A Dazzling Day Out

Chapters

The Day Begins
Play To Win
Have Or Have Not

The Day Begins

“Blech, plain pancakes again?” Aria Blaze complained loudly as she stood over her plate, arms folded and a look of disgust prevalent on her face.

“Get over it, we haven’t been able to leave the house in a week, Aria,” Adagio Dazzle grumbled as she sat herself down and began to eat her own serving.

“I think they taste fine!” Sonata Dusk remarked, her sunny disposition a stark contrast with the other two banished sirens.

“You can think, Sonata?!” Aria replied in astonishment. “Wonders really never cease.”

“Hey, just because you’re not a morning person doesn’t mean I can’t be!” Sonata protested indignantly.

“Keep it up and you won’t see another morning!” Aria growled back.

“Girls, enough!” Adagio snapped; a sullen look on her face as she slammed her first on the table. Immediately the other two sirens looked over at her. “I don’t want to hear another word out of both of you until I say so, got it?”

“…She started it,” Sonata said, pointing at Aria.

“SHE started it!” Aria yelled, pointing back at the other siren.

“No, obviously your parents started it when they had you two idiots!” Adagio remarked snidely. “And if you don’t shut up, I’ll be the one to end it in a very appropriate fashion!” she added, teeth grit. Thankfully for her, this seemed to silence them for the time being.

Satisfied, the siren leader resumed eating, recalling all the times she found herself stuck in the role of mediator when the other two would get into arguments. Sonata would say something stupid, Aria would tease her for it. Aria would act up, Sonata would try to cheer her up. It never mattered how it began, as far as Adagio was concerned, it always ended up the same way with the two arguing until she stepped in. She really needed a break from this. The mix of cabin fever and living with the two of them had brought her towards her last nerve.

Sliding the paper over to her plate and looking it over, Adagio noticed an ad for the Lotus Sisters’ Spa.

Hmmm… haven’t been there in awhile… wish I could go, she thought to herself. It had been a week since that incident involving the trip to the zoo they put up with for Sonata’s birthday, and it was fortunate the three of them had snuck out before the authorities had arrived to the rampant chaos from her fellow siren’s stupidity that resulted in every pen somehow getting opened.

Huh. Still looking for the tiger, she read, nudging the paper away. Being a creature of Equestria gifted with a hypnotic song, she was not threatened by any wildlife, and thankfully it seemed the authorities had dismissed it as a system error and not someone’s actions at long last.

A smile formed on Adagio’s face as she realized the implications. “Girls, I have good news,” she said suddenly, once more gaining the attention of Sonata, who now seemed to be doing her best impression of a hamster as she had her cheeks stuffed with food to the point her lips were barely closed, and Aria, who now just leaned back in her chair and regarded Adagio with mild interest.

“Well?” the purple girl asked.

“The police deemed the zoo incident a system malfunction. We’re off the hook, which means we can go out!” Adagio declared, standing up with a bigger grin then she’d normally have that Aria suspected was caused by the opportunity to escape the week-long cabin fever.

“Fmff rrmmzmff?” Sonata asked, pancake crumbs spilling from her mouth as she tried to speak and prompting facepalms from the other two sirens.

“Don't talk with your mouth full, Sonata," Adagio grumbled. "Anyway, yes. We can go out, now. We’ve got plenty of money, and I have an idea,” she explained. “They’re having a special on full treatments at the Lotus Sisters’ spa, and personally I could use it after spending a week cooped up in this place with you two. How’s that sound?” she asked, hoping the offer and the full treatment would quell any future arguments she’d otherwise be trapped in the middle of.

“Boring,” Aria deadpanned as Sonata swallowed her food and started on Aria’s plate, earning a grimace from the purple girl before she shoved her plate over to the other, hungrier siren. “I haven’t fed off any energy all week, and it’s been putting me in a bad mood.”

“I’d have never noticed,” Adagio said with an eyeroll. “Fine, what would you rather do?”

“The arcades are full of kids competing with eachother. I say we hit that place and feed off everyone there,” Aria said, stroking the red gem that hung around her neck.

“We can do that later, Aria. I need a full treatment at the spa or I’m going to be extremely off my game,” Adagio retorted. A week of stress had left her neck and shoulders hurting and her headaches still present, and she was more then eager to rid herself from said problems as soon as possible.

“Well I want to go to the arcades now! They even got a new karaoke game there I can use!” Aria snapped.

