Miss Cheerilee stood at the front of class. It was the final period of the day.
“Now students, I want all of you to remember that each and everyone of you needs to complete thirty volunteer hours if you want to graduate this summer. I’m only bringing this up because some of you still haven’t put any work into it yet. This can’t wait until the last minute. It’s very important that you keep that in mind.”
Rainbow Dash groaned.
Where was she going to find thirty hours in her already jam-packed schedule?
Before she could voice her opinion, another blue hand shot up amongst the grade twelve students.
“Yes, Sonata?” Cheerilee asked.
“Can we use previous volunteer experience?”
“I would appreciate it if you got fresh hours. However, I don’t see any reason you can’t return to an old position.”
Rainbow Dash noticed that this got a smile from Fluttershy.
“Though may I ask where you’ve volunteered before?” Cheerilee asked.
“Oh, with the Red Cross.”
Cheerliee looked taken aback. “The Red Cross? Why that’s a pretty prestigious institution. What did you do for them?”
“Well I was a nurse in France.”
“A nurse in…France?”
Sonata stared vacantly ahead. “It was 1916 and I was stationed in the small town of Souville. The Battle of Verdun was in full swing by then and everyday a hundred young men were brought before me. I…I tried my best to help as many as I could but… Doctor Redheart told me that we had to obey a triage system. I watched a generation of young men cut down before my eyes.”
The class was stunned silent.
This didn’t last long.
“Why do you even go to this school!” Rainbow shouted.
This stirred Sonata from her stupor. “S-sorry, guys.”
Miss Cheerilee shook her head and reached for a pile of papers.
“Now before you go, I have an assignment.”
There was a collective groan.
Cheerilee ignored it. “I want all of you to break into pairs for this one.”
Everyone started to frantically look around, trying to locate their friends.
Rainbow Dash looked to Sunset. Shit, she picked Twilight.
Ok how about Flutter-…Pinkie got her first.
What about Rarity? Oh no she’s making eye contact with Applejack. Don’t do it. Don’t do it!
The two girls gave each other a small nod.
The contract was sealed.
Rainbow Dash went into panic mode, looking towards increasingly distant friends. Every time she’d find one, their eyes would be on someone else. Before long the pickings became leaner and leaner until finally…
Only Rainbow Dash and Sonata were left without partners.
Oh no.
Miss Cheerilee handed the assignment to a boy in the front of class. He then began to pass it down the line.
“Alright this assignment shouldn’t be too hard. I want each group to pick one historical event, provide a background on why it happened, who were the major players, and what resulted from it. I’ll also expect each group to provide at least three sources.”
There was a murmur amongst the students. This was silenced as Cheerilee held up her hand.
“And remember, Wikipedia does not count as a source.”
The school bell rang.
“Alright class, dismissed,” Cheerilee said. “OH! And these papers will be due two Mondays from now.”
Rainbow Dash looked to her former friends. All of whom looked back at her with varying degrees of guilt.
The seven of them stood up and made their way out of the room.
Once outside, Rainbow wheeled around and stared them down.
“Really?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’m terribly sorry Dash. It’s just Applejack looked at me and I couldn’t bear to tell her no,” Rarity said.
Applejack chuckled. “Look I was going to pick you but then I remembered our last group project together. You’re my best friend but I ain’t going back to Granny with another C+.”
“Ok but seriously. Do you see who I’m stuck with now?”
Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder. “Oh come on, it’s not gonna be that bad.”
“Then why don’t you be her partner?”
“Well I will.” Sunset put on her best poker face. “That is, if Twilight doesn’t mind giving me up.”
Twilight let out a single note laugh. “Sorry Dash, but I’m not letting go of Sunset on this one. She’s my best chance at an A+.”
“That’s not nice, Twilight,” Fluttershy said.
“Come on Shy why don’t you be my-” Rainbow began.
“Sorry Dashie but you’re not stealing my girlfriend,” Pinkie said.
“Ugh, come on girls. Can’t one of you show me a little mercy?”
“Uh, Dash,” Applejack said.
“What?”
“Behind you.”
Rainbow turned around, nearly colliding with Sonata. If she heard any of their discussion it didn’t show.
Sonata waved. “Hey Rainbow. I was wondering if you wanted to be my partner?”
“It isn’t like I have a choice.”
Sonata’s demeanour twitched ever so slightly. Though she kept a brave face and held her awkward smile.
“Well if you want I’m free pretty much any time. So, if you want maybe we can exchange phone numbers, and I don’t know, get together on Monday or something?”
“You’re not getting my cell phone number.”
“Oh…ok. How do you want to stay in contact then?”
“Meet me after class Monday. With a little luck, we can power through this as quickly as possible.”
Sonata frowned. “Yeah, sure. That works for me.”
