Quality Time

by Glitch Hooves

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Aria Blaze, Comedy, Adagio Dazzle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sonata Dusk, Human
Length: 5131

Spending time is a great way to make a strong bond, especially when that bond has had over a thousand years to develop.

Some things never change, sometimes they change form, or we forget about them and create an entirely new experience.

Aria's day consists mostly of sleeping and reminiscing. But she does enjoy the moments when she can spend time with Adagio and Sonata. She may not act it, she may even appear to despise it. But she enjoys it.

After all, they are the only two things that matter most to her. Especially one of them in particular.

I hope you enjoy this little one-shot.

Published 2015-10-12 00:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-10-12 00:10:02 UTC

Living in The Past

It was quiet inside, usually a sign of an empty house. Or perhaps the owners were simply in bed.

Nothing stirred inside, not a man or a mouse.

Neither Siren, nor... whatever else that rhymes with Siren.

When you first open the doors leading in, the first thing you'd notice is a large couch in the living room. It used to be a hearty blue, but due to years of neglect, it faded to a dull grey.

Then you'd notice the couch appears to be breathing and then you'd high tail it out of there. Well, even though isn't, the person sleeping on that couch would give you plenty of reasons to run.

Aria Blaze.

She had a bed, but it's never been used. She prefers to sleep alone on the couch. It was too warm in her bedroom, and the living room was freezing. But she prefers the cold anyway.

It reminds her of home.

You see she wasn't very... socially active when back in Equestria as well. Only things she ever knew in her life were Adagio and Sonata.

The cold would bite at her, and she wouldn't want it any other way.

Even then, she didn't really interact with them. She'd just sleep on the ocean floor, and sometimes she would just watch the lophiiformes swim about, their lights illuminating the dark ocean reaches.

However, Adagio was more 'out there,' always exploring, never in one spot for too long, she'd venture out most of the time and come back a day or two later.

Guess who's job it was to watch Sonata while she was gone?

Yep, this girl.

She was... strange. She never seemed to know what personal space was, always trying to get close to them, and she was always curious. She never stopped looking around, and she never stopped asking questions. She couldn't speak, mind you, it wasn't really an option underwater, so they did the next best thing.

They hummed to each other. It was sort of like a first language to them. They would hum to each other in little songs, they could tell just what the other was saying from the changes in tone.

They learned to speak once they broke out of the ocean waves and... I think you can guess what happened next.

Anyway, once you answered one of her questions, she always came up with another one to ask. At first, it felt kinda flattering, having someone look up to you.

Then it got annoying.

One time Aria got fed up with the questions, she retreated to her spot on the sea bed. So guess who came following?

She got lost down there, you had to make sure you knew which way was up or else you'd spend your life down there. She got lost and it was up to Aria to find her. It wasn't an easy feat considering the ocean was such a large place, and in pitch black too.

She couldn't remember how long it took... days at the least...

Their hums could spread across miles, but... she couldn't hear her, and if she couldn't hear her it could've meant... she didn't like thinking about that possibility.

But after so long, she heard it, something faint. A small sound, just barely audible. The closer she got, the more emotion she could feel from it. It was hollow, as if given up on hope. It was scared, and it sounded tired.

Tore at her on the inside.

She could still hear it to this day.

It was a... touching reunion. To Aria, there was a lot of unnecessary physical contact, any form of personal space was broken, but she does well to remember that to her, to Sonata. That moment meant the entire world.

She wouldn't stop saying praises and nothing but. 'Thanks you.'

It did feel good though... knowing she meant something to someone. That she just wasn't another Siren that shared the same sea as her.

At one point, she wasn't sure exactly when, they turned it into a game.

Once Aria was tired, she'd retreat down, but Sonata would follow her down there, and it turned into a game of how fast she could find her. But the thing that made it strange.

Every time Aria found her, she always acted like she saved her from a leviathan, every single time. She wasn't sure if she was acting like that to boost her ego, or if she always thought she could get lost down there and she wouldn't be there to get her out. And it was alway with those same thank you's.

And they always wielded the same smiling response from her.

'It was no problem.'

Then one day, Adagio came back with news. She said she discovered something. She called it "The Big Green," They soon came to know it as the continent of Equestria.

