Sonata took a glance at the bag she was carrying, and put her best smile. Once again, Adagio and Aria have skipped school. It was becoming a big problem, and she had to do something about it. But, she couldn't think in anything but buy them their favorites on her way home.
She knew her sisters wouldn’t care. But she had to try to cheer them up anyway.
Taking a deep breath, she opened her apartment’s door, and greeted loudly.
“Hello Adagio! Aria! I brought some food in my way! How was your day?”
Adagio and Aria grumbled in response, without moving their eyes from the laptop, and TV, respectively. Sonata sighed, but didn't mind. This have been happening every day since their defeat at the hands of the Rainbooms.
Of course Sonata felt a little hurt but still she continued smiling. Then, the blue haired girl put the food she just bought on the table, as she hummed a cheerful melody.
“You better not brought us tacos! I’m sick of them!” warned Adagio.
“Of course I brought tacos. For me.” explained Sonata, as she offered the other two items to her older sisters. “For you, I got the chicken from that colonel you like so much. And for Aria, a meat lovers calzone. Is that okay?”
The two older sisters nodded dryly, and joined Sonata int he table.
Sonata tried to start some conversation, talking about school, friends, or the new TV show that she started watching. But they didn’t say anything to her. The blue haired girl’s smile faded, and, she began to eat in silence too. Anything would be better than this depressive silence. Even a scolding from Adagio, Aria; or both of them.
But nothing happened. Nothing have been happening from months.
Since they were defeated by the Rainbooms, and lost their powers, Adagio and Aria had become silent, and resented. They did nothing but plotting impossible revenges that ended up but get them angrier every time.
Sonata herself remained angry for two full weeks, also seeking revenge with her sisters. But in the end, her careless and cheerful nature made her forget and forgive. Unlike Adagio and Aria, Sonata began to relate with her classmates normally. And even became really good friends with the Rainbooms. Especially with Pinkie Pie.
At first, most of the student body trated her differently, as she was still a menace. But, with some support from Sunset and the others, she ended up being accepted, and made some new friends. Soon enought, she started to enjoy school for real.
But then, she had to return home, and her happiness vanished. Her sisters were the problem. If it weren’t for her sisters’ resentment, Sonata would be really happy.
Sonata was really worried about them. Day after day Sonata did her best to cheer them up, and make them smile again. The only problem was, that she ran out of ideas. Slowly, she realized that only way Adagio and Aria would smile again, was to defeat the Rainbooms.
But Sonata didn’t want to. And, most important, she didn't know how.
Finally, the sound of her sisters' voice automatically thanking her for the meal, brought Sonata back to reality. She gasped in surprise, as her sisters went to lock themselves in their rooms. Adagio and Aria looked at her for a second, but, in the end, they shrugged and closed their doors.
Sonata sighed, and hurried to finish her tacos, to finally go to her room as well. But she was still thinking what to do to help her.
…
Later that night, Sonata had troubles sleeping. As something was calling her.
Finally she woke up, and turned on her laptop. Maybe she would be able to sleep after updating her profile, and check her mail.
Sonata looked she had one unread message. She checked that up.
BLACK HAT ORGANIZATION
All kind of assistance for villains
“Looks like spam.” mumbled Sonata with, yawning.
But still, she clicked on the message. There was a link to some sort of page. Still unsure of what was she doing, Sonata clicked on the link.
It was a video.
On the video, appeared a tall man, with dark gray skin; with two menacing rows of green fangs, sinister black eyes (one of them covered with an elegant monocle). He was wearing a formal black raincoat, red undershirt, a black tie, gray vest; and gray pants. And, of course, a black top hat.
Sonata shivered at this strange vision. She felt like the strange being was looking directly at her.
Finally, the guy in the black hat relished his teeth, with a snake-like black tongue, as he talked to the camera.
“Greetings inferiors being of evil. If you’re looking at this, is because you got your butts kicked by a hero, right?”
He laughed evilly, causing Sonata to shiver again.
“You cannot even show your ugly face in public again, because instead of fear, people looks at you with condescendence. Ha-ha, I bet that they even have offered you their friendship. Right?”
Sonata gulped.
“Well, this is your lucky day!” continued the being. “Because, pathetic excuses for villains, the Black Hat Organization offers you its services. For a 'reasonable' price.”
Once again, Sonata felt like the man in the black hat was staring directly at her.
“The Black Hat Organization can provide you with advice, including a personal evaluation of your previous mistakes; and strategies based on your abilities. Also, if you’re powers have been taken from you, we have all kinds of weapons you can use to crush the heroes that humiliated you. Call now. Our evil operators are working twenty four seven… or they’ll suffer the consequences.”
A phone number appeared on screen:
666 EVIL 666
"And, as an especial offer, if you call in the first twenty four hours after receiving this mail, I, Black Hat, will evaluate your mistakes in person. Completely free!”
Sonata closed her laptop, as she considered her options.
She could forget about this video, and continue with her life. Or, she could make her sisters happy again by contacting the Black Hat Organization.
Like any other morning, Sonata tried to convince Adagio and Aria to join her for school. But, as always, they turned their backs on her, and locked themselves in their rooms.
Sonata didn’t say anything, at this point she was pretty much used to this.
But, that day, when she returned from school, she found a pleasant surprise on her mailbox. It was an envelope, with a printing of a black hat.
“Great!” cheered Sonata, as she went inside her home. “Good afternoon!”
Adagio and Aria turned her heads from the TV to her, and made a small nod. Before turning back their attention to the sitcom they were watching.
“Good, the TV is on!” said Sonata happily.
Adagio and Aria ignored her.
They didn’t even react when Sonata took the DVD and changed the channel.
“You organized another of your movie nights?” asked Adagio, uninterested.
Sonata smiled sadly.
Precisely, several of her multiple attempts to cheer up Adagio and Aria, included organizing movie nights, game nights, dinners, etc. But it never worked.
Hopefully, today would be different.
“Yes, another movie night!” said Sonata. “Now sit down, and pay attention.”
In the old times, Adagio would insult her. Now, she didn’t care.
With a sigh, Aria and Adagio patiently waited for the stupid movie to finish, so they could go back to their rooms, and do nothing.
Sonata opened the envelope, only to find several catalogs, a coupon, and, a DVD. Smiling, Sonata showed her sisters her newest acquisition.
“What do you think?”
“As long as this movie isn’t about how to defeat the Rainbooms, I don’t care.” said Adagio.
Sonata winked an eye to her, and put on the ‘movie’.
“Congratulations!” said the voice of a narrator. “If you’re watching this, you have decided to stop being a pathetic nuisance to become a worthy opponent, buying the villain orientation from Black Hat Organization!”
