When Sonata meets a girl at work, sparks begin to fly. The only problem is that she's already her sister's boyfriend's girlfriend. What is a former siren to do?
When Sonata happens to meet a girl at work she's excited to meet a new friend. Then it turns out her friend is Aria's boyfriend's girlfriend Moonie. As if THAT wasn't complicated enough, Sonata quickly develops feelings for Moonie and wants to go out on date with her. How will she and Aria deal with this very unique relationship set up? About as well as they handle anything else.
Sonata hummed cheerfully as she swept up the dining room of Sweets Emporium. Unlike her sisters, she didn’t actually mind sweeping up; it was definitely more fun than working the register and while she enjoyed baking the sweets, that could be awfully...messy at times. However, sweeping kept her busy while also being easy enough to let her mind wander a bit. Plus, she could also chat with some of the customers at times. Though, most of them were guys who tried to hit on her in, like, the worst ways. But some of them were nice enough so that was always a pleasant surprise!
Kind of like the customer in there right now. She was just sitting quietly at her table sketching on a pad as she munched away on a chocolate cupcake. And like her, the girl had blue skin with blue hair tied up into a ponytail. She even had purple eyes! What were the odds? They could be like sisters!
Speaking of her sisters, she was reminded of Aria while looking at the girl, and she couldn’t quite place why. It was right there on the tip of her brain.
“Saaaaay...” she started out slowly as she stepped closer to the girl and examined her more thoroughly. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
“I...don’t think so?” the confused girl asked back as she adjusted her glasses.
“There’s just something...” Sonata mused as she rubbed her chin in thought.
There was a second of awkward silence as the gears turned in the former siren’s head. She snapped her fingers when it finally clicked.
“That’s it! You’re my sister’s boyfriend’s girlfriend!” she exclaimed but then looked confused again. “Wow that’s really to say like that.”
“Oh, you must be Sonata then,” the other blue girl replied.
“How do you know that?” Sonata asked suspiciously.
“Because...Aria’s mentioned you a few times?”
“Oh yeah that makes sense,” she chuckled then sat down next to her. “So, what’s your name?”
“Right. Sorry. My name’s Moonie,” she introduced herself as she held out a hand.
“And you know I’m Sonata,” she returned as she shook the offered hand. “So what has Aria said about me?”
“Um...I’d rather not say,” Moonie said sheepishly.
Sonata rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, while still holding the broom and dustpan which slightly undercut the look she was going for.
“Look whatever she said about me is only half true,” she said defensively.
Moonie paused and, for a second, was going to point out that even half the things Aria has said about Sonata weren’t very flattering, but decided to spare the poor girl’s feelings.
“So anyway, what are you drawing?” Sonata snapped back to her usual bubbly self, thankfully breaking the tension.
“Oh, I’m just doing some pose sketches really,” Moonie explained as she held up the pad.
Despite the rough nature of the sketches the other blue girl looked at them like they were painted masterpieces.
“Oh wow those are amazing” she gushed.
“Oh,” Moonie blinked in surprise. “You really think so?”
“Yeah, I can see why both your boyfriend and Aria have you draw for them. Oh Hey Think you could draw me sometime?”
“You mean like a life model?”
“No, I mean just draw a picture of me like standing or something,” Sonata clarified.
“I...” Moonie started then shook her head with a bemused smirk. “Yeah I think I can do that. When would be a good time?”
She was about to answer when a loud whistle pierced the air, causing them both to jump a bit. When they turned towards the source of it, they saw Glinda sticking her head out of the window between the kitchen and the front of the house.
“Yo Sonata, we need some help back here,” she declared.
“OK be there in a sec,” she called out then turned back to Moonie with a disappointed look. “Sorry I gotta go back to work. Oh, can I get your number? That way we can work out a time to do the drawing or just chat and stuff, you know?”
“Yeah sure,” Moonie smiled and fished out her phone from her bag.
After they exchanged numbers, Sonata quickly waved goodbye before she dashed back to the kitchen. Moonie returned the wave and finished up her cupcake before she returned to her sketching, while musing on the chance encounter.
Guess it’s not much of a surprise I’d run into Aria’s sister here at some point. Still getting to know her feels like’s going to be very interesting, she thought.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
“FFFFFIIIIIINAAAALLYYYYY!!!” Sonata moaned in exhaustion as she walked into her apartment.
The last half of her shift had been spent in the kitchen and, as expected, ended up getting quite...messy. Even with an apron on, her shirt still ended up covered in frosting and sprinkles.
Somehow.
With a heavy sigh, she stripped off the soiled uniform top and tossed it into the hamper next to her side of the shared bed. She then kicked off her shoes and slipped out of her slacks before she dropped them into the hamper as well. She added her socks to the pile then pulled out her hair tie to let her long blue hair flow free just before she collapsed onto the bed. Thankfully, she had the apartment to herself for the night, so she wouldn’t have to worry about putting on clothes anytime soon. In fact, if she wasn’t so tired at the moment, she’d probably take off her underwear and enjoy just being naked for a while. She still didn’t understand why Adagio and Aria got so upset about her doing that. They were naked all the time back in Equestria after all. It was only natural
Well whatever, she didn’t have to worry about that right now. Adagio was out doing...whatever she does when she’s not at work or in the apartment and Aria was out on a date with Blackbird.
Speaking of, wasn’t there something related to him she was supposed to do after work?
“Oh Right” she exclaimed and sat up right on the bed.
She then bounced off it and made her way over to the clothe hamper to fish her phone out of her slacks where she accidently left it. Thankfully she didn’t throw them in like she did her shirt her she might have broken her phone...again. Although once she did retrieve her phone from her pocket, she did drop them haphazardly into the basket and walked back to the bed. She fell onto it once again then pulled up her contact list and quickly found the newest addition, “Moonie”.
~Hey it’s Sonata, do you still want to hang out sometime?~ she texted.
She watched her phone a bit anxiously as she waited for a reply. She frowned as the screen stayed mostly blank for serval long, long seconds but quickly perked up when she saw the three pulsating dots that indicated a response being written.
~Yeah sure. Would tomorrow night be okay?~ Moonie responded.
~Sounds Great Oh how about we go to a Movie?~ Sonata replied.
