It was such a strange request.
Pinkie Pie looked out the window as her mind wandered.
She had just slammed her locker shut for the last time that day and was starting to walk towards the exit when the principal called after her. It was quite often that Principal Celestia approached Pinkie—she was a part of basically every social club the school had—but the Principal’s inquiry was a strange one indeed.
Principal Celestia was never one for direct help, but this was pretty vague even for her. She had reminded Pinkie Pie earlier that day to always befriend those who needed it, even if they didn't think that they deserved it.
On the trip home from school that day, Pinkie Pie pondered what the purpose was of the Principal’s request. There was something that the principal wasn’t telling her, and by the sound of it, she wasn't sure what to expect.
All of a sudden, she was jolted out of her thoughts by bang of thunder crackling in the distance. Looking out the window, Pinkie noticed someone across the street leaning against a brick wall. By the way their body was slouched with their arms wrapped around their figure, she had a feeling they’d been out there for some time. Pinkie Pie shot to her feet. She also noted that the figure was most likely female.
In a flash, Pinkie put on her coat and grabbed her umbrella while she raced down the stairs towards the front door. When the door was unlocked and opened, Pinkie Pie peeked out the door to catch the gaze of the figure. Pinkie let out a gasp. She looked the figure over with a raised eyebrow, seeing as she recognized the person, but something in her heart as well as remembrance of what her principal told her won the internal argument. The moment she stepped outside the house the person got up to run.
“Wait!” Pinkie Pie shouted. ”I’m not going to hurt you, Sonata.”
Sonata paused for a second, her lips slightly quivering as she spoke, “R-really?”
Pinkie ran across the street. What Pinkie Pie saw in Sonata’s features caused a tinge of sadness in her heart. She looked at Sonata, in her soaked denim jeans and light pink hooded sweatshirt, cuts and bruises marring her face.
Pinkie’s eyes softened. She knew she had to approach the situation carefully. She didn’t want to scare the girl off after she had just gotten her to stay.
“One thing I’ll definitely give you: my Pinkie Promise™. And I never break those... I swear that I won’t hurt you.”
Sonata started to relax before she brought her arm to her face and lightly sneezed into it. “O-okay,” Sonata whispered as Pinkie pulled her under the umbrella.
Pinkie noticed Sonata’s body shaking slightly and spoke softly, “Let’s get you inside and in dry clothes.”
Sonata nodded meekly, following close to Pinkie as the rain continued to pour. A bright flash caused Sonata to almost jump into Pinkie’s arms.
“Sorry,” Sonata whispered softly moving slightly away only to be pulled back in.
“It’s okay. I know what it’s like to be scared, especially of storms,” Pinkie spoke again, smiling softly as Sonata hesitated to go inside, “It’s alright. You’re safe.”
Sonata breathed in deep, her body still shaking slightly as she stepped inside, turning back to look at Pinkie and ask, “You...you’re being so nice to me. W-why?”
“I will answer your questions soon, but first you should warm up so you don't catch a cold. You can use my shower if you’d like, that should help you warm up.”
She smiled at Sonata, as Pinkie took off her jacket and hung it on a hook in the front coat closet.
“Thank you, but I don’t have anything to change into,” Sonata mumbled softly, as Pinkie Pie motioned for her to take off the soaked hooded sweatshirt.
Sonata finally took off her sweatshirt, revealing a soaked white tank top underneath. Pinkie said nothing when she saw the dark bruises underneath.
“You and my sister Maud look to be about the same size. She won’t mind if I borrow an outfit from her closet, since she rarely wears what I buy her anyways.”
“Thank you. I mean that.” Sonata spoke as her eyes were downcast and she bit her lip.
“Not a problem! Bathroom’s down the hall to the right, towel closet is right outside the bathroom and everything you need is in the pink cabinet over the vanity on the side of the shower. Oh, and just leave your clothes on the edge of the sink, I can wash and dry them afterwards.”
Sonata nodded, not saying another word as she went off towards the bathroom.
Pinkie noted to herself that she’d ask where the bruises came from later. She frowned slightly in faint wonder, and finally went down the hall towards her sister’s room. She walked over to the closet room’s door - half open as usual. Pinkie peered into the closet, looking for something that would fit Sonata’s personality. It took her a moment but she found a blue tank top with a black star symbol and black shorts with a blue star.
“That’ll do nicely,” Pinkie stated to herself, taking the clothes off their respective hangers.
Pinkie hummed a tune as she walked out of her sister’s room, making sure to close the door on her way out, and went to the bathroom. She gave the door a sharp knock, and spoke loud enough for Sonata to hear. “I’m just going to open the door enough to put the clothes on the vanity. Okay?”
Minutes later, Pinkie quietly hummed to herself as she waited for Sonata to finish.
Pinkie realized that Sonata would still be quite cold after the shower, and walked towards the kitchen. She moved about the kitchen until she had all the ingredients to make some hot chocolate. She smiled and then began the process of boiling the water. Walking away from the stove for a moment, Pinkie noted the sound of water being shut off in the bathroom. though Pinkie then heard the shrill whistle coming from the kitchen, and returned to finish the hot chocolate. Carrying the freshly brewed hot chocolate out to the living room, she smiled again, setting the cup down on the end table and proceeded to sit on the couch.
Hearing the door open slightly, Pinkie Pie stated cheerfully, “I made hot chocolate for you... if you’d like some.”
“Pinkie-” was heard softly, as Pinkie turned her head to see Sonata still towel drying her long hair.
The clothes fit Sonata nicely, and Pinkie was pleased to see that her intuition had been correct. Finally Pinkie responded, “Yes Sonata?”
“Thank you, for everything… it really means a lot,” Sonata said softly, and sat beside Pinkie.
They sat in a soft silence after that point, not sure what to say as they knew the other had something important either to say or ask. Sonata smiled lightly, curling her fingers around the handle of the cup and lifting it to her lips. What felt like hours passed before Pinkie finally spoke;
“What happened to you, Sonata? You don’t have to go into extreme detail, but I am here to listen to whatever you need to say.”
“Well…” Sonata’s voice drifted off, before she cringed, her knuckles turning white when she gripped the cup tighter, but she knew she had to tell it so she continued, “A lot of things happened, mostly Aria’s doing, but Adagio was always there to make sure nothing horrible happened, but then she was gone and…”
“You don’t have to continue if you don’t feel comfortable… would you like me to bake you a cake?”
Pinkie didn’t honestly know if that was appropriate in this situation, but she didn’t like seeing that frown on Sonata’s face.
“You...want to bake me a cake?” Sonata spoke softly in surprise, “Why? I haven't done anything good since I got here. What did I do to deserve your kindness?”
Pinkie smiled at her, placing a hand over Sonata’s own. “True... you did do some pretty bad things, but I can see that you want to make up for what you’ve done, and I can help you.”
Sonata looked at Pinkie before her eyes became downcast, sitting in the silence for what seemed like hours. She didn’t know what to think at this point and what lay ahead frightened her, and she wasn't sure how to really react to all this warmth. Before this, her memories were grey and bleak, especially the ones after Adagio left. She had been her rock for the longest time...
“I...I can’t keep this in… Aria, when Adagio was gone, kicked me to the curb, she said...” Sonata’s voice faded slightly as tears snaked down her face, and she wiped them slightly with her arm, “She didn’t care if she ever saw me again. I had ruined everything…. but it was worse than usual. She's usually just distant, she's never been this aggressive.”
“Aggressive?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head in confusion, “What do you mean by aggressive?”
“She—she wasn’t herself, Pinkie,” Sonata stated calmly, “and she’s usually graceful in her walking even with those boots of hers, but I could see a slight stumble in her walk and her speech...”
Sonata’s mind wandered back towards the memory as she told Pinkie everything…
Sonata fell to the ground, wincing as she felt each bruise and cut that had been inflicted on her through various means. She moved backwards towards the door, trying to get to her feet several times as the angry siren before she threw several random objects Sonata had given her for birthdays and other holidays.
“Get out! Just *hic* fucking get out!” Aria slurred at Sonata, moving closer to her.
Finally able to stand on her feet, Sonata backed up a little faster as Aria’s rage grew. Slurred taunts were thrown at her and soon tears were beginning to slip down Sonata’s cheeks.
Then Aria, with a clenched hand held out front at her, picked up the stuffed bunny from their childhood that had been discarded carelessly on the floor.
Sonata ducked to the side when she saw the plushie come flying directly at her. Aria proceeded to yell at Sonata at that point,“Why the fuck are you still here?! *hic* Adagio’s not coming back because as I kept telling you…*hic*… You’re the fucking worst bitch that ever lived!”
Sonata cringed as the slurred words were tossed at her. Aria had never been this cruel, and it scared her. Sonata squeaked as Aria threw out a sloppy punch only barely missing her causing her to stiffen, before whispering, “Aria y—you don’t mean that, you’re not a sadist.”
Aria advanced on her stumbling half the time and when she finally reached Sonata, she gave as hard a shove as her inebriated body could push, causing Sonata to stumble outside and down the steps onto the ground. “Oh like hell don’t I mean it… Get the hell *hic* out of my life and stay out.”
She watched in shock as Aria slammed the door shut. Thus Sonata could only do one thing as she watched the last of her old life slip away;
Cry.