Sonata, meanwhile, had remained silent the entire time, having managed to finish Aria’s plate completely and now just staring at the other two girls. Her stoicism finally was noticed as Adagio turned and looked down at her.

“Let me guess, Sonata… you have something you’d rather do, as well?” Adagio asked sarcastically, ready for the next argument.

“Ummm…” Sonata pinched her chin and looked up at the ceiling, trying to come up with an answer.

“Don’t give yourself an aneurism, Sonata,” Aria said with a laugh.

“I’m thinking! I’m thinking!” Sonata protested.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Aria responded.

“GIRLS!” Adagio screamed out, slamming her fist on the table once more. Taking a deep breath, she managed a smile and looked at Sonata again. “Wellllllll…?” she asked, trying to keep her eye from twitching.

“...I got nothing,” Sonata said sheepishly, earning a facepalm from Aria.

“Same can be said about the inside of your head, Sonata,” Aria remarked.

Ignoring Aria's comment, Adagio walked over to the counter and tore off a slip of paper from a notepad, grabbed a pen, and began writing down a list. “Well, I have something for you, Sonata. As Aria so vocally pointed out before breakfast this morning, we’re rather low on food. I’d like you to take this list and go to Barnyard Bargains right down the street, and get everything I have written down here, got it?” she asked, handing the list to the blue girl.

A big smile formed on Sonata’s face. “Ooh! Sure! I can handle that! Anything you say, ‘Dagi!” she said, hopping up out of her seat.

“You sure about this?” Aria asked, raising an eyebrow. “The thing with the zoo and all…”

“It’s right down the street, a toddler could handle this,” Adagio replied, now more eager then ever to get to the spa with her headache returning from the arguing. The more she thought about it, the more getting both of them out of her hair for awhile seemed desirable to her.

“Well, if you’re gonna trust her with going off to do a grocery run, I’m heading to the arcades,” Aria said, grabbing her wallet and heading to the door. “Have fun getting pampered, ‘Dagi,” she added, closing the door behind her before the other siren could respond.

With a shrug, Adagio grabbed up her own purse and handed Sonata hers. “Stay out of trouble. I don’t want another incident that gets us stuck at home for a week!” she warned, heading to the door.

“You can count on me!” Sonata said with a small salute as she pocketed the list while Adagio made her way outside and closed the door behind her.

“I deserve this. I seriously deserve this after a week stuck indoors with those two,” Adagio assured herself, running her hands through her thick, bushy hair. “This is going to be the best day I’ve had in ages!” she mused, heading off in the opposite direction that Aria was walking and to her destination, thrilled to enjoy the first relief she’d had in since their days in Equestria.

Author's Note

And thus begins my EG-based, Dazzling-focused experiment. Each upcoming chapter will focus around one's impending adventure.

Hope you enjoy!

Play To Win

Hands at her hips and a smug smile fixed upon her face, Aria Blaze looked up in satisfaction at the sign that signified that she had successfully found her way to 8-Bit Arcade.

Approaching, Aria shoved the glass door open with a confident stride and looked around. The smell of competitive gamers was… honestly pretty repulsive that it made her crinkle her nose a bit in disgust and wonder how many of them remembered to shower every day.

The sound, however, was far more pleasant: all around her, cheers mixed with shouting and arguing could be heard. Kids were cursing angrily as they faced Game Over screens that prompted more quarters from them, teens were playing against one-another in the shooter, fighter, and racing games. All this negative energy was just waiting to be brought up to eleven and harvested for her needs.

Aria grinned, certain Adagio and Sonata would be so jealous that she had the sense to choose somewhere that didn’t feel like fast food… maybe that three-course meal one got once in a week that consisted otherwise of fast food, but still, it was something the hot-headed siren wasn’t going to miss the chance to brag about to the others. She just needed a way to make her song to enough ears for it to work.

“Oh, right… they have that new Karaoke Hero game,” she said aloud, looking around and noticing a small checkered stage similar to that game that more made someone look like they had ants in their clothes then like they could actually dance, a mic with a cord hanging next to it. Alright, losers, let’s get this started! she thought, purpose now in her mind as she began to approach, chuckling to herself at how none of these smelly dorks had any idea what was going on.

“Hey! Who are you? You don’t look like someone who’d come in here!” a young teen boy declared as he suddenly stepped in her way and obstructed her path.