She made a promise to herself to watch after Sonata after their banishment. Adagio had too much to deal with already, what with thinking of their next move and preparing everything.

She thought she could lift some of that responsibility off her back. Of course, she never acted like it. Wanted to appear tough, someone you didn't want to mess with. It worked to say the least, she would distance herself from them as much as she was willing. She cares though... she just never liked to openly show it.

Even if she didn't make that promise; wouldn't have stopped that girl from spending every waking second with her.

She snapped back from those memories, thy were gone now anyway. No point in remembering.

Adagio was gone for the day, and here she was, sleeping in the darkened living room.

But something felt missing.

"YEEEEEEEESSS!!"

There it is...

She could hear thunderous footsteps coming down the steps at a monstrous pace. They stopped suddenly once they reached the base of the stairs. She could hear heavy breathing, and then a large intake of breath.

"I found them!" she heard her scream.

There goes the quiet evening...

She sat up slowly, acting like she was just woken up.

"Found what..." she groaned.

"I found my tickets!" she replied ecstatically.

'Why can this never be easy?'

"Again. What?" her tone was disgruntled and generally disinterested.

"Okay, so fifty years ago, we went to this place called Little Innsmouth and-"

"I don't remember ever doing that with you..." Aria deadpanned

"Okay, so I went to Little Innsmouth, and I earned like a million tickets there!" she said.

"Why?" she asked.

"So I can get Sagan the Parasitic Bunny!!" she was bouncing up and down the steps repeatedly.

"Sago the what?"

"Sagan the Parasitic Bunny!"

"I'm sorry, but, what exactly is 'Saggy the Parasitic Bunny,' anyway?"

"Well... he's a bunny."

"Yeah?"

"He's also a parasite."

'Oh God...'

"And his name is Sagan," she explained this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Aria pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why can it never be easy..." she mumbled.

"Aria, please! I have like five thousand tickets in here! Just enough for him! Please can we go?" she was standing over Aria now, a creepily large smile on her face.

"First off: No. Secondly: Why do you want it?" Aria said.

"Because I want him soooo badly!" she fell to her knees and clasped her hands together. "Please, Aria."

"You don't need a parasitic bunny," she retorted, looking up at the ceiling.

"I do need a parasitic bunny!" she puffed her cheeks out at Aria.

"I said no," she answered, flipping to her side, her back facing Sonata.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"PLEASE!"

"NO!"

"Fine! Then I'll just go myself," Sonata huffed, before turning her head away from her.

Aria waited a moment, "...You're not gonna stop annoying me until I say yes, aren't you?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Ughhh, fine!" she groaned, moving to a sitting position.

"Yay!" Sonata bounced back to her feet, waving around the small bag filled with tiny little tickets.

"But we're just gonna get your stupid bunny and come right back, got it?"

"Got it! Thank you, Ari!" she gave Aria a quick hug before running up the stairs and headed back to her room.

"Yeah... whatever," Aria whispered under her breath. Her cheeks were growing red under her pink skin.

Once outside, Sonata immediately knew where to go. Whether by psychic abilities, or an internet search, she headed for where this 'Little Innsmouth,' was. Leaving Aria to follow. There were cars everywhere, and there was still some daylight. Only a few more hours till night hit. There were other humans walking around at this time.

At least they're not getting strange looks anymore.

They had to switch between three different towns until they found one that either didn't know or didn't care about their little fiasco at Canterlot.

Every now and again, Aria would steal a glance at the other passer by's, making sure they didn't give them any suspicious looks. She'd also make sure Sonata wasn't wandering off to look at store window on the other side of the street. The last thing she wanted was to pry her off with a shovel.

But she wasn't. Not even once did she do a passing glance at someone walking their dog in a little sweater. she was just whistling. She was whistling badly, but it was something.

After a few more minutes of walking, they finally reached Little Innsmouth Sonata had said if this one wasn't here, the next one was all the way back in Canterlot.

It looked like your average arcade/family diner; there was a logo of a creature that strangely resembled a Siren. Only difference was that she had the upper half of a human.

Aria shook her head.

Once inside, an annoying jingle played and the smell hit her like a truck. It smelled like unclean children, greasy fingers, and rotten food. Standard garden variety family diner...

