Spring. The season for the world to begin a new. The time where animals start to wake, for the birds to return, and the flowers to bloom. The time of year for winter's cold exterior to be removed for the warmth that is just underneath to show its face...and that fact isn't just going for its scenery...
The Suns beam of light shined down in its glory upon Canterlot high, as midday was in its full swing. Canterlot high school wasn't like many other high schools, per say, as lately a lot of odd events had taken place there. One example included one of its students, named sunset shimmer, being deliberately turned into a demonic being, and hypnotized almost all the students in order to take over a land she called Equestria. That, however, was long past and been fixed...only to be replaced by the appearance of the group known as the dazzlings, a group of sirens feeding off the hate of the high school students to gain power over the realm. Once again, that was taken care of and evidence of such thing was removed and no longer any danger. However, as many could point out such differences between both events, there is one fact that split them apart in an absolute: while sunset shimmer already had a reputation as a bully before her defeat, the dazzlings were purely new, as such, had an easier time to establish themselves than what Sunset had to deal with. That didn't mean that they were very happy about it, though...and that's not the only thing...
It was lunchtime now, and the students were all in the cafeteria enjoying the time of freedom until class would begin again. There were many different kids in there, various looks and colors for each kid to distinguish one from another as they are their lunch, or talked with one another over subjects varying to each person there. It was Taco Tuesday for Canterlot high, various students enjoying their delicious tacos. One student especially was enjoying hers. A girl of cyan blue skin, and a gothic punk look on her cloths. Her hair was in a LONG ponytail, striped with dark and sky blue. Her sleepless shirt was a velvet pink, and her skirt a lighter pink. Her shoes reach pass her calves, similar matching colors to the rest of her outfit. Her eyes, a deep velvet like her clothing, gleaned at the taste of her taco. The mix of meat, vegetable, and cheese give it such a great taste between that crunchy exterior. Her name was Sonata Dusk. A smile went up on her face as she finished up her taco, licking her lips away of the crumbs on her cheeks.
"Delicious! Don't you guys think -" she then remembered that she was alone this time, two seats next to her deprived of the others. Her other sirens, going by the names of Adagio and Aria, aren't with her this time. Although they spent a lot of time together, recent events had...made her reconsider their so-called "friendship", to say the least of her dilemma. Sonata sighed, her right elbow on the table and hand supporting her head up as she slumped. Her left index finger tapped the table in boredom, it was lonely when sitting with no one to talk to. There were plenty of kids, sure, but none of them were really interested in talking to her due to that scheme she helped pull. The normally bubbly Sonata felt alone, yet she'd delt with rougher situations before...until she did she them, that is.
Raising her eyes for a bit, she noticed her other sirens not too far away, getting the best of some other students. The leader was Adagio, skin a yellow color and hair puffed out in Orange. Like Sonata, Adagio had a gothic punk look in her outfit, but slight differences in colors (purple instead of hot pink), and appearance (Adagio had on purple punk gloves, and light violet leggings, wore shorts instead of a skirt, etc.) her partner, Aira was purple in skin coloration, purple and green in her hair, and her outfit kinda mixed Adagio with Sonata's outfit. She too had ponytails, but she had 2 instead of just one like Sonata. It didn't take very long before aria saw Sonata alone. A glare came from Aria's purple eyes before she turned away, a *Humph* being heard. Sonata, annoyed, stuck her tongue out at her like a young child, but Aria took no mind, and Adagio didn't even notice, chatting to the other kids instead of giving Sonata any mind. As for mentioned, their so-called "friendship" was under question. Sonata laid the side of her temple on the table, hearing the other kids chat away until something else caught her attention.
Just behind her, a crash was heard rather close to her, a yelp, a thud, and the sound of a tray hitting the floor. Sonata turned around to see what happened, and her answer came around in the form of the act of a bully prank. The victim: a girl, about the same age as Sonata. Her blond hair was now a bit of a mess, her meal fallen on her head. Her clothes were pretty basic in school attire; green skirt with a white rim, her shirt blue with a yellow tie to match her hair. Her eyes kinda walled out, her left eye looking up to her food while the right one looking ahead. Sonata knew the girl, being called Derpy Hooves. Looked away from the fallen fool, as she saw a snickering bully, her leg out for the trip. Her hair was pure white, short and scruffy, tips purple. Her hoodie was long sleeved and brown in color, her pants basic blue jeans. She had purple eye liner, letting her yellow eyes shine as she looked down at Derpy with a rugged grin. That girl was named Gilda, taking the role of bully after Sunset Shimmer.