Aria grimaced as she looked down at him; he was almost a head shorter then her so she gathered he was in his early teens and hadn’t found his growth spurt yet. His skin was a dull tan color and his hair an orange brown that looked as though he probably didn’t dedicate much time to combing it. He wore a loose green jersey and baggy cargos, but his most distinctive feature was the red and yellow beanie with a green propeller sitting atop his messy hair. His somewhat whiny tone, however, was already making Aria wish he’d go elsewhere.

“Do I look like someone who cares what you think, twerp?” Aria asked gruffly, folding her arms and glaring down at him disdainfully.

The boy did not appear remotely intimidated, and continued drinking out of the apple juice box in his hand before speaking again. “My big brother runs this place, so I’m here all the time. I’ve never seen you around.”

“I’m new,” Aria replied dismissively as she tried to walk around him, but again the boy moved into her path.

“You’re really hot. Like Samus-level hot,” he commented.

What passed for Aria’s patience immediately took a nose-dive. “I don’t speak dork, kid, now out of my way!” she snapped.

“What’s your favorite game? I mean, if you came here, you gotta have a favorite game!” the kid asked.

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll find out very soon,” Aria said with a sneer as she once more attempted to go around him, but the kid proved far harder to shake off then she would have liked.

“Oh, don’t tell me it’s that dumb girly singing game!” the boy said with an eyeroll. “Only sissies who can’t play real games mess with that!” he said. “…And a few who think they can sing. Jeez, you wanna talk total ear torture!”

“Like what I’m getting right now?” Aria asked in a condescending tone. The boy cocked his head and sipped more of his drink as though her insult had flown right over his head.

“I like you!” he said with a grin. “Wanna play against me in something?”

Aria stared at him a moment, confused. “Excuse me?!”

“I like your attitude. Now come on! I know just the right game!” he said, his grin not wavering as he grabbed her arm and began to tug her in the direction of one of the cabinets before Aria could react.

“Let go of me, you little brat!” Aria snapped lividly, but the boy ignored her and brought her to a game cabinet that looked a little older then the others. “What the hell, kid? What’d you drag me over to this antique for?” she asked, noticing by the date on it that it was probably older then the kid who had led her to it.

“Only a real gamer can handle Dragon’s Lair! It’s my big brother’s favorite!” he declared.

“This is a cartoon, kid,” Aria deadpanned, staring at an animated sequence promoting the game’s story.

“Yeah, sorta. Came out before I was born, my brother was a fan of this guy’s work growing up so he went through a lot to get ahold of this!” the boy said proudly.

Aria nodded absently as she continued watching the opening sequence. The sight of dragons and monsters did give the girl a sense of nostalgic memories of Equestria. The thought of her real home and that stupid wizard kicking her and the others into this boring place was enough to make her clench her fists tightly. I ever find a way back, I swear… she thought to herself.

A loud clank snapped Aria from her thoughts when the boy dumped a stack of quarters on the dashboard. “Here, you’re gonna need ‘em. Impress me and I’ll let you play the sissy girly singing game.”

Aria facepalmed, knowing there was no way out of this short of beating the kid senseless, which would just get her thrown out. Options lost and too much at stake, she decided she could humor him for now if it got him off her back. “FINE. I’ll play your stupid game!”

“Yes!” the boy cheered. “Well, let’s see if a girl can handle this game, huh?”

Aria’s fuse instantly ignited. “What?!” she demanded.

“You heard me,” the boy said with a smug grin as he leaned against the side of the arcade cabinet.

“Oh, it’s on, you little brat!” Aria snapped, gritting her teeth and sliding a quarter into the machine, bringing her to the start of the game. Forget the song! No one doubts what Aria Blaze can do! That little punk’s gonna eat those words! she thought bitterly as the game began.

“DRAGON’S LAIR!”

“You can’t be SERIOUS! The potion kills you?!” Aria Blaze screamed out furiously, slamming her fist on the dashboard as Dirk the Daring experienced another in a long line of creative death scenes the siren had the pleasure of witnessing while the boy looked ready to keel over from laughing the hardest he’d probably ever laughed in his life.

“This time, I got it…” Aria shoved another quarter into the slot, easily bypassing the many traps that had claimed the previous ones and finally finding herself in the room with the potion once again, this time ignoring it completely. “Like I’m falling for that again!” she said with a smug laugh as she continued on. “Looks like a girl’s handling this game pretty well, wouldn’t you say, kid?” she asked.

“Had to say something that’d get you to play it!” the boy said, smirking and prompting Aria to wince in anger.