~Sounds good to me. Anything in particular in mind?~
~Uuummmm....~
~How about I look something up and get back to you?~
~OK~
~BTW, do you still want me to draw you at some point?~
~Ooooh Riiiight THAT’S what we were talking About I totally Forgot Maybe sometime after the movie.~
~Alright. I’ll get back to you soon. Bye.~
~Later~
She closed the text screen then put her phone to sleep mode before she set it down on the night stand next to the bed. A wide smile spread across her face as she fell into a blissful sleep at the thought of finally have a real friend in this world.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
The following night, Sonata bounced around the apartment as she got ready for her night out. To celebrate the occasion, she brought out a new dress she had bought a few weeks ago. It was a cute little purple and pink dress with her absolute favorite food in the world on the chest and hips. She was so excited when she found it because it felt like fate! Honestly, what were the odds?! It was just...magical!
“I can’t believe you’re actually wearing that stupid thing,” Aria scoffed from the couch where she was working on her laptop.
Sonata pouted then placed her hands on her taco laden hips and glared at her sister in annoyance.
“At least I wear the clothes I buy! You haven’t put on that polka dot shirt you bought even once yet!” she countered.
“Well some of us like to put whole outfits together, and I’m waiting for the right thing to wear it with! Maybe that ascot Blackbird bought me,” she mused mostly to herself.
“Well, until you start wearing your stuff, you don’t get to judge what I wear,” Sonata retorted.
Their bickering was interrupted by a light knock on the door.
“Oh shoot, she’s here and I’m not finished getting ready!” Sonata said in a panic. “Can you get that for me?! Thank you!”
Before Aria could even try to form an answer, Sonata gathered up some items of clothing before disappearing into the bathroom. The older sister rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh as she stood up and made her way towards the door. Once she opened it, she was taken aback to see Moonie standing on the other side.
“Oh. Uh...hey,” Aria greeted unsurely. “You need something?”
“Oh, hey Aria,” Moonie said with a wave. “Actually I was here for-”
“Me! For me!” Sonata called out as she stumbled her way out of the bathroom while slipping on a shoe.
“Wait..what?!” Aria asked looking between the two blue girls. “You two know each other?!”
“Yeah we met the other day,” Moonie explained then looked over Aria’s shoulder to Sonata. “You didn’t tell her?”
“Yeah I kinda forgot,” Sonata said with a nervous chuckle.
“So...you two are going out tonight?” Aria asked, her confusing growing.
“We’re just going to see a movie. And maybe get something to eat afterwards. We’ll see,” Moonie told her.
“Oooh we could hit up Bueno Nacho!” Sonata suggested excitedly. “It’s not Taco Tuesday, but they had a Saturday Sizzler platter that’s really good!”
“Sounds like a plan,” Moonie smiled.
“What is happening?!” Aria cried out.
“I’m going out for the night with me new friend. Gee, it’s not that hard to understand,” Sonata joked before she picked up her purse and walked over to Moonie. “You ready?”
“Yep!” she replied with a nod. “See you, Aria.”
Sonata gave her still confused sister a quick wave before she slipped out the door and closed it behind her. Aria stood still and blinked for several seconds before she reached and into her pocket and yanked out her phone.
~Did you know Moonie was going out with Sonata?!~ she frantically texted to Blackbird.
She glared at her phone impatiently as she waited for a reply. Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before she saw the three dots that indicated he was typing up a response.
~I’m pretty sure they’re just going to a movie,~ he wrote.
~How do they even know each other?!~ she sent back.
~They met while Moonie was taking a break at your work. Didn’t Sonata tell you any of this?~
~NO!~
~Oh. Well they’re going to a movie together tonight.~
~I will smack you every time I see you!~
~OK! OK! I’m just kidding, calm down. What’s the problem?~
~I don’t know. It’s just...weird.~
~I think you’re just over thinking it. Take a breath and just try to be happy for your sister.~
Aria rolled her eyes. ~Alright fine. I still think it’s weird though but whatever.~
~That’s my girl! ;)~
~Yeah don’t call me that.~
~You know you like it. Just like you looooove me~
She was happy he couldn’t see her flustered red cheeks at the moment.
~Shut up! I’m going back to work on my video now!~
~Can’t wait to see it! Later Ari!~
She closed out the text app then put the phone back in her pocket. She looked towards the door and still couldn’t shake that things were about to get weird between her sister and her only friend.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
When the two girls arrived at the theater, Moonie confidently strode up to the ticket counter and immediately knew what she wanted.
“One for the latest Quick and Quarrelsome movie please,” she stated.
“That will be $11.38,” the girl behind the plexiglass replied.
Moonie slipped her debit card and the theater’s reward card under the oval cut out of the glass to hand it to her.
“Wait isn’t this that franchise that started with street racing and ended up basically being a superhero movie?” Sonata asked.
“Yep!” Moonie said cheerfully as she retrieved her card and her ticket. “It’s totally ridiculous and I love every second of it! Plus, the guys in it are hot too,” she added with a wink.
“If you say so,” Sonata shrugged as she walked up to the counter. “I’ll get the same thing.”
“Do you have a rewards card with us?” the girl behind the counter asked.
“No,” Sonata said with a sigh. “Adagio says I can’t get one cause I’d somehow ‘misuse it’. But it’s just a card that gives you points, right? It’s not like there’s money on it or anything! So how could I misuse it?!”
The girl stared in shocked at the sudden torrent of information then just let out an exasperated sigh before she ran Sonata’s card through the register.
“Look I just have to ask people that, okay?” she noted as she gave her her card and ticket.
“Sorry,” Sonata apologized sheepishly as she took them.
As they walked into the theater proper, Moonie looked over at Sonata.
“Your sisters don’t really trust you much, do they?” she noted.
Sonata let out a sad, heavy sigh as she hung her head and her shoulders slumped. Moonie’s eyes widened with the realization of apparently hitting a sore spot.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” she quickly apologized.
“No, it’s fine!” Sonata waved off bouncing back quickly into her usual jovial mood. “Hey let’s get some popcorn!”
Before Moonie could react to the mood whiplash, Sonata rushed over to the concession counter. She poked her chin as she looked over the options.