She kind of just stood there, awkwardly looking at the Rainbooms. There was an intense loneliness in her gaze. It was so prevalent that even Dash could pick up on it.
Still it didn’t make her feel even remotely sympathetic towards Sonata.
“You can go now,” Rainbow said.
“Rainbow, you don’t need to be so rude,” Rarity said.
Sonata shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine. I have stuff to do anyways. I’ll catch you girls later.”
She turned around and walked away.
Monday had been like all those that came before, completely and utterly garbage.
Rainbow’s classes had refused to end and even when they did she still wasn’t free from school. As she now had to look forward to probably another two or three hours of working on a project she didn’t care about next to a girl she didn’t like.
So here she was, sitting in the library, scrolling through her phone, and reading about how much fun everyone else was having.
She didn’t even bother to look when the seat next to her was filled.
“Hey,” Sonata said.
“Hey.”
“How are you doing?”
“I’ve been better.”
There was a pregnant pause.
“Soooo,” Sonata finally said, “do you have any ideas for our project?”
“Nope.”
“Do you want to do some brainstorming?”
“Not really.”
Sonata sighed. “Look, I know you don’t like me but I need your help. I kind of want to get a good mark on this.”
Dash put down her phone. “Alright, let’s write about sports. Something about the history of sports.”
“I don’t really think that’d make a good paper. Sports haven’t really caused any major social changes in history.”
“What are you talking about? Sports are super important.”
“Alright, give me an example of something important caused by sports.”
“In 1975 the Cloudsdale Bashers won the Equestrian Cup. Their victory proved that an expansion team could beat one of the Original Six and paved the way for further growth in the league. Canterlot wouldn’t have a team if it wasn’t for that game.”
Sonata patiently nodded. “And who did they play in 1975?”
“Umm, the Manehatten Cyclones.”
“And how would history have been changed if they won in 1975? Like, would our present world really be any better or worse without that game?”
Rainbow opened her mouth, then froze.
Sonata nodded. “Exactly.”
“Look, are you just going to shoot down my ideas? Because if that’s the case, I’m totally willing to work on this by myself.”
“No, no, no. Look I’m sure we can figure something out. How about...” Sonata snapped her fingers. “We discuss the ban on gladiators in the Late Roman Empire.”
“The… ban on gladiators?”
“You know what gladiators are, right?”
“Yeah. Guys who fought to the death in front of massive crowds.”
“Sometimes they were girls too.”
“Whatever. Just explain how we can get a paper out of this.”
“Well let’s look at a breakdown of the assignment.”
Sonata listed the criteria off on her fingers. “Why did it happen? The rise of an organized pacifist religion paired with a general decline in the empire. Who were the major players? I’m sure a bunch of Roman Emperors. I can name Gaius Roseluck and Fireflius the Great off the top of my head. What were the implications? The rise of chariot racing in the Eastern Roman Empire. This led to the Blue-Green political culture which dominated for the next few centuries.”
Rainbow blinked. “How the hell do you know so much about gladiators?”
Sonata shrugged. “I used to date one.”
Rainbow laughed. “How old are you?”
“Old enough.”
“And why are you still in high school?”
Sonata looked away. “I…never really had a chance to get an education growing up. Plus, I don’t know, it’s not like I have anything better to do right now. My uh, home situation isn’t exactly the best at the moment. So, this gives me a chance to escape for a few hours a day.”
“Whoa.”
Sonata shook her head. “Sorry, that was TMI.” She looked to Dash. “So anyways do you like my idea?”
Honestly, Dash didn’t care.
“Yeah, it sounds pretty cool,” she said.
“Sweet. Now do want to work on this together or just split it up and meet back here when we’ve done our parts?”
“I wouldn’t mind working together.”
Sonata smiled. “Thanks.”
Rainbow turned to her computer and opened google, typing in ‘gladiator ban’. The first thing to pop up was the Wikipedia page for gladiators.
She clicked it. “So, what was he like?”
“Who?”
“The gladiator.”
Sonata smirked. “She was a stone-cold bitch when performing. Though behind the scenes she was a total sweetheart.” She shook her head. “Of course, no one besides me ever saw that side of her. So, her persona was kind of how people judged her.” She looked remorseful. “She didn’t even make it to thirty.”
Rainbow frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was over fifteen hundred years ago.”
“Gods, you have been alive a long time, haven’t you.”
Sonata nodded.
“And have you always been…evil?” Rainbow asked
Sonata sighed. “I wouldn’t exactly phrase it like that but I guess...I guess I have. Tell me Rainbow do you believe in second chances?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t be friends with Sunset if I didn’t.”
“Do you think I deserve a second chance?”
Rainbow opened her mouth but had trouble finding her words.