“Shut up. I got this, I got a feeling I’m near the end!” she said, her eyes never leaving the screen as she moved the hero across a bridge.

Aria screamed out several inappropriate words at the top of her lungs as a burst of lava randomly erupted from the bridge and engulfed the hero, securing the game’s claim over the last quarter the boy had given her.

“Hey, language!” the boy said, trying his hardest not to burst into another laughing fit as Aria slammed her hand on the dashboard, gritting her teeth in disgust at the pile of bones the hero dissolved away into and turning to leave.

“This wasn’t worth any of my time!” Aria snarled, preparing to leave.

“Hey, we had a deal!” the boy said, rushing in front of her again.

“Deal with this!” Aria demanded, holding out her fist.

“Hey, you didn’t get to the end of the game! But we can do a different one!” His eyes widened. “Ooh! The new one my brother just got plugged in! Got money? It costs a lot but it’s so awesome you’ll love it!” he insisted, attempting pleading eyes.

“Go ask your mommy, kid,” Aria replied dismissively.

“She says she already gave me my allowance and I spent it here!” the boy whined. “C’mon, it’s four dollars each, it’ll be worth it!”

Aria facepalmed. Humor this little brat. Then get the energy here… stay calm, Aria. You’re not going home to tell Adagio you blew it, and you’re definitely way better then Sonata. she thought to herself. The last comparison filling her with new resolve, Aria gave a nod. “Fine, where’s this new game?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

“Back here!” the boy said, grabbing Aria by the arm again and pulling her along to a darkened room in the back, where two large sit-in pods of some kind that resembled some sort of cockpits sat, big screens in front of them that looked like holographic control panels and two levers on each side of the seat.

“What is this?” Aria asked, her hands at her hips as she looked at the setup.

“The new game, Mecha-Kai Throwdown!” the boy declared. “This one’s way awesome because it’s all set up like a cockpit straight out of the show! They even shake when you get hit!” he explained as though the last part somehow made it even better.

“I don’t watch that stuff,” Aria grumbled. “But fine, if this gets you out of my hair…” she took four dollars from her pocket and handed them over, and four for herself. The boy cheered and hopped into one of the cockpits, putting the money in and switching it on. Shaking her head, Aria entered the other cockpit and did the same.

“You know, speaking of hair, with that weird style you got, you’d fit right in with the show!” the boy said with a smile.

“Just shut up and let’s get this over with,” Aria snapped, watching as the opening tutorial screen began playing, depicting a crudely-drawn animated character explaining how everything worked. Aria, eager to put the boy in his place, swallowed her pride and listened carefully.

“Boring! Boriiiiiing!” the boy whined. “Hurry up already!”

Aria grinned, leaning back comfortably as the instructions continued along with the boy’s apparent suffering from impatience that gave her a small dose of satisfaction until a new menu popped up showing various giant robots to choose from.

“I already got mine. Get yours and let’s go, come onnnnnn!” the boy pleaded.

Aria had to admit, the graphics were impressive as it all looked so real. Selecting a purple robot that appeared to have fishlike features on it, the girl gave a nod of approval and hit start on her screen.

Two panels on the sides of the cockpit closed around her, encasing her inside and two more screens that showed her left and right sides came on. Immediately, she felt the cockpit shake, as though she were going up an elevator. Lights passed her on the screen as if she were indeed moving upward with sea life surrounding her as though said elevator were underwater. Seconds later the rumbling stopped and on the screens she suddenly found herself in what appeared to be a vast city.

“Pretty cool, huh?” the boy’s voice suddenly asked over an intercom in the cockpit.

“Great, I gotta listen to your voice the whole time, after all,” Aria muttered with an eyeroll.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and another giant robot landed before her in a burst of fire, this one resembling a demonic suit of battle armor with horns and ridged shoulders.

“Picked the Neptune Unit, huh? Suits me fine, I got the Mars Unit to scorch your butt with!” the boy’s voice declared proudly as the other robot struck a dramatic pose that Aria figured was supposed to be intimidating but instead came off as ridiculous.

“Gloat now, you little brat, but—” Before Aria could finish the boy’s robot socked hers in the face, causing Aria’s cockpit to shake violently as she felt herself tumbling across the ground and crushing a portion of the urban battlefield. “You little punk!” she shouted furiously, turning the levers of her machine to stand back up and aim the robot’s left hand at the other robot. Pulling a trigger on the lever, Aria smirked as the hand shifted into some kind of gun and began firing at the boy’s robot.