“Regular or large? What do you think?” she asked, turning to Moonie who had just walked up beside her.
“How about large? My treat,” she offered.
“Oh, that’s sweet! Thank you!” Sonata cheered and gave her a tight hug.
“So that’s one large popcorn then,” the guy behind the counter remarked with a bit of a chuckle. “Anything else?”
“Medium Cola,” Moonie ordered.
Sonata looked liked she was going to say something but then paused and looked over at Moonie for approval. She nodded to let her know it as okay.
“I’ll have a medium Dr. Lightning please!” she said happily.
“Alright large popcorn and two medium sodas that will be...$20.20,” the blond hair boy behind the stand told them.
“Okay,” Moonie agreed but then paused. “Um...Sonata you’re gonna have to let me go so I can pay.”
“Oh! Right!” Sonata pulled back with an embarrassed blush, not realizing she was still hugging Moonie. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she reassured her as she handed her debit card towards the cashier.
Once her card had been scanned and returned to her, it didn’t take long for them to get their items. Sonata eagerly snatched up the large tub of popcorn and already started munching on handfuls of it while Moonie took the two drinks. She made sure to pick up a lot of napkins from the end of the concession stand before they headed into their assigned theater. Moving more on instinct than anything else, Moonie picked the middle seats in the row right behind the railing that divided the lower and top levels of seats.
“Oooh, good seats!” Sonata complimented as she put her feet up on the railing.
“Huh?” Moonie asked as she put her drinks in the cup holders before she finally realized what she had done. “Oh right. Guess I kind of zoned out there. These are the seats Blackbird usually sits in. Guess I just got used to going here.”
“He has good tastes. These seats are right in the middle of everything!”
“He does...I just wish he wouldn’t want to go to the movies an hour before hand all the time to get them,” she confessed.
“An HOUR?!? That’s crazy!!” Sonata spat, annoying a few of the people around her.
“He’s not crazy he just...has some issues,” she clarified with a slightly annoyed sigh.
“Still seems weird to me,” Sonata shrugged before she took a sip of her soda. “So, I haven’t seen any of the other movies in this series. Do I need to know anything before it starts?”
“Actually they’re pretty good at giving out the important information in each movie,” Moonie reassured her.
“You know, I think Aria did a review on one of these movies. She didn’t really like it.”
“Somehow I’m not surprised,” Moonie replied with a chuckle before she took a handful of popcorn.
Their conversation switched to hushed tones as the trailers started playing. About 20 minutes later the movie itself finally started. For two hours, they sat transfixed on the over-the-top insanity happening in front of them. They laughed and cheered, and occasionally jumping at the more harrowing parts. This included Sonata grabbing onto Moonie’s arm for comfort more than a few times. Once the credits started to roll, Sonata got up to leave, but Moonie gently held her back and told her about the after credits scene that’s been in the last few movies. Sure enough, right after the last bit of white text, there was a quick scene to set up the next movie. When that was done, they finally left the theater.
“That movie was amazing!” Sonata cheered as she practically skipped out of the theater. “Are they all that much fun?!”
“Well, the first few are more straight forward, so they’re a little boring, but once they stopped caring and went completely ridiculous that’s when they really started getting fun!” Moonie informed her.
“Huh. Maybe I should see some of the other ones.”
“I have them if you want to borrow them at some point.”
“Really?!” Sonata beamed. “Oh, thank you!”
“It’s no problem. I’ve already seen them enough times that I can loan them out for a bit,” Moonie said with a soft smile.
“Yay!” Sonata cheered just before her stomach grumbled a bit. “We’re still going to Bueno Nacho after this, right?”
“You’re still hungry after all that popcorn?” Moonie asked with a slight hint of shock in her voice.
“Well it is mostly air!” Sonata countered.
Moonie was going to say something more, but then stopped and shrugged when she realized Sonata actually had a point about that.
“Fair enough,” she conceded.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
When they arrived at Bueno Nacho, Sonata was quick to order four Taco Grandes with a large soda while Moonie simply went with a medium sized Naco Meal. Once they got their food, they sat down in one of the nearby booths and almost immediately Sonata eagerly unwrapped one of her tacos and took a comically large bite.
“Hmmmm...I LOVE tacos!” she declared between bites.
“Really? I couldn’t tell,” Moonie joked as she gave a knowing nod to Sonata’s dress.
The lighter blue girl paused then looked down at her outfit. A big, goofy grin spread over her face as she lifted her head back up.
“Isn’t it great?!” she beamed. “Once I saw it, I knew I had to have it!” she explained. “Took a bit to save up for cause of stupid bills and things, but it was totally worth it!”
“Agreed. It looks good on you,” Moonie complimented before taking a sip of her soda.
“Oh. Thanks,” Sonata replied with a bit of a blush. “You look good too.”
Now it was Moonie’s turn to blush.
“Thanks, but it’s not like I dressed up too much,” she admitted. “Just the same old clothes I usually wear.”
“Yeah, but they look so good together. Guess that comes from being an artist, huh?”
“Huh. Never really thought about it that away before,” Moonie remarked.
“Wait did I just give you a new idea?! That’s never happened to me before! Ha! And here I was just trying to say you look cute!” Sonata declared, drawing a few looks from the other customers.
Moonie’s blushed deepened at the unexpected confession and the unintended stares it brought on.
“You think I’m...cute?” she repeated.
Sonata looked like she just realized what she had said.
“Well...yeah. Am I not supposed to say that?” she asked.
“No, no, it’s fine!” Moonie quickly corrected with a wave of her hands. “I’m just not used to hearing it out of a...romantic sense.”
“Ooooooh!” the former siren mused. “Well it’s not not that!”
“It’s not?”
“Not what?”
“If you think I’m cute in romantic sense or not,” Moonie clarified.
“Oh right, right,” Sonata nodded, figuring out her own words. “Well...can’t it be both?”
“I suppose it could,” she smiled. “So, I guess that means you’re into girls?”
“Oh yeah!” she casually confessed with a small wave. “I’m into girls, Aria’s into boys and Adagio’s into...well I think she’s into whoever will pay her attention.”
“Well I definitely knew that about Aria,” Moonie replied with a wink.