There was a man by the counter. He had beige skin with clean cut green hair. He was wearing a seawater green uniform with that same logo as a shoulder patch. He wore a name tag that said.

"Hello, my name is Parchment Practice!"

Aria looked around the place. It appeared to be sepereated into three areas. There were tables near the entrance and spread to the other side of the wall. There was an area right next to it filled to the brim with arcade machines and other games. And in front of all this was what looked like a giant jungle gym. But it was ocean themed and they had a resemblance to algae and kelp vines and tiny fish hanging by the bars.

She shook her head again.

Sonata immediately greeted the man with a warm smile; Aria shortly behind giving an upward nod.

The boy gave a smile of his own before asking what brought them here.

Sonata immediately lifted the bag up and showed it to the man. When she said it had over five thousand tickets, she pointed towards the gift rack.

Only then did Aria see what she was referring too. It was actually... unsettling. It looked your standard bunny plushie, but after the ears and tiny body, that's where the similarities stop. It's eyes were hollowed and its mouth was wide open. It revealed a set of very large and sharp teeth. In the center of its mouth was a large eyeball. But that's not what creeped her out, what creeped her what was that it looked like her eye. Mulberry...

She didn't like looking at it. But just before she looked a way, she swore that eye moved.

'If Sonata wants it, she'll get it...'

Her attention focused back to the boy when he started shaking his head.

"Sorry ma'am, but we stopped accepting tickets fifteen years ago, we converted to electronic credits," he explained.

"But... I saved these things for so long..." Sonata said. Her smile was beginning to wear down.

He shook his head again. "Sorry ma'am."

Sonatas gaze turned to steel. "You have to take my tickets!"

"I can't take your tickets, ma'am."

"You will take my tickets!"

"I won't take your tickets."

"You will take my tickets!"

"I won't take your tickets."

"You won't take my tickets!"

"I won't take your tickets."

"Aww... I thought that would work..." she looked down at her shoes.

Suddenly, a hand slammed on the counter. Aria had stepped in and was giving the boy a threatening look. "Just take the tickets, man..." she growled. Her words hung in the air.

If there was one thing she had going for her, it's that she was tall. She was actually the tallest among the three, despite being the second youngest. Adagio only appeared taller due to her hair. Sonata was the shortest standing at five foot three. Aria stood at over six foot seven. She definitely had an advantage in the intimidation front.

"I'm sorry, but it's against policy now to accept paper tickets."

"Alright," Aria grabbed one of the cards from a small pile that read. 'Little Innsmouth Credit Card," and started to head for the arcade machines. "I'll just earn that stupid bunny myself," she said.

"Hey! You're not allowed inside the arcade floor unless you have a child with you!" the man shouted, catching the two off guard.

Aria decided to play it off. "You mean she doesn't count?" she said, pointing at Sonata.

"No! Now either get out, or I'll have you thrown out!"

Aria looked at the boy for a second. Her eyebrows were furrowed, giving him a glare that would have melted a regular man. She went back to the entrance and motioned Sonata to follow. She opened and closed the door with that stupid little jingle.

Once back out in the cold outside, Sonata was the first to speak.

"So now what?" she asked with sadness in her voice.

Aria looked at her for a moment, she stared back to the street and grabbed her arm. She started to forcefully pull her along.

"What are doing?" she asked, surprised by her sudden start.

"We're going to become parents!"

It had just gotten to be dusk, and the two were waiting behind a dumpster, waiting for their trap to spring.

Although the thing that rubbed Aria the wrong way about this whole situation was that Sonata had come up with it.

"You sure this is gonna work?" she asked, looking at the trap.

"Have faith in me, Ari. This is the perfect child trap," Sonata assured.

Aria took another look at the trap. "Sonata? It's just a box and stick trap... and there isn't even candy as bait, it's just bubble-wrap," she said.

"No child can resist the allure of bubble-wrap, trust me, Ari," said Sonata.

she took another glance at the trap. "You seem to be holding out just fine," she joked.

That's when she noticed Sonata was staring at the trap with a strange look of... hunger.

