned girl repeated.

"Huh... That's a funny name. But it's nice funny name!" She said as she patted Scootaloo's head.

"Uhhh... Thanks."

"It's unique too." Sonata added. "I've never met a boy named Scootaloop before."

Scootaloo's face turned red.

"Uh, Sonata," Pinkie appeared behind Sonata. "Her name is Scootaloo and she's a girl."

Sonata turned and gave Pinkie a surprised look. "Scootaboo is a girl?" She put a hand on her hip and scratched her head. "First Rainbow and now Scootalamp. Next you're gonna tell me that dude that's always wearing headphones is a girl too?!"

"You mean Vinyl Scratch?" Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, actually, hehe, that's a girl too."

Sonata stared off into deep space as crickets chirped in the background.

"...Um, I think we should get back to practicing. See ya later, Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo said as she walked away with blush on her face.

"See you guys." Apple Bloom said before following Scootaloo.

"Bye, and it was nice to meet you, Sonata." Sweetie Belle said politely before following her friends.

Sonata smiled and waved bye to the Crusaders. "It was nice to meet you girls too, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootalulu!"

Scootaloo facepalmed and groaned.

Meanwhile, Apple Bloom stiffled a chuckle. "Scootalulu... I'm gonna have to use that." She muttered.

Rainbow looked to her surrogate sister in sympathy. "Poor Scoots."

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Sonata asked Pinkie.

Pinkie thought for a quick moment before an idea came to her. "I know! I'll show you my superpower that I got from Camp Everfree!" She grasped the geode around her neck before taking out a ball of confetti out of nowhere and tossing it into the air.

"Uh, Pinkie, I don' think that's a good idea!" Applejack said as the ball fell.

Once the confetti hit the ground, it sparked like lightning... and set the floor on fire.

"Told ya." Applejack deadpanned.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and grasped her geode. "I'll get it." In a burst of rainbow, she dashed out of the room and, in three seconds, came back with a fire extinguisher. She preceded to put out the fire and gave Pinkie a look.

"Oops-y!" Pinkie said with a guilty look.

"Please don't do that again, Pinkie." Twilight told her from the scoreboard table.

"Woah, so Rainbow has super speed and you have... explody-throwy-powers?!" Sonata asked with excitement.

"Yep!" Pinkie said proudly. "And Applejack has super strength and Twilight has telekinesis and Rarity can make diamonds out of nothing and Fluttershy talk to animals and Sunset can read people's minds by touching them!"

"Wow! I wish I had been there!" Sonata said in a childish way. "Maybe I would have gotten powers too!"

"Here, maybe this will work!" She undid the necklace around her heck, which held the magic orb in it. "Back at Everfree, after we got our powers and beat the crazy forest-demon lady, we got these crystals. They gave the forest lady powers, so maybe you'll get them too!"

"Hold up, Pinkie!" Applejack stepped between the two. "Ah don' think it'd be a good idea to give your crystal to her."

"Why not?" Pinkie asked.

"Ya'll have seen what they can do, Pinkie. You don' want Sonata to go all power-crazy, do ya?"

Pinkie bowed her head. "Oh, yeah. Sorry; I kinda forgot that part."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Why don' we just talk with Sunset about this?"

"Yeah, we should probably meet up with her and Fluttershy anyway." Twilight said as she helped Spike into her backpack.

As the group exited the gym, Pinkie felt a tingle in the back of her neck. She looked behind her, scanning the entire gym. When she didn't notice anything, she shrugged and followed her friends. In retrospect, she probably should have took notice that the door to the gym closet was open.





Adagio watched as the pink party girl exited the gym. She hadn't heard everything but she had seen plenty. She smiled and turned to Aria. "So, those fools have more magic in them than they used to. This is exactly what I was looking for!"

Aria raised an eyebrow. "And why were you looking for that?"

"If we can figure out how their powers work, we maybe able to harness it for ourselves." She looked to the door with a sinister grin. "I think it's time we talked with Sonata."
> Unfettered
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been at least an hour since the last light went off in Sunset's house. It had been silent the entire time as far as one could hear from outside. It was the time to strike.

Adagio quietly stepped up to the front door. She gave the doorknob a twist, confirming it to be locked. Luckily, Adagio had been in the human world for a long time now and had acquainted herself with a few tricks. She lowered her hood and reached into her afro, pulling out a hairpin. She deformed it into an almost key-like shape and stuck it into the doorknob. After a moment, something clicked. Adagio smiled and slowly opened the door. Peeking inside, she saw Sonata asleep on the couch with the TV on. Adagio looked behind her and nodded to Aria, signaling that the cost was clear.

The two stepped in and Aria quietly shut the door. Adagio put her hands on her hips as she looked down at Sonata, covered in chip crumbs and drooling like a baby. She looked to Aria. "Come on, let's make this quick." She whispered. With that, she picked Sonata up and put her over her shoulder. Aria reopened the door and closed it once they were out.





"Are you sure this is far away enough?"

"Why don't you just try to have a little more faith in me?"

Sonata groaned as she adjusted herself on the couch. Wait a minute... Why did the couch feel like ground? And why did it feel grassy too?

"I'm just saying, the chick's house is right there-"

"Quiet! She's waking up..."

Wait... Sonata knew those voices. She opened her eyes to find herself outside, laying on the ground. She looked up to see Adagio looking down at her. "A-Adagio?!" She quickly got to her feet. "Wh-When did you get here?!"

"Oh, that's not important." Adagio replied. "What matters is that I've decided to take you back."

Sonata looked behind Adagio to see that Aria was there too." Aria! You're here too?!" Sonata smiled. "Oh my gosh! I missed you guys so much!" She pulled both her sisters into a hug, causing Aria to groan.

"Right, right." Adagio pulled herself away from Sonata and got the idiot to face her. "Now, before the whole celebration, we need to take care of something."

"Okay! What's that?"

Adagio smiled. "Those fools you've been making yourself acquainted with,"

Sonata's smiled faded.

"We need their magic."

Sonata took a step back. "What for?"

Adagio's eyebrows raised for a second in surprise. Had Sonata just... question her? "What do you mean 'what for'? We're going to get our lives back and make those fools pay for what they did to us."

Sonata hesitated before speaking again. "They... I don't think they did anything to us."

Adagio's eye twitched. "Think? You don't think, Sonata!" She said as she poked her in the forehead. "'They didn't do anything to us'? You're a bigger idiot than I thought! And that's saying something!"

Sonata could feel the pain from that night months ago starting to rise up inside her. "...What did they do, then?"

"They ruined our lives." Adagio said slowly. "And you two certain didn't help!" She spared a glance to Aria, who crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

Something clicked in Sonata's head. She remembered Adagio saying that it was her fault all this happened... and she also remembered what Rainbow had told her. "Th-That night... when you left..."

"Don't worry about that, Sonata." Adagio's crooked smile returned. "I'm giving you the chance to redeem yourself. All you have to do is tell us how those fools got their new powers."

Sonata's eyebrows raised.

"Oh, yes. I saw them with my own eyes. They didn't have those abilities last time and I highly doubt it was spontaneous. And I think you know how they got them."

Sonata glanced away.

Adagio nodded. "I knew it. Now, tell me how they got them."

Sonata bit her lip and looked Adagio in the eye. "...You're gonna hurt them, aren't you?"

"Duh. Now, stop stalling and just tell me!" Adagio demanded, losing her patience.

Sonata continued to look Adagio in the eye. She was about to answer her when something else popped in her mind. "...First, answer my question."

Adagio looked surprised again and so did Aria. Sonata was actually back-talking Adagio.

"You told me it was my fault that we failed. That it was my fault that we lost everything... How?"

Adagio didn't answer.

"How was it my fault?"

"...Because you're an idiot!" Adagio snapped at Sonata, taking a step forward as Sonata took a step back. "It wouldn't matter if I told you because your too stupid to remember anyway!"

The pain in Sonata's chest grew.

"Now, I'm not going to say this again! Tell me how they got their powers!" Adagio's eyes had that same crazed look that she had had that night so many months ago.

Sonata looked from Adagio to Aria.

Aria just stood there dumbfounded. She had no idea what to say; no idea what to do.

Sonata returned her gaze to Adagio. Fear swelled up inside her as she meet Adagio's crazed eyes. Something in her mind told her that she had no choice but to do as Adagio said. It was a part of her mind that had been with her for as long as she could remember. But this time, there was something else in her mind. Not just her mind, but in her heart. She remembered everything her new friends had told her. Everything they had done for her. How they had brought her into an entirely new world. A world different from Adagio's. A world she wanted to be in. "...No."

It was dead silent for a moment. You would have been able to hear a pen drop.

Adagio wiggled her fingers and crack her neck. "What did you just say to me?" She said in an eerily quiet voice.

Aria, without even thinking about what she was doing, tried to signal Sonata to run. However, Sonata was too focused on Adagio to notice.

Sonata gulped and began to back away, only for Adagio to step forward each time she took a step back. "I... I said no. They're... They're my friends. I'm not gonna let you hurt them. They-They've taken care of me-"

Adagio grabbed Sonata by the neck with both her hands and started to squeeze. "I took care of you! If it weren't for me, you would be dead a thousand times over!"

Sonata felt herself being pushed against a tree. As Adagio's grip tightened, Sonata found herself unable to breath. She tried to push Adagio's arms away, but to no avail. Tears fell from her eyes as Adagio pushed her thumb's into Sonata throat. Her body started going rigged.

"You owe me your life, you ungrateful moron! I gave you everything you ever had! Do you really think those fools care about you?!"

Aria covered her mouth with her hands as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Something inside her told her to stop Adagio and help Sonata get away, but she was too horrified to move.

Sonata's world went dark as the oxygen left her brain. Adagio's words continued to ring in her head as everything went black.

"Why would anyone care about a stupid, childish, pathetic, worthless idiot like you?!"

Finally, Aria found her voice. "Adagio, stop!"

Adagio forced herself off of Sonata, allowing her to fall to the ground. She didn't move.

Aria was somehow more horrified than when Adagio was straggling Sonata.

Adagio took several deep breaths before kneeling down and checking Sonata's pulse. "...She's still alive." Adagio took another deep breath before looking to Aria. "Help me dust her off and get her back in the house."

Aria stayed where she was, still horrified by what had just happened.

Adagio glared at Aria. "Do I have to repeat myself?"

Aria took a breath and did as she was told.

Once they dusted Sonata off, Adagio carried her back into Sunset's house and roughly deposited her back onto the couch. "Lock the door." She told Aria as she passed her and went outside.

Aria locked the door and began to step outside. She stopped and looked back to her little sister for a moment before shutting the door and following Adagio.





The park was empty that night save for two girls. They both stood at a fountain where one of them splashed water onto her face.

Adagio looked at her reflection and watched as drops of water left her face and fell back to it's source. She continued to take deep breaths.

Aria stood by and watched Adagio with disgust. "What the heck was that back there?!"

Adagio didn't even glance at her. "I was teaching Sonata a lesson."

"You could've killed her!"

"And she would have deserved it."

Aria didn't even know how to respond to that. Sure, Adagio had taken care of them and had given them everything, but Sonata was their sister and Adagio nearly... "Well, what's the next step in your plan?"

Adagio didn't answer.

"Let me guess; you've been making everything up as you go along, haven't you?" Aria probably should've been too scared to get smart with Adagio, but she was too angry at her to care.

