Chapter One: That Lonely Feeling
The bell that signaled the start of class rang, and Mr. Neigh, the physics teacher, said to his students, “Alright, class, settle down. We’ve got a lot to learn today, and we might have a quiz at the end of the period.” The class groaned, which prompted him to say, “Behave, and I might reconsider. Now, continuing from yesterday, who can tell me what torque is?” A blue hand shot up from the back of the classroom. “Yes, Sonata?” Mr. Neigh called.
The girl he called on said, “Torque is the amount of force you exert when you turn something, right?”
“Not exactly.” The teacher turned around and began to write on the chalkboard. “Torque is the product of the force and the lever arm. Who can tell me what that is?” A blue hand shot up again as Mr. Neigh turned around. “Sonata?”
“Ooh! I know this one! It’s the perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation to a line upon which the force acts!” Sonata wore a huge grin on her face as she answered the question.
“Very good,” Mr. Neigh said as he continued to write on the board. “Now, let’s start to do some math here…”
Sonata’s attention was drawn from the board to two students a couple of rows in front of her. Underneath the lab table, they grasped for each other’s hands. When the two managed to grab their partner’s hand, they both looked at each other with a look in their eyes Sonata was unfamiliar with. She shoved her own hands into her hoodie’s pocket, trying to replicate the feeling, but there wasn’t much to feel. "Why don’t people like me yet?" she asked herself. "I know what I did was wrong, but I’ve changed since then. Why can’t everyone see that I’m living a different life now?"
Sonata snapped back into reality as Mr. Neigh shouted, “Sonata! Are you paying attention, or are you twiddling your thumbs?”
“I… uh… yeah, I’m paying attention!” the girl stammered. “Torque is the product of the force and the lever arm!”
The class started to laugh as Mr. Neigh sighed. “Miss Dusk, I’m afraid we’ve moved past that point. Please see me after class.” Sonata lowered her head in shame as the class continued on.
The bell rang to let the students out of class, and everyone but Sonata walked out of the room to get to their next class. The girl instead shoved her hands in her sweatpants’ pockets and slowly shuffled to the teacher’s desk. “You wanted to see me, Mr. Neigh?”
“Yes, Sonata,” Mr. Neigh said as he moved piles of papers around on his desk. “I want to talk to you about your participation in class -- or, in this case, your lack of it. What’s going on with you?”
Sonata looked at the floor and crossed her feet. “I dunno,” she explained, “I guess I’m just… distractible.” She didn’t want to tell her teacher what really went through her mind, but she didn’t want to lie, either. With this answer, she at least told him a half-truth.
“I see,” Mr. Neigh said as he got up and closed the door. “Sonata, you’re still dwelling on your incident earlier this year, aren’t you?”
The girl’s eyes went wide. “I-I… well, uh...”
“I can read you like a book.” Mr. Neigh smirked before sitting back down. “Look, Sonata, you can’t dwell on the past too much. I know you’re a nice and bright girl, but you have to apply yourself in both instances. I don’t want to fail you, but if you don’t put in the effort with proof, I won’t think twice about it. Do you understand?” Sonata nodded. “Good. Now, what do you have for your next class?”
“I have History with Mrs. Harshwhinny,” Sonata said.
“Oooh, you might catch hell with her for being late, pass or not,” the teacher chimed as he wrote his student a late pass. With another smirk, he handed Sonata the Post-It that explained her tardiness. “Now, get out of here and apply yourself. I know you can.”
“For realzies?”
“For realzies.”
Sonata hopped up on the statue where her recently made friends, the Rainbooms, hung out. She played with her fingers as she thought deeply about her day.
"Why do I have to be so mopey about this?" she asked herself. "It’s in the past, it’s time to move on. I mean, tomorrow is Taco Tuesday. Wouldn’t want to be all sad for that!" She got deeper and deeper into thought about the coming week before she heard someone call out to her.
“Darling,” Rarity, the group’s fashionista, piped up, “what seems to be the matter? You’ve been here all evening and haven’t spoken a word. Are you alright?”