Aria pulled her behind the dumpster, breaking her vision from it. "Sonata, not that I don't think your trap is... creative. Okay, it's actually pretty stupid. I still say we should just go with my plan: find some random kid and-"

*Thump!*

"GOT EM!" Sonata screamed. She immediately sprang up. Running out from behind the dumpster and charging the box. She was putting her body weight on it, but not enough to crush the contents inside.

Aria deflated. "It... it actually worked..."

Sonata was struggling against the box, it seemed to jump furiously in a mess of limbs that leaked out. Promptly snuffed by the edge of the box hitting its little fingers. Sonata had reached into her back pocket and pulled out some handcuffs. She latched one end on her arm, and held the other end in her fingers.

"Aria, help me hold it down!" she said.

Not knowing what else to do. She got up and put her arms over the box.

Whoever this kid was, he/she/it had some fight. Still, kinda deserved what's coming to them if they fell for this of all things.

Then something struck Aria.

"Where did you get handcuffs?" she asked, turning to Sonata.

"Took them from your back pocket," she answered, her arm flailing around under the box.

"Hmm... wait, why do I have handcuffs? How did you take them without me noticing?!"

"Swapped it with jelly."

"Huh?" Aria reached a free hand into her back pocket.

*Squish...*

She pulled her hand back out, and saw it was dripping with a purple substance. "How in the... when did you find the time for this?!"

They heard a click as the other end of the handcuffs closed on something. This seemed to please Sonata as a dark smile crept on her face. "Hellooooo!"

She lifted the box, and inside revealed a little girl, her hand was now attached to Sonata's arm by the handcuffs.

She had pale white skin, and black hair with a pink highlight to the side. She looked scared. Well, then again, who wouldn't be in this situation?

Sonata picked her up, her hands going underneath her armpits, and lifted her to eye level. She was holding her like a child, too. One arm beneath her legs, and one on her upper back for support. She pushed her up a bit to secure the grip, and turned to Aria.

"Kay, let's go!"

"Who are you people?" the girl pipped.

"We're your new mommies number one and two!"

The walk back there was... longer. It wasn't sure whether it was because Sonata was being slowed down by an extra forty pounds. Or if because it was lot more awkward considering she was baby-talking the girl the whole time. The girl showed no reaction.

"So what's your name?" Sonata babbled.

The girl was unresponsive at first. But after a second, she gave in. "M-Moon Pie," she said.

"No!" Sonata suddenly snapped. She had startled the girl and Aria with the sudden outburst. "From this point on, you will be Falsetto Star," she said.

Aria gave a short chuckle after trying to suppress it.

"What?" Sonata asked, feeling offended.

"'Falsetto Star'? That's what you came up with? Where'd you get it from: A children's book?" Aria said jovially.

"Oh like you could do any better," Sonata huffed.

Aria looked at Sonata, and back to the girl, seemingly accepting the challenge with her eyes. She paused for a moment.

"... Cantata Spectrum," she said.

Sonata gave a bit of a whining look before holding the girl closer so her head was resting on Sonata's shoulder. "I could've come up with something better..." she whispered.

Someone had passed by a few blocks ago, assuming that Sonata and Aria were your average everyday lesbian couple, he minded his own business. However, the girl attempted to cry out, before she could, she noticed Aria Walking behind Sonata; giving her a stare that would no doubt induce nightmares.

She made a zipping motion with her hand across her lips, then she made a slitting motion across her throat before pointing a crooked finger at 'Cantata.'

'Cantata', replied by doing the same zipping motion across her mouth, and flicking her finger to symbolize throwing the key.

Aria decided to try and lesson tension, and the chances of Cantata running when the second she's put down by making small talk.

"So... why don't you tell her where we're going, Sonata?" she said a bit too casually.

"Oh right! I completely forgot to tell you, now didn't I?" she started to do more baby talk at her. But she let the words Little Innsmouth out clearly. This actually peeked the girls interest.

"I've... I've never been there before..." she said.

"What?!" Sonata leaned back, obviously surprised by her answer. The girl instinctively flinched. "Well don't you worry, Cantata. Once we get there, me and Ari are going to show the best time ever! For realzies!"

"Really?"

"Realzies."

It was now eight thirty, it was fully dark and a majority of the town was home.

Aria was the first to step inside. She was greeted by the same face of that boy, and the stupid jingle.
He didn't seem happy either.