“Oh right, you and Blackbird are all poly...dexterous.”
“Polyamorous.”
“Isn’t that what I said?” Sonata asked, looking genuinely confused.
Moonie brought a finger like she was going to correct the other girl but then stopped and just shook her head with an amused grin.
“Close enough,” she chuckled. “But yes, we’re both polyamorous and bisexual which means if you did want to take me out on a date, I wouldn’t say no.”
Sonata blinked as she processed that information.
“Wait, do you want to go out on a date?!” she asked, almost dropping her second taco from the confusion of the situation.
Now it was Moonie’s turn to be quite as she took a long sip from her soda while staring down at her half eating Naco Meal. Her blush intensified as she thought carefully about her answer. After a very long pause, she finally looked up at Sonata with a soft smile.
“Yes. Yes I do,” she told her.
“OK! Maybe we could do it next weekend!” Sonata suggested before her expression fell. “Oh. Wait. I don’t have enough money to do another outing next weekend.”
“How about we make it my treat?” Moonie offered. “We’ll head to Canterlot Mall for a movie, food court meal and then some browsing. You know, a classic first date.”
“Oooh I like that idea!” she cheered again. “You’re on!”
“So, it’s a date then,” the other blue girl smiled.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
When Sonata arrived back at the apartment later that night, she found Aria was still working on her laptop while Adagio was resting back on her bed and flipping through a magazine.
“I’m HOOOOOOOME!!!” she announced cheerfully.
“How was your date?” Adagio feigned interested even if it was only half-hearted.
“Oh, that wasn’t a date,” Sonata corrected. “We’re going on a date next weekend.”
“WHAT?!” Aria screamed and jumped up from the couch.
“Yeah. Turns out Moonie likes girls too and we both said the other was cute, so we decided just to go on a date next week,” the younger siren summarized.
“Oh no! No no no no no! You are not going on a date with her!” Aria ordered.
Sonata took a step back in surprise. Oh, not that Aria yelled at her; she had gotten used to that by now. It’s what she was yelling at her about that caught her off guard. Who was she to tell her who she could and couldn’t date?! Finding her confidence, she straightened her stance and placed her hands on her hips before she glared back at her sister.
“And just why can’t I date her, huh?!” she challenged.
“Because she’s my best friend!” Aria returned.
“And your boyfriend’s girlfriend,” Adagio added from her place on the bed.
“You stay out of this!” Aria warned her.
“Oh, is that all?” Sonata chuckled. “Nah it’s fine, we talked about that. She’s poly too so she’s cool with dating someone else and she’s sure he will be too.”
“I know that,” the other siren muttered, rubbing her temples. “The problem is the other person he’s dating is me!”
Sonata blinked and stared blankly.
“So?” she asked innocently.
Aria went from rubbing her temples so just flat out resting her face in the palm of her hands. After a few seconds she slowly slid them down and glared at her simple-minded little sister.
“And don’t you think it’d be a little weird for my sister to be dating my boyfriend’s girlfriend?” she asked in a slow, deliberate tone.
Sonata’s eyes glazed over into her famous “far off stare” as her mind worked to process the information that was given to her. Eventually her eyes refocused as she came up with her own unique answer to the question.
“I mean...it’s not like we’re gonna go on a double date or something,” she replied with a shrug. She then looked upwards as she started to tap her chin. “Although I guess that would be a triple date. Cause it’d be you and Blackbird, me and Moonie and obviously Blackbird and Moonie would be on a date too. And yeah it would be weird in that case but when would that ever happen?”
“That’s. Not. The point,” Aria growled through gritted teeth then looked over Sonata’s shoulder to her other sister. “Adagio, help me out here!”
“I would, but someone told me to stay out of it,” Adagio retorted with a smug smirk.
“Ooooh I hate you,” the lavender colored girl growled. “Look Sonata, it’s too weird so you can’t date Moonie and that’s final.”
Sonata lowered her head a bit as surprisingly dark look fell over her face.
“It. Is. NOT final!” she screamed with a stamp of her foot.
Both Aria and Adagio jumped slightly as the intensity of her scream and the stomp.
“I’m TIRED of you doing this Aria!” Sonata continued, jabbing a finger in her sister’s face. “I get it! I’m not as clever as you and Adagio and sometimes I make mistakes! But that doesn’t mean either of you get to control every part of my life! I have feelings too, ya know?!”
“Sonata, I-” Aria tried to say but was cut off by another stomp.
“NO! You don’t get to talk right now!” she ordered. “I see how happy Blackbird makes you and I want that! I want to have a live outside the two of you as well! I want someone to love and to love me! Is that gonna be Moonie? I dunno! But I at least deserve the chance to find out! So, I will be going on a date with her next weekend and there’s NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!! So THERE!”
She ended her tirade by sticking her tongue out at Aria before she stormed off into the bathroom and slammed the door shut as hard as she could. The other two sisters stared at each other in stunned silence over what had just happened. Neither them knew Sonata could be so forceful. It was actually a little scary.
Although it was undercut a little by the fact that she had just locked herself in the bathroom. A fact not lost on Sonata herself.
“I know I’m in the bathroom, but I needed a door to slam! And I want to take a shower anyway!” her called out from the other side of the door. “An angry shower!”
The next few days after their argument, Sonata did everything she could to avoid seeing or talking to Aria. Which wasn’t easy considering they lived in a one room studio apartment and worked together. But surprisingly, Sonata could be quite devious when she put her mind to it. She made sure to get shifts that limited their interaction either at work or in the apartment and those times when they did work together, she made sure their duties kept them as far apart as possible.
Of course, it was much harder at night since the two did share a bed. At first Sonata tried sleeping on the couch, but that quickly became uncomfortable. So, she did the only logical thing; she scrounged up what little money she did have at the time, went to the store to pick up two cheap body length pillows and set them down on the middle of the bed as a makeshift wall between her and Aria.
A situation that Aria was not at all fond of.
“This is so stupid,” she muttered as she tried to get comfortable on her side of the “wall”.
After a few seconds of tossing and turning, she grew frustrated at being unable to find a comfortable spot in the even more cramped bed space.
“Ugh. Look Sonata-” she started as she turned around only to stop when she was met with the wall again.