Adagio straightened up and looked to Aria. "I've made it work before and I haven't been wrong."

"You were wrong about Sonata." Aria pointed out.

Adagio wiggled her fingers and took a deep breath. She looked back into the water and got a strange look on her face. "Aria, come look at this." She continued to stare into the water.

Aria raised an eyebrow and cautiously approached Adagio.

Adagio backed away from the fountain and pointed to the water. "There."

Aria followed Adagio's finger and stared into the water, but all she saw was her reflection.

Suddenly, Adagio shoved Aria's head into the water and held her down. She took a deep breath as Aria thrashed around under her. "...One... two... three..."

Aria desperately tried to push herself out of the water, but Adagio continued to hold her down. She felt water enter her lungs and started to suffocate.

"...four... five... six... seven..."

Aria's legs stopped flailing as the world grew dark around her. Water continued to fill her lungs and her body movement was reduced to spasms

"...eight... nine... ten." Adagio lifted Aria's head out of the water and allowed her to fall to the ground.

The world returned to light as Aria threw up all the water she had just been choking on. She laid on the ground and gasped for air, thankfully being able to get it.

Adagio stood over Aria and watched her throw up and gasp for air with an indifferent look. Once Aria was through the worst of it, Adagio knelt down and grabbed one of her ponytails, lifting Aria's head up by it. "Once I have the magic, you can be yourself. But for the time being, keep your smart remarks to yourself!" With that, she shoved Aria's head onto the concrete under them.

Aria continued to lay on the ground for a moment before pushing herself up and leaning against the fountain's base, breathing heavily and wincing with the newfound pain in her head.. "... So, what now?"

Adagio thought for a moment and began to pace. "If we're not going to get answers from Sonata, then we'll have to get them from someone else. Someone who we can appeal to." That crooked smile of hers appeared on her face. "And I know just the girl."





Trixie awoke to the sound of shuffling in her room, which was actually just the inside of her mobile magic stage. She groggily sat up and pushed up her sleep mask. "Who dare enter tha abode of tha great and powertul Frixie?"

"Oh, just some old friends." Adagio said as she sat back in Trixie's chair.

Trixie blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things."...Ahhh! What are you doing here?!"

"Calm down, Trixie. We're here to negotiate with you." Adagio motioned to Aria, who stood to the side and didn't say anything. "We have an offer that would be foolish to refuse."

"Forget it!" Trixie snapped. "Trixie does not negotiate with vermin like you!"

Adagio wiggled her fingers. "Oh, but you haven't even heard my proposal." She gave Trixie a cold smile. "I take that you know that a certain group of meddling kids have acquired superpowers?"

Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, the whole school knows about it."

"Well, I'm curious as to how they of all people gained such abilities."

"They got it from the school camping trip. Some kinda magic stuff." Trixie crossed her arms and glanced away.

"But why them?" Adagio asked. "I think someone like you would put such power to much better use."

Trixie looked to Adagio as she felt her enormous ego hum in interest. "True, but why do you care?"

"Because we want to make things right," Adagio lied. "We merely wish to atone for our sins and I feel the best way to do so is to help you get the power you deserve."

Trixie found herself unable to resist. It didn't help that she was still groggy from being woken up. "Trixie's listening."

And that was checkmate. "You would put such power to good use, Trixie. Much better use than those seven fools. The best way to atone for what we've done is to get you that kind of power." Adagio's smile widened. "But I need your cooperation."

"What does Trixie need to do?"

"I need to know how they got they're magic. I need to know everything that happened on that camping trip."

Trixie thought for a moment. She didn't trust Adagio, but what if she was telling the truth? Besides, what harm would telling her do? "Alright, here's what happened..."





Adagio and Aria exited Trixie's mobile home. Adagio waved to Trixie. "Thank you, Trixie. You've been a big help."

Trixie watched as the two left. "You'll keep your end of the deal, right?"

"Of course." Adagio assured.

Trixie nodded and returned to her slumber.

"And I thought Sonata was dumb." Aria muttered as she rubbed her bruised head.

Once they were in a place where they wouldn't be seen, Adagio looked to Aria and smiled. "The geodes around their necks. That's what we need."

Aria nodded. "Right, and how do we get them?"

"A way will be provided." Adagio said confidently. "Once we have the opportunity, we strike."





"Sonata?"

Sonata startled awake, she looked around to find herself back in Sunset's house, though she still hyperventilated.

"Calm down, Sonata. It's just me." Sunset put her hand on Sonata's shoulder.

"A-Adagio!" Sonata stammered. "I was with Adagio and Aria! We were in the forest! Adagio straggled me! And-And..."

"It's okay. It's okay, Sonata." Sunset soothed as she stroked Sonata's hair. "It was just dream. Come one, let's have breakfast. We'll take your mind of it." She helped her friend up and put her arm around her as they went into the kitchen.

"...It seemed so real." Sonata muttered. And it did. Her neck still hurt.
> Fluttershy and the Siren
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm glad that you agreed to help me at the Animal Shelter today." Fluttershy said bashfully as she and Sonata walked towards said Animal Shelter.

Sonata gave the shy girl a smile. "No problem. I love animals and I've always wanted to go to an Animal Shelter. Or the zoo. Or the circus. Oh, and I've always wanted a pet!"

The mention of wanting a pet brought Fluttershy right out of her shell. "You do?!"

"Yeah," Sonata's smile faded. "But... Adagio never let me do any of that."

Fluttershy's excitement faded as well. "Oh... Well, I would be happy to help you find a pet some time." She assured with a smile.

Sonata smiled back, but it wasn't her usual smile. In fact, she had been acting much more... subdued than normal that day. She didn't seem miserable, but she did seem troubled. Sunset had mentioned that Sonata had had a terrible nightmare last night. She didn't say what it had been about, only that it was bad.

At last, they reached the Animal Shelter. Fluttershy threw open the doors and merrily skipped in. "Hello, all my cute little friends!"

All the animals immediately cheered in response with their respective noises.

As Sonata stepped in, her eyes widened in marvel at all the cute animals. There was a squee sound as a big smile grew on her face. "Wow!" She started running around the shelter and looking at all the animals. "Look at the animals! I mean, I knew there would be animals, but there's so many!"

Fluttershy didn't think she could have been happier. She had been struggling to find anyone willing to help her at the shelter, so seeing Sonata's enthusiasm made her feel all sunny inside. "I'm so glad that you love animals as much as I do. I'm sure you'll be a big help around here... Um, Sonata?"

Sonata had picked up a platypus and was looking into it's crossed eyes. "...Your eyes remind me of that girl with the funny eyes. Oh, your so cute!" Sonata tightly hugged the poor creature, who made a weird chirping sound in response.

Fluttershy tapped Sonata on the shoulder. "Um, you may not want to hug them so, um, hard."

Sonata released the critter and turned to face Fluttershy. "Sorry, but they're just so cuuuute!"

"Yes, but if you hug them too hard, you might hurt them."

Sonata rubbed the back of her head. "Oh... Sorry."

Fluttershy gave her a smile. "That's alright."

While the two girls were talking, the platypus put his fedora back on and used Doofenshmirtz's dimensional travel-inator to return home.

"Let's get started, um, if you want to, I mean." Fluttershy said.

"Okay, what do I do?"

"Well..." Fluttershy looked around. Knowing that Sonata's intelligence was... below average, Fluttershy wanted to make sure her jobs here were simple. She really didn't want to Sonata to accidentally hurt the animals... or herself... or her. "Um... You could... There's a... I suppose you can..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear the job part." Sonata said as she twisted her finger in her ear. She leaned her head to the side and hit it on the other side... causing one of Pinkie's maracas to fall out of her ear. "Oh, so that's what that noise was." She said nonchalantly.

Fluttershy stared at her and contemplated asking why a maraca was in her ear and, for that matter, how it fit in there before deciding that Sonata herself probably didn't know anymore than she did. Deciding to put that out of her mind, she got back to looking for something Sonata could do. Her eyes rested on the cat area, where the cats' beds and playthings were arranged. "Well... Could you, maybe, keep the cats busy while I clean their things?"

"Wait, you mean, all I have to do is play with the kitties?!" Sonata asked excitedly.

"Well, yes, I suppose."

"Awesome!" Sonata said as she jumped in the air.

Fluttershy smiled. "Alright then." She walked over to the cat area, rubbing her geode as she did. "Excuse me, but I need you all to move while I clean your area."

One of the cats meowed.

"Don't worry, Sonata here will take good care of you while you wait."

Another glanced at Sonata and meowed.

Fluttershy gasped. "Mr. Fluffbutt, that is not very nice. I think she looks good in those leather pants."

Another cat rolled her eyes and meowed.

"Oh, it will only be for a moment."

"Wait," Sonata interrupted. "You know what they're saying?"

"Well, yes," Fluttershy said shyly. "I gained the ability to talk with animals during the camping trip in the Everfree Forest."

"Oh, yeah. Pinkie told me that." Sonata remembered. "Sorry, I sometimes forget what Pinkie says because she always talks so fast."

Fluttershy giggled. "That's alright. A lot of the time, none of us know what's she's talking about." She returned her gaze the cats. "Now, please follow Sonata to the waiting room."

The cats obeyed and followed Sonata, who was shaking in excitement.

With a nod, Fluttershy got to work.





Once the cat area was finished, Fluttershy wiped the sweat from her brow and walked to the waiting room. "Alright, kitties. Your area is all clean now- oh my goodness!" Fluttershy's tone changed when she saw Sonata covered in numerous scratches.

Despite the large amount of cuts, Sonata looked as though she didn't notice. "Is everything okay, Fluttershy?" Yep; she didn't notice.

"Sonata, are you alright? Those are a lot of scratches."

"Yeah, some of them scratched me a lot for a while, but I guess they like scratching at the mooraku more."

Several cats were indeed playing with the maraca.

Flutter raised an eyebrow. "...Well, that's convenient. Anyway, as I was saying, your area is all ready now."

The cats quickly left to their beloved habitat, leaving Fluttershy to walk over and examine Sonata's arm.

"It's doesn't look too bad." The shy girl mused. "Does it hurt?"

"Not really." Sonata said with a shrug. "Can I play with the other animals now?!"

"Well, if you're sure you're feeling okay, I suppose you could play with the other animals while I clean out their areas as well."

"Awesome!"

"Oh, dear." Fluttershy just knew that Sonata was in for a rough ride. She prepared herself for when Sonata looked as though she was spent.

However, that didn't happen.

Fluttershy cleaned each animal's area and let Sonata take care of them as she did so. Each time Fluttershy went to retrieve the animals, Sonata looked worse for wear than before, but always had that hapless smile on her face as if nothing had happened. By the time they were done, Sonata was covered in scratches and bite marks, her clothes were covered in hair and dirt, and her hair was such a mess that Rarity would snatch her away and fix her up on site. Still, Sonata looked completely unfazed. Though Fluttershy would never admit it, she found herself theorizing that Sonata was so dumb that her brain couldn't comprehend that she should have been exhausted at the moment.

Once they were done, Fluttershy led Sonata to the vet office (which doubled as a doctor's office just in case) and cleaned Sonata's wounds before covering the deepest ones with band-aids. She decided to use the ones with cartoons on them. They were meant for little kids, but... Well, Sonata was practically an overgrown child; though, again, Fluttershy would never say that out loud. In fact, she felt like scolding herself for thinking it... even if it was true.