It appeared what it looked like an office, with the walls covered in gray wallpaper, with a strange-looking top hat pattern. Also, there were several TV screens behind a red velvet chair.
“Get ready to know what NOT to do with, the lost files of Canterlot High!” finished the narrator.
Finally, the velvet chair turned, revealing a tall man with gray skin, green fangs, and sinister black eyes. And, of course, he was wearing a black hat.
“Welcome, vermins from the abyss, obscure creatures, despicable INSIGNIFICANT BIENGS, DISGRACES!”
The image was interrupted, only to reassume, showing a more calmed Black Hat looking at the camera.“I’m Black Hat. But you already knew that, because you bought my Villain Orientation video from Black Hat Organization. Where I laugh at the pathetic shames of the forces of evil, and you give me your money!”
Adagio and Aria turned to Sonata, who nodded enthusiastically. “Keep watching! This video is the solution to all our problems!”
On the video, Black Hat continued: “Today we’re going to evaluate a team of villains, from a faraway land. A trio of…”
And, most to Adagio and Arias’s surprise, the image of the three of them appeared on screen.
The image switched back to Black Hat, who smashed his desk with his fist.
“Teenagers?! Flug, what’s the meaning of this?”
The camera moved to a wimpy-looking man, dressed with blue jeans, red snickers, yellow rubber gloves, a T-shirt with a drawing of a plane crashing; and a lab coat. He was also wearing a paper bag on his head, for some reason.
Also, he seemed really scared by the man in the black hat.
“Ehem, boss, Mister Black Hat, sir. Apparently, they have magic powers, sir.”
The camera moved back to Black Hat, who seemed more relaxed. Even in a very good mood.
“Magic powers, huh?”
He generated a powerful red aura on his hand, and looked to the camera with the edge of his hand. “This better worth my time.”
Adagio and Aria shivered, feeling like he was staring directly at them. Even if it was impossible.
“Sonata…” mumbled Adagio.
“Yes?”
“This better worth our time.”
Sonata nodded, truly happy. It was the first reaction she got from Adagio in a long time.
Then, the video showed them a scene from their past: the three of them singing on a cafeteria.
The three sisters frowned, remembering that night. It was the night before they tried to attack Canterlot High.
They saw themselves singing, causing everyone around to start fighting, and the three of them feeding from the energy of the conflict.
The image froze, and went back to Black Hat.
“Sing? That’s their power? THIS IS PATHETIC! THAT’S NOT HOW YOU CREATE CONFLICT, THIS IS HOW YOU CREATE CONFLICT!”
Black Hat took a remote control from one of his desk’s drawers, and he pressed a button. One of the screens behind him showed a nuclear missile coming from an unknown location, and detonating in a random city.
Then, the scene went back to the girls at the cafeteria, where they were discussing how to get the Equestrian magic they just detected.
“And what do we have here?” asked Black Hat’s voice. “A bossy leader, who doesn’t know how to make her subordinates to respect her!”
“Hey!” Adagio complained at the TV.
“That who doesn’t matter if she is there or not…” said Black Hat’s voice.
“Go to hell!” shouted Aria.
“And, the dumbass.” Finished Black Hat, as the camera centered on Sonata. “Is it just me, or these trio is destined to failure?”
Sonata simply pouted, but didn’t say anything.
The scene changed, showing the Dazzling’s first encounter with Sunset Shimmer.
They saw how Sonata almost revealed her true identity to the girl, and then, how Adagio violently pushed her away when Sunset tried to touch their gems, arguing that they meant a lot for them.
Black Hat face-palmed. “The dumbass, I understand. This kind of people are useful when you need to sacrifice someone. But the leader just gave the hero a hint of their power source! How stupid is she?”
Adagio grinded her teeth, but couldn’t say anything to the screen. But she swore that Black Hat was staring at her.
He continued. “And worse, she made the hero to mistrust her from the very beginning. The FIRST thing you should do is to gain the heroes’ trust, so you can stab them in the back later. Why did they name her leader on the first place?”
Then, the scene switched, to them entering to the school’s cafeteria, hypnotizing everyone with their singing except for the Rainbooms.
“Rookie mistake! Before you start taking over a territory, first you have to make a quick recognition to the terrain. Now, the heroes know about your powers, and plans. And it won’t be long until they call for reinforcements!”
The video showed Sunset using her magic book, and then, Princess Twilight coming to rescue.
Black Hat sighed, exasperated.
“Precisely what I said. I’m started to think the carrot head is the real idiot of this group. Not the smiley one!”
Aria chuckled, as Adagio crossed her arms in anger.
“Who do you think you are?!”
Sonata gulped nervously, starting to think calling Black Hat wasn’t a very good idea after all.
Then, the TV showed Twilight Sparkle and the others holding hands and saying:
“Friendship is Magic!”
Nothing happened, and the scent went back to Black Hat.
“Friendship is Magic, Friendship is Magic.” he mocked. “How can you possibly defeat someone with something as pathetic as friendship?”
Then, the TV showed Adagio approaching to Twilight. And it froze.
“You have one chance, carrot head. What are you going to do? Everyone is hypnotized except for them. Destroy them now that you have the chance.”
But instead, Adagio just made fun of Twilight.
Black Hat smashed his desk with his two fists. “Let me see if I get this right: you had the heroes’ leader at your mercy. And all you can think of is to laugh at her? LAUGH AT HER?”
Much to the Dazzlings’ horror, Black Hat turned into a horrible monster, only to get back to normal immediately after. “Now I’m pretty sure that the idiot of this group is the carrot head! Why don’t you exterminate the heroes when you had the chance? NOW IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME FOR THEM TO DEFEAT YOU!”
Adagio trembled, something about Black Hat truly scared her.
The video showed several scenes of the battle of the bands, but Black Hat decided to skip those.
“Boring!”
Then, it showed Adagio convincing Trixie to capture the Rainbooms.
“Finally this joke of a leader does something competent! She convinces someone dumber to do her dirty job.”
“Sorry for trying!” replied Adagio weakly.
The Rainbooms were captured, but the video showed how Spike escaped.
“Another rookie mistake! The tiny sidekicks are not to be underestimated. They are mostly ignored by villains, but they can surprise you from time to time. They can also call for help when it’s needed.”
Then, the scene showed the Rainbooms fighting, feeding the power of the Dazzlings.
Black Hat groaned.
“Why do I always have to deal with this level of incompetence? Conflict only makes friendship stronger. In order to destroy a friendship, you must EXTERMINATE AT LEAST ONE OF THE AFFECTION EMMITING PARTIES. TWO IN A GROUP AS BIG AS THIS!”
An aura of pure evil came from the TV, making the Dazzlings to shrink on their seats. It was almost like Black Hat was in the room with them, and not in video.
Finally, the being continued talking.