Sunset was different. Sure, she had been villain but her evilness had happened in such a small area over a pretty short period of time. The sirens were immortal beings. For all she knew these three girls may have had their hand in every terrible moment of human history.
“I don’t know,” Rainbow finally admitted.
Sonata’s expression tightened. “Thank you for your honesty. I won’t hold it against you.”
A silence settled between them. Thankfully the work seemed to justify it as the two searched for reliable sources on the web.
Occasionally Dash looked over, seeing that Sonata was having a far easier time with things. No surprise there. Dash wasn’t exactly known for her academic abilities.
“How many partners have you had?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Sonata continued to stare at her screen. “I usually pick up a new one every couple of decades. I’m a bit more prudish than my sisters. Adagio always seems to be with a guy and Aria is…well she’s Aria. I don’t like getting involved with her.”
Rainbow nodded. “You mentioned that life’s been a bit rough since…”
“Since you shattered our gems?”
“Yeah.”
Sonata nodded. “It hasn’t been easy. Adagio and Aria are constantly bickering over what we should do with ourselves. Though when it really comes down to it they’re just fighting over which way we’ll sit on our asses for the next millennia or two.”
“Oh.”
“I kind of feel like I’m the only one actually doing something with their life at the moment. Hopefully they get over themselves sooner rather than later. It’s breaking my heart watching them like this.”
Rainbow looked at the little clock on the bottom right of her monitor. It was a quarter to six.
She looked to Sonata. “Want to call it a day and meet back here tomorrow?”
Sonata nodded. “Yeah, sure. Same time?”
“Sounds good to me.”
They stood up and Sonata took a step towards the library door.
Rainbow held up a hand. “Hey Sonata?”
She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Hmm?”
“Thanks for your help. Your idea is actually pretty awesome.”
Sonata smiled. “Thanks Rainbow. See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, catch ya later.”
On Tuesday, Rainbow Dash was in a way better mood to tackle her assignment. Hell, she even felt pretty good about working with Sonata. The girl had turned out to be alright. Well by the standards of a villain anyways.
Her only concern was that Sonata hadn’t been in class today. This was rare, as Rainbow couldn’t remember the last time the siren had been absent.
Thankfully her fears dissipated once she saw Sonata at one of the library’s computers.
Rainbow took the seat beside her. “Sup?”
Sonata clicked out of a tab. “Nothing much. Just found a pretty good source on the first emperor to ban gladiators. I think we could use it.”
“Sweet,” Rainbow said. “By the way I noticed that you weren’t in class today. Are you feeling alright?”
“Not really. I’m feeling kinda shitty today, to be honest.”
Sonata looked like it. She was bundled up in a puffy purple sweater which covered everything above the waist with the exception of her hands and face. Even her face was hard to see as she refused to look at Rainbow.
“You should have called. We could have totally rescheduled,” Rainbow said.
Sonata was focused on her monitor. “I would, but you were pretty against me getting your number.”
Rainbow winced. “Oh, right. Do you want it now?”
“Sure.”
Rainbow pulled out her phone and flipped to the information screen, listing off her number. Sonata saved it onto her own before reading hers to Dash.
“So, what do you have? The flu?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah, something like that.”
There was something Rainbow didn’t like about Sonata’s tone. She’d been ill before and knew for certain that ill people didn’t sound like that. This was something different. Sonata almost sounded… dismissive.
Rainbow cleared her throat. “So, I was talking to my friends and I think we have a pretty solid idea.”
“That’s good.”
That same dismissive tone. What was Sonata hiding?
“So, you must’ve seen some pretty crazy shit in your life. Is there anything that really sticks out?”
“No, not really.”
Rainbow sighed. “What’s the matter Sonata?”
She turned and looked at Dash. “Like I said, I’m sick.”
Rainbow met her gaze.
Holy shit, she didn’t look good. Both of her eyes were dark around the edges. Except Rainbow knew this wasn’t due to illness or exhaustion.
Rainbow was a brawler. She knew the aftermath of a black eye when she saw one.
“Did you get in a fight?” Rainbow asked.
Sonata instantly looked away. “Just leave it alone Dash. We have a project to get through. The sooner I’m out of your hair the better. For the both of us.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Rainbow reached over and grabbed Sonata’s wrist. She flinched, attempting to pull away. Rainbow didn’t allow it. Instead she pulled up Sonata’s sleeve, revealing her bare arm. It was marked with bruises.
“Who did this?” Rainbow asked.
There was a very real frigidness to her voice.
Rainbow let go and in an instant Sonata pulled her arm away, covering it back up.
“Why do you care?” Sonata asked.
“Tell me Sonata!”
“I can handle myself Rainbow. I don’t need you breathing down my neck like some overprotective girlfriend.”
“Do your sisters at least know who’s doing this?”
Sonata sighed. “Of course, they do.”