"I'm so sorry that the animals gave you such a hard time." Fluttershy apologized as she continued to bandage Sonata.

"I didn't think they gave me a hard time." Sonata said simply. For some reason, she started looking sad. "I guess just don't think at all."

"Oh, that's not true." Fluttershy with certainty. "You just... think differently."

Sonata glanced away. "Because I'm an idiot?"

Fluttershy looked at Sonata, who looked genuinely depressed. Was it something she said? Regardless, she brought her hand to Sonata's face and moved her head to look her in the eye. "You're not an idiot, Sonata. You're... special." She put another band-aid above Sonata's eyebrow.

Sonata didn't looked convinced. "I don't think so, but what do I know?"

Fluttershy didn't understand. Sonata was so happy and now she looked miserable. Fluttershy felt bad, but kept it together and searched Sonata's neck for any boo-boos. She didn't see any scratches or bites, but she did see something else. Something that sent chills down her spine.

Sonata had a bruise on her throat. It wasn't a bruise that any animal could have made. The print of it was like it was from... thumbs, as if someone...

Fluttershy gulped. "S-Sonata?"

"Yeah?" Sonata answered.

"Ha-Has anyone b-been... unfriendly to you?"

"Umm, no. I've only been with you girls and Spike."

"W-Well, you ha-have a bruise on your neck."

Sonata looked confused. "I do?"

"Yes," Fluttershy tried to control her tongue. "And it l-looks like s-someone s-stra-strangled you!"

Sonata looked thoughtful... sort of. "That's weird. I actually dreamed that I was being strangled last night."

Fluttershy's eyes widened as she looked at Sonata. "What?"

Sonata glanced away. "I dreamed that... Adagio came back... and she... strangled me. I... I don't wanna talk about it."

About a hundred-and-one alarms went off in Fluttershy's head. Sonata dreamed that Adagio strangled her and Sonata had bruise on her neck as if she was strangled. "Sonata, I think we need to see Sunset." She took Sonata by the hand and led her away, trying desperately to keep her composer.





Sunset tapped her finger on the table as she studied the board. After a moment of thought, she moved her bishop.

Twilight smirked and immediately moved her knight closer to Sunset's queen.

Sunset also smirked and moved her own knight, trapping Twilight's knight.

Twilight, realizing her mistake, adjusted her glasses and looked for a better route. After thinking for a moment, Twilight took the risk of moving her king.

Sunset, smelling blood in the water, took Twilight's knight with her own.

Twilight, sensing a trap, scanned the board.

"Um, pardon me,"

Sunset and Twilight turned from their game of chess to the newly arrived Fluttershy and Sonata.

"I hope we're not interrupting." Fluttershy said bashfully.

"No, you're fine." Sunset assured, though she was aching to beat Twilight.

"Well, um, there's something you need to see." Fluttershy sounded scared.

Sunset, not liking the sound of it, stood from her chair. "Okay, what is it?"

Fluttershy tapped her throat and nodded towards Sonata, who just stood there with a blank look on her face.

Guessing that Fluttershy wanted her to look at Sonata's throat, Sunset stepped closer and examined it. That's when she saw the bruise. Her eyes widened as she looked to Fluttershy, who gave a scared nod. Sunset stood there for a moment, a million thoughts swimming in her head.

Sonata gave looked between the two in confusion. "So, uh, what's going on?"

"...We're having a sleepover. That's what's going on." Sunset answered with a smile.

"We are?" Sonata asked with surprise.

"We are?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

"We are?!" Pinkie said as she appeared from behind Fluttershy.

Fluttershy let out an 'eek' and jumped into the air, landing in Sunset's readied arms. "Oh, Pinkie, you startled me."

"Hehe, sorry. I'm just so excited that we're having a sleepover! Oh, and it's Sonata's first! Our first sleepover with Sonata! AHHHHHHHHH!"

Sunset covered her ears, causing her to drop Fluttershy.

"Ow."

"Sorry."

Once Pinkie stopped screaming, Sonata rubbed her ears. "That hurt my ears."

Pinkie covered her mouth. "Sorry. I'm just so excited! Oh, can the others come too?!"

Sunset helped Fluttershy up and nodded. "Yes. In fact, I want all eight of us to be there."

Spike, who had been napping beside Twilight's chair, gave Sunset a look. "Ahem."

"Sorry; all nine of us."

Satisfied, Spike went back to sleep.

"Can it be at my house?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"Sure." Sunset answered.

"Oh, boy! This is gonna be so much fun!" Pinkie was so excited that she picked up Sonata by the waist and spun her around as if they were in a dance duet.

Sonata was loving it. "Wheeeeeeee!"

Fluttershy looked to Sunset. "Um, why are we having a sleepover at Pinkie's house?"

Sunset crossed her arms. "We need to have a serious group discussion. The reason it's a sleepover? Well, I guess I just have a bad feeling."

Fluttershy nodded in understanding.





The sleepover at Pinkie's place had been going perfectly. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were on their 54th round of Immortal Combat; despite Applejack being in the lead, Rainbow hadn't rage quit... yet. Fluttershy had agreed to let Rarity give her a makeover. Sunset and Twilight were once again playing chess while Spike slept next the Twilight. Pinkie and Sonata... Well, Sunset wasn't sure what they were doing. They seemed to have been having a pillow fight, but since when did pillow fights include balloons, confetti, and freestyle rap?

Sunset pushed the questions out of her head and focused on the game. When she noticed a weak spot that could have allowed her to take Twilight's queen, she hesitated. Twilight seemed too... calm; as if, she was waiting for Sunset to make a move. It wouldn't be surprising. Twilight had told Sunset of how she had been playing chess since she was in diapers. In fact, she had won several tournaments. However, Sunset had one advantage that Twilight didn't: she had played chess with Princess Celestia. Back when she was Celestia's student, Sunset had played too many chess games with her to count. She never actually beat her, but she had came close several times and even coming close to beating someone with thousands of years of experience is no easy task... except for the times where Celestia led her on on purpose to catch her off guard, but Sunset learned from that.

Not allowing Twilight's trick to catch her, Sunset thought of a trick on her own. With a deliberate smirk, she moved her pawn on the opposite side of the opening.

Twilight noticed that the odd move would allow her queen to take Sunset's pawn. Twilight smelled a trap, but knew that avoiding moving her queen would put it in jeopardy. She moved her queen and took Sunset's pawn.

Sunset gave a faux confused look as she scanned the board. Yep; everything was in pla-

Sonata slipped off Pinkie's bed and landed back-first on top of chessboard, scattering all the pieces. "Ouch... That hurt." Sonata said with a bit of deadpan in her voice.

Sunset gave her a dry look. "Really?" It was in response to both Sonata's statement and the fact that she had just ruined their game.

"Yeah, really." Sonata answered.

With a roll of their eyes, Sunset and Twilight sat Sonata up. Sunset winced when she saw her king implanted into Sonata's back. She grabbed it and swiftly pulled it out.

"Ow!" Sonata rubbed her back where the chess piece at been.

Twilight sighed. "Well, there goes our chess game."

Sonata turned around and realized what she had done. "Did... Did I mess it up?" There was a hint of sadness and possibly fear in her voice.

"Yes, but it's nothing to worry about." Sunset assured her. "We'll just have to... try again."

Twilight resisted the urge to groan.

Sonata looked to the floor. "I'm sorry; I... I didn't mean to..."

Sunset smiled and put her hand on Sonata's shoulder. "It's fine, Sonata. It was just an accident."

"...Yeah... An accident." Sonata didn't look reassured at all.

Pinkie crouched down beside the siren. "You okay, Sonata?"

"Um... Yeah." Sonata got up. "Excuse me, I... I need to go... do something... by myself... for a minute... or two... or three." She made her way out of Pinkie's bedroom, quietly closing the door behind.

Applejack looked from the door to Sunset. "Is she alright? She looked kinda... down."

"Yeah," Rainbow added.

Pinkie tapped her finger against her chin. "What would she need to do by herself for one or two or three minutes?" But then, a look of realization appeared on her face. "Ohhh, she must be-"

Sunset covered Pinkie's mouth with her hand. " Whatever you were about to say, I'm pretty sure it's not that. Anyway, now that she's gone for the moment, we need to have a serious talk."

The other girls and Spike, who had awoken when Sonata fell, gave Sunset their attention.

Sunset took a deep breath and made a mental note to keep her voice down so Sonata wouldn't overhear. "Me and Fluttershy found a bruise on Sonata's throat. From the looks of it, it seems like she was... strangled." Sunset almost had to kick herself to get that last word out.

The others, sans Fluttershy, gasped.

"Strangled?! Did-Did you say strangled?!" Rainbow loudly stuttered.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down; I don't want Sonata to hear us." Sunset said.

"Hold on, darling." Rarity spoke up. "Why would anyone do such a horrid thing to Sonata? In fact, who could have been the culprit? I thought no one else knew she was here."

"I'm pretty sure I would know." Spike added. "She's with me all morning and she naps right beside me; I would have noticed if someone came in or if she snuck out."

Sunset took another deep breath. "Remember when I told you all about Sonata having a nightmare last night?"

The others nodded.

"She told me and Fluttershy that, in her dream, Adagio came back and strangled her."

There was silence for a moment as Sunset's revelation sunk in.

Applejack was the first to respond. "Wait a sec, how on Earth can Sonata be bruised by somethin' that happened in a dream?"

Twilight thought for a moment. "Well, it's possible that Sonata did it to herself while she was sleeping. Sort of like dream walking, but... more violent."

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, that could be it... Unless, it wasn't dream."

There was another silence.

"Hold on," Rainbow held up her hands. "Your telling us that you think Adagio actually broke into your house and strangled Sonata?!"

"That doesn't sound very likely," Twilight stated. "How would Adagio break into your house and attack Sonata with the only trace being a bruise on Sonata's throat? How would she even know where Sonata is?"

"And, um, why would Adagio do that?" Fluttershy added. "I mean, I know Adagio is evil, but...Sonata is her sister. Do you... Do you really think she would..." Fluttershy couldn't finish that sentence.

Fluttershy's question was a question Sunset had been asking herself. Adagio was undeniably evil and was horrible to Sonata, but was she really so soulless as to try to murder her own sister? "I know it's not likely, but I really don't want to take chances. Besides, it's our only lead. Until we get to the bottom of this, everyone needs to watch their back and, more importantly, Sonata's back.

The others nodded in agreement.

"So, is that why she's been acting weird today?" Rainbow asked.

Sunset nodded. "I believe so, and I'm worried about her. It's like Adagio's influence came back to her."

"I'm sure, she'll be fine." Pinkie chimed in confidently. "I mean, how badly can a big dumb meanie like Adagio affect someone as strong as Sonata?"





Sonata held her head over the bathroom sink as a familiar voice echoed in her head.

You mess everything up!

You don't think, Sonata!

They'll abandon you!

Why would anyone care about a worthless idiot like you?!

Tears continued to fall into the sink as the words continued to run around her head. It was like someone was punching her in the chest, right in the heart. It was familiar pain, but not a pain she could never get used to.

She backed up against the wall and slid down onto the floor. She hugged her knees and continued to cry. She had to get it all out. She couldn't let them see her like this. If they did, they would get sad too and Sonata would have ruined the rest of their night. But that's what she did, she supposed. She was just a worthless idiot who did nothing but mess things up.