"I told you, you can't come in with-"

"Yeah, yeah. Can it, Toilet Paper, we have a kid," Aria pointed to the door behind her, but nothing happened. "I said! We have a kid!" she said forcefully.

An audible "oh!" came from behind the door, and in walked Sonata, holding Cantata tightly against her.

"That is not your kid!" the boy said taking one look at the girl.

"Fine! We're baby-sitting, how's that sound?" she gave him a look she was used to giving. It screamed 'I dare you to challenge me!'

"Ugh... fine..." he said. "Enjoy your stay at Little Innsmouth..." he deadpanned

"Yay!"

"Yay!"

Two voices behind Aria cheered while a proud smile filled her face.

They went straight to work, the three of them.

Aria had gotten a knack for the. 'Whack A Fish,' machine, although, in her head it was the. 'Whack a stupid unicorn with an outdated beard, and a stupid bacon haired girl,' machine. Needless to say, she gained a bit of a following with children who watched.

Sonata had a mean throwing arm over at the ski balls. The balls were mishapen, so they symbolized rocks. And the goals were apparently shaped to be volcanic vents. Every time she made a perfect, the entire crowd was drenched in water. And she always landed a perfect score, eventually, the machine had run out of water to shoot. She even gave up a few turns to let Cantata have some fun with it.

The place closed at ten o clock and they had racked up a total of three thousand five hundred credits in the first hour.

They had moved on and decided to finish what they started with the basketball hoops, ironically, it wasn't themed.

You get three misses, and for every ball that lands, you get one credit. Sonata had given her turns to Cantata, but she only managed to make one hoop, considering the fact she wasn't even big enough to see the hoops, it was a good shot.

It was up to Aria to finish off the checklist. She had two misses so far, and they were from Sonata asking if she could grab something to eat. She came back about half an hour later with a plate full of fish tacos, she cut about half of them with Cantata.

All the children in the arcade had formed a crowd around Aria, amazed and intrigued by her skill at the games. And her overall giantess stature.

There was a score counter showing exactly how many credits Aria and Sonata earned throughout their stay.

It was currently at 4989.

Suddenly, she was stopped by Toilet Paper who started yelling over the crowd of children.

"Okay! Little Innsmouth is closing, everyone out!"

A collective consensus of boos rang out. Two fish tacos were thrown at his head.

"Hey, Sonata!" Aria called. "What time is it?" she threw another hoop that got her up to 4993.

Sonata looked at the clock and cheered with excitement. "It's nine fifty nine!"

Aria turned and gave a smug look at Toilet Paper. "Sorry, man. I can keep going until ten o clock!"

"Well good luck, cause you only got ten seconds left!" he retorted.

4995.

The kids began cheering again as they started counting down. Sonata was screaming words of encouragement with a mouth full of food.

"Ten!"

She tossed another shot that chose to linger on the rim before sliding in, wasting a good two seconds.

4996.

She paid no mind to the screaming children, she needed to focus on getting that stupid dolphin. It wasn't really about the dolphin at this point. Now it was a matter of pride.

She took another shot

4997.

"Five!"

She grabbed another ball and quickly made it.

4998.

"Four!"

'I got this!' she thought as she took another.

4999.

"Three!"

She threw the last ball, expecting it to land perfectly, but she botched the throw, the ball sliding past her index finger.

"Two!"

It just barely made it to the rim, and now it was sliding around it, refusing to pick a side.

"One!"

Time seemed to slow as Aria could hear her own heartbeat. The ball was tipping back and forth, she could hear the milliseconds ticking. She knew she didn't have much time.

It appeared to tip out of the rim for a second, all hope seemed lost, but suddenly, it tipped back into the net, sliding in and scoring the last credit.

The kids erupted into cheers as the ten hand hit, and the lights in the place turned off.

But not before the score reader read 5000, signaling Aria's victory. She threw her arms into the air and pointed for the disturbing bunny doll.

Sonata was up in a flash, her arms raised up in triumph like Aria's. She bounced toward the gift shelf, and got behind the counter. Reaching upwards, she let her hands sink into the stuffing of the bunny pulling it off the shelf. It felt like a Chinchilla.

She bounced back towards Aria who's arms were still raised in victory.