“You feed from conflict, you say? Then force them to a situation they have no choice but sacrifice one of them! What friendship survives that?”
Then, the, it was shown how Vinyl Scratch and Spike came to the rescue.
“And, the tiny sidekick called for help, just as I predicted.”
And finally, it was shown how the Rainbooms used the Power of Friendship to defeat them for good.
“Friendship?” asked Black Hat. “For real? FOR REAL?”
He turned into a horrible monster again. “Enough. I cannot watch more of this! This trio cannot be more pathetic. I’ll summarize these idiots’ mistakes in three basic points:
Number one: they did not studied the terrain before acting.
Number two: they did not exterminated the heroes, even if they had multiple chances.
And number three: they did no hire the services of Black Hat Organization!
“I told you, it was a trio destined to failure.” Said Black Hat. “When you mess up as much as they did, you have only two choices. Feel sorry for yourself for the rest of your pathetic life…”
The TV showed clips of the Adagio and Arias’ depression.
“Or contact now Black Hat Organization.”
A number appeared on screen.
666 EVIL 666
The DVD burned, much to the girls’ horror.
“Sonata… how much you spent on this?” asked Adagio after a while.
“Nothing. The evaluation is free as long as we agree to be a part of Black Hat’s orientation villain guide.”
She showed them the envelope.
“They also sent me a catalog, and a fifty percent discount on our first purchase.”
“Purchase?” asked Aria.
“Yeah, they sell all kinds of weaponry to destroy the heroes in our lives.” Said Sonata.
“Do not dare to spend any money on this!” said Adagio. “I don’t want to have anything to do with that being ever again!”
“But…”
“Sonata, that was really frightening! Yeah, now we know what we did wrong but… he’s too scary, even for us!”
“But…”
“That’s our last word!” said Adagio, leaving.
Aria joined her.
“I had the best of intentions.” said Sonata sadly, as she began to look at the catalog.
Most of the inventions were up to ten thousand dollars. Two thousand, five thousand, etc.
They didn’t have that kind of money.
But then, she noticed one product on clearance. Shrinking Ray, from ten thousand dollars, to one. And, if she added her fifty percent discount coupon…
Sonata didn’t think twice, she grabbed her cellphone, and ran out of the house. She didn’t want her sisters to see her calling Black Hat Organization.
Sonata calmly walked three blocks to a park. She knew her sisters wouldn’t notice her absence. They didn’t care about anything anymore.
But, she still looked back to make sure they didn’t followed her. Once she was satisfied, she dialed the number.
“Hello?” said Sonata. “Am I talking to Black Hat Organization? My name is Sonata Dusk, and I would want to order the Shrink Ray, please.”
“Oh, is that so?” answered a female voice that resembled a lot to Pinkie Pie’s. “Because I would like an extra-large pizza. But just the crusts! Oh, and a side of fish legs, but no pickles. And a jet motor with extra tabasco, but take the olives away, please!”
(A/N: in Latin America, Pinkie Pie and Dementia have the same voice actress, that’s why the resemblance).
“What?” asked Sonata. “Excuse me?”
“You’re excused! Oh, and I want my pizza with no cheese. Double of no cheese!”
Sonata raised an eyebrow, as she pulled the phone away from her. Seriously, what the hell?
From the other side of the line, she could hear an opening door, followed by someone running. “AGAIN?! Dementia, you know the boss forbid you to touch the phone!”
“Aha-ha-ha-HA! Catch me if you can!”
Then, Sonata heard a frenetic chase, followed by another door opening, and a body falling to the floor.
“Oh, thanks boss! You see, Dementia took the phone and…”
“Get out of my sight! I’ll take care of this call” said a third voice that Sonata recognized as Black Hat’s. “And take Dementia with you! Your presence irritates me.”
Next thing Sonata heard, was a body being dragged on the floor, and a door shutting.
“Ehem, hello?” asked Sonata nervously. “Ehem, my name is Sonata Dusk, and I would like to order the discounted Shrink Ray I saw in your catalog!”
Sonata heard an evil laughter, followed by Black Hat’s soft voice.
“I see. For a second, I thought the Carrot Head have convinced you to not order anything from us, Sonata. But, in the end, you decided to do the smart thing. As I thought, the actual dumbass of your little trio is her. Not you, Sonata.”
Again, he laughed, as Sonata shivered. She reminded the horrible sensation of being watched from her TV. So, it wasn’t her imagination, Black Hat had being, indeed, watching them from the video. As impossible as it sounded.
“So, are actually ordering that thing?”
“Yes!” said Sonata, shaking entirely. “And, also, I would like to use my fifty percent discount coupon. Please, Mister Black Hat, sir.”
Sonata’s phone slowly turned hotter, forcing the girl to drop it in on the floor. Much to her horror, the cellphone was bright red, melting the pavement around it.
And, finally, he appeared. A six point sixty six feet tall figure, wearing an elegant black suit, and a top hat.
He was much more frightening in person.
Sonata fell because of fear. Fear that only increased when he smiled at her, handing her the Shrink Ray she ordered.
“Mister Black Hat?” asked Sonata.
His evil grin grew wider. “Yes. This is your product. Fifty cents and your coupon, please.”
Sonata gulped, and desperately began to look for the money and the coupon in her pockets. Finally, she reached it, and gave it to Black Hat.
The being took the money, and gave the Shrink Ray to the teenage girl.
“Thank you for making business with Black Hat Organization. I hope we’ll see each other again, Sonata.”
And just like that, he vanished. Leaving his grin for the last, as the Cheshire Cat.
Sonata examined her new weapon, and looked to what was left of her phone.
“This better help me making Adagio and Aria happy again. Ahahahahaha! Just wait, Rainbooms! I hope you get used to live in a shoebox!!”
Black Hat appeared back at his home, where multiple flat screens showed Sonata’s actions. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“Wasting my products in something as idiotic as the wellbeing of the family. This dumbass is obviously going to fail.
“But, boss, didn’t you just… practically gave away my Shrink Ray?”
Black Hat relished his green fangs, making the wimpy scientist to move backwards, completely terrified.
“I don’t care. I’m after something more valuable than money.”
At the next day, Sonata woke up really early. And she was really excited.
“Today is the day!” she said happily.
She got dressed as fast as she could, and ran downstairs, making herself a delicious breakfast as she hummed a cheerful tune. The Shrink Ray was already in her backpack, ready for action.
Aria went downstairs, to fix herself a glass of milk.
“Morning Aria! Are you coming to school today?” asked Sonata.
“Of course not, moron.”
“Come on! I assure you, today will be really excited!”
“We don’t feel like going.” said Aria, frowning. “Especially not after the weirdo from the video you purchased continued laughing at our failure.”
“But…”
“But nothing. You, on the other hand, better go to school before Adagio wakes up. She is really mad at you.” finished Aria.