But then, why were they still taking care of her? If what Adagio said was true, why didn't they already abandon her? Were they telling the truth? Was Adagio really just a liar? Sonata didn't know. She didn't know anything... because she was too stupid, she supposed.

Sonata didn't leave the bathroom until she had ran out of tears and dried her face. At least, she wouldn't ruin the rest of the sleepover.





Adagio lowered her binoculars and groaned. "We'll never get those geodes with them keeping them around their necks; and they haven't taken them off at any time."

"Any ideas?" Aria asked with little interest.

"We need to catch them in a situation where they would take them off."

"Right," Aria rolled her eyes. "It doesn't seem like they would do that anytime soon, but that's just me."

"Shut up," Adagio thought for a good long moment. As she ran through scenarios, one in particular stood out in her mind. She smiled. "I have an idea."
> The Start of Something Bad
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, you can handle Sonata for today?" Sunset asked Twilight as they walked down the hallways of the school

Twilight hesitantly nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm sure we'll get along great." She didn't seem very sure.

Sunset smiled and put her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "It'll be fine, Twilight. It's really not hard to find something that Sonata would enjoy."

"It's not that." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. "I keep thinking about last night. Sonata just... didn't seem the same after..."

"Yeah, I know." Sunset admitted. "I'm guessing she doesn't take messing things up well after... what happened with Adagio."

Twilight glanced away for a moment in thought before continuing. "Do you really think Sonata didn't hurt herself in her sleep? Do you really think it was Adagio?"

Sunset sighed. "I don't know. I know it's not likely, but ever since I saw that bruise, I've felt..."

"Protective?" Twilight asked with a smile.

Sunset nodded. "Yeah." As they neared the Rainbooms Practice Room, Sunset stopped.

Twilight turned to face her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just, uh, need to use the ladies' room. Excuse me." With that, Sunset left to take care of business.

Twilight continued on to the Practice Room and opened it up to find Sonata sprawled out on the floor with Spike sitting next to her. Interestingly, Twilight had been expecting them to have been in the middle of something weird. In fact, Sonata had been laying in that very spot in the exact same fashion when Twilight had brought her and Spike lunch. Although, there was no food lying around, so, obviously, even depression couldn't beat Sonata's appetite.

Spike turned to face Twilight. "Hey, Twilight."

"Hey, Spike. You okay, Sonata?" Twilight asked as she stepped in.

"Not really." Sonata said earnestly.

Spike walked over to Twilight, who crouched down to pet him. "She's been like this all day and she was same way yesterday." Spike whispered. "I've tried to get her to talk about it, but she won't."

Twilight sighed. "I was afraid of that." She looked to the siren as she continued to lay motionless on her back. Dream or not, it had messed the poor girl up something fierce. Twilight had to get her to open up somehow, otherwise, nothing Twilight did would have any affect on her. She had to know the problem to it's core. As her mind ran through her options, an idea started forming. "...Sonata, have you ever played chess?"

Sonata lifted her head to give Twilight a confused look. "How do you play a chest?" She looked down at her chest and started playing her breasts like bongos.

Twilight facepalmed, forcing her to readjust her glasses. "Not chests; chess. It's a board game."

Sonata stopped and looked to Twilight "So... not booby drums?"

"...No, not booby drums."





Sunset stepped out of the stall and proceeded to wash her hands. She looked down at her hands as she washed them and turned the sink off before lifting her gaze up to the mirror. And when she saw who was standing behind her, her heart stopped. That crooked smile. Those soulless purple eyes. That outrageous afro. It was Adagio. Sunset gasped and turned around to face her old foe. "A-Adagio!"

Adagio's smile widened. "Sunset Shimmer. It's been too long. I haven't seen you since... Well, since you ruined my life." Her smiled faded on the last part of that sentence.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. She had no idea how or why Adagio was here and her mind was drawing blanks. But, despite it all, Sunset's anger towards this horrid sociopath took the wheel of her mind. "That was your own fault! You were going to tear the world apart!"

"And?" Adagio asked with indifference.

Sunset slowly stepped to her right, towards the exit.

Adagio loudly cleared her throat. "Ahem."

Sunset looked to see another girl come out of one of the stalls nearest to the exit. It was Aria. The purple girl stood in front of the exit with her arms crossed.

Oh, crap. Sunset said in her mind before returning her gaze to Adagio, whose smile was really starting to get under Sunset's skin. Swallowing her fear, Sunset put on a straight face. "What do you want?"

Adagio chuckled. "What do I want? Well, it's simple, Sunny... You took something that belongs to me."

It took a few seconds for it to register in Sunset's mind what Adagio meant; and when it did register, Sunset could feel her blood boiling. "Sonata doesn't belong to anyone!"

Adagio rolled her eyes. "I repeat, you took something that belongs to me,"

Sunset's hands balled into fists as she gritted her teeth.

"But I don't want her anymore." Adagio continued. "You can have her. All I want is a little something in return."

Determined to keep her composer, Sunset focused on what Adagio had just said. "...And what is that?"

Adagio's crooked smile returned. "Oh, I don't know. How about... that little gem around your neck?"

Sunset brought a hand to the geode and began to back away again. She had no idea what it would do to Adagio, but it would definitely give her some kind of magic powers and Sunset feared what she would use them for. Sunset turned to look at Aria, who hadn't moved from her spot.

"You know how this is going to end." Adagio taunted. "It will all go much smoother if you just do as I say... and give me the geode."

Adagio knew what the Geodes could do. Sunset didn't know how Adagio knew, but she did. "...Are you gonna hurt my friends with it?" She glanced at Adagio in the mirror. She was rolling her shoulders and wiggling her fingers.

Adagio didn't speak. Then again, she didn't need to. Her silence was all the answer Sunset needed.

Sunset began to wish that she had gotten a superpower that would actually be useful in this particular moment. She couldn't let Adagio get her hands on the geodes, but her exit was blocked and, even if she got passed Aria, Adagio would be right behind her. Her hand curled into a fist. There was only one thing she could think to do.

Sunset swung around and punched Adagio in the face.

Adagio's head went back as she was knocked into a stall door before crumbling to the ground.

Sunset stood still for a second in shock of what she had just done... which was a bad idea, as she found out when she turned around and got tackled by Aria. Her back hit the ground with a thud and she looked to see that Aria was on top of her. Sunset tried to to push her off, but the siren pinned her arms down. Thinking fast, Sunset brought her legs up and used them to flip Aria over her. Taking her opportunity, Sunset rolled forward and stood up, ready to make a run for it.

However, just as she got started, a glance to the left told her that Adagio was already up. She caught a glimpse of Adagio's face before her fist connected with Sunset's cheek. In that second, she had seen that she had busted Adagio's lip, causing a line of blood to run down the psycho's chin.

The impacted caused Sunset's head meet the bathroom mirror, causing it to crack slightly. Dazed, Sunset grabbed onto the sink bar to steady herself. Before she knew what was happening, Adagio wrapped her arm around Sunset's neck and started squeezing. Realizing that she was being strangled, Sunset tried to pull away. However, Adagio refused to let up her grip and kicked Sunset's leg out from under her, causing her to fall on her butt while Adagio knelt down and continued to apply pressure.

Losing oxygen fast, Sunset grabbed and clawed at Adagio's arms and face, but it was futile. Adagio refused to let up. Regardless, Sunset continued to claw at Adagio until she ended up grabbing the siren's hand. Her powers activated.

"This is all YOUR fault! You and your mind-numbing stupidity!"

It's not my fault. It can't be! I...I won't accept! It was... It was Sonata. Somehow, it was Sonata's fault! I won't accept the blame!

"Remember all those ponies back when we ruled? Remember how they would grow old and die? That's what's going to happen to us! AND IT"S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

I don't want to grow old. I don't want to die. Not that... ANYTHING but THAT! It's... It's not my fault. It's not... I don't want to die!

"Don't need me? Aria, I own you! I control you! Both of you! Ever since we were born, I've been pulling the strings! Neither of you would be alive right now without me! You think you can survive without me!? You're a declawed cat in the middle of the jungle, sister! You better just hope that, in the future, I'll have use for you and decide to take you back."

I've given those two idiots everything! I've taken care of them since we were born! They can't survive without me.

Smack!

That was long time coming.

...

What's that Sunset girl doing now? Wait... Is that Sonata?

...

So, those punks have accepted Sonata into their group. Which means, she might be able to access their magic. Which means, I can get my life back!

...

"Well, tell me about it, Aria. Tell me why this pathetic, worthless mortal life is better. Tell me how you're just going to refuse to help me. Did you forget who pulls the strings?"

How dare she! She owes me her life a thousand times over and she thinks she can treat me like that!? Okay, Adagio. Calm down. Once you have the magic, you can teach Aria a lesson.

...

"Don't be an idiot, Aria. Sonata is way too weak. The moment I call, she'll come running."

Aria should know better by now. Sonata is just a dumb dog.

...

"What do you mean 'what for'? We're going to get our lives back and make those fools pay for what they did to us."

Did Sonata really just... question me?

"Think? You don't think, Sonata! 'They didn't do anything to us'? You're a bigger idiot than I thought! And that's saying something!"

They humiliated us! They took our lives away! How can Sonata be this stupid!?

"What did you just say to me?"

If Sonata really just said 'no' to me...

Adagio grabbed Sonata by the neck, pushed her against a tree, and started strangling her.

"I took care of you! If it weren't for me, you would be dead a thousand times over! You owe me your life, you moron! I gave you everything you ever had! Do you really think those fools care about you?! Why would anyone care about a stupid, pathetic, worthless idiot like you?!"

I'll kill her! ...No. Not right now. Not until I have those geodes.

...

Adagio shoved Aria's head into the water fountain and started drowning her.

Ten or so seconds should provide her with an attitude adjustment.

...

"But why them? I think someone like you would put such power to better use."

This pompous narcissist can't resist such an ego stroke.

"Thank you, Trixie. You've been a big help."

And that's checkmate.

It all flashed through Sunset's mind in a second before her mind returned to reality. Everything was going dark as Adagio continued to strangle her. Her body went rigged.

"Adagio, that's enough!"

Who said that? It sounded like... Sunset's mind went blank as darkness took over.





"Adagio, stop!" Aria said as she grabbed her sister's shoulders and tried to pull her off of Sunset.

Adagio responded by letting go and standing straight up, knocking Aria into a stall door.

Aria pressed herself against the stall to keep herself from falling.

Adagio glared at Aria for a second before looking down at Sunset. She wiped the blood off her chin and lip before kneeling down and patting Sunset's jean pockets. Feeling something, Adagio pulled out Sunset's cell phone from one of her pockets. She smiled as she stood up and stepped away.

Once Adagio stepped away, Aria quickly knelt beside Sunset and checked her pulse. She sighed with relief when she felt it. She didn't know why she even cared. After all, it was because of Sunset that all this happened anyway. Perhaps, she just didn't want to witness a murder.

While Aria was stuck in her thoughts, Adagio texted a message on Sunset's phone. Her smile widened as she did. "Alright, Sunset. Let's see how much your friends trust you."





Sonata stared at the game of chess laid out in front of her. "This looks complicated." She said simply.

