A Tale of Two Dusks - New Beginnings

by keaton-furman-prower

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Romance, Equestria Girls, Shining Armor, Slice of Life, Sonata Dusk, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 10416

Dusk Shine helps Sonata Dusk rebuild her life. Is he up to the task?

Dusk Shine has never been particularly interested in making friends. Most of his time has been spent investigating the strange conspiracy theories surrounding Canterlot High, with occasional snark fights with his sister.

However, after meeting Sonata Dusk, he promised to help her out, and he plans to follow through with that promise. But between Dusk's inexperience with the whole "friendship" thing, the mysterious events that tend to occur around Canterlot High School, a pair of sirens who are still on the loose, Sunset's well-meaning but unhelpful friends, a mother who seems intent on welcoming a new member of the family, a bunch of students who are still not quite willing to forgive Sonata, and a girl who sees her as a threat for a very different reason, he feels as if he may have bitten off more than he can chew.

Hopefully he'll figure it out. And maybe even discover something greater than friendship.

Reading A Tale Of Two Dusks is not strictly necessary, but it will be helpful!

Also, a big thanks to Tennis Match Fan for the cover pic, as well as for proofreading!

Published 2015-01-13 01:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-12-16 00:33:50 UTC

Conspiracy Theories

Author's Note

Yes. Not content with a group, I made a sequel. For realzies.

Conspiracy Theories

Dusk Shine adjusted his glasses as he stared at the various news clippings, maps, and pictures pinned onto the wall and connected by red strings, trying to find the one piece of the puzzle he was missing.

“Everything that happened so far points to Canterlot High School as the center of the weirdness. First that demon girl a few months ago, and now that weird light show at the concert just a few days ago. You see what I mean, Spike?”

He turned his head back towards his dog, who merely barked in joy at hearing his name.

“No, I’m not crazy, Spike. I’ve been gathering all sorts of information, and it all says that this is all happening around this school!”

He turned back to his wall, scratching his chin as he looked over everything once more.

“And yet… there’s something I’m missing. Something small, easy to overlook. Or maybe the government is just that good at hiding things.”

“The government being good at anything? Yeah, you’re definitely crazy.”

Dusk turned around in surprise. Standing before him was a young woman with white skin and blue hair. She was wearing her blue police uniform and badge, and she was carrying a large bag with a Taco Spell logo on it.

“Hello, Gleam.”

“Seriously?” asked Gleaming Shield as she sat down at the nearby table. “I’m lucky enough to have enough off-duty time to have dinner with my favorite little brother, and he’s too busy with his wall of craziness to bother with me? I should have just gone with Bolero again.”

“Jeez, I’m sorry,” Dusk said as he sat down next to his sister. “But this is really big! I mean, Whatever’s happening at that school, it could very well change the world!”

“Magic monsters and weird lights?” Gleaming asked as she pulled out a couple of tacos from her bag. “Oh sure, and next you’re going to say that horses can predict the future with their tails.”

“This is serious!” Dusk said angrily. “Something big is going on, and I need to figure out what it is!”

“No, you know what’s serious?” asked Gleaming. “You, wasting all your time on those stupid conspiracies! You need to go out and make some friends.”

“I have frie-”

“And I don’t mean me, or Bolero," interrupted Gleaming as she took a bite out of her taco. “Or Spike.”

“I have other friends!”

Gleaming raised an eyebrow as she swallowed a mouthful of taco.

“Do they have names?”

“How about Sonata Dusk?”

Gleaming rolled her eyes.

“Seriously? I knew you’d be making up stuff, but using your own name for some fictional friend?”

“She’s not fictional!” Dusk yelled defensively. “I met her today at Sugarcube Cafe!”

“Really?” said Gleaming, her skepticism slowly giving way to curiosity. “And what exactly did you do when you met her?”

“Well, she was sitting by herself, and she looked depressed, so I went over to help her. She didn’t want to talk at first, but after a while I got her to tell me her name. After that, she began to tell me more about herself. Apparently, she used to be a bully, but then something went wrong, her friends turned against her, and she began to regret all the bad stuff she did. So then I did my best to cheer her up, and I also promised to help her redeem herself.”

Dusk smiled as he watched the bemusement on his sister’s face as he finished his story. he then grabbed a taco and began to eat.

“You are either the best liar in the world or telling the truth,” commented Gleaming.

“I hope you’ll eventually come to see that it’s the latter,” said Dusk.

Gleaming simply stared as Dusk continued to eat.

“So, this Sonata Dusk girl says she was a bully?”

“That was her story,” answered Dusk. “Well, at least, that was the abridged version of her story. She says it was really complicated, and that I would call her crazy if she told me.”

As he said this, Gleaming snorted in amusement. Dusk looked up in surprise, which quickly gave way to annoyance.

“What?”

“Oh, of course you’d think someone was crazy.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well,” said Gleaming, “With your crazy conspiracies and whatnot, you would probably add whatever she told you to your wall of craziness.”

As she spoke, the gears in Dusk’s head began to turn. Soon enough, they began to click into place, and he jumped for joy, tossing his taco into the air.

“Gleaming, you’re a genius!”

He then looked at his sister, only to notice that the taco had fallen on top of her head. She, in turn was glaring at him.

“Oh,” he said, blushing in embarrassment. “Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s all right,” said Gleaming, her face showing clear disagreement with the statement. “Now, what was it that you oh-so-cleverly have thought about now?”

“Well, I’ve been finding all these stories about these inexplicable events that have been happening around Canterlot High, and now I met this girl who has a story she claims is too weird for me to take seriously!”

“I can see where this is going,” said Gleaming Shield. “And I do not like it.”

“This might be the missing piece I need to complete this puzzle! If she knows anything about the stuff happening at that school, I have to know about it!”

Gleaming couldn’t help but press her palm against her face.

“Seriously, Dusky? You finally manage to make one friend, and the first thing that you think about is how to use her to advance your own stupid theories?”

“What? Oh, heck no! The first thing I did was cheer her up, and then promise to help her. If I can find out something about this, then that’s a plus!”

“Well, at least you got that right,” muttered Gleaming. However, she kept silent afterwards as Dusk rushed over to his wall and began to scribble notes furiously.

Sonata Dusk… Gleaming thought to herself. May the Almighty Hasbro have mercy on her.

Cafe talks

Sunset Shimmer hummed to herself as she walked into the cafe. Ever since the defeat of the Sirens, things seemed to be going well for her. Hardly anyone gave her angry looks anymore, and some of the students were even starting to smile at her occasionally. In addition, her friendships with the other Rainbooms were stronger than ever.

