Early morning sunrises were the bane of Aria Blaze’s existence. The way heat flooded the senses: stinging at the eyes with blinding white; coaxing her-- nay, dragging her-- from the previously comfortable confines of her bed. Winter wasn’t as bad, she’d sighed into a bowl of cereal, after Adagio had snapped at her for “complaining just for the sake of complaining”, and she was telling the truth. In the winter, the sunrise was pushed back by the rolling white clouds; hidden by the cold; wrapped in a blanket of its own.
But, unfortunately, it wasn’t winter. It was the middle of July, and with a frustrated grumble, Aria peeled back her sheets and slinked out of bed, before her blankets were rendered a battlezone between comfort and sweat.
She assumed that with the folded laundry laid across the back of the couch and how the dishes had been piled neatly on the sinks drying rack, that Adagio had already left for work. There were no signs of activity in the living room-- no blaring cartoons, no loud, cackling laughter followed by a sputtered cough as Sonata tried to beat the cereal that had found itself in her windpipe, out of her windpipe-- which could only mean that the blunette was still sound asleep. Or, alternatively, had already left the house, too. It was Saturday afterall.
Running a lazy hand through her hair, Aria curled a lock behind her ear and wandered over to the cupboards to pull out a bowl. She then moved to the cereal cupboard, ran her finger along the boxes with a hum, and pulled out one of the many chocolate-flavoured wheat cereals she had begged Adagio to buy. After absolutely drenching her breakfast in milk, the purple haired teen wandered into the living room to plop herself down on the couch and flipped on the TV.
A yawn from behind her caught her attention but she paid it no mind, instead shovelling a spoonful of wheat and milk into her mouth-- the chocolate flavouring already beginning to dye the white, brown.
“‘Morning, Aria,” Sonata shuffled into the room, still wrapped in a thin blanket. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to rid herself of the sleep that kept her eyelids heavy, and resolved to plop herself down next to the other girl, snuggling into her side.
Aria let out a grunt. “I’m trying to eat.”
“That’s nice.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Can I have some?”
“Get your own.”
“Why, when I could just eat some of yours?”
Aria let out a huff and returned the spoon to the bowl and, careful not to spill any, held it up to Sonata’s mouth in order for her to eat. With an audible “Aaaaaaaah”, she leaned forward and munched on the cereal before returning her head to its place against Aria’s ribs. The older girl huffed and did her best to accommodate her girlfriend, despite the inconvenience. She’d gotten used to it by now.
“If you’re still tired go back to bed, idiot.”
“I heard you were up. You never sleep with me anymore.”
Aria, once again, rolled her eyes. “That’s because you’re a space heater. It’s bad enough how hot it gets here already, without adding you into the mix.”
“So you’re saying I’m hot?”
“Not what I said.”
“I’ll take it anyway.”
“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes, “whatever.”
Usually their daily routine would consist of them both wrapped up in bed, a mess of limbs beneath the sheets as Sonata buried herself in the older girl’s chest-- arms in a vice grip around Aria’s sides as she, in turn, did her best to return the contact. Physical displays of affection had never really been within Aria’s comfort zone, but even still she had to admit, there was just something primal about how she needed to keep the other girl close. How she needed to cradle her head in the curve of her elbow. How she needed to stroke through her hair-- her long, blue tresses that smelled of blueberries and vanilla. She’d never let the other girl know that, of course.
“Is Adagio at work?”
“No, she’s hiding behind the couch.”
“You don’t need to be facetious.”
Aria quirked a brow. “Isn’t that quite a big word for you? Where’d you learn that?”
“Family fortunes.”
“That checks out.”
Aria collected the remaining chocolate hoops onto her spoon, the metal tinking against ceramic, before shoveling the rest into her mouth. She chewed, savouring the flavour, and set her spoon on the coffee table across from her so as to slurp up the chocolate milk that still remained in the bowl. With a satisfied puff of breath, Aria placed her spoon inside her bowl and set it down on the table, kicking up her legs and resting her feet beside it. Sonata then moved to rest her head in the other girls lap, pulling her blanket over her shoulders and closing her eyes as Aria instinctively began tracing her fingers through the wefts of blue hair.
