"Think of this amulet as your life," Adagio tells me, looking me straight in the eye while she fastens the shiny red jewel around my neck, "If you want to eat, you need to keep it on at all times."
Her voice is so serious it's almost funny, but I know better than to laugh at her. I smile at my new friend, admiring the new accessory and happily swimming around her and Aria a few times. I'm super excited to use my amulet just like they had demonstrated back onshore, and I can already feel that we're going to be besties forever.
"Thankyou!" I say.
Aria's a bit frowny, like she doesn't think I'm going to be a very good addition to the group, but I'm making a vow to prove her wrong about that. From this day on, I swear we're going to be more than besties: We're going to be sisters!
I always wanted a sister and now I'm getting two. I'm so happy.
The coral reefs start to fade back into skyscrapers and lamp poles as I return to reality. The school of fish is nothing but cars zooming along the asphalt road, and I'm breathing the smoggy urban air rather than fresh water. The only thing here to remind me of home right now is Adagio and Aria, who are sitting on either side of me in this dirty alleyway.
They look so sad...and that makes me sad too. I mean, it's not unusual to see Aria all grumpy, but ever since The Rainbooms took away our power she's been so lifeless. Like a jar without jellybeans (I've never had jellybeans, but they look like something worth filling a jar with).
I bet my sisters would feel better if they just pretended we were back in Equestria like I was doing a moment ago. But it doesn't seem like either of them have the energy to do much anything anymore. That's why I'm here.
"I'm hungry," I complain, breaking the silence.
"What else is new?," Aria replies flatly without making eye contact. Adagio says nothing, but at least Aria seems to be getting her spark back.
I pull down my hoodie and smile, "Well, nothing much. But I was just thinking about how this alley is kind of like our old sea cave back home! Don't you think, guys?"
"I think you need to shut up," Aria says.
"But if you just imagine that--"
"We're not back home!" Aria snaps in a harsh voice, and that's when I know it' time to shut up for realsies. She was using her hurting voice again.
Most people have a special hurting voice that they use when they're feeling awful inside, and it's important not to take anything Aria says too seriously when she's using hers. It's also hard to tell her ordinary voice from the hurting one sometimes, since a part of Aria always seems to be feeling awful. That's kinda sad, I guess. I wish I could help her.
"Um...Adagio? Hello in there?" I ask, waving my hand in front of her hooded face. No answer. "Adaaaaaaaagioooooooo...."
I hear her inhale sharply before she slaps my hand away. Ouch.
"You're both idiots..." she hisses, her tone mellow but acidic, "Don't you get it? Don't you get that this IS our home now after all these years?"
Not sure if that's a hurting voice or not, but I'm detecting she isn't happy, so it's probably best not to argue with her.
"See, Adagio's got the spirit!" I tell Aria, "We'll just make the best of what we have here, and this will be just as good as Home Sweet Home!"
Aria scowls while Adagio tugs at her thick curls in ill-concealed frustration. I'm assuming that was a bad choice of words.
"That's not what I MEANT!" shouts Adagio, her words bouncing off the alley walls and repeating themselves, causing me to retreat in surprise. Even Aria seems taken aback at the sudden outburst.
So that's her hurting voice. Too bad it was my own fault that I discovered it.
Adagio leans back down into the wall again, not exactly acknowledging what just happened, though breathing a little heavier than she had before. I now conveniently take interest in my boots.
Not exactly my favorite distraction, but it's really all I have right now since we're sitting in a dirty alleyway on a cold November night. When I felt a little bad about what we did in Canterlot High, I always just thought about how happy Adagio and Aria were going to be once we took over. But now I just made things worse.
I wonder if they think that's all I really do.
"I'm still really hungry," I sigh, my stomach nagging me, "Can we get tacos or something? I've been dying to try them ever since that day we saw them at CHS. And you promised we could,"
I don't know what sort of answer I'm expecting since it hasn't changed throughout the past weeks, but I guess I'm hoping that I'll hear what I want to hear if I ask enough times. I'm so freaking hungry.
Aria responds with an elongated growl. "Euurgh!! How many times do I have to tell you, Sonata? You can go ahead and eat much physical crap as you want, but it's not gonna do anything for you in the long run."
I knew she'd say that...but physical food smells so good.
"Well, that doesn't matter," I reassure my girls, "cause as long as we have each other we'll be alright."
I put each of my arms around Aria and Adagio, making them both stiffen slightly. Obviously, they aren't convinced.
I honestly don't know why I ever thought I was going to be a 'good addition to the group'...nothing I've done has ever managed to make Aria or Adagio happy, and that day still has yet to come. They probably just saw that I was a helpless young siren without any family, so they took me in out of charity or obligation. But still...even once I got old enough to take care of myself, they never left me. They taught me everything I needed to know to survive back in Equestria, and we shared our hardships and triumphs once we were cruelly forced into this world that we still don't fully understand. I would be scared without them...without my only sisters.