She smiled as she picked up her coffee, looking around for a place to sit down. She hoped that she might be able to make friends with someone new, someone who wouldn’t judge her for having turned into a raging she-demon.

To her surprise, however, she noticed someone she’d never expected to see again.

She began to walk towards the figure sitting in the back of the cafe. It was a blue teenage girl wearing a purple hoodie and blue jeans. While it wasn’t the same attire Sunset was used to seeing her in, the long blue ponytail was unmistakable.

“Hey.”

Sonata turned in surprise. However, as soon as she realized who it was, she quickly looked away began to cower. Sunset frowned at this.

“Hey, don’t worry. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Slowly the blue girl lifted her head up to look at Sunset. For a moment she stared at her hesitantly, fear evident in her eyes.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

Sonata hesitated for a moment, obviously still fearful of retribution. However, she slowly lifted her hand and gestured towards the empty seat across the table. Sunset smiled and sat down.

“Sonata, wasn't it?”

The girl merely nodded her head.

“Look, I’m sorry about this,” said Sunset. “I mean, I’m not sorry about dispelling your magic- I mean, I didn’t want you to end up all broken up after being blasted by a giant musical-magical alicorn, but I had to stop you, and… I’m really bad at this.”

Sunset turned her gaze downwards. She had been hoping to gain the trust of the sirens, and help them redeem themselves in the same way she redeemed herself. Even helping just one of them would have made her happy. But now she felt that she’d lost her one chance.

“I’m sorry.”

Sunset looked back up in surprise.

“What did you say?”

“I’m sorry,” said Sonata. “I did a lot of bad things when I was at Canterlot High. And I hurt a lot of people, including your friends. I’m really sorry… for everything.”

Sunset stared at her blankly. Of all the things she’d expected her to say, she had not expected her to apologize.

“Oh… apology accepted?”

Sunset smiled awkwardly at Sonata. She in turn smiled for the first time; it was a small smile, but a smile nevertheless.

“So, where are your friends?”

The smile faded away.

“They’re not my friends,” said Sonata, her voice quiet but angry. “They just kept me around because I was useful to them. And now… well, there’s no use to keeping something around if you don’t need it, is there?”

"They abandoned you?!" said Sunset, her eyes widening in shock.

"And they made sure I knew just how worthless they thought I was."

For a moment, neither of the two spoke. Sunset had never imagined that the sirens would abandon one of their own, and now she couldn't help but feel terrible for indirectly causing Sonata so much pain. She also felt intense anger towards Adagio and Aria for having hurt their own teammate.

But that could wait. She needed to help Sonata.

"Hey," she said. "I don't really know much about forgiveness, but I do know that the Rainbooms forgave me even after the whole 'raging she-demon' thing. It took a while, but I managed to become friends with them, and now most of the school is starting to forgive me. So... maybe if you let us help you, you'll find a way to gain forgiveness as well."

Sunset held her breath in anticipation. This was the moment of truth. If she couldn't gain Sonata's trust, she would almost certainly fail with the other sirens.

"For realizes?"

Sunset smiled as Sonata looked at her hopefully.

"Of course."

To her surprise, Sunset found herself being tightly hugged by the siren.

"Omigosh thanks so much! I thought it was just Dusk Shine who was going to help me, but now I know you're here too!"

"Yeah, I'm glad too, but I can't really help if you strangle me!"

Realizing what she was doing, Sonata quickly release the other girl, looking away in embarrassment.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," replied Sunset. "Just give me some warning before you give me a hug next time."

The two girls smiled at each other for a moment, before a thought occurred to Sunset.

"By the way, who's Dusk Shine?"

"Oh, he's a guy I met yesterday," explained Sonata. "He doesn't know anything about what happened at Canterlot High, but I did tell him some stuff. Not the whole 'siren brainwashing music' thing, but some stuff."

"Some stuff?"

"Yeah," said Sonata. "Also, he looks a lot like the purple one."

"Twilight?" said Sunset, her eyebrow furrowed in surprise.

"Totally!"

"That's weird," said Sunset. "His name is kind of similar too, with 'sparkle' replaced by 'shine,' and 'twilight' replaced by 'dusk-'"

"That's just like my name!"

Sunset rolled her eyes at Sonata's comment.

"Well, yeah, that's true. But I don't think that is particularly relevant right now. Anyway, he might look a bit like Twilight, and have a similar name, but I really don't think this Dusk Shine guy has any real relation to-"

"What about me?"

Sunset jumped in surprise at the new voice. She then turned to face the boy who had just arrived and was now looking at her and Sonata.

She now had to admit that his resemblance to Twilight was uncanny.

"Dusk!" Sonata said excitedly. "I was just talking about you!"

"I kind of figured you were," answered Dusk. "So, would you mind introducing me to your friend?"

Sunset suddenly found herself feeling uneasy for the first time since the Battle of The Bands. On one hand, she didn't know how to react to the fact that the purple boy in front of her bore a striking resemblance to a magical pony princess from another dimension. On the other hand, she was trying to get better at making friends, and turning her back on someone just because of a weird similarity to someone else she knew would probably be unfriendly.

Finally, she decided to try to be friendly, if for no other reason than the fact that he seemed friendly with Sonata.

"Sunset Shimmer."

"Cool," said Dusk. "You probably know this already, but I'm Dusk Shine."

"Yeah," said Sunset. "Sonata was just talking about you."

"Oh, okay," said Dusk. "So, have you two known each other for long?"

The two girls suddenly became very quiet. They looked at each other briefly, unsure of what to say. Dusk watched them expectantly, wondering what was making their conversation so awkward. However, as he did so, he slowly came to a realization.

"Sunset, were you, by any chance, a... well, there isn't really any nice way to put this..."

Realizing what Dusk was about to say, Sonata sighed and began to speak.

"Yes, Sunset was the victim of one of my... group's schemes. But she wants to help me get my life back on track now, even though I never did anything to deserve her help..."

Seeing the glum look on Sonata's face, Sunset took Sonata' hand in sympathy.

"Hey, just because you did some bad stuff in the past doesn't mean you don't deserve help," she said. "In fact, you probably need help more than anyone else right now."

"Yeah," added Dusk. "And look at it this way: if one of your former victims wants to help you make up for your mistakes, then why shouldn't you take that chance?"

Slowly, a smile crept onto Sonata's face. Adagio and Aria had never shown her any real kindness, only keeping her pleased so that she could perform her roles in Adagio's plans effectively. But now, for the first time in as long as she could remember, there were others who truly wanted her to be happy.

"Dusk, Sunset... thank you."

The three teens smiled together happily.