She let out a frustrated growl before she sat up, grabbed the two pillows and chucked them over onto Adagio’s bed.
“Hey, what the hell?!” the big haired siren shrieked in confusion and annoyance.
“Shut up!” Aria snapped then glared down at Sonata in the dark.
She could just make out Sonata’s form lying perfectly still on her left side to face away from her.
“I know you’re not asleep because you’re not snoring like a chainsaw,” she pointed out.
This was immediately followed by loud, obviously fake snoring.
“Knock it off!” Aria demanded as she gave Sonata’s ear a slight tug.
“Ow!” the blue girl cried out, finally breaking her pretense.
“There. Good,” the older sister sighed before she flopped back down onto the bed. “Now let’s talk.”
“Don’t wanna,” Sonata mumbled in a muffled voice.
“ARGH! What is your problem?!” Aria growled, bolting up in the bed again.
“My problem?! My problem?!” the younger sister snapped as she also sat up and finally faced her. “You’re the one with the problem! You just hate me and don’t want me to be happy!”
The accusation hit Aria far harder than she ever would have imagined. Even though she couldn’t quite see it in the darkness, she could feel Sonata’s angry glare cutting through her like a knife. Her shoulders sagged a bit as her head fell a bit.
“I don’t hate you,” she confessed. “You just annoy me sometimes. Like, most of the time.”
Sonata’s expression softened ever so slightly, but she still kept her eyes focused directly on her sister’s face as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“That’s not helping much,” she remarked.
Aria refrained herself from rolling her eyes and making some kind of snarky comment. Unfortunately, Sonata was right and that wasn’t helping right now.
“The point is,” she continued with only a slight annoyed tone, “we’re family and family does nothing but annoy each other. But that doesn’t mean we don’t care for each other. You annoy me Sonata, but I don’t hate you.”
“Then why don’t you want me to be happy?” Sonata asked, her voice almost pleading at this point.
“I do want you to be happy!” Aria spat out in annoyance and threw her hands into the air. “It’s just this whole situation is so weird I don’t know how to process it!”
“But why do you have to?!” she asked again. “Why can’t we just see what happens before you yell and scream?”
“Because...because...” the lavender skinned girl stuttered.
“Because...?” her sister pressed.
“BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW HOW TO REACT ANY OTHER WAY, OKAY?!?!” Aria finally confessed as she shot up in the bed again and stared Sonata right in the eyes.
The small apartment grew deathly quiet as the two stared at each other in the extremely dim light. Eventually Aria’s expression faded, and she hung her head, letting her loose hair obscure her face even more.
“All of this...being emotional stuff is new to me,” she said with a sigh. “So, yeah, I freaked out at the idea of you dating my friend. Who is also my boyfriend’s girlfriend. The whole situation is just...complicated. And I just didn’t want it to be more complicated. But if you really want to give it a try with her, then go ahead. We’ll worry about the rest later I guess.”
A wide, beaming smile spread across Sonata’s face as her eyes shined brightly even in the darkness of the room. She let out an excited squeal before she pulled her sister into a tight, loving hug.
“Oh, thank you Aria! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she cheered, seemingly already over the grudge she had been holding.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Aria grumbled even as she gave a weak hug in return. But she then quickly pulled Sonata way from her. “Just let me go!”
“Awww, how adorable,” Adagio’s voice called out from her bed. “I’m so glad you two have worked things out. Now here, you forgot a few things!”
And suddenly they were both bombarded by the body pillows that Aria had tossed towards Adagio just a few minutes ago.
“Ow! Hey! Watch it!” Aria threatened her.
“You started it!” Adagio shot back.
“Oooh! I know! Pillow fight!” Sonata suggested, holding up the pillow that had hit her.
“NO!!” both her older sisters screamed together.
“Awww, I never get to have any fun!” she whined.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
With the conflict between herself and Aria finally resolved, Sonata spent the rest of the week bouncing back and forth between being excited and nervous for her date with Moonie. It didn’t help that she had completely forgotten that she had to work day shift on Saturday and the second her shift ended, she raced up the stairs to get ready. She quickly rummaged through the small selection of clothes she had and grabbed what she thought worked best before she darted into the bathroom to take a shower. About thirty minutes later she reemerged from the bathroom and stood in front of the couch to show off her outfit to Aria.
“What do you think?” she asked, holding her arms out for inspection.
Aria glanced up from the show she had been watching to give Sonata a half-hearted lookover.
“I think you’re just wearing your Battle of the Bands outfit,” she remarked.
“It’s the only thing I have that feels fancy enough for a date!” Sonata admitted. “Also have you seen my boots for this outfit?”
“How do you lose something in an apartment this small?”
“I dunno! How do you lose anything?!”
Aria rolled her eyes.
“Have you checked under the bed?” she suggested.
“Oh, good idea! Thanks Aria!” Sonata smiled before she practically dove towards the bed.
As she rooted around the surprising amount of junk under the bed, a soft knock was heard on the front door which caused her jump up a bit in surprise. That in turn caused her to smack her head against the bottom of the bed.
“Ow!” she called out, rubbing her now sore head. She then carefully slid out from under the bed and gave her sister a pleading look. “Aria can you please answer the door for me!”
Aria let out an annoyed sighed and rolled her eyes but turned and made her way towards the door anyway.
“Thank you!” Sonata called out before she ducked under the bed again to continue to look for her wayward boots.
Her sister grumbled again as she opened the door. When she did, she was a bit surprised at what she found on the other side. It turned out Sonata wasn’t the only one who wanted to dress up a bit for the date. Moonie was wearing a red dress with a plunging neckline and a black leather jacket over top of if it along with black, knee high boots.
“Uh, hey,” Aria stammered a bit, taken aback a bit by her friend’s new fashion choice.
“Hi,” Moonie greeted cheerfully. “Is Sonata ready to go?”
“Almost!” Sonata’s voice called out from under the bed. “I can see my boots, but I can’t reach them. Aria can you help me?” For what felt like the hundredth time that night, Aria let out an annoyed sigh before she walked over to the bed and yanked it upwards, seemingly reminding Sonata that it was designed to fold back up into the wall. Sonata blushed in embarrassment but then quickly grabbed her boots and moved slipped them on right there on the floor. She straightened out her skirt before she turned around to actually greet Moonie. And just like Aria, she was caught off guard by what she saw.