Sonata nodded in silence, and hurried to go away. Luckily, Adagio’s anger would wear off after she show her the shrunken Rainbooms inside a shoebox.
Sonata ran to school, and hurried to hide behind a door, waiting.
Finally, the Rainbooms approached, chatting carelessly.
“Today Miss Cheerilee will give us the results, right?” asked Rarity.
“Yeah. I wonder how I did it.” mumbled Twilight.
“Screw you, egghead!” complained Rainbow Dash. “You always do great in exams!”
“But I may messed up in Question number six. I thought I was right, but then I started to consider…”
“Twilight, I can assure you, you did it just great. All of us.” said Sunset Shimmer. “After all, you helped us studying. Right?”
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “Of course we did it just fine! It was a hard test, but we did our best.”
“And, if we didn’t there’s always the choice to repeat the exam.” added Fluttershy, softly.
“Yeah, we did it just fine.” said Sunset. “Unlike others. I sat aside Sonata, and I can tell you girls, she had a lot of trouble. I’m pretty sure she’ll have to repeat the exam.”
Then, Sonata came to confront them.
“Hold!” she said, putting her right hand inside her backpack.
Sunset blushed. “Oh, Sonata. Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t thought you were there.”
“You shouldn’t talk about her on her back on the first place!” scolded Fluttershy.
“Yes, you’re right.” admitted Sunset. “Sorry about that, Sonata. How are Adagio and Aria doing?”
Sonata sighed sadly. “They’re the same as always, looking for revenge. They don’t accept we have to start over again. I do my best to cheer them up, but they just don’t listen. I’m afraid they’ll never smile again.”
The girls smiled at Sonata sympathetically. They did know how hard Sonata worked to make her sisters smile again, but they were too stubborn, insisting in plotting impossible revenges against them.
“I’m sorry.” said Twilight.
“Don’t be! I just found a way to defeat you, and make them smile again!” said Sonata, cheerful.
The girls raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
Sonata pulled out her Shrink Ray, and aimed it to the Rainbooms.
“Sorry, I really like you, and consider all of you my friends. But, I, Sonata Dusk, with the help of Black Hat Organization, will defeat you for good! Prepare to get shrunk!”
The Rainbooms exchanged a look, and began to laugh at her.
“We’ll see who’s laughing after I shrink you!” said Sonata, as she pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
“Hey! What’s going on?!” complained Sonata, shaking her weapon. “Work, piece of garbage! Work!"
Twilight sighed. “Okay, cute toy and all, but, seriously! What are you trying to do, Sonata?”
“Yeah, put the toy aside and let’s talk!” offered Pinkie Pie.
But Sonata keep shaking her weapon, until she got enough, and smashed it against a wall. A light finally turned on, and Sonata smirked.
“It’s time!”
The weapon shot a green light. The girls moved aside, and the attack hit the classroom’s hamster.
Then, much to everyone’s surprise, the animal began to grow, and grow. First to the size of a cat, then to the size of a large dog… until it destroyed the cage.
“Hey, stop!” shrieked Sonata, trying to turn the Ray off. “Come on!”
But the Ray continued working, and the hamster just got bigger. Finally, Sonata managed to turn the Ray off, but the hamster was at the size of an SUV.
At first the hamster was confused, not knowing what just happened. But, finally, it squealed in happiness, and it run free, destroying the school in the process.
The girls jumped aside, as the hamster ran just in front of them.
Sonata stared at the Shrink Ray, noticing the switch was stuck on GROW.
After blushing, Sonata turned the switch to SHRINK, and aimed to the Rainbooms.
“Okay, where were we?”
This time, the Rainbooms moved backwards, but then, several sparks began to come from the ray, and finally, it exploded on her hands.
“Huh… so that’s why it had discount.”
Applejack pushed Sonata against a wall.
“Hey! What’s the idea, Sonata?”
“I told you! I wanted to make my sisters smile again. And, if destroying is what it takes, I’ll happily do it”
She put the remaining of the Shrink Ray inside her backpack, sighing. “But, I guess Adagio was right. I shouldn’t spend my money in anything from Black Hat Organization.”
“Black Hat Organization?” asked Twilight, fixing her glasses. “This is where you bought this thing? Because it is really impressive. That kind of technology isn’t normal.”
“I guess.” shrugged Sonata. “I’m leaving.”
She was about to walk away, when Sunset stopped her.
“Hey, let me see if I get this clear.” The yellow girl said, patiently. “You bought that thing to get revenge on us. But not because you hate us, but because your sisters are depressed?”
Sonata looked down, sighing.
“Yeah. I’m sorry, okay? I like you, I really do, but I don’t know what else to do! All I want is to make my sisters happy again. I don’t care if it’s their twisted way of happiness, I want them to smile again. Is that too much to ask?”
“Sonata…” mumbled Fluttershy. “Leaving aside what you tried to do to us, you have all the right to be worried about your sisters. Just look another way. Something haves to work, be patient.”
“You really think so?” asked Sonata.
“Yer sisters deserve to be happy again.” assured Applejack, more calmed. “Flutters is right, ya’ have to find another way. Something must work to make them happy again.”
Sonata nodded, smiling.
“You’re right! Maybe I have to buy something that doesn’t have a discount from their catalog! A high-quality weapon from Mister Black Hat! Thank you, girls! Next time I see you, I promise I’ll destroy you for good!”
And she ran happily back to her apartment.
Sunset face-palmed. “Okay, our fault for not seeing it coming.”
“Yeah, we kinda’ forgot who we were talking to.” said Rainbow Dash.
By her way, Rarity seemed thoughtful. “Twilight, daring, do you have any idea of what’s the Black Hat Organization?”
“Why do you ask me?” asked Twilight.
“Because you’re always updated with new technologies and such.” said Sunset. “Come on, with a technology actually capable to turn a hamster into a giant monster, there’s something you should know.”
“Sorry girls. This is the first time I hear about Black Hat Organization. Maybe it’s an especial kind of organization that you can only contact if you’re evil or something.” suggested Twilight.
“Don’t be ridiculous Twi!” said Rainbow Dash.
“I don’t know, I think Twilighr is right.” said Pinkie Pie, suddenly. “I have heard about Black Hat Organization.”
“WHAT?!” asked the others, in the unison, as they turned to Pinkie Pie.
“Yes! They were who destroyed my childhood hero! Mariana, the super-duper lizard girl!”
Sunset and Twilight raised an eyebrow, as the others groaned in exasperation.
“What?” asked Twilight and Sunset.
“Nothing, just a comic Pinkie was obsessed with when we were kids.” Explained Rainbow Dash. “A girl who got lizard powers after an accident, and started to fight crime.”