"Better watch your step, wall-eyes," She mocked, as other students started to laugh at her. Sonata too started to chuckle at the girls clumsiness. Yeah, she wasn't fond of this world she ended up stuck in, much like the other sirens, but, the world still had it's good sides to it time and time again. One was tacos, the other being it's clumsy oath. Derpy got up, looking around at the other students laughing at her. All she really did was turn and run out, hurt from the little slip. Sonata was a bit confused, she thought it was funny like everyone else, but was it that bad? It's just a little prank. However, Sonata simply shrugged it off, it's not her problem after all, right?
~~
Soon after lunch had passed, the kids began going about in the halls again, like they always do between classes. Among other things, Sonata was still by herself, not even bothering with the other sirens. She walked through the hallway to her locker, seeing other kids talking to each other. Yeah, sure, people chit-chat about different things, it's natural, but to Sonata, it felt oddly like an invitation. Usually, she would talk to Adagio and Aria, but they weren't around, so, she was on her own from here. Eventually she did find her locker among the many bodies of teenagers in the halls. She didn't mind so many in one place, is just that before (with her jewel anyway), she would fallow through pretty much ruling the school alongside Adagio and Aria. But now, they're simply annoying to listen to when they did argue, since she can't get any stronger from such things, what's the point anymore? Those issues were the least of her problems...as the dreaded locker com stared her in the face. Due to her...IQ, she always had trouble with these things (and spending most of her life in the land of magical ponies didn't help much either). Her index finger and thumb gripped the com and she tried spinning it to the number...and again...and again...
"Dumb locker, open!" Sonata demanded, trying to force it open this time. Since the lock wasn't cracked, it was obvious what the result was. Se would normally call upon Aria to help her out with this, but, that option wasn't available. She yanked on the locker again, and again, and again, but it wont budge. A groan escaped her mouth, as her head slammed in the locker door in annoyance. How the heck do you open these things? Sonata had trouble figuring that out, most of the time was either dumb luck, or just had someone else do it for her. She simply felt annoyed with the thing, not knowing how to work it out.
Down the hall, Derpy hooves began heading to her locker as well. after that "incident" in the cafeteria, she already finished getting the ingredients out of her hair and clothes, and now was trying her best not to do yet another slip as she walked along past the other kids. Most of them paid her no mind, though she knew some of them were either talking behind her back, or simply snickering at her odd stare. She wasn't having a good day, and unfortunately, that a regular for her. At least 9 times out ta 10, she would often make a fool out ta herself, and ending up laughed at by her peers. She tries to look on the bright side of things, but as time went by, that was becoming harder and harder to do...and Gilda bullying her wasn't helping at all. Since she and Gilda met, Gilda always found some way to embarrass her, showing who was above who each time. She wished that she could try to stop her from doing so...but that's a wish she knew she couldn't reach... As she was heading to her locker, she saw Sonata over at her locker, obviously having some trouble getting it open. Although she just made a fool of herself - again -, she walked over anyway.
"Excuse me?" Derpy asked. Sonata didn't notice her at first, trying again to just pull it open, only ending in yet more failure. Catching her breath, she turned to the wall-eyed girl next to her. Seeing her eyes up close did made her feel a bit...odd. But, that was the least of her problems, she had a locker to open!
"What is it?" She asked, some time after catching her breath.
"Um. Do you need any help there?"
Sonata took a minute to think it over. This was Derpy Hooves she was talking to; the same girl whom was lucky to go through one day with at least one slip up. How could she help get her locker open? However, a glance at the clock (which read 11:58), made her a bit desperate by then, so...
"You can try," Sonata decided, moving out of the way so Derpy can get through. Derpy looked at the locker com for a sec before turning to Sonata.