Sonata sighed. “No, not really. It’s just… I don’t feel the school’s really forgiven me for what happened earlier this year.”
Sunset Shimmer, the Equestrian member of the group, placed a hand on Sonata’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said, “you can get through this. I know I was able to.”
“It’s not about being able to get through this, though.” Sonata brushed her friend’s hand off her shoulder. “I’m already doing that fine. It’s just… I’ve got a lot of things I didn’t have before, like my job and you guys as my friends, but...”
“What is it, sugarcube?” asked Applejack, an out-of-town farmer girl.
“I… don’t have someone to call my own, you know?” The group fell silent before Sonata spoke up again. “I mean, look at you all. Pinkie’s got Cheese Sandwich, Rarity has Big Mac—"
“Say what?” Applejack said with a shocked look on her face. She turned to look at Rarity, who looked unimpressed.
“How could you not have seen that, dearie?”
“—Dashie’s got Soarin’, Flutters has Bulk Biceps, Applejack’s got Green Cycle, and Sunset has Thunderbass. Sonata’s got nobody, though…”
“Cheer up!” Pinkie, a part-time baker, said with an exuberant grin. “Sonata will get somebody someday!”
Sonata sighed. “I don’t want to wait for someday, though. I—!” The girl was cut off by her phone, which buzzed in her pocket. She took it out and looked at the time. 4:15 PM. “Well,” she said as she hopped off the statue’s base, “it’s time for me to get to work. I’ll see you guys later!”
“Yeah, I gotta git goin’, too,” Applejack said. “Green Cycle said he’d stop by the farm and help out a bit.”
“And Thunderbass wants me to play guitar in his band,” Sunset added.
“Soarin’s already waiting for me at practice,” Rainbow, the group’s athlete, said as she kicked a soccer ball around her feet.
“Cheesie and I are gonna paint the town polka dots!” Pinkie piped up.
“Fluttershy’s coming to the spa with me,” Rarity finished. Fluttershy, the pet rescuer of the Rainbooms, nodded in agreement.
There was a collection of goodbyes before everyone went their separate ways. Sonata turned around and ran off to the bike rack, insistent that she would get to work on time today.
As Sonata sat behind the counter of the Canterlot Mall’s Next Level Gaming store, she began to think of the coming week. "Well, I’ve got that quiz coming up in History, an essay in English, and who knows what’s going to happen in Physics. Plus, I’m probably going to have a project in at least one class, since the end of the quarter is near..."
Sonata was snapped out of her thoughts by a man at the counter, who loudly cleared his throat. “Excuse me, miss. Are you going to check me out, or are you going to let me sit here?”
“What? Oh!” the girl shouted. “I-I’m so sorry, sir, I was just… well, I was… uh...” The man grumbled again and returned the game to its place on the shelf before he left. “Wait, I’m sorry!” Sonata yelled, hand reached out as if to grab him back. “Come back, I can still serve you!” However, it was too late. The man was long gone.
“C’mon, Sonata, focus!” she told herself. “Remember what Mr. Neigh said, apply yourself!” Sonata took a deep breath and said, “Hello, and welcome to Next Leve— OHMIGOSH WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!?”
She had looked up just in time to see a boy standing right in front of her. He gave an awkward smile and said, “Well, I was here to pick up some games for my little brother’s Gamestation, but I guess I’m... here talking to you instead, heheh.” A slight blush appeared on his grey face as he scratched at his purple hair.
“Well, uh, the Gamestation games are over in the corner,” Sonata directed as she pointed to the aforementioned corner. The boy strolled over to the section she pointed at and began to browse the games. Ohmigosh, he probably thinks I’m some sort of weirdo that talks to herself, she thought, worry running through her mind. I don’t want him to think that! Oh no, what should I do? She didn’t have much time, as the boy was walking up to her with his games in hand. Okay, she told herself, just… be yourself, but less clumsy. She smiled at the boy as he placed his two games on the counter.