“But, since it didn’t had a lot of readers, they cancelled it.” continued explaining Rarity. “Unfortunately, they leave it in a cliffhanger.”
“In the final chapter, Mariana goes to the headquarters of the evil Black Hat Organization, to confront its leader, the wicked Lord Black Hat.” said Pinkie Pie, nostalgically. “I never knew what happened to the super-duper lizard girl. I want to think she defeated Black Hat, but I have the horrible feeling that actually, he did something horrible to her.”
That day’s classes have been suspended because of her giant hamster. Luckily, the Rainbooms took care of the situation quickly. And, most to Sonata’s surprise, they were kind enough to not to report her with principal Celestia.
She have already warned that one more incident involving them, and she would expel them. Even if, this time, Adagio and Aria didn’t have nothing to do with it.
No, this time it was all Sonata’s fault. Oh, and also, Black Hat Organization.
“Hi!” greeted Sonata. “How was your day?”
Adagio shrugged, as she continued playing her videogames. “The usual. What about you? Did you skipped school? Not that I care.”
“Oh, no. There was some kind of incident, and principal Celestia had no choice but closing the school for the day.” explained Sonata, smiling nervously.
Aria, who was on her laptop, turned to Sonata. “For real? What happened?”
“Un… I can’t really tell.” said Sonata. “She just sent us home.”
Adagio shrugged, turning her attention back to the game.
Aria stared at Sonata, but decided to not to say anything, and turned back to the laptop.
Sonata giggled nervously, and she went straight to the fridge, when Aria suddenly called.
“Sonata!”
“Ehem… do you want something from the fridge?” asked Sonata, innocently.
Aria simply turned the laptop to her younger sister, and played a video.
The screen showed the Rainbooms running after a SUV-sized hamster.
“This was uploaded five minutes ago. Care to explain?” asked Aria.
Sonata gulped, as Adagio approached as well.
“What the hell is this?”
Sonata gulped again, but faked surprise.
“Oooh! So that’s what happened! What a surprise!”
Adagio looked at Aria, and made a small nod.
Before she could react, Aria held her, as Adagio took her backpack, and opened it.
“Wait!!” protested the younger of the Dazzlings.
But it was already too late. Adagio have found the shrink ray.
Both she and Aria made an exasperated groan.
“Sonata, what did I tell you about ordering anything from Black Hat Organization?”
“But… but…”
“I told you to not to spend any money on them!” continued Adagio.
“How much did you lost?” asked Aria, glaring at Sonata.
“Fifty cents.” said Sonata. “And I even used my fifty percent discount coupon.”
The other two exchanged a look, and sighed relieved.
“Okay, I guess we can’t complain about fifty cents.” accepted Adagio.
“At least you could shrink them instead of growing a hamster, dumbass!” scolded Aria, as she released Sonata.
“Aria is right, imagine the revenge we could have on them! We could feed them to a dog, or a snake. I’ve heard they digest their pray for months.” added Adagio with a twisted grin.
“Or, we could squish them as the pests they are!” finished Aria.
“I did try to shrink them, but it didn’t work, obviously. That was a defective product. Why do you think it was so cheap, anyway? Now what I think about it, what I was expecting for fifty cents anyway?”
“Well, it could be worse, I think.” said Adagio. “You satisfied your curiosity, and now we can continue with our lives. Let’s not talk about this again”
“Okay.” accepted Sonata. “Can I go to my room?”
“I don’t care!” said Adagio.
Sonata nodded, and rushed upstairs to her room. She was in very good mood, she was scolded, but at least her sisters did something this time. Normally, they would shrug, and ignore her. But thanks to Black Hat Organization, they were coming back to life.
Adagio and Aria were about to resume their web-surfing and gaming, when Sonata ran downstairs, humming happily.
“Where are you going?”
“To the store! I’m going to make an extra especial dinner for tonight!”
And she rushed through the door.
“As long as she doesn’t make tacos, I’m good.” said Aria. “So, what are we going to do now?”
“About what?” asked Adagio.
Aria showed her the catalog.
“About this, obviously!” said Aria. “Sonata may messed up, but, we have to admit it wasn’t her fault.”
“Yeah, we couldn’t expect something useful only for fifty cents.” agreed Adagio. “But, what if the rest of their products are as worthless as the shrink ray?”
“But there are some interesting things.” Said Aria, as she began to look at the catalog. “They have everything, from ‘evil-lair-defensive-systems’, cursed gifts to give your hero… oh, look at this! Hat Bots, mechanical sidekicks with adjustable levels of evil.”
“Adjustable levels of evil?” asked Adagio in disbelief.
“Yeah: they have ‘tax collector’, ‘banker’, ‘fan-fiction writer’… the last level is ‘almost like Black Hat’.”
“That guy really have a huge ego.” sighed Adagio. “But yes, they have a lot of interesting stuff. But look at this prices! Medusa device, three-hundred-thousand dollars. Shark cannons, fifty thousand dollars. These ‘Hat Bots’, twenty thousand each!”
“Look, there’s one with no price on it. ‘Evil Ray’.” noticed Aria.
“What the hell is an evil ray?” asked Adagio raising an eyebrow.
“A malevolent machine that takes the most evil thing you can think of, and makes it real.” read Aria. “Come on, let’s give it a shot! If we don’t like the price, we can just say thank you, and forget about Black Hat Organization for good.”
Adagio seemed unsure, but, in the end, she nodded. Then, Aria dialed: 666-EVIL-666.
“Hello?” answered a nervous male voice on the phone.
“Hey! The name is Aria Blaze, and I saw an article in your catalog, but it doesn’t have the price. It is the ‘Evil Ray’.
“Oh, right! We have an especial offer for that one!” said happily Doctor Flug’s voice. “It is yours for only thirty thousand dollars!”
Adagio shook her head, as she thought, it was too expensive for them.
But then, on the other side of the line, the girls could hear a door opening, followed by the sound of a ray being shot. “I’ll take it from here. Get out of my sight!”
“Ouch, my bum-bum! No, wait boss!”
Finally, they heard someone being kicked, and then, Lord Black Hat taking the phone.
“So… Smiley convinced you to hire my services, right, Aria and Adagio?”
The two Dazzlings felt a chill on their backs.
And just like with Sonata, a dark aura came from Aria’s phone, and Lord Black Hat appeared before them, holding the device they asked for.
“Don’t be surprised, I’ve been watching you.”
Adagio gulped, this Black Hat being really scared her.
“Ehem, yes… we are interested but… is out of our budget so… can you please leave, and forget about us? Please? We would never bother you again!” begged Adagio.
Black Hat grinned at the, a grin that would hunt them in their nightmares from that night on.
“But, with the new plan of Black Hat Organization, you can just rent the ray for twelve hours. How does that sound?”