“Oh wow! You look amazing!” she exclaimed.
Moonie’s cheeks turned as red as her dress.
“Thanks, but I think everyone’s making too big a deal out of it. I don’t look that much different,” she said sheepishly.
“Of course you do! You’re dressed up! We all look different like that! Plus, there’s something else I can’t put my finger on,” Sonata muttered, tapping her chin.
“It’s the jacket,” Aria stated flatly as she let the bed fall back onto the floor.
“Oh yeah that’s it!” Sonata said, snapping her fingers.
“Does it really make that much of a difference?” Moonie asked and tugged on the jacket it a bit.
“Just doesn’t seem like your style,” Aria remarked. “In fact, isn’t that Blackbird’s Southside Serpents jacket?”
“Southside Serpents?” Sonata asked in confusion.
“It’s a thing from a stupid show he watched,” her sister scoffed.
“It’s not stupid!” Moonie protested. “It’s weird but it’s still engaging and fun in its own unique way.”
“Oh you just like it for all the hot guys,” Aria accused.
Again, Moonie blushed. “It’s not...just that.” She then straightened the jacket it again. “But, yeah, this is his jacket. He said it’d ‘complete the look’.”
“Of course he did,” the other girl sighed. “The worst part is he’s right.”
“Yeah he is!” Sonata chimed in as she moved over to Moonie. “You look great!”
“Thanks!” Moonie beamed. “You look good too.”
This time it was Sonata’s turn to blush.
“You think so? I mean this outfit is kind of old so...” she admitted.
“Doesn’t matter. It really works for you,” Moonie complimented again.
“Awww thanks!” Sonata smiled and blushed again.
“Ugh. Okay you two need to take that outside,” Aria grumbled.
“Jealous,” Sonata taunted and stuck her tongue out at her sister.
“She’s right though,” Moonie spoke up as she checked her phone. “We need to get going if we’re going to make the movie.”
“Oh, okay! Let’s go then!” the other blue girl said excited then snaked her arm around Moonie’s and led her out the door. “See ya, Aria!”
“Yeah, see you!” Moonie waved to her friend.
“Yeah, yeah,” Aria grumbled with a half-hearted wave.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Once they arrived at Canterlot Mall, they quickly made their way to the theater where they picked up two tickets to the new romantic comedy “Strange Bedfellows”. Despite not being there an hour early, they still found their way towards the middle isle to have the “best seats”. Almost as soon as they sat down, Sonata wrapped her arms around Moonie’s and rested her head on her shoulder. Naturally, Moonie was taken by surprise by this action, but didn’t mind it. In fact, she smiled and leaned her head against Sonata’s as they waited for the trailers to start.
Once the movie itself started, they settled in closer to each other. They laughed at the ridiculously cheesy jokes, fawned over the romantic moments and even tear upped a bit at the some of the more emotional scenes. During one of which they, they laced their fingers together and squeezed each other’s hands. Although there was a fairly decent sized crowd in the theater, at that moment they felt like they were the only ones there.
When the movie ended, they slightly reluctantly pulled away from each other so they could stand up and exit the theater back into the mall.
“Wow that movie was really good!” Sonata gushed.
“I know!” Moonie agreed. “Much better than I was expecting.”
“You weren’t expecting it to be good?” she asked, tilting her head a bit.
“I mean I wasn’t expecting it to be bad, but romcoms can be hit or miss.”
“Ooooh right. I think Aria just calls them all misses. Well actually she calls them, ‘Stupid sappy stories for idiots who don’t know better’,” Sonata said, doing her best impression of her grumpy sister.
Moonie chuckled a bit. “That definitely sounds like her.”
“She’s also SOOOOOOOO grumpy! I don’t get it!” the other blue girl remarked.
“I think she just has a...unique personality,” Moonie suggested.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Sonata told her then waved her hand. “But let’s not talk about her. This date is about us! And we-” she paused as her stomach grumbled loudly, “-should really get some food.”
“Yeah, I could go for something myself,” Moonie agreed with another chuckle.
They made their way to the food court and searched around at the options offered there. Obviously, sushi was out of the question, Moonie had learned that mistake from Blackbird. But she wasn’t sure what she was in the mood for right now. Naturally, Sonata wanted to get tacos but sadly it seemed the Canterlot Mall had no TexMex stand in it. But there was a pizza place that had a “taco pizza” as their daily specialty that Sonata laser focused on. Moonie chuckled as she followed behind her date and ordered two slices of the taco pizza for Sonata as well as two slices of supreme for herself along with a couple of sodas. Once they had their order, they took the trays and walked over to the nearest table.
“So, should I just get used to eating tacos every time we go out?” Moonie asked with an amused chuckle.
Sonata stopped mid-bite and a blush appeared on her cheeks. She slowly put the sliced down with a sheepish grin.
“Sorry,” she squeaked.
“No, it’s fine,” Moonie reassured with a smile. “I think it’s cute actually.”
Sonata’s blush deepened.
“I’m still not used to being called cute,” she admitted. “‘The worst’, ‘stupid’, ‘air head’, ‘Dammit Sonata’, all of those. But not really cute. Well aside from those creepy guys who want to hit on me at work when I’m out front but you’re way better than them!”
“I would hope so,” Moonie giggled before taking a sip of her soda.
“But anyway, I’ll try not to just eat tacos when we go out again,” Sonata remarked. “I know I get a little obsessed with them.”
“Like I said, it’s fine,” she waved off again. “So after we’re done here do you want to hit up the retro arcade upstairs? I hear it’s really good.”
“Ooooh that sounds like fun!” the other blue girl cheered.
A large smile spread across Moonie’s face at the response. The two continued to chat as they finished up their meal. Once it was finished, they hastily tossed their trash in a nearby bin before making their way towards the closet escalator. Upon reaching the next level they could already hear the various beeps and sound effects that echoed from the arcade. Apparently, they were closer than they thought, and it made Sonata’s excitement grow even more. She grabbed Moonie’s hand and practically started to drag her towards the flashing lights in the distance. Moonie giggled as she kept pace with her date, her own excitement for the games overcoming her. They came to a dead stop when they reached the entrance and Sonata’s eyes widened in wonder as she stared at all the flashing lights on the machines filling the spacious room.