"What's your combination?" Derpy asked. Sonata actually shrugged. Yeah, she forgot, but then again, she hardly opened it herself voluntarily anyway, so she felt there was no reason to remember. Besides, the clock was threatening to tick onto 12:00, and the two became the last kids in the halls. Sonata REALLY was risking it just doing this to begin with. Derpy noticed the time too, and was also a bit worried. Sonata didn't had time to wait.
"You know, forget it, ihavetogo!" Sonata said quickly, before running off to class, leaving the grey blonde behind her. It didn't matter anymore, forgetting a book is nothing compared to being late for this class, no doubt in her mind! Lucky, no kids were in the way, so a clear path was laid out for her as she soon saw the classroom door...But it closed just as she got to it, slamming right in it at the last second. The hit was rather hard, and the bell just rang. She was late. and she was SO close too. She stuck to the door for a few seconds before falling backwards onto the floor, and only then did the door open up. Oh great.
As the blue girl walked in the classroom, she was confronted by her history teacher almost immediately. Not a thing a kid would want from this teacher. He had a dark aura around I'm, black hair combed back, his red eyes looking down at Sonata in pure intimidation that can't be competed by anyone in the school. his school attire matched more of formal wear, black tux and all. He wore a red tie, reaching down to his stomach, giving him the look more belonging to a mob boss than a teacher. But however, he WAS her history teacher, and she wasn't gonna be shown any mercy for being late. This teacher was named Sombra, and he looked down at her, arms crossed and eyes glaring.
"Your late, ms. Dusk," Sombra said, his voice low and close to a growl. Another fact: he doesn't call any student by their first name, trying to remain formal to whoever enters his classroom.
"I'm sorry, a bit of locker trouble. hehe," Her nervous laugh and worried grin didn't help her at all, as Sombra kept his glare. Sonata's smile disappeared just after a few seconds, as Sombra ushered her to her seat.
"We'll discuss this after class," Sombra instructed. Sonata wasn't gonna enjoy that, no one did. Sombra was the kind of teacher whom NO ONE wanted to get mad, or even annoyed, because he showed no mercy with a bad student, or any student for that matter. Sonata, head hanging in glum, sat down in her seat as Sombra began his discussion on today's assignment, which Sonata hardly paid attention to, thinking more on what she's gonna do after school rather than the assignment...which got her in more of a jam when Sombra noticed her daydreaming. All Sombra had to do was slam a ruler in front of her desk, and Sonata was all ears again.
"Pay attention, Ms. Dusk," Sombra ordered, as Sonata nodded quickly and focused up on the work...boy did she hate history.
~~
The history hour came and went, the teacher keeping Sonata behind for an extra couple of minutes as he kept on beating her down with his words. Many kids would feel sorry for any kid who had to deal with it, and Sonata had to go through it more than she'd like to. However, lucky for her. the next class was a bit more calming to her. As 4th hour had Sombra, 5th hour had Cheerilee. Cheerilee is a much more kind-hearted than Sombra, and more understandable. Sonata wished she had her for some 2-hour block or something, so she would have to go to Sombra's class, but, cheerilee had a nice demeanour that helped her out any way. She had a much easier time getting to her class (and this time, got her locker open somehow, so she had her stuff) Soon as she entered the class, the smile on Cheerilee's face lifted her spirits as soon as she saw her. Her attire was less formal, but not enough to call it everyday clothes. Her shirt had 3 flowers on it with pink petals, and smiley faces, as her pants matched her flower colours of yellow. Sonata really enjoyed cheerilee's class, gives her time to relax from the torture that was Sombra's classroom. Sonata walked over to her desk, placed at the 2nd row, 3rd desk to the right, and sat down. Some of the other students were already there, yet none of them really spoke to her. It took a minute, but the wall-eyed girl, Derpy hooves, had arrived to the same class. The two shared a number of classes together, Cheerilee's being one of them, but Sonata seldom spoke to her unless for simple things, like asking for a pencil, or asking for answers and such. Though overall, she didn't bother too much with her. Derpy Hooves kinda felt the same way, since she was apart of the Dazzlings that made everyone fight to gain power and all that (similar reasons as to why the others don't bother with the 3), yet Derpy felt a bit questionable with Sonata. Mostly because she didn't act mean, or manipulative like Adagio or Aria did. Though not very bright, she was much nicer compared to the other sirens, but still, Derpy wasn't all that sure. Besides, looks can be deceiving in the case of the Dazzlings. Derpy nodded to the teacher, and sat down in her dest, whom was just to the left of Sonata, whom paid her no mind a the bell rang, and class began.