Sonata gave a satisfied hum and let out a deep exhale through her nose. Keeping her eyes closed, she drew circles against the exposed skin of Aria’s thigh, “Can we do something today?”
“Video games?”
Sonata pouted. “I mean can we go outside. You’ve been cooped up in the house all week.”
“Uh, yeah,” Aria rolled her eyes, “it’s hot as balls outside.”
“Okay then let’s go swimming.”
The older girl scoffed. “You’ve got good jokes.”
Sonata sighed and pushed herself to sit upright. “I mean it. It’s been so long since we went on a date. Can I take you out?”
The laugh track that resounded in the background was almost comical in timing. Aria supposed that was the point; she just hadn’t been aware that she was the star of this sitcom. “You?” She piqued a brow, “take me out? Like I said, Nat,” she flicked the younger girl’s nose, “you’ve got good jokes.”
“Hey-- ouch!” Sonata winced, rubbing her nose irritably before jabbing Aria in the arm. “I’m being serious.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
The bluenette pouted and huffed, “Please?”
Aria was more than familiar with Sonata’s puppy-dog-eyes routine by now to know that caving in already would save them both time and effort. What was the worst that could happen, after all? She thought, giving a small sigh and ruffling the other girls hair. “Alright, fine. You win.”
“Yay!” The younger girl beamed, pumping a fist into the air before she leaned forward to peck Aria on the cheek. “You wont regret it, I promise!” The purple haired siren watched, then, as Sonata scrambled to her feet, tripping over her blanket as she rose and crashed onto the living room floor with a loud “Oomph.” She didn’t miss as beat as she pushed herself to her feet, dusted herself off, and continued on in her excited scramble down the hall to get herself dressed for the day.
Aria sighed warily and leaned back against the couch, taking a moment to catch her breath. Starswirl knew what the other girl had in store for her, and she knew fine well she had to be prepared.
Thwump.
Her eyes opened to glance around for the sound. Noticing a missing pile of clothes from the back of the couch, she peered over the side to see they had fallen to the floor in disarray. “Oh. Oops.”
“Remind me… why are we here again?” Aria hadn’t been aware just how high she could raise her brow, the question first being posed once they had left the house, only for Sonata to immediately complain about how heavy her backpack was and pass it off to the taller girl. It was then repeated when the bluenette adamantly paid for their bus fair, insisting that she be the one to pay for their activities for the day; and once again reiterated as they stood in the foyer to Canterlot City Mall.
Sonata huffed and pushed up the brim of her cap with a finger to get a better look at Aria before she took her arm and pulled her along. “We’re getting ice cream, silly! You kept saying how you were too hot.”
“Yes, but tell me why we had come all the way here when we already had ice cream back at the house.”
“Because, grumpy pants, I wanted to take you on a date.”
Aria rolled her eyes, her cheeks warming-- completely the sun’s fault; totally the sun’s fault. “Whatever. Where did you even get the money for this anyway?”
“That isn’t important.” Sonata paused and leaned up on the balls of her feet to peek over the crowds of teens that fed into the food court of the large mall, humming lightly before beaming with a grin. “Oh, oh! There it is!” Without even a moment’s hesitation, she was off again, trailing Aria behind her.
The older siren grumbled in a huff and yanked the bluenette’s arm roughly, forcing her to stop. “I’m not a rag doll. Here,” she offered up her hand with a frown, “hand. Now.” Sonata only continued to hum as Aria instead began to lead the way, the smaller girl intertwining their fingers and giving a light squeeze.
The Sweetie Swirl ice cream shop had become somewhat of a routine hang-out for the three sirens after their humiliating defeat at the battle of the bands. They had gone there originally in search of rest; a break; somewhere to hang their heads in shame, seeing as how they were no longer allowed back at Sugar Cube corner. The familiar, chilling breeze as the two teens entered the store’s threshold was like a merciful embrace, saving them from the waves of summer heat. Aria was only made even more painfully aware of the sweat that clung to her flesh, holding the fabric of her shirt against her back, and she shuddered at the goosebumps that raised across her skin.