In an instant Dash realized what was going on.
“Which one did this?”
Sonata was silent for a moment.
“Which one?!” Rainbow repeated.
“Aria.”
That bitch!
Rainbow gritted her teeth.
She was going to kick some serious ass.
“I’m going to kick her fucking ass!” Rainbow growled.
Sonata was taken aback. “Don’t do that.”
Rainbow clenched her hands into fists. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“Well first off, I’m still living with her. So obviously kicking her teeth in won’t do wonders for me.”
Dash grunted and looked away. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
Sonata continued. “And secondly, she would utterly destroy you in a fight.”
“I’d like to see her try.”
“She knows martial arts.”
“So do I.”
“Not as well as she does.”
“Oh yeah. I have a purple belt in karate.”
Sonata snorted. “She invented karate.”
“Oh…” Dash sighed and shook her head. “Why did…why did she do this to you?”
“Because she found out I was doing this project with you. She got upset, called me a traitor, and then well…”
She gestured to herself.
Rainbow looked horrified. “She did this… because of me?”
Sonata nodded. “Aria hates you girls so much. She can hardly even think straight half the time. It’s like…it’s like she’d rather burn her bridges with me than ever try and find peace with what happened.”
“What about Adagio?”
“What about her?” Sonata coolly responded.
“Can’t she stop Aria?”
“Phh, if I can’t stop Aria then I don’t know what Adagio would do. Not that she really has any interest in doing so.”
“What do you mean? You’re her sister.”
“Adagio hasn’t…she hasn’t been herself since we lost our gems. She’s...been drinking…a lot.”
Rainbow groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Sonata sneered. “Welcome to the last year of my life. One of my sisters is barely coherent past noon and the other’s Aria.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For everything? I mean… I’m not sorry that we stopped you girls but… I don’t know. I’m sorry alright. I wish I gave you that second chance.”
Sonata looked genuinely surprised. “Do you mean it?”
“I guess so?”
Sonata frowned. “That isn’t exactly reassuring. Do you forgive me because I actually earned it or do you just feel sorry for me?”
Rainbow shook her head. “I wish I could say you earned it, but I hardly even know you Sonata.”
“It’s not too late to change that.”
Rainbow looked at her. “Do you need somewhere to stay tonight?”
Sonata was silent for a moment, obviously thinking about it. “If…if it isn’t too much to ask for. Yes, I do.”
Rainbow stood up. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“But we haven’t even touched our paper.”
Rainbow snorted. “This assignment can wait. It’s not even due till Monday.”
Sonata nodded. “Alright. What do you want to do then?”
Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you want to hang out?”
“That…that would be nice.”
After school Wednesday, Rainbow Dash and Sonata went to Sugarcube Corner. Apparently, the siren had never been. So, Rainbow, under an oath from Pinkie, decided to take her.
At the moment, Rainbow was shovelling a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth from a very extravagant looking banana split.
Meanwhile Sonata had been far more conservative with her choice, selecting a single slice of velvety chocolate cake.
“I still can’t believe you’ve never been here before. You’ve lived in Canterlot for how long?” Rainbow asked
“We only moved here after we felt your magic. So, not that long.”
“Huh, I didn’t know that.”
“I never told you.”
Sonata looked better than yesterday with some of her marks already beginning to clear. Regardless, she still wore her heavy sweater.
She had even gone to school today. Though Rainbow insisted that they hold off on their assignment for at least another day.
Rainbow gestured with her spoon. “So, how is it?”
Sonata smiled. “It tastes pretty good.”
“What’s your favourite type of food, by the way? I never asked.”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never really had an interest in it before. We uh, didn’t need it until you shattered our gems. I’m not even sure if we need it now.”
She took another bite of cake. “Though better safe than sorry, right?”
“You’ve got to be bullshitting me. What did you live on before?”
“Negative energy.”
“You ate negative energy? Is that common back in Equestria?”
“Oh, plenty of species live off of other’s emotions. If you think we’re bad, you should see the changelings. They’d kill a pony, replicate them, and then drain love from everypony who ever cared about them.”
“That’s really messed up.”
“You’re telling me. At least we didn’t kill ponies.” She waved a hand. “Well directly anyways.”
Rainbow shot her a look. At least she had the decency to look guilty about what she said.
“You’re lucky you’re my friend,” Rainbow said.
“We’re friends?”
“Well I mean, we did have a sleepover.”
“That was a sleepover? I thought those were supposed to be more fun.”
Rainbow snorted. “I’m not really the best at putting these things together. I promise we’ll have more fun tonight.”
Sonata looked away. “Dash…”
“What?”
“I really appreciate what you’re trying to do but I can’t just avoid going home.
“Why not?!”
“Because Aria and Adagio might be awful, awful people but they are still my sisters. I can’t just abandon them.”