"It can be a bit challenging," Twilight admitted. "But that's why I'm here." In truth, Twilight 100% expected Sonata to not understand the game for now. She had a different purpose for this particular game. "The goal of the game is-"

Buzz.

Twilight was interrupted by her phone buzzing. She reached into her pocket and brought out the device to find that Sunset had sent her a message.

Twilight, something bad is going on. I need you to
hide your geode behind the vending machine nearest
to you. Don't let anyone see you. I'll pick it up later. I'll
message the others to do the same. I'll explain later.

"Oh, dear." Twilight said once she finished reading the message.

"What's wrong." Sonata asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just, uh, need to do something real quick for Sunset. Be right back." With that, Twilight quickly left to do as she was told. She had no idea what was going on, but she trusted Sunset. If she something bad was happening and that Twilight had to give her geode to her, then that's what Twilight would do.





Sunset groaned as she woke up. The first thing she saw was her legs... and then some rope around her abdomen. It took a moment for her to realize that she couldn't move her arms and another moment to realize that she was in a chair. She was tied to a chair.

"Oh, look who decided to wake up."

Sunset lifted up her head and saw Adagio sitting across from her, that psychotic smirk plastered on her face. Sunset looked around and saw that they were alone, which was not a good sign. "...Isn't this the janitor's closet?"

"Yes, it is. Fortunately, the janitor just happened to be absent today."

"...How did you get me all the way here without anyone seeing you?"

Adagio sighed. "It wasn't easy, but we managed."

"...Hold on. If the janitor isn't here, then how did you get the key?"

Adagio chuckled. "Picking locks is one of my many talents."

Picking locks? Sunset's mind went back to when she had seen into Adagio's memories. She must have picked the lock on Sunset's door to... Sunset's eyes narrowed. "You nearly killed your own sister! Both of them!"

Adagio raised an eyebrow. "How could you possibly know that?"

"My geode gives me the power to see into people's minds by touching them. While you were strangling me, I touched your hand and saw into your memories. So, now I know."

Adagio looked genuinely interested. "Fascinating. But tell me, can you still do that without your geode?"

"Why do you..." Sunset looked down. Her geode was gone.

Adagio chuckled again as she dangled the gem in front of her. "I can already feel power flowing through my veins. I can't imagine how much power I will have once I have all the geodes!"

Sunset's eyes widened. "No! No, Adagio! You don't want to do that! The last time someone had all seven crystals-"

"I know, I know." Adagio assured dismissively. "Trixie already told me about Gaia Everfree."

Sunset made a quick mental note to have a little talk with Trixie whenever this was over.

"That doesn't matter to me, Sunset. What matters is that I'll have my magic back. I'll have my life back! You know, Sunset, I'm truly glad that your friends have out so much trust in you. It's made getting those geodes so much easier."

Sunset could feel panic running through her system. "What?"

Adagio held up Sunset's cell phone. "I sent a message to each of your friends telling them to hide their crystals so that you could pick them up because of an 'emergency'." She then smashed Sunset's phone on the floor.

Sunset would have made a comment on how petty is was to smash her phone, but she was too concerned with everything else to do so.

"Right now, Aria is retrieving those geodes as they hide them in the place I told them to do so." Adagio looked close to busting out laughing. "I guess friendship has it's disadvantages."

Sunset's gritted her teeth. "You wouldn't know, would you? You don't care about anyone but yourself. Even your own sisters are just tools to you!"

"So?"

Sunset had forgotten what it was like to truly hate someone. Ever since then she turned a new leaf, she had banished such feelings. But Adagio had brought them back. "You're a monster."

"And your point is?"

Sunset glared at the siren for a long moment, thinking of what to say.

"And you know what else?" Adagio continued. "I don't think their powers will work without geodes, will they?"

That's when Sunset remembered something that made her smirk slightly. "No, but we made a little arrangement."

Adagio raised an eyebrow.

"After a little incident on a movie set, we decided it was best to keep our geodes with us at all times." Sunset explained. "Of course, there may be times when we need to take them off. So, we had an arrangement: If there's a situation where we need to be rid of the geodes, but we feel that something is up, we absorb enough magic from them to get by for a while before taking them off."

Adagio scoffed. "It won't matter."

Before Sunset could retort, the sound of a door opened and closing caught their attention.

Adagio looked back to see Aria with a string that held six geodes on it like a necklace. Adagio smiled and stood from her chair. "Well, it's been nice talking with you, but I've got business to attend to." With that, she walked over to Aria.

Aria held up the geodes for Adagio to see. "I got'em."

"Good work, Aria." Adagio reached over to grab them, but Aria held it away from her. Adagio had a confused look for a second before scowling.

"I was thinking, Adagio." Aria said as she stepped back. "I already have the geodes and, therefore, I already have the magic at my grasp. Which makes me wonder: Why should I give them to you instead of keeping them for myself?"

Adagio wiggled her fingers and took a deep breath. "I'll forgive you for that one, just this once. Now, give me the geodes." She held out her hand.

Aria held the crystals close to her. In truth, she was tired of Adagio's abuse. She was tired as being her puppet and being forced to take seat back to her. These geodes were her chance to be the one in charge. She didn't know why she didn't just put the necklace on in the first place or why she wasn't do it right now. This was her chance. Why wasn't she taking it?

Adagio lowered her hand and gave Aria a stern look. "After all I've done for you... What do you think will happen if you do use the geodes? What do you think will happen if your in charge? You'll be on your own, Aria." Her tone was cold and dripping with venom. "I've been there for you your whole life. You never had to take care of yourself. I did it for you. What would you do with that power, Aria? What would happen?"

Aria didn't know how to answer.

"You're a lazy, impulsive moron. If you use that power, Sunset's friends would take you down before nightfall." Her tone took a faux sympathetic tone. "I'm telling you this because it's true. You know it's true, Aria."

Aria didn't want to believe Adagio. She wanted to believe Adagio was lying. But, as much as she tried to convince herself of that, she couldn't. Adagio was right. What was she even thinking? She was hopeless without her.

Adagio, once again, held out her hand. "Hand it over."

Aria hesitated before giving in and handing the necklace over.

Adagio smiled and let Sunset's geode join the others. "Finally." She tied the necklace of crystals around her neck.

Sunset watched in horror as the siren transformed.
> Twilight and the Siren
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now, you want to take my horse, so you move that piece over there." Twilight instructed.

Sonata did so and took Twilight's knight. "Did I win?"

"No, not quite." Twilight had been trying to teach Sonata how chess works ever since she dropped off her geode behind the vending machine and... it hadn't been going well. Twilight had been forced to reduce everything to simplest terms and guide Sonata step by step. Despite this, Sonata still couldn't grasp the game. Twilight wasn't surprised.

"Ugh, this game is too complicated." Sonata whined. She pouted and crossed her arms. "I'm too dumb to play it."

Seeing that Sonata was through with the game, Twilight decided it was time to put her plan into action. She took a deep breath before addressing the siren. "Sonata, I've noticed you've been acting... strange lately. You've been really down in the dumps the past two days."

The look on Sonata's face indicated that she had thought no one had noticed. She looked away from Twilight.

While Sonata looked away, Twilight started rearranging the chess pieces. "Sonata, would you do something for me?"

"Why would you want me to do  something? I would just mess it up."

"No, nothing like that. All I want you to do is describe something."

Sonata looked to Twilight and shrugged. "Okay."

"I want you to to describe yourself."

Sonata raised an eyebrow. "Me-self?"

"Yes. Pretend you are a different person describing Sonata."

Sonata thought for a good long moment. "Uhhh... Well, Sonata is... blue... and she... has a big ponytail."

"What about her personality?"

For a moment, Sonata didn't say anything. She watched as Twilight continued to rearrange the chess pieces; nether girl saying a word. Once Twilight was finished, Sonata sighed and looked to her lap. "She's an idiot."

"Go on." Twilight encouraged.

"She's stupid... She doesn't pay attention... She messes everything up... She... She..." Tears started forming is Sonata's eyes. "She ruined her sisters' lives... She... She's a burden to seven really nice girls... She..." Sonata choked and started crying.

Twilight took out the cloth she used to clean her glasses and handed it to Sonata. "Here."

Sonata took it and dried her eyes.

"Do you wanna know the truth, Sonata?" Twilight asked. "You may not be very smart; you may be easily distracted and clumsy; but you did not ruin your sisters' lives and you are not a burden to us. You're our friend, Sonata." She said sternly before motioning to the chess board. "Look," 

Sonata looked at the board.

On one side of the board, there were seven white pieces: Two knights, two rooks, two bishops, and one queen. On the other side, there were three black pieces: Two pawns and one queen.

"Let's say these white pieces are Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and me." Twilight explained before picking up one of the knights. "This one is Rainbow Dash. She's arrogant, egotistical, hotheaded, and has an inflated opinion of herself to say the least." She set the piece down and picked up the other knight. "This one is Applejack. She's stubborn, prideful, and often has her head up her butt."

"She can put her head up her butt?!"

"Expression, Sonata."

"Oh."

Twilight set the piece down and picked up one of the rooks. "This one is Rarity. She's vain, obsessed with appearance, and a tiny bit narcissistic at times." She set the piece down and picked up the other rook. "This one is Pinkie Pie. She's hyperactive, sometimes insensitive, and annoys the heck out of people." She set the piece down and picked up one of the bishops. "This one is Fluttershy. She's scared of her own shadow and can't stand up for herself." She set the piece down and picked up the queen. "This one is Sunset. She used to to be a bully who tormented everyone in this school and it took turning into a raging she-demon and being blasted by a rainbow to change her into the Sunset she is today."

"Yeah, people told us about that." Sonata recalled.

"And then there's me." Twilight said as she she set down the queen and picked up the other bishop. "I drained magic from each of them, accidentally turned myself into a raging she-demon just like Sunset had, and almost destroyed two worlds." She set the piece down. "So, don't you see, Sonata?"

Sonata looked from the chess board to Twilight, not sure what Twilight meant.

"None of us are perfect." She explained. "We all have flaws and make mistakes, but we still stick together. We're not burdens to each other even if it sometimes seems that way. We build each other up and help each other."

As Sonata listened, her mind went back to the day she spent with Pinkie Pie. "...Pinkie told me something like that. Well, she singed it."

"Sang." Twilight compulsively corrected.

"She singed about how you girls weren't perfect, but that I should focus on your positive aspects... or something like that."

Twilight was slightly surprised that Pinkie sang something like that, but chose not to address said surprise. "And she's right. And you're no different, Sonata. You have flaws and you make mistakes; that doesn't mean we think any less of you."

Sonata thought it over for a moment when that all too familiar voice echoed in her head. "But... But Adagio said-"

"She lied." Twilight said simply.

Sonata's mind drifted to the day she spent with Spike and Rainbow Dash. It then drifted to the dream she had; the one with Adagio. Now that Sonata thought about it, Adagio had never explained why she was right and why she wasn't lying. All she had said was that Sonata was too stupid to make decisions and, now that Sonata had thought about it a second time, that easily could have just been another lie.

Twilight saw the look of deep-thinking on Sonata's face and decided to elaborate. "You see these three black chess pieces on the other side of the board?"

Sonata snapped out of her stupor and looked to the three black pieces.