"So, what school do you go to?" asked Dusk.

"We both go to Canterlot High," replied Sunset promptly.

"Well, at least you do," added Sonata. "I really haven't been going long enough to say I'm a Canterlot High student."

"Canterlot High?!" said Dusk. "That's the place with all the crazy stuff, isn't it?"

Sonata and Sunset's eyes widened.

"W-what are you talking about?" said Sunset. "Canterlot High is the most normal high school in the whole world!"

"Their security sucks, though," said Sonata. "They let in any student regardless of whether or not they have any documentation or legal guardians."

Sunset shot an irritated glance at Sonata.

"What? It's true!"

"Well," said Dusk, "crappy policies aside, there is something very strange going on at Canterlot High. Just a few days ago, during a musical competition, some of the competitors underwent an inexplicable transformation which was accompanied by strange lights."

The two girls tried their best to look innocent as Dusk continued.

"And that's not even the first time that weird stuff has happened there! A few months ago, at a school dance, some weird demon girl appeared!"

Sunset could barely prevent herself from groaning.

"Who knows what it wanted, but it was stopped by some sort of rainbow energy. After the incident, none of the students wanted to talk about it, even though they had to hire someone to fix up the front doors!"

Dusk noticed the looks on Sonata and Sunset's faces and stopped talking. They were fidgeting uncomfortably, and looking at each other awkwardly. He looked downward, now embarrassed by his mad rambling.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I know all this is really weird. I've always had a thing for these weird stories. It's one of the reasons why I've never really had friends."

"I never had friends either," said Sonata. "My... associates never really liked me, but they kept me around because I was useful to them. Once I stopped being useful, they didn't think twice about dropping me."

"I wasn't ever really good with the whole friendship thing either," said Sunset. "Hell, I'm only just starting to really understand it. But from what I've learned so far, being able to accept people's quirks and weirdness is part of being friends. So I think we'll be fine as long as we can accept that we're all weirdos."

As she finished, all three of them burst into laughter.

"Okay," said Dusk as they began to calm down. "So we're all just weirdos?"

"Well, maybe you two are just weirdos," said Sonata. "Right now, though, I'm also hungry. So I'm a hungry weirdo."

Sunset and Dusk couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, I guess we could all go out and get something," said Dusk. "Who's up for Taco Spell?"

"Oh! Me!" Sonata said excitedly. "Tacos are the best!"

Sunset raised her eyebrow at Sonata’s enthusiasm, but she smiled anyway.

"Well, I guess tacos are good," said Sunset. "Why not?

Rock Bottom

Dusk watched in amazement as Sonata devoured her tacos. He had barely gotten through a single taco, and Sunset still had a relatively full plate of nachos. Sonata, on the other hand, had already eaten three tacos, and was now holding a fourth in her hand.

"Slow down, Sonata," he commented in amazement. "You'll get the hiccups if you go on like that!"

"I can't help it," Sonata gasped, just before she shoved the taco into her mouth. "Ber fo gooth! "Tacof at va beff!"

Sunset laughed at Sonata’s attempts to speak with a mouthful of taco. Sonata gave her a quizzical look.

"What?" Sonata asked after swallowing her food. "Haven't you ever talked with your mouth full?"

"Most people try not to," explained Sunset. "I'm guessing you're not one of them?"

“Well, why don’t people do that?” Sonata questioned, holding up another taco. “I mean, wouldn’t it save a lot of time to talk while eating?”

“Yeah, I’d talk a lot more if I did that,” Dusk commented. “No one would be able to understand me, but I’d do a lot of talking.”

“Why wouldn’t they understand you? It’s not like you’d be speaking in another language!”

Dusk rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself. There was certainly no telling what was going through Sonata’s head, and it was proving to be quite intriguing.

He briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the strangeness going on at Canterlot High.

“You guys sure took a long time to eat!” Sonata announced as they walked out of Taco Spell.

“Not everyone is as enthusiastic as you, Sonata,” responded Dusk, walking on Sonata’s right side.

“Especially when it comes to tacos,” added Sunset, on Sonata’s left.

"I don't get it," said Sonata. "Don't they know that tacos are a blessing from the gods?"

Dusk Shine raised his eyebrow in confusion. He then turned towards Sunset, who simply shrugged.

"Well, you're an... interesting person, Sonata," said Sunset. "Anyway, it's getting late, so I'd probably better get going."

"Yeah, I should probably get back home too," said Dusk. "I don't want my parents to worry about me."

"Yeah... parents," said Sonata. "Sure."

"I'll be leaving you guys now," said Sunset. "See ya!"

"Bye!" Dusk said as Sunset walked away.

"Yeah," said Sonata. "See you later."

Dusk turned towards Sonata, a look of concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You sound awfully worried about something."

“Oh, I’m fine! Nothing to worry about!”

Dusk raised his eyebrow.

“You know, I did offer to help you, Sonata. If there’s something bothering-”

“Oh look at the time! I gotta go! See ya Dusky!”

Before Dusk could say anything, Sonata had already run off. As he watched her running away, he began to walk in the direction she had taken.

“Sorry, Sonata. I can’t just let you run off without knowing what’s wrong.”

Dusk walked through the streets, doing his best to keep up with Sonata without letting her notice him. She had slowed down, and was occasionally turning around to make sure she wasn’t being followed. For the most part, however, she was simply walking down the street with no apparent destination in sight.

Finally, she turned around and walked into an alley. Dusk silently cursed and ran, hoping that she wouldn’t take another turn before he could spot her again. However, when he finally got to the alley, he was shocked by what he saw.

There were a couple trash cans covered with a sheet of fabric forming a makeshift tent. Underneath lay a bag full of clothes and other items, a couple of newspapers to cushion the floor, and finally Sonata.

Dusk approached her quietly and watched as she sat under her tent and opened her bag. He tried not to gasp as she pulled out a wallet and searched through it. He then cringed as she screamed out in frustration and threw it against the nearest wall.

“It’s not fair!”

As Sonata broke into tears, Dusk decided he could take no more. He began to walk towards her, not even bothering to hide his steps, although Sonata was too distressed to take notice of him.

“Sonata?”

The blue girl jumped in shock at the sound of his voice.

“Dusk?! What are you doing here?!”

“I followed you here,” replied Dusk as he sat down next to her. “What are you doing?”

Sonata looked towards her tent in horror before turning back to Dusk.

“Oh, well, you see, I’m… camping!”

“Camping?” Dusk said, unconvinced.

“Um, yeah!”