“Aria beat the shit out of you, Sonata.”
“You don’t think I realize that?”
There was an edge to her voice and a fury bubbling behind her eyes.
Dash flinched. “Look, I know you can’t avoid them forever but at least stay the week?”
“Literally everything I own is in that house. My computer, make up, most of my money, my music, and oh yeah, pretty much my entire wardrobe. I can’t just keep wearing the same outfit until this blows over.”
“You can borrow my clothes. We’re basically the same size and you can totally rock my colour palette.”
Sonata smirked. “I never thought of you as a woman who knew her colour palettes.”
Rainbow grinned. “I dated Rarity for a month. She rubs off on you pretty quick.”
“Only a month?”
“That isn’t the only thing that can rub off on you pretty quickly. It was probably for the best that we ended things when we did.”
“I can respect that.”
“Good, now stop trying to change the subject. It’d really make me feel better if you stayed the week. If you won’t do it for yourself, or me, then I don’t know… do it for our project?”
“For… the project?”
“Yeah. If we’re under the same roof then we have no excuse putting it off any longer than we already have.”
Sonata nodded, but remained silent.
Please say yes.
Rainbow drummed her fingers against the tabletop, trying her best to stare at anything besides Sonata.
“Fine,” Sonata finally said. “I’ll do it.”
Rainbow grinned. “Great.”
Sonata popped the last bite of cake into her mouth, slowly chewing.
“So, do you want to get going?” she asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
Rainbow Dash quickly shoveled the last few spoonfuls of ice cream into her mouth before standing up.
“Do you want to head back to my place?” Rainbow asked.
Sonata snorted. “Where else would I go?”
“I don’t know. I could take you back to your place. Keep an eye on you while you pack an overnight bag or something.”
“I’m not sure Aria or Adagio would be overly thrilled having you there.”
“Yeah? Well I don’t give a shit about what they think.”
Sonata sighed. “Let’s just head back to your place Dash. We haven’t worked on our project in like two days. I’m getting tired of procrastinating.”
Rainbow nodded. “Sure thing.”
They headed for the door and out onto the street. Sugarcube Corner wasn’t exactly in the busiest part of Canterlot but it was close enough to the downtown core that the sound of honking horns and car engines provided a constant background noise.
“You know,” Sonata said. “We used to own a car.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t really remember. It was black and a pain in the ass to start in the morning. Oh, and we had to use a rag to clear the windshield when it rained. I hated doing that.”
“God, how old was this thing?”
“Well, it was cutting edge stuff when we got it like 80 years ago.”
The conversation hit a lull as they walked through the streets of Canterlot. The neighbourhood they entered wasn’t really inviting, being the kind of place Rainbow’s mother would have warned her to stay away from.
Not that she ever listened to her mother.
“Do…emotions have a taste?” Rainbow asked.
“No, not really. Though they have this like… feeling to them. After ‘eating’ we’d get this boost to our worst traits as if they were amplified by the negative energy.”
“Huh?”
“Like Aria would become way more violent after ‘feeding’ and Adagio became this master manipulator.”
“And yourself?”
“My sense of empathy would just evaporate.”
“Whoa.”.
Sonata nodded. “I should really thank you girls, Rainbow. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have been able to see just how terrible of a person I was.”
Rainbow didn’t know how to respond to that, opting for silence.
“Sure, I’ve most likely lost my immortality but…at least I’ll die a better person then I lived. I just hope the eighty or so years I have left will make up for the two thousand I’ve already had.”
Rainbow was about to speak but a familiar figure rounded a corner across the street.
She was purple, a punk, and a total bitch.
“Shit,” Rainbow said.
Sonata paled. “Fuck, it’s Aria.”
“Maybe if we keep our heads down, she’ll-”
Before Dash could finish, Aria had spotted them and began marching towards them.
She looked pissed.
“There you are!” Aria screamed. “Do you have any idea how worried you’ve made me and Adagio?”
Huh, Dash hadn’t been expecting that.
Clearly neither had Sonata. “Uh… what?”
“You just storm off in the middle of the day and don’t even bother calling to let us know where you’ll be.” Aria firmly placed her hand upon Sonata’s shoulder. “Are you even capable of thinking?”
Dash put herself between them, pushing Aria’s hand away.
“Hey, don’t you dare touch her!” she growled.
Aria sneered. “So, you’re hanging with this loser?”
Dash got right in Aria’s face. “She’s not hanging with me. She’s staying with me after you decided to smack her around.”
Aria’s lip twitched. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Sonata shrunk back.
Rainbow took a step forward, forcing Aria to take one back.
“I saw the bruises, you abusive piece of shit.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Girls, can we please just take a step back and talk about this?” Sonata begged.