“How much for rent it?” asked Aria.
“Fifty dollars. Even someone as pathetic as you two can pay that, right?”
Adagio and Aria exchanged a look, but in the end, Adagio took her wallet, and offered a bill to Lord Black hat.
He accepted it, and gave them the ray to leave. But not before making them to sign a contract.
“Thank you for hiring the services of Black Hat Organization. See you in twelve hours.”
And he left, just as he came.
A few seconds later, Sonata returned happily.
“Whoa… are you alright? You look pale. Are you sick, or something?” she asked to her sisters.
“It’s nothing Sonata. What are we going to eat?” asked Adagio.
The next day:
Adagio woke up early, unusually optimistic and energetic. Just like Aria.
And much to Sonata’s surprise, the two of them seemed really excited about school.
“What’s going on with the two of you?” she asked.
“All I can tell you, is that it looks like a great day to go to school!” said Adagio evilly.
And, like in the old time, she led her sisters to school, showing a confidence she haven’t show in months, from the Battles of the Bands. The confidence of the invincible.
Everyone around noticed the change, including the Rainbooms.
As soon they looked at Adagio and Aria, they immediately knew there would be trouble.
“Oh, we were looking for you, losers!” said Adagio.
Sunset Shimmer stood in front of the group.
“What on Equesria do you want, Dazzlings?”
“Oh, nothing really.” giggled Aria. “Only that today is the day we’ll make you pay for taking away our powers.
Sunset stared at Sonata, but she seemed as confused as they were. Then Sunset looked back at Adagio and Aria, as she sighed.
“Tell me this doesn’t have anything to do with Black Hat Organization.”
Adagio and Aria laughed evilly, much to Sonata’s disbelief.
“Wait, did you actually order something from them?”
Ignoring the youngest sister, Adagio aimed the Evil Ray to the Rainbooms.
“This is the end, Rainbooms!”
But before she could press the button, Sub-Principal Luna appeared from around the corner.
Adagio glared at her, and showed the woman her middle finger.
“Go to hell! I have had enough of this school and your rules. Today, everything changes! Today we’ll get our revenge on this seven, and, your sister and you!”
Luna stood there, shocked. “You have some nerve, young lady!”
“Stop talking! Use it already!” urged Aria.
Adagio pressed the button.
Soon, to everyone’s surprise, the Evil Ray materialized a giant dragoness in the middle of the school. The dragoness’ forelegs were like a ram’s hooves; her tail was like an eel’s; with an imposing fin crowning her back.
The monster roared, as Adagio began to laugh as crazy.
“It works! It works! The most evil thing I could think of was me, on my siren form. And here I am!”
Aria then took the Evil Ray from Adagio, and used as well. Soon enough, a similar dragoness appeared. Only that this one was pink.
“Sonata?” offered Aria.
She shook her head, gulping.
“I think I pass…”
Aria nodded, and looked at the terrified Rainbooms.
“As we were saying, today we’ll have our revenge!”
The two sirens charged at the group of friends, who jumped away to avoid being devoured by them.
“What’s the meaning of this? What kind of magic is capable of something like this?” cried Twilight.
The siren version of Aria was about to smash her with her ram’s hooves, when Rainbow Dash pushed her away on time. And the, she began to run in circles around the siren to distract her.
“What shall we do now?” asked Fluttershy, crying in fear.
“I don’t know! For a moment I hoped that thing would be defective too.” said Sunset, looking at the Dazzlings.
Adagio laughed.
“Come on! Who do you think we are? Sonata?”
“We took the time to select a product that doesn’t have a discount.” said Aria, in delight. “Unlike her pathetic Shrink Ray, this thing actually works!!”
Sonata didn’t say anything, and instead, she slowly walked away from her sisters.
She wanted to see them happy, to see them smile again. But again, she liked the Rainbooms. And didn’t want them to get hurt. So she preferred to stay away from the battle.
And, of course, the Rainbooms understood. They glanced at her walking away, and agreed to talk to her when the fight was over. The Magic of Friendship would prevail, just as it always did.
Unfortunately, this was more difficult than usual. It was really hard to avoid the attacks from the monstrous versions of the Dazzlings.
At some point, Siren Adagio smashed Applejack with her hoof, but Applejack’s super strength allowed her to push away the giant hoof, as she rolled to safeness.
“Oh, do you really think you can escape?” mocked the yellow siren. “I’ll enjoy turning you into a red stain on this filthy floor!”
Pinkie Pie tried to distract the monsters shooting confetti from her hands, but it didn’t’ work.
“Yes, show us some more Equestrian Magic!” mocked Siren Aria. “Let’s see what you have!”
“NO, STOP PLAYING! DESTROY THEM NOW THAT YOU CAN!” commanded human Adagio.
The yellow siren looked at her human counterpart, and laughed.
Adagio and Aria shivered, as they recognized the expression on their siren-selves. They wouldn’t listen to them. In fact, they weren’t following orders from the very beginning.
“And, why should I do as you say?” mocked Siren Adagio. “You are nothing but a human. A pathetic powerless human. Less than a threat of them. At least they have magic. What do you have?”
Siren Aria nodded evilly. “Yeah. Without your gems, you are pretty much nothing. But we, we are everything!”
And the two sirens took a deep breath, and began to sing harmoniously.
“This cannot be good…” gulped Sci Twilight.
The evil but beautiful voices had immediate effect in everyone, except for the Rainbooms.
Until that moment, everyone in school were watching the fight in awe, unsure of what to do. But when the monsters began to sign, they began to fight each other. Not simple argues and yells like the last time, but actually hurting each other with trashcans, locker doors, pens, backpack. Basically everything around them was a weapon.
Even Principal Celestia and Sub Principal Luna were rolling on the floor, pulling each other’s hair. A regrettable, and even laughable show, but everyone was too busy fighting to laugh. Or even record them.
Only the Rainbooms remained sane.
“So this was their true power…” said Sunset, trembling.
Even Human Adagio and Aria forgot their fear from earlier, and began to laugh maniacally.
“Just like in the good times! Remember, Adagio?”
“Yes. Now give me that thing.” said Adagio, taking the Evil Ray form her. “I want to double the fun.”
But Aria took it back.
“NO! It’s my turn!”
“What are you saying? It’s always my turn!” answered Adagio.
And, just like the others, they went from a simple argue, to a fist fight.
Only Sonata stayed away, looking in horror. Unlike her sisters, she was careful enough to put on some earplugs before the sirens started singing. She was fully aware that, since the Rainbooms destroyed their gems, they were normal humans.
“Shall we do something?” asked Rarity, looking at the sisters fighting.
“Duh! Stop the elephants in the room. Or should I say the lizards?” joked Pinkie Pie.