The characteristically quiet store was now packed; chattering teens laughing and hollering over bowls of deliciously sweet, sprinkle-topped ice cream. Other’s slurped up the remnants of whipped cream that settled at the bottom of their milkshake glasses; Aria could only squint up at the overhead menu board, the sun outside doing a number on her eyes.
“Did they add new flavours?” She asked out loud, “Well, I guess it is summer,” she finished in a mumble.
“Ohhh!” Sonata practically sing-songed, tugging at Aria’s arm as she pointed with the other, “they have bubblegum flavor!”
“That’s really awesome, Sonata. I’m ecstatic.”
“Me too!”
“Uh huh,” Aria rolled her eyes, allowing themselves to be pulled along as the line began to move. She squinted once more, trying to discern the gold-print letters against the white, plastic, menus above. Why did they make the writing so small? Why couldn’t they have made the lettering color clearer? Who designed this stupid store anyway? It was way too bright in here, especially in the summer. Aria blinked painfully, rubbing at her eyes with her thumb and index finger as the sunlight finally won.
Sonata glanced back at her, bright smile immediately faltering as she gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “You okay? Do you have a headache?” She asked softly, stroking her arm, trying her best to not be insistent. “If you want you can go grab us a seat and I can get our orders?”
Aria gathered her brows and blinked behind her hand, trying to adjust to the dimmer lighting. Once her eyes stopped stinging she returned Sonata’s squeeze, stroked the back of her hand with her thumb, and offered up a small nod. “You know what I like. Pick for me?”
“Sherbet-Sugar Supreme coming right up,” Sonata grinned.
“Over my dead body,” Aria rolled her eyes, yet again, before slipping from Sonata’s grasp and drifting past the foot-tapping customer’s in the line behind them.
The purple-haired teen allowed herself to stand under the air condition vent for a moment, shielding her eyes from the chilled rush of air with her hand as she squinted towards the-- equally as packed-- food court. She scanned the crowd thoroughly, trying to spot any space or area that seemed to thin out, to no avail.
Aria straightened herself out and slid her hands into her pockets as she stepped out of the parlor to get a better look. Finally, she sighed, spotting a two-person table on the outskirts of the food court. She crossed the distance swiftly and coolly, her narrowed eyes and furrowed brows focused on nothing else but the chair she was determined to set herself down in. Anyone who dared try and snatch it from her? She would simply have to destroy them. With or without her magic, it would be a piece of cake. Afterall, she had become rather handy with her fists. No pun intended. Okay, a little pun intended.
She slipped off Sonata’s backpack with a relieved huff of breath, taking a few seconds to roll her shoulders, rubbing at her tense muscles with the pads of her fingers before finally pulling out her chair. The dull metallic hum resonated against her hand before she moved to sit, thankful that the table was drowned in shade by the large, artificial leaves of the plastic palm trees that encircled the Mall’s sizeable food court.
Aria hunched forward, drawing her shoulders inward to make herself smaller, before stretching out fully, using her chair as a tool. She raised her arms, hooked her fingers, then turned her palms upward as she tilted her head to the right. Two pops. Then to the left. Four pops. She sighed.
“Jeeze, why the hell am I so stiff?” she mumbled, pulling her arm across her chest to pop her shoulder with a small wince.
“It’s because you’re up all night on your computer or playing video games,” Sonata hummed through her spoonful of ice-cream, skipping toward the table with two small cups on hand. Placing Aria’s mint and chocolate-swirl ice cream in front of her before moving to take her own seat, she dug a plastic spoon into her own ice cream. “I hate to sound like Adagio, but you have really bad posture, Aria.”
The purple haired girl grumbled under her voice, collecting her cup and mixing her ice cream into a smoothed out gloop. “Whatever.”