"Look, Sonata," Adagio says, getting up onto her feet, "When our gems broke...that was the end of it for all of us. Aria and I have already accepted this, I suggest you do too."
She gets nothing but a vacant stare from me, since I don't quite catch her drift.
Adagio presses her hand against her temples in exasperation. "We're going to die out here, Sonata! Why is that such a hard concept for you to grasp?! I told you that those amulets were our only means of feeding, and in case you haven't noticed, our amulets were smashed into pieces!"
"Gone with the wind," Aria adds darkly.
It takes a moment for all this to sink in, to really weigh down on my chest before my emotions cause my already aching stomach to churn uncomfortably. It's not fair. Nobody asked us if we wanted to be wiped permanently off the face of the Earth in the most painful way possible, languishing away in this dark, cold alley where no one would find our remains.
The vivid image of Adagio and Aria in that kind of pain hurts me, and it hurts me even more when I see myself not being able to do anything about it. Something this horrid can't possibly be inescapable...because..because...
"That's not fair..." is all I manage to say, my eyes starting to sting. I have no choice but to use my hurting voice.
Aria crosses her arms against her chest. "Well get used to it. We thought you'd have figured out the obvious by now."
"There has to be another way to get food," I say. I refuse to believe that this is how it all has to end, and I refuse to sit here and do nothing about it.
Adagio and Aria were always there to help when I couldn't help myself, and now it's my turn to help them. Somehow.
"Our gems were shattered around the school's outdoor stage, weren't they?" I say thoughtfully, "So it's only a matter of finding the pieces and fixing them!"
I really hope that I don't sound half as desperate as I feel.
"Whatever. You go and do that," Aria says halfheartedly. Adagio buries her face in her hands and curls up on the old newspapers she's been using as a bed.
"Aren't you coming with me?" I ask.
Both shake their heads.
I guess this is something I'm going to have to do myself.
"Alright, well...I...I love you guys!" I say quickly before running off into the night.
I make sure not to look behind me, since I know in my heart they'll only shake their heads. Instead, I imagine them smiling, and it fuels me with new motivation.
"We love you too, Sonata"
It doesn't take a very long time for me to find to the stage outside CHS since the school is only a few blocks away from Downtown Canterlot (plus it's kinda hard to miss), and I approach the gigantic structure with an air of caution. To me, this isn't just a stage: this is a battlesite.
"They've gotta be here," I tell myself as I walk up the steps, "I don't know why anyone would want to take them. I just have to look closely,"
The top of the stage provides a nice view of the urban landscape, though it's weird to see the empty area where I remember a massive crowd once being.
It's actually a little creepy.
"welcome to the shooooow..," I start singing softly to myself, "We're here to let you knooooow...our time is nooow, your time is running ooout..."
My voice is off-key and airy, and some cruel joke is stopping me from having any diaphram control. My singing used to be beautiful.....but they took that away from me too, just like everything else.
...."they"
I don't know who I'm even supposed to be angry at. The Rainbooms? Starswirl the Bearded?
Well whoever 'they' are, I hate them for being so mean. Adagio was right about this world.
I scan the floor for any fragments of red glass, getting down on my hands and knees and squinting in the dim moonlight, but all I see is cords belonging to various band equipment.
"Please, please, please..."
I can't return to Adagio and Aria empty-handed, or I would let them down.
"Please, please, please..."
God I'm so hungry.
"Please, please, plea--"
When I bump into a pair of tall, black boots, I look up to see that I'm not alone. The boots belong to a teenage girl-- one who is obviously frightened by me, since she screams when she sees my face.
I scream too, just for kicks.
Upon closer inspection, I see that's she's a pretty red-head with deep green eyes and yellow streaks running through her elaborate curls.
Sunset Shimmer. The girl who helped destroy our lives.
My face contorts into an angry glare as I stand up back onto two legs, attempting to intimidate her with less-than successful results. She merely looks baffled.
"Wha...what are you doing here?"
"None of your business," I spit, "What are you doing?"
Sunset Shimmer stares at my bedraggled form for a moment before replying, almost like she's surprised to see me this way.
"Nothing suspicious, just taking these instruments to Applejack's place for the night. They belong to the Rainbooms, and she's afraid people are going to steal them," she shrugs.
I don't like the way she looked at me when she said that. As if I would have any use for her junky old instruments.
I get back down onto my all fours and continue my search for the gems fragments, ignoring Sunset Shimmer.
But she seems to find it hard to return the favor.