“Ha! Newbie!” the boy laughed as his robot leaped into the air and drew out a pair of swords, dropping towards Aria quickly. Pulling both levers down and then up, Aria managed to get her own robot to jump out of the way and barely avoid the attack. Immediately, the other robot began swinging the blades wildly, slashing into Aria’s robot’s left arm and setting off an alarm on her left screen panel alerting her of damage.

“Shut up, dumb alarm!” Aria protested. “Ugh! There’s gotta be something I can do…” she grumbled to herself frantically as she looked at her screen menus for options. Her eyes widened as she noticed a tab that read Deploy Trident and immediately pressed it. Her robot jerked slightly as though something popped off the back of it and looked up, noticing a trident spinning in the air and caught it with her robot’s right hand, narrowly parrying another attack from the boy’s robot.

“Who’s laughing now, kid?” Aria taunted, swinging the trident and knocking the other robot off its feet with a powerful slam and grinning as she heard the boy whining out angrily from her cockpit intercom.

“I haven’t even started! Take this!” the boy shouted, his robot dropping its swords and aiming both hands at her. Before Aria even knew what was going on, twin jets of flame blasted from the other robot and engulfed hers.

“Crap!” Aria shouted, the alarms going off and warning of overheating or possible explosion as the other robot’s fiery assault continued. She thought for a moment she could just sing over the intercom and make him lose, but decided against it. Adagio would never let her hear the end of it if she learned Aria had to rely on her song to win against an over-privileged fourteen-year-old.

Jumping out of the way, Aria moved her robot as fast as it would allow to avoid getting incinerated again. Thankfully the arms stopped, but now the boy’s robot began to give chase, firing blasts of flame at random as he attempted to hit her while she weaved around and occasionally on top of buildings when she could, trying to keep a distance between them.

“Stop running away and fight!” the boy’s voice demanded. Aria kept moving, trying to come up with a plan. Noticing a set of buildings that she figured could function as stairs, she activated the thrusters of her robot to enhance her jumps and began using them like stepping stones, getting higher and higher until she was out of range.

“Come on, don’t you want to get me?” she purred, making her robot pose mockingly as she stood atop a high building.

“Just you wait!” her opponent replied, and the red robot flew towards the buildings and prepared to ascend them. Grinning that he’d taken the bait, Aria reactivated her robot’s thrusters again and leapt off the skyscraper, trident aiming downward as she let out a gleeful cry and landed atop the boy’s robot, impaling it through the face with her trident.

“Brings me back to the old days,” she mused to herself with a smirk.

"GAAAAAAAME OVER!" a voice announced as the screens shut off and the doors on the sides of the booth slid open.

“MOMMMMM!” the boy wailed as he ran out of the room and disappeared into a hallway in the back. Smiling in satisfaction, Aria got up out of her cockpit and headed back into the main area of the arcade.

“All things considered, I guess it could have been worse,” Aria said to herself, looking back at the room she’d just been in. Digging into her pocket and taking her wallet out, Aria noticed it was empty and promptly let out a furious growl.

“Hey, Miss?” a voice asked behind her. Turning Aria found herself face-to-face with a gray-skinned young man with some kind of pixilated creature printed on his black t-shirt. “Hey, I’m the manager here, I just—”

Aria groaned. “If you’re butthurt about me kicking your baby brother’s butt, I really don’t care!” she snapped.

“No, no, nothing like that!” the young man replied. “Just, thanks for playing with him. He can be a real handful sometimes. Probably mad he lost, mom’s gonna have to find a way to make him stay quiet longer.”

“Your point being?” Aria asked impatiently.

“Right, look, here’s four bucks, use it on any game you want,” he said with a smile, handing Aria four dollars worth in quarters.

“Thanks, I think I will,” Aria said, looking over at Karaoke Hero as a dark smile formed on her face.

Thick, green smoke trailed from the arcade as Aria strode out, humming to herself as it slithered up her body and into her glowing red necklace, making her feel completely refreshed and rid of all the tension and annoyance she’d been feeling earlier.

“Adagio’s got no idea what she missed out on,” she mused. The sounds of the customers’ petty competition going into all-out tournament wars bellowing behind her, Aria took a sip of the big gulp freezie that she’d serenaded the kid’s brother into letting her have for free with a sense of satisfaction and victory and headed back home.