"These three are you, Adagio, and Aria." She picked up the queen. "Adagio was using you. Both of you. Honestly, I don't think she ever cared about either of you except as tools." She set the piece down and picked up one of the pawns. "I don't know much about Aria, so I can't really say anything about her." She set the piece down and picked up the other pawn. "And you, Sonata?" Twilight smiled. "You belong over here." She set the piece down with the white ones.

Sonata looked from the board to Twilight and smiled. She got up from her chair and wrapped her arms around Twilight.

Twilight got up so she and Sonata could properly hug.

"Thanks." Sonata said. "I really needed to hear that."

"No problem."

"How do you know so much?"

Twilight chuckled. "I'm a really analectic person."

After a moment, Sonata pulled away and looked back at the board. "...Do you think maybe..." She picked up the other two black pieces and set them down with the white pieces.

Twilight gave her a small smile. "Maybe."

"Do you two hear that?" Spike suddenly asked.

Twilight and Sonata looked to the purple dog who had been gnawing on one of his chew toys while they had their discussion. He was now standing up straight and keeping his eyes on the door. "Here what, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Shh! Listen!" Spike urged.

Twilight and Sonata obeyed and listened carefully. At first, they heard nothing. But after a few seconds, they heard it.

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh... Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh... Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

Twilight looked to Sonata, who was frozen in place. "Uhhh, Sonata, do you know what that is?"

Sonata looked to her friend. "I think so... but I don't know how it's possible."





Applejack landed on her back as she tried and failed to catch the basketball, which went straight through the hoop with a swish.

Rainbow Dash put her hands on her knees and panted as Pinkie jumped around her. "Boy, this is so much fun, Dashie!"

"Are you okay, AJ?" Fluttershy asked Applejack as she helped her up.

"Well, mah pride's a bit hurt, but Ah'm good." The cowgirl assured with a smile. "Ah still don't know how you and Pinkie are so good at this."

"I don't know either." Pinkie said as she continued to jump around. "We just..." She stopped and started twitching. "Oh, wait! Got a twitchy in my neck again." She cracked her neck, causing the others to wince. "It's feels like..."

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

All four girls froze in place.

Applejack looked to the other three. "Uhhh, did y'all hear that?"

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

Fluttershy shook her head in disbelieve. "That's not possible."

"It can't be..." Rainbow muttered.

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

"It can." Pinkie said without her usual glee.





"Hush now, my love. Soon our time will be at hand and when that day comes, the very stars in the sky will- Sweetie Belle! Stop laughing!" Scootaloo shouted angrily at her friend.

Sweetie Belle sat up from the prop sofa and tried to control her chuckles. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just so weird! Hahaha!"

Rarity facepalmed and sighed. "Really, Sweetie, this is the sixth time you've gotten the giggles in this scene alone. Scootaloo is giving a stellar performance and she doesn't even want to be here."

"That's true. I don't wanna be here." Scootaloo agreed.

Apple Bloom, who had agreed to help work on the play (mostly to watch Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle), snickered from the midway of a ladder, which she had seated herself on. "I got an idea! Sweetie Belle, pretend Scootaloo is that boy from the poster in your room."

Scootaloo blushed. "I don't think that will make things any better."

"Well, it's worth a try." Rarity decided. "Sweetie Belle, pretend that Scootaloo is that boy from the poster in your room."

Scootaloo groaned and hid her face in her hands.

Sweetie Belle patted her friend on the back in sympathy.

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

Rarity froze and listened carefully, sure that her ears were deceiving her.

Unaware to the fashionista, a green fog seeped in through the doors of the auditorium.

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

Rarity looked around, scanning the rows of seats for something out of the ordinary.

The green fog quickly spread across the stage.

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

Rarity turned to the stage and found a familiar green fog had covered it. But even worse, she found Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom frozen in place with blank expressions on their faces. "Sweetie Belle!" Rarity ran over and grabbed her little sister, looking into her glowing green eyes that stared off into nothing. "Sweetie Belle, speak to me!" She demanded as she grabbed her sister's face.

No response.

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

Rarity looked to Scootaloo and brought a hand to the tomboy's face, turning it to face her. Same as Sweetie Belle's. "Oh dear..."

"Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

The continuous singing made it dawn on Rarity what was happening. "I need to find the others." She started making for the door, but stopped and turned to the kids. "You stay right there!" She commanded despite knowing that they most likely couldn't hear her. She then continued her sprint, passing by her fellow workers, who were also caught in the spell. As she exited the auditorium, she heard a laugh echo throughout the school.





"Welcome one and all,
introducing a blast from the past.
Hope you enjoy show,
it's gonna be your last. Hehehe."





Sonata looked down both sides of the hall. "That's Adagio! I know it is!"

Twilight stood beside the siren and looked through the halls as well. A green fog floated across the floor, giving the the scene an ominous feel. Not helping was their fellow students standing perfectly still with green glowing eyes. Twilight had tried getting their attention, but without success. Regardless, she wasn't liking the looks of this. "Come on, Sonata. We need to find the others." She grabbed Sonata's hand and pulled her down the hall.





"You thought you keep me down, but you thought wrong.
I've taken over yours minds with nothing but my song.
I control your world now and from here on out.
I own your soul and your heart, which is why shout.

I have you in my grasp. There is no escape.
I am now the master of your fate.
I pull the strings on your every bone.
The queen is back on her throne!

Wahooooh... Wahooooh... Wahooooh.

The queen is back on her throne!"





"I really don't like the sound of that!" Fluttershy whimpered as she, Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie walked through the creepy halls.

"How did that psycho get her powers back anyway?" Rainbow asked as she lead them through the hall, keeping an eye out for a comically large afro.

"We'll figure it out once we find the others." Applejack stated.

Pinkie, who was rolling around all over the place like a spy, looked to the others. "You know, I was thinking about that. Remember when Sunset texted each of us to hide our geodes behind the vending machine?"

"Yeah, I guess we know what the bad thing is now." Rainbow deadpanned.

"Actually, I was thinking... How do we we know it was Sunset that texted us?"

The other three stopped in their tracks.

"I mean, has anyone even seen Sunset?" Pinkie asked as she turned to her friends.

"Hold on!" Applejack held up her hands. "You're tellin' me that ya think that Adagio has done somethin' to Sunset missin' and has our geodes?!"

"Yes..." Pinkie's hair deflated a bit. "Yes, I do."





"That little voice in your head is me whispering my demands.
Every little thing about your life rests in my hands.
I have your mind and heart under key and lock.
You're the sheep. I'm the shepherd. You are but my flock.

When you struck me down on that accursed day,
I swore I would somehow make you pay.
You tried your best to break me, but here I stand.
Now, watch me take over this pitiful land.

I have you in my grasp. There is no escape.
I am now the master of your fate.
I'll lay waste to the place that you once called home.
The queen is back on her throne!

Wahooooh... Wahooooh... Wahooooh.

The queen is back on her throne!

Wahooooh... Wahooooh... Wahooooh.

The queen is back on her throne!"





Rarity sprinted through the hallways, desperately trying to find her friends. She concluded that, since she wasn't affected, the others wouldn't be effected either, same as last time. Approaching a dead end, she took a left and nearly bumped into someone. She skidded to a halt.

The first thing she noticed was that the person's feet, clad in high-heeled boots, weren't touching the ground. She slowly looked up and saw that the person, a young woman, was wearing a golden/orange dress. She also saw a pair of dragon-like wings. She looked up further and finally saw her face. A crooked smile that revealed pearly white fangs. Glowing green eyes laid against red balls (Red where there should have been white). Despite it all, there was no mistaking that outrageous afro.

All Rarity could do was gasp before she was grabbed by the throat and lifted off the ground.

Adagio smiled and ran her finger across Rarity's terrified face.

"Don't you dare scream. You had this coming for a while.
Ever since that day you condemned me to exile.
If you thought I'd forgive you, then you're a fool.
I must pay you back for being so cruel."

Without even thinking, Rarity blasted Adagio with a diamond, knocking the demented siren into the wall and freeing herself. Rarity watched as Adagio bounced off the wall and fell to the ground before getting up and running away, praying that she could find her friends before Adagio did.

Meanwhile, Adagio picked herself up and glared at the fleeing fashionista as she turned the corner. "Alright... Let's see how you handle the entire school being out for your blood." She sucked in a breath and continued her song.

"Find the eight who dare defy me and tear them apart!
Tear their flesh and break their bones and rip out their hearts!
Do not stop until they've taken their final breaths.
Tear them apart! Tear them apart! And when you're done, show me what's left!"





"W-What did she say?!" Fluttershy stammered out as she clung to Applejack.

Rainbow turned to see some brainwashed students turning towards them. "Guys," The students started running towards them with murderous expressions on their faces. "Run!"





Rarity saw the Diamond Boys running towards her and blocked them off with a wall of diamonds. She ran and turned a corner only to see Lyra and Bonbon running for her. In a panic, she blasted them both with a diamond, knocking them over like bowling pins. "So sorry, darlings!" Rarity apologized as she ran passed them.

She ran further and caught the attention of more students, forcing her to turn another corner. Realizing she couldn't keep running, she stopped at the first classroom she came across. She opened the classroom door, silently thanking God it was unlock, and quietly shut it. She scanned the room for any living thing and, once she was sure she was alone, she hid herself under the teacher's desk.





"I knew I could beat you on my own.
The queen is back on her throne."

Adagio smiled. "Yes, the the queen is back on her throne. Hehehehe Ahahahaha!"





Sunset struggled against her restrains in vain. Despite knowing she couldn't break free from them, Adagio's singing, which she guessed was being heard through the school, was putting her in a panic. She looked to Aria, who was leaning against the wall doing nothing. "Aria! You have to get me out of here!"

Aria didn't respond.

"Aria, please! She's trying to kill my friends!"

Aria gave Sunset an almost apologetic look, but looked away. "They're not my friends. Why should I care?"

Sunset took note that Aria didn't sound callous. It seemed to be a genuine question. "Do you want them dead?"

"Adagio does... and she makes the rules."

Sunset knew that the only way she could save her friends was to bring Aria on their side, but she didn't know how to do it and she had very limited time to get it done. Nevertheless, she forced herself to calm down and think. "...Aria, there are seven of us. Adagio said eight. She's trying to kill Sonata too."

Aria looked to Sunset, her face showing that she hadn't thought of that. She looked scared.

"She's your sister. You can't tell me that you don't care about her."

Aria remained silent.

Sunset sighed. Seeing that Aria wouldn't respond, she made the decision to go all out. "Adagio called you a worthless moron. I'm guessing that that she calls you things like that all the time, correct?"

Aria's face said yes.

"Do you wanna know the truth? Adagio is just using you. Everything she tells you is a lie. All she cares about is herself. So, why are you still following her?"

Aria hesitated before answering. "Because a mortal life is pointless."

"Is that you talking or her?"

Aria's face said it was Adagio.

"Aria, life isn't pointless. Adagio tells you things like that to control you. To her, you're just tool."

Aria looked at her feet. Unlike Sonata, she was smart enough to know that Sunset was telling the truth without question. The question was if she was strong enough to accept it.

"Have you and Adagio been spying on us?"

"...Yeah."

"You've seen how we treat Sonata?"

"...Yeah."

"Do you really think it's better to stay with Adagio then make real friends?"

Aria gave Sunset a questioning look.

"We would give you another chance. Same as we did for Sonata." Sunset promised. "You can finally be your own person and not just some puppet."

Aria's expression brightened.

"But you have to let me go and help me save my friends."