Sonata giggled and rested her elbow on the table as she held her cheek in her palm, taking another scoop of bubblegum into her mouth. She hummed, dug her spoon into her cup, and smiled.
“What is it?”
“Huh?”
Aria frowned, fixing her brows into a tensed line. “You’re staring at me. Do I have something on my face?”
“Oh--” Sonata shook her head and swayed a little, “nope. I just think you look really pretty today.”
Aria swallowed the sheepish lump in her throat as she nibbled at her lip, flustered. “Yeah, well,” she was content with staring deeply into her melted, green lumps, “whatever.”
With a giggle, Sonata dipped her finger into her own tub, collecting a small dollop of blue ice cream before she leaned across the table to boop the other girl on the nose. “Now you have something on your face.”
“In your face!” Aria jeered, pumping her fists into the air as Sonata’s shoulders sagged under the weight of her frown. “How many is that in a row, now? Seven-- no… eight games I’ve beaten you at?”
The blunette scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest with a deep pout. “This isn’t fair. We’re only playing games you’re good at!”
“Yeah, Nat,” she grinned, raising her skee-ball to her eye to line it up properly, tongue sticking out in concentration, “and I’m absolutely mopping the floor with you.”
Aria brought her arm back to swing and released the ball. Both girls watched as it sailed up the lane in a straight, unwavering line, eyes never leaving the small orb until it sunk into the hole in the game’s centre, causing Aria to let out another cheer. “Yes! Highscore.”
Despite the bitterness of defeat, Sonata allowed her pout to spread into a smile as she watched Aria gather her endless trail of tickets from the skee-ball machine, trying her best to fold them neatly, so as to add them to the rest of her large collection. “What would you want to play next? I think they have bumper cars.”
“Seriously?” the purple-haired siren’s brows raised in delight, her face almost glowing in a grin. “Well, I already trounced you at air hockey. You’re absolutely sure you want me to beat your ass at bumper cars, too?”
“You can’t--” Sonata wrinkled her brows, her face contorting with confusion. “You can’t win at bumper cars… right?”
“You can win at anything, Sonata,” Aria snickered, “so long as you’re good enough at it.” Having given up trying to be orderly with her tickets, she resigned to shove her collection into Sonata’s back-pack, pulling the smaller stacks from her back pockets and tossing them in, too.
“Well?”
“Hm?” Sonata teetered on her heels a bit before beaming at Aria’s offered hand, taking it gleefully and intertwining their fingers.
Aria led her around for a few moments, and she clung to the other girl’s arm as they moved past other arcade-goers, crowded around machines. She hummed lightly and watched as her girlfriend tried to navigate her way around the large arcade-- each row of games acting like a labyrinth the further in they went. Sonata gave Aria’s arm a light squeeze to garner her attention and tugged on her sleeve when she still didn’t look.
“What?”
The smaller girl raised herself onto the tips of her toes and pointed off into the far corners of the building, “I’m pretty sure they’re over near the back.” She had to raise her voice, due to the loud whirring and chiming of the betting games they had found themselves between, and it took Aria a moment to process what she had even said over the racket.
With a nod, she pulled Sonata along once again, making sure to keep a tight grip on her hand as they squeezed past the older gentlemen that drifted around this section of the arcade.
It only now dawned on Aria… money. They had to have been here for at least an hour by now, if not longer, and Sonata had been absolutely persistent in being the one to pay for any games they played. She drew her lips into a line, and absent mindedly gave the other girl’s hand a gentle squeeze. An unconscious act. Natural. Comforting.
It didn’t take long, with Sonata’s guidance, to find the bumper cars; Aria let out a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding. Sonata dropped her hand only to reach into her back-pack to remove her purse, and Aria moved to wipe a bead of sweat from her brow.
“You hot?”
“Awe, thanks,” the bluenette smiled.