Aria reached out and grasped her wrist. “We can talk about this when we get home.”
A level-headed woman would have tried to de-escalate the situation.
A level-headed woman would have used words and not violence.
A level-headed woman wouldn’t have thrown a punch.
No one has ever called Rainbow Dash level-headed.
“I fucking kicked her ass,” Rainbow Dash said.
A cotton ball of Polysporin was dabbed onto one of many cuts, erasing Rainbow’s cocky grin and replacing it with a grimace.
“I watched her kick you repeatedly in the ribs,” Sonata said.
“I had her on the ropes.”
“You landed maybe three punches before she put you on your ass.”
Rainbow dismissively waved her hand. “Details, details.”
The two girls were back in Rainbow’s room. They had taken a rather roundabout way of getting here via climbing a tree. This was done in order to sneak past Rainbow’s parents and clean her wounds before they saw them.
Thankfully, Aria had spared her face from any major disfigurement. So, they at least had something to draw the attention away from her battered and bruised body.
“Why did you do that, Rainbow?” Sonata asked.
“Do what?”
“Get your ass kicked by Aria.”
“Well originally I planned to kick her ass but plans have this way of…changing when you’re in the middle of a fight.”
“Soooo, this was all part of your plan?”
“Yeah, sure. Let’s go with that.”
Sonata rolled her eyes. “Ok, then why did you get in a fight with my sister in the first place?”
Rainbow looked to the side. “I just… saw the way you two looked. You were terrified and she was furious. You’re my friend and I wasn’t about to let her put you through hell again.”
Sonata dropped the cotton ball in the trash.
“You’re using that word again,” she said.
“Which one?”
“You called me your friend.”
“I mean that’s what you are.”
“Why though?”
“Well, we’ve had a sleepover and been on the same side in a fight. That’s pretty much what it took for me and Applejack to be friends. So that’s enough in my books.”
“Why do you want to be my friend?”
Rainbow took a shaky breath. “Sonata, I’m not gonna lie. I was a bit skeptical when we became partners.”
Sonata sighed. “I know… I overheard on Friday.”
Rainbow raised a defensive hand. “Look, since then I’ve learned that you’re actually a pretty cool person. Plus, if being friends with Sunset has shown me anything. It’s that if people are willing to make up for their mistakes then I should be open to giving them a second chance.”
Sonata smiled. “Thanks Dash.”
“No problem. Now let’s have a proper sleepover. Do you want to play some video games? I just bought FIFA 18.”
“FIFA?”
“Yeah, it’s a football game.”
“Oh nice, I love football.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I used to play for a women’s league back in Manehatten. I was actually pretty good.”
“No kidding?”
Sonata frowned. “But then the war came and the league kind of dried up when the factories poached all our talent.”
“Gods damnit Sonata, is there any event in your life which isn’t like a hundred years old?”
Sonata sheepishly grinned. “Look the last couple of decades have been super boring. Plus, I’m still trying to get over my disco phase.”
“You had a disco phase?”
“Regrettably. Let me tell you something Rainbow. This hair was not built for curls.”
Rainbow looked her over, nodded, and then winced at a newfound pain in her neck.
“Yeah, I can imagine that,” she said.
She reached over and grabbed a Playstation controller.
“So, do you want to play?” Rainbow asked.
“Eh, not tonight. We should really be working on our project. We haven’t touched it in two days.”
Rainbow groaned. “Do we have to?”
“Yes, we have to.”
Rainbow tossed the controller aside. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”
Thursday passed with another bout of boring classes. Nothing of value was really learned and to Rainbow Dash it just seemed like a massive waste of her time.
Once the final bell of the day tolled, Sonata and her went back to the library, surfing the web for the last few sources to finish their paper. Yesterday had been incredibly productive and all that was really left was to pad their work with a bit fluff and write up the conclusion.
It was actually a very fascinating read. Though Dash had no doubt that she’d probably forget every detail within a week.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Rainbow said.
“That’s never a good sign.”
“Harr, harr, harr… Anyways, you used to date a gladiator, right?”
“I’ve actually dated a couple.”
“Ok, so you’ve dated a couple gladiators. Did they ever teach you how to fight?”
“It was actually the other way around. I was their trainer.”
“Huh, no kidding?”
“Yeah. No offense to your species Dash, but your ancestors were insane. Me and the girls learned to defend ourselves pretty quickly.”
Dash snorted. “None taken. So, you know how to fight then?”
“I could defend myself.”
“Then why don’t you? You could just walk up to Aria and knock her on her ass.”
Sonata’s smile faded and gaze shifted away from Rainbow. She balled her hands into a pair of tight fists and slammed them down hard on her desk.
“How would that help? How could that possibly make anything better?” she asked.
“For starters, it’d hopefully teach her that you aren’t somebody she can just bully around. You don’t deserve that Sonata. No one does.”