“Sonata, you have a tent made of four trash cans and a sheet in the middle of an alleyway. The only people who’d camp out like that would be totally crazy, and while you may be a bit of an airhead, I don’t think you’re crazy.”

There was silence. Tears began to flow out of the girl’s eyes.

“Sonata… please don’t tell me you’re actually living here.”

She couldn’t help it anymore. She sank her head into Dusk’s chest and began to cry.

“You… really do live here, don’t you?”

“No!” she sobbed. “You told me not to tell you!”

Dusk stared at her in shock. He’d known she was going through problems, but he’d never imagined she was actually homeless. Now that he did, however, he was worried. He didn’t want her to go on living in such terrible conditions, but he didn’t know what else she could do.

Suddenly, an idea hit him.

“Maybe you could stay with me!”

Dusk spoke before he could think his idea through. Mentally he smacked himself. How would his family react to him having invited a random stranger into their house? Would they approve of his bringing her in?

Then, he looked at Sonata. She was staring at him with a mix of shock and hope on her face.

“You… mean it?”

Dusk could hardly ignore the look she was giving him with her eyes. Her beautiful violet eyes.

“Um… yeah,” he said.

Sonata’s eyes widened as a huge smile formed on her face.

“For realzies?”

“Uh… for realzies.”

“Oh thank you!” Sonata said as she hugged him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Yeah!” said Dusk. “Just don’t choke me!”

Realizing what she was doing, Sonata immediately let Dusk go and blushed in embarrassment.

“Um, sorry about that,” she said. “So… should I pack up my stuff?”

“I- yeah, sure.”

Smiling, Sonata began to toss the few things she had out of the bag back in. Dusk, on the other hand, began to worry.

What was I thinking?! he thought to himself. I just told her that I would let her stay with me! There’s no way mom and dad will be okay with this! And when Gleaming finds out about this… oh man, when Gleam finds out she’ll never let me live it down.

Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to deal with that when I get there. I mean, as long as I’m helping Sonata, everything should turn out just right.

I hope.

Doggy!

"Well, here we are."

Sonata stared in awe at Dusk's house. She had never lived in an actual house before; the sirens had always been able to use their hypnotic singing abilities to convince some poor hotel manager to let them stay for free, so while they never had a permanent home, they always had a comfortable place to stay. Now that she had lost her gem, however, Sonata was left without a means to gain a place to stay.

She briefly wondered if Adagio and Aria were going through the same problem.

"Hey Sonata, could you wait out here for a minute?" Dusk asked her.

"What?" asked Sonata, returning to the present. "Oh! Um, sure!"

Dusk smiled, then walked inside. As he closed the door behind him, Sonata couldn't help but worry.

Okay, Dusk is probably just going to talk to his parents about me or something, she thought. I mean, he isn't just going to leave me out here, is he? I mean, there's no reason for him to do so, unless...

A sudden thought occurred to her, one that chilled her to the bone.

Unless he knows about the Battle of The Bands!

Slowly, Sonata began to panic.

He's not just never going to let me go anywhere near him, he's gonna call the cops! And then they're going to keep me in one of those weird bases where they keep all the aliens in those movies for experimenting! or worse, they'll put me in a spaceship and send me off the planet! Or... what else did those websites say about the aliens? I don't remember, Adagio never let me read them!

Sonata groaned as she remembered the times she'd spent with her fellow sirens.

Well, maybe it won't be so bad. I mean, the only other option would be going back to Adagio and Aria, and there's no way they'd ever let me go back. And maybe they won't send me to one of those secret bases... maybe since I don't have any powers anymore, they'll just send me to prison.

I wonder if they have tacos in prison.

Sonata was broken out of her thoughts when the door was opened once more. To her surprise, however, there was a woman with white-and-purple-striped hair.

"Hello, are you Sonata?"

The former siren nodded uncertainly.

"Oh my, look at you," the woman said. "You poor thing, you're so thin! And when was the last time you had a bath?"

Sonata didn't answer.

"Well, no wonder Dusk was so worried about you! Here, why don't you come in?"

Before Sonata could say anything, the woman pulled her through the door and into the living room, leaving her right next to Dusk.

"Now, make yourself comfortable. And you can call me Twilight Velvet."

"Um, thank you, Miss Velvet," Sonata replied.

As Velvet made her way towards the kitchen, Sonata took a moment to take in her surroundings. There were a table set in the middle of the room, with a few random items on top. There was a television behind it, and a sofa in front of it, as well as two couches on either side.

"So, yeah. That's my mom," explained Dusk. "Sorry I took so long. She worries a lot about people, especially when they're in, well, your situation. I mean, she usually doesn't take in every homeless person, but, you know, you're a friend, so..."

"Oh," said Sonata. "So, she's okay with me being here?"

"Yeah, I think so," responded Dusk. "Of course, we still haven't asked my dad, and he might not be so happy about having you here."

Sonata shuddered.

"Hey, don't worry," Dusk told her reassuringly. "Mom will probably be able to convince him to let you stay! Honestly, the worst case scenario is that my sister is gonna tease us a whole lot or something."

Sonata frowned. Ever since the battle of the bands, she didn't like to think about her own sisters.

"Your sister... is she mean to you?"

"Well, not really," said Dusk. "She's just kind of a jerk sometimes. But she's really nice once you get to know her. She taught me how to fly a kite when I was a kid, and she always helped me with my homework. Also, she tells me to go out and make friends, which kind of annoys me, but I know she means well."

"Make friends," Sonata mused to herself. Everyone she'd met so far had emphasized the power of friendship. Heck, she and her sisters had gotten beaten with it. On the other hand, from what she had been able to figure out so far, Dusk seemed to find little importance in it. Indeed, she and Sunset appeared to be the first people he actually considered friends.

In the past, Sonata would not have cared one bit about it. Now, however, thinking about Dusk being alone made her feel sad. She didn't even understand why it was happening; she had been a siren her whole life, and she had never felt sorry for anyone or anypony. Indeed, during the Battle Of The Bands, she had been quite happy to follow Adagio, regardless of who got hurt during their efforts. And yet, ever since Adagio and Aria had ditched her, she had begun to feel regret, remorse, and empathy. It was so very strange.

"Sonata? Are you all right?"

The blue-haired girl shook herself and turned towards Dusk. He was looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"Oh," she said. "Sorry, just wondering to myself."

"Wondering about what?"

Before Sonata could answer, she heard a bark. Looking down, she saw a purple dog with green ears looking up at her.

"Oh my gosh!" she said, picking the dog up and hugging him. "You're so cute!"

"Um, yeah," said Dusk. "That's my dog. I call him Spike."

"Aww! Hey Spike! I'm Sonata! You're so cute and fluffy!"