“I’ve got Daughter of Atlas and Forgotten World here,” he told her.
“I’m going to need to see your ID for these,” Sonata said before she rang the games up.
“Oh yeah, I forgot! Super sorry!” The boy reached into the pocket of his green sweater vest, took out his wallet, and showed her his driver’s license. She looked not only for his date-of-birth -- which did, in fact, prove he was 17 -- but his name, which was Stanza.
“So, Stanza,” Sonata said, “these games are both for your younger brother?”
“He’s mature. For the most part.”
“Alright, that’ll be $15.98,” she said as the cash register opened up. The boy handed her a ten, a five, and a one from his wallet, which she put into the drawer as she took out two pennies. “Two cents is your change.”
“Thanks,” the boy said as he took his change. “Have a great day!”
“Y-yeah,” Sonata replied with a huge blush on her face.
The boy began to walk back into the mall, but at the last moment, he turned on his heel and walked back up to the counter. “I don’t think I actually introduced myself, eheh. I’m Stanza.” He stuck his hand out, which Sonata shook.
“I’m Sonata Dusk,” she replied dreamily. “I… uh… um… sorry, I’m just kinda out of it right now.” She giggled nervously as she rested her elbow on a stack of papers and promptly slipped on them. She fell behind the counter and onto her back as Stanza looked over.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yeah… totally fine…” Sonata managed to say before slowly getting back up. She rubbed her head and said, “Ow, that really hurt…”
“Hey, wait, I know you!”
Sonata quickly looked up at Stanza and said, “Wait, you do?”
“Yeah, we go to school together! We’re in the same homeroom class!”
“Oh, I guess I… uh… just didn’t notice you, huh?” Sonata’s blush returned to turn her face a beet red.
“I guess.” Stanza looked at his phone and said, “Well, I gotta get these games home to my brother, Prose. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow!” As Stanza walked out, Sonata slid down the wall with a smile on her face and thought, "He’s so cute!" However, her smile was wiped off when she continued, "But what if he’s not into me? What if he thinks I’m still a weirdo from the Battle of the Bands? Oh, why does liking boys have to be so difficult?"
"You’re such a dumbass," Stanza thought as he walked back into the mall so he could go home and give his brother the games. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! “I guess I’m here talking to you instead,” what a stupid line!"
Sonata pedaled as fast as she could down Fetlock Ave as she dodged the cracks and bumps in the cement. She then took a right turn onto Track Street and stopped at the first house. The girl looked up and thought to herself, "Well, it's a better home than before."
A large, two-story house stood in front of Sonata as it slowly rotted away. As she walked her bike into the house, she reread the red final eviction notices on one door and the orange condemnation notice on the other. Inside, on the ground floor, Sonata had set up her own little home inside the broken one. It was quite simple: a mattress to one side, and a drawer with a broken mirror to the other.
As she plopped down onto the mattress, she said out loud, "See, I can live without you two. It's not much, but it beats living with you guys." The house responded with a loud creak throughout. Sonata took off her sweatshirt, revealing a purple t-shirt underneath, and changed her sweatpants out for a pair of pink pajamas with hearts all over them. She then laid her head down on one end of the mattress and thought to herself, "Tomorrow's going to be a different day, and it’s not just because it’s Taco Tuesday. Something about tomorrow just… strikes a chord with me." With that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Author's Note
Hey guys! This is actually my first major project I've written in about a year (and published, too), and I'm pretty proud of it.
I was actually reading a couple of fics on the site about Sonata, and I noticed a common theme: People write her as dumb as a rock. I just didn't like that, so I wrote my Sonata a bit different than other people.
Is she scatterbrained? Yes.
Is she easily distracted? Yes.
Is she a bit of an airhead? Definitely.
Is she completely dumb? Not in my eyes.
I'm really excited for this coming fic, and I hope you guys are too!
Fun Fact of the Chapter: Daughter of Atlas was actually the name for a planned fic of mine ~~before I scrapped it~~ that I haven't been able to write yet.