“Rainbow, I’m the only one in that house trying to keep shit together. I know what Aria’s doing isn’t right but…” she sighed. “I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want to lose either of them.”
“Does she really mean that much to you?” Dash asked. “Is she honestly worth keeping around if she’s just going to treat you like this?”
Sonata grunted loudly and relaxed her grip, placing her palms against the desk. Her eyes brimmed with tears when she turned to face Rainbow.
“I…I don’t know Dash. We’ve been together for centuries and she’s never been like this before. I have no idea what to do,” she said.
“There has to be something.”
“Tell me what it is!” Sonata screamed. “If you have the answers then tell me what they are! Because I have no idea!”
Rainbow was silent.
“Well, what are they!?” Sonata asked.
Her voice was loud but wavering, getting the attention of the entire library. Thankfully it was mostly empty.
“I…don’t…I don’t know, Sonata,” Rainbow said. “Have you tried talking to her?”
Sonata shook her head. “She’s never around anymore. Either she’s out of the house doing gods know what or she’s at home looking for a fight. That isn’t exactly the best place to start having this discussion.”
“Maybe take her somewhere public? If she means that much to you, then you need to at least try having this conversation. You have to let her know that what she’s doing isn’t right and that she’ll lose you if she keeps it up.”
Sonata shook her head. “What if she doesn’t listen?”
“Then at least you made the effort.”
There was a pregnant pause as Sonata stared blankly into space.
She eventually nodded. “Where should I take her?”
“I don’t know, maybe the mall?”
Sonata grimly chuckled. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I need. Her freaking out at the mall.”
“Look you asked for my advice but I haven’t been in a situation like this before. All I know is that not talking about it isn’t going to fix anything.”
Sonata nodded. “You’re right. I just…I don’t think I can handle the thought of it not working. I really don’t want to lose them Dash.”
“If she’s really that important to you then I’m sure you’ll get through to her.”
Sonata was silent for a moment, simply staring ahead at her screen. The illusion that she was actually reading was ruined by a lack of scrolling through the webpage.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh gods no, I’ll have enough trouble getting her there without you tagging along. I think Aria made it pretty apparent how she feels about you.”
Rainbow’s rib ached at the memory.
“Yeah, she was pretty expressive about it,” she said.
Sonata nodded. “You’re lucky we were in public. She probably would have killed you if she wasn’t worried about witnesses.”
“I doubt-”
“I’ve seen her do it before.
Rainbow paled. “Oh.”
“If it makes you feel any better. She hasn’t killed anyone in at least a century.”
“I thought sirens didn’t kill?”
“I said we didn’t kill ponies. When we were first teleported to your dimension we were far less graceful in our manipulation. So sometimes mistakes were made and we’d end up having to kill a courtesan or royal guard. Also, there were times when we’d be forced to defend our home from pillaging armies. That wasn’t really a concern back in Equestria, since we lived in the water.”
“You lived in the water?”
Sonata nodded. “Yeah, we were amphibians. The only time we’d ever go on land was to feed on negative emotions.”
“Princess Twilight told me that you can also create negative emotions. Is that true?”
“When we had our gems, but not any more. Well, not through magic anyways. Aria and Adagio are still pretty great at creating misery.”
“Have you ever started a war?”
“I’ve personally started many. Tell me Rainbow, have you heard of Troy?”
“It sounds familiar.”
Sonata smirked. “I was the woman who had an armada of a thousand ships sent to liberate her.”
“That’s… kind of terrible.”
“It was but hey, that’s how we survived. We fed on negative emotions and there just happened to be a lot of those during a war.” She chuckled darkly. “I bet Sunset could never say something like that.”
“I mean she did try to invade a parallel world but still…that’s really fucked up.”
“You’re telling me.”
“So are you going to talk to your sister or…”
Sonata frowned. “I guess I will. It’s not like I have any other choices. Well I mean, any other choices that won’t lead to everyone I care about being ripped apart.”
Dash nodded. “For what it’s worth, I think it’s the right choice.”
Sonata smiled. “Thanks Dash.”
Thank gods it’s Friday. Though it sure didn’t feel like it. Mostly because Rainbow was once again stuck in the school’s library instead of going outside and doing one of a million better things with her time.
On the bright side Sonata was with her. She seemed to be in a better mood, focusing on the project with a laser focus. With some luck, they’d have this thing proofread and printed tonight. That way they’d save themselves from having to work on it over the weekend.
“Soooo,” Rainbow said.
Sonata glanced at her. “So?”
“I noticed that you stayed home last night. How did it go?”
Sonata gave Dash her undivided attention. “It went…good.”
“Good?”