Spike eyed the mysterious newcomer warily, unsure of whether she was trustworthy. Slowly, he began to growl at her.

"It's all right, Spike. She's perfectly friendly!" Dusk told his puppy.

"Yeah! I'm... really nice!" Sonata chipped in, beaming widely.

Spike stopped growling, but he kept staring at Sonata suspiciously. In response, she put him down and sighed.

"I guess he doesn't like me," she said sadly.

"Strange," said Dusk. "He usually likes people."

Sonata didn't say anything. Deep inside, however, she wondered if the little purple dog could sense the siren spirit that lay within.

Author's Note

For your viewing pleasure, Sonata hugging Spike will now be provided.

Family

Gleaming Shield sighed as she walked up to the door. Between the wall-eyed girl who had somehow used a muffin to assault a yellow girl with long (and admittedly ludicrous) hair, and the subsequent ruckus involving several students from a nearby high school, she was quite ready to spend a perfectly ordinary night with her family.

Unfortunately, the universe seemed quite determined to mess with her at every turn.

"Hello! I'm back!"

"Gleaming!" Twilight Velvet exclaimed as she watched her daughter enter. "How was your day?"

"Eh, I survived," answered Gleaming. "I mean, there wasn't anything serious, but there were some... unconventional situations."

"Well, you'd better tell us about it later," said Velvet. "I'm sure our guest would enjoy hearing all about it!"

"Guest?"

"Oh yes! Dusk brought a friend along today! Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Gleaming raised an eyebrow.

"Since when does Dusk have friends?"

"Don't be rude, Gleaming," Velvet said sternly. "Besides, the poor girl was in terrible condition it there. Be nice to her."

Girl? Gleaming thought to herself. Wait. Surely she’s not talking about-

“Sonata? Would you like to meet Gleaming?”

Yup.

Slowly, a blue girl walked into the living room. Upon seeing Gleaming, she smiled and began to wave.

“Hi! I'm Sonata. Are you Dusk Shine's sister?”

For a moment, Gleaming merely stared at Sonata, unsure of what to say. Her brother had never been the kind of person to make friends, so the fact that he had not only made a friend, but also invited her to his house, all within just a few days, was very unusual, to say the least.

"Can you say something, please?" asked Sonata. "I want to know more about you."

"Gleaming Shield," Gleaming said finally. "Dusk usually calls me Gleam, though."

"Okay! It's great to meet you, Gleam!"

Gleaming couldn't help but roll her eyes. Sonata seemed a little too eager to be friendly with her.

Maybe that's just her way of making up for being a bully in the past? she thought to herself.

"Poor Sonata was living on the street before Dusk found her," said Velvet. "She doesn't have anyone to turn to, either; no parents, siblings or friends."

Gleaming's eyes went wide. Sonata was an orphan?

Well, if she doesn't have a family, then it's not that surprising that she became a bully... maybe it was her way of coping with her life.

Then a sudden, much more disturbing thought occurred to her.

What if she was more than just a bully? What if she joined a gang? What sort of horrible things did she have to see? What if she had to do something awful?!

"Hey Gleam!"

Sonata and Gleaming turned to face Dusk, who had just entered the room.

"Hello, Dusk!" said Velvet. "Your sister was just getting to know Sonata!" She smiled the way mothers did whenever children were getting along politely.

"Cool," said Dusk. "So, what do you think?"

"Oh!" said Gleaming. "I think she's... alright!"

"Dusk, why does your sister make such weird faces?"

Gleaming felt her face growing hot as Sonata spoke.

"Wh-what are you talking about?!"

"She's talking about your 'I just met Bolero for the first time' face."

At this point, Velvet burst into laughter, while Gleaming began to chase Dusk while screaming in rage. Meanwhile, Sonata simply stared at Velvet in confusion.

Velvet opened the door, revealing the room inside. It was a simple bedroom consisting of a bed, a nightstand, and a closet.

"This is our guest bedroom," said Velvet. "I know it's not much, but you can stay here until we find a solution to... well, you know. Your problems."

A small smile formed on Sonata's face.

"It's alright. It's better than sleeping on the floor in some alleyway."

"Don't worry, dear. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need."

At that moment, an unknown emotion overcame Sonata, and she threw her arms around Velvet. As she did so, she began to feel a certain wetness in her eyes. After a moment, she felt Velvet's arms around her as well.

Soon, the two broke off their embrace. Sonata couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to... to..."

The confused siren tried in vain to articulate her thoughts, but nothing came out. Before she could say anything, however, Velvet placed her hand on Sonata's shoulder reassuringly.

"I get the feeling that this is the first time anyone has shown you genuine kindness, Sonata."

When Sonata said nothing, Velvet continued.

"It's okay, Sonata. You're not alone anymore."

The blue girl gave her a small smile, and then walked into the bedroom. Velvet smiled to herself, and then made her way towards her own room.

"So, what do you think?"

Velvet stopped to see her son waiting just outside his room. He had an expectant- and slightly worried- look on his face.

"Well," she said, turning back towards the guest room, "she seems to be quite a sweetheart. It's so sad that she was living like that."

Dusk's face became slightly more hopeful.

"So, you're okay with me bringing her here?"

Velvet's face quickly became much more stern.

"I am disappointed, Dusk. You should have asked me, or your father, before telling someone that they can stay in our home. You can't simply let anyone in whenever you want."

Dusk cringed. He'd expected this to happen, but it was still hard to stomach.

"I'm sorry, mom," he said. "I know it was a rash decision, but I didn't know what else to do. I mean, she's a friend, and I couldn't just leave her. I mean, isn't helping out in times of need what friends do?"

Despite her best attempts, a smile formed on Velvet's face.

"However rash it may have been, I believe that your heart was in the right place. And... I'm glad you're finally starting to make friends. Hasbro knows you need to come out of your shell."

At this, Dusk gave her a smile of his own.

"Thanks, mom."

As Velvet watched her son retreat into his room, her thoughts drifted back to her high school years. As she thought about Sonata and Dusk, she couldn't help but think back to the first time she'd met Night Light all those years ago.

"I'm home!"

Huh, Velvet said to herself. What do you know?

"Welcome back!" she called out as she began to walk back down the stairs. At the same time, however, she prepared herself to tell her husband about the newest addition to their household.

Off to School

Sonata yawned as she lifted herself out of the bed. It wasn't quite as comfortable as the many luxurious hotels she had slept in during her time with the other sirens, but it was much better than sleeping on the cold concrete floor in an abandoned alley.