Author's Note

At long last, I worried I wouldn't get this out before the weekend was over but here it is, the new chapter! Stay tuned for Sonata's adventure next time! :twilightsmile:

Have Or Have Not

“Why does anyone need a horse costume for that?” Sonata Dusk wondered as she walked away from Barnyard Bad Girls, an establishment of sorts that she had misread the name of as where she meant to go. Needless to say, five minutes inside and a cross manager that questioned her age quickly corrected this mistake and now she was once again on her way to the general store Adagio had ordered her to go to for a grocery run. Reaching into her purse, Sonata noticed the list was missing.

“Oh no! Where’s that list?” Sonata asked herself nervously. “’Dagi’s gonna be so mad at me!” She fumbled around a bit more with the contents of her purse, but still no success. When she reached into her skirt pockets, however, she immediately found the paper she was looking for.

“Found it! …And Aria actually thinks I’m stupid!” Sonata declared proudly, pausing when she noticed the stares she was getting. “…And know what? She’s wrong!” she concluded with a satisfied nod as she cheerfully walked through the doors as they slid open, grabbing up a cart along the way to accommodate the rather lengthy list.

“Alright, first thing on the list…” Sonata held up the long slip of paper and looked it over. “Hm, blueberry poptarts for Aria...” Sonata shook her head. Aria went through those so fast it was no wonder she was complaining about breakfast, not that Sonata minded, being a far less picky eater then her. Still, she knew it’d just make Aria mad if she returned without them, so she moved her cart along the aisles till she found someone that worked in the store.

“Excuse me?” Sonata asked using her most cheerful and bubbly tone she could manage. “You know where I can find blueberry poptarts?” The boy who didn’t seem too thrilled with his job casually pointed at the aisle they were standing in without a word. “Thanks so much!” Sonata said with a smile, humming to herself as she walked along the aisle, unaware that her notes seemed to be making the employee suddenly start walking towards the manager’s office with a sullen look on his face.

As soon as she spotted the family-sized pack of blueberry poptarts, Sonata let out a small cheer and tossed the box over her shoulder, letting it land in the cart basket as she took out the grocery list again. “Okay, poptarts… check!” she said proudly, and then thought to herself for a moment. “Hm, better get two boxes so Aria will have to apologize to me for thinking I couldn’t do this!”

Grinning from her brilliant idea, Sonata took a second box and dropped it into the basket as well and looked over the list once more. “What’s next… shampoo? I guess ‘Dagi does use a lot,” Sonata mused, looking up at the signs to find her way to the right aisle this time.

“Phew…” The list half done, Sonata regarded the ever-growing mountain of things her mission had required of her. She grimaced as the next item seemed to be on the opposite end of the store if she remembered correctly, wondering for an instant if the last seven things meant anything, Adagio had intentionally given her a list that would keep sending her from one end of this place to the other over and over again.

“Nahhh, she wouldn’t do that!” Sonata concluded. She never really bothered to remember where anything was on their past visits since Adagio usually just led her around and she’d just space out thinking of neat videos she saw on the internet that day, like that one music video with the three young girls…

“Funniest thing I’ve ever seen!” Sonata mused with a smile, remembering the comment she posted on it.

Realizing she was starting to feel chilly as she’d stopped in the middle of the frozen foods aisle, Sonata made a mental note not to space out so much in the future. She was about to continue onward to the next thing on the list when an employee caught her attention.

“Excuse me, miss?” an older woman asked. “Would you be interested in trying free samples of the latest product we got in?”

The idea of free food was more then enough to get the siren’s attention and draw her over to the vendor in an instant, a big smile on her face. “Free? Cool! What’re we having, today?” she asked excitedly, forgetting about her cart and what she was supposed to be doing.

“Well, we’ve just received a new shipment of the Taco Tuesday restaurant’s taco and enchilada wraps for our frozen foods, so we’re giving out samples to customers today!” the vendor explained. “So, want to try any in particular?”

“I’ll try ‘em all!” Sonata said eagerly. She’d never had tacos before, but now seemed as good a time as any to experience them. The employee complied and handed the girl several samples on toothpicks. Sonata slid the first steaming piece into her mouth and flinched immediately from the heat, followed by the spicy kick.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! They’re still a bit hot, and that is the spiciest one. Would you like some milk to wash it down?” the vendor asked.