Toilet Paper was just standing there with a defeated expressions.

Sonata presented the bunny to Aria as if it were a brandished sword. Aria grabbed it by the comedically long ears and swung it right at Toilet Paper. The sudden force took him off his feet and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Aria continued to swing at him while the other children, impressionable and unclouded by morality, joined in.

They were walking back home now. It felt strange, calling that little house 'home,' even though they knew their real one was all the way in another dimension. It had a feeling of longing in it. Sonata was never bothered by the concept, Adagio never thought about it, and Aria... she just kept the memories to herself.

Sonata was hugging the bunny, her face, locked into a sweet smile. Aria was just focusing on getting back. She did let a small smile of smugness come across her, however.

Aria could just barely see Sonata as she passed her by suddenly, her hair whipping forward. Sonata was now standing directly in front of her, blocking Aria's intended path. That sweet little smile was directed right at her.

"What?" Aria asked impatiently.

Sonata didn't say a word, she just held her arms out in front of her and widened them. That bunny was dangling by its ears in Sonata's grasp, still looking at her with Aria's own eye.

Aria groaned. "Come on! You know I hate that mushy crap."

Sonata made a made a motion with her fingers for Aria to come to her. "Please?" she asked. Her eyes were shining.

Aria huffed, but she made the mistake of looking into Sonata's eyes. Feeling her dignity drain away, she held her arms out and widened them. "Fine. Bring it here... just get it over with," she muttered. Her stomach felt hollow.

Before she even knew what hit her, she felt a sudden impact that had her stumbling, she had taken about ten steps back. Then she realized she was holding a warm, squishy object wrapped in a stormy blue sweater.

"Geez! Aren't you supposed to be like eighty pounds?" she asked after regaining her balance from the attack hug.

Sonata's head was resting above her chest, her pony-tail brushing against Aria's nose. It tickled at her, the light strands that were loose. Her stomach felt light, and her face was getting warmer.

Sonata wasn't letting go... She kept this up for what felt like a good minute, blood was flowing through Aria's cheeks. She had her arms wrapped around her lower back. Sonata couldn't really help doing the same considering her size.

"Thank you..." she heard her say.

Aria could hear her heartbeat in her own ears, no doubt Sonata could as well. She said the first thing that came to mind.

"It was... it was no problem."

Aria's chin was resting on her head, and her skin was getting hot. She then pulled away from her.

She looked at Sonata and her eyes were staring directly into her own. She still had that warm smile. Aria was lost in her eyes, the blush only growing. Soon she realized her arms had relaxed and were resting on Sonata's slender hips. She backed off a bit in a spasm as she began to stutter her words.

"We, uh, we should... we should get back home... Dagi will have both our skins if she realizes we were gone," she began a sort of awkward shuffle. Looking down at the ground to hide her blush.

Sonata followed along, Her shoulder brushing against Aria, that warm smile still there; that bunny still dangling in her hand.

"Who's doggy?" a small voice asked from behind the two of them.

They immediately froze in their tracks.

The doors to their home opened. It was silent and dark. A dark figure crept in, it was the third owner of the home, the eldest one, Adagio. She walked in expecting everything to be normal. She turned to the couch.

Aria was on it, either napping or hibernating.

Just like normal.

Sonata was not in sight, no doubt in her room sleeping.

Just like normal...

Not wanting to disturb Aria's rest, she slowly crept up the stairs, every creak making her wince and turn back, making sure she wasn't stirring. If it's anything they deserved at this point... it was some rest. She could use some too. She headed for her room down the hall, unaware of the stuffed animal watching her with a magenta eye.

The door was unaffected by wood rot. She opened the door and instinctively turned to her bed.

She stopped right there.

'Why is there lump in the middle of my bed?' she leaned in, trying to get a clearer look in the dark.

It started stirring.

She slowly lifted her arm, and flipped the light switch.

"WHY IS THERE A CHILD IN THE HOUSE!!"

"Are you mommy number three?"

Author's Note

This story was my first try at something... romantic? I'm not sure. But I liked writing it. This entire thing was written on my phone so no doubt there are errors here and there I missed, I hoped you enjoyed this little story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Help me find any mistakes I may have made, and thanks for reading, I'll see you in the next one.