Once again, her thoughts went back to her sisters. How were they faring without their music to bend people to their will? Were they able to find some other way of subsisting? Or had they too been reduced to living on the streets?

And, perhaps most important of all... why did she even care? They had been cruel to her, kicking her out as soon as she became more trouble than she was worth. She should have been positively excited at the idea of them getting what they deserved.

So why wasn't she?

She sat in the bed, thinking about why she was feeling the way she did. She was pretty sure she had never worried much about anyone other than herself. And yet, ever since the Battle of the Bands-

The Battle of the Bands!

She remembered it so clearly; the Rainbooms had sung their music to stop the Dazzlings, and they had responded with their own music, coming incredibly close to victory. But then the Rainbooms had created that huge magic alicorn which blasted them with that magic rainbow. Then their pendants broke,and the three sirens were left powerless and had to flee.

After that, Adagio and Aria had made sure to let her know just how worthless they thought she was.

Sonata pushed the thought out of her mind. What she really wanted to know was what the magic rainbow had done to her. But how could she possibly find out? She couldn't just ask the Rainbooms about it. They probably still thought of her as the evil singing tuna from another dimension.

Except for Sunset Shimmer.

A smile quickly spread across her face. She was on friendly enough terms with Sunset, and maybe, just maybe, she could help her become friends with the other band members. Then she might just have a chance of finding out what exactly they had done to her.

She got out of bed and began to search through her clothes. She had a lot to do in school today.

A shiver went down her spine as she remembered how she and her sisters had manipulated everyone at Canterlot High. The students were likely to still remember, and she doubted most of them would be as forgiving as Sunset. Being brainwashed by a singing sea monster from another dimension tended to do that to people.

This then led to another, even more unpleasant thought.

Dusk Shine did not know about the Battle of the Bands. At least, not yet. But sooner or later, she would have to tell him. How would he react to the knowledge that the girl who he had let into his house out of the goodness of his heart was a siren? Would he still be willing to accept her? Or would he be shocked and angry? Would he kick her out and tell her never to return?

Sonata shook her head. That was a matter for another time. Right now, she had to think about what she would do at Canterlot High.

Dusk Shine yawned as he made his way through the hall towards the kitchen. He was mostly just trying to get something to eat, not particularly bothered by whatever may have happened the day before.

Even so, he couldn't get over the feeling that he was forgetting something important.

“Good morning, son.”

Dusk turned his head in the general direction of the table, and saw his father, Night Light. He was drinking his morning coffee, and seemed to be waiting for something.

“Morning, dad.”

Night Light swallowed, and put his mug down.

“So, I hear we have a guest.”

At that moment, Dusk remembered what had been bothering him.

“Oh... yeah, that's right,” he said, as his cheeks began to turn red.

Night Light watched him intently, waiting for him to elaborate.

“Look,” Dusk said finally. “I know it was a rash decision on my part. But she was living in an alley, and she didn't have anyone else she could turn to. I mean, she needs me.”

“She needs you?” his father asked while raising an eyebrow.

“What?! No! I meant that she needs someone to help her get back on her-”

Before Dusk could continue, his father began to chuckle.

“Relax, Dusk. I was just making sure you're doing this for the right reasons.”

“Oh.”

“To be honest, Dusk, I'm just happy that you're finally making friends, instead of wasting all your time on those silly conspiracy theories.”

Dusk decided not to mention his suspicions concerning Sonata's school.

“With that said, I do expect your friend to follow the rules, and also to help around the house. If she wishes to stay, she needs to show that she can be responsible and productive.”

“Sure! No problem!”

Dusk and Night Light both turned towards the doorway. Sonata was standing, fully dressed and carrying a backpack.

“Don’t you worry, Mr. Dusk’s dad! I’m totally gonna be a responsitive and productible member of your house!”

For a moment, neither Dusk or his father spoke. Night Light regarded the blue-haired girl, considering whether or not she was trustworthy. After a moment, however, he smiled at her.

“Well, as long as you can keep that promise, I see no reason why you shouldn’t stay with us.”

The blue-haired girl grinned and nodded.

A short while later, Twilight Velvet was driving Dusk and Sonata to school. Dusk had offered her the front seat, but she had declined the offer.

“So, you go to Canterlot High, correct?” asked Velvet.

“Yeah!” said Sonata. “I mean, you can take me there, right?”

“Of course, dear,” said Velvet. “I always take Dusk to school, and his school is even farther away!”

“Okay,” Sonata replied, briefly wondering what school Dusk went to.

The car quickly arrived at Canterlot High, and Sonata got off.

“So, I guess I’ll see you later?” she asked.

“Sure,” said Dusk. “We’ll be here for you.”

Sonata smiled, and walked off towards the building. As she made her way, however, she began to feel a chill crawl up her spine. As she looked around, she saw everyone around her glaring angrily at her.

“Um… hi?”

The others simply huffed and looked away.

“I’m sorry about what happened at the-”

The students began to stomp off angrily, leaving the blue girl alone. she sighed in resignation, and began to walk alone.

“Hey, Sonata.”

She then perked up upon hearing her name. As she turned around, she saw Sunset Shimmer standing before her. She had abandoned her usual attire in favor of a light blue blouse with a translucent yellow skirt, blue leggings, and a new jacket which had orange stripes around the arms, as well as new boots that matched her jacket.

“Sunset!” Sonata said as she hugged her enthusiastically. The red-haired girl smiled and hugged her back.

“I didn’t think you were going to be back,” Sunset said.

“Me neither,” said Sonata. “I mean, I was mostly just here because my sisters wanted to come here to get their magic back, and now nobody likes me.”

“Hey, don’t let that bring you down,” said Sunset. “Nobody liked me either back when I became a demon, but now people are starting to become friendly. It will take time, but sooner or later you’ll have more friends than you can imagine.”

Sonata smiled, though only for a short while.

“By the way… I have something important to ask you.”

Sunset's Idea

Sunset sat at the entrance of the school. It was a Saturday, and so there were few students who could snoop around and spy on her. Not that people spying on her was a problem, but Sunset preferred having some privacy when doing this sort of thing.

Satisfied that no one would interrupt, she pulled a book out of her bag. It was a large book with an image of her cutie mark on the cover. She opened it up and began to turn the pages, until she found a blank space to write.

Dear Princess Twilight:

How have things been? I've been doing well. Recently more people have been accepting my friendship, and my friends have been closer to me than ever. It's a long shot, but I think they're all finally starting to put the whole “raging she-demon” thing behind them.