Sonata immediately shook her head. “That…” she said, swallowing. “That was… sooooooo good!” she beamed, immediately trying the others and being equally pleased by the wonderful meal choice that had somehow eluded her all this time. She knew she was going to need to catch up in a big way, now!

“Those were the greatest things I’ve ever tasted! I’ll get three of each!” she said excitedly. After being handed three boxes of each kind, Sonata turned to her cart and dropped them in, only to notice something missing.

“Whaaaa?” she looked at her arms to see if she’d taken her purse, but it was evident she did not. Looking around she noticed someone rushing off to the front of the store and scowled.

“Oh, no you don’t!” The girl sprinted towards the teen as fast as she could, leaving her cart behind and chasing them outside where she found that the one she had been chasing had three others waiting for him outside, their apparent leader was a girl with a brown bomber jacket and spikey white and purple hair sticking out of her open helmet that obscured most of her face. All of them seemed to have motorcycles, each with their front painted like a bird’s face that just made Sonata cock her head in curiosity.

“Uh, excuse me… your friend there took my purse, can I have it back?” Sonata asked, putting on her best smile. The leader just laughed.

“Get lost, dweeb. It’s ours now!” the leader snapped.

“Aw, come on! I asked nicely!” Sonata protested, beginning to sway back and forth and hum a few notes.

“…What’re you doing?” the gang leader asked, her bike’s motor drowning Sonata’s humming out.

“Darn, this usually works!” Sonata said indignantly. “Can you, maybe, turn off your bike?” she asked.

“Forget it. We’re outta here!” the gang leader replied, snatching the purse from her friend and revving up her bike, immediately bolting from the parking lot. Her friends followed suit, mounting their own motorcycles and turning them on.

“Hey!” Sonata snapped, rushing over and punching the one who had first taken her purse in the jaw, knocking him from his bike and to the ground before he could get his helmet on. The two remaining looked at one-another, then at Sonata before immediately speeding off, leaving their friend behind.

Gritting her teeth, Sonata grabbed the fallen gang member’s helmet and put it on, mounting the now free motorcycle and revving it up. “Oh, it is so on!” she shouted, sliding down the visor and speeding off after them, the remaining biker trying in vain to catch up on foot and quickly falling behind.

“That prissy little princess can ride a hog?! No freakin’ way!” the gang leader cried out in astonishment when she checked her mirror and saw Sonata catching up on the freeway. True, she could just toss her the purse to get rid of her, but she was too cool to concede defeat to some ditzy little teeny-bopper dweeb like her.

“GIVE ME BACK MY PURSE!” Sonata screamed as loudly as she could, unaware that her newly-acquired helmet and motorcycle drowned her out completely and the thief continued to speed through lights and made quick turns as she grew more desperate to lose her. Her own frustration increasing, Sonata sped up to go as fast as she could. As she followed her up an interstate, Sonata noticed the gang leader’s friends began to fall back, and soon they were on either side of her. Shrugging, Sonata gave them a wave. The two bikers regarded her a moment, before one took out a chain and swung it at her. Sonata’s eyes widened behind her helmet as she saw the young man lash the chain in her direction, causing her to briefly loosen her grip on her motorcycle and making it fall back a bit. The chain missed her narrowly and quickly tangling itself into the other biker’s front wheel, prompting him to wipe out and tumble uncontrollably across the pavement immediately after.

Sonata sped up again, determined to catch up with them as they got off the interstate and back into the main roads once more. The biker that was still next to her swung his fist, trying to knock her off her bike but Sonata swerved out of the way, avoiding it. As she attempted to turn and avoid going off the road, the siren bumped into the other biker, accidentally tapping the side of his wheel and causing him to spin out as well and went soaring into a grassy ditch on the side of the road.

“Too bad, so sad!” Sonata called out joyfully to the wrecked biker with a small giggle as she once more returned her attention on the leader.

“You are not getting away from me!” she declared, speeding up to get up close again. The gang leader turned for a moment, astonished when she realized they were the only two left and immediately swerved towards her, trying to knock her over like Sonata had done to the other biker.

“Off the road, dweeb!” the gang leader snapped.

“I can’t hear you!” Sonata protested with a confused gesture as she kept on riding, certain the gang leader had said something but the noise of the bikes’ motors had muted it.

The gang leader grumbled and tried to ram her again, but the girl somehow managed to dodge her once more. Seeing an opportunity, Sonata reached over for her purse on the gang leader’s arm and pulled on it.