"Good afternoon, kids. Great to see all of you here today! Today we're going to work on our equations," Cheerilee instructed. Yes, she's a math teacher. Sonata Dusk began to daydream again about what her plans were, while Derpy Hooves was playing around with her pencil, balancing it on end by her index finger on the eraser, and the lead on the table. Their lack of attention caught the attention of Cheerilee eventually after she was done explaining the problem on the chalkboard. written out.
"Girls?" Cheerilee asked. the voice got them back to their senses simultaneously, looking right at Cheerilee as if they were paying attention the whole time.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you, i didn't daydream!" Sonata insisted...although Cheerilee didn't say squat about that. Derpy just remained quiet, though blushing up. Cheerilee wasn't as rough about that, but, she had more constructive ways to be sure. her piece of chalk was placed in front of Sonata, with a warm smile on her face.
"Then, perhaps you wouldn't mind demonstrating for us?" Cheerilee asked, bringing their attention towards the board, where the equation was drawn out. The problem was as follows:
3x-2(x+3) = 4x-7
Oh goodie. Reluctantly, Sonata got up from her seat, and walked to the front of the classroom, all eyes on her, waiting for for to solve the equation shown. She wasn't ready, not even close. Sonata glanced at cheerilee, before she began.
"Uh, well you...bring this number, here."
She brought the 3 over to the 3x
"um...then you do...this."
she replaced that x with the 3
"um then uh...you...bring that over."
she drew a 9 in replace of 3x, and brought it over to 4x - 7, replacing that x with 9
"And all you have to do is...put them together."
she got 27...
"That's incorrect, Sonata." The blue girl sighed in defeat, as she went back to her seat, feeling completely stupid. So much for luck on Sonata's part. Cheerilee rewrote the problem on the board, and looked around and called on another student this time...and he got 1/3, which was the correct answer. Sonata, laid her head in her arms and groaned, now feeling more stupid. Derpy hooves watched the whole thing, slightly feeling sorry for her...
~~
The school day had come to a close, as the various students began heading off back home. The sun was still shining down bright, though clouds did start to present themselves, casting their shadows down onto Canterlot high a number of times throughout the minutes that ticked by. Among the group, Derpy Hooves walked out last, kinda worried when looking around the place. That was because of the fact that Gilda could be around, and the act from lunchtime wasn't the last thing Gilda would be able to do to her. Derpy began to walk along the outside, alone with her book in hand for the homework she had to do for that afternoon. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be her day, as a familiar figure walked up behind her, spinning her around. Gilda's got her target again.
"Hey there, Wall-eyes. Where is it?" Gilda asked in her usual, intimidating tone. she showed Derpy her hand, her thumb rubbing against her index and middle finger to emphasize her point. Derpy hated doing this, but, when it came to Gilda it didn't really matter how much someone didn't want to. Gilda would find her ways to make others do what she wanted. Sighing in defeat, she took out some money, about $1.50, and gave it to Gilda. The bully happily took her cash, a smartalic grin on her face, before walking away, not before shoving Derpy aside. Derpy REALLY wanted to say something, but couldn't bring herself to say much. All that muttered out of her mouth was "Jerk..." Of course, Gilda couldn't hear her, cuz if she did, she would've punched her seconds after her insult came out. Half of her felt lucky, but half of her felt defeated. All she could do was simply walk off towards home, away from school.
The streets of her hometown were still quite busy being the afternoon, various people walked along the sidewalk towards their own destinations, while a few cars drove by on the street next to her. Derpy didn't get as much insults out here as she did back at Canterlot High, but still felt like people were staring at her stare, which made her feel a bit uneasy. Most of the time, the people walked by her, talking to others aside from her. At least the day was rather nice, it could be raining which would made things even worse for her, but the day was still sunny, clouds going on by and all that, so there's one thing good. Derpy continued on her way down the sidewalk, passing by various stores on the block, until she saw a familiar face in front of her, sitting on a bench by the curve: Sonata Dusk.