"Um...are you looking for something?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.
I guess being secretive will only make her more paranoid.
"yep."
"What for?"
"I'm...I'm looking for something that belongs to me," I say, choosing my words carefully, "But it doesn't appear to be here..."
Sunset sits down, taking a break from her instrument-hauling . "Well, if you wanna tell me exactly what that thing is, then I might be able to help you,"
Huh. That was actually kind of nice of her, but's probably just a play so she can keep a close eye on me. If Sunset found out that I was trying to help Aria and Adagio regain the artifacts that are the keys to our power, she would be the first to hide them for sure.
"It's like..pieces of glass..?" I say, still being cautious, "So if you find any glass shards, give them to me,"
Who am I kidding? She's not going to--
"Sure thing. Though I don't know why there would be something so dangerous scattered around the stage,"
I stand corrected.
As Sunset takes time from her own task to join me in the search, I really can't help but wonder why. After all, we're supposed to be enemies. At least that's what Adagio said, and Adagio is always right.
Either way, she's helping the search go faster, and that's all that matters.
After about a good sixty seconds of awkward silence and unsuccessful fragment-hunting, Sunset Shimmer asks a question which rather catches me by surprise.
"So, uh....how are you doing?"
I stop groping at the ground and turn around to look at her. I blink. "What do you mean?"
Sunset's face turns a shade of light pink as she pushes her crimson hair out of her face. "Oh, i just meant I was sort of...curious about what your situation is, y'know, since you're here," she said, "I guess I never really thought about you and the Dazzlings since...uh.."
"Since you and your friends destroyed our lives," I finish. Of course Sunset jumps to her friends' defense.
"Don't forget it was you and your friends who tried to mind control everyone in Canterlot High!" she reminds me.
I don't understand what she has against--no, what the world has against--- me and my sisters. We do what we need to do to survive, and Adagio says that's how life works. Everybody wants to rule the world, and if you're able to end up on top, then good for you. If you just sit there and do nothing, then you can't blame the top dogs for your weakness. 'Life is an uphill battle,' Adagio says, and there's nothing wrong with being on a team or doing what's necessary to win that battle.
And Adagio is always right.
"Anwhoodles," I say, not wanting to get into an argument, "I guess you could say we could be doing better."
I'm not sure if I want to elaborate on this any further, so I get back to checking every nook and cranny for any sign of the amulet shards.
No luck. No luck for the next twenty minutes.
Eventually, we both sigh in defeat.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think there are any glass shards up here," Sunset Shimmer says, and she even looks genuinely disappointed for me.
I nod. "It's okay."
It's not okay.
I told my sisters that I was coming back with the amulet fragments...I told them I was coming back with a second chance, and I gave them a ray of hope only to completely demolish it when I came back.
I'm a hope crusher.
"But if you really wanna find pieces of glass, then I suggest going through one of the city's recycle dumpsters," Sunset Shimmer suggests, "You'll find all sorts of old bottles in there,"
I nod again, biting my lip so I don't cry. I guess she really is a nice girl deep down inside, though I'm not going to tell Adagio that. I have an impulse to seek physical consolation from her.
"Thankyou," I cry, hugging Sunset Shimmer, and finally letting a few tears run down my cheeks. It feels good to be crying and hugging someone who I used to hate, and now inexplicably like after an interaction that lasted less than an hour. It happens more often than you'd think.
Sunset doesn't seem entirely sure how to react to my crying or hugging, so she settles with awkwardly patting my back while forcing a nervous laugh.
Sometimes I like to pretend that Aria and Adagio let me hug them like this.
Oh, right. I should be heading back.
* * * * *
The bitter taste of hopelessness washes over me when I return to our camp, and looks like Aria and Adagio haven't moved at all since I left.
In fact, they hardly acknowledge my presence until I announce my arrival, and even then they don't seem too thrilled.
"Did you find the gems?" Aria asks, though I don't know why she asked that question. Judging by her tone of voice, she already knows the answer.
I lay myself down next to Adagio, a little surprised at how cold her body was. "I'm sorry....I'm so sorry...." I whisper, my lower jaw trembling.
"Figured you wouldn't," Aria replies.
I'm not sure if I feel relieved or disappointed that they weren't counting on me after all, but right now I mostly feel numb.
Like I could fall asleep forever and not care if I didn't wake up.
And I'm still hungry.
As I stare into vast open sky, the stars become bubbles, and passing airplanes have now turned into friendly squids on their merry way to warmer waters. The empty soda cups and other pieces of garbage littering the alleyway's floor are exquisite seashells while towering buildings slowly turn into a kelp forest.
I no longer hear nearby traffic, but the gentle tide washing up on the shore.
That's more like it.