“This...is...AMAZING!!!” she cheered gleefully.
“Right?!” Moonie agreed, a bright smile on her face. “Just think, every mall used to have these things! Must have been great, huh?”
Sonata nodded eagerly before she grabbed Moonie’s hand again.
“Let’s go! I wanna try all these games!” she exclaimed.
The other girl chuckled and pulled her back a bit with a soft yet firm tug.
“Slow down. I don’ have nearly enough money for that. Buuuut,” she smirked as she pulled out a small folded stack of bills from the inner pocket of her jacket. “I did bring enough money to let us have a few hours of fun.”
Sonata’s eyes lit up as brightly as any of the screens or marques on the machines around them. She followed Moonie over to the change machine and watched as she fed bills into it to end up with enough tokens to fill one of the cups on the side of the machine.
“Okay, so. Which game should we try first?” Moonie asked.
Sonata looked over the sea of flashing, beeping cabinets; each one displaying a bit of the game on its screen to grab her attention. Her eyes darted all over, trying to take it all in and decide which one was the most appealing. Unfortunately, they all looked appealing!
“I can’t decide!” she screamed dramatically, grabbing on to the side of her head.
Despite drawing some unwanted attention from the outfit, Moonie chuckled and put a reassuring hand on her bare shoulder.
“It’s okay. Here, let’s just do this one,” Moonie suggested as she pointed to one of the cabinets near them.
The other girl nodded and walked over with her date to the flashing machine. The marque on top of it proudly proclaimed that the game was called “Final Rage” and the screen showed three characters walking through a dirty city street and beating up other outlandish characters attacking them. Sonata stared transfixed at it as she stepped close to the machine.
“Ooooh what’s this about?” she asked as she stared at the screen.
“Easy,” Moonie said, putting the cup down on the side of the cabinet with a slightly clinking of metal, “a mob boss as taken over the city and kidnapped the mayor’s daughter so now you have to choose two of four fights to beat up everyone in your way to take her and the city back.”
“Sounds like the kind of game Aria would like,” she remarked.
“It does, doesn’t it?” the other girl remarked before she pulled out a few tokens from the cup. “Ready?”
“Yeah!”
Moonie handed her a couple of tokens to put in the coin slot before she did the same. The character select screen popped up and Sonata scanned over the choices. Before she could look at them too closely, she was slightly surprised by a loud “LET’S GO!!!” coming from the speakers of the cabinet. She glanced over and saw that Moonie had a picked a character named “Ash” who was clad in a blue hoodie with the sleeves ripped off, taped up fists, white pants and a long, brown braid flowing behind him.
“Wow that was fast!” she remarked.
“What can I say? I think he’s cute,” Moonie shrugged.
Sonata looked down at the character again.
“If you say so,” she said with a shrug of her own, though hers are more out of disinterest.
She then went back to the select screen and focused on the only female character of the group. The display said her name was “Fury” and she was clad in bright red halter top, matching shorts, black heavy boots and metal gauntlets on her arms, all topped off with a black leather jacket. She had a red headband tied around her forehead and the extra strands from it ran down alongside her bright blonde hair.
“Oh I like her!” Sonata said happily.
She pressed the select button that caused the familiar “LET’S GO!!!” to blare through the speaker before the screen faded to black. “You ready?” Moonie asked, grasping the joystick firmly.
“Yeah” Sonata nodded, hovering her fingers over the buttons.
When the screen came back up, they were thrown into the thick of the action. There was a slight learning curve for Sonata at first, but she quickly picked up what buttons did what attacks. Once she got the hang of the game, it turned out she was a natural at it! They made their way through a seemingly endless barrage of bad guys. Level after level, life after life, token after token. Before they knew they found themselves facing the final boss.
And then, as is often the case, tragedy struck.
Sonata was the first to go down, her character suffering a fatal blow from the boss’ rocket chair. Shortly thereafter Moonie was taken down by two of the bigger goons that littered the screen. They both stared in disbelief as the continue timer started to tick down.
“Come on! Come on! Give me some more tokens!” Sonata pleaded desperately.
Unfortunately, when Moonie lifted the cup she was met with a very disappointing sight.
“We’re down to just two tokens,” she informed her date.
“Awwww!!!” the other girl moaned. “Well I, mean, I guess you could continue.”
“Nah,” Moonie shook her head. “Wouldn’t be as fun and I doubt I could take them all on by myself. Besides, we should use these last two tokens on something else.”
Sonata gave a defeated sigh and a reluctant nod before her eyes scanned the other machines for something else that might interest her. She found something almost instantly and she zoomed away so quickly Moonie could swear she left a cloud of her outline after her. Again Moonie giggled at her date’s antics before she followed where Sonata had gone and found her standing in front of her a claw machine with her face pressed up against the glass. When Moonie approached her, she saw what had caught Sonata’s eye, a small plush taco with tiny arms and legs and a big smiling face.
“Let me guess, you want it?” she asked with a playful smirk.
Sonata pried her face away from the glass to look at Moonie with big puppy dog eyes and gave a weak nod.
“Alright then,” Moonie said, rolling up the sleeves of her jacket for dramatic effect, “let’s get you that taco.”
She then slid the last two tokens into the coin slot and expertly started to manipulate the claw over the plush taco man. Sonata watched gleefully as the claw quickly descended onto the toy, clenched around it and lifted it up. She tensed up a bit as the claw wobbled its way over to the drop shoot, afraid the slightest only movement would dislodge it from its precarious grip. She let out a sigh of relief as it fell into the hole and Moonie quickly retrieved it from the shoot.
“Here ya go,” she said triumphantly as she held the plush out towards Sonata.
Sonata’s face lit up in delight and she practically leapt towards Moonie to give her an appreciative hug, nearly sending them both crashing to the floor.
“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!!” she cheered as she hugged Moonie a bit too tightly.
“You’re...welcome,” Moonie gasped back, returning the hug even as she felt the air leaving her lugs.