“So… Friendship Aura, or do we weaken them with our powers first?” asked Sci Twilight.
But then, it happened.
Adagio and Aria broke the Evil Ray in half.
Everything stopped out of sudden.
The Sirens, the students, the teachers, the Rainbooms, everyone could feel that something was really wrong. They all felt an aura that paralyzed them because of the fear. They didn’t know what it was, or who it was. They only knew that was the darkest aura they even felt near.
Only the human Dazzling knew, and they were ashen of pure terror.
Out of nowhere, organ music could be hear all over the school. An energetic and scary tune from hell… that made everyone to shrink trembling, waiting for their fate. Including the Siren Adagio and Aria.
Finally, the organ materialized in the middle of the hallway, played by an individual in black suit and black top hat.
“Is that… Black Hat?” whispered Sunset Shimmer.
No one dared to make a sound.
Slowly, Black Hat turned to his costumers.
“So… you broke it, right? The device I rented you.”
“NO, WAIT!” cried Adagio. “Forgive us, Mister Black Hat! It was a mistake!”
Black Hat laughed. “Forgive you? Who do you take me fore? A hero?”
His reptilian tongue relished his lips.
“We don’t’ have that kind of money!” begged Aria.
Black Hat laughed, as he showed them the contract they signed.
“Don’t worry. Thanks to this little contract you signed, you don’t have to pay me with money.”
Their signatures glowed with a sinister red light.
Black Hat continued playing, as he watched the terrified students and teachers with dark pleasure. He loved that sensation, this was what being a villain really meant. It almost made him to regret his retirement, almost. For the moment, he was good with selling Flug’s inventions to inferior villains, such as these couple of morons.
“Tell me, are you going to give me your souls willingly, or would you delight me with some pointless resistance? I’m fine with both choices.”
Adagio and Aria were livid of terror, and the worst part was that no one dared to defend them from Black Hat.
No one, except for Sonata.
She was trembling all over, clearly terrified of Black Hat. All her instincts were telling her to run as far as she could, but she had to stand firm and brave for her sisters.
“Don’t dare to touch my sisters!” shouted Sonata. “I don’t know when, or why they rented that thing. But I won’t let you take my sisters’ soul. I won’t let you!”
She took a deep breath and looked Black Hat at the eye. “I contacted you to make them smile again! If you take your souls, everything I did would be in vane!”
Black Hat rolled his eye.
“That’s precisely why you failed, stupid. Using my products in something as idiotic as family? Happiness? My products are for chaos and destruction! Not for stupidities.”
“I won’t let you take their souls!” shouted Sonata again. She was trembling and sweating in fear, but she stood firm.
She made a step forward to Black Hat, who raised an eyebrow.
And one by one, the Rainbooms joined Sonata, starting with Pinkie Pie. She took Sonata’s right hand, and hold it tightly to give Sonata some extra confidence.
Sunset Shimmer took Sonata’s left hand, and smiled to her. The rest of the girls took a deep breath, and, together, the group made a step forward.
“I don’t know who you are, or where are you from! But I do know that there’s no way you can defeat a wish as pure as Sonata’s!” declared Pinkie Pie. “All she wanted was to help her family.”
Sci-Twi nodded. “There’s nothing more powerful than the magic of Friendship. “And that includes the friendship, and love that lies in the family. Sonata’s actions were stupid, and evil, but her heart was on the right place!”
“And Sonata’s love for her sisters make her strong! Stronger that you would ever be!” declared Fluttershy.
“Sonata may be an idiot, but she haves us at her side!” added Applejack. “We’ve all done stupid things for family’s sake!”
“When we’re done with you, your butt will hurt twenty percent more!” smirked Rainbow Dash.
Black Hat raised an eyebrow at them, and laughed.
“Oh, yeah, the ‘Power of Friendship’.” reminded Black Hat. “Tell me, do you really think I am as pathetic as this trio?”
He laughed, making the Rainbooms shiver.
But then, Sonata smirked. “Friendship is the most powerful thing in the world! I know that by experience!”
Finally, the Rainbooms closed their eyes, as they began to glow, summoning the sleeping power inside them. Their tails and pony ears manifested, along with wings and horns.
Black Hat watched at them patiently, as Sunset and Sci-Twi turned into Mirage Shimmer and Light Sparkle.
Finally, the two of them led a powerful light to Black Hat.
The mysterious being shrugged, as he made his fingernails to grow until they turned into menacing claws, ripping his glove in the process. Then, he scratched a wall, making a hellish creak as some kind of portal was emerging. The portal lead to a strange dimension, full of spirits crying in eternal suffering.
The Rainbow Light was absorbed by the portal entirely, and Black Hat closed it replacing his glove.
“Is that all what you have, heroes?”
Black Hat snapped his fingers, and two giant hands emerged from the ground, grabbing Sunset and Twilight, and throwing them to the entrance of the school.
If everyone were scared before, now they knew what real terror felt like.
“What are you?” asked Rainbow Dash, paling.
Black Hat smiled. “Let’s just say… people dies when my true name is said.”
Finally, he turned to Adagio and Aria, frozen in terror.
“Now, before I get my payment, let me show you what you should do on the first place.”
He snapped his fingers.
Immediately after, everyone in school heard something like a giant lizard creeping in the school’s ventilation system.
“Right there!” gasped Rainbow Dash, pointing to the middle of the hallway.
A laugh was heard, immediately followed by someone kicking the ceiling from inside, making a huge hole.
Finally, a punk girl dressed in a lizard hoodie, jumped from it, smiling.
“Ta-da!”
Pinkie Pie gasped. “Hey, I know you! You’re Mariana, the Super-duper Lizard Girl!”
The newcomer raised an eyebrow, and turned to the pink girl, smiling.
“Hey there! You know me but I don’t know you! I like your voice a lot!”
“And I like yours!” giggled Pinkie Pie. For some reason, her Pinkie-sense was telling her to run as fast as she could. But this was her childhood heroine, it had to be a mistake. “Do you sing? I bet you would be great!”
“Think so?” asked ‘Mariana’. “I don’t sing, but I love to play guitar!”
“For real?” cheered Pinkie Pie, excitedly. “That’s great! Girls, you see? My childhood hero, the Super-duper Lizard Girl plays guitar too!” she turned to back to Mariana. “And, what do you like to play?”
The girl smiled widely. “Punk-rock, of course! Great to release your inner madness!”
“Pinkie, be careful!” tried to warn Applejack.
“But this is Mariana!” said Pinkie Pie. “Mariana, the one who faced Black Hat in the past… she will help us. Right?”
Black Hat laughed. “It’s been a while since we heard your old name, right?”
The punk girl laughed silly. “Ehehehe…”
“What are you waiting for? You can start with your number-one fan, Dementia!”
Pinkie gasped, and turned to Dementia.