The sirens haven't been causing any trouble either. Probably because their magic amulets were broken, but even so, I'm kind of surprised that they haven't been doing anything. Two of them haven't even shown up since that night. The third one, however, has given me reason to be hopeful, however. Her name is Sonata Dusk. She's the blue one. Anyway, she seems to be reconsidering her life, and she's showing a… nicer side of herself ever since their plans failed. While it may be too early to say it with certainty, I truly think we can reform her. And, with a little luck, we can help the other two sirens as well.

There has been one thing that has been bothering me as of late, however. As you may have noticed, everyone in this school has a counterpart in Equestria. However, there are a few individuals who I've failed to find matches for yet, however. So far, I've never found any evidence of any other Sunset Shimmer on this side of the mirror. Neither have I found any for the sirens. And then there's you. Up until recently, I thought that there was some sort of magical fluke that prevented you from having a counterpart here. However, a few days ago, I discovered something- or rather, someone- that made me question everything I had assumed about this world. You see, I was-

Sunset's train of thought was interrupted when she heard something. She looked up from her book and saw a figure in a green hoodie standing next to the portal. What caught her attention, however, was the device which the figure was holding, which was letting out some sort of beeping noise.

“Hey!”

The figure lifted its head and noticed her. Panicking, it hid behind the statue. Undeterred, Sunset lay her book on the steps and ran towards the figure.

“What do you think you’re doing with that statue?!”

As she reached the statue, she was slightly surprised when the statue poked it head out from behind the statue. Her surprise only grew as she heard a familiar voice.

“Sunset?”

The red-haired girl’s eyes went wide.

“Dusk Shine?”

The figure took off its hood, revealing the familiar face of her new friend. Well, familiar except for the presence of a pair of glasses. Had he been wearing contacts before?

“Oh! Hey, Sunset!” he said nervously as he tried to hide his device behind his back. “What are you doing here?”

“I go to school here,” said Sunset. “What about you?”

A small drop of sweat formed on Dusk’s forehead.

“Oh! Nothing!” he said quickly. “Just… enjoying the view!”

“Uh huh,” Sunset said skeptically as she raised an eyebrow. “And you just happened to be walking around CHS, and you thought the statue looked nice?”

More sweat formed on Dusk’s brow. Finally he sighed and brought his device out from behind his back.

“Well, let’s just say I was curious about all the weird stuff happening around CHS,” he explained. “And I thought it might help me to get some data on the subject.”

“I… see,” said Sunset. “So, you really think this will help you understand what’s going on at this school?”

“Maybe,” said Dusk. “Still, I’m trying to find some way to understand.”

“Well... I can understand having curiosity about the stuff that happens here,” Sunset said uncertainly. “But you might just be going about this the wrong way.”

“Why?” asked Dusk. “I mean, gathering information is the first part of understanding something, isn’t it?”

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, only to close it. She had realized that, if Dusk was anything like Twilight, he was smart enough to figure out the truth sooner or later. And if he figured it out… what would happen to his relationship with Sonata?

Sunset may not have been an expert on such things, but she could tell that Sonata and Dusk were slowly starting to grow close. And she knew that a secret as big as her sirenhood needed to be revealed before Dusk figured it out himself. But how could she do that?

Suddenly, she had an idea. It was crazy, but it might just work.

“Well, if that’s the case, maybe I could help you?”

Dusk looked at her skeptically.

“Really?” he asked. “I thought you thought all this was going about it-”

“Yeah, forget what I said,” Sunset said quickly. “I just thought of a way we could all figure out about the weirdness that’s happening around this school.”

Dusk raised an eyebrow.

“How?” he asked.

“Oh, I have an idea,” answered Sunset. “Could you maybe come back here after school on Monday?”

Dusk shrugged.

“I guess so. But why not now?”

“It’s just… I have some things to get ready,” Sunset explained.

“Okay,” Dusk said as he began to turn away. “So… you think you can help me with whatever weird phenomena is going on here?”

Sunset smirked. “Oh, I know I can.”

“If you say so,” Dusk said as he walked away. “See you on Monday, I guess.”

“Bye!” Sunset said as she waved at Dusk. He returned the gesture, and the made his way towards the bus stop. Meanwhile, the gears in Sunset’s head were running at full speed.

Okay, if this works out, then after Monday he’ll know everything about me and Sonata. If we do this right, not only will he accept it, but he’ll be able to help Sonata too! And it will also help prevent any awkward conversations in the future!

However, a few other, more problematic thoughts entered her mind at the same time.

Still, there’s a lot that could mess this up. Dusk might not be happy about us pretending to be humans when we’re actually ponies… or worse, sirens. He might really freak out once he figures that particular detail out. And if it causes a rift between Dusk and Sonata, how could anything possibly fix it?

And… what will Sonata think about this whole plan?

A New Friend?

Dusk sighed as he took his books out of his locker. All around him, students were walking about with their heads held high, never bothering to look at anyone else. Not that it surprised him; student at Crystal Prep High School usually focused on their own success, and rarely ever cared about helping others.

“Out of my way!”

Dusk yelped as his face was pushed into the locker, causing him to drop his books. He pulled himself out and glared at the person who'd pushed him. He then groaned, closed his locker, and bent down to pick up his books. Before he could grab them, however, he heard a voice.

“Here! Let me help you!”

To Dusk’s surprise, a peach-colored hand reached out and grabbed his books. As he turned upwards, he saw that the speaker was a girl with red hair who was wearing glasses similar to his.

“Are you okay, Dusk Shine?”

Dusk blinked. He was sure he recognized the girl from somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. As he straightened himself back up, he tried to remember the girl’s name.

“Um… I’m fine? I mean, thanks? I mean, not too many people here care that much about anyone else.”

“I know,” the girl said. “I don't complain much, though. I'm not good with people.”

Dusk stared at the girl in confusion. She was very much unlike anyone else he'd seen it the school.

“Yeah, me neither,” he said. “…Anyway, I kind of have to go to class.”

“Yes, I know,” the girl said. “We both have the same history class, remember?”

We do? Dusk thought to himself. He then remembered something.

“Oh, yeah we do! Um… Noon Trance?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Moondancer.”

Dusk blushed. “Sorry.”

The girl sighed, but quickly smiled back. “It's okay. Just don't forget next time.”

Dusk smiled sheepishly, and began to make his way towards his class. As he did, he realized that Moondancer was following him closely with a smile on her face. Frowning, he turned back towards her.

“So… can I help you?”

“Oh, I'm good,” said Moondancer.

Dusk raised an eyebrow, but continued to allow her to follow him.

“YOU WHAT?!”

Sunset winced as Sonata yelled out. While she wasn't surprised that Sonata would be reluctant to go along with her plan, she still wasn't happy about her yelling so loudly.