Sonata had already went on ahead of Derpy, so getting a good head start, but due to the fact her fellow sirens aren't with her, it kinda distracted her as she sat there, head looking to the ground. Derpy walked over to the bummed out Sonata, and sat down on the same bench seat, her book laid out on her lap.
"Are you okay?" Derpy asked. Sonata looked up to see her, unsure of what to really say. Her hands laid out on her lap, as she straightened her back.
"Me? I'm hunky-dory!" Sonata said, a "smile" on her face. Though it looked convincing, Derpy knew that her happiness wasn't really the case. Just seeing her in a slump already proved that at the start. Sonata stayed smiling, but eventually found out she already figured her out. Sonata Dusk simply sighed.
"Oh okay, maybe not so hunky-dory," Sonata confessed, back in her slump again.
"What's the matter? You seem a bit down on something," Derpy said, though the fact was already thrown out there from Sonata's reply. Sonata sighed, a hand on her cheek and elbow on her lap to balance her head on it, as she looked back to Derpy.
"I dunno, i just a bit...what's the word...Bored? Tired? No, lonely, yeah that's it."
"What about your friends? You seemed to like hanging out with them, right?" Derpy asked. Since they arrived to Canterlot High, she had occasionally seen her, each with with Adagio and Aria, her fellow sirens. However, the mention of her previous "friends" made Sonata pout, arms crossed as a *humph* was heard from her mouth.
"Those two I can go without! they never take me seriously, and always argue with me, and for no reason! Can't you believe that?" Sonata snapped, angry at the other sirens still. Though, over half of the time the arguments started up because Sonata goofed up, she never really realized it herself as of yet, probably because of the same ignorance. her eyes gave an annoyed look, as her head rested in both hands in a pout. Derpy took a second to take it in.
"I guess. Sounds like they aren't so good of friends..."
"You think?" Sonata spat out, "Always calling me the worst, and messing around with me. Sometime I wonder why I even bothered with those two!"
Derpy turned away from her for a minute, the scenario sounded WAY too familiar to her, being something she had to deal with almost on a daily basis. Her appearance and slight lack of brains made her an easy target for many bullies in the past, never mind Gilda... She looked down at her book, a frown on her face, her eyes closed.
"I know how you feel. I had to deal with that everyday."
Sonata looked towards Derpy, that fact she kinda already knew from the encounter at lunch, but, she never took in account on how often she had to deal with such things. Perhaps it was because of her hanging with the sirens, or just zoning out occasionally. Sonata straightened up again, listening to Derpy and what she had to say.
"I keep being messed around with by so many people here. Always being called names. Wall-eyes...clutz...stupid...retarded..." Derpy trailed off, remembering the many people calling her such names in the past, going through her mind. That was something she had to deal with for a LONG time, much longer than Sonata, to sum things up in basic terms. Derpy could feel her eyes shedding tears as she was explaining the names, knowing that they were telling her what they really thought of her...and it hurt her to even remember them... Her train of thought was cut, however, when Sonata spoke again.
"Like that girl in the cafeteria that tripped you?" Sonata asked, slightly ignorant of what she was asking. Derpy sighed sadly, looking back in Sonata's eyes with her signature wall-eyed stare. She could trail on about that, but she really didn't want to...but, that memory went through her head anyway, and all she could do was nod "yes" in reply. Sonata thought about it for a minute...she began to feel more and more sorry for Derpy Hooves, hearing what she had to go through...which mirrored her own, with Adagio and Aria...
"Um...can i ask you something?...did you think that accident was...funny?" Derpy asked. She wanted to know if her trip was funny towards Sonata, mainly because Sonata dealt with the same stuff in an overall sense, maybe she wouldn't think of her as a laughing stock...but however, Sonata got a smile on her face, and even a chuckle.