“No, Sonata, I--” She paused and let out another breath. “Never mind.” She watched as Sonata unzipped her purse and fumbled around inside for a bit as Aria nibbled her lip, uneasy. “Nat, look. I know you said today was your treat but--”
“Ap,” the smaller girl silenced her abruptly, shooting her a heated glare. Or maybe it was just the temperature of the room that was getting to her head. It didn’t really matter. “I invited you out; I’m paying. Don’t even try to talk me out of it.”
“Sonata where did you even get the money for all of this? Didn’t you get fired from your cashier job, like, a month ago? Last I checked you hadn’t even looked for a--”
Sonata rolled her eyes with a huff and leaned up to peck Aria on the lips to silence her once more. Once the bluenette had pulled away, she fixed her gaze for a moment before pulling a $10 bill from her purse finally. “I just,” she paused, avoiding Aria’s eyes as she moved to hand the money over to the arcade staff in charge of the bumper cars. “I took out a loan.”
“A loan?” Aria folded her arms sceptically, “From a bank?”
“Uhm. Yeah.”
“Sonata.”
“Well, I mean, sort of.”
“Sonata Dusk.”
Sonata whined and walked backwards as they were ushered into the ring of cars, alongside other teenagers who had begun to gather behind them. “Okay, fine. I borrowed some money from Adagio. But, like, it’ll be totally fine. She’ll never know.”
Aria’s eyes widened, her jaw hanging agape. “You took money from Adagio?! Are you insane?!”
“Well actually--”
“No,” Aria cut her off, slapping a hand to her face, raising a finger with her other, “don’t answer that. I know you are.” She took a moment to collect herself and let out a deep sigh as she watched the other girl skip over to one of the vacant bumper cars. “How much did you take?”
“Only, like… $400. I think.”
“$400--!?” Aria effectively cut herself off as her voice caught in her throat in sheer disbelief.
“Relaaaaax. Let’s just have a good time. I can buy you ice cream before we go home.”
Aria was completely and utterly baffled. How had this girl-- this absolute imbecile-- managed to not only steal almost $500 from Adagio, but her heart, too. She wanted to be mad. She really, honestly did. She wanted to snatch Sonata up-- grab her by the collar of her shirt and knock some sense into her. But, another part of her, looking down at Sonata’s bright beaming face, so full of love, and complete disregard for her own safety at the hands of Adagio Dazzle, just so she could spoil her for a day-- Aria couldn’t bring herself to bark out the venomous words that tumbled over themselves in the forefront of her mind.
She let out a breath. A deep, deep breath, and collected herself.
“Fine. If I win, I buy the ice cream.”
“Wh-- no fair!” Sonata whined.
Aria clambered into her own car and shot the other girl a menacing grin as the overhead speakers began to blare with sirens, and the cars whisked to life.
Aria Blaze hated hot days. She hated crowded spaces; plastering on a smile; even leaving the comfort of her bed.
She watched as Sonata tried desperately to spin her wheel, steering herself straight into another teenager who had been chasing his friends around the large ring. Aria smirked as Sonata offered a meek rub of the back of her head and what she could only imagine to be a muffled apology over the noise.
Aria hated sweet things. She hated small talk and surprises.
She raced away from the bluenette, her low chuckle rising into a laugh that bubbled in her chest as she heard another loud thud of rubber bumpers colliding, followed only by Sonata offering up another apology.
She hated a lot of things about this world. But, as she zipped around-- weaving carefully in and out of other bumper cars-- watching her girlfriend try so desperately to catch up with her, she felt her heart swell.
Sonata Dusk was a marvel beyond words. She was simple, and dull, and so many other hurtful words that Aria had found herself checking off in her mind. But she was also warm; and thoughtful-- perhaps not in the right ways, but still.
Aria once thought of this world as unbearable; even more so after they had lost the power of their gems. But, with this… blue idiot by her side, she sighed.
She supposed she really had fallen under her spell.
Author's Note
Thank you to Blue for commissioning this from me! I had a lot of fun writing it-- I love these goof balls so much.
As always, comments and thumbs up are appreciated!
If you would like to support me and my writing, please consider donating to my ko-fi! Or, get in touch about a commission!
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