Thankfully, the other girl drew back so she could snatch the plushie from her hands and hug it close to her chest. After a few seconds of hugging the toy she opened her eyes again and smiled brightly at her date.
“That was AMAZING!!” she gushed. “I could never get those things to work for me!”
“Yeah, well, when I was a kid, I really wanted a toy from one in a store, so I spent way too much money to get it and just kinda developed a knack for them,” Moonie explained with a bit of an embarrassed blush.
Sonata just shrugged nonchalantly. “Makes sense to me.” She then hugged the plushie to her chest again. “And it got me this cute little guy, so I say it was totally worth it!”
“I’m glad,” Moonie smiled but then quickly frowned a bit. “But I’m completely tapped out now so maybe we should call it a night. Plus, I think the mall is about to close anyway.”
“Oh,” Sonata noted as she looked out towards the mall to see some of the shops starting to close up. “Yeah, I guess we should go now.”
“Then shall we?” she asked, holding her arm around towards her date.
The other blue girl smiled before she hooked her own arm around the offered one and they pulled herself close to Moonie as they started to walk out of the arcade and through the mall to bring their date to an end.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
A short drive later, they were standing on the sidewalk outside of Sonata’s apartment. They stared into each other’s nearly matching violet eyes and smiled brightly at each other.
“I had fun,” Moonie said happily.
“Me too!” Sonata exclaimed in her usual cheerful tone. “Can we do it again sometime?!”
“Yeah, I’d like that,” she said, then her smile turned into an embarrassed grin. “Though maybe not for a bit so I can save up for it.”
“Well, I’m gonna get paid soon, so how about next time I pay?” the other girl offered.
“Sounds good.”
“Yay!” Sonata squeaked then leaned forward to give Moonie a quick kiss.
When she saw the shocked look and bright red blush on Moonie’s cheeks as she pulled back, a guilty feeling quickly came over her.
“Oh. That-that wasn’t too soon, was it?” she asked.
“No, no it’s fine,” Moonie reassured her. “Just caught me by surprise. But it was nice. I’ll just be sure to be ready for the next one,” she winked.
Sonata let out a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good to know.”
There was a bit of an awkward pause.
“Well...I guess I should get upstairs now,” Sonata remarked.
“Yeah, I need to get going too,” Moonie nodded in agreement. “I’ll text you later.”
“Alright! Night!”
“Goodnight Sonata,” she smiled with a wave.
Sonata waved back before she walked inside the building and practically bounded up the stairs led to her apartment. She threw open the door in an excited rush which caused Aria to jump from her place on the couch.
“I’M HOOOOOOOOME!!!!” she announced cheerfully.
“Yeah, no kidding,” Aria grumbled as she stood up to face her sister. “So how was the date?”
“It was GREAT!” Sonata beamed. “We saw a fun, sappy movie, we got some dinner at the food court then we went to an old style arcade and she won me this!”
She finished her sentence by holding out the plushie taco man towards Aria. Though she quickly hugged it back to her chest.
“Isn’t he adorable?! I’m going to call him Mr. Taco!” she gushed.
“Of course you are,” Aria snarked with a roll of her eyes. “Well...I’m glad you had fun.”
Sonata’s eyebrow arched at the remarked and she shot Aria a suspicious look.
“Wait...you are?” she asked carefully.
Aria let out an annoyed sigh and rubbed her temple a bit.
“Yes, I am,” she confirmed before she looked at Sonata. “I talked with Blackbird and he helped me come to terms with this whole thing. I still don’t particularly like it but I’m willing to deal with if it makes you happy.”
Sonata’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.
“You DO care!” she rejoiced and looked like she was about to rush forward.
“Ah! But don’t hug me!” Aria scolded her, stopping Sonata before she even started.
“Fine,” Sonata said in a slightly deflated tone. “Still gonna say thank you though!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” the older sister grumbled as she sat back down on the couch. “Still don’t know if I can see you two together like...that yet. Still weird.”
“Well, you better get used to it cause we’re gonna have another date soon,” Sonata warned her as she moved over to the bed.
She first carefully set down Mr. Taco on her pillow before she sat down to remove her boots, socks, gloves and tie. She was just about to remove her shirt when she heard Aria’s voice call out again.
“What did we say?” she reminded her.
“Fine,” Sonata sighed.
She then stood up, grabbed a pink sleeping shirt from her dresser and walked into the bathroom. A few seconds later she came out wearing the shirt and holding her top and skirt to her date outfit long with her bra and the hair tie that held her ponytail in place. She tossed all the items into her hamper before she sat down on the bed again. She scooped up Mr. Taco into her arms and laid down, pulling the covers up over both her and her new best friend.
“Are you going to bed already?” Aria asked in amazement.
“Yeah, I’m tired after my date!” Sonata shot back.
“Whatever.”
She stuck her tongue out at her grumpy sister but since Aria’s back was turned to her, she wasn’t sure if she saw it. But whatever, she knew she did it and that was enough. She rolled over onto her side, cuddled up with Mr. Taco and settled in for a good night’s sleep.
One that was she jerked out of a few hours later when the text alert on her phone jolted her awake. When she first opened her eyes, she almost panicked because she thought she had gone blind but quickly realized it was because the lights to the apartment were off. Apparently it was later than she should because she could hear Aria’s steady breathing next to her as well as make out the form of Adagio asleep in her own bed.
I wonder where she was earlier? Sonata thought in her half asleep mind.
Remembering why she was awake, she reached over and pulled her phone off the bedside table. When she pulled up her text chat, she saw the text that had wakened was from Moonie.
~Hope I didn’t wake you,~ it started. ~But I JUST remembered something I did that was the whole reason we started talking. I hope you like it.~
Underneath the text was a sketch of her standing on a cliff and looking out longingly towards the ocean with the wind sweeping her hair past her face. Sonata stared at the picture in awe for a few seconds before she responded.
~Wow that is AMAZING!! And so sweet! Thank you very much! It was worth being woken up for this! I can’t wait to see it finished! But now I’m going back to bed. Night!~
She set the phone down and snuggled up to Mr. Taco again, a wide smile on her face. Even though life had been kind of crummy for awhile, it definitely looked like things were turning around now. And that thought carried her back to dreamland.