“Dementia? Are you with him?”
The punk girl grinned, and before Pinkie could react, she hit her on the face with a guitar. Pinkie tried to defend herself with her confetti blasts, but that only made Dementia laugh. And she continued beating Pinkie with the guitar, as her crazed laughs, mixed with Pinkie’s screams of pain, sounded all over the school.
“Ah, music to my ears.” grinned Black Hat.
Finally, Dementia ripped a string from the guitar, and used to strangle the already unconscious Pinkie Pie.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I’m doing it right, Mister Black Hat?”
Finally, Applejack reacted, and charged to Dementia.
The punk minion released Pinkie Pie, and threatened Applejack with the guitar, covered in Pinkie’s blood.
That made Applejack stop for a while, but finally she regained her bravery, and jumped over Dementia.
Sadly, Dementia was more agile than she thought, and she was able to jump away from Applejack’s reach. She creeped over the walls, as a lizard.
Applejack screamed in anger, and began to throw random objects toward Dementia. But she just laughed and avoided them al with ease.
“Na-na nana-na! Na-na nana-na!” she mocked.
In the meantime, Fluttershy rushed to Pinkie’s lying body, and began to make a desperate RCP massage.
Black Hat smiled, pleased, and stared at his costumers.
“See? That’s how you deal with ‘friendship’. You exterminate the affection-giving parties.”
In the meantime, Applejack still tried to avenge Pinkie, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t hit Dementia.
“It’s pointless!” said a voice. “Dementia spends countless hours avoiding my Hat-Bots. Do you really think you can hit her?”
They all turned to Siren Adagio, who had a pathetic-looking man, who covered his face with a paper bag, crawling on her back.
Siren Adagio tried to squish this new nuisance, but it was already too late. Doctor Flug took a syringe from his lab coat, and injected something on the creature’s neck.
Siren Adagio screamed in pain, before her eyes turned completely blank.
“All hail Black Hat!” said the now mindless monster.
Then, the scientist jumped to Siren Aria’s back, and injected her with the same thing, turning her into a mindless puppet as well.
“All hail Black Hat! All hail Black Hat!”
The human screamed in fear, looking what was coming.
“It’s time to finish this.” said Lord Black Hat.
“No, please don’t…” begged Adagio.
Black Hat took off his top hat, revealing he had a bowler hat underneath. Then, he aimed the top hat to Adagio and Aria, and it began to suck.
“NOOOOO!” cried Sonata, running to her sisters.
Black Hat turned to her, and transformed into a horrifying monster. “NOT ANOTHER STEP!”
Sonata fell on her butt, crying.
Black Hat turned back to normal, and his hat continued sucking. A silver shining came from both Adagio’s and Aria’s mouth, slowly taking the forms of the two girls.
Adagio and Aria screamed in desperation when they saw their bodies to fall unconscious, as the hat continued to sucking them inside them.
Finally, the two souls were fully absorbed by Black Hat’s black hat, and he put it back on.
The being slowly walked back to the school’s entrance, with his minions joining him. Flug, Dementia, and the two Siren versions of Adagio and Aria.
“Ehem, boss.” said Flug.
“WHAT?” asked Black Hat.
The scientist gulped, and shyly asked:
“Ehem, what about their bodies? Shall we take them too?”
“What for? They’re nothing but humans.” said Black Hat. “The dragons, on the other hand, can be used for something. Put them on the catalogue.”
Flug nodded.
Dementia just giggled, looking at Pinkie Pie.
As for Black Hat, he turned to Sonata and smiled at her. “Thank you for making business with Black Hat Organization, Smiley. It was a pleasure to take your sisters’ pathetic souls.”
Black Hat created a new portal, and he and his associated disappeared inside.
The school was now filled with a sensation of sadness, and fear, mostly fear.
Sonata kneeled aside what was left of her sisters, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Adagio, Aria… I’m so sorry…”
The two of them answered slowly, turning their now dead and empty eyes to Sonata. Both of their mouths were open, drooling.
In the meantime, Fluttershy continued trying to take Pinkie Pie back to life.
“Please don’t die! Don’t die, please!”
And Pinkie Pie opened her eyes slowly. “Flutter… Fluttershy?”
“Oh, Pinkie Pie!” cried Fluttershy, hugging her friend. But she had to release her when she screamed in pain. Dementia had made a lot of damage.
“An ambulance is coming.” Said Flash, approaching. “Soon enough, you will recover, regroup… and defeat Black Hat. Right”
The girls looked at him as he was crazy.
“Right?” repeated Flash, nervously.
The girls just looked down, not daring to say anything.
Flash gulped, and looked at the rest of the students. Everyone were equally terrified. Until know, they trust the Rainbooms could take care of anything. But now, they knew there were enemies to powerful for them.
And Black Hat, Dementia and Doctor Flug proved to be on their own league.
…
It had been three hours since the girls arrived to the hospital. They were all reunited around Pinkie Pie’s bed.
When they asked if she needed anything, she asked Rainbow Dash to run to her house, and burn all her Mariana comics.
Then, Sonata came in sadly, looking at the floor.
“Is Pinkie going to recover?” Sonata asked weakly.
Sunset nodded. “Yes, thank you for your concern. What about Adagio and Aria?”
Sonata began to cry. “The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with them, and keep saying all they need is time. When I told them an evil demon took their souls they looked at me as I was crazy, and gave me something.”
She showed the Rainbooms a blister of anti-depressives.
Sunset could only hug her. “Sonata, I’m so sorry.”
She pushed her away.
“Don’t comfort me. THIS IS MY FAULT!”
“Sonata, it wasn’t your fault, it was Black Hat’s!” said Fluttershy.
“IT WAS ME WHO CONTACTED THAT DEMON! IT WAS ME WHO TRIED TO CONVINCE MY SISTERS TO TRUST HIM AS WELL! I WAS THE ONE WHO…”
A doctor came to see what was going on, but Sunset assured him they had her under control. And, if reluctantly, he left.
Sonata finished all her shouting, and the girls hurried to give her a chair, where she fell, depressed.
“Sonata, it was a trap all the time!” assured Sci-Twi. “Black Hat wanted to attract you, to take a soul from Equestria so he could…”
“Twi, he wanted a soul. Period. He is a demon, and demons always look for a new soul to take.”
Sonata cleaned her tears.
“Please, let me join you. I need to save my sisters!”
“Sonata, he is too powerful!” said Rarity, scared.
“I know! I’m not asking you to fight with me, but please, I need your support and advice to save them from Black Hat!”
The girls only hugged her. Maybe they were scared, too scared to do anything. But they knew that they would have to face Black Hat at some point. The entire world depended on that.
As for Sonata, she made a promise that day. She would save her sisters, no matter what.