"You kidding? I'd thought it was pretty silly, the way your food fell on your head!" Sonata gave a chuckle again, remembering the event playing out...but she didn't exactly realize how wrong it was to say that, as Derpy turned away again, more tears down her face. How could Sonata say such a thing to her, even though she dealt with similar troubles? Sonata didn't notice her reaction til a few seconds later, her laugh left, but her smile stayed.
"What'd i say?" She asked as she shrugged, oblivious to Derpy's sorrow towards her answer.
"So you think I'm just a clumsy oath, too?" Derpy asked, a bit saddened. The question was more of an assumption, mostly due to the fact that the grey blonde had gone through such things before, and was mocked because of it, or thought of as clumsy. Sonata raised her eyebrow in confusion at the question given to her.
"Nah, it's just a prank, what's the harm?" Sonata asked, again slightly ignorant in what she was saying. Yes, it was a simple prank, but simple pranks done on particular people can have a much deeper impact, something Sonata wasn't aware of. Derpy wiped away some of her tears before looking at Sonata once more.
"The whole school laughed at me! I was covered in my food, and no one bothered to help! how's that no harm?! All I am is just some tool bullies use to get a good laugh!" Derpy didn't mean to snap off like that, but such a response like that to a common bully victim like her was all she could take. It was harm, and she knew it too.
"OOOOhhhh...oops, sorry," Sonata said, realizing what her words meant to Derpy, and seeing the scenario from her POV. She felt something odd in her soon after that...she felt...guilt. Why guilt? she didn't feel that way before with other people, but why was she feeling it here? Sonata shrugged it off though, and looked to Derpy hooves, whom tried to calm down from the crying she'd done. Derpy eventually just sighed and looked to Sonata.
"...It's okay..."
Then came, what they both thought, as the biggest moment ever. Sonata gripped Derpy by the shoulders so they are eye-to-eye. The grip didn't hurt, but was firm enough to get Derpy's attention, as Sonata spoke.
"It's not okay! You are a great girl, and even though so many others call you off, they just don't know the real you! You are a great girl, don't forget that, don't EVER forget that!"
...What was that? Sonata didn't even know what she was saying, yet she brought those words right out, from no where. Maybe it was because she didn't like to hear crying, maybe it was from her own experiences, heck it could be anything. But here she was, telling off some motivation to a kid she'd hardly known, let along spoke to face to face. They both were equally surprised by Sonata's own words going out there, as Sonata loosened her grip. Derpy herself took each word in with a surprised expression; from a girl who nearly took over the entire school with the sirens, this came right out of left field for her. They hardly spoke after lunch, she tried to help her out once, and here Sonata's telling her how great she was...It felt odd...yet felt good, hearing that from her. Sonata blinked, trying to work out what the heck just happened back there, as Derpy then smiled...
"...Thank you..."
Sonata took a minute before replying again, still having trouble believing that came out from her mouth. Even if it was off beat for her, it still felt like she left something out that she wanted to say for a long time...And she smiled back at her.
"You're welcome...Wait, I don't think i remember your name."
"Me? I'm Derpy Hooves," Derpy introduced, with a smile. Derpy felt a bit better from that little speech before.
"I'm Sonata Dusk," Sonata said back.
"I know. You're a bit more well known than me," Derpy said, calmer and happier in tone that time. Sonata rubbed the back of her head, knowing exactly what she was talking about, with the big "Battle of the Bands" they started up, that crazy performance right at the end, and all that jazz. After that, Derpy got up to her feet, book in hand, but this time with a better mood than before. Sonata too felt slightly better, actually having someone to talk too after such a gap of time. But before Derpy could leave, Sonata got up herself, standing next to her on the curve.
"Well, I need to get going," Sonata said after a bit.
"Okay. It's nice meeting you, Sonata," Derpy replied, as the two began walking their separate ways. Derpy felt very good, and still quite surprised as to that sudden outburst soon after she made her self-doubt clear. But regardless, she felt good all the same. As for Sonata, that chat with that grey blonde helped her out in social terms, but she felt something else too. Among many people, she didn't know Derpy had so much trouble matching her own, and seemed that she and her have a bit in common, at least in problems. She put her hand on her chin in thought, as she looked back to Derpy Hooves...Maybe there's more to her than she'd thought.