“Yeah it was actually pretty emotional. I started off by confronting Adagio about her…issues. It was like ripping a band-aid off with her. She apologizes almost immediately and then started crying. Of course, when I saw her crying I started crying. So, there we both were crying like a couple of dorks.”
Sonata waved her hand. “Eventually we calmed down enough that I was able to get a coherent sentence out of her. She promised me that she’d never touch another drop of liquor again. We then spent the next half an hour pouring out her stash.”
“Holy shit. All of it?”
“Every last drop, including the stuff she had hidden away.”
“Do you believe her?”
“I believe she’ll make an effort.”
Rainbow nodded. “And what about Aria?”
“Well I went to Adagio first so she could back me up for that conversation. Even though she’d been plastered through most of our…altercations, she could remember enough to be furious. Though I’m guessing a lot of that was aimed at herself for not getting involved sooner.”
“And did Adagio lay down the law for Aria?”
“No, it was strange.”
“Strange how?”
“Well, me and Adagio walked into Aria’s room and I think she just saw the writing on the wall. She must have seen it in our faces or something. They weren’t exactly hard to read. So, she just stood up, walked over, and hugged me.”
“She just hugged you?’
“Yeah and then told me how sorry she was for everything. She explained that she’d been so angry and frustrated since our gems shattered and that I was just…the easiest thing for her to victimize.”
There were tears in Sonata’s eyes. She paused to wipe them away before going on.
“She then asked me if I could ever forgive her,” she said.
“What did you say?”
“I was silent for a moment and looked at her, staring her right in the eyes. I could see it. I could see that she was telling me the truth. She looked so utterly ashamed. Like just completely disgusted with herself. So…I hugged her back and accepted her apology.”
Sonata inhaled deeply as fresh tears marked her cheeks.
“So naturally,” Sonata continued, “she started to cry. Which in turn made Adagio cry. So of course, I started to cry. So, there we all were, sobbing like a bunch of kids.”
Rainbow drew closer to Sonata, draping an arm over her shoulder. Sonata didn’t pull away.
“You mean like you are now?” Rainbow asked.
Sonata chuckled. “Shut up.”
She wiped at her eyes with a palm, clearing away the tears.
“So, it went well?” Rainbow asked.
Sonata nodded. “Very well. It must have taken at least ten minutes for us to calm down. Afterwards we kind of just sat around and talked about what we were going to do with ourselves. It kind of seems like our dreams of getting revenge on Equestria are out the window.”
Rainbow patted her on the shoulder. “Any good ideas?”
Sonata shrugged. “I’ve heard worse. Aria wants to try and get back into music.”
“I thought your voices were shot?”
“Not entirely. All the gems did was magically enhance them. It allowed us to sing when we really weren’t that good at it.”
“So, Aria can still sing?”
“Yeah but she’s completely garbage at it.” She winced. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“But yes, she can still sing. She’ll just need to practice for once.”
“Do you think she can do it?”
“She seemed pretty serious about it. Ask me again in a couple months.”
“So, are you three staying in town?”
“I managed to get them to stay. I wanted to finish high school, since it’s really helped me mellow out. You know?”
Rainbow nodded. “That’s good to hear. I didn’t think the others would want to stick around.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. Those two hate this town and you seven to an unhealthy degree. Still I was able to play my cards right. So, we’re staying until I at least graduate.”
Sonata pulled away from Rainbow, smiling softly.
“I mean, I did just get a friend after all. I don’t want to throw that away,” she said.
She then turned her attention to the monitor. “Now let’s finish this project. I have plans this weekend.”
Rainbow grinned. “Sounds good to me.”
Two weeks later, Rainbow Dash and Sonata sat side by side in history class, waiting patiently for Ms. Cheerilee to hand out the recently graded papers. The mood in the room was tense, with few students looking thrilled to see their marks.
Cheerilee moved somberly through the room, robbing happiness with each returned paper. Clearly there were very few students who seemed actually pleased with their marks. In fact, Rainbow could only spot two, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer.
No surprise there, really.
Finally, Cheerilee came over to Rainbow Dash and Sonata. She rifled through the final few papers in her hand, offering one to the two of them.
Oddly there were butterflies in Rainbow’s stomach. She never got nervous with assignments. What made her suddenly care?
Oh no, was she becoming a nerd?
Cheerilee smiled and nodded curtly before moving on.
Rainbow turned the assignment over and sighed in relief. Written in the corner, with a bold red ink, was a big fat ‘B+’.
Sonata leaned over, looking at the paper.
“Not bad,” she said.
Rainbow nodded. “Not bad at all.”
Sonata smiled. “Wanna go to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate?”
“Yeah, sure. Want the girls to tag along?”
“Of course. We’re all friends here.”
Author's Note
Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did enjoy it please leave a like and a comment since those both give me feedback on my work and also help generate heat to get me on the front page.