Aria bit her lip as she contemplated the offer. She turned away and weighed her options.

"If you won't do it for us," Sunset continued. "Then at least do it for yourself."

It felt like an eternity passed before Aria returned her gaze to Sunset. After a moment of hesitation, she walked behind Sunset and undid the rope around her body.

Sunset shook off the rope and stretched her arms before untying the ropes around her legs, with Aria's help. She got up and nodded to the siren. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." Aria replied before ushering Sunset to the door. "Just for the record, this doesn't make us friends."

"Understood." Sunset took a breath and opened the door. It was going to be a long day.
> Game...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity took deep breaths as she processed the situation at hand. "Alright, Rarity, keep calm. One must have a level head when dealing with mind controlling psychopaths." She sucked in one last deep breath and let it out. "Alright, let us review what we have. That was undoubtedly Adagio who I ran into and she obviously is the one causing all this madness. But how?"

Rarity remembered back to when she bumped into Adagio. Thanks to her eye for detail, she was able to distinctly recall what Adagio was wearing aside from that admittedly lovely dress. Namely... "The geodes!" Rarity realized. "That explains everything... But how did she get them?"

As she recalled, Sunset had texted her to drop off her geode behind a vending machine because of... It then hit Rarity what had happened. "Why that manipulative, unfettered genius! Wait a minute," Rarity gasped. "On, no. What did that ruffian do to Sunset?!" Realizing that she didn't want to think about it, she slapped herself. "No, no. Don't think about that, Rarity. You have to-" Rarity shut up when she heard the door open.

"Anyone in here?!" An angry voice called out as someone stepped into the room.

Judging from the voice and the heavy footsteps, Rarity instantly deduced that it was Bulk Biceps. Knowing that the large boy could easily break her in half, and that he most definitely would due to Adagio's mind control, Rarity kept quiet and prayed that he would leave.

However, Bulk had different ideas. He crouched down and looked under the student desks. Seeing that no one was hiding under there, he angrily flipped over two of the desks, sending them across the room. He went to the other side of the room and noticed a large cabinet. He walked over and tried to open it, but found it was locked. He responded by lifting it over his head and throwing it at the desks. It was then that he noticed the teacher's desk. Figuring it was the only other place that someone could hide in the room, Bulk walked over lifted the desk over his head... only to find no one was under there either.

Meanwhile, Rarity had been pressing her hands and feet against the sides of the desk, keeping herself off the ground. She struggled to remain in said position as Bulk unknowingly lifted her up.

With a grunt, Bulk slammed the desk back on the ground, sending Rarity to the ground as well. Luckily, he didn't hear her grunt in pain. Deciding no one was there, Bulk left the room to search someplace else.

Rarity clenched her teeth as she waited for Bulk to leave. Once she was sure no one could hear her, Rarity let out a groan. She slowly pushed herself up and leaned against the side of the enclosed space. She panted for a while out of both pain and fear. "... The nerve of some people." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "...Okay. Now that that is over with... I should call the others." She decided as she reached into her pocket and brought out her cell phone. First, she tried to call Sunset.

No response.

"Oh dear... Please let her be okay." Next, she tried calling Fluttershy.





Rainbow Dash opened the doors to the gym and held it open for Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack. Immediately after Applejack entered, Rainbow pushed the door closed and pressed her body against it. Applejack joined in and the two held it closed as several students attacked it from the other side, trying to get in.

Applejack pushed against the door and looked around, eyeing a pair of folded up bleachers to her left. "Rainbow, go an' roll one'a them bleachers over here and we'll block 'em!"

Rainbow looked unsure. "You sure you can hold them back?"

"Super strength, remember?"

"Oh, right." Rainbow looked to Pinkie and Fluttershy. "You two! Go check outside and see if the coast is clear!"

Pinkie saluted and grabbed Fluttershy, leading her to the doors that led outside.

With that, Rainbow activated her super speed and dashed to the folded bleachers. She went around and started pushing one towards Applejack, though she found it to be much heavier than she thought. "Ugh! Uh, AJ, this might take a moment!"

"Well, not to pressure ya, Dash," Applejack called out. "But the windows are startin' to break!" She continued to push against the door, sweat running down her face as the glass windows started cracking as the students continued to beat against them.

Meanwhile, Pinkie got to the door and looked out the window.

"See anything?" Fluttershy asked.

"Hmmmmm... Nope. Don't see a thing." Pinkie answered. She continued looking out the door window and caught sight of something. "No, wait! I see Flash Sentry and his friends!"

"D-Do they know we're here?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"I don't think so, but it's only a matter of time before they come over here. Hey, we need one of those bleachers to cover this door too!" She called to Rainbow and Applejack.

"I'll make a note of it." Rainbow deadpanned as she continued pushing the bleachers towards Applejack.

Meanwhile, Applejack, who had her back against the door, yelped as someone busted through one of the windows with a fire extinguisher. "Rainbow Dash?!"

Rainbow pushed with all her might and managed to get the other side to Applejack, who quickly grabbed the bleachers and, with the help of her super strength, pulled it in front of the doors, blocking off the brainwashed students. The two athletes meet in the middle and looked to Pinkie and Fluttershy. "We gotta block that door off." Rainbow inquired.

"Right." Without another word, Applejack ran over the second folded bleachers and lifted it up. "Woah! Woah!" She struggled to maintain balance and almost fell backwards as she lifted up the large object.

"Uhhh, need some help?" Rainbow asked with uncertainty.

"Just direct me to the door."

Meanwhile, Fluttershy jumped in surprise when she felt her cell phone vibrate. She brought it out and gasped when she saw the name. "Rarity?" She asked as she answered and held the phone to her ear.

"Rarity?!" Pinkie turned away from the window.

A familiar voice came from the phone. "Fluttershy, darling, are you alright?"

"Well, uhh..."

Pinkie snatched the phone away before Fluttershy could answer. "We're trapped in the gym with Rainbow Dash and Applejack! Also we're being chased by the rest of the students because they're being mind controlled by Adagio whose probably been stalking us since the Battle of the Bands and probably sent us all those text messages and probably has Sunset tied up somewhere and Flash and friends know we're here! Hurry up, girls!"

Applejack stumbled closer with the bleachers. "I can't go any faster."

Rainbow bit her lip and quickly examined the situation. Applejack was directly in front of the doors, but was a few yards away. After a second, she got an idea. "Pinkie! Fluttershy! Get outta the way!" She yelled to them as the ran a couple of yards behind Applejack. "AJ! Brace yourself and on the count three, lean on your heels!"

"What?!" Applejack blurted out.

"Just trust me! One! Two!"

It suddenly dawned on Applejack what Rainbow had in mind. "This is gonna suck." She muttered.

Flash reached the door and started opened it, only to be knocked back as the bleachers rammed against the door, blocking him and his friends off.

Rainbow had activated her super speed and tackled Applejack as she leaned on her heels, pushing herself, the cowgirl, and the bleachers straight forward. The two girls collapsed once the job was done.

"Pinkie, what was that noise?" Rarity's concerned voice called from the cell phone.

"Ohhh, don't worry. Dashie and AJ fixed it. Hehe."

Rainbow groaned as she sat up before helping Applejack sit up as well. "You okay, buddy?"

"Yeah, Ah'll be fine." Applejack said with a wince.

Rainbow noticed that Applejack's hat was missing and looked back to see it on the ground. She picked it up and placed it back on her friend's head.

Applejack smirked and the two fist bumped.

"Are you two alright?" Fluttershy asked as she and Pinkie came over and helped them up.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Rainbow assured.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on over there?!" Rarity's voice called out again.

"Oh, sorry." Pinkie put held up Fluttershy's phone and put it on speaker.

"Rarity, is that you?" Applejack asked.

"Yes, it's me, darling. Now, is everything okay over there?"

"Yeah, we should be good for now." Applejack said as she adjusted her stetson.

"Don't suppose Sunset's there with you?" Rainbow asked with doubt.

"I'm afraid not." Rarity said sadly.

"What about Twilight, Sonata, and Spike?" Fluttershy tried.

"I was hoping they were with you."

The four looked at each other nervously, the sounds of their fellow students trying to break in being the only thing that broke the silence.

Applejack took a deep breath. "Alright, everybody, let's just keep calm an' figure this out. Now, Ah think it's safe to assume that Adagio is behind all this?"

"Oh, you have no idea." Rarity said nervously. "I bumped into her in the hall. She has all of our geodes and is now a raging she-demon."

Fluttershy facepalmed. "Another one?" She asked with a sigh.

"Well, we've dealt with with three raging she-demons already." Rainbow noted with a smirk. "One more shouldn't be a problem."

"But we need to find Sunset, Twilight, Spike, and Sonata." Fluttershy noted.

"I tried to call Sunset, but there was no answer." Rarity inquired.

"I'll try to call Twilight." Rainbow said as she brought out her cell phone.





"...Sonata, you're on my foot."

"Oh, sorry...... You have beautiful eyes."

"Thanks, but... Wait, how can see my eyes well enough to say that?"

"Oh, I have some experience in being in the dark. I guess my eyes just adjusted."

"Interesting."

"...Also, you smell like strawberries."

"What?"

"Spike, back me up here. Doesn't Twilight smell like strawberries?"

"You do smell like strawberries, Twilight."

"But I could have sworn I used the cherry shampoo this morning. Did I make a mistake when I rearranged-"

"Quiet! I hear someone coming."

"Oh, we should listen, Twilight. Spike has really- mmph."

The door to the storage closet opened and a girl with crossed glowing green eyes looked in. "Anyone in here?"

"Derpy, what are you doing?" Berry Punch asked as she walked to the girl's side.

"Well, I could have sworn I heard someone in here."

"Well, I don't see anyone. Do you?"

"But I-"

Smack.

Berry slapped Derpy across the face and pushed her away. "You're such an idiot!" She scolded before slamming the closet door closed.

Sonata had a flashback of that night. The memory of Adagio smacking her sent a chill down her spine.

"You okay, Sonata?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, I just, uhh, remembered something bad."

The two girls had been investigating in the halls when the students started coming for them. Twilight had been forced to use her telekinesis against them as she and Sonata ran to find somewhere to hide. Eventually, they came upon a storage closet in the hallway and hid themselves inside it.

They were currently stuffed in the back corner of the closet, hidden by supplies and awkwardly pressed against each other. Spike was sticking out of Twilight's backpack while the two were face to face at an uncomfortable distance. Regardless, both were too concerned with the situation at hand to care.

"Sonata, do you have any idea what's going on?"

Sonata scratched her head. "Well, that voice sounds just like Adagio, but I don't understand. We lost our magic and even when we had it, it wasn't this powerful. It doesn't make sense."

Twilight ran through her brain everything that had happened before this madness started. Before her chess game with Sonata, Sunset had went to the bathroom and then texted her to hide her geode so she could pick it up. It only took a few seconds for her to put together what was going on. "Adagio has our geodes!" She almost forgot to keep her voice down.

"What?! How?"

"She must have sent the texts... Adagio must have done something to Sunset!"

Sonata pressed her hands against the sides of her head. "No... Nonononono! Is Sunset okay?!"

Twilight swallowed hard. "...I don't know."

Sonata pulled her hair as she started hyperventilating. This was too much. Everyone was trying to kill them. Sunset could have been hurt or worse. They had no idea where the others were. Everything was suddenly out of control and Sonata couldn't handle it.