Not to mention that everyone else was now staring at them.

“It's okay!” Sunset called out loud for everyone else to hear. “We just had a bit of a disagreement! Nothing to get worked up over!”

The other students gave her a dubious look, before turning back to their lunches. A few of them gave Sonata angry glares, however, causing her to look downwards.

“Sorry,” she said.

“It’s okay,” Sunset said with a smile. “I thought you’d be a bit worried about my idea.”

“Of course I’m worried!” Sonata said worriedly. “I mean, you just want to tell Dusk everything about us! How is he going to take that?! He’s going to freak out! And then he’s going to kick me out of his house, and-”

Before she could continue, Sunset placed her hand on Sonata’s.

“Sonata, please calm down. I know it seems crazy, but he’s a smart guy. Sooner or later he’s going to figure out that something weird is up with you. So isn’t it best if he finds out about this from you instead of from someone else?”

Sonata tried to answer, but she realized that she had no idea what to say. She then sighed and looked down at the remains of her lunch.

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess you’re right,” she said. “But what if Dusk freaks out?”

“Then we’ll snap him out of it,” Sunset said jokingly. “Don’t worry, Sonata. You just follow my lead, and everything will fall into place.”

At least, Sunset was reasonably sure it would. She still wasn’t completely sure she could make everything work out, but she was determined to find a way to succeed.

She was then pleasantly surprised when Sonata looked up to her with a smile.

“Okay! If you think this will work out, then let’s do it!”

Sunset returned the smile joyfully. “Great! Let’s meet at the statue after school!”

Sonata nodded, and then got up to throw her trash away. As the blue-haired girl walked away, Sunset heard someone clearing her throat behind her. As she turned around, she saw two of her friends, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, looking at her with concern.

“Darling?” Rarity asked. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to be spending so much time with her?”

Sunset smirked. “Are you girls really missing me that much?”

“Oh, no!” said Rarity, only for her eyes to widen. “Oh dear! I mean yes! I mean, it’s not that we don’t like having you around, or-”

“What Rarity is trying to say,” Rainbow interrupted, “is that we’re worried about you being all friendly with her. I mean, she tried to take over Canterlot High!”

“Well, so did I,” Sunset pointed out. “And you forgave me. So what’s the difference?”

Sunset watched as her two friends struggled to find an appropriate response. They then turned towards each other, hoping that the other would have an answer. When neither of them could find an answer, they both sighed and turned back to Sunset.

“Just try not to get in trouble,” Rarity said.

“Yeah, we don’t want her to use her freaky singing magic on you,” said Rainbow.

“Don’t worry,” said Sunset. “She lost her singing voice, remember?”

At that, the other two girls began to look guilty, although they tried to hide it behind a pair of awkward smiles. Sunset, for her part, chuckled to herself as she got up to throw her trash away.

As the final bell rung, Dusk made his way towards his locker with a smile on his face. He had no idea what Sunset was planning, but he was nevertheless excited to find out. And even if whatever plan she had didn’t work out, it was still a chance to find out more about the strange occurrences at CHS.

Upon reaching his locker, however, he was surprised to see a familiar face standing next to it.

“Moondancer?”

The red-haired girl smiled and waved. “Hi Dusk!”

Dusk raised an eyebrow, then reached for his locker. As he put his books back in, Moondancer kept watching in fascination. Finally, as he closed the door, he turned to her with a slight irritation in his eyes.

“Can I help you?”

“Well,” said Moondancer, “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out.”

Dusk raised an eyebrow. “Hang out?”

“Yeah,” answered Moondancer. “I’m doing a little get-together with some friends of mine, and I was thinking that, you know, maybe you could come. I mean, if you don’t have anything to do…”

The red-haired girl gave him a hopeful smile, though it quickly faded when he began to speak.

“Um, thanks, but I’m doing something today. Maybe some other time?”

Moondancer frowned. “Okay.”

With that, Dusk began to walk away. As she watched him walk away, Moondancer sighed and looked downwards.

Maybe next time.

Author's Note

Cafeteria Conversations

Sonata and Sunset got in line at the lunch counter, eagerly awaiting their lunch. As they made their way forwards, however, Sonata couldn’t help but notice the way the students were glaring at her. Once or twice, she attempted to smile at them, but they always turned away before she could do anything else.

“Don’t let it get to you,” said Sunset. “Just give it time. Sooner or later, they’ll come around. I mean, before the Battle of the Bands, everyone hated me, and now everyone has accepted me as part of the school.”

“BURN IN TARTARUS SUNSET SHIMMER!!!”

Sunset glared at the offender.

“...Except for Bonecrusher, but he hates everyone, so it’s not worth getting worked up over.”

Sonata blinked, then sighed as she grabbed a burger.

“So, you were hated by everyone because of what you did, right?”

“I turned into a demon,” Sunset said as she paid for her meal. “Of course they hated me.”

“Oh,” said Sonata. “So what happened to you?”

“I got zapped by the magic of friendship,” said Sunset. “It basically helped me understand just how terrible I had been treating everyone, and allowed me to start taking steps in the right direction.”

“It helped you… understand,” Sonata repeated as they began to walk towards their table. “And then you stopped being a meany pants?”

Sunset raised her eyebrow as she sat down.

“Are you okay, Sonata?”

Sonata sat down and sighed.

“It’s just… ever since I got hit by that rainbow friendship magic thingy, I’ve been feeling… weird.

Sunset stared for a moment, before her eyes widened in understanding.

“You mean you regret doing everything you did, and you don’t want to stop being evil and make amends for your past mistakes?”

“Yeah,” said Sonata. “But also, I feel… worried about my sisters.”

“And why is that a bad thing?”

Sonata gave her a raised eyebrow.

“Okay, stupid question,” said Sunset. “But the thing is, making amends for your past doesn’t just mean getting others to forgive you. It also means forgiving others for the things they may have done to you. And sometimes, it means helping others to redeem themselves, even if you don’t want to do so.”

Sonata looked down for a moment, contemplating what she’d heard.

“So… you mean I have to help Ari and Dagi?”

“I wouldn’t say you have to, but I think you want to do so.”

Sonata sighed, leading Sunset to place a hand over her shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry. You may be confused at first. I was too when I was first reformed, but I managed to make things work eventually. And I think you will too.”

Sonata turned to Sunset with an uncertain look. As Sunset smiled at her, however, she gave her a small smile of her own.

“Thanks, Sunset.”

The two girls smiled at each other, then began to eat.

Author's Note

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write anything. I have no excuse for my laziness :fluttershbad: