For as long as Sonata Dusk could remember, music had been a part of her life. She may not have been a pony or had a cutie mark to prove it, but music had been her talent, her magic, and, in essence, a part of her very soul. The day that Sunset Shimmer and her friends had stripped it away from her, she knew that she’d been robbed of an integral part of her very being. Just hearing music while at work had turned her once passion into daily torment.

Worse than that, worse than being condemned to a slow death of magical starvation, she’d been robbed of her sisters. Throughout the years spent on this world, Aria Blaze and Adagio Dazzle had been the two constants in her life. Aria, ever the epitome of brazen boldness, was there for her when she could not speak for herself, and when she could not think for herself, there was Adagio to fill in the airheaded blanks. In return, she was their innocence and kept their hopes up when they were but urchins on the Equestrian streets, barely scraping by. As a group, they were unstoppable, but without their magic and condemned to death, her sisters had abandoned her, choosing to die alone.

She resented Sunset and the others for the longest time, and why shouldn’t she have? The pony-turned high-schooler had taken everything from her—magic, income, family, life, even her home—and now she could barely afford to feed herself and still make rent in her new, awful apartment. If anyone had the right to hate her, it was Sonata, right?

In spite of it all, she simply couldn’t bring herself to hate. Aria and Adagio might have no issue hating the girl, but not Sonata. Disproportionate though it might be, everything she now faced was her karmic retribution for the crimes of her and sisters. This she believed with all her being. She’d burned her bridges, and her innocence was gone. There was nothing left worth saving. Sonata Dusk had resigned herself to her fate.

When this new pony—this Silver Script—came into her life, she was nothing, if not confused. In Sonata, she saw something that the supposed Elements of Harmony had not: something worth saving. Her crimes, horrible though they were, were not so horrible that she deserved to die. She was willing to treat her like just another human being, deserving of dignity and respect. In her actions, she felt all of this, but she felt more than that; she felt a mother’s warmth and hope.

So here Sonata was, sitting in a cafe on a Friday morning, waiting for the pony who promised her life back.

Part of her told her not to expect any miracles. Even now, the black seed of cynicism, nourished by months of abuse, whispered darkly in her ear. It promised the woman would either let her down, else she expected something out of her. There were worse things in store, of course. She probably just wanted to build her up before tearing her down spectacularly. That’s what the people of this world did, after all.

She’s not like these people, though! she screamed internally as she stared at the table in front of her. She didn’t have to help me or give me one of those potions to keep me going a bit longer, but she did.

She looked from her arms, folded atop the table, to her waistline. In addition to patching up all her bruises, she’d given Sonata a draught of something that had bolstered her magic reserves, and had actually allowed her to put on a few more pounds in the short time since they’d last seen one another. One didn’t just waste such a valuable asset on someone they knew had nothing to offer in return if they were hoping to later abuse them. That was too much like... it was too much like what she might have done when she was with her sisters.

Admittedly, Sonata knew very little about the pony-turned woman, but even without much of her empathic siren abilities, she could feel that Silver Script meant her no harm. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Silver had her dark side, but it’d probably take a lot to bring her to doing something evil. Now that’s a scary thought. Just the memory of her descending upon Flash Sentry like an avenging angel without the bloodlust was enough to elicit a shiver from the siren; how scary a villain would she be?

The touch of a hand on her shoulder roused her from thoughts. “Did I keep you waiting long?” came Silver Script’s soft greeting moments later. “Sorry I’m late.”

Glanced up at the gray woman from the corner of her eye, but shook her head. “If you hadn’t done this for me, the only thing I’d have been waiting for...” Sonata cut off that unpleasant thought, choosing instead to take in the changes in Silver’s appearance since last they’d spoken.

Her hair, formerly two-toned with streaks of blonde interspersed with silvery white locks, was now a gleaming silver that came down to her shoulders, though the fringes were tucked out of her eyes. That was another thing that Sonata quickly took note of: she could see both of the woman’s eyes, including the unnervingly blood-red one. Though the color difference caught her off guard, it was the brown frames she wore in place of the eye patch that was surprising. If she could see with both eyes, why did she wear an eye patch to begin with?

Then there was her outfit...

“Are you going to some sort of party or something?” Sonata blurted out.

Silver looked down at her turtleneck dress and absently plucked at her green shawl. “Oh, this.” She shrugged and took a seat across from Sonata, placing a steaming mug of coffee down as she sat. “I’m chaperoning a semi-formal dance this evening, so I wanted to look nice.” The corner of her mouth perked up for a moment, and for a second Sonata saw anticipation in those eyes. “Besides, if something goes down, I gotta look stylish while I’m kickin’ arse.”

The younger woman’s eyebrow arched upwards, but she didn’t want to go in the direction of possible fights. After everything that had ever happened with Starswirl, Sunset Shimmer, and the aftermath of the Battle of the Bands, she didn’t really want anything to do with fighting. Instead, she glanced in the direction of Silver’s hip, where her bag of holding would have been, had she been wearing it.

“So, you said it was done, right?” she asked, unconsciously licking her teeth, even as her free hand reached for the empty collar at her neck. “Like, I can start wearing it and stop starving to death?”

Silver Script nodded, though her eyes quickly broke contact. “Yeah, it’s done,” she said, sliding a fist-sized amethyst out of her black sleeve. Placing it on the table, she slid it across to Sonata.

“It’s purple,” Sonata deadpanned, narrowing her eyes at it, as though the color offended her. She picked it up, and she could immediately feel it interacting with the ambient magics around it, including a fair trickle of emotional energy, despite the lack of conflict around them. There was no accusation in her next words, but she still caught the alchemist’s wince. “What did you do to it?”

Scooping up her mug of coffee, Silver leaned back in her seat and looked up at the ceiling. “I gave you a chance at a better life,” she answered with a sigh as she sipped her beverage. Setting down the beverage, she locked eyes with Sonata once more. “You’re a good kid, Sonata Dusk; sure, you and your sisters did some pretty awful shit, but from where I stand, most of it was done in order to keep yourselves sheltered and fed. I might not approve of the method, but you girls didn’t have a lot to work with in the first place.

“You feed on the energy born of conflict and negative emotions,” she explained in a flat voice, “and while it can be plentiful in this human world, it’s also far more risky to collect. Too little effort, and you don’t get near enough strife to replenish whatever you spend influencing everyone, but too much, and you might find yourself in the middle of a full-on riot, right? You could even go live in a rough neighborhood or a war zone, but there’d be even more risks there.”

A nod from Sonata prodded her to continue. “I treated your pendant with changeling DNA. Like you sirens, they feed on emotional energy, but on the energy generated by positive motions.” Silver leaned forward and clasped her hands around her coffee mug. “With this, you don’t need to sow discontent wherever you go. And if you really wanna gorge yourself, you’ll probably find adoration to be far more filling than making people bicker ever did.”

Turning the gemstone over in her dainty blue fingers, Sonata frowned. What the woman had done disgusted her on the most instinctual level. Wasn’t she basically forcing Sonata to ‘be good’ for her own good? Had she taken away her freedom of choice? Mentally, she slapped herself. Manipulation was what the sirens did best—Sonata and her sisters were guilty of similar crimes—and Silver had pulled a masterful con over on her. Why, then, did she not feel angry?

The answer hit her like a tonne of bricks. For Sonata, none of it had ever been about the power or manipulating people; the thrill she’d gotten out of everything had always come from singing with her sisters, and knowing people loved her voice. All Silver had really done was given her back a part of herself and made it so she didn’t have to do awful things to get the most out of life.

Her sisters might not see it exactly her way, and maybe they’d never feel the way she did, but maybe Silver was right. Maybe they didn’t have to make everyone love them and fight. Could making music really be enough? It just might be.

Sonata smiled softly, tears rimming her eyes as she carefully fitted the stone into the clasp of her collar. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for giving me my voice, my magic, and my hope back.”

Finishing her mug of coffee, Silver nodded and rose from her seat. “Don’t mention it, please,” she responded in an uncomfortable tone. “If you can convince the other two to consent and hand off a fragment of their old focus, I’d be glad to do the same for them.” She started towards the cafe’s exit, but paused to look back at her. “Oh, while I think of it, I think that Vinyl Scratch girl was looking for someone to do a vocal track for some mix she’s planning on using at tonight’s dance. Maybe give her a call. Pretty sure you can find the number on her social media page.”

~ 10 ~

I don’t know why I chose to give her that little bit of information, I think to myself as I walk back to Sunset’s apartment. If she has to show up at the dance, people could make a fuss, and the blame might be shifted towards me. That is something I definitely don’t want; Celestia and Luna’s trust for me is in the red to begin with; sacking one of their students kinda does that.

Then again, the Equestrian Vinyl seemed pretty chill that one time I hired her for Pura’s cuteceñera, so as long as they get along, they’ll probably be able to work something out. Besides, that’s only if Sonata even contacts her. She might just want some time to herself so she can come to terms with the fact that she’s not going to die of mana deprivation, or she could be on the phone with one of her sisters right now, breaking the good news.

I guess I just figured, being a singer and all, she might like to have a chance to sing again, I mentally answer my previous question as I cut through an alley to get to Sunset’s apartment building. It’d be like if I lost my wings, and then someone gave me the chance to fly again—not that I couldn’t do that myself.

A chill runs down my spine as I feel a presence appear behind me. “How adorable, you found a pet...” There’s an unreal quality to the voice, as though it is both simultaneously there and not there. It’s vaguely familiar, but the way her words are muffled prevents me putting my finger on where I heard it before. “Ah yes, the little dead girl is not so dead; my, you have been busy...”

“Who are you? What do you want?” I demand, spinning to face the speaker. Curiously, there is nobody there. The only sign that anyone has been here at all is a fresh carving on the alley wall: three slashes that would almost resemble an anarchy sign, had they not been angled to resemble an angled X with a slash through the top. Like the voice, the marking too is familiar, but I simply could not place it. “Quit fucking around and show yourself.”

But nobody comes.

“You have a chance to make this right, you know,” comes the whisper right behind my ear.

I spin on my feet, throwing all of my weight into an elbow blow that never connects. Like the previous attempts to discern my opponent, I’m met with an empty alley, spinning off-balance. There is neither hide nor hair of my quarry, leaving me wondering if I’m not the prey.

There’s just the quietest puff of displaced air that reminds me very much of a certain unicorn’s signature spell in the direction of the alley mouth. As I regain my balance, I just catch sight of someone slipping around the corner. By the time I follow suit, however, they’re gone—lost in the crowd.

“All you have to do is kill Twilight Sparkle and all this will stop,” the woman’s voice whispers in my ear, chilling my blood to near absolute zero temperatures. “You tried once before with not even half the options you have now, and would have succeeded had someone not intervened. She’s just a girl on the cusp of wielding power she doesn’t understand. Killing her now will save your daughters from your hubris...”

I stand stock-still, my nails biting into my palms from how tightly my hands are clenched. People pass me by, shooting me concerned glances. Then again, I imagine I probably look like I’ve seen a ghost... one that I may possibly wish to kill.

Who are they, though? I ponder, stepping back into the alley to observe the marking. There are only seven people here who even know I nearly killed someone who would be one of my dearest friend-slash-mentors. I don’t think Sunset or the others are pissed about Twilight’s role in the friendship games enough to kill her, or else they wouldn’t even associate with her. I don’t think Twi is about to ask to commit suicide by Silver after confiding in me like that in her tent.

Another thought occurs to me. What if I’m just losing my fucking mind? Wouldn’t that just be perfect; the world here is on the verge of being eaten by some monstrous entity beyond mortal comprehension, and I’m losing my shit. What are we, fighting Cthulhu?

With a sigh, I shake my head and withdraw my phone from my sleeve and snap a photo of the marking. It’s a simple few motions to send it off to Sunset, but it’s a bit harder to come up with an explanation of what just happened.

There’s a scant few moments where I wonder if she’s not in the shower, but shortly after I get ready to shut off the display and make my way back to her apartment, her reply appears in the SMS window.

Things will get very bad quickly if a third party gets involved tonight. There’s no ifs ands or buts about it. If it’s like Sunset says, and we’re just fighting off little spider monsters that give the trites from Doom a run for their money, it should be a cakewalk tonight. They managed just fine without the control they have now, but if the timeline is changing because of us, we might not be able to keep the record of zero casualties for this event.

Do I have everything I need for combat stims? I ask myself, going over a mental checklist of the ingredients necessary to make the stuff. Normally, I wouldn’t be allowed to make them without crown oversight, but I want to give us every advantage we can tonight, just to be on the safe side.

~ 10 ~

After Silver Script left, Sonata was beside herself with what to do. Even now, she could feel the magic and, foreign though it was, positive energy around her. She had to admit, the good vibes coming from the couple in the booth behind her felt amazing after almost a year of being unable to feed; conflict had always brought an adrenaline rush that made her feel unstoppable in that moment, but love was... it was like being wrapped up in a warm blanket in front of a fire, being told she never had to worry again.

Would Aria or Adagio enjoy this feeling? If they weren’t technically changelings after Silver’s little treatment, couldn’t they feasibly subsist entirely off each other? Admittedly, she’d have quite a job getting them all together again, just to try... and that was if she could even convince them to accept Silver’s help.

A soft sigh escaped her throat as she imagined getting together with her sisters again and just singing for the sake of singing. Even as she wondered if the ability to sing again would be as enticing for them as it was for her, she unconsciously started the breathy vocalizations that she’d done in concert with Aria while encouraging the students of CHS to go for a battle of the bands.

Sonata realized what she was doing quickly enough, and realized that Silver’s efforts had done what she’d promised; she had her voice back and it even sounded better than ever. She chanced a look around the cafe, and to her alarm found all eyes were on her. Yet, none of her accidental crowd looked like they were about to gang up on her and lynch her. In fact, many of them were smiling, and not in that derisive way the CHS students who tormented her often did.

She continued on only a few minutes more before she she forced herself to stop, and when she did, she was greeted not with negativity, but warmth and applause that brought even more warmth to her than the love she’d sampled mere moments before. They liked her singing, and not because she was using magic to make them like it—they liked her for her!

Tears rimmed her eyes, and threatened to spill down her cheeks before she quickly mopped them up with her sleeve. “Thank you,” she cried, not just to the crowd, but to Silver Script as well. “Thank you so much.”

Author's Note

Took a bit longer than I'd have liked to finish this, and I mostly blame Overwatch. Junkrat husbando and so many waifus, y'know?

In all seriousness though, the next two or so chapters are ones I've been looking forward to writing for a long time now, and it will be great to finally work on them. That being said, we're coming to the end of the first story arc. Though it might have seemed like I was building up to the date of the 'bad future' at the start, and I still kind of am, everything has been leading up to this.

As many of you have probably already figured out, the Silver from the bad future is now in the present day. Has she been corrupted by the enemy and is on the bad 'team' now? Or is she working to her own ends? Find out next time on Silver Script Z.

What? I need to stop using that schtick?

Make me.