Twilight took notice and quickly wrapped Sonata in a hug.

Sonata put her head on Twilight's shoulder as she tried to calm herself.

Twilight held Sonata close and rubbed her back. "It's gonna be alright, Sonata. I promise."

The two stayed that way for a long moment until Twilight's cell phone rang. Twilight brought it out of her pocket and gasped. "It's Rainbow Dash!" She exclaimed before answering. "Rainbow Dash, is that really you?"

"Yeah, Twi it's me." Rainbow's voice answered. "Is Sonata and Sunset with you?"

Sonata put her head against Twilight's so she could hear and talk to Rainbow too. "I'm here, but Sunset isn't. Twilight thinks Adagio did something to her."





Rainbow groaned as she put her phone on speaker. "Yeah, we think so too."

"You and Sonata alright?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, we're fine." Twilight answered. "You?"

"We're holdin' up. Me, Rainbow, Fluttershy, an' Pinkie are trapped in the gym an' Rarity is... Wait, where are ya, Rare?"

Rarity didn't answer.

"Rarity?"

"Shh! Someone's here!" Rarity whispered.

The four girls fell silent.

"What's going on?" Sonata asked.

"Rarity's in trouble. Just keep quiet for a bit." Rainbow whispered into her phone.

The four stood in silence, the sound of their fellow students trying to break into the gym being the only thing to break the silence and it did nothing to calm the girls' nerves.

"...Alright, they're gone now." Rarity finally said after what felt like an eternity.

The girls sighed with relief.

"Okay, Rarity's alright." Rainbow assured Twilight and Sonata before moving her cell phone beside Fluttershy's so that they and Rarity could hear each other.

"So, where are ya, Rarity?" Applejack asked again.

"I'm in a classroom, hiding under the teacher's desk. Unfortunately, I've no idea which classroom I'm in at the moment."

"So, what are we gonna do?" Pinkie asked.

Applejack gave it a quick thought before deciding their course of action. "I reckon their one thing we can do. We gotta find Adagio, knock that crazy heifer on 'er butt, an' take back our geodes. Our powers are still workin', ain't they?"





Twilight puzzled for a second. "Well, yes, but for how long? We never got to testing how the magic of the geodes works" She wisely decided to leave out that Sunset was set on starting the tests, but put it on hold because of Sonata. "We each absorbed the power for one to two minutes right?"

"Yeah, we did." Applejack confirmed after a moment.

"Well, it may mean something or it may not. Whether the power drains by itself or if it drains from using it is unknown. The only thing that's for sure is we're on a timed schedule."

"Well then, let's stop standing around and go kick a psychopath's butt!" Rainbow declared.

"Rainbow Dash is right for once." Twilight agreed.

"Yeah... Wait, what?"

"We have no time to lose. I'll try to call one of you if something happens."

"Right. Good luck, y'all." Applejack bid them.

"You too." With that, Twilight hung up and pocket her cell phone.

"Sooo, does this mean we're gonna have to fight the brainwashed kids?" Sonata asked.

"...Let's try running and hiding first and use fighting as a last resort."

"Okay."





"Um, we... We won't have to hurt anyone... will we?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"I dread that prospect as well, darling." Rarity stated.

Applejack rubbed the back of her head and sighed. "If we have to. Just remember that whatever Adagio is gonna do to them if she wins is gonna be a whole lot worse then us hurting them."





"I suppose that is for th-Ahhh!" Rarity felt herself being dragged out from under the desk by her leg and in a flash, Photo FInish was on top of her. Rarity grabbed the photographer's wrists as she tried to grabbed at Rarity's face and neck. "Get back!" Rarity quietly yelled as she pushed Photo back- "Hiyah!" -and kicked her in the face, cracking her ever-present glasses. Rarity then wrapped her legs around Photo's neck and held her down as she sat up. "Alright, where is that pressure point?" She pressed her thumb against the Photo's neck right below her ear. After a few seconds, she found the pressure point and put Photo to sleep.

"Rarity, are you okay?!" Pinkie's voice rang out.

Rarity grabbed her cell phone and scooted back under the desk. "I'm alright. Let's just say I'm going to have to get Photo Finish a new pair of glasses. Now, we must not delay any further."

"...Well, alright. Good luck, Rare." Applejack said.

"Please, be careful." Fluttershy inquired.

"Thank you, darlings. I will." With that, Rarity hung up and pocketed her cell phone before letting out a deep sigh. "I'm going to need more than one trip to the spa after all this."





"So, um, how do we get out of here?" Fluttershy asked.

Applejack rubbed her chin and eyes the two currently blocked exits. "Well, we can't go through the doors. That's for sure."

"Oh! I know what to do!" Pinkie said excitedly as she tossed Fluttershy's phone back to her (She fumbled a bit before catching it).

"I'm a bit scared to hear it, but okay."

"Come on!" She motioned for her friends to follow as she skipped along to the wall... or more specifically, the vent at the foot of the wall that Pinkie was motioning to with a big smile on her face.

Applejack groaned. "As if Ah wasn't sore already." With a sigh she knelt down and pried the vent off with ease.

Pinkie couched down at the vent. "Follow me!" She said before crawling into the ventilation system.

Applejack followed suit with Rainbow Dash and then Fluttershy entering after her.

"Do ya even know where ya goin', Pinkie?" Applejack questioned the girl in front of her.

"Of course! We'll just listen for Adagio's singing and follow it. Then we'll bust out of the vent and catch her by surprise! In fact," Pinkie stopped, causing Applejack to bump into her and Rainbow to bump into Applejack and Fluttershy to bump into Rainbow. "Let's listen."

The four stayed silent and listened carefully...

"...Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

"You hear that?"

"...Ahhh ahh-ahh ahhh ahhh..."

"It over this way." Pinkie stated as she moved forward, turning right at a crossroads.

As the four continued to crawl through the ventilation system, Rainbow accidentally hit her head on the metal above her. "Ugh."

"You okay, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked from behind her.

"Oh yeah, I'm doing great." Rainbow snarked sarcastically. "After all, our magic geodes have been stolen, a psychotic she-demon is trying to kill us, our team is split up, and to top it all off, I have a lovely view of AJ's big butt."

Applejack kicked behind her.

"Ow! That was my boob!"

"Don't be talkin' about mah rear end."

"What's the problem, AJ?" Pinkie asked. "Isn't having a big butt a good thing? I mean, guys love it, right? Cause you know..."

"They like big butts and they cannot lie!
All the boys cannot deny!
When us girls walk in with our itty bitty waists
and a round thing in their face they get sprung!
They wanna pull out tough
cause they know that our butts are stuffed!"

Fluttershy sighed. "This is going to be a long day."





Sunset and Aria snuck through the library doors and hurried behind one of the bookshelves. Sunset peeked above the bookshelf, quickly scanning the room.

"See anyone?" Aria asked in a hushed voice.

"Not yet, but someone will show up eventually. Come one, we'll head upstairs."

The two swiftly moved upstairs, moving along the rail while checking for anyone who could ambush them. When the coast proved clear, they headed down a row of shelves and sat at the foot of one.

"So, what exactly is the plan, Sherlock?" Aria asked.

Sunset ran a hand through her hair. "I... I don't know. This all happened so fast, I just... I don't know what to do."

"That's reassuring." Aria deadpanned with a sigh. "You know, I was thinking; if Adagio wanted to kill you, why didn't she once she got the geodes? She just waltzed out and started singing."

Sunset shrugged. "The magic is too much for her to handle. She's not thinking clearly. In fact, she's completely out of her mind. I can tell you that from experience."

"Right. You were a raging she-demon too, weren't you?"

Sunset sighed. "Yeah. Are you gonna taunt me about that again?"

"Naw, I just forgot." Aria stayed silent for a moment before continuing. "Why did you help Sonata?"

Sunset gave Aria a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"After what she did, after what we did, you still gave her a second chance?"

"Yes." Sunset answered without hesitation.

Aria gave the bacon-haired girl a dry look. "Sonata knew what she was doing, you know. She's stupid, but she's not completely retarded. She was not a good person."

"Neither was I, but I was given a second chance. I intend to give that same olive branch to others who need it. Besides, I saw what you and Adagio did to her."

Aria raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"My geode gives me the power to see into others minds and memories, it allows me to feel how they feel." Sunset narrowed her eyes. "I did that for Sonata when I meet her again. I saw how you and Adagio abandoned her in the rain."

Aria looked away.

Sunset's expression softened. "But you're not proud of it, are you?"

Aria shook her head. "...After that happened, I enrolled in Crystal Prep High School. All these months. I've questioned if I should've brought Sonata with me. The last I had seen her, she was... on the ground, crying and looking to me for help." The siren hugged her knees and buried her face in them.

"But you feel bad about it?"

"Yeah. I mean, she's my sister. Her and Adagio were my family; the only people I had. Then that night after the Battle of the Bands... Ugh, everything changed."

Sunset nodded in understanding. In truth, the never thought about how the Battle of the Bands had affected the Dazzlings. Perhaps their intentions of taking over/destroying the world had something to do with that, but Sunset couldn't help feeling a little bad for not even considering it.

"...I'll admit, I often thought about just ending it all myself."

A chill went down Sunset's spine.

Aria raised her head and slouched against the bookshelf. "But I guess I was too much of a wuss to do it."

"I think you got it backwards, Aria. Dying is easy. It's living that you gotta be brave for... especially when you're like me and keep having to deal with raging she-demons."

Aria laughed a little. "No kidding... So, you and your friends would be willing to give me a second chance? Same as Sonata?"

"Of course." Sunset assured with a smile.

"Well, you know, what's happening right now is half my fault. Well, forty percent if you count that Trixie chick."

"True, but you're not a completely and totally evil sociopath, so..."

"Yeah... Still a jerk wad though." Aria said with a guilty smile.

Sunset laughed a bit. "Been there, sister." The two stayed silent as they heard a commotion downstairs. After a moment, Sunset spoke up again. "Why did you decide to help me?"

Aria had a thoughtful look on her face as she looked for an answer. "...I don't know. Maybe I want to help Sonata? Maybe I'm tired of taking Adagio's abuse? Maybe I suddenly caught goodytwoshoeitis? Anyway, it's not gonna matter why I do this. Even if we beat Adagio, no one is going to accept me aside from you and maybe your friends. Same goes for Sonata. I know why you've kept her hidden; it's because you don't think they'll accept her."

"That's not why. We've kept her hidden because we want her to experience what it's like to really have friends before letting her loose. They'll forgive and accept her eventually. She'll prove herself, same as I did."

"Assuming Adagio doesn't kill us?"

"She won't."

"...You're optimistic."

"Well, I kinda have to be in this situation." Sunset took a deep breath and examined the situation at hand. "Okay... We have no way of contacting the others, no way to know where they are , and no way to stop Adagio."

"So, what do we do?"

"...Well, if the others are together, they've probably made plans to take down Adagio and get our geodes back. So, if we wanna help them, we gotta figure out where Adagio is. Of course, this can easily get us killed and the chances of this working are slim... but it's all we have."

Aria tapped her finger against her chin. "Very high possibility of death... Only a slight chance of success... What are we waiting for?" Aria smirked as she got up.

Sunset smiled and got up as well. "You're optimistic."

"I kinda have to be in this situation. Now, let's go knock my sister off her throne."