“Quit it! You’re gonna make us crash!” the gang leader cried out, trying to pull away but the other girl’s grip was firm.

“LET. GO!” Sonata screamed out with a fierce tug. “I want my purse back!”

The gang leader struggled some more as they came into the urban streets and sighed as she realized she’d have to slow down or risk an accident. Finding a spot to stop, she slowed her bike down and Sonata did the same.

“What’s a stupid purse matter to you?!” the gang leader snapped.

“What’s it matter to you?” Sonata protested.

“How about that what I feel like taking, I get. No one gets back what I take, least of all a little teeny-bopper dweeb like you!” the gang leader said angrily.

“But you didn’t take it, that other guy did,” Sonata pointed out.

The gang leader facepalmed. “Ugh, would you SHUT UP?! You’re seriously getting on my nerves!” she shouted indignantly. “Would you just forget this and scram?”

“Not till I get my purse and money back!” Sonata said, folding her arms and giving the best defiant glare she could provide, though to the gang leader it just looked like she was pouting like an angry child.

“Okay, fine. If you can take it from me, that is!” the gang leader said, holding it out of reach and sneering at the girl.

She never saw the four-hundred-pound Siberian tiger coming as it suddenly leapt out of the alley with a mighty roar and tackled her to the ground.

Sonata stared agape as the tiger held the gang leader down and proceeded to paw the angry girl’s helmet off and lick her all over the face. “Wow! So that’s where he’s been all this time!” she said with a laugh, having remembered the zoo breakout that may have been a little her fault.

“Get this walking rug off me!” the gang leader screamed out furiously as she struggled to ward off the huge cat’s unwanted affection. Grinning, Sonata seized the opportunity to reclaim her purse while the biker struggled and flailed about helplessly under the massive beast’s weight.

“I’ll take this!” she said with a smile, slinging it back over her shoulders and going back to her procured motorcycle. “Thanks!” she added with a small wave as she began to start the bike up again.

“Mister Striperton!” a soft but firm voice called out as a pink-haired girl in green rushed over. “I know you just wanted to explore the city, but it’s time for you to go back home, okay? I know your keepers are probably very worried about you,” she said, petting the tiger who playfully licked her hand then nuzzled her in return.

“I’ll second that notion,” the biker leader grumbled as she tried in vain to get free.

Sonata decided to speak up. “That’ll teach you to steal my purse, lady!” she snapped in as patronizing a way as she could at the biker before looking at the other girl. “Um, you know where Barnyard Bargains is? I gotta get back to my grocery run!”

“Oh, of course!” the soft-spoken girl said. “Just go back that way, turn left, first right, and you’re there.”

“Okay, thanks so much!” Sonata said with a grin, giving the girl a hasty hug and hopping back on her newly-acquired motorcycle, quickly speeding off back to her intended destination.

“What do you mean, you restocked everything I got?!” Sonata protested indignantly at the manager.

“You ran off and just left it there, we weren’t going to just leave them there,” the manager replied.

“But someone stole my purse and I had to catch them!” Sonata replied.

“Well, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about it, now. You’ll just need to try and remember what you got and pay for it, then.”

“Do you have my list?” Sonata asked. “I’ll never remember what the girls wanted if I don’t have it!”

“Sorry, but we don’t. It probably got thrown away when the baggers returned the cart to the front,” the manager said.

Sonata’s shoulders slumped and she looked down at the floor in dismay. There had to be something she could do! If she could just…

Her eyes widened with excitement as a new idea came to mind.

“’Dagi’s gonna be soooo proud!” Sonata said with a smirk as she parked her new motorcycle by the garage of their place and unloaded the bags from the pouches. The one who had taken her purse had been happy to let her have it as an apology for the trouble he caused once she sang to him about it, and she was now thankfully loaded on enough groceries that she was certain would make the others happy for at least a week.

“Sonata?! Did you just… come in on a motorcycle?” Aria asked as she emerged and stood at the door.

“Yeah, why?” Sonata asked, cocking her head curiously.

“You haven’t ridden one in ages! How the heck does that end up being something that sticks in your tiny brain?” the other siren asked.

Sonata thought to herself for a moment. “I dunno. It was fun, though!” she said cheerfully. “And guess what? I got plenty of food and I know you and ‘Dagi when she gets back are gonna be so happy!”

“...This I have to hear about…”

Author's Note

Ooooh yeah! Managed to get a new chapter out before the week was over!

Next up, the concluding chapter :twilightsmile: